Wordless Wedding Wednesday: What Are Mom and Dad Reading at Their Wedding?

Well, telegrams, of course! Any friend or relative who couldn't be there would spend a quarter or so to send a telegram congratulating the happy couple. And so after the noontime wedding ceremony, Mom (Daisy Schwartz) and Dad (Harold Burk) took a moment during the reception to read telegrams from loved ones around the country.

This is a Wordless Wednesday because none of those Wedding telegrams survived...

FGS Conference Quest: In Search of Steiners and Rineharts

This is my quest, to follow that star as far as Fort Wayne, Indiana and beyond!

Hubby's ancestors, the Steiner family and the Rinehart family, lived in Ohio and Indiana, so by attending the FGS Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we're following that star into the 18th century. Our quest: To break down Steiner and Rinehart brick walls by determining where in the Old World they were originally from and locate their arrival time/place in the New World.

Our research plan includes:

• A visit to Crawford County, OH to locate birth/death/land/probate records for Elizabeth Steiner (maiden name UNK), who died in November, 1864; Jacob S. Steiner, who died before 1860 (he was in the 1850 Census); and Margaret Rinehart, who died in June, 1873. Maybe we'll get lucky and find parents' names? Fingers crossed...
• A visit to Wyandot County, OH to see the homes where the Steiner sisters (Etta, Minnie, Carrie, and Floyda) and their spouses lived and where hubby visited them during school vacations. Of course we'll look for land/probate records and pay our respects at Old Mission Cemetery in Upper Sandusky, where some Steiners are buried.
• A visit to Wabash, IN to do research into the McClure and Larimer families who were early settlers in this area. Cemetery visits are a must, in addition to hunting for vital records and newspaper reports.
• Attendance at FGS sessions that pertain to our quest, including "Beginning Swiss Research" (in case the Steiners or Rineharts are actually Swiss, as family legend suggests); "Buckeye Beginnings" (for those Crawford Cty folks); and "First Steps in Indiana Research" (to get a good overview of resources and repositories).
• Rooting around at the Allen County Public Library for family roots (still coming up with a plan for tackling this almost overwhelming place!). This is our first visit, but hopefully not our last.

And I'm looking forward to meeting genealogy folks from all over the country at the meeting. See you there!

2022 Update: The Genealogy Center at Allen County had a key book about the McClure family that enabled us to fill out the branches of that line (I bought a personal copy for reference). Also we received many newspaper clippings from the Wabash archivist. A special part of this trip was visiting the Old Mission Cemetery in Wyandot County, where we wandered among family headstones while photographing for Find a Grave and family trees. 

Genealogy by the States: The Hoosiers in Our Family Tree, Including a Man Named Train

This week's Genealogy by the States topic is Indiana, the Hoosier state (aka the Crossroads of America).

At the top of the list of Hoosiers in hubby's family tree: 2nd great-grandparents Benjamin McClure and his wife Sarah Deming (or Denning) McClure, an early settler in the Wabash county area.

Wabash had a number of McClure families, and of course Benjamin is NOT the most celebrated or documented, although he did pitch in to build the community in several ways. (The most famous McClure in Wabash is Samuel McClure, considered the first permanent white settler in the county.)

Benjamin and Sarah's first children were born in Ohio, where the couple was married; their children born in Indiana include:

• Martha Jane McClure, who married William Buck Cloud
• Train C. McClure, who married Gulia Swain (and, after Gulia's death, remarried to Rebecca E. Abbott) - Isn't "Train" an interesting first name? His occupation was "oil mill operator" according to the 1880 census. He served in the Civil War, too.
• Elizabeth D. McClure (who married John W. Austin)
• Addison D. McClure (who died of an accidental gunshot wound at age 18)
• William Madison McClure (hubby's great-grandpa, who married Margaret Jane Larimer)
• John N. McClure
• Amanda "Callie" Caroline McClure (I don't know much about her--yet)

Another of hubby's ancestors lived in Indiana: His uncle John Andrew Wood, who married Rita Goodin on April 7, 1951 in Crown Point, Indiana and was an area supervisor for du Pont in East Chicago, Indiana for many years. Although family legend has it that John was mostly estranged from his three brothers (Wally, Ed, and Ted Wood), I know from Ed's diary that John and his wife Rita were in touch with Ed from time to time and they even visited each other once in a great while. How the "estrangement" story got started, I don't know...

As usual, thanks to Jim Sanders for this week's genealogy blogging prompt.

A special thank you to Harold of Midwestern Microhistory blog, who just posted news of thousands more Indiana marriage records being available at Family Search (click here). If you're researching Indiana ancestors, check out Harold's blog.

Amanuensis Monday: "I am your Pop (Ma is included in this)"

In 1943, when my Uncle Fred enlisted in WWII, the entire family geared up for a lively stream of correspondence to keep him company wherever he was posted. (The same steady stream of correspondence flowed to Fred's sister Dorothy Schwartz the WAC, and to Fred and Dorothy's first cousins in the service.)

Here's the second page of a letter to Fred from his "Pop" (my grandpa), Theodore Schwartz, written on November 9, 1944. Grandpa learned English after arriving in New York from Hungary as a teenager, and his spelling/punctuation weren't always perfect. He and my grandma ran a busy grocery store, which in wartime had the added burden of having to collect and sort ration coupons for many foods.

Instead of ending his letter to Fred by signing off with "love" as so many parents do today, he says something much more old fashioned: "With best wishes to you, I am your Pop" and adds: "Ma is included in this."

This letter reads:

Dear Fred,

Your 3 letters in a row at hand and been glad to hear that you, at last got what you wanted and also received the klippings [sic] describing in detail the work. It must be interesting, at least from the beginning. You will only have day work and nobody to rush you. There is not much news here. We are all well--just got a letter from Bobby F___ he is on the other side [meaning he's fighting in Europe]. Received a few letters from Dorothy, she is well, of course she does not get any steaks for every dinner but she is getting ours.

