For the Holidays, a Bite-Sized Family History Project

With Christmas fast approaching, I asked my wonderful hubby to please write a few lines about his childhood memories of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He thought for a few minutes about what stood out, both the good and the not-so-good, and he wrote half a page. As we talked, more details started flooding back. Pretty soon he had a full page of memories, ranging from putting up the tree to singing carols as his father played the piano.

Illustrating written memories

Next, my hubby browsed old 35mm slides from his childhood and chose seven to go along with his written memories. He found slides of his siblings next to the tree, one of himself in pjs and robe on Christmas Day, one of his father (Edgar James Wood) testing a Christmas toy, one of his mother (Marian McClure Wood) in holiday finery, and one of his grandfather (Brice Larimer McClure) chatting with a grandchild on Christmas. 

As a holiday surprise, we're sending family members these images along with the page of memories. Even in a busy season, we found a couple of hours to assemble the project--and I'm sure recipients will find a few minutes to read the story and smile at the photos from decades in the past.

Of course we've been sharing these and other memories around the dinner table during this year's holiday celebrations. And making new memories for the future.

Bonus: "spot the heirloom"

Among the images scanned from old slides, my eye was drawn to the one at top. It shows the living room in hubby's childhood home in Cleveland, Ohio, festively decorated for Christmas exactly as he saw in his mind's eye. 

Next to the piano keyboard, on the left edge of the image, the camera captured a special heirloom that has been passed down in the family: his mother's handmade ceramic sculpture of a zebra. I marked it with a red box in the image above. 

My heart was touched by seeing my late mom-in-law's favorite little zebra on display in her living room. Some distant day, this little zebra and her other ceramics will be inherited by descendants, along with the stories and photos.

- This is my Genealogy Blog Party post for December 2021.

Preserving Our Family's Legacy of Needlework

Last year, I wrote about my husband's grandma Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure's needlework legacy. A love of sewing and crocheting has continued in that family to the present day. I've wrapped each item in archival tissue to keep it safe for the future when it will be inherited by the next generation.

In my family, we have a number of hand-made needlework items we treasure for their beauty and for the long tradition they represent. 

At left, a detail from an embroidered set of linens by my mother, Daisy Schwartz Burk (1919-1981). The set is in great condition, washed and ironed and stored in an archival box for preservation. I put a label on the box to indicate who made the needlework and who inherits it.

Mom learned to embroider and to crochet from her mother, Hermina Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964), who also used her treadle machine to sew clothes. I imagine Hermina learned needlework from her mother, Lena Kunstler Farkas, and so on.

Love of needlework has been passed down from generation to generation in my Farkas family. Here are two afghans, one knit by a special cousin and one crocheted by a special niece. Each time I cuddle up in one of these, I think of the person who painstakingly made it, one stitch at a time. 

My hope is that by documenting these homemade heirlooms, and keeping them safe, future generations will be know they come from a very long line of talented needlework enthusiasts. 

None of my ancestors were quilters, but I got interested and over the years, I've made a number of wall quilts, bed quilts, and baby quilts. Each one has a label attached to the back, showing my name as the quilter, the date, and a photo...sometimes the photo is me, sometimes of the recipient if the quilt was a gift.

Now another of my nieces has taken up quilting and enjoys stitching quilts for her young ones and for friends. I'm so happy the tradition of homemade needlework is continuing in our family!

This is my week 49 post in Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors series of genealogy prompts.

My 1921 English Census Research

The 1921 Census for England and Wales will be released on January 6,  through FindMyPast.com, with a fee charged for accessing records. 

However, there will be several designated places (such as the Manchester Central Library) where the public can view and save 1921 Census records for free! 

My Manchester cousins are planning to look for our mutual immigrant ancestors in the 1921 Census. They have also offered to help me by looking for several ancestors in my husband's family, including descendants of his great-grandfather. I'm making a list and checking it twice! 

John Slatter Sr. and his children

My husband's great-grandfather John Slatter Sr. (1837-1901) was born in Oxfordshire, England and died in Cleveland, Ohio at the home of his youngest daughter, my hubby's grandma. John and his wife, Mary Shehen Slatter (1837-1889) had six children together: Thomas, Albert, John, Henry, Adelaide, and Mary. 

