1950 US Census Prep: Using ED Maps and Descriptions

A good number of my ancestors lived in New York City--many in the Bronx, some in Queens, some in Brooklyn, a few in Manhattan, but none in Staten Island. 

As I get ready to find them in the 1950 US Census when the records are released in April, I'm finding I have to dig even deeper to determine the specific Enumeration District for a few of these Big Apple residents. This holds true for other big cities, by the way, as I've discovered searching for Cleveland ancestors.

Details matter

Here's a mini case study featuring ED maps and ED descriptions. My cousins lived at 3706 72d Street in Queens, New York. But studying the map, I see that the borough of Queens also has 72d Avenue, 72d Avenue Ext, 72d Crescent, 72d Drive, 72d Lane, 72d Place, and 72d Road. 

So my first step was to be sure I entered the correct street name when using the nifty Unified Census ED Finder by Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub. 

With only the street name/number, there were too many potential Enumeration Districts for me to browse. As the site directs, I next looked at the Google map and entered a cross street (Broadway) and a back street (37th Avenue) for the block where these cousins lived. 

These two additional details narrowed the number of EDs to three. I couldn't enter a fourth cross or back street, because my cousins lived on a triangular city block. 

Go to the NARA map

My next step was to look at the National Archives map for the three EDs that were around the address. The Steve Morse site has an easy one-step process to go to the maps. Be sure you set the year to 1950. 

Once I located the map for this section of Queens, I enlarged it to read the street names. I found my cousins' address was at a location numbered as block 12 on the NARA ED map (at top). 

The little white star on image above is where my cousins lived in 1950. But the orange lines delineating the districts didn't show me precisely which ED my cousin lived in. What now?

Read the NARA map description

To further narrow the number of EDs, I clicked on the link to read the transcription of each district in turn. The description for 41-598 wasn't as close to the address as the descriptions for 41-608 and 41-880, shown here:

It wasn't enough to glance at the boundary descriptions, because 72d Street, 37th Avenue, and Broadway are listed on both ED 41-608 and ED 41-880.

I looked more closely at the specific blocks included within each ED. Remember, the NARA map at top shows that the address is on block 12.

Block 12 is described as being within ED 41-608. So on April 1st, I'll be looking for my cousins in this single ED!

For more about the 1950 US Census release, see my summary page here. To learn more about the US National Archives ED maps and other maps of interest to genealogists, see here.

Great Cousin Bait: Ancestor Landing Pages

It's been nine years since I first created ancestor landing pages along the top of my genealogy blog, an idea I got from Caroline M. Pointer. 

I use these landing pages to summarize what I've learned about each ancestor or ancestral family, including images plus links to specific blog posts I've written about that ancestor or family. As I discover more details and write new posts, I add the links to the corresponding ancestor landing pages.

Just as important, ancestor landing pages are incredible cousin bait! When relatives search online for one of their ancestors, they often see my ancestor landing pages in their search results. With a click, they land on the landing page, read about the ancestor(s), and can connect with me via my blog's "contact me" widget. 

Thanks to landing pages, I've heard from dozens of farflung cousins who have landed on my landing pages. What a joy to get acquainted or reacquanted and exchange stories and photos!

By far the most popular ancestor landing page is the one devoted to my husband's McClure ancestors from Donegal. Even when most readers don't turn out to be related to this branch of the McClure family tree, they can get fresh ideas for researching their McClure ancestors by checking the resource links on this landing page or getting in touch with me.

Other genealogy bloggers have created different formats for their ancestor landing pages. For instance, Randy Seaver calls his "Randy's Genealogy," with links to his family trees plus more. Gail Dever calls hers "My Ancestors' Stories," linking to stories she has written about particular ancestors. Sandra Sue Pittman McPeak labels each landing page by surname. 

Different formats, same goal: to tell the ancestors' stories AND to serve as cousin bait!

"Landed" is the week 7 genealogy prompt in Amy Johnson Crow's 2022 edition of #52 Ancestors.

In the US, Top 10 Given Names in 1940 and 1950

In the United States, Social Security tracks the most popular given names for children born in each decade. Above, the most popular names for babies born in 2020.

