Checking Page Two--Twice--for Great Uncle Albert

My great uncle Albert Farkas (1888-1956) died on this date, 67 years ago. I'm focusing on my Farkas ancestors as part of my series of family history photo books.

Albert and his wife, Sari Klein Farkas (1901-1982) often entertained dozens of Farkas relatives for big holidays, according to meeting minutes from the Farkas family tree association, 1933-on. Albert didn't marry Sari until he was in his early 30s, and I know from descendants that they were warm-hearted, generous people who put family first. 

Before Albert met Sari, he served in the U.S. Army during World War I. Two of Albert's military documents had significant info on the first and the second pages. Of course, not all info on every document is indexed, another reason to check page two (and beyond if a document has a page 3 or even more pages). One click beyond page 1 and I had even more of his story!

WWI Draft Registration - 2 pages

At top, page 1 of my great uncle's WWI draft registration paperwork. Relatives told me Albert was trying to establish a business in Canada in the 1910s. On this page, Albert says he's a manufacturer, living at the Rainier Grand Hotel in Seattle, Washington. 

Also he says he was naturalized on his father's naturalization. Interestingly, the town of birth is not listed, only Hungary as country of birth. 

On page 2 is the reason why Albert did not register when he was required to do so: "Was in Canada on June 5th, 1917 and arrived in Seattle this date" [meaning Jan 19, 1918, date of his registration]. I'm pretty sure he was aware of the legal requirement to register, just dragged his feet. And of course once registered...

WWI Abstract of Service - 2 pages 

Albert was inducted into the U.S. Army on Aug 26, 1918, as shown on page 1 of his Abstract of Service (U.S. Adjutant General's Office). Also shown on page 1 was his correct birth town (NagyBereg, Hungary).

This first page shows how Albert was moved from a Depot Brigade to Camp Gordon, GA, then to Company A, 329th Infantry on Dec 5, 1918. But since this page shows he was overseas from Oct 1918-May 1919, there must be more to the story. 

And there is more, on page 2, where I see he was placed in Company G of the 310th Infantry until his discharge.

Thinking of you, great uncle Albert, gone but definitely not forgotten. 

What Did Mom Know About Family History?

When Roots became a national phenomenon in 1977, I was riveted to the TV set and asked my mother to write me a letter about her parents' ancestry. She typed a few paragraphs of what little she knew about Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1964) and Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965), my maternal grandparents.

I read the letter, and then . . . I filed it away, for more than 20 years. Somehow I knew I would want it in the years ahead, when I could no longer ask Mom about her family's past. Fast-forward to 1998, when I began my genealogy journey, and returned to this letter for clues as starting points for additional research.

What Mom knew--and what she didn't know

Over the years, I learned that some of what my mother wrote in her letter was correct, some was slightly off, and much was incomplete. A few examples:

• Grandpa Teddy came from peasant people in Czechoslovakia, arriving in America at 13 years old. Correct: Teddy was 13 when he arrived, turning 14 just a few weeks later. Incorrect: not of peasant people--they were actually middle class, according to first-hand info from Teddy's niece. Correct: his hometown of Ungvar was part of Czechoslovakia but only briefly, today being in Ukraine. Mom didn't know the name of her father's hometown, but happily, it did appear on Teddy's Social Security application, among other documents.
• Teddy's brother and sister came to America also, but the rest of his family was killed in the Holocaust. Correct: His brother and sister came to America. Not entirely correct: Although most members of Teddy's family were, sadly, killed in the Holocaust, his niece and one or two other folks escaped, thankfully. Apparently, Mom had no idea that after WWII, her father was in touch with his niece, a  survivor of Auschwitz.
• Grandma Minnie's parents/grandparents were prosperous farmers, renting farmland from an admiral. They didn't insure the crop one year and it failed, leaving her father financially ruined--the reason he left Hungary to come to New York City. Correct: I confirmed that the men in the family were managers of a big-shot's acreage in Hungary. Unconfirmed: the crop failure, but that story was passed down in multiple lines of the family tree, and it makes sense as the catalyst for leaving an otherwise comfortable home life, so I accept there has to be some truth to the story. 
• A teenaged Minnie came to America after her parents, with 2-3 younger siblings "under her wing" for the voyage. Correct. Two years after her father left Hungary, one year after her mother left Hungary, Minnie and three siblings arrived at Ellis Island to be reunited with their parents. Minnie celebrated her 15th birthday on board the S. S. Amsterdam enroute to America.

Preserving my grandparents' lives in a photo book

Mom's letter offered many clues to jump-start my research into her parents and grandparents. Now, 25 years into my genealogy adventures, I'm preserving this family history in my latest professional photo book. In addition to photos of Grandpa Teddy and Grandma Minnie, I'm including photos of their siblings, their parents, the ships that brought them to America, their signatures, and much more.

