Saluting Father and Son Military Vets in My Family Tree

On this Memorial Day weekend, I'm continuing to focus on the military vets in my family tree, with pride. This post is to honor the military service of Morris Pitler and his two sons, George and Richard.

My maternal great aunt Freda Farkas (1898-1989) married Morris Pitler (1895-1976) on New Year's Eve of 1922, nearly four years after he had been honorably discharged from serving in World War I. As shown in the service record at top, Morris was inducted into the US Army at Ft. Monroe, Virginia. He served in the 40th Artillery from July of 1918 to January of 1919, rising to the rank of Radio Sergeant in November, 1918. After his military service, Morris built a successful career in the insurance business.

Morris's older son, Harry S. Pitler (1925-2014) finished high school in 1943 and was working at Grumman Aircraft on Long Island, NY when at age 18, he enlisted in the US Army to serve during World War II. Harry was trained as an X-ray technician and sent to the European battlefront, where he worked with medics treating wounded Allied soldiers. His letters to family described the extended educational and training period. Once home from the war, Harry got married, went to Yale Medical School, and became a caring doctor in general practice.

Morris's younger son, Richard K. Pitler (1928-2023) was an 18-year-old student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he filled out his draft registration card in March of 1946. He finished his college degree and then Dick became a lieutenant in the US Army, stationed at the Watertown Arsenal in Watertown, Massachusetts. He left the Army in 1950, married, went on for a master's degree at RPI, and became a high-ranking expert specializing in metallurgy with Allegheny Ludlum Steel. 

Thank you to Morris, Dick, Harry, and all the vets who have served our country over the years. 

Korean War Veterans in Booklet About Hubby's Military Ancestors

Throughout May, I've been updating the bite-sized bios of veterans in my husband's family tree, as I add them to an expanded family history booklet about ancestors who served in the military. I'm proud of their service and looking ahead, I want the rest of my family to know of their service in the years to come.

Originally, I focused on his Civil War ancestors (both Union and Confederate). Then I expanded my research and documentation to include his ancestors who served in WWI and WWII, and a handful who served in the War of 1812. Plus there is one, just one, direct-line ancestor who served in the American Revolution, on the side of the Colonies.

Now I'm adding hubby's second cousins who served in the Korean War. As I do that, I'm also checking that their "veteran" status is indicated on their Find a Grave memorial pages. 

In the case of cousin James "Jim" Simmons (1930-2009), there was no Find a Grave memorial. He had been cremated, no burial listed, according to the death record. So I created a page for him, and before it was finalized, Find a Grave asked me to check that it wasn't a dupe of a page for someone with a similar name who had been cremated. Not a dupe, so I went ahead.

On Jim's page, I indicated a "V" for veteran (top red arrow), and wrote the dates of his service in the bio section (lower red arrow). Then I linked his memorial to the pages of his younger brother (also a Korean War veteran) and to his parents.

On Memorial Day weekend, thank you to all the veterans who have served their country. For those in my family tree and my husband's family tree, I'm doing everything I can to keep their memories alive for future generations--so our valuable family history doesn't get lost to the mists of time. See my book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, for more ideas about preserving genealogy for the sake of those who come after us.

PS: I've submitted a suggestion to Ancestry.com to request that it provide a "V" designation we can use to designate someone as a military veteran in our family trees. The company is giving it consideration. After all, if Ancestry-owned Find a Grave can do this, it would be great to be consistent and have a "V" designation available on the family tree side as well, IMHO.

Six Degrees or Meatball of Edgar James Wood

WikiTree recently conducted a challenge to see how many ancestors could be added to the family tree of genealogist Randy Seaver, who's been researching and documenting his own family history for many a year. Randy summed up this amazing experience in his blog post here, including a potential brick-wall buster discovered by one of the participants.  

Randy included in his post a wonderful chart showing how people connect to him in his family tree, made using one of the apps offered to WikiTree users. Randy called it a "meatball" chart, WikiTree calls it a "six degree" chart. Here's a link to the app by Greg Clarke to create this type of chart starting from a particular person on your Wikitree, always free.

Since I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a photobook about my husband's paternal grandparents on the Wood and Steiner side, I created the meatball at top showing Edgar James Wood and his ancestors. Colorful and interesting! The royal blue circle is my husband, son of the man in the middle of the meatball. 

