Printing the Farkas Family Tree Book

 
Remember that gigantic pdf file I created for my newly-updated Farkas Family Tree book? I wanted to print a master copy for myself and a second copy for my twin sis. 

Unsure of whether the print shop could manipulate a pdf of nearly 700 MB, I included pdfs of Parts 1, 2, and 3 plus the big file when I brought my flash drive to the printer.

They strongly advised against printing one giant book with spiral binding. Instead, they recommended I pick a suitable place to break the book into two parts, and create two separate pdf files. The shop would then create two spiral-bound volumes (Part 1 and Part 2), each with a clear cover and a sturdy backing.

A good place to split the big pdf file, I decided, would be after the end of World War II. Now Part 1 contains minutes and reports from 1933 to 1945, and Part 2 runs from 1946 to 1964. This meant redoing the title page for Part 1 to indicate it was 1 of 2.

Also I created a new title page for Part 2, as shown at top. For an illustration, I chose a photograph of the Ellis Island Memorial Wall inscription for my maternal grandparents. Grandma Hermina was a charter member of the Farkas Family Tree and her husband, Grandpa Theodore, was one of the early officers. This is a way to honor them as big movers and shakers within the family tree association. Grandpa Theodore carefully checked over the finances and insisted on receipts for expenditures!

Note: Only men were allowed to serve as President or Vice-President or Treasurer, while women were allowed to serve only as Secretary. This was codified in the family tree constitution 😆 

The result: two digitally-printed, spiral bound books, Parts 1 and 2, a total of 300 sheets/600 pages, with a clear cover and a heavy back cover. One for me, one for Sis. Easy to browse, very legible pages, and easy to pass down to next generation.

Lessons learned

• Ask the expert (print shop people).
• Consider what makes sense for your project (I split the file so Part 2 begins at the start of a new year, after the war was over)
• Communicate clearly (label part 1 and part 2 clearly)
• Use every opportunity to add some tidbit if room allows (my photo of the Ellis Island plaque)
• Consider this a worthwhile investment in perpetuating family history for years to come.

Updating and Sharing the Farkas Family Tree Book

For the past few months, I've been reassembling the digital scans of 31 years of meeting minutes from my maternal family's Farkas Family Tree. This family tree association was formed by the children of Moritz Farkas and Lena Kunstler Farkas in 1933, and it met regularly until the end of 1964 (or possibly very early 1965).

Lessons learned at the end...

Updating the original

The original book, shown above in all its 600 page glory, was created from printouts of my scans in 2014. My mother's first cousin Ron kindly lent me bound volumes of the family tree written minutes and historians' reports (really) to scan. I also assembled the family tree song lyrics, the written constitution (really), and other info about the tree. 

Missing from the originals were the minutes from many of the World War II years, but I scanned everything that was available at the time. I spent weeks indexing the name of everyone named in these documents. Then I mocked up a cover with a 1958 family photo and a cousin's handwritten names of each person, and through a local copy shop, printed one for myself.

Quickly I realized it was better to split the volume into two spiral-bound books for ease of browsing. I have the original gigantic volume, which I prefer because I like everything in one place, but everybody else has two volumes.

More recently, the meeting minutes from the war years were found and so I scanned those and distributed them separately, after adding the names to the index.

Reassembling and then splitting the updated file

Now I want to digitally share the fully-assembled book with as many of my second cousins as possible. It took a long time to get every pdf scan into a single document. Then I discovered that this one document, in pdf format, was a hefty 698 MB. 😟 Even when I tried to reduce the size by compacting, it was way, way too large to be emailed.

Way too large to be worked on, in fact. The software app Adobe Acrobat would not allow me to do anything with it, advising that the gigantic file be split into smaller files.

In my next iteration, Part 1 had 219 pages (ending at the end of a month's minutes) and Part 2 had 219 pages (beginning at the start of the next month's minutes). Part 3 had the final 160 or so pages. I compacted each part and the files became a more reasonable size, the largest "only" 150 MB. Still too large for email.

Free digital transfer - LOCKSS

One of my 2d cousins agreed to be my guinea pig for a digital transfer using the free site WeTransfer.com. I signed in, then uploaded Parts 1, 2, and 3 to WeTransfer, added my cousin's email, plus a cover note, and included a reminder that the transfer would expire in 3 days. 

The same day, my cousin accessed and downloaded the digital files. He wrote a quick note to confirm that the parts arrived safely, telling me how many pages in total he had received (so I could compare with what I sent). Hours later, he told me he couldn't stop reading. Now he plans to digitally share the files with his kids. He agrees this is important for LOCKSS - lots of copies keep stuff safe. 

The next day, I emailed several more 2d cousins to ask whether they would like to have the digital files. YES! I've already transferred files to three and will be sending more soon. The more cousins who have the digital files, the longer these family documents will be alive for the future. 

Update: a cousin requested that I share the files via DropBox, which is also free, and I'm happy to say he was able to easily download the three big files from there. 

Next step: reprinting

My next step is to reprint this updated version. More in my next post.

Lessons learned

• Don't be afraid to update if and when new details and/or documents become available. We want to leave future generations complete and accurate info, if possible.
• Find out about technical limitations when digitizing. I didn't realize that a pdf could be too big! Luckily, there are always options. In this case, I subscribed to Adobe Acrobat for a month to have the capability to work with pdfs.
• Make it easy for relatives to receive what you want to share. I wrote emails first and explained (touted) what I wanted to share and why I couldn't just attach the pdf--then said how easy it would be to use WeTransfer. One cousin just said he'd visit me with a USB in hand so I can load it and send it home!

