Ephemera Passed Down from a Bachelor Uncle

My Uncle Sidney Bernard Burk (1914-1995), was the only member of the Burk family born in Montreal, Canada.

His father, my immigrant grandpa Isaac Burk (1881-1943), was a skilled cabinetmaker. In search of work, Isaac moved the family back and forth from New York City to Montreal during the period of 1910 to 1915, according to family stories and border crossing documents. 

Ephemera passed down = breakthrough

Turns out, my bachelor uncle Sidney was very important to my genealogy efforts. If not for his tendency to hold onto stuff for decades, I wouldn't have been able to research the lives of Isaac Burk and his siblings.

One key piece of ephemera he passed down was a wedding invitation (see excerpt below) mailed from relatives in Manchester, England to Sidney's Aunt Nellie (Isaac Burk's older sister) in New York City during the 1930s. 

That single item, with a specific date, full names, and a street address, enabled me to trace and connect with an entire branch of the family tree in England. 

Now my British cousins and I communicate regularly, exchanging photos and info--all because Uncle Sidney passed down scraps of old family history containing crucial clues.

Keeping his memory alive

Uncle Sidney never married and had no descendants, so I've been documenting his life and posting publicly on a variety of sites such as WikiTree, to be sure he's not forgotten.

Here's part of the free memorial page I created on Fold3, emphasizing Sidney's military service during WWII. I included a photo with name, dates, and attribution. 

Thank you, Uncle Sidney, for passing down ephemera that helped fill major gaps in the Burk family tree!

Passed down is this week's #52Ancestors prompt from Amy Johnson Crow.

A Tale of Two Sisters

Comparing photos from my cousins' collections with photos from my family

I've been collaborating with cousins on my father's side of the family to compare photos of Hinda Mitav Chazan with Necke Gelle Mitav? Shuham.

This is, we believe, a tale of two sisters.

Hinda and Isaac Left Lithuania

Three of the above photos come from the collection of my UK/South African cousins. They can positively identify their grandma Hinda in the two left-hand photos. Hinda (1864-1940) married Isaac Chazan (1863-1921) in Lithuania and moved with him to Manchester, England, around early 1888. The couple settled in Manchester and there raised their family.

These same cousins, descendants of Hinda, also have the photo of a seated man and woman, at far right above. According to family lore, this shows Hinda's sister who remained in Lithuania, with her husband. My cousins remember hearing this story and seeing the photo in a place of honor.

Necke and Solomon Stayed in Lithuania

The photo in the center features, we think, Necke Gelle, my paternal great-grandma, mother of my paternal grandpa Isaac Burk. Necke's maiden name is shown as Shuham on Isaac's Social Security application.

There are two similar versions of this photo. I have one, and one is owned by another cousin who descends from Isaac's brother, Meyer Berg. No identifications are on any of the Necke photos, but having similar photos inherited by two Burk/Berg cousins strengthens the case that this is the ancestral family in Lithuania.

Another reason to believe this is Necke: The man in the center photo and, older in the right photo, is unquestionably my father's ancestor. Dad's face and this ancestor's face are eerily similar. Dad's first cousins also resembled this man quite closely.

I'm identifying the gentleman as Solomon Elias (or Eliyash) Birck. He and Necke remained in Lithuania when six of their children left for North America around the turn of the 20th century.

Strong Similarities, Strong Family Ties

After studying these four photos, we cousins agree that Hinda (both younger and older) looks uncannily like Necke (both younger and older). Look at the faces circled in the photos and you'll see what my cousins and I saw! Eyes, nose, ears, shape of face, there are lots of similarities between the woman in the orange circle and the woman in the purple circle. Sisters or half-sisters, they are closely related.

Why Necke remained in Lithuania while Hinda left for a new life in England, we'll never know. We do know that Hinda and her husband Isaac welcomed Necke's two sons Isaac and Abraham to stay with them as they journeyed from Lithuania to England and then onward across the Atlantic. My grandpa Isaac ultimately went to New York City, and my great uncle Abraham Berk settled in Montreal.

Happily for us, we have photos, letters, and family stories demonstrating that Hinda and Necke's descendants remained in touch over the years even though the sisters were separated for the rest of their lives.

As a result of this tale of two sisters, I am now describing myself as the second cousin, once removed, of the descendants of Hinda who so kindly shared the photos above.

And yes, there are centimorgans linking our families!

"Everything Came Intact Except for . . . "

Letter from Manchester, England to Bronx, New York, 30 Dec 1947

In 1901, my paternal grandfather, Isaac Burk (1882-1943) was en route from his hometown of Gargzdai, Lithuania to a new life in North America. He and his brother, Abraham Burk (1877-1962), stayed with their aunt Hinda Anna Mitav Chazan and her husband, Isaac Chazan in Manchester, England for a time. No doubt they were learning English and saving money for the journey across the Atlantic.