Thank you to WikiTree for providing free, useful, and eye-catching tools like this to visualize the family tree.

Julia Wood and the Business of Claiming a Widow's Pension

In this month of Memorial Day, I've been looking closely at the military ancestors in my husband's family tree, both their lives and their families.

Lemuel Wood, master mariner

Hubby's great-granduncle Lemuel C. Wood (1792-1870) was a master mariner with controlling or partnership interest in whaling ships out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. After his first two wives died, he married Julia A. L. Sampson, widow of a whaling man who died at sea. Julia was 52 and Lemuel was 68 when they were wed in 1860. 

When the US Civil War broke out, Lemuel used his considerable knowledge and skill by serving in the Union Navy. He commanded the USS Daylight as part of the blockade against the Confederate states in late 1861 to early 1862. His military service ended about the time he turned 70 years old. Lemuel recorded his occupation as "mariner" on the 1865 Mass. Census and the 1870 US Census. He died on Sept. 16, 1870 at the age of 78. According to the Census, his real estate was then worth $8,000 and his personal estate was worth $12,000 (in all, the equivalent of $340,000 in today's dollars).

Julia A. Wood, widow seeking pension

Julia had no obvious source of income other than her late husband's land and personal property. She outlived him by many years and even living frugally, could eventually find herself short of money. In 1880, she was enumerated as a widow alone on Martha's Vineyard, not a fancy vacation area as it is today but quite a rural area and  not an expensive place to live. In 1890, she was living in New Bedford ... which I was able to find out because she was named in the Veterans' and Widows' Schedule! 

At top, two excerpts from the 1890 schedule, showing her as Lemuel's widow, his 8 months' service commanding the USS Daylight, and Julia's listing of her late husband's US military service. She said Lemuel served in the War of 1812 (I haven't yet found evidence of this), the Mexican War (again, not yet found evidence) and the Union side of the US Civil War (lots of evidence). More military research is in my future.

Importantly, in June of 1890, Congress passed and the President signed the Dependent and Disability Pensions Act, which made Lemuel eligible for a pension based on his Union Navy service. In his stead, Julia filed for his pension. She was nearly 83 at the time and she hired a Washington, D.C. lawyer to manage the multi-step process, I know from the lengthy file I found on Fold3.com. 

Prove marriages, prove deaths, prove need

To claim the pension, Julia had to produce numerous documents that would prove that her first husband died, that she married Lemuel (where and when), that he died (where and when), and finally proof of her desperate need for expediting this pension application. 

Her lawyer provided not one but two affidavits attesting to Julia's lack of income except help from her son "on whom she has no legal claim" meaning he had no legal obligation to continue his financial assistance. The goal of these affidavits was to provoke "special" status so Julia's claim would be reviewed more quickly, taking care of business when most needed.

Claim approved, eventually dropped

Finally, in early 1891, Julia was approved for $8 per month in a widow's pension. She collected the pension until September of 1891, fell ill, and died in November, 1891, at age 84. 

After all that time and trouble and expense to prove eligibility, Julia collected the pension for less than seven months. No one seems to have notified the pension authorities about Julia's death because the file remained open until 1895. Then, as shown below, she was "dropped from rolls" due to "failure to claim pension."

"Taking care of business" is the week 20 genealogy prompt for Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge.

Ancestor Bios of Military Veterans Make World History More Personal

In writing bite-sized bios of my husband's ancestors who were in the military, I've researched their units or militias and also tried to put their service into historical and familial context. This is especially important when I know fairly little about individuals who lived and died more than 150 years in the past. In the process, I hope to show my readers the personal side of world history, and the connection with family history.

In the above page about Elihu Wood Jr., I named his parents and said he was one of eight children, for family context. Also I pointed out that he was born only 20 years after the American Revolution, during which his father served for the Colonies.

In the War of 1812, Elihu became a private in the Massachusetts Militia, and I included an image from one of the state adjutant general books, showing his name and unit. 

Then I explained the historical background that prompted his two tours of two weeks each in the militia in 1814. Elihu's service, short though it might be, was an important element in the Colonial defense of the New England coastline. 