-

Planning a future for your family's past? Please take a look at my book for practical ideas about keeping family history safe for the next generation and beyond.

What the NY Census Suggests About Citizenship

I am so fortunate that so many of my immigrant ancestors settled in New York, because I can use the New York State Census, as well as the US Census, to learn more about their lives. Of course, all the details are only clues until confirmed by additional research.

Above, part of the 1925 New York State Census from the Bronx, showing my maternal great-grandparents, Morris (Moritz) Farkas and his wife Lena, plus 5 of their children: Julius, Peter, Rose, Fred, and Regina. 

What I particularly love about this New York Census is the question about citizenship and where/when naturalized. As marked above, Great-grandpa Morris told the enumerator he was a citizen, naturalized in New York in 1907. Great-grandma Lena Kunstler Farkas said she was a citizen under "husband's papers." Two Hungarian-born children, Julius and Peter, simply were shown as citizens with no further details.

Actually, Morris was naturalized on June 22, 1906 in the Eastern District of New York. According to the concept of derivative citizenship, at that time, the wife and their young children derived their naturalized status from the status of Morris. As a result, this New York Census suggests (but doesn't state) that as youngsters, Julius and Peter were naturalized because their father Morris was naturalized.

Good thing Morris didn't wait to become a citizen because after March 2, 1907, Lena and the minor children would NOT have been able to claim US citizenship by virtue of Morris's naturalization papers. Each would have needed to apply for naturalization individually. More about searching for citizenship documentation online can be found here.

"What the Census Suggests" is this week's genealogy writing prompt from Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors series.

Background on The Bronx, Where My Grandparents Settled

Even though I was born in the Bronx and own several books about the history of the Bronx, I'm always interested in more background about this part of New York City. 

This week, I took a look at Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898-1918, by Mike Wallace. The New York Times reviewed the book here. It is a massive tome, nearly 1,200 pages long, and filled with great context about the fast-moving expansion and profound changes in the Big Apple during an important period of development. After reading a chapter or two, I realized I would get more out of checking the index for my specific area of interest: The Bronx.

Not too much of Bronx history actually turns up in Wallace's book, but the bit of material I did find was enough to flesh out more family history context. 

Twenty years of head-spinning change

On the very first day of 1898, Manhattan and Brooklyn (already the country's first and fourth-largest cities) were legally consolidated with Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx to form the modern New York City we know today. 

Soon the construction of multiple elevated and underground subway systems would put the heart of the city within affordable and convenient reach of the "outer boroughs" (meaning everything other than Manhattan). Combined with technological and electoral changes, not to mention societal changes and historic events both local and global, the period of 1898-1918 made New York City into a formidable business, employment, housing, and political power. 

Immigrants move out of the Lower East Side

This was the booming metropolis where Ellis Island immigrants entered the United States. And these were the years when my immigrant maternal grandparents (Hermina Farkas and Theodore Schwartz) met, married, began a family, and moved out of lower Manhattan to settle in the Bronx, less than an hour's ride by subway from the business districts in midtown and downtown Manhattan. 

No car was needed in those days of cheap mass transit (my Schwartz grandparents never had one, nor did my parents). But if residents had a car, they could enjoy the view on rolling, beautiful parkways as well as driving down the elegant Grand Concourse.

As the book points out, a tremendous housing boom (of affordable apartment buildings in particular) helped attract tens of thousands of residents to the Bronx. My Schwartz grandparents first rented an apartment in a big building on Brown Place, then moved to an apartment on Fox Street, all at the Southern end of the Bronx. 

The extremely rapid growth required more infrastructure, year after year. Bronx groups lobbied for--and ultimately achieved--county status, which came with additional resources. In addition to continued residential and business development, the Bronx as a county enjoyed "home rule" of a sort.

From bucolic to built up

My Dad (Harold Burk, 1909-1978) used to tell stories of his family planning a daylong picnic outing from Manhattan to the Bronx, up to World War I at least. Dad and his immigrant parents, two sisters, and younger brother would escape the summer heat and crowds by boarding a bus or subway to ride to the upper tip of Manhattan, then getting on a horse-drawn wagon to spend a few hours in a green field somewhere in the bucolic Bronx. 

But after World War I, I suspect the Burk family cooled off in one of the big planned Bronx parks, quiet oases of grass and trees. In fact, my paternal grandparents (Isaac Burk and Henrietta Mahler Burk) moved to the Bronx by 1930, settling in an apartment building close to a big park. When grown, three of their four children lived in Bronx apartments (one defected to an apartment in Queens).

Thus, my Schwartz and Burk ancestors were part of the major population shift that quickly pushed the Bronx over one million residents and made it into an "instant city," to borrow a phrase from author Mike Wallace.

Greater Gotham added a smidge of color and context to my knowledge of my ancestors. This is my post for Amy Johnson Crow's week 2 prompt, "A Record That Adds Color," from her 2026 edition of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Entering My 28th Year of Genealogy

In 2026, I'm entering my 28th year as family historian and genealogy enthusiast. 

The genealogy bug first bit me in 1998, when the family historian of my mother's generation asked me a simple question about my father's father. Um, I barely knew Grandpa Isaac Burk's name, certainly not when and where he was born or died. But I became determined to find out and what an adventure that was.

Since then, I've had a wonderful time teaming up with my cousins around the world to learn more about my mother's side of the tree (Farkas, Kunstler, and Schwartz families), as well as my father's side of the tree (Burk, Jacobs, and Mahler families).

