Search Find a Grave Bios for Genealogy Clues

Not long ago, Find a Grave added yet another way to search its memorial pages: By key words or names in the biography section.

As shown above, I tested this search by looking for a name in my husband's family tree: Frank Bentley Curtis. Actually, I already knew this name appears in at least three generations descended from my husband's 3d great-grandfather, William Tyler Bentley (1795-1873) and 3d great-grandmother, Olivia Morgan Bentley (1799?-1838). 

Searching without quotation marks returned more than 170 results, so I did another search for "Frank Bentley Curtis" in quotation marks. Only 6 results, including 2 memorials that are sponsored--meaning someone has paid to remove the ads, upload 10 more photos or documents, and showcase the page with a premium look.

I put red arrows on the image below to indicate sponsorship of two of these results. Usually someone who pays to sponsor a memorial has some relationship to the deceased person, which means those memorials are definitely worth a closer look. Find a Grave sponsorship is optional, see the help page here. You can actually search for a memorial according to whether it's sponsored or not, but I didn't do so in this case.

I investigated each memorial in the results list and wow, did I come away with a ton of fresh clues and insights. The creator of these memorials wrote about personally speaking with or corresponding with descendants, visiting cemeteries, looking for proof of marriages, and so on. The creator also posted ancestor photos, vital records, and other relevant images. Happily, each memorial is linked to at least a few of that ancestor's parents, siblings, children, spouses. 

Currently, I'm double-checking some of the bio details but I feel grateful for these information-packed memorials as a headstart to better understanding this branch of hubby's tree. And as always, I'm grateful that Find a Grave remains free for research like this (and for posting bite-sized bios and photos as cousin bait).

There are so many ways to use this new bio search...perhaps by searching for a specific place or occupation or military unit or rank as part of FAN club research (friends/family, associates, neighbors). Give it a try on its own or as part of a search where you look for someone by surname and/or date and/or cemetery location and/or sponsorship.

My Free Genealogy Webinar for Family History Month

In honor of Family History Month, you are invited to my free online webinar hosted by the Southbury Public Library in Connecticut, on Friday, October 25, from 2-3 pm Eastern:

Bring Family History Alive in Bite-Sized Projects

Get fresh ideas for documenting family history stories in engaging, practical, bite-sized projects that can be shared with relatives and posted on genealogy websites for the sake of future generations. Learn why and how to narrow your focus to one ancestor or family, occasion, heirloom, photo, or place. Like a sprint rather than a marathon, each project takes a short time and gives you flexibility to be creative in spotlighting one aspect of family history to share with relatives now. Presentation includes how-to examples of projects such as brief ancestor bios and booklets, heirloom background stories, ancestor coloring books, and full-size and smaller photobooks. 

At top, a slide previewing the five key steps to planning and creating bite-sized projects. I'll also be sharing a few fun ideas for family history holiday gifts! 

**Space is limited, so please register in advance for this free Zoom by clicking this link.** 

Book Review: The Hollywood Strangler by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Newly released, The Hollywood Strangler is the most gripping genetic genealogy case yet in this terrific series by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. Highly recommended!

The author draws on his extensive knowledge and expertise in forensics, genealogy, and DNA analysis to create an amazingly true-to-life fictional story of talented genetic genealogists digging deep into the mysteries of centimorgans and family history to try to unmask a serial killer who menaced Hollywood decades in the past. 

The prologue, set in 1980, shows dedicated medical examiner Dr. Peter Speth called to the scene of a horrific double murder in Hollywood, similar to but not identical to another recent double killing. Also in attendance: A young rookie cop named Ted Marsden. 

Fast-forward to 2022 in Chapter One, where Marsden is about to retire from the LAPD Cold Case Homicide Unit, headed by Detective Supervisor Mitzi Roberts. Before he leaves, Marsden wants to work on one last notorious cold case: The Hollywood Strangler. The game's afoot.

By Chapter Three, the cold-case detectives have gotten in touch with Venator, an elite investigative genetic genealogy company headed up by Madison Scott-Barnhart, known to one and all as Maddie. The goal is to analyze DNA left at the murder scene in an effort to find familial links to the serial killer. 

