Happy Birthday Lady Liberty, From My Immigrant Ancestors

 

"The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World" was dedicated on this day in 1886. A gift from France to the United States, Lady Liberty is situated on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. She doesn't look a day over 134, does she?

My maternal great-grandparents (Moritz Farkas and Leni Kunstler Farkas) passed the iconic statue when arriving in New York City from Hungary. Moritz sailed in 1899 and Leni sailed in 1900. Four of their children (including my maternal grandma, Hermina Farkas), followed them to New York in 1901. I remember folks in the Farkas family expressing a fondness for Lady Liberty, a symbol of freedom and opportunity for our immigrant ancestors.

My widowed paternal great-great-grandmother (Rachel Shuham Jacobs) and her daughter (my great-grandma Tillie Jacobs Mahler) both arrived in 1886. Along with Tillie came her two children, my grandma (Henrietta Mahler) and great uncle (David Mahler). All of these immigrant ancestors saw the Statue of Liberty on their way into New York City. 

My paternal great-grandfather Meyer Elias Mahler (husband of Tillie Jacobs Mahler) arrived earlier, in May of 1885, so he definitely did NOT see the statue, which was brought to America in June of 1885. 

On behalf of my immigrant ancestors, I wish Lady Liberty a happy birthday--and I salute the courage and determination of my ancestors who sought a better life in America! To celebrate, I enjoyed a breath-taking virtual tour of the State of Liberty, seen here. 

A Is for Alfred or Alford

Is it likely that a sibling would know how to spell his brother's name?

The reason I wonder is that one of my husband's Wood ancestors appears as Alfred O. Wood in some documents and Alford O. Wood in other documents. It's definitely the same man, but with a slightly different given name.

Alfred/Alford O. WOOD was born on October 17, 1855 in Cabell County, Virginia (now Huntington, West Virginia). His parents were carpenter/coach builder Thomas Haskell Wood and Mary Amanda Demarest. He died on March 26, 1895 in Toledo, Ohio, at the age of 39. According to funeral home records, the cause of death was consumption.

I've found info about Alfred/Alford in the following sources. Keep in mind that Census enumerators weren't required to ask about correct spelling; the way this ancestor's name was inconsistent in Census records.

Sources showing name as ALFRED:

• 1860 US Census - As shown at top of this post, Alfred was listed as 5 years old when the enumerator came around to the household of his parents. NOTE: This enumerator used creative spelling. The 1-year-old girl in this household was listed as Levacia, but her real name was Levatia.
• 1870 US Census - Alfred was listed as 14 years old during this Census, occupation as chairmaker. No creative spelling for rest of siblings.
• 1874 Toledo City Directory - Alfred is shown as a carpenter with Jonathan N. Williams.
• 1879 Toledo City Directory - Alfred O. Wood is shown as a carpenter with the Wabash Railway.
• 1880 Toledo City Directory - Alfred O. Wood is shown as a carpenter with LS & MS Railway.
• 1881 Toledo City Directory - Alfred O. Wood is shown as a carpenter.
• 1891 Toledo City Directory - Alfred O. Wood is shown as a carpenter with Wood Bros.
• 1894 Toledo City Directory - Alfred O. Wood is shown as a carpenter.
• 1930s listing of Wood siblings - Alfred O. Wood is included in this list, handwritten by his younger brother on "Wood Brothers, Builders" letterhead. This page was kept in the Wood family bible for decades.

Sources showing name as ALFORD:

• 
  1880 US Census - Shown here is the Wood household in 1880. Alford O. Wood (fourth name from top of list) is recorded as a 25-year-old carpenter. 
• 1895 Toledo City Directory - Alford O. Wood is shown as having died on March 26, 1895, at the age of 39.
• 1895 Funeral Home record from Toledo, Ohio - Alford O. Wood is shown as the deceased, death date of March 26th, with burial on March 28th in Lima, Ohio, which is 80 miles away from Toledo. 
  

Given that the vast majority of sources show the name as Alfred O. Wood, and his brother also used that name on the sibling list, I'm going with ALFRED O. WOOD unless and until more definitive, reliable evidence turns up for the Alford version.

Book Review: "Genealogical Research in Ohio, 2nd Edition"

Note: The Genealogical Publishing Company provided me with a free review copy of this book, but the candid opinions in this review are entirely my own.

Because so many of my husband's ancestors had "Ohio Fever" and moved to the Buckeye State after the Revolutionary War, I was interested in learning more about the state's genealogical sources. 

Kip Sperry's Genealogical Research in Ohio is a handy guide to Ohio and its robust family history resources. The second edition has lots of web addresses but its real strength is in covering the many resources that aren't available with a click, such as:

• Substitutes for missing or incomplete civil vital records - Sperry fills 4 pages with good ideas for finding birth, marriage, and death info when official records aren't available. For instance, the Ohio Genealogical Society has on file ancestor cards and charts, First Families roster, and Bible records; the Ohio Historical Society has grave registrations of soldiers buried in Ohio. Not everything is online, and the book encourages researching off-line sources.
• Historical maps - Sperry includes 21 maps that are useful in understanding when counties came into existence, when borders changed, how early bounty lands shaped Ohio's development, county seats, regional history research centers, and much more. Sometimes I needed a magnifying glass but the maps were fascinating and informative.
• Chronology of Ohio's history - Shows years (sometimes specific dates) of the state's settlement milestones, wars, land development, population growth, and more. This is invaluable as background and context for researching Ohio ancestors. Having it in handy book format is a plus. 

Ideally, a 3rd edition would update with the latest info (the 1940 US Census wasn't yet available when Sperry wrote the 2nd edition--and in 2022, the 1950 US Census will be available, a good target date for a new edition, IMHO!). A new edition should also delete mention of databases on CDs and update URLs for resources mentioned in the book. 

Meanwhile, I'll be reaching for this book regularly as I continue researching hubby's Ohio ancestors. I found much to recommend in Kip Sperry's expert review of Ohio genealogical resources!

One Ancestor at a Time on Four Sites (Plus Software)

One of my 2020 goals has been to improve the details and sources for ancestors on the family tree, part of my Genealogy Go-Over.

To keep the project manageable, I'm focusing on only one branch of the family tree at a time. Currently, my focus is on my husband's Wood side, starting with his paternal great-grandparents.

As shown here from Family Search, these great-grandparents were Thomas Haskell Wood (1809-1890) and Mary Amanda Demarest (1831-1897). They had 17 children, including hubby's grandfather, James Edgar Wood (1871-1939). You can spot him in the list of children: he's the guy with a face instead of a generic profile oval.