We had a nice [family] meeting at Ella's [Fred's uncle] Sunday. [Uncle] Albert's father-in-law, if you can remember him, celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary. I am slated for the next presidency in the family tree.*

With best wishes to you, I am your Pop
   Ma is included in this.


*The Farkas Family Tree was created during the 1930s, with members being the descendants of Moritz Farkas and Lena Kunstler Farkas, along with their spouses and kids. Grandma Hermina Farkas Schwartz was the oldest daughter of Moritz and Lena, and Grandpa Theodore's marriage to her made him eligible to serve as president of the tree, as he boasts in the final sentence of his letter to Fred. One of the fun rituals at each tree meeting was singing a family song written by one of Fred's aunts. More on this tree in future posts!

Happy Mother's Day! Three Generations in the Bronx

My mother, Daisy Schwartz, grew up in the Bronx, taking trolley cars and subways to get wherever she had to go, because the family had no car. My sisters and I were brought up in the Bronx, also experts in getting around by subway because our parents had no car.

The next generation started their families in the northeast Bronx (one sister) and in Brooklyn (the other sister) before moving away. These days, we all drive but also use our subway savvy when we go back to New York City for a visit.

Sibling Saturday: Lola, Brice, Lucille, and Hugh Benjamin McClure

Lucille McClure De Velde, John De Velde, Margaret Larimer McClure

Margaret Jane Larimer (1859-1913) and William Madison McClure (1849-1887) had four children, two of whom were entrepreneurial types.

• Lola A. McClure (1877-1948), born in Elkhart, Indiana. She married Edward A. Lower and had three children (Margaret, Edward Sherman, and Ross).
• Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970), born in Little Traverse, Michigan. He married Floyda Mabel Steiner and they had one daughter, Marian (hubby's Mom).
• Lucille Ethel McClure (1880-1926), also born in Elkhart, who married John E. De Velde (no children). The tintype above shows Lucy, John, and Lucy's mom Margaret McClure, sometime before 1913.
• Hugh Benjamin McClure (1882-1960), born in Wabash, Indiana. His first wife was Olivet Van Roe (and they had a daughter together, Georgianna). His second wife was Rebekah Venice Wilt and their children were: Margaret Susan, Jean A., Marietta, and Virginia Rebekah.

Brice McClure ran his own shade shop in Cleveland, to supplement his income during the Depression. He was a crackerjack machinist for various companies, striking out on his own between jobs because his specialty was in high demand. Brice was nicknamed "The Old Gentleman" by his daughter and son-in-law, who cared for him when he was older. He wasn't the first Brice in the family, by the way. That honor belongs to Brice Smith (1756-1828), Brice McClure's g-g-g-grandpa, who married Eleanor Kenny (1762-1841).

Hugh Benjamin McClure founded the H.B. McClure Manufacturing Co. in Peoria, Ill, which produced office equipment. Hubby's parents visited Peoria to see the family and tour the factory during the 1960s and they kept in touch for some time.

PS This is my 400th genealogy blog post! Woo-hoo!

PPS: 2022 update: I found Hugh in the 1950 US Census, still listed as the manager of an office supply factory (Peoria, IL, ED 109-106, sheet 10, lines 17-18).

Those Places Thursday: Sis Sees the Supremes at the Copacabana

J and Sis, recreating their memorable Prom Night

It was the Age of Aquarius. Sis was graduating from Christopher Columbus HS in the Bronx and going to the prom with future husband J. 

After the prom, some of her classmates cruised on the Circle Line boat around Manhattan, while others went to home parties. Not Sis and her friends. She booked a table at the Copacabana night club in New York City to see the Supremes!

This is a guest post by Sis about a very special place and time in her life.

For prom night, I saved up from my part-time jobs to buy a beautiful floor-length, sleeveless scoop-neck white lace sheath with matching coat. My outfit included pointy, white peau de soie high heels and a pearly purse just large enough for my house key, lipstick, eyelash glue, and a few dollar bills. J rented a white dinner jacket to match.

On the day of the prom, I had my hair done in a gorgeous, picture-perfect bouffant flip, sprayed stiff to stay put (as was the style back then). Then I put on my makeup: Cleopatra eyeliner, false eyelashes, blush, and pale icy pink lipstick. When J came to pick me up, he brought me a gardenia wrist corsage and I put a carnation in his lapel.

No one took a limo to the prom in those days. We double-dated with our friend Glenn, who borrowed his father's station wagon for the evening. At the prom, we danced the Swim, the Pony, the Twist, the Frug, the Mashed Potato, and everything else as a live band played every hit song we requested--Gloria, Mustang Sally, I Feel Good...of course, slipping in a slow dance like Sixteen Candles after every four or five songs.

When the prom was winding down, Glenn drove us downtown to the Copa (at 60th Street, just off Fifth Avenue) for the 11 pm show. There were six of us at a tiny bistro table in the second row from the stage, plus lots of other high school prom-goers packed in like sardines around the room. We didn't complain--we were there to see the world-famous Supremes.

I couldn't take my eyes off the Supremes, they were so incredibly glamorous as they sang You Can't Hurry Love and other hits during a one-hour set that included a costume change. (We didn't think to bring a camera; no one knew it was going to be historic!)

After one set and an expensive order of mediocre food from the overpriced menu, the Copa shuffled us out so they could get the next audience seated. A Copa napkin was my only souvenir. By 1 am, we were on our way back to the Bronx in Glenn's station wagon, watching the skyline glitter as he drove.

After graduation, Sis went on to Lehman College, where she and her friends started a new sorority--THE Sorority.