Now begins the detailed, step-by-step process of analyzing DNA matches and building speculative family trees to locate living people who are related to the killer. How these talented Venator employees use clusters, centimorgans, vital records, DNA databases, genealogy websites, and other tools and techniques will fascinate genealogy enthusiasts. Very believable and impressive, the quest to tie DNA from the crime scene to a specific family is the heart of the book.

The police procedural chapters that bookend this novel will enthrall mystery lovers. From the acknowledgements, I learned that Dr. Peter Speth is, in real life, a brilliant medical examiner whose meticulous work helped to identify and convict many villains. His involvement in Nathan's fictional case leads to key breakthroughs. I was already aware of Detective Mitzi Roberts because I'm a fan of Michael Connelly's detective mysteries, but it was a delightful surprise to come across her as another pivotal character in Nathan's book.  

Just as important, the author has created interesting, personable, and complex characters whose ongoing life experiences capture the imagination. Although The Hollywood Strangler can be appreciated as a stand-alone novel, I suggest waiting until you read the first two books in this series. As the series unfolds, you'll get to know the characters over time and gain a deeper understanding of how their actions in previous books influenced what happens in this third book.

Highly enjoyable for folks deeply interested in genetic genealogy and for fans of police procedurals. Nathan, I can't wait for your next book in the series!

Olga, Valeria, Blanka, and Tony Curtis

My maternal great-grandma's nephew very likely married Tony Curtis's cousin. I was reminded of this connection when looking at Olga, Valeria, and Blanka Schwartz this week. Okay, this gets complicated!

Schwartz and Klein from Mateszalka, Hungary

Above, an excerpt from the Find a Grave listing of those buried in Mateszalka Jewish Cemetery in Mateszalka, Hungary. Olga and Valeria both died young, sorry to say, and both were buried in this cemetery. Researching them, I again looked at their sister, Blanka "Blanche" Schwartz (1892-1986), who married Alexander Roth (1893-1949). Alex was a son of my great-grandma Leni Kunstler Farkas's sister. Alex was Leni's nephew, in other words. Alex was my 1c2r.

Back to Blanka, Olga, and Valeria, who were all the daughters of Frida Klein and Frank Schwartz. The kind gentleman who put Olga and Valeria on Find a Grave helpfully included the Hungarian records of their deaths, confirming the names of their parents. You can see those snippets just above the wording "no grave photo" in the image at top.

Blanka's Social Security application (above, with her Americanized first name of Blanche) confirms she had the same parents (creative spelling). All the Schwartz sisters were born in Mateszalka, Hungary. Schwartz and Klein were their parents, hold that thought.

Bernard Hersch Schwartz had roots in Mateszalka

I looked up the Mateszalka cemetery where Olga and Valeria were buried. A historic note about the cemetery mentions that actor Tony Curtis (original name: Bernard Hersch Schwartz) donated money to help restore the local synagogue, knowing his family originated in this town. 

His father was Emanuel "Mano" Schwartz, and his mother was Helen Klein Schwartz. Mano's parents were from the Mateszalka region, according to Mano's passenger manifest from his voyage on the S.S. Mount Clay, arriving in Boston in March, 1921. Mano's naturalization petition in New York City (#102586) also specifies his birthplace as Mateszalka. The petition was signed by two witnesses: his grandfather Victor Schwartz and someone named Albert Klein. 

Klein--the maiden name of Tony's mother, and the maiden name of Blanka, Olga, and Valeria's mother. My second cousin L knew Blanka very well, staying in touch in her later years when she was in a Bronx nursing home. He heard firsthand the stories of Blanka being Tony Curtis's cousin. Others in the wider family had heard the same story from their parents or grandparents.

Surely the Mateszalka area had an abundance of Klein and Schwartz residents. But the combination of family stories, shared surnames, and many given names from the Tony Curtis family tree being repeated in the Schwartz and Roth lines of my family tree lend credence to the stories. A circumstantial case for Blanka and her sisters Olga and Valeria being cousins of Tony Curtis but that's my story and I'm sticking to it! 

At a Glance, Is This Your Louis Hartfield?

 

Quick! Which ancestor profile on Ancestry seems more credible and worth checking out, the top one or the bottom one? Same man (a very distant relative, you know I really like putting these folks on my tree), one with and one without a profile image.