For me, a creating a professional photo book is a worthwhile investment in safeguarding family history for the sake of those who come after. I want future generations to know more about the background of our ancestors than my Mom did!

Putting Names to Faces in Family History Photos

 

As I continue creating family history photo books and printed materials, I'm using different ways of identifying ancestors in old photos:

• Digitally superimpose names on the photo.
• Number the faces, caption using numbers with names.
• Near photo, list names separately with explanation such as "left to right."
• Number or name people on an outline of the photo.

Names on photo

At right, my favorite method is to digitally caption with names directly on the people in each photo.

I use bright colors for the names, which stand out against the black and white or sepia of the scanned photos. The advantage is readers can quickly and easily tell who's who, without looking elsewhere on the page or on another page for names. But in some cases, photos are too crowded to use this method of identification.

On a Mac, I use the preview application to add text to these photos, but I think nearly all photo programs have the capability to do this.

Numbers on photo, names listed separately

Another method is to number the people in the photo, then add a caption listing who's who according to number. I use this method when identifying a large number of people in one photo, because there's simply no room for names.

At left, an excerpt from a family celebration photo where Sis and I are shown (40 and 41) with our mother (33) and our grandparents (23 and 24). 

This photo will appear on the left page, and the identifying names will appear on the right, something like this: 

23) Hermina Farkas Schwartz

24) Theodore Schwartz      . . . and so on.

"Left to right" listing in separate caption

When I originally captioned the photo from my parents' wedding shown at right, I used the traditional method of listing people like this, in a caption below the photo:

At the 1946 wedding of Daisy and Harold, seated in front row, left to right: Abraham Berk, Harold Burk, Daisy Schwartz Burk, Lily Berk Goldberg.

These days, I include birth/death dates and relationships to encapsulate more info in less space. So a revised version of this caption would be:

At the 1946 wedding of Daisy and Harold, seated in front row, left to right: Abraham Berk (1877-1962, groom's uncle), Harold Burk (1909-1978, groom), Daisy Schwartz Burk (1919-1981, bride), Lily Berk Goldberg (1906-1957, groom's first cousin).

This kind of caption can be shown next to, above, or below the photo, maybe even on a facing page. 

Number or name on outline of photo

One more fun idea, suggested during today's #AncestryHour chat on Twitter: turn a copy of the photo into an outline or a pencil sketch, then digitally superimpose numbers or names without obscuring the original. 

Above, my sis and me, in a pencil sketch version of the family celebration photo. Here, I put a number on each person...but if there was room, I could have squeezed in at least a first name, if not a full name. In other words, show the full original photo on one page and then on facing page or directly below, this outline version with numbers or names. Full caption could be below the outline version or opposite, depending on space. 

No matter how I caption, I want the audience to recognize which name goes to which face, and not have to turn the page to puzzle things out! 

Honoring Immigrant Great-Grandpa Moritz for Father's Day

For Father's Day, I'm remembering the patriarch of the Farkas family tree in America. 

My great-grandpa Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) left Hungary in August of 1899, disembarking and remaining in New York City. The catalyst for this journey was a devastating hail storm that wiped out his crops and left him deeply in debt. 

After Moritz established himself in the Big Apple, his wife Leni Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938) joined him in 1900. Their first eight children followed them through Ellis Island within the next two years. (My grandma Hermina was their second oldest child.) Moritz and Leni expanded their family with three more children in New York City.  

To honor these immigrant ancestors, one of my great uncles paid for "The Moritz Farkas Family" to be inscribed on the Ellis Island Wall of Honor, panel 132 (image at top). 

At right is the photo of Moritz now on his memorial page on Find a Grave. I digitally put his name on the photo and included the attribution "Courtesy Farkas family."

Of course Moritz and Leni will make an appearance in my next family history photo book, about my maternal grandparents, Hermina Farkas and Theodore Schwartz. 

Happy Father's Day, great-grandpa Moritz. I was born long after you passed away, so sadly, I couldn't get to know you . . . but I know that without your decision to sail to New York City in 1899, I wouldn't be here today. You are remembered with great affection.

Family History Photo Book: Timeline Helps Readers and Myself

Family historians know the chronology of key ancestors' lives, but the next generation may not understand the flow as easily. 

That's why, in each of my ancestor photo books, I'm including a timeline to show major events in order.

Timeline helps readers

Who was born first? Who got married when and where? When did our immigrant ancestors arrive in North America? The timeline shows readers this info at a glance. I use terminology like "1850s" or "1855ish" when the year is only an approximation. I also cover ongoing activities, such as children going to school, in a range of years.

From my most recent book about paternal grandma Henrietta "Yetta" Mahler and paternal grandpa Isaac Burk, here is one of the timeline pages I created. The timeline continued to another few lines on the following page, ending with the year these ancestors passed away.