The final paragraph of this bite-sized bio provided some personal details about Elihu's wife (Sarah Howland) and their family. I ended with the observation that Sarah died just days after the 100th anniversary of the American Revolution. So even though I know only a bit about these people as individuals, adding the connection with world history puts them into a larger context and highlights the tradition of military service, both father and son being US veterans.

Happy Mother's Day

 

Remembering my Mom and my two grandmothers on Mother's Day weekend:

Grandma Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1966) - Married Theodore Schwartz in 1911, mother of my Mom

Grandma Henrietta Mahler (1881-1954) - Married Isaac Burk in 1906, mother of my Dad

Mom Daisy Schwartz (1919-1981) - Married Harold Burk in 1946. Happy Mother's Day!

Finding All of Grandma Henrietta's Children in the 1920 US Census

Happy 143d birthday, Grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk, born on May 9, 1881 in Latvia. 

In January of 1920, the US Census taker listed you, Grandma, with your husband and one of four children in a big apartment building in New York City. I found you there when I was cranking microfilm to look at this Census maybe 20 years ago, before digitization and indexing made it faster and easier to locate ancestors. Neither you nor Grandpa Isaac had been naturalized at the time, as indicated by the "al" status in the column at right. 

Look at surrounding Census pages

Creative spelling for these names, but recognizable as you and Grandpa and your older daughter at the bottom of a page. Wait, what? The other three children were not on the next page nor on the previous page!? Puzzling, but I was certain the rest of the family couldn't be very far away. Luckily, I had already learned to check a page or two back and a page or two forward, so I kept cranking the microfilm.

Whew, your two sons and younger daughter were two pages away, at the top of the sheet. Here they are, shown as son, daughter, son. Harold D Berk [sic] is my Dad, so I figured out very quickly who these people were and who they belonged to, even though they were NOT the children of the last person on the previous page.

What did the enumerator do?

Today, with 26 years of experience in genealogy research, I can understand why Grandma Henrietta was not enumerated with all of her children. Here's the story as I pieced it together.

That enumerator stopped work early on Sunday, the 4th of January, 1920, before counting all the households at 1642/1644 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. He finished the bottom of your page and left. You and your husband and older daughter were listed as "number of family in order of visitation #62." Remember that number 62, which is shown before the surname on the Census sheet.

On Monday, the 5th of January, the enumerator returned to the area but didn't start with your apartment or even your building, I can see by looking at the page after you. Then, two pages after you, I found your other three children finally enumerated on the 5th of January. It's a good thing I recognized the names. 

But the enumerator did leave an important clue: #62, number of family in order of visitation. With that number, he was linking Harold, Miriam, and Sidney to #62 family in order of visitation, the household of Henrietta & Isaac, which he had enumerated two pages before at this address. I just didn't have enough experience and knowledge decades ago to decode his Census entry indicating these three names were actually the children of the parents at family #62.

Thinking of you, Grandma Henrietta, on this anniversary of your birth.

Preserving Bite-Sized Bios of Military Ancestors

During the 2020 summer of pandemic lockdown, I had lots of time to create a research-based but very readable booklet about the 18 Wood ancestors in my husband's family tree who served in the US Civil War. I sent the booklet to descendants, knowing several were keenly interested in that war and had visited battlefields in the past. Over time, I discovered additional ancestors who served for the Union, but I never updated the booklet. Until now.

With Memorial Day on my mind, I'm currently expanding this booklet to include Wood ancestors who served in:

• The American Revolution (1 militia man in Massachusetts)
• The War of 1812 (4 men in Ohio, 1 man in Massachusetts--son of the Revolutionary War patriot)
• The US Civil War (20 serving for the Union, 3 serving for the Confederacy)
• World War I, Allied side (8 US/Canadian/British ancestors)
• World War II, Allied side (7 US/Canadian ancestors)
  
• Korean War (2 US ancestors)

My goal is to honor the military service of these 40 ancestors and briefly tell their family stories in context. For instance, I was surprised to learn not long ago that my husband's uncle enlisted as World War II was ending, becoming a Staff Sgt with 1958th Service Command Unit of U.S. Army, which escorted military prisoners. Even though this man was 35 years old, married with two children at home, he chose to serve in the military for a year. I want his story to be remembered, along with the stories of all the other veterans in the family tree. Every story matters, and I will continue to post these bite-sized bios on genealogy websites to share what I know now--part of my plan to ensure a future for my family's history so these names and lives aren't forgotten.