Although some of the 2020 names are familiar from my family tree, I expect to find many more of the names popular in the 1940s and 1950s as I search for ancestors in the U.S. Census for 1950, being released on April 1.

According to the Social Security database, the top 10 given names for girls in the 1950s were:

1. Mary
2. Linda
3. Patricia
4. Susan
5. Deborah
6. Barbara
7. Debra
8. Karen
9. Nancy
10. Donna

The top 10 given names for boys in the 1950s were:

1. James
2. Michael
3. Robert
4. John
5. David
6. William
7. Richard
8. Thomas
9. Mark
10. Charles 

Interestingly, top given names from the 1940s were not very different. I will definitely find most of these names as I search for ancestors in the 1950 US Census.

According to Social Security, the top 10 given names for girls in the 1940s were:

1. Mary
2. Linda
3. Barbara
4. Patricia
5. Carol
6. Sandra
7. Nancy
8. Sharon
9. Judith
10. Susan

The top 10 given names for boys in the 1940s were:

1. James
2. Robert
3. John
4. William
5. Richard
6. David
7. Charles 
8. Thomas
9. Michael
10. Ronald

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

1950 US Census Project: FAN Club

My friend Paul, president of a local genealogy club, suggested a 1950 US Census project that sounds like fun as well as a great way to learn more about ancestors' FAN club (friends, associates, neighbors). 

After April 1, when the US Census is made public, we can not only search for ancestors, but look at who lived nearby. Whether we find each ancestor using the basic surname search or do homework to browse (as in this example) the proper Enumeration District, we can then click through each page in the ED to spot familiar names, addresses, ages, birthplace details, and much more.

Hello neighbor

This is a more deliberate effort to actively search out FAN club members. I usually look at the page before and after where my ancestor is in the ED, hoping to find other relatives or familiar names. But Paul's idea is to proactively search out FAN club names we already know as well as investigating the entire ED where an ancestor lives, looking for FAN club members we might not know or expect to find there.

Because my parents lived in a large apartment building in the Bronx, New York, I'll be browsing that ED to look at their neighbors. This 1950 US Census will also tell me more about my father's family, because his widowed mother, unmarried brother, and married sister lived in the same apartment building. 

Seeing who else was in each apartment, and reading about their background will help me understand family dynamics at that time. There may even be people who were temporarily visiting on Census Day--if I'm lucky, possibly a cousin or an aunt or someone's mother-in-law. Plus I'll be browsing for names of people on the block or around the corner that I remember my parents mentioning in conversation.

Friend, neighbor, in-law?

I'm lucky to have my mother's 1953ish address book with names, street addresses, and phone numbers of family and neighbors. I don't recognize every name, but some might be distant relatives and some might be in-laws. I'll be watching for them in the Census to clarify potential family connections.

Similarly, the 1950 Census will enable me to learn more about the names in my late father-in-law's diaries. He mentioned people who I suspect were friends and neighbors in Cleveland Heights. I'll search for them, see where they lived, how close their residence was to the Wood residence, and whether there are any fresh clues to relationships (business or personal). 

Paul will be searching for the surnames of kids he remembers from his early childhood. The outcome will be a map of his neighborhood, with relatives and FAN club members marked by location.

Will you be working on a 1950 US Census FAN club project?

Love the Valentine, Puzzled By the Spelling

This is a lovely, still colorful Valentine's Day postal greeting sent to my husband's ancestor in Cleveland, Ohio on February 12, 1912. 

That's 110 years ago tomorrow.

It was signed by the recipient's Aunt Nellie Wood Kirby and Uncle Arthur Kirby, who lived in Chicago, Illinois.

Nellie repeatedly used the wrong spelling for her young nephew's given name. This mistake puzzles me, since the boy was the son of her favorite brother. 

I saw the incorrect spelling on every single one of her penny postcards to this nephew. There were a lot of cards: She sent greetings for Christmas, New Year's, birthdays, Easter, and more, for at least a decade.

Wallace or Wallis?

As shown in the image at bottom, the postcard is addressed to "Wallace W. Wood." His name was actually "Wallis W. Wood."