Five of the six children left England. Two settled in Ohio, three settled in Canada.  But one of the children doesn't seem to have left England, so far as I can determine.

John's probate as a clue

At top is a probate listing for John Slatter Sr, filed in Ohio in 1902, months after his death. Notice that five children are listed as heirs. Those are the five children I can account for. 

Thomas, however, is not listed. Very likely this is because Thomas had passed away before his father, but I don't know for sure. 

I do know Thomas John Slatter was taken in by his father's mother, Sarah Harris Slatter Shuttleworth, by the time of the 1871 UK Census. This saved Thomas John from going into the poorhouse along with his siblings and his mother.

Unfortunately, his grandma Sarah died in 1872 and at this point, I haven't definitively located Thomas John Slatter. I do have some leads to check out, including a possible stint in the military, but more research is needed to connect the dots.

Slatter ancestors on my 1921 list

In addition to searching the 1921 Census for a possible clue to Thomas John Slatter, I'll be looking for his cousins in the Slatter family: Thomas Albert Slatter (who I found in the 1939 register), Fanny Slatter Gardner (who died in 1931), and John Shuttleworth Slatter (a WWI veteran who died in 1927), among others.

So early 2022 is shaping up to be a period of intense Census searches for my hubby's family and, in April, for my family!

Two More Reasons to Create Virtual Cemeteries on FindaGrave

So far, I've created five virtual cemeteries on the free, worldwide, Ancestry-owned website FindaGrave.com. 

See my detailed post here about how and why to create a virtual cemetery on FindaGrave.

I've named each virtual cemetery and for some, I've added a brief description ("Descendants of Solomon Elias Burk and..."). Others will get a description very soon.

Names and descriptions help relatives and researchers who want to browse these memorials.

Now I want to point out two more reasons--two very good reasons!--for creating a virtual cemetery on FindaGrave.

Reason 1: Quickly go to a memorial 

Often, I access an ancestor's FindaGrave by clicking a link on my Ancestry family tree. 

If I'm not working on my Ancestry tree at the moment, I just go to my listing of virtual cemeteries on FindaGrave and locate a particular memorial that way. Fast and easy! 

I'm accessing many more of my memorials these days as I compose and post brief, bite-sized bios on FindaGrave and other websites. How easy it is to simply click on my virtual cemetery, see a memorial, and note which still need bite-sized bios.

Reason 2: Return to a memorial to see what's new

Just today I returned to a memorial I haven't accessed in months...and discovered that someone left a flower two weeks ago! In fact, looking at linked memorials, I saw this person left a flower on more than one of my ancestor's pages. Cousin bait?!

I immediately checked that person's FindaGrave profile page, found no listing of surnames, and sent a polite message (saying thank you for leaving a flower, and please let me know whether you're related to my ancestor). Fingers crossed that perhaps this is a distant cousin or someone in the FAN Club (friends, associates, neighbors).

Note I don't manage every one of my ancestor memorials (nor all of my hubby's ancestor memorials). As long as they're in good hands, I'm usually content to simply submit edits, including bite-sized bios. Other people also submit edits to these memorials on occasion (Census data, maiden names, etc). 

That's why it's always worthwhile checking back to see what's new. With my virtual cemeteries, I'm only a click away from any ancestor memorial.

RootsTech Registration Is Free and Open Now!

The first-ever all-free and all-virtual Roots Tech was an incredible worldwide success. I'm still finishing the last few #Genealogy and #FamilyHistory videos from my 2020 playlist. Having an entire year to watch (and rewatch) has been a real plus. 

Now it's time to register for RootsTech 2021, again free and again all-virtual. You can click and register right here.

Starting March 3, RootsTech will offer more than 1,500 brand new talks, plus an international exhibit hall and much more.

Something for everyone, on every level. Did I mention it's free? Go ahead and register so you can receive updates about keynote speakers and other news.

Was Frank Jacobs Enumerated on T-Night in the 1950 US Census?