By adding the man's marriage cert as his profile image, I wanted to turn a generic profile into one that might seem more appealing to other researchers interested in the Hartfield family from Galicia, Austria. 

Why? Because any researcher can now easily read the marriage cert and verify the name of bride, groom, and their parents, plus the date and place (and of course the two witnesses and the officiant). 

With a glance at the profile image, it's faster to figure out whether this might be their Louis Hartfield and they will then dive deeper into my family tree's sources for a closer look at his life.

Adding a document or personal photo as the profile image is my not-so-subtle way of suggesting that I can back up the facts for this ancestor with actual documentation. The more folks who have real facts for their ancestors, the better.

Please, go ahead and add my Louis Hartfield to your tree if he belongs there--along with the sources and the profile image. I don't want Louis or his wife Bessie or anyone on my tree to be forgotten, that's why their profiles are public. 

This how LOCKSS works: Lots of copies keep stuff safe. The more trees Louis and Bessie are attached to, the better the possibility that they will be remembered into the future. For more ideas about safeguarding and perpetuating family history, please see my genealogy book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

Happy 155th Birthday, Mollie

Born in Toledo, Ohio, on September 20, 1869, Mary Emma Wood (1869-1950) was always called by her nickname Mollie. She was the 14th of 17 children of Thomas Haskell Wood and Mary Amanda Demarest Wood, and the last of their 5 daughters to be born. In fact, by the time Mollie was born, her oldest sibling was already 23 years old. Mollie was my husband's great aunt. 

On May 3, 1892, Mollie married Francis Elmer Eagle (1864-1944) in his home county of Licking, Ohio. The bride was 22, the groom was 27. By 1900, the couple had moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Elmer was a boiler maker for railroads and Mollie was working as a dressmaker. 

According to that US Census, Mollie had no children of her own. But Mollie and Elmer were taking care of Mollie's nephew, Walter A. Lewis, aged 12 (see above). Walter's father had died suddenly several years earlier and his mother, Mollie's older sister Nellie, was living in Detroit and scrambling to support herself as a dressmaker. 

Then in 1905, Mollie and Elmer welcomed a son, Howard Paul Eagle (1905-1987). I wondered a bit about the timing, since the couple had been married for 13 years at that point with no children. The answer was in the 1930 US Census. As shown below, Howard's relationship to the head of household was "Ad-Son" meaning adopted by Mollie and Elmer. At age 25, Howard was working in an auto plant, like his father Elmer, all noted in that Census. Howard went on to a long career as a skilled machinist in the auto industry.

 Elmer died in 1944 of a stroke, age 79, and Mollie soon went to live with her son Howard and his family. In early 1950, Mollie died and was buried next to Francis Elmer, her husband of 52 years, in Westlawn Cemetery, Wayne County, Michigan. She was 80 and had not only adopted a son 45 years earlier, but lived long enough to meet her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.

This week is the 155th anniversary of Mollie's birth. Remembering her, her family, and her life!

Wrench or Sliders Offer Options for a Fresh View

I needed a fresh view of this 1800s/1900s naturalization document for Louis Mandel (1862-1914), whose son married into the Roth family, cousins of my Farkas family. Louis's grandson and namesake is my 2c1r. 

Above, the original document as it appeared in the Ancestry database, with white print on a black background. I found the dates a little difficult to decipher. 

At far right of screen, I clicked the wrench symbol to see various tools for viewing this document. (See image here --> for a close-up of the wrench.)

When a document has a dark background and white print, maybe "invert colors" will make it more readable. 

After inverting, I found it easier to read about Louis Mandel, a tailor living on Stanton Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, who arrived at the port of New York on November 20, 1890. He declared his intention to seek US citizenship on July 22, 1896 . . . and he became a US citizen on July 19, 1906.

Even better, as I clicked through the multiple documents in Louis's file, all were inverted to black on white after I inverted the first in the series. 

For other documents, I've used other tools, such as rotating left or right when a document has writing in more than one direction or a photo doesn't appear right side up. Not new tricks, but good tools to keep in mind, available under the wrench symbol on Ancestry. 