This was a common error, repeated by more than one Census enumerator over the years. The ancestor's official documents (birth, marriage, death, military) reflect the correct spelling of Wallis. I've checked! 

Naming patterns as clues

Family naming patterns can be helpful but not definitive in evaluating online family trees. Since I'm married to another Wallis in this family, I'm very familiar with the naming patterns in his tree and the supporting documentation. That's how I know that Wallace is completely incorrect and Wallis is absolutely correct.

Over and over again, I see the incorrect spelling for this ancestor on other people's online trees. That's an extra-gigantic warning sign to BEWARE. Of course I always view online trees as possible clues and not fact, but I really steer clear when the tree owner hasn't taken the time to view and attach official documents reflecting the correctly named spelling of ancestors. 

Research and cite your sources! But don't necessarily trust names in the family's correspondence, as Nellie's Valentine demonstrates ;)

My post is part of the fun February Genealogy Blog Party about love stories. In this case, it's the Valentine I really love!

Mapping Mme Jennie Farkas in the 1950 US Census

With the public release of the 1950 U.S. Census coming soon on April 1, I'm  figuring out where each ancestor lived in or around the year 1950 and then translating the street address into an Enumeration District, with the help of maps.

Why a map when there will be a surname index?

A rudimentary surname index will be available when NARA releases the 1950 US Census digitally on April 1st. Family Search and Ancestry and others are working to index the records, as well. 

However, these initial indexes are unlikely to be complete or accurate, despite all the technology and attention they will represent. 

So I'll want to identify the Enumeration District in which each ancestor lived. That will enable me to browse the ED records to locate my ancestors if they don't pop up in surname search results. 

Great Aunt Jennie, the dressmaker 

Today I'm mapping great aunt Jennie Katz Farkas (1886-1974), the husband of my maternal great uncle Alex Farkas (1885-1948)--he was my maternal grandma's older brother. 

With Alex's death cert in hand, I know exactly where in New York City they were living in 1948. But as a widow, would Jennie be living in the same place?

I searched the 1949 directory for Manhattan, hoping to find Jennie on her own. There she was at the same address as in 1948 (see image at top). I was surprised but not flabbergasted to see her listed as Farkas, Jennie Mme. 

All of my Farkas cousins know the story that Jennie was a peerless professional dressmaker with an expert eye for detail. She could study a high-fashion photo in Vogue and then recreate the dress on her own. She was renowned within the family for making beautiful gowns for her sisters-in-law when they married (and for bridesmaids and matrons of honor, as well). 

I was aware she had a thriving business in dressmaking, but I didn't realize she called herself "Mademoiselle Jennie Farkas" for professional reasons. Um, she was born in Hungary! Still, she appears as Mme Jennie Farkas in Manhattan city directories throughout the 1940s. What an interesting detail to add to her story.

Mapping Jennie's Enumeration District

To map Jennie's ED, I went to the Unified 1950 Census ED Finder developed by Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub. If you haven't already bookmarked their page, add it to your list of key sites as you prep for the 1950 Census release! 

I used the easy drop-down menus to enter Jennie's 1949 address (a proxy for her 1950 address), as shown on the image directly above. This was a busy, crowded Manhattan area, and I was careful to choose 80th Street West. (FYI: An address on the East would be in a different ED. This east/west situation is a factor in many cities and towns, as is north/south, so pay close attention to these details in your own searches.) 

With only the street address entered, there would too many EDs to browse--see the listing at bottom of the above image. I needed to further narrow the number of EDs by selecting cross streets and back streets. On the ED Finder page, "See Google Map" is the place to click to see the map. 

 I clicked to view the map and found her address indicated by the red marker. It was easy to spot the three cross/back streets (I circled them above). 

One by one, I entered the cross/back streets into the ED Finder with the convenient drop-down menus to guide me. 

As the image below indicates, checking the map and having the four street boundaries surrounding Jennie's address allowed me to narrow down the number of EDs to only one: 31-803. That's the ED I'll browse on April 1st if Jennie doesn't show up using the surname index for the 1950 US Census.

"Maps" is this week's genealogy prompt in Amy Johnson Crow's yearlong #52Ancestors challenge. 

