Genealogical Corrections Are Good Practice, Not BSOs

As I participate in NaGenWriMo and write family history this month, I have multiple tabs open on my browser: my family trees (Ancestry, MyHeritage, WikiTree, FamilySearch), plus my blog, and Find a Grave.

Ordinarily, I would make a note of any intriguing clues discovered as I write, and keep going with my project, not to be derailed by a bright shiny object (BSO). 

But when I see an error that I can help correct, it's not a bright shiny object but an opportunity to follow good genealogical practice. For the sake of other researchers and family historians, I don't want inaccurate info to be perpetuated. 

Take the Find a Grave memorial page at top. Poor ole George is one of a series of Georges in multiple generations of my husband's Wood family. 

Now I don't know who linked the family members on George's memorial page, but one is incorrect. 

By reading the dates and not just the names, the error jumps out! Was the mother really born two years after the son?? The mother who was linked belongs to another George in another generation, I recognized after a moment.

I immediately sent a correction to the manager of this memorial page, providing the actual mother's memorial number. Within three hours, the correction was online. 

It's only the first week of my NaGenWriMo quest. What other errors will I notice? 

From BSO to Family History, Part 2

Thanks to the 1921 Czechoslovakian census (the brightest of bright shiny objects discovered during my genealogy research in 2020), I now know more about my Schwartz family in Uzhhorod (formerly known as Ungvar, Hungary).

The census includes enough information to offer a glimpse of the daily life of these ancestors and allow me to connect photos with the names on this page! In other words, this BSO added significantly to my knowledge of family history...and has led to other research possibilities.

Great-Grandpa Herman Schwartz

Great-grandpa Herman Schwartz was the father of my maternal grandfather, Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz. I know little about Herman, but the census gave me two key pieces of information.

First, Herman was shown as the official homeowner according to the 1921 census aggregation page (see previous post). He was also shown as the homeowner on this detail page listing occupants of the home at 45 Szobranci Street in Uzhhorod. See green oval at top right of the image above. This tells me Herman had enough money to own his home or inherit the home from one of his relatives.

However, Herman is NOT listed as one of the occupants of this home. In fact, his wife Hani is listed as the home owner in column 4, and reported as a widow ("vdova") in column 5.

This is the second piece of information: Now I know Herman died before the census was taken, possibly as late as March, 1921.

Great-Grandma Hani Simonowitz Schwartz

From cousin info, I was aware great-grandma Hani outlived her husband. The census says Hani was born in Tasolo, Uzhhorod, on November 20, 1858. Her nationality was Hungarian (Ungvar was part of Hungary before it became a Czechoslovakian city and much later a Ukrainian city).

She had first registered in Uzhhorod 30 years earlier, according to columns 9/10. Hani said she was "Israelit" (Jewish) and could read and write. Not surprisingly, she said she was not working in July 1914 (column 17), at the outset of World War I, most likely because she was bringing up her family.

As a 63-year-old widow, how did Hani keep the household going financially? A quick look below the green line in the census page above reveals the answer: She rented part of the house. The renters (listed as such in the census) were not Hungarian, not from Uzhhorod, not Jewish, not relatives of the Schwartz family. The rental income must have helped Hani a great deal, especially with grown children still living at home.

Three Schwartz Daughters, a Son-in-Law, and a Granddaughter

This 1921 Census included new info about three daughters of Hani and Herman--siblings of my grandpa Teddy Schwartz. There was also a surprise: Hani had a son-in-law (Ferencz Stark) and a granddaughter (Mici Stark) living in her home.

• Paula Schwartz was born in Uzhhorod on May 19, 1898. She was unmarried at the time of the Census, of Hungarian nationality, Jewish religion, and able to read and write. She was not working in July of 1914. I'm incredibly fortunate to be in close touch with Paula's lovely granddaughter, who has memories of the Schwartz house in Uzhhorod where she, her mother, and her grandmother grew up.
• Lenka Schwartz was born in August, 1906 in Uzhhorod. Lenka was unmarried in 1921, of Hungarian nationality, Jewish religion, and able to read and write. Like her sisters and mother, she was not working in July of 1914. Some time after this census, she married Ignatz. Below is a photo of the couple in March of 1924.



Lenka Schwartz, who later married Ignatz

• Etelka Schwartz Stark was born in Uzhorrod on May 3, 1892 in Bereg (then Hungary, now Ukraine). "Etelka" was an affectionate diminutive of her name, Etel. The census shows her married to Ferencz Stark, a tailor who worked just down the street from the Schwartz house on Szobranci Street in Uzhhorod. Etel and her husband could both read and write, were both Jewish, and were the parents of Mici Stark, born in January, 1920. In July of 1914, Etel was working as a seamstress. 

Next Steps

This BSO opened up new avenues of research for my genealogy. Not only has the census enabled me to expand photo captions, it provided Etel's married name and her daughter's name so I can look for more clues.

In addition, discussions of the census triggered my cousin's memories of Blanka, a cousin of Hani, who had a son named Jeno Zeller. I have Jeno's baby picture from 1924. My cousin remembers he grew up to be a baker, came to Israel after WWII, then lived in Brooklyn for a brief time in the 1950s or 1960s before returning to Israel. Of course I'm going to be on the lookout for Jeno as I continue my research!