Wedding Wednesday - 1946

The biggest social event of 1946 in my father's side of the family was the wedding of my parents (center, seated). Alas, Mom's gold lame wedding dress is long gone but it was quite glamorous!

Surnames: Burk, Birk, Schwartz, Volk, Mahler

Mystery Monday - Margaret Schwartz and son William

My great-uncle Samuel SCHWARTZ died in 1954, while married to his second wife, Margaret (his first wife, Anna, had died in 1940). According to family lore, Sam and Margaret drifted away from the family after their marriage and once Sam died, leaving nothing to the children of his first marriage, the rift was complete.

Looking for more on Margaret, I found a grave for someone with that name in the same cemetery where Sam & Anna are buried...in fact, Margaret's plot is in the same block and section as Sam & Anna, and the burial society (1st Hungarian Independent Lodge) is the same for all three. 2022 update: Cemetery is Riverside in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. Sam's Find a Grave memorial is here.

Now for the mystery: The next of kin listed on Margaret's cemetery info is "William Schwartz, son." Although I don't know whether this is the correct Margaret (I've guessed wrong before!), nobody has ever heard of Margaret and Sam having a son. Is William Schwartz a distant relative? Does he still have any of Sam Schwartz's family heirlooms?

Mystery solved! My cousin Bonnie told me she remembers that Margaret had a child from her first marriage, so William might have been my great-uncle Sam's stepson. However, it turns out that William is NOT the correct guy. Margaret's son was named Simon, as I learned when I found him with his mother and stepdad in the 1950 US Census. My 2024 conclusion is: Margaret Schwartz buried in Riverside unlikely to be the person in my family tree.

Talented Tuesday: Needlework Experts

My mother (Daisy Schwartz Burk) and my younger sister, shown above, were talented with a needle and thread or yarn. Mom did petit point and needlepoint when she was first married, but from an early age she had been crocheting afghans, doilies, etc. She never sewed her own clothes because her mother (my grandmother, Hermina Schwartz), was a proficient seamstress who made the family's clothes for many years--and when my mother was working and earning money, she wanted store-bought apparel, not home-made.

My younger sister embroidered, did needlepoint, crocheted, and was good at many different hand-crafts.

My mother taught us to crochet before we started school (I now quilt as well) and my twin sewed a lot of her clothes during high school and college. Now one niece is an expert crocheter and another loves to embroider. The tradition of needlework continues!

I still have some items embroidered by my grandmother and mother, which I treasure and take care of so the memories and stories of their talents remain alive.

Data Backup Day - Suspenders and Belt Edition

Having lived through several PC crashes that demolished my data in the bad old days, I now rely on the "suspenders and belt" strategy of ensuring that my stuff can be retrieved, even if my computer is a total loss.

First, I use and automatic backup that begins at 5 pm every day (this is my 2022 update).

Second, now that I've given up the PC world and become a Mac fan (remember, "fan" is short for "fanatic"), I have Apple's Time Machine backing up every hour to an external hard drive that sits right on my desk. Really worst case, I'll lose an hour. Who can beat that? This is the suspenders part, the extra bit of insurance that lets me feel secure about my data.

2022 update: I have another external hard drive for photos, videos, and other genealogical items I do not ever want to lose!

Sentimental Sunday

 At left is my mom and below is her twin sister, a few minutes older. These are their high school graduation photos.

Remember those socks filled with chalk that children used to swing around on Halloween? Mom's Halloween memories weren't very positive because one Halloween she was socked in the mouth with a sock filled with rocks. Although she had a few sets of front teeth put in over the years, replaced as dental techniques became better, she always had to be careful what and how she ate. She even had to be careful how she kissed! 2022 update: letters written to her in 1940s mentioned her new teeth and the problem with kissing.