Add in the children's children and spouses and ex-spouses, and my Go-Over is not a rainy-day quick fix, but it is achievable if I go through the list systematically, one ancestor at a time.

I'm simultaneously checking each ancestor on my Ancestry and My Heritage trees, the Family Search collaborative tree, and on Find a Grave. Of course I am updating each ancestor in my RootsMagic software as I go along.

At a minimum, I'd like to have all ancestral names and dates/places complete and correct on all four sites. Ideally, I'd like to include a bit of a bio where possible, partly for cousin bait and partly to share what I've learned with other genealogists.

Just this month, I submitted an edit to fix the name on James Edgar Wood's Find a Grave memorial, a key correction. I had already added the photo (same as on Family Search) and a brief bio. UPDATE: For infants whose burial places are unknown, I'm mentioning their names/dates in the bios of their parents on Find a Grave, to keep their memories alive and keep families "together."

With the pandemic keeping me close to home, I expect to nearly finish this part of my Go-Over by the end of 2020. 

Free Genealogy Websites -- But Sometimes It Pays to Pay!

Randy Seavers issued a Saturday Night Genealogy Challenge this weekend: "Your Top 10 Free Genealogy Sites."

My summary page for "Genealogy--Free or Fee?" shows many top picks for free genealogy.

The Ancestor Hunt by Kenneth Marks

One free website I'm adding to my list is The Ancestor Hunt, a very useful website by Kenneth Marks (on Twitter at @marksology). 

As shown at top, the site links to free genealogy resources (arranged by U.S. state and Canadian province) such as newspapers, birth-marriage-death records, photos, school yearbooks, directories, immigration, divorce, and lots of other categories!

Here's a sample of what these state-by-state links look like. Definitely worth taking a look and clicking for the state where our ancestors lived! Be sure to look at all the headings. There's a lot here, thanks to Kenneth Marks.

When It Pays to Pay

Sometimes I need information that I just can't find for free. Direct line ancestors (parents, grandparents, great-grannies, etc) are a key priority. If those key vital records aren't available for free, I order and have them in hand for careful scrutiny. More than once, I've noticed tiny details that changed my understanding of an ancestor's life! And, as my friend Linda Stufflebean points out, the free version of a record may not have all the info that is available on the original version ordered for a fee.

I also pay for birth, marriage, death, and other records when I need to find out (or confirm) a maiden name, get an exact date, or see info that my ancestor actually wrote. This includes original photocopies of my ancestors' Social Security applications (SS-5). 

In general, vital records tend to get more expensive as the years go by--if they are available at all. Some states are restricting access, unfortunately. If I want that record and it's not available for free, I'm going to buy it now and keep it.

Before I send money, I always look at a blank copy of the record to be sure I understand what will (and won't) be on it. If I'm hoping to learn an exact birth date but early marriage records show just an age or state whether bride/groom are over 21, I may look for a different record to obtain the birth date.

A Genealogy Record Actually Got Cheaper!

Prepping for my "Free and Almost Free Genealogy" talk this week, I double-checked the cost of sending for an ancestor's Social Security (SS-5) application. 

Although there is a fee for obtaining SS-5 documents, they are filled with detail. Don't bother with the "computer extract" which usually doesn't have all the details on the actual application. Go straight for the "photocopy of original application" even though it costs a little more. You want to see the original with your own eyes!

When I couldn't find my great-grandma's maiden name any other way, I paid to get my grandpa Isaac's Social Security application. 

As shown directly above, Isaac applied for a Social Security card on December 1, 1936, giving the following info on his application:

• First name and surname
• Home address
• Employer name and address
• Current age AND birthdate AND birthplace (including country)
• Father's full name
• Mother's given and maiden name
• Sex, color
• Date of application and signature 

The price of obtaining this SS-5 has varied over the years. Two years ago, it was $24 for the photocopy. 

Today, as shown at top of this post, the cost of a photocopy is only $21. Rarely does a genealogy record get cheaper. If you, like me, want to get more info about an ancestor who had a Social Security account, I encourage you to spend the money to see the photocopy. IMHO, the investment can be quite worthwhile. Here's the link to get started.

Why I Love Bite-Sized Family History Projects

Bite-sized family history projects are more like a sprint than a marathon--and that's what makes them so practical and doable.

Here's why I love bite-sized family history projects:

• They don't drag on and on forever. Researching and writing an entire family history can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Rather than spending many months or even years on one big project, I ease my way into family history by planning, researching, and creating each bite-sized story in a matter of weeks. 
• My enthusiasm remains high when I limit my focus. Focusing on only one or two ancestors, one event (like a wedding,) or one heirloom motivates me to stay engaged for the limited time needed to complete the project.
• Focusing sets the direction and scope. I have a clearer idea of what I'm looking for when conducting genealogical research on just one ancestor or a couple. I also know the time-frame when exploring background issues to put their lives into context for my audience, the next generation (and beyond).
• Smaller projects allow for flexibility and creativity. Do I want to tell the story through a colorful illustrated booklet? A slick photo book? A video featuring family photos and narration by an older cousin? Whatever the final result is, bite-sized projects can be assembled into larger blocks later on.
• The audience will have something now. It's never too soon to get relatives interested in the family's past. A bite-sized project eases them into learning about ancestors little by little, just as it eases me into telling the stories little by little. 

My newest bite-sized family history project is approaching the finish line: A photo-studded booklet about my mother (Daisy Schwartz Burk, 1919-1981) and her twin sister (Dorothy Schwartz, 1919-2001). 

The excerpt at top shows part of a page telling about my Auntie Dorothy's experiences in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. She was on board the RMS Aquitania as the oceanliner-turned-troop ship made its way from New York City to Scotland, with the constant fear of German submarine attack anywhere in the Atlantic. Now that's a story the next generation doesn't know and will be astonished to hear!

"Newest" is the #52Ancestors prompt for week 41. Only 11 more weekly prompts in 2020. This is one of my Genealogy Blog Party links for December, 2020!

NOTE: My newest presentation, "Bring Family History Alive in Bite-Sized Projects," will debut at the all-virtual New England Regional Genealogical Conference in April. More event details available soon!

Jane Ann Wood, Oldest and Longest-Lived Child

My husband's grandfather was one of 17 children of Mary Amanda Demarest and Thomas Haskell Wood. The oldest of their children was Jane Ann Wood (1846-1936). She was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, and came along as her parents moved first to West Virginia and then, as the Civil War began, moving with the family  to Toledo, Ohio.