It's not a secret that I truly 💘 in-laws. This year I created a colorful booklet about the Pietroniro family, in-laws on my hubby's side of the tree. Then younger relatives chimed in with their fond memories and I reprinted the booklet to include what they had to say, in detail.

I continue to improve and/or create memorials on FindaGrave, WikiTree, Fold3, and the usual big genealogy sites. This is cousin bait and a good way to share what I know with relatives and other researchers. I also enjoy participating in some of Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenges, as well as WikiTree Connect-a-Thons and genealogy chats on Bluesky. 

During 2025, I made three in-person genealogy presentations and many more virtual presentations, including a free Virtual Genealogy Association talk about cousin bait. Plus, my sis and I presented two programs about identical and fraternal twins (something we know a lot about, being the twin daughters of a twin).

In addition, this year I had professional shadowboxes made for Dad's World War II memorabilia and Mom's childhood jewelry (with her twin sister's as well). These archival-quality frames will keep the artifacts and the stories safe for the future.

Looking ahead, I plan to move old original photos from archival boxes to archival albums. Just about everything has been digitized but now I want to better organize the loose photos for the sake of future generations. I stalled out on this project a couple of years ago, so 2026 will be my year of archival albums. 

Now I have another bite-sized family history photo book in mind for 2026, about my parents and my siblings. This will be a great opportunity to tell my own story in context! 😊

Finally, I want to do something with the letters written from folks in England who met my aunt Dorothy, the WAC, when she was posted there during World War II. These kind people took the time to write Dorothy's parents. I've been in touch with a gentleman who is distantly related to the letter-writers, and he is tracing a direct descendant. If that doesn't work out, I will donate the letters to a museum or historical society in 2026.

Wishing you all the best in this new year.

Celebrating My 17th Blogiversary

On August 25, 2008, I wrote my first genealogy blog post. Seventeen years later, I've written over 1900 posts about researching family trees, preserving genealogy materials, understanding social and historical context, finding cousins and having them find me, and more.

If I had known then what I know now, I would have called this blog something like "Good, Bad, Ugly Genealogy" because my years of research have turned up such a wide range of ancestor backgrounds in my tree and my husband's tree. 

Good: loving/compassionate relatives and in-laws, indigent journey-takers who helped each other survive in a new country, civic and military leaders, hard-working entrepreneurs, ancestors who sought to give their children and grandchildren better education and more opportunity. Bad: a few bootleggers (considered "bad" at the time), a few thieves, some wild kids, some absent parents. Ugly: too many early deaths from causes now preventable, a few questionable criminal activities, family estrangements for reasons that in retrospect seem repairable, a couple of sad suicides, and more. 

With one key exception (because someone still alive might be hurt by something an ancestor did), all of what I've learned is posted on my public family trees and has been relayed to my relatives and those of my hubby. 

I don't want to hide the truth, nor do I want the truth to be lost to future generations. As family historian, I want to be told the truth and I want my relatives and future generations to trust that I will share the truth with them.

From my heart, many thanks to the dear cousins who have connected with me via my blog. It is such a joy to be in touch with the descendants of ancestors and share photos and stories.

Finally, a big tip of the hat to my wonderful readers. Please know how much I really appreciate you all! 

My genealogy research:

My maternal grandparents (both from Hungary, both died in New York City)

    Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1964) m. Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965)

My paternal grandparents (Mahler from Riga, Burk from Lithuania, both died in NYC)

    Henrietta "Yetta" Mahler (1881-1954) m. Isaac Burk (1881-1943)

Husband's maternal grandparents (both born and died in Ohio)

    Floyda Mabel Steiner (1878-1948) m. Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970)

Husband's paternal grandparents (Slatter from London/England, Wood from Ohio, both died in Ohio)

    Mary Slatter (1869-1925) m. James Edgar Wood (1871-1939)

Great Aunt Ella and the Sweet Spot of Digitized NYC Records

My mom's favorite maternal aunt was Ella Farkas Lenney (1897-1991), whose original given name was Ilka. She and three siblings arrived at Ellis Island in November of 1901, joining their immigrant parents, who had arranged an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. 

Ella was a quick study, literally, going to school to become a teacher. A devoted professional, she worked steadily as an elementary school teacher in the Bronx, New York for her entire forty-year career. Interestingly, when Ella married Joseph Levy (1893-1945), their 1924 marriage cert (above) correctly states that the groom was a civil engineer but shows no occupation for the bride. Joe changed his name to Lenney several years later, making his wife Mrs. Lenney.

I downloaded this original marriage cert, along with other key vital records for Ella and her family, for FREE from the New York City Municipal Archives Historical Vital Records site. How lucky for me, the family historian, that so many of these maternal ancestors settled in the Big Apple.

New York City Marriages, Digitized & Downloadable

As shown directly above, the Archives site has digitized and posted downloadable marriage records for the five boroughs of New York City for the years shown in dark blue. A number of Ella's siblings and in-laws were married in the Big Apple in the years covered by the digitized/downloadable period. Free!

New York City Births, Digitized & Downloadable

Great aunt Ella and the next generation (her two children, plus multiple nieces and nephews) are also in the sweet spot of digitized NYC records for births, as shown above. I was easily able to download those birth certs, again for free.

New York City Deaths, Digitized & Downloadable

Finally, a few of Ella's extended family members are in the sweet spot of digitized NYC records for deaths, which are available for free for deaths as late as 1948. 