As shown at top, I'm using two royalty-free color images to illustrate the title page. Color catches the eye and attracts readers to my short paragraphs. I'm updating the index to include all names, all military branches, all units, any honors and awards, and adding a special listing of the few who were unfortunately killed in action.

Just as important, I'm explaining the exact relationship of each ancestor to my readers, such as: John N. McClure, Union Army, 2d great uncle of my husband, 3d great uncle to the following generation. This helps my readers understand the family relationship to people they never met but will come to know through my bite-sized bios featuring their military service.

"Preserve" is Amy Johnson Crow's prompt for week 19 of her #52Ancestors  genealogy challenge.

Newly Indexed Records Reveal Surname of Sam's Second Wife

MyHeritage just announced a major, newly indexed collection of New York City vital records from 1866 on. Read about it here! In fact, if you're researching a NYC marriage from 1908 on, you may be lucky enough to discover not just the marriage certificate but also the affidavit for license to marry--which includes extra info such as bride/groom occupation. First-hand info from our ancestors, often in their own handwriting!

My Farkas, Schwartz and Mahler families all came to the Big Apple from Eastern Europe, so I headed over to search the NYC marriage database to try to break through a brick wall in my Schwartz tree. 

I never could find the maiden name of my great uncle Samuel Schwartz's second wife. I entered Sam's first and last name, indicated to "match name exactly" because this was how he spelled his name, entered his year of birth, place of birth, and the marriage place as Queens, NY. Then I clicked to search. If no decent results had been returned, I would have unclicked "match name" and tried variations. But no need in this case.

Above, the very first result in MyHeritage's listing. Amazingly, this is MY great uncle Sam, born on the 4th of July in 1883 in Hungary. And now I know a lot more about his second wife Margaret, because the bride and groom filled out pages of paperwork for their January, 1945 marriage. Let me show you their affidavit for license to marry:

Margaret's maiden name was Lazar, and her first husband was David Simon, who died in 1940. This document shows Margaret's current address, birth place, parents' names, all in her own writing. Same for my great uncle Sam, but nothing new since I already had his details and his signature from other documents--except the license date and wedding date!

Now, thanks to MyHeritage, I'm able to flesh out Margaret's branch of the family tree to document her full name and family relationships for future generations. 

Bottom line: New documents become available online all the time...different genealogy websites index differently...never give up!

The Markell Brothers Make News

The Markell brothers were Barney, Philip, Julius, and Samuel, born in Vilnius, Lithuania. Barney (1874-1944) was the oldest and the first to come to America, in 1891. He was the original focus of my research because his son Joseph A. Markell married Mary Mahler - one of two matchmaker aunts who put my parents together on a blind date. I did a bit of research and found interesting news items about the Markell brothers, using GenealogyBank, Newspapers.com, Internet Archive, and OldNews.com.

Barney in the news

At top, an 1897 newspaper item from the court column of the Pittsburgh Press (Pennsylvania). A man named H. Cline testified he was insulted when Barney Markell "called me a Hungarian." The judge asked, "Was that all?" The witness answered, "Yes; isn't that plenty?" Judge: "Markell, you are discharged." Years later, Barney was in the news with his brother as well...

Philip in the news

Philip Markell (1880-1955) was in the Boston news in 1921 when he and brother Barney and another partner, Maurice Wolf, put together $15,000 to incorporate and finance their purchase of the Atlas Theater in Adams, Massachusetts. They showed motion pictures and hosted shows until divesting in 1935. Philip was also mentioned in the Motion Picture News, when he and partner(s) bought, improved, and sold theaters in Massachusetts during the 1920s. 

Julius in the news

Julius Markell (1882-1966) appeared in legal notices from 1915-1917 as he and his wife Ella Lebowitz Markell worked through a difficult divorce that she initiated. Yet Julius named his wife Ella on his 1918 WWI draft registration as his nearest relative, saying they both lived at same Brooklyn residence. Doubtful. She was almost certainly living in Pittsburgh where the rest of her family lived, having separated from Julius years earlier. Interestingly, when Ella applied for US citizenship in 1939, she said she was divorced from Julius in 1914. Nope, the divorce was definitely not yet final at that time.