Those Places Thursday - European Band Tour

Edgar James Wood, born in Cleveland, OH, spent his summers in between college semesters touring Europe with a band. They'd get hired to play on an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic and then pick up gigs as they moved around Europe. This is a poster from 1926, when Edgar was playing in Dick Bowers' Band. Although they didn't make much money, they did have lots of adventures and see the world. Decades later, Edgar (my late father-in-law) was still talking about his summer band tours and cruise dates.

Wordless Wednesday: James Edgar Wood

James Edgar Wood was a builder in Cleveland Heights, OH, around the turn of the century (the sign, at right of the bicycle, is the giveaway). This is one of the homes he built. The woman with him is his wife, Mary Slatter Wood. Anyway, James's proficiency in carpentry has been inherited by later generations--at least 4 generations at current count. (updated in 2022 to confirm that the photo shows husband and wife, James and Mary)

Black Sheep Sunday - Busted Because of a Coal Road

A Black Sheep Sunday story I remember my father telling. My dad, Harold Burk 1909-1978 (right, above), worked his way up to Sgt in the US Army during WWII, in charge of getting some supplies to certain Allied troops fighting in Europe. He was frustrated that he couldn't easily deliver coal to the barracks in a heavily wooded area, and with the weather getting very cold, and no official way to get the coal to freezing troops, he took matters into his own hands.

He ordered a tank (or heavy truck, not sure which) to knock down some of the smaller trees and create a narrow road that could then be used for transporting coal to the barracks! Higher-ranking officials weren't happy because they feared the narrow road would tip off enemy planes if they spotted the route, and my dad was busted, losing at least one stripe. But he always felt the men would not have survived the winter without some fuel for the stoves, so he made their day-to-day welfare his concern. 

Is this a Black Sheep story? My husband doesn't think so, but maybe that's because all ended well. 2022: No way to prove whether the story was true, but I'm retelling it anyway with the caveat that this is a "family legend" I heard directly from Dad.

Grandma, Upper Sandusky, and McGuffey's Reader

Years ago, my husband's parents gifted him with a beat-up old book, McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader (revised edition). These days, McGuffey's is available for free, online, from the Gutenberg Project.

The book itself is too fragile to scan, unfortunately, so no picture here. The book has huge sentimental value because it belonged to my husband's grandmother, Floyda Steiner McClure, who used it in school in Upper Sandusky, OH, about 1890-91.

Interestingly, Floyda practiced her shorthand on the endpapers at the back of the book. She also scribbled some math sums back there. No highlighting in the book, of course. This is a family treasure because it connects us to older generations in a tangible way. How else would we know that Floyda read Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Lord Byron, and more?

2022 update: New image of cover.

Cousins--More Than Names on My Family Tree

I suspected that there were more 2nd cousins out there: In my great-grandmother's obit, I counted the number of great-grandchildren, of which I'm one.

One big reason I started this blog is so that cousins and other relatives could find me--and now Cousin Lois has done just that. We're excitedly exchanging family stories and talking over old times. I'm delighted to catch up with Lois's news and learn, through her, about more cousins scattered around the country. Wonder of wonders, Lois even has some treasured heirlooms that belonged to our great-grandpa.

So many cousins to meet, so many stories to tell, so many family connections to make. Here's to great cousin connections! 2022 update: I'm now in touch with descendants of Mrs. Sarah Mahler Smith, and have been in touch with Mrs. Mary Mahler Markell's descendants. 

The McClure Family - Ohio Branch

I'm researching my husband's family at the moment...here are two photos of his grandparents. Above is Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure (1878-1948), of Nevada, Ohio (d. Cleveland).

And here's Brice Larimer McClure, (1878-1970), affectionately known as "The Old Gentleman" in the family. He was born in Little Traverse, Michigan (d. Cleveland). He's named after Brice S. Larimer, his maternal grandfather. 

We're not sure where the name Brice comes from or why it was chosen, since the family tree doesn't yet reflect that name, but we're not very far into this family's research. 2022 update: An ancestor in the family was Brice Smith, clearly the reason why Brice was passed down in multiple generations.