When I find a NYC digital record, I download it for my files AND share by uploading it to my family tree and other sites. (Ella's marriage cert is currently on Find a Grave and WikiTree, among other sites.)

Today, I'm remembering Aunt Ella with affection on the 128th anniversary of her birth on August 10, 1897.

Why I Prefer Color Images of Vital Records

 
My great uncle Fred Farkas (1903-1980) was born on this day in 1903, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a New York City neighborhood crowded with immigrants. He was the 10th of 11 children. Don't read the color image above quite yet! Here's the story.

Fred's birth cert from 1903

Fred's birth certificate originally showed his name as Fred Forkus, because that's how the surname seemed to be pronounced by his parents. His father was shown as Morris Forkus, his mother as Leanie Forkus. 

When I was able to view the certificate image on Family Search--only available at a FamSearch library, not from home--the black-and-white scan (directly above) was readable. However, the original handwritten info was less distinct and the later corrections didn't pop as clearly. 

Then I looked up the cert on the New York City Municipal Archives' Historical Vital Records database. You can see the image here and also in the image at top.

Full color really dramatizes the changes made on January 27, 1942, to correct all of the names. (This full color birth cert is also available on MyHeritage, in its wonderful collection titled "New York City Births, 1866-1909.") 

The color version makes all info on the cert much more readable than the b/w version, which I really appreciate. Not all vital records are available in color, but when they are, I make an effort to check them out.

Why correct the birth cert in 1942?

The only two reasons I can think of for Fred wanting to accurately document his birth in 1942 are: (1) to register for Social Security, and (2) to register with the local draft board during World War II. 

Either way, since Fred's parents had already passed away, who else would have taken the time and trouble to contact New York's Commissioner of Health to have this birth cert corrected? Must have been Fred.

I turned to Fred's WWII draft card, which is dated February 12, 1942, as shown here. He may very well have needed to provide actual, accurate proof of his age, which he could do with the corrected birth certificate that reflected his real surname. 

Remembering Great Uncle Fred with affection on the 122d anniversary of his Big Apple birth.

Honoring Three Generations of Moms

My beloved Mom (Daisy Schwartz Burk, 1919-1981, shown above) was born in New York City, the daughter of a Hungarian-born immigrant, Henrietta "Minnie" Schwartz Farkas (1886-1964, shown below) and the granddaughter of a Hungarian-born immigrant, Lena Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938, at bottom). 

My great-grandma Lena arrived in New York City 125 years ago to join her husband who had crossed the Atlantic first to make a fresh start for his family. My grandma Minnie sailed, as a teenager, with three other siblings, to be reunited with her parents in the Big Apple 124 years ago. She had hopes and dreams for her new life!

If not for these three mothers, I wouldn't be here. So on Mother's Day, I'm honoring the memory of these special moms in my family tree, with love. 

New Indexes to Free NYC Digitized Vital Records

The New York City Municipal Archives has been digitizing old birth, marriage, and death records and posting them on this site for a while now. Not all years for all boroughs, but many are already posted and more are on the way. Free! 

The latest news: On April 11th, the city posted a set of indexes for the very first time, simplifying the process of locating the exact vital record.

New indexes! Part 1 of new search process

The indexes for NYC birth certs, death certs, marriage certs, and marriage licenses can be seen here. These online indexes streamline the entire process, still free.

Pick the index you want and start a search for the NAME of the person. Below, an example of a search for the birth certificate for Charles Lang. I entered his name in the search box. Results are displayed in ascending chronological order. The Charles Lang entry that I want is at the bottom, born in Manhattan, birth cert #22907, birth year 1906. 

This is part 1 of the search, so note those cert details or open another tab on your browser.

Part 2 of the search process

Now go to the NYC Muni search page for the type of cert you want, birth or marriage or death. This is part 2 of the search: Enter what you just learned from the index, as shown below in my sample search for a birth cert. Click the purple search button below the data entry boxes. 

The result

As shown in the image below, this search returns a color image, in a downloadable pdf format (printable as well). Vital records may not be available forever, so do grab a digital copy while you can. 

Free! No need to purchase a certified copy unless you have a special purpose in mind that requires certification. So first check the index, then do the cert search. In the old days (before the indexes), there was an extra step to this process to obtain the cert number, borough, and year. Usually those details can be found on Ancestry, FamilySearch, etc. 

FYI today, in April of 2025, FamilySearch does have these NYC vital records but the images are not visible from home, only in a FamilySearch library. And I want to eyeball the document image for myself, so I either use the free NYC Muni Archives or use my subscription to MyHeritage.

MyHeritage search - not free but really easy!

If you're a MyHeritage subscriber, like me, you are in great luck--MyHeritage has a unique collection of historic New York City vital records, with its own set of indexes and color scans of the certs. Plus MyHeritage indexes not only bride and groom but also the names of their parents!

Very easy searching. And the benefit of a full color image is that any marks or alterations on the certificate are quite obvious. See the example below from a MyHeritage search for a 1903 birth cert for my great uncle Fred. The magenta shows important corrections inserted years after this man's birth. Among other things, his birth was registered as female instead of male, his surname listed as Forkus instead of Farkas. Neither parent's name was correct either. But Fred straightened out all these details in 1942.

I can download and/or print the image, as well as connecting it to my family tree.

Happy ancestor hunting in the Big Apple!

PS FamilySearch image of Charles Lang birth cert is not in color. Same exact cert, not in color. 

Look for Kernels of Truth in Family Stories

I love a good family story. "Teddy was late to his own wedding because his horse ran off." "They gave Mom their unopened pay packets every Friday and she doled out a handful of nickels for the next week's subway fare." "Minnie wouldn't accept a suitor chosen for her by her family--she threw his engagement ring out the window."

