Ancestral Traditions: Occupation and Middle Name

Many of my husband's English ancestors went into the same line of work as their fathers, generation after generation. That's definitely true of the WOOD family woodworkers (going back to the 1400s and lasting through the mid-1900s). In addition, naming traditions were often handed down from father to son, even continuing into the 21st century.

Recently, I researched ancestral traditions of occupations and names in the WHITE family, united by marriage in England with my husband's SLATTER family. I examined two specific aspects of the White line: the distinctive middle name of Hoxland carried by one male in nearly every generation, and the similar/related occupations of these male ancestors over the years.

Three Generations of Thomas White, Stone Workers

Thomas Hoxland White, born in Devon, England, in 1800, was a stone sawyer, according to UK Census records. He and wife Mary named their son Thomas Hoxland White, and he grew up to be a stone sawyer like his dad (see marriage document at top). This Thomas married Caroline Corbett, the daughter of a waiter.

Thomas and Caroline's son Thomas John White, born in Westminster, Middlesex, England, was not given that distinctive middle name of Hoxland. Perhaps a different son (one who died young?) received that middle name, but so far I haven't found him in the records. 

Thomas John White was yet another stone sawyer in this family, according to his marriage document. He changed careers later--more about that in a moment. Thomas married Fanny Gardner, the daughter of Fanny Slatter who was hubby's 2d great aunt. That's the connection point between the White and Slatter families.

Stone Sawyer vs Stone Mason

In the 1901 UK Census, Thomas John White's occupation was shown as stone mason, not stone sawyer, as was his father's occupation. What's the difference between stone mason and stone sawyer?

My gen friend Dr. Sophie Kay helped me out by consulting an early 20th century UK dictionary of occupations. She says stone sawyers did less skilled stone cutting. In contrast, stone masons did more skilled work, dressing and and shaping stone. This tells me that in less than three generations, the White family's men progressed in their skills from sawyer to mason. 

Hoxland Middle Name Lives On, Tradition of Stone Work Does Not

Back to Thomas John White, who did not have the Hoxland middle name but did begin his work life as a stone mason. He left the United Kingdom in 1905, marrying and settling in the bustling manufacturing city of Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1910, he told the US Census that his occupation was draftsman in a cemetery. Finally, an ancestor who worked in a cemetery!

Thomas married Florence Elliott and their son, John Hoxland White, carried that distinctive middle name but had nothing to do with stone work. According to US Census records, he was a bookkeeper in a Cincinnati, Ohio machine shop, and rose to become assistant treasurer, he said in a later Census. 

Although there is no longer a tradition of working with stone, the White family has carried on the tradition of Hoxland as a middle name for 200 years and counting.

How To Donate an Item to a Repository

 

Is there an item in your family-history collection that you might consider donating to a historical society, a museum, an archive, a library, or a genealogical group? 

A great example is something not directly related to your family tree, such as this air raid poster that my late father-in-law (Edgar James Wood, 1903-1986) saved following World War II. He kept it with other wartime memorabilia and many decades later, my husband inherited it.

Posters like this were so commonplace that many folks just tossed them at the end of the war, but not Ed. 

Describe the Item and Take a Photo

This poster is in very good condition, with a few slight creases but nothing torn or illegible. It even has the name/address/phone number of the local air raid warden in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, which adds to its historical significance.

When my husband and I decided to donate, we approached the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. Having visited its museum in the past, we had an idea of what the collection contains. The website explains, in detail, exactly what types of donated materials this repository accepts and how the process works.

I emailed one of the curators and described the air raid poster's size, summarized what it says, and described its condition, sending along a digital photo. She replied that it would fit nicely into the current collection. She asked for background on how it came into our family's possession...and ultimately accepted our donation.

Do the Paperwork!

After signing legal paperwork that transfers ownership of this item to the society, we carefully packed it flat and mailed it. Our letter included two paragraphs about my father-in-law and mother-in-law and their life in Cleveland Heights during World War II. This info will be in the archives, along with the air raid poster, as a result of our donation.

We alerted our family about the donation and let them know the society would welcome the donation of similar items if we unearth something else in the future. Meanwhile, this air raid poster -- of no personal significance for our family tree but of interest from a historical perspective -- has a fitting new home where it will be safe and ready for scholars and historians in years to come.

NOTE: As Amanda says in her comment below, sometimes an item will not be accepted, because it doesn't fit with the repository's collecting goals, for instance. If that happens, ask the institution to suggest where you might offer the item.

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For more, check my book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

Discrepancies Disprove a Genealogy Theory

 

Recently, I wrote about the perils of researching my young 1c2r Pauline Jacobs (abt 1901-1907).

When Was Pauline Born?

I didn't know exactly when this little girl was born, although I knew she was born in New York City. 

Several possibilities turned up when I initially searched Ancestry and the Italian Genealogical Group (see results excerpt below). 