Continuing my quest for addresses so I can browse for ancestors when the unindexed 1950 U.S. Census is released next year, I've been researching the whereabouts of my 1c2r cousin, Frank M. Jacobs (1896-1974). 

Serving overseas in World War I with the Marines, he was wounded at Soissons and lost a leg. After he recovered, he embarked on a career in advertising. As shown in the 1930 and 1940 Census (and in city directories), Frank lived in Brooklyn, New York with his mother (Eva Michalovsky Jacobs, 1869-1941). She died in July of 1941.

Did Frank leave Brooklyn?

Frank's World War II draft registration card from 1942 shows him living at the Hotel Tudor on East 42nd Street in Manhattan, very convenient for his work at Young & Rubicam on Madison Avenue. At the time, this hotel hosted a mix of transient guests and permanent residents in 598 rooms [source: NY Times, April 6, 1947, p. 120].

Frank also listed his brother Louis as his main contact and showed his brother's address as a mailing address in Brooklyn.

But was Frank staying at the Hotel Tudor for only a limited time? Because Frank died in Brooklyn in 1974, it's possible he returned to Brooklyn after retiring. Next step: Check city/phone directories.

Directory search

Many city and phone directories are available for free via the Internet Archive. I browsed for Frank in the 1949 and 1950 telephone directories for Brooklyn, New York, and found two "Jacobs, Frank" entries in both directories. 

The 1950 directory is dated March, 1950; the 1949 directory is dated September, 1949. Clearly, if one of the Frank Jacobs listed in 1950 is my cousin, the 1950 Brooklyn address would be the most updated one for me to use in finding an Enumeration District for him in the 1950 US Census.

However, Frank was fairly consistent in listing himself as "Frank M. Jacobs" so I can't be sure whether either "Frank Jacobs" in Brooklyn was my cousin. 

Of course, his brother Louis may have listed Frank as being in the Brooklyn household with him on Census Day of 1950...which I'll see as soon as I locate the brother's household in the Census. That would be a bonus!

Transient night at the Hotel Tudor?

Suppose Frank was actually living at the Hotel Tudor in Manhattan during April of 1950. He might have wanted to be close to his office rather than commute back to Brooklyn every evening.

If this is the case, I'll have to browse for Frank in the listing of people registered at the Hotel Tudor on T-Night, April 11, 1950. This was the night set aside for distributing Individual Census Report forms to guests (and residents) at hotels, to be collected by enumerators and then recorded on the Population Schedule. 

The Hotel Tudor's street address was 302-4 East 42nd Street in New York City. Using the wonderful Enumeration District Finder on SteveMorse.org, I've narrowed down the hotel's ED to 31-1266. That's where I'l begin browsing for cousin Frank when the 1950 Census is made public on April 1.

UPDATE April 15, 2022: Frank was NOT listed as being at the Hotel Tudor in the 1950 Census. I'll have to wait for the full indexes by Family Search & Ancestry & MyHeritage to search for him by name.

NOTE: For more information about the 1950 US Census, please see my full topic page here.

Honored to be a WikiTree Challenge Guest!

This is the final month of WikiTree's Year of Accuracy Genealogy Challenge.

The goal is to make the collaborative family tree on WikiTree as complete and accurate as possible, sources and all. 

I've been putting my ancestors on WikiTree little by little, adding photos and biographical details, and -- of course -- indicating my sources. 

During December, teams of WikiTree research super-sleuths will focus on three folks in the genealogy community: Mary Roddy, James Tanner, and me. It is truly an honor to be included in the 2021 challenge!

I can't wait to see what hidden treasures the WikiTree teams will uncover as they dig deep to improve my family tree. 