Lisa Gorrell kindly sent a link to the NARA map for Jennie's ED, which is one of many hundreds of EDs in Manhattan. Jennie's ED is way at top left of the image at left. 

Thanks, Lisa!

For more about the 1950 US Census and prepping for its release, please see my summary page here.

Are Family Historians Just Nosy?

My genie friend Paul Chiddicks (@chiddickstree) kicked off a thought-provoking Twitter conversation this week when he asked this question about documenting family history:

I have discovered a number of people recently that were married and never had children, when writing a narrative how do you approach the subject with compassion, sensitivity and no way of knowing why?

Paul is known for going beyond names, dates, and places in his genealogy. He tries to flesh out his ancestors with more detail and background on their stories, which is why he raised this question.

In the end, he tweeted that he would follow the suggestion of Derek and use this wording in his family history:

No children were found during this research - Simple, factual, sensitive, to the point and leaves the door open if needed.

How can we know why?

As a result of Paul's conversation on Twitter, I thought back to the couples in my family tree who had no children that I know of. Also I thought about the unmarried aunts and uncles and cousins in my tree--unmarried, so far as I know.

If we never knew these ancestors personally and no relatives living today knew them personally, is it possible to answer "why" in an intelligent way? 

Or would we be speculating, with the benefit of hindsight and through the lens of today's perspective in the absence of any documentation? 

Is an explanation even needed? 

Well, being a family historian, I guess I'm nosy. I always try to consider "why" an ancestor did something--left the old country, got married at an unexpected place or time, left a spouse, left a child, and so on. 

Family dynamics are affected by decisions like these, and I wish I could know "why." That's what I believe Paul was getting at with his question about married couples who have no children that he could find through research.

Will anyone care in the future?

The family historian for my Mom's side has spoken with me privately about sensitive "family stories" not able to be confirmed by a paper trail. I'm not telling any of the stories here, but one is exactly what Paul would want to know about couples on his family tree ;)

I talked with my sister about how to approach these topics. Here's what she said: 

Is it anybody else's business why some ancestor had no children or never married or got divorced? Would telling the reason (if passed down as a "family story") add anything important to the understanding of those ancestors today? Will anyone today or in the future actually care? And since none of this is provable, why bring it up? 

She and I don't have the same answers to her questions. However, we definitely agree that writing the stories down and putting them in my genealogy files is a good way to ensure that they aren't entirely lost...and will be available to my heirs in the future. 

I'll seal them in an envelope and mark them "sensitive family stories" and indicate the origin of each story, emphasizing that there is no way to know the truth today.

Perhaps my nosiness about family stories might be of interest to a future generation?! I won't be here to tell the story, but my notes will reveal what I was told, clearly marked as a "story" and not as fact.

Branching Out to Look Up and Link Ancestors

Part of my genealogical routine is after I look up ancestors on Ancestry, Family Search, and other sites, I link them to siblings, spouses, and children on Find a Grave. 

The process of looking up ancestors and branching out to their extended families has led me to new information and even new-to-me sources.

New to me: Canadian Headstones

Yesterday when I looked up one of my husband's Canadian ancestors on Ancestry, I noticed a different database show up with clues to burial place/dates.

Shown here is the results page from Ancestry informing me that this Slatter gravestone can be viewed on CanadianHeadstones. I clicked to view the picture and the transcription, and I compared the details with what I know about that family. Eureka--a good match from a resource I'd never before used. Of course I'm going to be plugging in other ancestor names to search for more headstones in Canada. But first...

Search and link

After saving this result to all three of the Slatter ancestors mentioned in the gravestone transcription, I looked for these ancestors in my virtual cemeteries on Find a Grave. I expected to find Glynn Edward Slatter (1906-1974), my hubby's cousin through his maternal grandmother, Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925). 

Glynn wasn't in my virtual cemetery of Wood and Slatter ancestors, because his memorial page on Find a Grave was added only last month. I quickly added him.

Next, I searched out the memorial for Glynn's wife, Kathryn Eileen Matthewson Slatter (also created only last month!) and submitted an edit to link the two as spouses.