In 1880, when she was 33 years old, Jane still lived with the family on South Street in Toledo, Ohio. Her occupation on the Census was listed as "at home." Two of her brothers were already working while four of her siblings were listed as "at school." The youngest two siblings--including hubby's grandfather--were also attending school but that was not their listed occupation.

Jane in City Directories

Tracking Jane after 1880 would have been difficult if not for the many Toledo, Ohio city directories available on Ancestry. When Jane's father died in February of 1890, she was still living at home with her mother. 

In the 1893 Toledo city directory excerpt at top, she is listed as "Jennie A. Wood" boarding at the address where her mother lives, 414 South Street. Her brother James E. Wood was also boarding at that address--this is hubby's grandpa, not yet married.

In the city directories, Jane appears at 414 South Street in 1894, 1895, and 1896. However, she's missing from the 1897 Toledo directory. 

Jane in Census Years

After a gap of years, I finally found Jane at age 63 in the 1910 Census. She was married to 60-year-old George A. Black, who was listed as blind. They told the enumerator that they had been married for 12 years (approximate marriage year would be 1898). This was his 2d marriage and her 1st. One more person was in this household: A boarder named George Sader, also blind, also in his 2d marriage. 

At age 74 in 1920, Jane was listed as head of household in the Census. She and husband George were still living in Toledo, Ohio, again no occupation for either. 

In the 1930 Census, Jane was 83 and her husband George was 80, and they have not left Toledo. Neither showed an occupation, but now they had a roomer. She was Anna Rosebecker, married and age 67.

Jane Outlived George

In February of 1934, Jane's husband George died in Toledo. After an inquest, his death was recorded as being caused by heart problems. 

Jane "Jennie" Wood Black lived on two more years, dying in Toledo of liver problems at the age of 89, leaving no descendants. She was not just the oldest but also the longest-lived of all 17 children of Thomas Haskell Wood and Mary Amanda Demarest. I'm honoring her memory with this post for week 40 of #52Ancestors.

Fact List Reveals Gaps in My Genealogy Research

This week's "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun" challenge from Randy Seaver is to create a fact list using genealogy software and share the results.

Since I use the same software that Randy uses -- RootsMagic7 -- I simply followed his instructions. I prepared a fact list of marriage facts in my Wood family tree. Above is an excerpt from this 38-page report. (I didn't print it--to save trees, I saved it in digital format.)

As I'm still learning to use my RM7 after 3 years, Randy's challenge was an opportunity to identify gaps in my research. Above, I have no marriage date for one ancestor but I do have a place. For another ancestor, I have a year but no marriage place. And for two ancestors, I have only a city or county name without the state.

I ran this fact list for marriages...now I'll run one for births and one for deaths. Those are the very bare basics, but I can drill down further when I'm ready. Thanks to Randy, I'm be able to see at a glance where I need to focus my research to fill in the gaps!

Family History Month Starts with Backup Day

The first of every month is backup day--time to make backups of whatever you've digitized as a way of keeping precious genealogy data safe. 

Family History Month is an especially good time to remember to back up all of these files: scanned photos, digitized documents, electronic reports, and gedcoms.

Ideally, have a backup of your genealogy files on an external drive you can access quickly, also backing up onto a second external drive you keep off-site, and a backup in the cloud as well. 

Backups help protect our family's history for the next generation and preserve what we've learned in our years of genealogy research!

Family History as Window into Local History

My Dad, Harold D. Burk (1909-1978) was born in the middle of an historic celebration in New York City and environs. Despite the magnitude of this special event, I had never heard of it until I looked at the front page of the New York Times for his birth date, September 29, 1909.

New York was marking the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson sailing up the river that now bears his name...plus the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton successfully using steam power on a paddle-boat. 

This combined commemoration was called the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, a multi-day extravaganza that captured the American imagination and attracted millions of viewers to parades on land and on water, flyovers, children's events, and much more. Wilbur Wright actually flew over the Statue of Liberty on the day Dad was born. Who knew? 

This celebration (remembered in postcards, medals, coins, and many other items) put the spotlight on new technology of the time, such as airplanes and electricity. Meanwhile, Dad was being born at home in Manhattan, just a couple of miles from all the fanfare and the honored guests (including President William Howard Taft, Vice President James Sherman, and NY Governor Charles Evans Hughes).

On what would have been Dad's 111th birthday, his special day in family history led me to learn about a special period in New York history. Miss you, Dad. 💙

Curating My Genealogy Collection: New Home for 1911 Postcard

This photo postcard, sent in 1911 to my maternal grandma by a younger brother, is on its way to a new home--returned to the sender's grandson after 109 years. This is part of my ongoing efforts to curate my genealogy collection, keeping items most important to my family and finding new homes for other items.

Entrepreneurial Albert Goes West

My great uncle Albert Farkas (1888-1956), born in Hungary, was quite an entrepreneur. In his early 20s, he left New York City to establish a manufacturing business in the Pacific Northwest. Simply making that cross-country journey by train must have been an adventure in 1911, when he set out.

Albert bounced between Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, as he made contacts and arranged his new business. He registered with the Canadian Consul in 1916, saying he was a U.S. citizen (by virtue of his father's naturalization in 1906) and had entered Canada in 1912.

Farkas Family Vacations on the Farm

In August of 1911, my grandma, Hermina "Minnie" Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964), was taking a two-week vacation with her mother and younger sisters. (She married my grandpa later that year.) To escape oppressive heat in New York City, they boarded with a farm family in Hudson, New York, and enjoyed fresh air and greenery. 

While Minnie was at the farm, this postcard arrived from her brother Albert ("Berti") in Seattle, Washington. Another cousin who reads Hungarian translated  the postcard as, loosely: "Is it still hot in New York State? If so, you can come here, where it's cold." Now this picture postcard is in an archival sleeve, protected by cardboard in a padded envelope, and winging its way to Albert's grandson--who lives in Washington state! 

Family History at the Movies

Growing up, my husband's family attended many summer theater productions at Cain Park, a large outdoor theater in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. When hubby was a teenager, he and his siblings got summer jobs working backstage. Happily, his sister saved some of the old Cain Park programs inherited from their father, including the one shown above, for The Wizard of Oz. They have many fond memories of those days!

Fast-forward to 1980, when Frank Langella (fresh off his famous Dracula role) starred in a movie based on Cain Park's halcyon days: Those Lips, Those Eyes. The critics didn't think highly of the movie, but in watching it recently, my hubby felt great nostalgia for that theater, as an audience member and as part of the crew.