Samuel in the news

The youngest brother, Samuel Markell (1885-1971), made the news in 1910 and 1911 when he became engaged and then married his fiancee, Marion Goldstein. I found that the name "Samuel Markell" appears in the Boston papers hundreds of times in early and mid 1900s, but that was a prominent attorney appearing in court or making philanthropic news. Not my Samuel Markell! 

No Arranged Marriages for the Farkas Sisters in America

 

My maternal grandma, Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1964), insisted on marrying the man of her choice. She met her future husband (Theodore "Ted" Schwartz, 1887-1965) in a Hungarian delicatessen in New York City's Lower East Side, an immigrant neighborhood packed with tenements and pushcarts. Minnie (born in Hungary) lived on East 6th Street, Ted (also born in Hungary) lived around the corner on Avenue D. Although Minnie's mother thought Ted was a "peasant" and not good enough for her, Minnie found ways to see the man she loved. 

What happened next is legend in my family: Minnie's parents tried to arrange a marriage with a man they considered more suitable. When this man came to the Farkas apartment with an engagement ring, Minnie threw it out the window. Her younger brothers ran downstairs to find the ring. What became of the ring? Nobody knows, but Minnie made her point. Her parents finally accepted her choice. Minnie and Ted were wed at the Clinton Street Synagogue in 1911, a few months after Ted was naturalized.

Where Minnie's sisters met their future husbands

Minnie showed her Farkas sisters that women in America could choose their own husbands. Here's how those young ladies, my great aunts, met their future spouses:

Irene (1896-1988) met farmer's son Milton one summer when she and her mother spent a couple of weeks boarding at his family farm in upstate New York, where they escaped the heat of Manhattan. Irene worked as a bookkeeper and was very much a city girl, but Milton's good looks and charm won her heart. They married in the Bronx and lived for a year or so with Milton's family. They then moved to the Bronx, a greener borough than Manhattan, where their two daughters were born.

Ella (1897-1991) went to college to be a teacher. She met civil engineer Joseph through her friendship with sons of neighbors. The couple married in the Bronx, had a son and a daughter, and the family remained tight-knit and happy until Joe's untimely death. Ella had never stopped working, a rarity among her married sisters, and she taught elementary school until her retirement.

Freda (1898-1989) also was introduced to her future husband Morris through the same neighbor boys who were friends with Ella's fella Joseph. Freda was a librarian when she met and married Morris, an actuary in insurance. They had two sons. During World War II, Freda worked at Grumman Aircraft, the only Rosie the Riveter among the Farkas sisters.

Rose (1901-1993) worked as a stenographer and bookkeeper. She met accountant George at an adult summer camp outside of New York City, and they married in Manhattan. Rose and George had three children. George went back to school for a law degree and opened a successful tax law practice. Rose was one of the matchmaker aunts who later got my mother and my father together on a blind date!

Jeanne (1905-1987) was a bookkeeper for a jeweler in Manhattan and although one of the owners proposed, Jeanne chose Harry, a dentist she met at an adult summer camp. Jeanne and Harry were married at a big wedding during the Depression. The entire family began to have their teeth cared for by Jeanne's hubby.

"Love and marriage" is this week's genealogy prompt from Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors series.

Father and Two Sons in 1812 War: Larimer, Larimore, Larrimore

In my husband's Larimer family, a father and two sons from Ohio defended the nation during the War of 1812. 

Because of the variable spelling of the day, the service records of all three were originally filed under different surnames. 

Isaac Larimer (1771-1823) and son Robert Larimer (1792-1850) both served for a year in the 3d Regiment Ohio Volunteers, while son John Larimer (1794-1843) was a 90-day enlistee in the Ohio Militia.

At top, Robert Larimer's NARA reference card, showing he was originally filed under Larimore and then under Larimer. I was interested to see he was a drummer, enlisted at age 20.  

On the other hand, John Larimer's NARA reference card at right shows he was originally filed under Larrimore and then cross-referenced under Larimore. He was a private in the First Regiment Ohio Militia.