My search of the same cemetery on Find a Grave turned up no memorial for Glynn and Kathryn's son David. He was, however, clearly listed on the photo of their gravestone on CanadianHeadstones. 

Based on that info, I created a page for David and then linked him to his parents. All are in my virtual cemetery. And all are now available to the world on Find a Grave, linked by relationship.

"Branching out" is this week's #Genealogy #52Ancestors prompt from Amy Johnson Crow. 

 

Fleshing Out Ancestors Based on Military Records

Reading through the detailed British and Canadian military records available for my hubby's great uncle, Henry Arthur Slatter (1866-1942), I found lots of non-military details that helped build a picture of the boy, the man, and his family. Physical descriptions, health and dental details, but also clues to major turning points in his life.

Born in the gritty Whitechapel section of London, Henry and two of his older brothers were preteens when they were put into a training program designed to give pauper boys the skills to serve in the military or at least have a trade. All three flourished in the program, becoming accomplished musicians well suited to the military life. After they grew up and continued their military careers, they all left England to become well-known bandmasters in Canada.

From poverty to bandmaster

Reading the records, it was clear Henry lied about his age to join the military. Both the official birth index and his baptism record show a birth year of 1866. Yet somehow Henry was recorded as being 17 (instead of 15) years old in the 1881 UK Census, where he was a private in the 7th Fusiliers. 

In 1884, he added two years to his actual age and enlisted as a 20-year-old when he joined the Grenadier Guards. Those records were lengthy!

One son died young

As shown at top in an excerpt from the pension pages in the file, Henry and his wife, Alice Winter Good (1864-1914), had four children...but unfortunately, one child is crossed out in the listing, with a notation about his early death.

I had previously found little William Matthew Slatter's birth, but not his death. Now Henry's military record gave me a death date for this young son, as well. 

After serving in the Grenadier Guards and earning a pension, Henry moved his family to Vancouver. In 1912 Henry was serving as bandmaster for the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders. Then World War I began and more tragedy struck Henry's family.

On Christmas Day of 1914, Henry's wife Alice died. Their son Arthur Albert Slatter (1887-1917) was killed in action with the London Regiment of the 20th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, during fierce fighting in Europe (his name is now on the Arras Memorial in France). 

Second marriage details

The military files note that Henry enlisted in the WWI Canadian Expeditionary Forces, serving in England with the 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion.

Shown above is part of a page from his thick WWI CEF file. On November 14, 1918, the CO granted permission for Henry to remarry. He was 52 at the time.

Also in the file is a detailed card showing the bride as Kathleen Barnes, an "English widow" and the groom as an "English widower." They were married on December 2, 1918, in Christ Church, Brighton, Sussex, and the card even includes witness names. 

Wonderful genealogical details but also good for me to see that he was not alone. According to the military examiners, Henry Arthur Slatter was generally healthy, did not have any medical complaints (although he did have poor eyesight), and didn't look his age. Reading their comments gave me more of a sense of the human being, not just the military man.

No wonder I scour every page of every military record in search of details that add to my knowledge of an ancestor's life beyond the service.

Pop Quiz, Part 3: 1950 US Census Vocabulary

This is the answer sheet for the vocabulary terms in Part 2 of my quiz series. 

5. Naturalized? AP

In answering the question about naturalization, enumerators would write "American Parents" when an individual was born to US citizens in another country or at sea. For more, see the full Urban & Rural Enumerator's Reference Manual on Google books here.

6. Sample Person - How would a person be designated as a sample?

On every page of the population schedule, enumerators were instructed to ask additional "sample" questions of people who they listed on certain line numbers. The line numbers varied by page, to add a measure of randomness. So on one page, a separate sample person would be designated on each of lines 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, and 26. On the next page, the sample person would be designated on each of lines 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, and 27. For more, see the middle of the page on Steve Morse's 1950 discussion here.

7. T-Night - What does the T stand for?

T is for transient. Two nights (April 11 and April 13, 1950) were designated for enumerators to visit hotels, hostels, flop houses, and other places where people lived temporarily. For more, see the History Hub blog post here.

8. $10,000+ - When would this be shown?

