Happy Father's Day to Our 20th Century Dads

My husband's Dad, Edgar J. Wood (1903-1986) was born early in the 20th century. He began taking piano lessons at age 9, became an accomplished piano player, and in his 20s, he toured Europe twice with a college jazz band during summers off from his studies at Tufts. Ed never lost his love of music. In fact, for decades, he played professionally on weekends while working as an insurance adjustor during the week.

My Dad, Harold D. Burk (1909-1978), was born just a few years later. His career goal, beginning in the 1930s, was to become a travel agent. He finally established his own travel agency after serving in WWII, working side by side with his younger brother. Initially, passenger train travel was in most demand. As air travel became more accessible, Dad's agency did a booming business selling plane (and later, jet) tickets.

On Father's Day, I'm remembering our 20th century Dads, with love. 

Honoring Immigrant Great-Grandpa Moritz for Father's Day

For Father's Day, I'm remembering the patriarch of the Farkas family tree in America. 

My great-grandpa Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) left Hungary in August of 1899, disembarking and remaining in New York City. The catalyst for this journey was a devastating hail storm that wiped out his crops and left him deeply in debt. 

After Moritz established himself in the Big Apple, his wife Leni Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938) joined him in 1900. Their first eight children followed them through Ellis Island within the next two years. (My grandma Hermina was their second oldest child.) Moritz and Leni expanded their family with three more children in New York City.  

To honor these immigrant ancestors, one of my great uncles paid for "The Moritz Farkas Family" to be inscribed on the Ellis Island Wall of Honor, panel 132 (image at top). 

At right is the photo of Moritz now on his memorial page on Find a Grave. I digitally put his name on the photo and included the attribution "Courtesy Farkas family."

Of course Moritz and Leni will make an appearance in my next family history photo book, about my maternal grandparents, Hermina Farkas and Theodore Schwartz. 

Happy Father's Day, great-grandpa Moritz. I was born long after you passed away, so sadly, I couldn't get to know you . . . but I know that without your decision to sail to New York City in 1899, I wouldn't be here today. You are remembered with great affection.

Finding Dads and Grandfathers in 1950 US Census

 

Happy Father's Day! Researching in the 1950 US Census, I enjoyed finding fathers and grandfathers in my direct line and my husband's direct line.

• My maternal grandfather Teddy Schwartz was living in the Bronx, New York, with my grandma Minnie Farkas Schwartz (given name written incorrectly). The Census correctly shows that Grandpa Teddy ran a small grocery store, working 70 hours per week. My paternal grandpa Isaac Burk was no longer alive.
• My Dad (Harold Burk) and Mom (Daisy Schwartz Burk) were enumerated a few miles away in the Bronx, in their first Census as a married couple. Dad was a travel agent in his own agency, as shown in the Census.
• Hubby's maternal grandfather  Brice L. Wood, by then widowed, was living in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He was retired ("ot" stands for "other" because he's not working and not looking for work). My husband's paternal grandfather James Edgar Wood was no longer alive.
• Hubby's Dad (Edgar J. Wood) and Mom (Marian McClure Wood) were at home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Ed worked as a claims adjustor for a casualty insurance company, as shown on the questionnaire.

Now I'm remembering these fathers and grandfathers with love on Father's Day 2022. 

Remembering Dads on Father's Day

For Father's Day, I used special tools from MyHeritage.com to fix minor scratches and colorize this favorite black-and-white snapshot from my husband's family. It was taken in Cleveland, Ohio, and shows hubby's Mom, Marian McClure Wood (1909-1883), hubby's grandfather Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970), and hubby's Dad, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986).

After Brice's wife Floyda Steiner McClure (1878-1948) died, a grieving Brice visited often with his only child Marian and her family. Ed affectionately called his dad-in-law "The Old Gentleman." The two men got along famously, by all accounts (including Ed's diaries). 

When Brice died at age 91 in 1970, Ed put much thought into arranging the graveside funeral service. He wrote movingly of their close relationship stretching over 36 years, a letter that has been passed down in the family and will be inherited by the next generation.

I'm saluting Brice and Ed, two much-loved fathers from my husband's family tree, on this Father's Day in 2021.

Remembering Dads on Father's Day

Harold Burk and oldest daughter

On this Father's Day, I'm remembering my Dad, Harold D. Burk (1909-1978) with love. Born a city boy, he enjoyed taking his children to parks and botanical gardens (such as the one above). In his later years, he took pleasure in baking sky-high apple pies. Although we kids sometimes helped slice the apples, he was the one with the knack for rich, flaky crusts. Missing you, Dad, and your apple pies, too, on this Father's Day 2019.