Below, their father Isaac Larimer's NARA reference card shows he was originally filed under Larimer and then referenced under the surname Larimore. Isaac, in his early 40s, was an ensign, a commissioned officer in the army.

After Isaac's death, his widow Elizabeth received a warrant for land bounty of 160 acres in the Larimer name. 

Isaac and Elizabeth were my husband's 4th great-grandparents, moving their family westward from Pennsylvania to Ohio in search of fertile farmland. They were only some of my husband's ancestors who caught Ohio Fever.

This post is for week 17 of Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors genealogy prompt, "war."

PS: You know I married my husband for his ancestors, right?! 😆

Artifacts + Context = Family History Story

 

I'm finishing a 20-page photo book about my husband's paternal grandparents, James Edgar Wood (1871-1939) and Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925) and their life together. It's a bite-sized family history project, focused on one couple and their background and children. A page in the book is devoted to postcards...with a photo and context for these artifacts. The caption reads: 

James Edgar Wood's relatives were spread across several states. They stayed in touch via penny postcards and visits. Two of these cards were sent by Dorothy Baker (daughter of Ada) to her first cousin Wally, and one was sent by Aunt Nellie Lewis (sister of James). All are addressed to 12513 Lancelot Ave in Cleveland, a home built by James, where the Wood family lived from 1910 to 1912. The colorized photo shows this house in 1911, with Ed and Wally standing in front.

This page appears late in the book, so readers will already be familiar with the names, but they may not remember the relationships, which I included in parentheses. 

The colorized photo, passed down in black/white in the family, shows the very house where these postcards were delivered more than a century ago. The addressee and his older brother are pictured in front. The house was built by their father, James Edgar Wood, and it's still standing today, as you can see here. 

By linking these separate artifacts and providing context, I created a story that I hope will stick in the minds of the younger generation, part of my overall plan to keep family history alive for the future.

Colorizing James and Mary and Their Cleveland House

 

As I prepare a family history photo book about hubby's grandparents, James E. Wood (1871-1939) and Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925), I'm colorizing a few old b/w photos to catch the eye of younger descendants. Of course, I'm noting that the photos are colorized. This book (and others I've created) are helping to keep family history alive for the future.

Above, the photo as colorized by Ancestry. James has more color, the second floor of the home has more color, but Mary appears less colorful. Overall, this photo is more interesting to look at and brings out more details than the original. I tried the sharpen tool but Ancestry couldn't detect the small faces.

Below, the same photo as colorized by MyHeritage. Here, Mary has more color and the sign advertising James's carpentry/building business is red and very visible. Note the tiny palette and magic wand symbols at bottom left of photo, added by MyHeritage to indicate that this image is both colorized and enhanced. I prefer this version and have inserted it into the photo book.

Finding FREE NYC Documents during WikiTree Connect-a-Thon

The April WikiTree ConnectAThon added nearly 89,000 new profiles to the worldwide WikiTree. I was part of Team L'Chaim and mostly added ancestors and ancestors-in-law from my Jewish roots. Along the way, I discovered new documents and worked my way backward to older generations as well as horizontally to siblings and spouses of distant cousins whose lives I'd never researched. 

FREE New York City Vital Records

A huge help: finding FREE vital records from the late 1800s through early 1900s on the New York City Digital Vital Records site. This site has birth, marriage, and death records scanned in color from the originals. No sending away, no paying, no waiting. Immediately view and download if that cert is available. Not all are, yet.

Above, shown on the site, an ancestor marriage license from October 7, 1923 that gave me parents' names to extend my tree further back, and witnesses for my FAN club (friends/associates/neighbors). A pdf is downloadable...and/or users can print. Such valuable info on an original document signed personally by the ancestors I'm researching. Gold mine! You can read more about this excellent and free site here.

I started by obtaining the marriage cert number (not license number) on Ancestry, although it can be obtained by using the database search functions on Italiangen.org and other sites. The cert number, borough, and year are needed to get results.

Vital records reveal new facts and relatives

On the NYC Digital Vital Records site, I clicked "Search beta" and selected marriage cert, input the cert number, selected the city borough, and input the year. 

Not all of my searches resulted in finding certs, but about 75% did. I can redo my research later in the year to see whether additional certs become available. Did I mention this is a free search and free download?!