What made Cain Park special was the lovely outdoor setting, with plays under the stars. And the up-and-coming stars, such as Dom De Luise, who acted for several summer seasons at Cain Park. Above, the cast bio for his 1954 role as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. 

My husband just donated this and seven other programs from Cain Park's productions to the special collections room at Cleveland State University, which catalogs and archives local theater artifacts. This is one way we're curating our genealogy collection to keep nonpersonal items safe for future generations. 

"Should be a movie" is this week's #52Ancestors blogging prompt.

Adding Context for 3D View of Ancestors, Part 3

In addition to examining family situation (part 1 of this series) and community (part 2), another way to flesh out ancestors' lives is to look at influences on society at that time. 

So many elements influenced the society in which ancestors lived and the daily lives they led--including religion, economics, legal and political considerations, industry and technology, urban/suburban/rural life styles, plus local and global health developments. Not everything had a profound impact on every ancestor, but I try to consider key developments that shaped the course of their lives.  

I read the news today, oh boy! 

My top pick for analyzing societal influences is the newspaper. Not just local newspapers where that ancestor lived, but statewide and/or national news sources. For ancestors who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries, papers are a particularly valuable research resource--I browse the news as well as the advertisements, which reflect norms and beliefs of the time.

My immigrant ancestors settled in New York City, so city papers are good starting points for me. Actually, most papers (even small-town papers) had some national and international coverage, I noticed while researching my husband's ancestors in rural Ohio and Indiana.

Newspapers provide accounts of local/national politics, infrastructure improvements, crime, food and fashion, and so much more. Ads and reporting reflected new types of jobs, new transportation, new products and services, all part of societal influences on ancestors. Letters to the editor reveal unvarnished opinions expressed at the time and are fascinating to read.

Constant change

All these changes kept coming, affecting my ancestors day to day and over the long period. After the Roaring Twenties, when many ancestors got on their feet economically, the Great Depression was real challenge, followed by World War II. News reports allow me to follow along and understand these influences. Commercial radio, motion pictures, commercial television, jet planes, computers--these innovations were in the lives of my parents and some in the lives of my grandparents, and all were covered in the newspaper. 

Political and legal events made a huge difference in ancestors' lives. My mother was born late in 1919, a few months after Congress passed legislation granting women the right to vote (the 19th Amendment wasn't ratified until 1920). I read all about it in the newspaper! No wonder Mom brought her children to the polling place each year so we could watch her exercise her right to vote.

The drafts instituted in WWI and WWII affected the men in my family tree--of course, all well documented in newspapers of the time. Food rationing was a daily concern for ancestors living through WWII, especially for my maternal grandparents, who ran a grocery store and needed customers to bring ration books along when they made a purchase. 

Many genealogy websites have information and videos about paid and free access to old newspapers, just go ahead and search...and think creatively about the personal and professional lives of your ancestors. It was fun to run across ads for a Hungarian-style restaurant run by an ancestor in New York City when I searched via Fulton History, for instance. When this type of restaurant went out of fashion, he went out of business, context I kept in mind while looking at the arc of his life.

Don't forget: New newspapers are added to free and paid sites every month, so redo your searches now and then to pick up new clues to the context of your family history.

Book review: "Roots for Kids"

 

Note: The Genealogical Publishing Company provided me with a free review copy of Roots for Kids: Finding Your Family Stories, but the positive opinions in this review are entirely my own!

Susan Provost Beller emphasizes "family stories" as a key thread running throughout this practical and engaging book, aimed at introducing the younger generation to the fascinating and fun process of genealogy. She writes: 

History means much more when it is 'YourStory!'

Each of the 15 bite-sized chapters opens with an interesting story, drawing the reader in. Topics range from food and first names to geography and generations. After a few pages of clear explanation, each chapter ends with an activity --something the reader can easily try now to get involved with family history.

Beller encourages curiosity and individuality, giving readers ideas plus hands-on tools to start on the road to discovering and documenting family history. The book includes a blank pedigree chart, a blank family group sheet, suggested websites to take research to the next level, a useful illustrated glossary, and an index. 

The cover and illustrations by Kate Boyer beautifully complement the text and really enhance the reading experience. Do take a look at this book if you want to get the younger generation interested in family history!

Documenting Grandma Floyda's Needlework Legacy

Handmade items by Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure

My husband's maternal grandmother, Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure (1878-1948) left a legacy of beautifully-crafted needlework! 

Above, a snapshot showing only a few of these treasured crocheted doilies and dainty gloves, a lacy embroidered tablecloth, a cross-stitched tablecloth, and a colorful crocheted afghan, and more . . . all painstakingly hand-made by Floyda, with great care. 

Being a needlecraft enthusiast myself, I can appreciate Floyda's expertise. For some projects, she used the tiniest steel crochet hooks and ultrathin cotton threads. Her stitches are neat and even, with fine finishing touches. 

These lovely items were preserved neatly and safely for decades by my sis-in-law, who kindly gave them to me for documentation before we share with other descendants. 

My sis-in-law also wrote down some personal memories that will accompany these needlework keepsakes to their new homes in the family. One specific memory is that Floyda "taught me to sew when I was about four years old, and gave me fabric for my projects, mostly doll clothes..."

After I air these items, I will preserve them in archival tissue and archival boxes. Each box will include a write-up of Grandma Floyda's life story, growing up as the beloved only child of doting parents and becoming an accomplished crocheter and embroiderer, plus family remembrances of Floyda.

I do hope that sharing Floyda's legacy and details of her life with her descendants will inspire them as they admire the needlework items she created with love and dedication! 

Ancestors Followed the Subway Out of Manhattan

1989 map of New York
City subway system

Sometimes a map or multiple maps can help us understand ancestors' movements within a city or region. That's the case with my immigrant Farkas and Schwartz ancestors who lived in New York City around the turn of the 20th century. 

Although they began their new lives in Manhattan, my maternal great-grandparents and grandparents were able to move to less-crowded residential neighborhoods in the northern borough of the Bronx because of the subway.

The Farkas family rode the subway and "the el"

My collection of now-obsolete
New York City subway tokens

My great-grandfather Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) was escaping financial ruin after hail destroyed his crops in Hungary. He sailed to New York and initially was a boarder in someone else's Lower East Side Manhattan tenement apartment. This was in August of 1899, before any modern mass-transit systems were even built. Once his wife, Lena Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938) and their children arrived from Hungary, they moved to an apartment of their own on the Lower East Side.