The Burk and Chazan families remained close throughout the first half of the 20th century, we know from photos exchanged and family stories, as well as memories of relatives who were youngsters when my father and uncle visited Manchester after World War II. Even after my Grandpa Isaac Burk died in 1943, the families corresponded and occasionally visited for the next decade.

Letters Handed Down for 70+ Years

Some letters written in the late 1940s from the Manchester cousins to my Grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk (1881-1954) in the Bronx, New York, were handed down to her son, Sidney Burk (1914-1995). In turn, the letters were later handed down to my first cousin E, who has been scanning and sharing with me and with our Manchester family.

How grateful I am that these letters were actually handed down instead of being tossed. The personalities of the letter-writers really shine through! And the contemporaneous experiences of the families are helpful in understanding ancestors and their lives.

At top, an excerpt from a letter sent from the Manchester family to my Grandma on December 30, 1947. I found this letter particularly interesting because it listed the exact contents of a parcel of food sent by Grandma to the Manchester cousins. This must have been quite a large box.

And I know it was not the first food parcel sent from New York City to Manchester, because other letters mention other parcels. It adds a personal, family history dimension to the continuing food shortages experienced in England even two and a half years after WWII ended.

Reading the letter, I was impressed at how the adults made a show of opening the parcel to heighten the pleasure their young children (cousins I've now met) felt at being able to taste some highly-coveted foods after years of scarcity.

Which Foods Crossed the Pond?

In this excerpt from the letter, note that two important items did not arrive in the parcel, even though they were packed and shipped properly! Hmmm...*

"Well I think this about all the family news up to date and now I must write to you the exciting news that the food parcel sent to Sadie [Grandpa's first cousin] has arrived. It really is a most magnificent parcel and Sadie and Sol and Solly and I [Grandpa's first cousins and their spouses] made a united ceremony of opening it and the excitement and happiness grew greater and greater as we drew package after package of the, to us, most exciting things. 

"Everything came intact, except for 2 cans meat listed on the label, these were missing, but the sugar (4 lbs), cheese, 3 pieces soap, box raisins, box of tea, 2 bars chocolate, box dried milk, box dried soup, packet chewing gum, can butter, can orange juice, can oil, can Spry [vegetable shortening], can lemon juice, box cocoa, 2 boxes crackers, can pineapple were all there." 

Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for this week's #52Ancestors prompt of "handed down."

*Wendy's comment (below) asks whether some foods (like the cans of meat) weren't allowed into the UK from other countries or whether the meat might have been pilfered. I don't know exact details from that time period, but my guess is that canned foods of all sorts would be allowed, simply because they're not fresh and not unwrapped. That leaves the possibility that the two cans of meat were pilfered. My thought is yes.

Chewing Gum from a U.S. Cousin in Uniform

1946 letter from UK cousin to Harold Burk in the Bronx, NY

With heartfelt thanks to my paternal first cousin E, our family now is reading letters written more than 70 years ago by cousins in Manchester, England.

Connections Across the Pond

The letters were written by descendants of Hinda Ann Mitav Chazan (1865-1940) to descendants of my paternal great-great grandma, Necke Gelle [Mitav?] Burk. Hinda and Necke were very possibly sisters, both born in Lithuania.

Hinda married and then went to Manchester with her husband, settling there and raising their family. Necke married and remained in Lithuania--but six of her children left, going to North America. (I strongly suspect one son remained behind in Lithuania, based on photos passed down in multiple lines of the family tree).

The letters rediscovered by my first cousin E came from several cousins across the pond, addressed to my paternal grandma, my uncle, and my Dad. Although these letters are very ordinary and everyday, they reveal a closeness that nobody realized existed between the U.K. branch and the U.S. branch of our family. The Montreal branch of the family, Abraham Burke and his wife Annie, are mentioned in a letter as well.

These letters are also stimulating my overseas cousins to remember tiny but interesting details they didn't even think they could summon up after so long!

May 23rd, 1946: Dear Harold

The earliest letter so far is the one which I've excerpted above, mailed by my father's first cousin, once removed, in Manchester. She is writing to my Dad, Harold Burk (1909-1978) in appreciation for a carton of sweets and other goodies he mailed to the Manchester family.

As shown in the excerpt at top, this cousin writes: "Very, very many thanks indeed from one and all of us. _[My daughter]__ in particular was thrilled beyond words when I told her cousin Harold had sent a parcel from America and when it was opened she turned it inside out and upside down and in all the packing papers looking for a packet of chewing gum that she was certain cousin Harold had sent especially for her! But the other sweets and caramels (I really should learn to say candies) more than made up for the missing packet of chewing gum."

The Cousin in Uniform

After I shared this letter with my cousins, a couple of them reminisced about my Dad's visit. One remembered getting a package of "American chewing gum" from a "cousin in uniform" who visited in 1945. The other had a flash of memory and confirmed that it was Harold, my Dad, visiting in his U.S. Army uniform!