Looking for Louis Volk

Louis VOLK (father Samuel, mother Celie Leboff) was an important part of my father's family. He married my great-aunt Ida Mahler in 1920. When Louis's brother-in-law (Isaac Burk) died unexpectedly while visiting him in 1943, Louis gave info for Isaac's death certificate. 

Born in Sukian, Russia, around 1891 or 1892, Louis lived in the Bronx in the 1930s and somehow got to the ritzy Rodman Ave Street NW section of Washington, DC by the 1940s. His children were Myron and Sylvia. Hope to connect with Volk descendants! 2022 update: Connected with Volk descendants! 

PS Thank you to cousin L for correcting the Rodman St. info. 

Isaac Burk was Lithuanian, Henrietta Mahler was Latvian

How do I know that my grandfather Isaac Burk was Lithuanian and his wife Henrietta Mahler Burk was Latvian? How do I know for sure that he appears at left in this photo (with my grandmother Henrietta Mahler Burk at right, taken at the wedding of their youngest daughter, in center)?

Because his Declaration of Intention to apply for citizenship has his nationality AND a photo! It also has his terrible signature--clearly writing English was still a struggle, after all his years away from his homeland.

Isaac came from "Kovna" according to these documents. He and Henrietta married in New York City, but where, when, and how they met is a mystery (at this point). More research is in my future. UPDATED 2022: This is definitely Isaac, with his younger daughter Miriam, her new husband David, and Isaac's wife Henrietta. Photo from 1937.

Speedy NYC Marriage Cert

With unprecedented speed, NYC has sent me my grandparents' marriage license from 1906. It's some help with genealogy but has less detail than I'd hoped.

I didn't know where Isaac Birk/Berk/Burk lived at that time, and now I do. Below is a photo--the tenement is still in existence, although the storefronts have obviously been updated (not necessarily "improved") since Grandpa's time.

Grandpa was 26 and Grandma Henrietta Mahler was 19 when they married, the first time for both. This license may be where some of the confusion about Grandpa's name came about. The official who wrote out the info calls Grandpa "Isaac Burk" but he signs himself "Isaak Berk." He gives his birth place as simply "Russia" and writes that his occupation is "carpenter." His father's name was Elias S. Burk (but the last name has been clearly corrected in some way). His mother's name was Necke Burk (again, both names heavily corrected, suggesting that they didn't translate well?). 2022 update: Necke Gelle Shuham Burk, possibly. 

PS Here's where my Grandma lived at the time, another address I never knew (here we are between the US Census years, so they may have moved every year for all I know). Another tenement still standing but with changed storefronts.

Not MY Rachel Jacobs

Wonder of wonders, the NYC authorities turned my death cert request around in only one week, a new speed record. And now I know that I was wrong about my g-g-grandma Rachel Jacobs being buried in the cemetery plot devoted to patients from the Montefiore Home for Incurables in NYC.

The death cert I received shows a Rachel Jacobs dying in 1904 and being buried in that plot. It can't be my family's Rachel Jacobs because this one was just 56 yrs old, married, and born in US. None of that fits the profile of MY Rachel Jacobs.

I feel sorry for this Rachel Jacobs, however, because she had a cerebral hemorrhage in 1902 and finally died in 1904, having been at the Montefiore Home for 21 months, according to the death cert.

Lessons learned: (1) just because someone with the same name as an ancestor is buried within walking distance in the same cemetery as a known relative, doesn't mean he or she is in my family; (2) if the known relatives have expensive headstones and paid $ for perpetual care, but the mother of one of those relatives has a nearly impossible-to-see, insignificant headstone in a charity plot, chances are that mother is not a relative.

I'm going to have to take a different approach to finding my Rachel.

2022 update: I finally did find Rachel Shuham Jacobs in Mt. Zion Cemetery, Queens, NY. Her Find a Grave memorial is here.