By 1920, however, Moritz, Lena, and their family (and many of the married children) were living in the borough of the Bronx, just north of Manhattan. This move was made possible by the expansion of the city's subway lines into what was then a much less-populated area. Ironically, many of the subway lines were actually overhead, not underground, and were usually called "the el," short for "elevated."

Now Farkas family members could ride the subway to work and to visit each other, not to mention go to the Bronx Zoo, the Bronx Botanical Gardens, and Coney Island by train! Family stories, corroborated by more than one cousin, say that to save money, Lena sometimes gave her two middle sons only a nickel each per day to ride the subway to work...one way. They had to walk home when the nickels ran out.

Teddy and Minnie never needed a car

My maternal grandpa Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965) also came to New York City from Hungary, arriving in 1902, before the subway opened to the public. He lived as a boarder on the Lower East Side for the first nine years, then married my grandma Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1964) in 1911. At that point, the subway system was growing by leaps and bounds, reaching far and wide year after year.

With affordable mass transit within walking distance, Teddy and Minnie moved their family from Manhattan to the south Bronx, then a fast-growing residential area with new schools and parks. They settled on Fox Street, directly across from an elementary school, and Teddy opened a grocery store down the block.

Teddy and Minnie never had a car and didn't need one, given the ongoing improvements of the New York City subway system. Here's what the network looked like in 1939. By that time, all three of their children were working--taking the subway into Manhattan and back to the Bronx on every business day. The price was right and the subway was the fast track to better-paying jobs in the heart of New York City.

"On the map" is the #Genealogy prompt for week 38 of the #52Ancestors series.

Adding Context for 3D View of Ancestors, Part 2

In part 1 of my series, I looked at how analyzing an ancestor's family situation can provide valuable context for seeing that individual in three dimensions.

In part 2, I look at how analyzing an ancestor's community can add depth and context to that individual's life from our perspective in the 21st century.

Community context: County history books

Those wonderful late 19th century and early 20th century county history books really come in handy for community context. You can find some of these as links from the FamilySearch.org state/local pages, in the Ancestry catalog, in the MyHeritage catalog, by searching Hathitrust, and by searching with the place name (as I did with: "History of Fayette County, Indiana"). 

Despite the boosterism, such books provide fascinating background on not just local history, but topography, natural resources, industry, civic life, culture, and much more. Many include "reminiscences" of early settlers and veterans, a bonus for getting a sense of what the community was like, first hand.

Case study: Ira Caldwell

Ira Caldwell (1839-1926), my husband's 1c3r, served in Company I of the 84th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War. He was mustered in during 1862 and mustered out during 1865, marrying two years after leaving the Union Army. What could I learn about his life from looking at his communities?

Here is just some of what my "community" research uncovered to help me better understand his life:

• Where born - Ira and his siblings were all born in Indiana not very long after it became a state. Reading History of Fayette County, Indiana (from 1885) I learned that his Caldwell family was among the founders of very rural Posey township in Fayette County, arriving even before statehood. 
• Growing up - Ira witnessed the first roads, first schools, and so on as the local population doubled from 1830 to 1840 and beyond. Maps in the county history book helped me envision where he grew up on the family farm. The county history makes it clear that this was both an exciting time and a challenging period for pioneer farmers. 
• Transportation and technology - During Ira's youth, Indiana became part of new canal systems and new railroad networks, transforming the way people and goods were moved. Ira's farming community would have known about newly-invented threshers and grain elevators, among other key inventions. By the time he died in 1926, electricity, telephones and radios were commonplace technological changes that had a profound effect on everyday life. 
• Moving on - Tracking Ira in the US Census as he married and had children, I found him in 1880 as a farmer in Harrison County, Missouri. I located a digitized History of Harrison County, MO from 1921 and discovered that Ira left Indiana in the 1870s, spent four years farming in Illinois, and then settled in this Missouri county. See excerpt in illustration--this county history book was a gold mine of information! I would never have known Ira Caldwell won a solid silver cup for exhibiting the "best fat cow" at the Indiana State Fair in 1857 but for reading this book.

Adding Context for 3D View of Ancestors, Part 1

Last week, I finished a 40-page booklet about hubby's 18 Civil War ancestors. Even though these ancestors died generations ago, each lived a unique life that I wanted to honor and memorialize in this family history booklet.

Yet when I sat down to write, I had only bare-bones facts from the US Census, Civil War pension records, and similar sources.

To engage my readers (younger relatives of today and descendants in future generations), I needed to flesh out these skeletons beyond just names and dates. My goal was to provide a more three-dimensional view of each ancestor's life.

This first part of my new blog series examines how an ancestor's family situation can add an important dimension to understand his or her life. Later posts in this series will look at community, society, and history as context for understanding ancestors.

Ancestors in Context: Family Situation

Here are some of the elements of family situation I examined to understand the life of Benjamin Franklin Steiner, born in 1840 in Crawford County, Ohio. He was my husband's second great uncle, and he served for nearly three years in the 10th Ohio Cavalry, fighting for the Union side.

• Birth order - He was the seventh of nine children, and the fifth of six sons. But since his father was a tailor, not a farmer, having a lot of boys didn't necessarily help the household prosper. It probably meant mouths to feed. Perhaps this is why I found Benjamin not at home in the 1860 US Census but living 40 miles away with a carpenter's family, and working as a laborer at the age of 20. Then I looked further.

• Parents - Benjamin's mother was listed as head of household in the 1860 US Census, no occupation. Benjamin's father died before the Census. Still at home with his Mom were a 25-year-old son who was a carpenter; a 21-year-old daughter whose occupation was "sewing;" and three children under the age of 15. I think this explains why Benjamin wasn't living at home--he needed to board elsewhere and make money while one of his brothers remained at home to be the chief breadwinner for the family.

• Siblings - One brother was a carpenter, one a plasterer, one a grocer, one a butcher, and one a farmer. After serving in the Civil War, Benjamin first started farming. With his second family, he tried brick and tile making before returning to farming. Both of these occupations he would have seen first-hand. Interestingly, none of the children chose to be a tailor like their father.

• Spouse and children - In 1861, Benjamin married a farmer's daughter. He was 21, she was 23. They had one son before Benjamin went to war in October, 1862. It must have been difficult for his wife and child, on their own, financially and emotionally, while Benjamin was in the military. When he returned, he and his wife had two more children. Only months after the third child was born, Benjamin's wife died. He remarried three years later, to a widow bringing up three children on her own. Now Benjamin was supporting a wife, two children, and three stepchildren, which may be why he changed occupations to try brick and tile making. Once the children were all grown and gone, he went back to farming in his later years. 