The timing fits with what I know of Harold's Army service during World War II. With the war over, he was discharged from service in October, 1945. It would have been quite conceivable that beforehand, he was moved from Paris, where he was stationed in April of 1945. Probably he was sent to a base in England not far from Liverpool, waiting for a transport ship to bring him home to New York. Liverpool is fairly close to Manchester, and apparently he visited Manchester twice, according to my cousins' best recollections.

Months later, Harold posted the parcel of candies after seeing how much the young cousins in Manchester enjoyed his gift of chewing gum when he visited in person. Little did he know that decades later, those cousins would now be reading a letter written in thanks for the candies and sharing fond memories of the gum and the "cousin in uniform."

How grateful I am that my first cousin E rediscovered the letters and that my U.K. cousins are dredging up new memories of relations between our families!

Great Uncle Abraham Burk Sailed From . . . ?

Unsourced page - BIG rookie mistake!

Years ago, when I was starting out in genealogy, I somehow found the passenger list showing when my paternal grandfather's older brother left England and arrived in Canada.

Great-uncle Abraham Burk (1877-1962) was born in Gargzdai, Lithuania. In his early 20s, he and my Grandpa Isaac Burk (1882-1943) came to live with an aunt and uncle in Manchester, England. I found them there in the 1901 UK Census, in the household of Isaac Chazan and his wife, Hinde Ann. They were learning English and earning money to pay for their journey to North America.

My great-uncle Abraham married Annie Hurwitch (or Horwich) in Manchester in June, 1903. The next time I spotted a record for Abraham, he was living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1904. How did he get there? When did he leave, when did he arrive? I rushed ahead to find out more, leaving no paper trail.

Avoid My Rookie Mistake

My research at that time led me to the page at top. It has no ship's name, and no date, but there is Abraham Burk, age 26, married, a cabinetmaker, "Russian Jew," with $2 in his pocket. He had left "Lancashire," and his destination was "Montreal." Yup, it's Great Uncle Abraham.

I excitedly saved only this image of a single page of the passenger list, with the quick note "April, 1904."

My big rookie mistake was not citing any sources. What ship was this page from? When, exactly, did it sail, where did it leave from, and when/where did it arrive? Where else did I search (with or without success)? Without a source or a research log, I couldn't easily retrace my steps. For years, I didn't even try. I had lots of other ancestors to chase. But this rookie mistake (not an isolated incident) has come back to haunt me during my ongoing Genealogy Go-Over.

Looking for Abraham, Page by Page

Today I spent two hours on the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) website, researching Abraham's voyage to find out where this passenger list came from so I can note a complete source and get a better picture of my ancestor's travels.

The LAC website has a key database titled Passenger lists, 1865-1922, which includes 26 ship arrivals for the month of April, 1904. Clicking page by page, I examined every ship's passenger list, in search of Abraham.

You can guess that Abraham did NOT arrive early in the month. Of course not. But eventually, after looking at many dozens of pages, I struck gold.

Liverpool to Halifax in 11 Days 

Abraham arrived on April 30th aboard the S.S. Lake Champlain from Liverpool, England, to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Compared with many of my immigrant ancestors' voyages, this was relatively brief--Abraham crossed the Atlantic in only 11 days. Leaving from Liverpool makes a lot of sense, since it is convenient to get there from Manchester, where Abraham was living.

A bit more research revealed that the S.S. Lake Champlain often sailed directly to Quebec. Why Abraham didn't go there, instead of Halifax, I simply don't know.

Genealogy Go-Over

Today, I strive to save two versions of any image I download as a source. The one directly above shows my source, typed onto the image. On my family tree, I include additional details such as web addresses so I can retrace my steps quickly and easily. Little by little, I'm cleaning up these kinds of mistakes and omissions as I go over each ancestor in my tree and hubby's tree.

Don't make my big rookie mistake. Cite your sources and add them to your family tree as you go.

Honor Roll Project: Manchester, England War Memorial

Walking through Manchester, England a couple of weeks ago, I passed this war memorial with newly-laid poppy wreaths, across from Manchester City Hall.

Although the memorial is primarily for WWI, other military service was recognized. The above plaque reads: "To the honour and memory of Mancunians who have given their lives in other conflicts since 1945." (Mancunians are people from Manchester.)

Here, the wreath is inscribed: "To our fallen comrades...British Legion, Manchester."

Only a few individual names of World War I veterans were visible, which I'm transcribing for Heather Rojo's Honor Roll Project.

They are:

Lt. Graham Lyall, Central Ontario Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force. 27th September and 1st October 1918. (Being honored for valor.)

Lance Corporal John Thomas, Prince of Wales's North Staffordshire Regiment, 30th November 1917. (Being honored for valor.)

Private John Readitt, South Lancashire Regiment, 25th February 1917. (Being honored for valor.)

2d Lt. Henry Kelly, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment), 4th October 1916. (Being honored for valor.)

Private Albert Hill, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 20th July 1916. (Being honored for valor.)

Private George Stringer, Manchester Regiment, 8th March 1916. (Being honored for valor.)

Thank you to these brave military men for their service more than 100 years ago.