After seeing this list, I theorized that my Pauline Jacobs was born on June 26, 1901. The birth date fit quite well with what I knew from her death cert. Still, the bare-bones index or even a quick transcription wouldn't be enough to prove or disprove this theory. I needed more details, available on the full/original birth certificate, to more definitively prove a match--such as the parents' names and birthplaces, their home address, etc. 

Not my Pauline Jacobs

When I obtained the actual cert (excerpt is shown at top), I noticed that the parents' names do not match what I know about MY Pauline. Here the mother's name is Pauline Uhle, but MY Pauline's mom was Eva Micalovsky. Same goes for the father's name on this birth cert, not a match for MY Pauline. Father's occupation is not what I know of Pauline's father, either. Parents' birthplace differs from what I know.

Moreover, my Jacobs ancestors didn't live on West End Avenue in Manhattan (the address on this cert) and probably didn't even know anyone there; West End Avenue is quite far from the Lower East Side where the Jacobs family lived in this period. Looking at all the discrepancies, I'm confident this is NOT my cousin Pauline. The details don't match what is already known from other documents.

Theory disproved, next steps

After ruling out June 26, 1901 as Pauline's birth date, I redid my search to see whether there were other possibilities. This time I used the Germany Genealogy Group's database page, which checks volunteer-transcribed birth indexes from New York City.

The results shown here include a Pauline E. Jacobs born in May of 1899, but I'm not even tempted to look at her cert. Why? Because my Pauline was NOT in the Jacobs household according to the 1900 Census. That year's Census was taken on June 1. The Pauline E. Jacobs in the search results was born in 1899 and I strongly believe my cousin Pauline was born after the 1900 Census.

One big reason I think Pauline was born after mid-1900 is because Eva Jacobs told the enumerator she had 5 children in all but only 4 were living. All four were named in the Census listing and I know them all. So far, no good possibilities for a birth cert, but I'll keep looking.

Who's in the plot?

Knowing that Eva and Joseph Jacobs had lost a child before the 1900 Census, I took a little side trip looking for a child's death cert from before 1900. 

I clicked to the "interment search" on the website for Mount Zion Cemetery in Maspeth, NY, where the Jacobs family is buried in the Plungianer Society plot. Doing a search for any "Jacobs" in that plot I found Annie Jacobs, who was buried in that plot on February 1, 1896 according to the cemetery's website. 

Family Search shows a death index record of a one-year-old girl named Annie Jacobs on February 15, 1896, with burial on February 16, 1896 in Mount Zion Cemetery. Parents are Joseph and Eva Jacobs. With the theory that Annie Jacobs was the missing baby lost before 1900, I asked a kind parking lot angel to pull Annie's death cert image for me to examine more carefully. So grateful to these volunteers for their assistance!

Not all details fit . . .

Sadly, I saw on the death cert that this Annie was only 13 months old when she died of bronchitis, with contributing causes of rubella and "brain congestion." 

The cert says her parents were Joseph Jacobs and Eva (no maiden name, darn it!), both born in Germany (supposedly). Address was a tenement on West Third Street, close to the Lower East Side. 

Doctor Oscar Smith, who signed the death cert, lived around the corner. Since he wasn't at Annie's side when she died at 1 a.m. on February 15, according to his own statement, he might not have really known where the baby's parents were born, but made a guess based on their foreign accents. (I'm guessing about his guess now.)

Until I can locate a birth cert and get more info, I'm going to put Annie down as "very possibly" the daughter of Joseph Jacobs and Eva Micalovsky Jacobs--the child who passed away before the 1900 Census. I still need a bit more evidence, but most of the details fit AND she is buried close to her parents in the cemetery, which helps to support but not prove my theory. Yet.

4 Reasons to Keep Conference Syllabus Files

Do you have old syllabus files from conferences you attended in past years? Here are 4 very good reasons to hold onto them and keep them handy. Note: Mine are all digital, taking up no room on my bookshelf and yet easy to find and review in a matter of moments.

Refresh Your Memory 

Sometimes I can't absorb all the key points from a session even with the handout in front of me. This is especially true for topics that are new to me or techniques I use only very occasionally. 

For instance, Pamela J. Cooper's "Railroad Trilogy" session at the 2013 FGS conference got me started researching my husband's ancestors who worked on the railroad. She had so many great ideas! I've returned to her handout in the syllabus more than once to remind myself of occupational words (like gandy dancer) that suggest a railroad background, and for how to obtain employee and pension records.

In 2014, I attended Maureen Taylor's NGS session about "Photo Detecting 101" and got educated on the basics of photo identification. Her handy chart comparing the daguerreotype, the ambrotype, the tintype, and cartes des visite has been such a treasure as I sort my family's old photos for dating and captioning. I refresh my memory on the differences as often as needed.

  

Less Relevant Then, More Relevant Now 

In 2013, I had no idea I would find so many ancestors in my husband's family tree who worked for railroads. Back then, I was thinking primarily about the background of my husband's grandfather (Brice Larimer McClure), who worked as a machinist for the "Big Four" railroads in Wabash, Indiana at the turn of the 20th century. 