Benjamin's life took many twists and turns, with both ups and downs, I realized as I looked at his changing family situation. This gave me a better appreciation of who he was and the decisions he faced--fleshing him out as a 3D human being, beyond the basics of birth, marriage, and death.

More about context in Part 2.

School Photos, Back in the Day

This week's #52Ancestors prompt is "back to school."

Following the lead of my UK pal Paul Chiddicks, who posted old school photos on his genealogy blog, I'm posting two photos from my school days.

At left, a high school photo.

My "groovy" purple dress is a good fashion clue to the period when this photo was taken. Lots of groovy music back in the day!

Here's a photo from my junior high years (now known as middle school). I removed the year to protect the innocent, but left the place (Olinville Junior High School #113 in the Bronx, New York).

See the boys in jackets, white shirts, and really narrow ties? Those styles help narrow down the period. Many girls (including me) are wearing pleated skirts with wide belts, more fashion clues. In those days, we had to iron our white cotton blouses--no such thing as "wrinkle free" fabric, not till many years later.

Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for this weekly #Genealogy blogging prompt for week 37.

Authentic or Enhanced Images in My Family Histories? Yes!

Sgt. Dorothy Schwartz, serving in WACs, 1942

Currently, I'm working on a dual family history of my mother (Daisy Schwartz Burk, 1919-1981) and her twin sister (Dorothy Schwartz, 1919-2001).

My goal in writing and printing family history booklets is to introduce my relatives and ancestors to future generations who never knew them in person.

Authenticity AND clarity

Authenticity is very important--but so is clarity. Enhancing the scanned versions of creased, faced, or out-of-focus photos doesn't change the original. In my view, enhancement helps my readers (and the readers who will see this booklet in 10 or 25 years) see these ancestors more clearly, more vividly. Better digital images make ancestors look like real people without damaging the originals.

The above digitized snapshot shows my Auntie Dorothy in her WAC coat and hat during World War II. Doesn't her face look clearer in the photo on the right? I used MyHeritage's photo enhancement to make my aunt's facial features less fuzzy. The effect is subtle but makes all the difference.

Who's hiding in that photo?

After Vivid-Pix enhancement: Dorothy Schwartz
in flapper costume (and surprise! her mother is at right)

Here's the enhanced "after" version of a snapshot from the late 1950s that shows a different side of my aunt's personality. She's dressed as a flapper for a family masquerade party. Staring at the "before" image, Sis and I strongly suspected the face at right was Dorothy's mother, our grandma Minnie Farkas Schwartz.

So I used Vivid-Pix's Restore software to rescue the faces and the costume from near-oblivion, and was able to confirm that Grandma was most definitely in the picture.

The "after" version is far better and can now be inserted into the family history booklet, along with the story of the party, for posterity. Of course, the original photos are all sitting untouched in archival envelopes, carefully stored and ready for future genealogists of our family.

I don't feel I have to colorize the b/w and sepia photos to catch my reader's eye. There are more modern, full-color photos to scan and sprinkle throughout the booklet--after being digitally enhanced to correct the faded colors and give these ancestors a true-to-life look.

Finishing Touches for Family History: Think Like a Reader!

Top, snippet of front page of family history booklet. Bottom, index of names in the booklet

This summer's genealogy project was writing about my husband's 18 ancestors who served in the Civil War. Although most were fighting for the Union, thanks to a wonderful Wood cousin, I had a head-start researching the distant cousins on the Confederate side.

Every man who served had a fascinating and often poignant story. I researched and wrote about their lives and families before the war, what their military units did during the war, and the course of their lives and families after the war. My research showed that only two ancestors died during the war--both of disease, not wounds. This was a sadly common pattern during the Civil War.

Now, to add finishing touches that make this booklet as appealing and accessible as possible, I needed to think like a reader!

Finishing touch: Catch the eye

From experience, I know that the next generation enjoys a pop of color to catch the eye. So I found a colorful and evocative free photo to illustrate the first page (thanks to Pixabay), as you can see at top of this post.

In fact, every ancestor profile has some illustration, whether it's an excerpt from a pension record, a letter from the man's military files, or an illustration from an out-of-copyright mug book. My goal is to keep the reader's attention or at least intrigue the reader enough to look further.

Finishing touch: Did you know...

My first page also contains a few highlights and spoiler alerts. After all, when I pick up a book, I read the inside flap or back cover to see what's inside. That's what my highlights/spoiler alerts page is all about.

I explained that some Wood ancestors were in hotly-contested battles like Chickamauga...in famous engagements like the Monitor vs. the Merrimac...came from all walks of life before the war (blacksmith, farmer, tinsmith, mariner, doctor-in-training, career military). This is my way of saying to my audience: Read on for even more interesting details!

Finishing touch: What's in it for me?

I also needed to answer the unspoken question from every reader...what's in it for me? Well, one ancestor might be a distant cousin, one might be a 3d grand uncle, but all are related to you. The surnames are also a tipoff that these people were in our family tree.

My table of contents lists each man (and his birth/death dates) and indicates whether he served for Union or Confederacy (yes, I used color to make the words stand out). Next, I list the full name of his wife or wives, and their dates. Then I show the exact relationship to my husband and to the next generations.

So Lemuel C. Wood, Jr., who was in both the Union Army and the Union Navy, was a 1st cousin, 3 times removed to my hubby and his siblings. Their relationship to Dr. Thomas Fanning Wood, who served the Confederacy, was much more distant: he was their 6c3r.

Finishing touch: Find an individual quickly

Thinking like a reader, I realized someone might want to find a particular person or family quickly. In a 40-page family-history booklet, that's not possible without an index. With an index, if readers are curious about only the Larimer ancestors, they can look at the Larimer names in the index, for instance. Or if readers want to look up a name that's familiar, they can browse the index.

See part of the first page of the index I prepared for this booklet at top. Every family or associate name mentioned in the book appears in this index. I indexed women by their maiden names, showing married names in parentheses. In this Mayflower 400 year, I mentioned when a Civil War ancestor was descended from a Mayflower or Fortune passenger--and indexed those names as well.

The only people not indexed are Civil War figures like Stonewall Jackson. They're not part of the family, and are mentioned so often that the index alone would balloon to 5 pages.

Quite a labor of love for my family, but well worth the time I invested now that the youngest generation has expressed interest in the Civil War. And being close to home during this pandemic has allowed me large blocks of time to concentrate on the research and writing.