Similar tools are available on FamilySearch, as shown in image directly above. Here, the symbol is a pair of sliders leading to this menu (see red outline). Adjust  brightness and contrast, invert image colors, rotate image. Such handy tools.

PS: Teresa notes that Find My Past has similar tools (invert colors, contrast, etc) for use by subscribers.

"Symbol" is this week's #52Ancestors genealogy challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. 

Book Review: The Complete Guide to Lineage Societies

The Complete Guide to Lineage Societies is a unique new book written by Dr. Kimberly Ormsby Nagy, an accredited genealogist who knows a great deal about lineage societies: She's a member of more than three dozen, and has been a Registrar for several societies. 

Now Dr. Nagy has written a concise and informative handbook about lineage societies, explaining what such societies offer, describing how membership works, exploring eligibility, and moving through the application process, step by step.

Considering that my husband's ancestral background could qualify him for several lineage societies, I was interested in this book and appreciated the author's ability to clearly capture the key points of who, what, where, and how in only 80 pages.

The table of contents for this new book is:

Chapter 1: What is a lineage society? The author explains the premise, which is to recognize and honor a specific group of people, such as early settlers in certain regions, those who fought in particular wars, descendants of royalty, and so on. 

Chapter 2: What does a lineage society do? In addition to honoring a certain group of ancestors, a lineage society's mission may focus on historic preservation, a charitable cause, education, or patriotism.

Chapter 3: How to locate a lineage society - A variety of suggestions for how to find and connect with a lineage society, online or on social media and beyond.

Chapter 4: Eligibility - This chapter looks at the two main elements of eligibility: lineage and service.

Chapter 5: Beginning the application process - What to expect when approaching a society about applying for membership.

Chapter 6: Documenting your lineage - One of the two main elements of eligibility is proven lineage from a qualifying ancestor. The author outlines acceptable types of lineage proof (not online family trees!) and provides helpful tips for finding and documenting descent from that key ancestor.

Chapter 7: Documenting your ancestor's qualifying service - The type of "service" is determined by each lineage society; some are based on military service, some on civil activities, some on occupations, etc. This chapter points readers in the direction of sources for service documentation. 

Chapter 8: Completing the application - Illustrated with pages from actual applications, this chapter guides readers through the process of putting specific info on the application for submission to the society.

Chapter 9: What next? Waiting for a response, and what comes after acceptance: going to meetings, reading publications, getting involved.

Chapter 10: Special considerations - A potpourri of possibilities, such as understanding whether collateral descent qualifies and lineage societies for children.

Appendix: Selected listing of lineage societies, some that are well known (General Society of Mayflower Descendants) and some not as well known (Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon), with web contacts.

Selected Bibliography: Books for lineage-related research and sources for researching the "service" of a qualifying ancestor. 

I recommend Dr. Nagy's book as a practical introduction to the world of lineage societies and a roadmap to moving through the entire process, from figuring out what society to join to gathering/documenting lineage and service proof and then working on the application. For readers with intermediate and advanced genealogy research skills, the resources named are likely to be mostly familiar--but curated with an eye toward what lineage societies require for an application to be approved.

Please note: The Genealogical Publishing Company sent me a free review copy of this book, and it has previously provided free review copies of other books. My reviews always reflect my honest opinions, without regard to any outside influence.

"There Slumbers the Dust of our Father and an Infant Brother"

Traveling to the California Gold Rush in March of 1852, my husband's third great aunt Asenath Cornwell Larimer (1808-1897) wrote in her journal about family members who had passed away and whose burial places she would never see or never see again.

At top, Asenath and two of her children in the 1850 US Census, with unusually accurate info. She was indeed born in Canada (Hallowell, Prince Edward Island). She was 42 years old at the time of the Census, her son James Elmer was 10, and her daughter Nancy Elizabeth was 4. Three other sons were living with family and neighbors, helping as farmhands or learning a trade. She left all her children behind two years after this Census, when she and her brother John Cornwell (1812-1883) set out to seek their fortune in California.