These three stories were passed down in my mother's family tree. Too bad I can never confirm the story about the horse that ran away. And at first, the other two stories sounded a little outlandish, despite multiple cousins having heard variations of those legends from family history.

New World, new approach to household finances

Then I was introduced to two books that changed my understanding of these family stories. The first was Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars by Elizabeth Ewen. The author looks at the lives of Jewish and Italian women immigrants on the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the peak years of immigration to America. Mothers and daughters learned to approach household finances in a different way when they moved to America. In the Old World, barter was an everyday experience. In the New World, cash was an absolute necessity.

The chapter on "Our Daily Bread" describes the common experience of the immigrant mother as strict organizer of household finance, demanding unopened pay packets from working children and only giving back the bare minimum of coins for each child to get to their job in between paydays. The rest was kept for rent, food, and other household expenses.

There was the kernel of truth in my family story: According to descendants, my great-grandma Lena Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938) stood at the door of the family apartment on payday with her hand extended, taking pay packets from teenage and adult children as they arrived home from work. 

Sometimes my great uncles Julius and Peter wouldn't have enough money for subway rides to and from work, so they would reportedly walk home from Manhattan to the Bronx on occasion. Speculation was that the boys actually dared to spend a nickel or two on some treat or diversion. Instead of asking for more from Lena, they walked home and said nothing. Lena was a strict disciplinarian and no one wanted to get on her bad side or they'd get a sharp rap on the head. Really.

Marrying the family's choice?

The second book I read was Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska, a Polish-born Jewish author who immigrated to New York City with her family in the 1890s. This overwrought 1925 novel tells the story of conflict in a poor Jewish family transplanted from Poland to tenement life in lower Manhattan. I find historical fiction such as this sometimes offers windows into attitudes and challenges from past generations (allowing for excessive drama in the narrative).

This book really caught my attention when the father of the family rejected the men that three of his daughters want to marry. Instead, he arranged marriages to bring himself financial gain, even though the daughters would be unhappy. The youngest daughter resolves to only marry for love. And after many trials and tribulations for the family, that's what she does. New world, new approach to marriage. 

In my family, Lena's husband Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) earned little in his work in New York City, so everyone had to pitch in to keep the household afloat. Moritz was very fond of all his daughters, and each thought she was the favorite, by the way. When my grandma Minnie, the oldest daughter, fell in love with Teddy Schwartz, Moritz and Lena objected because they thought their daughter could do much better. That's when they arranged what they believed would be a more suitable match, a marriage they hoped would give Minnie a better life. 

Minnie would not even consider an arranged marriage. Knowing her as I did in later life, I can imagine her throwing the engagement ring out the window to show her final answer to the arranged marriage. Family story is that Peter and Julius scrambled down the stairs of the tenement to the sidewalk to search for the ring, but no one has any idea whether they found it and who kept it. With Minnie as the role model, every one of her siblings who married chose his or her own partner. It was a new world and the family learned to adapt. Kernel of truth!

Did Teddy's horse really run away on the morning of his wedding to Minnie? It doesn't really matter...what matters is that there are kernels of truth to explain the stories passed down through the decades, and to remind descendants that ancestors were more than names and dates on a family tree. Thinking of my great-grandma Lena, who collected paypackets to finance her household, on the 87th anniversary of her passing, in March of 1938.

Remembering Maternal Grandma Minnie and Her Age Fibs

Born in what is now Berehove, Ukraine, my maternal grandma Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1964) shouldered a lot of family responsibility from the moment she set foot on the S.S. Amsterdam to sail to America. Her parents were already living in a tenement on the Lower East Side of New York City, and Minnie was sent, with an older brother and two much younger siblings, to join them. She celebrated her 15th birthday on the trans-Atlantic voyage in November, 1901, not knowing what her new home would look like but with high hopes for the future.

Minnie in America

In New York, Minnie worked during the day at a tie factory owned by an in-law and went to school at night to learn English. At the end of every week, Minnie and her siblings handed their unopened pay packets to their mother, who doled out carfare to each adult child and kept the rest for household expenses. 

Minnie met her future husband Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965) in a Hungarian deli. Despite resistance from her parents, she married him in October, 1911. From then on, Minnie would not just help Teddy in the store, she would also raise three children AND sew clothing for her siblings, nieces, and nephews AND cook Hungarian specialties for family meals. She worked long and hard for decades. 

Only after Minnie and Teddy sold their small dairy store in the 1950s did they have time and money to take a honeymoon! Minnie had happy moments, but as the years passed, she was disillusioned and disappointed because her life did not play out like the rosy future she had dreamed of when she arrived in 1901 as a hopeful immigrant teenager. The more I research her and talk with older relatives who knew her well, the better I understand why she was not "warm and fuzzy" although she was a responsible grandma who pitched in when needed.

Noting Minnie's age changes

On their marriage certificate (shown at top), both Minnie and Teddy are shown as 24 years old. That might be one of the last times Minnie told the truth about her age.

In the 1920 US Census, she was supposedly 30 (actually she was 34). In the 1925 NY Census, she was supposedly 35 (actually 38). In the 1930 US Census, she was supposedly 40 (actually 44). In the 1940 US Census, she was supposedly 52 (actually 53). In the 1950 US Census, she was shown as 63--correct age!

When Grandma Minnie died of heart problems on March 20, 1964, it was the end of an era for the entire Farkas family. Disheartened, and with his health deteriorating, Grandpa sadly passed away 14 months later.