Bigger than bite-sized but achievable little by little

This is a longer but worthwhile "bite-sized project" that can be accomplished by researching and writing a brief bio of one ancestor at a time. I repurposed some of the bios by posting them on genealogy sites to share with more people. Little by little, I completed each bio and eventually assembled all into a booklet that has been shared (printed and digitally) with the Wood family.

Free! RootsTechConnect, Feb 25-27, 2021

RootsTechConnect registration confirmation--I'm attending!

Family Search announced today that its 2021 RootsTechConnect conference will be all-virtual and entirely free! Mark your calendar for February 25-27, 2021.

The world's largest and most exciting genealogy conference will have something for everyone, everywhere.

Don't miss this opportunity to see some of the genealogy world's brightest stars, and learn new tricks and techniques while sitting at home in your bunny slippers.

Registration is entirely free. Just click here to go to the website for more info and to register. See you there!

Pandemic Pastime: Painted Rocks

Painted rocks - my pandemic pastime!

This week, Randy Seaver issued a "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun" to describe hobbies or pastimes, other than genealogy, that we're currently enjoying or have enjoyed in the past. Randy, I accept your challenge!

During the pandemic, I've been trying my hand at rock painting. The bottom rock is an early try, using a stencil and a specialty brush. Then I began browsing Pinterest for more elaborate designs and found lots of inspiration.

The top two rocks are critters I painted more recently, based on designs pinned to Pinterest.

None of these rocks is larger than 4 inches long. It doesn't take long to paint one, and with a top-coat for protection, they look great as decoration or ornaments in house plants.

Yes, I actually had to buy smooth rocks suitable for painting, but this is not an expensive hobby. And yes, some painted rocks (or painted coal lumps) may find their way into Christmas stockings this December ;)

Unforgettable Stories of Civil War Ancestors

From Library of Congress, sketch showing aspects of region surrounding Gallatin, TN

I am almost finished with my family history booklet about the 18 ancestors in my husband's family tree who served in the Civil War. Of the 18, 15 were fighting for the Union and 3 were fighting for the Confederacy. (Thanks to hubby's wonderful cousin L, who originally researched those 3 Confederates.)

Each of their life stories is unique and many are unforgettable. Let me share the story of two brothers who didn't survive the war.

Students Against Slavery

Isaac Larimer Work and John Wright Work were born in Ohio but moved with their pioneering family to Indiana when very young. The brothers were starting their first year of college prep at Hillsdale College in Michigan when the Civil War broke out. Hillsdale College was then quite well-known for its anti-slavery position, and students resolved to do their part in the fight against slavery.

In the spring of 1862, hundreds of students left campus and returned home to enlist for the Union--including Isaac and John, who both joined Company I of the 74th Indiana Infantry. The unit quickly moved into position for the Union, pursuing Confederate General Bragg and his forces through Kentucky. It fought in the Battle of Perryville, which the Union won but which caused heavy losses on both sides. Toward the end of 1862, the 74th Indiana Infantry marched to Gallatin and Castillian, Kentucky, to regroup and care for sick and wounded soldiers.

Dying of Disease, Not Wounds

Alas, Isaac and John both succumbed to chronic diarrhea at Gallatin not long afterward. Isaac was only 24, and his brother John only 22. The brothers had been in the Union Army for less than six months. They were my husband's first cousins, 4 times removed.

Their infantry unit actually lost many more men to disease than to battle: 91 officers and soldiers were killed or fatally wounded during fighting, while 2 officers and 181 soldiers died from illnesses like diarrhea. The prevalence of death by disease was the reality for both North and South throughout the War.

Knowing that these idealistic young men died only weeks apart, not from wounds but from disease that is today very treatable, made their story unforgettable for me.

RIP, Isaac Larimer Work (1838-1862) and Jacob Wright Work (1841-1863).

The #52Ancestors prompt for this week is "Unforgettable."

Happy 12th Blogiversary

My genealogy blog is entering its 13th year and I'm still climbing my family tree.

In nearly 1,300 posts over 144 months, I've examined methodology, brick walls, breakthroughs, and intriguing family stories.

Lots of ancestors found, lots of cousins connected, and looking ahead, more genealogy adventures are in my future.

Thank you to my incredible family, my dear readers, and the wonderful genealogy community for your support and interest!

Who Tells Your Story? Choosing to Be Family Historian

With a nod to the now-iconic musical Hamilton, I've been thinking a lot lately about the question: "Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?"

Long after my grandparents and parents were gone, I chose to be the family historian. I was curious about all those stories I didn't hear (or didn't pay attention to) when I was growing up. And I was especially motivated to dig out the stories NOT told, about my family and my husband's family. Remember, I married him for his ancestors ;)

By the time I chose our families as my focus, there were faces I could not recognize in old photos. There were important family stories and cousin connections that had somehow been forgotten.

I chose myself to tell the stories of who lived and who died--and that's how I came to understand that their stories are our stories, too.

Honoring the memory of ancestors, finding "new" cousins

My paternal grandfather Isaad Burk died years before I was born. Only after years of research did I come face to face with his face, on his naturalization papers. That clue helped me identify him in other family photos.

I really don't want to be the last person on Earth to recognize grandpa. In addition to captioning, I wrote a brief booklet about Isaac and his wife, my grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk, whose face I did recognize. This honors their lives and preserves their stories for future generations.

Happily, my family history activities put me in touch with delightful cousins from the Burk and Mahler families. The same happened when I investigated my Schwartz and Farkas family tree--I forged new and treasured connections with cousins near and far.

Forgotten heritage, now preserved

Hard as it was for me to believe, my husband's Wood family somehow didn't inherit the knowledge of their Mayflower ancestry. Only thanks to my hubby's 2c1r did we find out about 5 Mayflower ancestors in his Wood family tree: Degory Priest, Isaac Allerton, Mary Norris Allerton, Mary Allerton, and Francis Cooke. Needless to say, I'm not letting family forget this story, especially during this year of Mayflower 400 remembrances.

My research also led to uncovering the tragic story of many Schwartz family members killed in the Holocaust. I watched my mother's first cousin tell that story on video for the USC Shoah Foundation project. Her courage and survival against all odds gives me hope.

It's up to me, as guardian of family history for both sides of the family tree, to document who lived, who died, and to tell their stories.

--

"Chosen family" is Amy Johnson Crow's prompt for week 34 of #52Ancestors.

The Women Married to Civil War Ancestors

Excerpt from Wood Civil War Ancestors booklet

In researching and writing about my husband's Civil War ancestors (both blue and grey), I'm making sure to document the lives of the women they married.