A few items on my wish list:

• Was paternal grandpa Isaac Burk descended from the Shuham family, as he wrote on his Social Security application? If so, he was related to his bride, my paternal grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk. She was a granddaughter of Rachel Shuham Jacobs. Sticking with this line, was Necke Gelle Shuham (Isaac's mom) the sister of Hinda Mitav? 
• Rachel Shuham Jacobs was my paternal 2d great-grandma. Her daughter Tillie Jacobs Mahler claimed to be 100 years old when she died in 1952. If so, was Rachel a young teen when she gave birth to Tillie? 
• Who were maternal great-grandpa Moritz Farkas's siblings? These would be children of Ferencz Farkas & Hermina Gross Farkas. Knowing more about these ancestors could help me connect my tree with Elek Farkas and his wife Rozsi. I believe Elek's daughter was Ida Weiss who married Herman Weiss, and I know their descendants were cousins to my maternal Farkas family. But what kind of cousins? Was Herman Weiss also a cousin to Farkas family?
• What about the parents of my maternal great-grandma Hani Simonowitz Schwartz and her husband, Herman Yehuda Schwartz?

Thank you in advance for any ancestor details you're able to add to my tree and any brick walls you're able to smash, WikiTreers!

Remembering WWI Vet Frank M. Jacobs

My 1c2r, Frank M. Jacobs (1896-1974) enlisted in the US Marines on April 18, 1917, when he was 20 years old. While he was fighting in World War I, he left behind his mother (Eva Michalovsky Jacobs), his father (Joseph Jacobs), and his siblings in Brooklyn, New York. 

Fighting in France

After a brief period of training, Frank was sent to France on June 27, 1917, where he fought in the Toulon Sector, Aisne Defensive, Chateau-Thierry Sector, and Soissons (the Aisne-Marne Offensive). All this detail is on his New York "Abstracts of World War I Military Service" record, shown below. By June of 1918, he had been promoted to Corporal.

Sadly, Frank lost a leg on July 19, 1918 during fierce fighting at the Battle at Soissons. He received medical attention in France and was returned to the States for further treatment. Meanwhile, more tragedy in the family: His father Joseph, a chronic invalid, died in November of 1918, before Frank was formally discharged.

So far as I can determine, Frank never married or had children. He pursued a long career in advertising. On his WWII draft registration card, Frank showed his employer as the big Madison Avenue firm Young & Rubicam.

In Frank's own words

Frank wrote home quite regularly throughout his service in WWI. His family shared some of those letters with local newspapers, a common practice at the time. Thanks to the wonderful (and completely free!) newspaper site Fulton Search, I read a number of letter excerpts and interviews with Frank, supplementing the official records with my ancestor's own words.

Only a week before being wounded, he wrote to his family that "I am glad to be one of the lucky ones to come through without a scratch. Our regiment has been cited five times for conspicuous bravery." On July 19, the newspaper reported that letter along with the news of Frank's injury.

In an interview with the Daily Standard Union newspaper in Brooklyn, New York, Frank described what happened in the Battle of Soissons. He told the reporter that "a high explosive shell broke right beside me. A pebble hit me in the head and I put my hand there. It was then that I noticed that my leg was gone. I didn't lose consciousness then or afterward."

I'm currently writing Frank's bite-sized bio and posting on genealogy websites to keep his memory alive and share his war experiences in his own words.

Plus I'm pleased to post this on the Genealogy Blog Party for November of 2021!

Penny Postcard Thanksgiving Greetings

 

More than a century ago, this colorful penny postal greeting was sent to my husband's uncle in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy and very healthy Thanksgiving! 

Book Review: Learning More About Your Ancestors Online

I've been a big fan of Kenneth R. Marks's website The Ancestor Hunt since I came upon it a few years ago. 

In one easy-to-navigate site, he's assembled 160,000+ links to free genealogy resources in North America, arranged geographically and by type of resource.

Kenneth also offers a series of free, downloadable Quick Reference Guides with useful tips for family-history researchers at all skill levels.

Now I'm a big fan of his new, very affordable reference book, Learning More About Your Ancestors Online: Genealogy Guides for Newbies, Hobbyists, and Old Pros, available in paperback and digitally on Amazon.