Remembering Grandma Minnie with affection during Women's History Month.

Happy Twin Birthday to Us

Today is another twin birthday! Above, one of the few early photos showing who's who. I'm captioned M on the left and my dear Sis is captioned I on the right. One of us is two minutes older than the other. Not telling who's the old lady!

We're balancing on the lap of our maternal grandma Hermina Farkas Schwartz, who was the mother of twins--Mom (Daisy Schwartz Burk) and Auntie (Dorothy Helen Schwartz).

Being squirmy, I doubt Sis and I stayed on Grandma's lap for more than a minute, just barely long enough for someone to snap this photo. 

Happy birthday to us!

Change, Monitor, Hands Off?

James Tanner's excellent blog post earlier this week struck a chord with me. He wrote about the challenges of working with the FamilySearch collaborative family tree, starting with "revolving door ancestors" (one whose info is constantly changing) and "impossible pedigrees" (no sources on an ancestor means questionable parents and descendants).  

I am so, so grateful that FamilySearch has a vast array of robust (and free!) research materials available to help with my research. And its collaborative worldwide tree can give me a head start on ancestors, especially when I know very little about them or they are on a distant branch of my tree. I treat the tree as a great source of clues for me to follow up. 

And I should point out that I maintain a public family tree on Ancestry as well as putting ancestors on MyHeritage. Sources are attached and nobody can make changes (unless authorized by me).

Challenges indeed

Still, my experience with the collaborative tree echoes Tanner's experience. My immigrant maternal grandparents and their siblings had surnames (Farkas, Schwartz) that were common in Hungary, where both were born. Not surprisingly, people who don't know the family well  make mistakes when trying to add to these ancestors' FamilySearch profiles. It's a real challenge to distinguish between two Schwartz men with the same given name or two Farkas women with the same given name, born or died around the same time and in roughly the same place.

Above, part of the FamilySearch profile page for my great uncle Samuel Schwartz (1883-1954). I know a lot about Sam, partly from descendants and partly from careful research. So I know that Sam and his wife, Anna Gelbman Schwartz (1886-1940) had only two children, the ones I circled in purple in the image at top. Neither of these two sons was a twin. My Sam didn't die in 1926; he died in 1954. I have the paperwork to prove it and have visited his grave.

Yes, the photo on "Annie Gelbman Schwartz" is one I uploaded to FamilySearch some time ago. But all those extra children, not my work. Sam's incorrect death date, not my work. 

So many ancestors - so little time

In some cases, I have made changes to the FamilySearch family tree and attached sources and/or explanations. But this is time-consuming and still subject to change by others. Not where I want to spend much of my time.

My plan has been to monitor (click "follow" star ★ on line with ancestor's name) selected ancestors and read the weekly email of changes made to each, if any. Then I can decide whether to change or keep my hands off. For the most part, I'm keeping my hands off any changes, unless the ancestor is particularly dear to my heart and I can quickly and easily fix mistakes with an accessible source.

My plan is to keep adding ancestors to the collaborative WikiTree, where sources are also shown as well as biographical details. Here's the profile page of my great uncle Samuel Schwartz, whose original name was Simon, I know from the passenger manifest showing his arrival at Ellis Island. 

My WikiTree experience

So far, I haven't experienced any "revolving door" ancestor problems on WikiTree. I have encountered a few "impossible pedigree" ancestor profiles when trying to connect relatives to folks already in the WikiTree database but have successfully ironed those out with the people who originally created the profiles. The community on WikiTree is generally friendly and helpful.

In short, I consider adding ancestors to WikiTree to be a valuable use of my time, to honor ancestors and preserve their names and lives for the sake of future generations.

Remembering Alex and Jennie's Christmas Eve Wedding

On December 24, 1916, my maternal great uncle Alexander Farkas (1885-1948) married Jennie Katz (1886-1974). Alex, an immigrant from Hungary, was a salesman for Singer Sewing Machines, and would turn 31 years old on the day after his wedding. Jennie, also an immigrant, was 30 years old and an accomplished dressmaker, able to look at a fashion item and sew it up with her own special flair. 

Their wedding was a fun family affair, including Alex's many siblings and their spouses plus a few of Jennie's Katz relatives. The one child at their wedding was Alex's nephew Fred Schwartz, who was only four years old. In the surviving wedding photo, the guests are wearing party hats and smiling broadly. Must have been quite the celebration!

Alex and Jennie got married in what was then the First Hungarian Congregation Ohab Zedek, a beautiful Greek Revival-style synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Today, the building is a performance space just a few blocks from the Tenement Museum that illuminates immigrant life in the Big Apple from 1860s-1970s. 

The couple had no children and doted on their many nephews and nieces. Jennie eventually became so successful under the professional name Madame Jennie Farkas that Alex quit his job to help manage her business. After Alex died in 1948, at age 62, Jennie continued to stitch custom creations for clients and also made fashions for special family events. She passed away at age 88 in 1974, deeply mourned by the Farkas family. 

Remembering Grandma Minnie 123 Years After Her Immigration

Born on November 10, 1886, my maternal grandma Hermina Farkas Schwartz was the second child (oldest daughter) of 11 children of Moritz Farkas and Lena Kunstler Farkas. She celebrated her 15th birthday on the SS Amsterdam in 1901, en route from Hungary to her future home in New York City.

Growing up in Hungary

Minnie and seven of her siblings were born in Hungary, in an area now known as Berehove, Ukraine. Minnie was sent to school to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic, plus fine needlework. 