Since that conference, I've discovered some of hubby's ancestors were station agents ... some were railroad machinists ... and on and on. Having the syllabus available with a few clicks allows me to return to Pam's handout and see it with fresh eyes, getting more out of it because I know more about family history than I did back then. In short, the session is even more relevant to my genealogy research today than in the past.

Sources, Techniques, and Tips Are Timeless 

Nearly all of the info in my syllabus files (even the oldest, from 2013 and 2014) has stood the test of time, particularly methodology and tips. The basics are sound and remain valuable. The syllabus files provide quite an education and allow me to expand my knowledge well beyond the sessions I attended.

Some speakers included web addresses in their handouts. A few led to "404 Not Found" but the vast majority are still working and still helpful. In fact, some of the links led to pages that are being updated on a regular basis. I was delighted to see that Pam's link to Jim Sponholz's page on "Locations of Railroad Genealogical Materials" was very much alive--Jim updated it just a few weeks ago!

Talk about timeless: I should put Maureen Taylor's "Photo Detecting 101" handout from NGS 2014 on speed dial. Having connected with more cousins in recent years, I refer to her tips and techniques often as I investigate each new family photo.

Ideas and Inspiration from Old Syllabus Files

Like browsing a library's shelves in search of a good book to read, clicking through old syllabus files can lead to fresh ideas and inspiration. Just now, I was clicking through the 2014 NGS syllabus and stopped at the handout for Elizabeth Shown Mills's session "War Is Hell." She not only suggested a strategy for researching military claims made by ancestors, she included a detailed list of sources to check for claims related to each war or conflict. This is an angle I didn't even consider when examining hubby's Civil War ancestors, but now will try to investigate.

Old syllabus files are the gift that keeps on giving, year after year. If you haven't opened one lately, find a quiet moment to take another look. You're sure to notice something you can use in your current genealogical situation!

Reading Frederick William Slatter's WWI Military Records

My husband's Slatter family had a multi-generational tradition of military service. This post honors the memory of his 1c1r Frederick William Slatter (1890-1958) who was severely wounded while serving with Canadian forces in World War I. Frederick was the second son of Capt. John Daniel Slatter (renowned military bandmaster in the 48th Highlanders of Toronto) and Sophie Marie Elizabeth Le Gallais (1861-1943).

Beyond Attestation

According to Frederick's Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces attestation paper, he joined the 75th Battalion on August 11, 1915. It had just been formed as an infantry unit for World War I service. 

Frederick, a bank clerk, was just weeks shy of his 25th birthday. He told officials he was unmarried, had been a member of a Canadian militia, and had previously served in the 2d Queen's Own unit. 

The complete military record covers 62 pages (including envelopes and blank pages) in the Library and Archives of Canada. This comprehensive file tells the story of his journey from the time he signed the attestation (and resigned and signed a new attestation) to his period of service in the European theatre and then to hospitals and finally to leaving the military. Unexpectedly, the file even included his date of death, decades after the war.

From Private to Acting Sergeant

After Frederick was medically cleared to serve in the 75th Battalion (formerly the 180th Battalion), he went into training. He was ranked as a private when he resigned from the 75th Battalion on February 8, 1916 to accept a commission as an acting sergeant with the 109th Regiment and then absorbed into the180th Battalion.  

Before being deployed overseas, Frederick trained at Camp Borden, the same Canadian training camp where his father (Capt. John Daniel Slatter) was training hundreds of buglers for World War I service. Then, 104 years ago this week, Frederick sailed from Halifax to Europe with other Canadian troops on H.M.T. Olympic. 

"GSW Chest Sev" Before Battle of Vimy Ridge

By early 1917, he was one of the thousands of soldiers massing in France to prepare for the notorious battle of Vimy Ridge. Many were wounded or lost their lives before the major offensive. On March 28, only days before the big battle began, Frederick was shot and subsequently admitted to the Duchess of Westminster Hospital in Le Touquet, France.

His medical condition was noted as: GSW chest sev - meaning a severe gun shot wound to the chest. He was moved to two other hospitals for treatment before being discharged from medical care on May 6, 1917. He was promoted to become Lt. Frederick William Slatter in September, 1917, and appears with that rank in the history of the 180th Battalion booklet. Ultimately, he was reevaluated by medical boards, declared medically unfit for service in early 1918, and returned to Canada for discharge.

Unexpected Find: Death Date

As I scrolled through Frederick's lengthy file, I found several pages that revealed his death date. Above, the card noting that Frederick was considered active in the theatre of war (France) from November 13, 1916 (the date of his sailing from Canada). Typed above his name at top left is the date he died, July 15, 1958.

Rest in peace, Lt. Frederick William Slatter, being honored for Remembrance Day and Veterans Day in 2020.