Some wives outlived their Civil War veteran husbands, by a few years or decades; some wives died while their husbands were away at war; some wives died soon after the vets returned home. Each has a story and I want to be sure their lives are remembered, along with their husbands.

Here's my plan for writing "cradle to grave" about each veteran and his wife or wives:

• Head the first page with veteran's full name and dates. 
• Explain the veteran's relationship to readers in the next generation.
• List the full name of his wife (or wives) and her dates. 
• List the units in which the veteran served (blue indicates Union, red indicates Confederate).
• First paragraphs summarize the man's family background (parents, siblings, birthplace, movements, occupation). This is the "cradle" part of "cradle to grave" in a nutshell.
• Emphasize "story" part of family history by adding a dramatic hook early in the veteran's life narrative. Here, I say that this man and two brothers were all in the Union Army, but their lives diverged after the war was over.
• Include at least one illustration, such as a newspaper obit or a Civil War Pension card. 
• Say when and where the man got married, and any special circumstances. In the excerpt above, John N. McClure married Rebecca Jane Coble only 3 days after he enlisted in the Union Army, just before he shipped out with his unit. Quite a start to their married life.
• Describe the wife's life as well as the veteran's life to add context to the family tree overall. 
• Say when and where (and why) the veteran and his wife died and were buried, the "grave" part of this "cradle to grave" profile.

What's in This Family History Booklet?

My booklet will have a table of contents, a listing of Civil War military units in which the men served, and possibly the key battles or actions in which they participated. 

This is a work in progress, having grown from the quickie booklet I originally envisioned, so I may decide to add an index. After all, I'm profiling 19 men and their wives/families. That's a lot of names. I want to make it easy for descendants to look up any particular ancestor by checking the table of contents and/or the index.

Highlight the Drama: Spoiler Alerts Wanted!

I'm going to write a page highlighting "not to be missed" dramatic or interesting details about some key ancestors. Spoiler alerts will actually whet my readers' appetite for more. 

For instance, Robert Crooke Wood was the next generation's 4c5r and a senior U.S. Army surgeon. He married Ann Mackall Taylor, the oldest daughter of Major General Zachary Taylor--yes, the U.S. Army veteran who later became the 12th U.S. president. Zachary Taylor's daughter Sarah married Jefferson Davis. Yes, that Jefferson Davis. So Robert Crooke Wood's father-in-law was a future U.S. president, and his brother-in-law was a future Confederate president.

The Civil War intensified the family drama: Two of Robert Crooke Wood's sons fought for the Confederacy, while their father remained on active duty in the Union Army. (Many thanks to my hubby's wonderful cousin L for sharing his knowledge of this distant part of the Wood family tree.)

Don't you think such spoiler alerts will get my readers' attention?

Trouble Finds Lemuel C. Wood Senior and Junior

Neither Lemuel C. Wood Senior (let's call him "Capt. Wood") nor his son, Lemuel C. Wood Junior (let's call him "Junior"), actually made trouble for anyone, except for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Unfortunately, trouble came looking for them.

Capt. Lemuel Wood, Sr. (1792-1870) Hubby's 3d great uncle

Capt. Wood was a successful mariner based in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, at the major whaling port of New Bedford. He also owned 13 acres of farmland and livestock worth about $9,000 in 1860 (nearly $280,000 in today's dollars), according to that year's Census.

Sadly, the captain's first wife, Mercy Bowditch Taber, died of consumption in 1856. A year later, in 1857, he married Rosetta Howland Ellis, who died of either consumption or palsy in 1859 (records are inconsistent). One year after that, he married Julia Lambert Sampson--and she survived him by 21 years. In order to collect his Civil War pension, she had to prove that her first husband died (at sea during a whaling trip) and that Capt. Wood's previous two wives had died. Quite a fat file of paperwork and a lot of trouble, but she won her case.

Capt. Wood answered the call for Union service during the Civil War. According to some war records, he was commander of the USS Daylight. (Other pension records call him the "acting master" of the Daylight.) He was already in his 60s, with decades of experience on the water.

The USS Daylight sailed along the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, part of the Union blockade against the Confederacy. After the ship was damaged by Confederate gunfire, she was repaired and reassigned to the James River from October, 1864 to May, 1865, after the war ended.

Doctor's note attesting to Sarah H. Wood's deadly illness

Capt. Wood returned home at war's end. In 1870, a few months before he died at the age of 78, he told the Census his occupation was "mariner." He left his widow Julia an estate of $13,450--worth more than $270,000 today.

Lemuel C. Wood, Jr. (1828-1898) Hubby's 1c3r

The Captain's son and namesake, “Lemuel Junior,” first went into business as a merchant. At the age of 28, he married Sarah Howland Wood, on June 26, 1856. By the time their first child was born in 1857, the birth record recorded Junior’s occupation as “gentleman.” He and Sarah had four five children in all, but only two survived to adulthood. Two died within weeks of each other, one of "brain fever" and one of consumption. So tragic.

At the start of the Civil War, Junior became an acting paymaster for the Union Navy. He resigned that post in June of 1862. On September 22, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company I, 3d Massachusetts Infantry, and was mustered in the next day. At the time of this enlistment, he said his occupation was “farmer.” On December 3, 1862, Junior was working as a hospital steward at Plymouth, North Carolina, according to his Civil War records.

Trouble hit Junior's family while he was at war in North Carolina. His wife Sarah was fatally ill with consumption. Letters written to her husband’s commanding officers requested that Junior be given a month of furlough to be at her side.

After weeks of letters back and forth, Junior was granted a month's furlough on April 5, 1863. It was just in time: His wife Sarah died on April 14th.

Junior returned to North Carolina after his furlough. His nine-month service with the 3d Massachusetts Infantry ended when he was mustered out on June 26, 1863. Then he joined the 23d Unattached Company Massachusetts Infantry as a sergeant for 100 days. According to the 1890 Veteran’s Schedule, he had dysentery and was “brought home sick.” From April to September of 1865, Junior was an acting assistant paymaster for the Union Navy, stationed aboard the USS Nantucket.

When he first left the service, Junior took a job as a grocery clerk and hired a housekeeper to care for his children. Eventually, he remarried in 1894, to Emma Louise Small Sherman, listing his own occupation as nursing (remember, he was a hospital attendant during the Civil War). Junior died four years later, at the age of 70, in Fairhaven, his birthplace.
--
You know I married my husband for his fascinating ancestors! This week's #52Ancestors blogging prompt is "troublemaker."