If an individual answering the sample question about income earned more than $10,000 in the year 1949, the enumerator would record it as $10,000+ rather than entering a specific higher amount. For more, see here for the History Hub discussion of sample questions and enumerators' instructions for recording answers.

I hope you enjoyed these pop quiz posts as you prep for the 1950 US Census release on April 1. For Part 1 pop quiz, see here.

PS: Want to download an original Form P1? See this page on the US Census Bureau site.

And read more about getting ready for the 1950 US Census release on my summary page here.

Pop Quiz, Part 2: 1950 US Census Vocabulary

This is Part 2 of the 1950 US Census vocabulary quiz!

First, the answers to questions in Part 1. 

1. Class of worker: P, G, O, NP

P = working for a private employer

G = working for a government agency

O = working in your own business (for pay)

NP = "no pay," as in working without pay on the family farm or in the family business

For more about the 1950 questions, see this page on the iPums site.

2. Enumeration District 

This is defined as the geographic area that one Census enumerator could cover during the Census period. In major metro areas, a single city block filled with apartment buildings might be one entire ED. For more, see Steve Morse's FAQs here.

3. Form P1 

This form is the "Population and Housing Schedule," the main questionnaire completed by enumerators in counting people for the Census. For more, see this History Hub article. 

4. Inmate - Who would be listed this way in the Census?

Not just inmates in correctional facilities, but also individuals in mental institutions, homes for the aged, and other institutional residences. For a lot more detail, see a pdf government report on the 1950 institutional population here.

---

Now, it's quiz time again. 

Test yourself: Do you know the answers to these four additional vocabulary questions? 

5. Naturalized? AP - What do those two code letters indicate?

6. Sample Person - How would a person be designated as a sample?

7. T-Night - What does the T stand for?

8. $10,000+ - When would this be shown?

. . . Answers soon!

Pop Quiz, Part 1: 1950 US Census Vocabulary

How well do you know your 1950 US Census vocabulary? 

Here are four specialized terms or codes you'll encounter when this mid-century Census is released on April 1. 

Test yourself:

1. Class of worker: P, G, O, NP - Decode this alphabet soup!

2. Enumeration District - What does this mean?

3. Form P1 - What's the full name for this form? 

4. Inmate - Who would be listed this way in the Census?

. . . Answers to be revealed soon, along with a quiz about four more vocabulary terms!  Spoiler: answers are HERE!

PS: For more about the 1950 US Census please see my summary page here.

Just Curious: Did My Immigrant Ancestors Know English?

As I write bite-sized bios of my great-grandparents, who died long before I was born, I find I'm curious about their daily lives. 

For instance: Did great-grandma Leni Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938) and great-grandpa Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) become fluent enough to speak, read, and write in English? 

Both were born in Hungary (in an area now in Ukraine). Both were, I'm confident without any real proof, able to read and write in their native Hungarian language. Why? Because Leni was the daughter of a family that owned property and operated an inn...Moritz supervised his in-laws' vineyard and leased lands to farm. They interacted with officials, not just family members, and would have needed some level of proficiency in Hungarian.

Comparing family stories and research 

Research and family stories agree on many aspects of these immigrant ancestors' lives. Moritz arrived in New York City in August, 1899, Leni arrived in November, 1900, and their Hungarian-born children followed in two waves. Moritz worked as a presser and cloak maker within the New York City garment industry. Leni was in charge of their children and ruled the household. 

The youngest kids went to city public schools and picked up English quickly and naturally. The older children (mid-to-late teens) worked during the day and went to night school to learn English. At the end of the work week, they handed their pay packets to Leni. She doled out carfare and lunch money for the next week, and kept the rest for rent, food, and other expenses (including an occasional summer getaway of her own, according to family lore). 

Both Leni and Moritz lived in New York City for three decades. Moritz worked outside the family, while Leni may have had dealings with landlords, shopkeepers, school officials, and others in the neighborhood.

But how well could they speak, read, and/or write English? My oldest cousins, who were toddlers when these ancestors died, have distant memories that could only be based on actual conversations, in English, with Leni and Moritz. What other clues can I gather?

Start with the US Census

My first step was to return to the US Census, which often asked about proficiency in English. Interestingly inconsistent answers!