Her father Moritz supervised vineyard plantings for his wife's family and also leased land for his own crops. Minnie sometimes rode along with him on his rounds of the vineyard--she loved the outdoors. The family wasn't wealthy but they weren't poor either.

Weather changed everything

One year, Moritz failed to insure his crops and a heavy hail storm destroyed everything before the harvest. He was financially ruined. To make a fresh start (and probably to avoid creditors), Moritz sailed to New York City in 1899. He found work in the garment district, like many Jewish immigrants, and always lived in a tenement or an apartment building, very unlike his former life.

At the end of 1900, Moritz's wife Lena sailed to New York City, leaving their eight children with her family. One year later, Minnie and three siblings were put on a ship to rejoin their parents in New York. The last group of four children who waited in Hungary were finally reunited with their family in New York in 1903. Moritz and Lena had three more children born in the Big Apple. The baby of the family was 20 years younger than the oldest.

Where Minnie lived in the big city

In 1910, Minnie lived with her parents and siblings at 645 E. 6th Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. According to the 1940 New York City tax photo, which I found using Steve Morse's One-Step search form, it was a large apartment building on a street corner, with stores on the ground floor.

In 1920 and 1930, married to immigrant Theodore Schwartz (1887-1965) and the mother of three children, she lived at 651 Fox Street in the Bronx, NY. It was a smaller apartment building located in a more residential area. Grandpa Teddy owned and operated a small neighborhood dairy store, which helped them get through the Great Depression.

In 1940, Minnie and Teddy and their children lived at 672 Beck Street in the Bronx, a nicer apartment building. All their children had graduated high school and the oldest two were in college and working part-time, their youngest child working as well. The couple stood on their feet helping customers at the dairy store day after day, including weekends.

In 1950, Minnie and Teddy lived at 600 East 178th Street in the Bronx, an apartment building with the main entrance on the side street. Two children were married and had families of their own. By this time, Minnie had heart problems and Teddy had hired an assistant for the store. This man eventually bought them out so the couple could retire after a lifetime of standing on their feet for long hours.

Minnie's life and legacy

Minnie grew up to be a capable, complicated woman who defied her parents in order to marry the man of her choice. In a later era, she herself would have had many more opportunities to use her intelligence, talents, and determination. She was an expert with a sewing machine, and made fabulous Hungarian dishes from scratch, including apple strudel with an impossibly thin pastry crust. Though she lacked a warm and fuzzy way with her grandchildren, she worked extremely hard, made her children's education a high priority, and always put family first.

Grandma Minnie died 60 years ago, in 1964. Saddened and physically weakened, Grandpa Teddy died the year after. May their memories be for a blessing.

Farkas Family Tree "Coming Out Party" After Hard Times

The Farkas Family Tree association was founded by the eleven adult children of Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) and Leni Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938) in March of 1933, as the Great Depression devastated the global economy. My maternal grandmother, Hermina Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964), was one of the charter members.

The tree group was the brainstorm of Jennie Katz Farkas, married to the oldest of the eleven siblings who were the charter members. Despite economic woes, the tree association met at least 10 times a year, usually in the members' homes, which were all in the greater New York City area. (I know all of this history because these ancestors kept monthly meeting notes!)

Tree celebrations and sorrow

For the first anniversary of the tree's founding, in March of 1934, the members held a dinner-dance at the Cecile Restaurant in Manhattan and invited friends and family. An amazing 61 people attended, counting members plus in-laws and friends and neighbors. For the second anniversary, the dinner-dance was at the Hotel Hamilton on West 73d St. in Manhattan. An even more amazing 81 people attended, at a cost of $1.25 per person for dinner plus 50 cents "subscription," in 1935. This was the depth of the Depression, yet the tree turned out in numbers for these special celebrations. The total dinner cost the equivalent of $40 per person today.

For the third anniversary, the Hotel Hamilton was again to be the venue, at $1.25 per person for dinner, plus 25 cents for a "subscription" fee. However, one week before the dinner, Farkas patriarch Moritz died, so the event was postponed indefinitely until after a year's mourning period. No dinner-dance was held in 1937 and when a dinner-dance was planned for 1938, it too was postponed due to the death of the matriarch, Leni. No dinner-dance in 1939, either, as hard times hit the Farkas Family Tree. 

Starting 1940 off with a party!

After the sadness of losing the matriarch and patriarch in the last years of the 1930s, plus money being so tight for all, a party was finally planned for on Sunday, January 7, 1940 at the True Sisters meeting rooms on West 85th St., Manhattan. 

The United Order of True Sisters was a Jewish women's organization founded in 1846 in New York City, which slowly gained chapters across the country. In 1926, the True Sisters laid the cornerstone of its new building in Manhattan, as described in the headline at top of this post. My family tree held its 1939 Thanksgiving dinner at the True Sisters building in one of its meeting rooms, and then the January party in 1940. 

The Family Tree minutes reported: "The 64th meeting of the Farkas Family Tree was held at the True Sisters Building on Jan 7, 1940. It was our coming out party after being 'in' for quite a number of years. Present besides our membership were our friends, in-laws, and youngsters." 

Party begins with a pledge

After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag that was marched in, the group sang America with piano accompaniment by one of the Farkas children. Then the tree president made a speech about the group's "ideals and achievements." 

Next, the tree's historian (my aunt Dorothy, twin sister of my Mom), summarized the previous year's tree activities and family doings. The tree then installed new officers for 1940 and eventually the meeting was adjourned to enjoy refreshments and view home movies of the past year's get-togethers.