A baker's dozen of chapters

In 13 chapters, Kenneth organizes his advice and links according to topic: 

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Birth and marriage 
• Chapter 3: Death records and information 
• Chapter 4: General advice about genealogy research
• Chapter 5: Immigration, naturalization, travel
• Chapter 6: Military 
• Chapter 7: Miscellaneous records (such as secret societies, old-time illnesses)
• Chapter 8: Newspaper research
• Chapter 9: Occupations
• Chapter 10: Photos and physical description
• Chapter 11: Residences and other locations
• Chapter 12: Schools and yearbooks
• Chapter 13: Resources

Every chapter has a ton of useful ideas and time-tested suggestions. The final chapter, not to be missed, is a roundup of links to other websites with additional information about search techniques and genealogical records.

I highly recommend Kenneth's book, which I purchased in paperback as soon as it was published. It's a handy reference book for everyone interested in genealogy research, from beginners to experienced professionals. Happy to have it on my genealogy bookshelf!

The Penny Postcard Craze and Family History

Early in the 20th century, my husband's Wood family stayed in touch frequently via colorful penny postal greetings. 

Any holiday or celebration was a great reason to write to a young relative.

Not just on birthdays but also for Abraham Lincoln's birthday and July 4th and everything in between!

Penny postcard craze

The Wood family was completely caught up in the postcard craze of that era. 

It really took off when the price of mailing a postcard was lowered from two cents to one cent. 

At the time, the highest quality postcards were printed in Germany and shipped across the Atlantic. Most of the postcards sent by Wood ancestors in Ohio and beyond were, in fact, made in Germany. 

Postcards as family history clues 

Wallis Wood (1905-1957), my hubby's uncle living in Cleveland, received dozens of birthday postcards during his preteen years. Happily, the family held onto these postcards over the years.

Thanks to the addresses and postmarks, I was able to track this Cleveland branch of the Wood family as they moved to different houses nearly every year from 1905 to 1917. 

Why? Because Wallis Wood's papa (James Edgar Wood, 1871-1939) was a home builder. 

James constructed a new house roughly every year, moved his family in as he finished the interior, and sold that home. Then he moved the family to another home being completed by his crew. 

James, his wife (Mary Slatter Wood, 1869-1925), and their four sons had lots of different addresses over the years. In between Census years and in between directory listings, the postcards showed me where they were living.

These are just three of the fun birthday postcards sent to Wallis before 1915.

This is my post for week #46 of Amy Johnson Crow's #52 Ancestors challenge.

1950 US Census: Putting Reported Income In Context

When the 1950 US Census is released in April, it will have detailed information on a surprisingly large sample of the population.

One in five sampled

If I'm lucky, my ancestors will be among the 20% of people sampled, which meant they answered additional questions about 1949 full-year income and more.

My deep dive into the reported statistics about each state will give me good context for interpreting my ancestors' answers. (You can see each state's reported statistics in the publications at HathiTrust. There are so many fascinating tables of statistics, income and much more, on a state-by-state basis.) 

Apples-to-apples comparison 

As shown in the excerpt above, the median income for urban areas of New York state was $3,123*, higher than the median for the state overall. I would expect my Big Apple ancestors and other city-dwellers to report higher incomes than any who lived in rural areas. Common sense, but seeing the statistics in the official reports gives me a sense of how much people might have earned at that time, so I can compare with my father's income. 

In later life, when my mother occasionally talked about those post-war years, she said my father's travel agency was doing well. I won't know how well unless they were among the 20% of the population who answered those sample questions in the 1950 Census. 

Yes, I already have their Enumeration District listed so I can browse for them as soon as the Census is released in April.

*The 2021 equivalent of $3,123 in income would be more than $33,000. 

1950 US Census: "Separated" Added as Marital Status

To be ready when the 1950 Census is released on April 1, 2022 (woo hoo!), I'm reading background information and thinking about what ancestors' responses could reveal about family history. 

If you have ancestors enumerated in the 1950 Census, do check out the summary report(s) for the state(s) where they lived in 1950. The reports are digitized and available at HathiTrust. The excerpt above is from the introduction to the results summary for New York State, where so many of my ancestors lived at the time. 

Separated, divorced, widowed?

"Separated" was a new category for marital status in the 1950 US Census. That's a plus for genealogical researchers, if our ancestors answered truthfully. 

In earlier years, a few of my ancestors said they were "widowed" rather than admit to being separated or divorced. Maybe in 1950, they answered "separated" because it was a little less of a stigma than "divorced" was at the time? 