In the first part of their journey west, Asenath and her brother boarded a steamboat that took them past Gallipolis, Ohio, where they had grown up. Asenath looked back on her childhood and thought about the family members she had lost up to that point. She wrote:

There slumbers the dust of our Father [David Cornwell] and an infant brother [unnamed baby Cornwell]. Oh how strangely scattered is the remains of those of us who are dead. Father and brother here [Gallipolis]; Mother at Macarthur's town [Phoebe G Goldsmith Cornwell, buried in McArthur, Ohio]; Sister, her children and my first-born at New Plymouth [Lucinda Cornwell Eggleston, Phoebe Eggleston, unnamed baby Larimer]; my husband [James Larimer], Elkhart, Indiana; brother David [Cornwell Jr.] in Feather River, California and none to care or mourn or look after his remains. 

I've looked for a tombstone or obit for David Cornwell Jr. but found nothing, not surprising in those Gold Rush days. No tombstones for Asenath's infant brother and first-born child, both dead before 1835. They are remembered today because she cared enough to write about them on page 2 of her Gold Rush journal. 

 "Tombstone" is this week's prompt for the #52Ancestors challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. 

Four Larimer Brothers Fought for the Union

I'm in the home stretch of completing a booklet about my husband's ancestors and their in-laws who fought in all major wars involving the United States, from the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the US Civil War through the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. I want to describe not only their military service but also their family lives. Most are not in my hubby's direct line, but my goal is to honor and memorialize those in the tree who served their country during wartime.

Four Larimer brothers, my husband's first cousins four times removed, fought for the Union during the US Civil War: Isaac Newton Larimer, Jacob Wright Larimer, John C. Larimer, and Harvey H. Larimer. I used clues from a printed Larimer genealogy book plus the usual research sources (obit, vital records, military records, news reports) to write a brief narrative of each man, with emphasis on military service but also including spouse(s), children, occupation, and other details of interest.

Focus on Isaac and Marilda

At top, an excerpt from my bite-sized bio page about Isaac Newton Larimer (1828-1910), a farmer who enlisted early in the war, despite being married and the father of a growing family. To illustrate, I included a table showing his war service, drawn from the Illinois State Archives. I highlighted two events in bright blue. 

• During his first major battle, Isaac was captured (one of 55 held) and escaped after 23 days, rejoining his unit.
• At the Battle of Missionary Ridge, won by the Union, Isaac was shot in the face and nearly died. But he did recover and, with only one good eye, continued serving with his unit until the end of his enlistment period.
  

Three years and three months after joining the 35th Illinois Infantry, Isaac was mustered out and went home to his family farm. He and his wife Marilda McCreary Larimer (1835-1905) had 11 children, including a youngster who passed away in infancy. I hope Isaac and Marilda told their descendants stories about the early days, including the other three Larimer brothers who served their country. 

Sharing family history more widely

Creating a booklet such as this is one way to let future generations of my husband's family know about the lives of those who came before. Want more ideas about preserving and perpetuating family history? Please see my genealogy book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

As a byproduct of this booklet, I'm repurposing the bite-sized bios of these men and women and posting online. For instance, I've submitted Isaac's service details to his Find a Grave memorial and also adopted his orphaned WikiTree profile, adding his bio and details. This has led to enriching other WikiTree profiles connected to Isaac, such as his wife's profile. There will be more profiles enriched as I continue to share family history in many places so these military ancestors will not be forgotten. 

Back to School with Lola McClure Lower

With school starting, it's a good time to remember the life of my husband's great aunt, Lola A. McClure Lower (1877-1948). Lola graduated from Wabash High School in Indiana in 1894, aged 17, and became a teacher. In 1903 she married Edward A. Lower (1873-1920). The couple had a daughter and two sons together, making their home in Wabash, Indiana.

Edward had already built a solid career as a civil engineer. His employers included a lumber company, a coal company, and several municipalities. In 1900 he was enumerated in the Census along with other civil engineers, a locomotive engineer, and surveyors' assistants who were living and working in the Woodville District of the Chickasaw Nation, part of the territory that became the 46th U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1907. 

Sadly, by 1918, Edward was bedridden and unable to sign his WWI draft registration card on his own. He made an X that was witnessed and signed. By that time, Lola had already gone back to work. With her education and her teaching background, Lola was named as the Wabash truant officer in 1916 (Indianapolis News, Aug 29 1916, p. 20). Edward died in 1920, just 47 years old. 