Of course no one had any idea that more hard times would be ahead when the US entered World War II. So many of these Farkas folks went into the service (including my aunt Dorothy, the WAC) and those at home did their part to help the Allies win the war. A story for another time.

"Hard times" is the theme for this week's #52Ancestors genealogy prompt from Amy Johnson Crow.

Gloria Goes to Hollywood as a Teen

This is the story of beautiful and talented and creative Gloria Mildred Weiman (1926-2021). She was a cousin of my Roth cousins...which means a distant cousin to my Farkas family. She wasn't known by the name Weiman, but she did shoot to fame as a teenager renamed Gloria Warren.

Gloria's parents were Herman Wajman (Americanized to Weiman) and Julia Ida Weiss (she's the Roth cousin). Herman was a jeweler from Poland who came to America in 1921 with his Hungarian-born wife Julia and their baby daughter Magda, settling in Wilmington, Delaware. The baby, sadly, didn't survive but Herman and Julia had two more daughters, Gloria and June, who grew up taking piano, dance, singing lessons and more. 

New starlet, creative new name

Gloria's mini-bio on IMDb notes that when she was a young teen, her mother took her to meet a local radio producer which, in turn, led to a meeting with a Hollywood talent scout. That was her big break: she was signed as an up-and-coming starlet for Warner Brothers, at age 15. 

In mid-1941, the entire family filed petitions to change their surname from Weiman to Warren for purposes of Gloria's career. How do I know? The Wilmington, Delaware newspapers covered Gloria's rise to Hollywood and her creative name change too! The family relocated to California as her career began to blossom under the new name of Gloria Warren.

Newspapers documented Gloria's Hollywood life

The papers mentioned Gloria's successful 1945 South American singing tour (see document at top) where she was accompanied by her sister June. A newspaper even covered Gloria the starlet's trip from Hollywood to Wilmington to see her aunt, Mrs. Max Weiss (maiden name Ethel Weiss). 

Despite her talent, her singing compared to Deanna Durbin, the movies in which Gloria appeared were not hits, even though her personal star shined. The movie Always in My Heart was written with a part specifically for Gloria, who sang the title song. Of course the Wilmington newspaper raved about Gloria's performance but most critics complained that the plot was hackneyed. Gifted and gorgeous, Gloria appeared in only a handful of movies after that.

Blind date changes Gloria's life

Gloria met Peter Gold (1924-2010) on a blind date in spring of 1946. They fell for each other and were engaged within 10 days, and married in early September. My speculation is that the blind date could have been arranged by Peter's brother, Lee B. Gold, a Hollywood screenwriter. Sis speculates that Peter saw Gloria in a movie and asked for an introduction. 

Press accounts covering the marriage differ about Peter's occupation...he was an agent or a whisky salesman, depending on which newspaper covered the Hollywood gossip. Gloria was in one more movie released after their marriage, and then she retired forever from the Hollywood scene.

By 1950, Peter was a shower door salesman and he had a very bright business future ahead: He worked his way up to the top of the big Price-Pfister plumbing manufacturing firm and ultimately retired from the position of CEO and Chairman. Gloria and Peter had two children and were married for 60+ years. 

One paper interviewed Gloria in the 1960s, when she looked back on her career, spoke lovingly of her children, said how she enjoyed being a mother. This was the last press coverage I can find of Gloria's movie career, as she chose to protect her privacy more and more in later years. Rest in peace, cousin. 

"Creativity" is the week 22 prompt from Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors genealogy challenge.

Saluting Father and Son Military Vets in My Family Tree

On this Memorial Day weekend, I'm continuing to focus on the military vets in my family tree, with pride. This post is to honor the military service of Morris Pitler and his two sons, George and Richard.

My maternal great aunt Freda Farkas (1898-1989) married Morris Pitler (1895-1976) on New Year's Eve of 1922, nearly four years after he had been honorably discharged from serving in World War I. As shown in the service record at top, Morris was inducted into the US Army at Ft. Monroe, Virginia. He served in the 40th Artillery from July of 1918 to January of 1919, rising to the rank of Radio Sergeant in November, 1918. After his military service, Morris built a successful career in the insurance business.

Morris's older son, Harry S. Pitler (1925-2014) finished high school in 1943 and was working at Grumman Aircraft on Long Island, NY when at age 18, he enlisted in the US Army to serve during World War II. Harry was trained as an X-ray technician and sent to the European battlefront, where he worked with medics treating wounded Allied soldiers. His letters to family described the extended educational and training period. Once home from the war, Harry got married, went to Yale Medical School, and became a caring doctor in general practice.

Morris's younger son, Richard K. Pitler (1928-2023) was an 18-year-old student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he filled out his draft registration card in March of 1946. He finished his college degree and then Dick became a lieutenant in the US Army, stationed at the Watertown Arsenal in Watertown, Massachusetts. He left the Army in 1950, married, went on for a master's degree at RPI, and became a high-ranking expert specializing in metallurgy with Allegheny Ludlum Steel. 

Thank you to Morris, Dick, Harry, and all the vets who have served our country over the years. 

Happy Mother's Day

 

Remembering my Mom and my two grandmothers on Mother's Day weekend:

Grandma Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1966) - Married Theodore Schwartz in 1911, mother of my Mom

Grandma Henrietta Mahler (1881-1954) - Married Isaac Burk in 1906, mother of my Dad

Mom Daisy Schwartz (1919-1981) - Married Harold Burk in 1946. Happy Mother's Day!