Edgar J. Wood and Marian McClure Wood on a cruise

Also, I'm honoring the memory of my father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986). He told very lively stories about being in a 1920s jazz band playing on board ocean liners to pay for passage. Ed played piano all his life, even practicing when taking a cruise vacation with his wife, Marian Jane McClure (1909-1983). Thinking of you with affection on Father's Day 2019, Ed.

Father's Day: Where Dad Lived (and Why)

For Father's Day, I'm telling stories of where Dad lived, and why, and stories he told me about everyday life. Harold Burk (1909-1978) was born in Jewish Harlem, 77 E. 109th Street in Manhattan. That's the address on his birth certificate and the address where he lived at the time of the 1910 Census. It's just a short walk from the Northern end of Central Park.

Thanks to the images in the New York City Public Library's digital collections, I can see tenements similar to the building where Dad lived and read about conditions there. These East Harlem buildings were not quite as cramped and dank as tenements in the Lower East Side. Another plus: They were "uptown" and therefore more desirable, with less-crowded streets and within reach of greener pastures (literally) in upper Manhattan and lower Bronx.

The reason Dad's family lived uptown, rather than downtown in the Lower East Side where so many immigrants lived, has to do with family connections as much as infrastructure. When my grandpa Isaac Burk (1882-1943) got to New York City in 1904-5, he boarded with the Mahler family at 1956 Third Avenue in Manhattan. That's where Isaac married my grandma Henrietta Mahler (1881-1954) in June, 1906.

The bride and groom may have been cousins, a possibility I'm still researching, because documents show Isaac's mother's maiden name as Shuham and the maiden name of Henrietta's grandmother as Shuham. Both of those families had roots in Lithuania. Strong possibility of family connections, but no proof (yet).

By 1909, when Dad was born, his parents Isaac & Henrietta were living only a seven-minute walk from Henrietta's Mahler family apartment on Third Avenue. By 1915, according to the New York City Census, the two families were living in separate apartments in the same tenement house at 7 East 105th Street in Jewish Harlem. Built-in babysitters for a growing family: Dad was 6, his older sister was 8, and there were two more siblings under the age of 4.

Both the Burk and Mahler families found it convenient and desirable to live uptown in East Harlem because workers could commute by "el" (elevated trains) to jobs located in midtown or downtown. The Third Avenue El, as it was known, was fast and affordable.

This elevated train line stopped running during my lifetime as other mass transit options took its place, and the car culture took hold. In the early 1900s, however, the el and later underground subway lines enabled working people to escape the dirty, noisy, crowded Lower East Side. The NYPL has some atmospheric photos of the "el" at various periods.

Dad told stories of playing stickball in the streets as a youngster (maybe ducking the few cars that passed). He also told of boys daring each other to jump from one tenement rooftop to another. Even though the tenements were often butted up against each other or barely a few inches away, it wasn't at all easy or safe. Dad admitted he was just plain lucky to live through those escapades. Bet his parents never knew what he was doing!

Dad also told stories of taking horse-drawn buses from his Harlem home north to the Bronx for a daylong picnic outing. Sounds like the children would eat and then play while the adults shmoozed and snoozed before returning to their tenements. By the time I was old enough to hear these stories, it was hard to imagine the Bronx as a bucolic collection of farmlands and rural picnic vistas--but entirely true, as photos in the NYPL collection demonstrate.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad and I'm delighted to keep his memory and his stories alive for future generations, in the spirit of #52Ancestors and the #GenealogyBlogParty's Dynamite Dads.

Father's Day: Looking Back at Ancestral Fathers

Edgar J. Wood

Harold D. Burk

First, a salute to our beloved fathers. Hubby's dad was Edgar James Wood (1903-1986) and my dad was Harold D. Burk (1909-1978).

Now, a look back at forefathers on both family trees. This was my wonderful daughter-in-law's idea. On Mother's Day she wrote her sibs about all the Moms in their family tree.

Edgar J. Wood's father was James Edgar Wood (1871-1939), one of 17 children born to a carpenter (the Wood name reflected hundreds of years of the family's occupation). Edgar was an exception: He became an insurance adjuster and his night/weekend vocation was musician.

James E. Wood was, of course, a carpenter building homes in Cleveland at the turn of the 20th century. James's paternal grandfather was Thomas Haskell Wood (1809-1890), a carpenter originally from the Northeast. James's paternal great-grandfather was Isaiah Wood Sr (1784-1834), and his paternal g-g-grandfather was Elihu Wood Sr (1760-1837).

Harold D. Burk's father was Isaac Burk (1882-1943), a cabinetmaker who left Lithuania around the turn of the 20th century, stopped in Manchester, England with an aunt, and continued on to North America, where he eventually settled in New York City. Harold's paternal grandfather was Solomon Elias Birck, and that's all I know of my father's paternal line.

Thinking of them all with affection and respect on Father's Day.