Lola continued to serve as a truant officer (later known as an attendance officer) for many years. During the Great Depression, she experienced pay problems as Wabash (both city and county) grappled with financial woes. In 1932, the county reduced her salary to $4.24 per day for the 180 days of her contract (The News-Sentinel, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Sept 12, 1932). 

Worse was yet to come. In 1933, she worked without pay from January through March (possibly beyond) as the county insisted it had not appropriated the funds for her salary and therefore had effectively abolished the position as of the start of that year. Lola went to court, arguing that she worked for the Wabash city board of education and should be paid by the city--and she won her back pay (Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette, Oct 12, 1935).

From the late 1930s into the early 1940s, Lola worked as an investigator for a local town's trustee and for the state unemployment commission. She was also a long-time volunteer valued for her leadership abilities. She passed away in 1948 at the age of 70. 

In 1985, when her son Edward recorded an oral history about his mother in Wabash, Indiana, he recalled that: "She was a tall, dignified-looking woman. She was musical. She played organs, even pipe organs, always played piano." He added that she was a good cook "but she was always in public life. She was secretary of the Red Cross for 25 years, and she handled the job well. She read law. She knew everything. She was on the board of Associated Charities in Wabash."

I'm remembering Lola McClure Lower as students go back to school across the United States, including her home state of Indiana. 

Freaky Friday Ancestor Switch Wish

Remember the movie Freaky Friday? The most recent version of this body-switch comedy was in 2003, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. In the movie, a mysterious fortune cookie causes mother and daughter to wake up in each other's bodies. Only a temporary switch, of course--by the end of the movie, each has been switched back and they now share a stronger bond of understanding.

My Freaky Friday wish is to switch places for a single day with a single ancestor: Leni Louise Winkler (1909-1997). Leni (Americanized to Louise after she immigrated here in 1941) was my 1c1r, a dear niece of my maternal grandpa Teddy Schwartz.

The day I would like to be Leni is her wedding day, a Friday, August 2, 1929 in what was then Ungvar, Hungary (now Uzhhorod, Ukraine). Leni was about to turn 20 and she was marrying Jeno Eugene Preisz (1906-1979), their surname later Americanized to Price. Leni's family gathered from far and wide to attend the wedding, including her great uncle Sam Schwartz, an honored guest who came all the way from New York City to serve as a witness. He returned home to New York City on September 4, 1929 (see passenger list from S.S. Homeric above).

As Leni in 1929, I would get to meet not only her parents and siblings and cousins but also her grandmother, Hani Simonowitz Schwartz (1858-1933). This would be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate an especially happy occasion with relatives and friends, people I know today only as names on a family tree.

As Leni in 1929, I wouldn't be aware that in the future, four siblings would be killed in the Holocaust, along with other members of the Schwartz, Simonowitz, and Winkler families. Happily, two of her brothers were survivors who submitted Yad Vashem testimony about relatives who were killed. Sis and I are in touch with a descendant of a Schwartz survivor, a cousin connection we treasure.

As Leni in 1929, I wouldn't yet know that with her husband and young daughter, she would leave Europe during WWII, obtaining passports in Marseilles in January, 1941, and sailing to New York from Lisbon. The three landed in New York City on Friday, April 15, 1941 and went on to build a new life--helping Leni's two brothers when they came to America after the war.

Well, for just one Freaky Friday, I wish I could stand in for Leni as she married on a special Friday in the presence of her loving family and friends. While I'm in Leni's shoes, she would be in mine, having my wonderful Sis show her the family tree and ask for identifications of old family photos. 

Kossuth Association Plot Photos on Multiple Sites

The Jewish Genealogical Society of New York maintains a database of more than 10,000 society burial plots located in dozens of New York area cemeteries. Recently, the JGSNY asked for photos of society plot gates or columns to be submitted so those who search the database will not only find out the exact location but also see the gates. 

My Farkas ancestors are buried in the Kossuth Association plot of Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens, New York. Above, the entry in the JGSNY database. Note there's no photo in this screen shot. Very soon there will be! I submitted the composite photo shown at top, to be added to illustrate this burial society's entry in the JGSNY database. Since only one photo can be posted per burial society, the JGSNY recommended putting several photos together into one composite to show more. That's what I did.