• 1900 Census: Moritz lived as a boarder in someone else's Lower East Side tenement apartment. For the question "speak English?" the enumerator had originally written YES but overwrote it and the answer is illegible.
• 1910 Census: YES, Moritz can speak English, according to this record, but NO, Leni's answer is "Magyar."  
• 1920 Census: NO, neither Moritz nor Leni is recorded as being able to speak English. Their native tongue is "Jewish," according to this Census.
• 1930 Census: YES, both Moritz and Leni are recorded as being able to speak English. The language spoken at home before coming to America is listed as "Magyar."

Next stop: naturalization documentation

Next, I looked at Moritz's Petition for Naturalization, dated June of 1906. He had been in America for nearly seven years at that point. 

As shown at top, the commissioner who signed this petition indicated that no, Moritz could NOT "read or write the English language intelligently."

So...yes or no?

My conclusion, based on this research, is that for the first decade in America, neither of these ancestors could do more than understand a bit of basic English and possibly answer with a stock phrase. 

I believe, based on my research and my cousins' dim memories, that eventually, both Leni and Moritz understood spoken English fairly well, and could converse in English with people outside the family, even if their vocabulary was not extensive or sophisticated.

I doubt either ancestor could read or write very much English by the time they passed away. Most likely, they (like so many immigrants) relied on their children all their lives to be interpreters and read/write English when necessary. 

-- This is my post for week 4 of Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors series, with the theme of "curious."

Seeking City Directories for Your 1950 US Census Prep?

With 71 days until the release of the 1950 US Census, this is the time to find 1950ish home addresses for ancestors who will be in that Census. 

A great tool for finding an ancestor's street address is in a city or phone directory published around the time of the Census (1948-1952, for instance). Expand the search to earlier and later years if needed. 

Not every directory for every year is available online--some may be available for research in local libraries or archives if you can visit in person. 

Family Search has links to city directories online, indicating both free and fee-based sources, as shown at top in a page from its invaluable wiki.

Ancestry.com has lots of city directories. I went to the card catalog and did a search for "U.S., city directories," and 15 state-by-state collections turned up, as shown here. There are other directories in the card catalog, as well--but again, not necessarily in the time period for the 1950 US Census, so check dates carefully.

For more links to US city directories, check The Ancestor Hunt and Cyndi's List, which both have links to directories in various states and for various years.

Also check InternetArchive.org, which has lots of directories from all over the country for a wide range of years. At left, a screen shot of part of a page from the 1950 directory for Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. 

If you take the time now to locate ancestors' addresses, you can turn them into Enumeration Districts using the handy ED Finder by Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub, and be ready to browse the population schedule on April 1. Good luck!

For more about the release of the 1950 US Census, and how to get ready to find ancestors on April 1, see my summary page of posts here. 

Favorite Photo That Led to a Breakthrough

 

This photo of a distinguished man in uniform was passed down in my husband's family for a century.

We had no idea who it was until 2011. 

After I posted the photo on my blog, two wonderful readers recognized the uniform, the big breakthrough I needed.

Capt. John Daniel Slatter

This is Captain John Daniel Slatter (1864-1954), in full regalia as Bandmaster of the 48th Highlanders of Toronto.

With a name and dates, I knew just where he should fit in the family tree.

Capt. Slatter is an older brother of hubby's grandma, Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925). Now I had a new research angle to explore!

Over the next few months, I corresponded with the 48th Highlanders' museum in Toronto. Later, hubby and I drove up for a visit. We learned a great deal about Capt. Slatter's military career from the curators. In turn, we left them a family tree and biographical information to supplement the military artifacts and records in the museum's possession.

Bite-Sized Bio

More recently, I wrote a bite-sized bio to memorialize this legendary bandmaster, posting it on Family Search, Find a Grave, and other sites. It wasn't easy to squeeze his personal life and professional accomplishments into four paragraphs (with sources summarized at the end--see below). 

Thanks to eagle-eyed readers getting me started with the initial identification, I've now traced the Slatter family further back in time and can memorialize more ancestors with bite-sized bios on multiple genealogy websites. 

* This is my week 3 post for Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge, with the theme of "favorite photo."