As shown in the excerpt at top, the Census Bureau noted that this new "separated" category may have lowered the number of people recorded as "divorced." 

But read further, and see how the Census Bureau dealt with situations in which no marital status was recorded by the enumerator.

"Estimated" marital status

The Census Bureau "estimated" marital status in situations where the enumerator, for whatever reason, didn't record an individual's marital status.

The "estimate" was made on the basis of age and presence of spouse or children in the household.

So some individuals who were recorded as "single" under 1940 US Census rules might be recorded in 1950 as "married, spouse absent" or "widowed." Interesting clues.

Who's telling the truth?

What about my great aunt Nellie Block, who previously told enumerators she was single? In the US and NY Census documents I've checked, Nellie lived alone or was a boarder in someone else's apartment. She never had any spouse or children in the household with her, so far as I could see. She consistently said she was single. 

Yet when Nellie died late in 1950, she was supposedly widowed, according to her brother, the informant for her death cert. Who was telling the truth, Nellie or her brother? Looking forward to seeing how her marital status was recorded in the 1950 Census.

1950 US Census: "Errors in Age Statistics"

Before the 1950 US Census is released on April 1, 2022, I'm doing background reading to understand what the population schedule will tell me about my ancestors.

I recommend looking at the state-by-state results published by the US Census Bureau in 1954 and available for free at HathiTrust. Browse the list until you see the state(s) where your ancestors lived. Many of my ancestors lived in New York, so I've been clicking my way through that statewide report of 1950 Census results.

No matter which state report you read, you'll see the same introductory information that will add context to the 1950 Census results. 

Look at reported age, for instance, which we know isn't always accurate on Census forms. Women, in particular, might fudge age downward. In fact, both my grandmas were sensitive about being a year older than their husbands, and lied to enumerators in more than one Census. But there were other reasons for age errors, as well.

The Census Bureau knew about age errors 

As shown in the introduction excerpt above, the Census Bureau was well aware of "errors in age statistics." Young children tended to be undercounted, a situation that was partially fixed by the use of Infant Cards written out by enumerators for kids born in Jan-Feb-March of 1950. Sadly, these info-rich cards were not retained and we won't have access to that valuable data.

In addition, errors were noted among older age groups. The Census Bureau said there were fewer than expected people enumerated in the 55-64 age group, but more than expected enumerated in the 65+ age group. 

Suddenly so many seniors?

Coincidence? Maybe, but my guess is this had to do with post-war retirements and people wanting to collect Social Security at age 65. With an eye toward eligibility, I suspect lots of folks were suddenly willing to admit to a government agency that they were 65 or older. 

This was an actual problem for my hubby's maternal grandpa, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970) He told employers he was younger than he really was so he could work all during World War II. 

Once the war was over, however, Brice was already over 65. At that point, he had difficulty straightening out his age documentation so he could collect Social Security payments. He eventually did manage to collect, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he said about his age on the 1950 US Census!

For more background about preparing for the release of the 1950 US Census, please see my summary page here.

Where Are Your Family's Artifacts?

 

If, like me, you've donated some of your family's photos, documents, or other artifacts to a museum, a library, or another institution, be sure your relatives (and your heirs) know the details! 

Not all items must remain in my genealogy collection. When the family has no sentimental attachment to an item, and the item is not vital to my genealogical knowledge, my goal is to keep these artifacts safe in institutions where they can be preserved and made available to future researchers.

In the past six years, my husband and I have happily donated nonpersonal items of historical interest (such as theater programs, photographs, WWII memorabilia, specialized magazines, and more) to libraries, archives, historical societies, museums, and other repositories, after asking permission to make these donations. You can read my blog post about the step-by-step process of donating a family artifact and learn more in my newly-updated book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

As shown at top, my genealogy files include a separate folder called "artifact donations" containing all the deeds of gift and notes about what has been donated, when, and where. A deed of gift (or contract of gift) is the legal document used to transfer ownership of a donated item from myself to an institution. 

Now my heirs will be able to see which institution owns each donated artifact.