Then I went to Find a Grave and added the same composite photo to the cemetery photos of the memorial page for Alex Farkas, who led the cemetery committee for the Kossuth Assn. I'll write a bite-sized bio for this page to explain. After all, family history is written on those gates.

I want to memorialize this burial plot in more than once place not only because it's where my ancestors are buried but also because my ancestors were cofounders of the society, which helped Jewish immigrants from Hungary to get settled in New York City. 

It's My 16th Blogiversary!

My very first genealogy blog post appeared on August 25, 2008, concerning the search for my great-grandfather Meyer Mahler's death date and place. Since then, I've written nearly 1,850 posts about my family tree, my husband's family tree, genealogy research, family history preservation, methodology, issues, technology, book reviews, vintage postcards, old photos, and more. 

Now I'm entering my 17th year of genealogy blogging, still with many topics to explore. I'm working on a few posts about curating your family history collection (as in my book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past). Also in the works: posts about revisiting ancestors and research from years ago, getting insight into ancestors' lives through old newspaper items, and lots more!

Thank you, from my heart, to my regular readers . . . and a special thank you to the many cousins and FAN club members (friends, associates, neighbors of my ancestors) who have been in touch through this blog. The genealogy journey continues!

Grandma Floyda and the Push for Delayed Birth Registrations

Hubby's maternal grandmother, Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure (1878-1948) went to probate court in Cleveland, Ohio in 1944 to register a birth--her own. Two of her older sisters submitted affidavits attesting to Floyda's home birth. They would have been old enough to have known about the birth. Carrie was 8 and Etta Blanche was 14 when their baby sister was born, ninth of nine children of Edward George Steiner (1830-1880) and Elizabeth Jane Rinehart Steiner (1834-1905). 

Millions of births not officially recorded

Originally, I believed Floyda was registering her birth with the court so she could apply for a Social Security number. But then I read newspapers of the time and discovered that this wasn't the only reason for registering births years or decades after the fact. 

In 1940, with Social Security in place and WWII draft registration in force, the question of how to prove name, birth place, and birth place was becoming more urgent. According to the Milwaukee Journal newspaper (Aug 13, 1941), some 60 million people had no legally-acceptable birth documents because they were born before the requirement to officially register births (and sometimes marriages and deaths) with county or state authorities. 

In Ohio, where Floyda was born, probate judges were strongly urging the governor to act to provide a pathway to legally and smoothly register births and correct errors that may have been in the oldest records. According to the Toledo Blade newspaper (Thursday, Jul 18, 1940), about half of the old records in the state were incorrect. Names might have been wrong, dates wrong, even sex recorded incorrectly. Fixing the mistakes and registering births not on the books were priorities, but no standard process existed for doing so.

How to prove birth in Ohio

In 1941, the Ohio House unanimously passed a bill mandating that the state Department of Health set up a system for official filing of birth and death records in the state. The goal was to ease the way for draft registrants and applicants for defense jobs to prove who they were, according to the Wooster Daily Record newspaper (Feb 21, 1941). These registrations would also help in the event of veterans applying for benefits later in life.

By 1942, those without official birth documents were finding help in all kinds of places. Even the US Census Bureau was offering to search its records (for a small fee) and provide documentation of someone being enumerated in a specific place and time (according to the Columbus Evening Dispatch newspaper, Sep 15, 1942). The Census folks were also drawing on WWI draft registration cards as proof of name and birth date/place. An estimated 2.8 million Ohioans were in need of official birth proof at that point.

Floyda's birth is recorded 66 years late

Why Floyda needed or wanted an official birth document, I can't be sure. Her husband Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970) worked in a defense industry firm and had proof of his own birth, so perhaps the employer(s) were checking that spouses and immediate family passed muster. 

I can't find Floyda in the Social Security claims or death index. She did work during WWII, as a part-timer in a Cleveland department store, but it's unclear whether the store would have requested a Social Security card as part of her employment process.

Most likely Floyda simply wanted to register her birth because of the state's publicity campaign to get all births on the record. And so her older sisters stepped up with affidavits that enabled Floyda to have her birth filed with the state of Ohio 66 years after she was born at home in Nevada, Wyandot County.