My audience tells me over and over that quote black and white is boring unquote so I add color on every page. Here, the title of the page is in blue and the text is in black on an ivory background. Small colored hearts catch the eye and reflect my feeling that these ancestors are held in our hearts.

Timeline helps me

Creating a draft timeline also reminds me of important events as I assemble what I need for a new photo book: 

• Photos from different periods in ancestors' lives (sharpen/crop/fix before using, check resolution so photos will reproduce well)
• Selected documents or excerpts (a few intriguing ones such as a marriage cert, a naturalization cert, etc)
• Signatures (enlarged/cropped from ancestors' documents)
• Postcards, maps, other illustrations as appropriate
• Bite-sized bios of focus ancestors, plus their parents, siblings, in-laws, children, which become even more bite-sized in my books.

Watch for more posts as I continue developing my third ancestor photo book, about my maternal grandparents, Hermina Farkas and Theodore Schwartz. 

Using a Timeline to Spot Gaps in Family History

I'm currently working on a "brief" family history of Elfie Asenath Mosse (1867-1939), the first and longest-serving librarian of the Santa Monica Public Library in California, holding that position for 49 years. I'm proud to say this incredible woman was my husband's 2c3r. 

Elfie was the descendant of strong, pioneering men and women on both sides of her family tree. Her maternal grandmother Asenath Cornwell Larimer and her father D'Alva Mosse were both in the California Gold Rush during the 1850-1853 period. Elfie would have heard those stories growing up, and seen the Gold Rush journal written by Asenath. She would most likely have heard the stories of her great uncle, John Cornwell, who wrote his own journal about being part of the Gold Rush.

Further back in time, Elfie's tree included a patriotic veteran of the US War of 1812 and Loyalist ancestors who fled the United States during the American Revolution. Some ancestors were early settlers in Indiana and Ohio. She also had uncles fighting for the Union side in the US Civil War. Fascinating ancestors with dramatic stories that shaped Elfie's view of herself and her pivotal role in civic life.

Identifying a gap

After researching Elfie's background, I created a timeline showing the chronology of who, what, when, and where. Even when I didn't have an exact year for an event, I could at least see what was going on around that time--and identify a few gaps in the family history I've been writing.

Elfie's family was often described as among the earliest living in Santa Monica. But when did they arrive? As shown in the image at top, I spotted that gap in family events between 1874 and 1877, and set out to fill it.

Filling the gap

Using free digitized newspapers on the Santa Monica public library's website, I discovered a story about Elfie's grandmother purchasing 6 lots in Santa Monica on July 15, 1875, the very first day that land was offered for sale. 

A "look back" article described the birth of Santa Monica and explained that people came from all over California to buy this undeveloped land. As it turned out, lots could not be had cheaply, as buyers originally expected. "No lot sold for less than $75, and some of them brought the huge price of $500!" wrote Kate L. Cowick in the Evening Outlook (Santa Monica) of February 11, 1932. Asenath Larimer featured prominently in the article as "grandmother of Miss Elfie Asenath Mosse, now librarian of the Santa Monica public library."

Thanks to the timeline, I was reminded to dig a little deeper. Happily, I found solid evidence of quite a significant event in Elfie's life--now added to the family history.

Captain Slatter in the Indexed, Searchable 1931 Canadian Census

This morning's blog post from Gail Dever says that the 1931 Census of Canada is already indexed and searchable on Ancestry! (To see the questions asked, look at Dave Obee's page here.)

I immediately searched Ancestry for hubby's great uncle, the renowned band director of the 48th Highlanders of Toronto. Sure enough, this newly-released 1931 Census record was my top search result.

What did I learn about Capt. John Daniel Slatter (1864-1954)? First, I learned that the handwriting recognition software does an amazingly decent job of interpreting names. Shown in screen capture above, the names in this family are absolutely correct except for Capt. Slatter's--because the software mistook the parenthetical notation (Captain) written after his surname for a middle name "Contan." Not a big deal, but something to watch for.

Aside from that, Capt. Slatter made Canadian $1,200 as Director of Music for the Highlanders in 1930. He owned his 10-room home, valued at Canadian $15,000, had a radio, and the birthplaces of his wife and children are consistent with what I already have documented.

Interesting to discover that he misremembered his mother's birthplace as "Ireland." In fact, I've found her noted in multiple UK Census records as being born in London of Irish-born parents. 

Away I go down the rabbit hole to find more Canadian ancestors in this newly-released Census! 

Hint: If you want to search only that 1931 Census, you can look under the Search drop-down menu along the top of the Ancestry home page. Under search, go to the Ancestry Card Catalog and there you'll find the 1931 Census of Canada, as shown in the image at top of this post. Wishing you luck finding your Canadian ancestors, too. 

Happy 117th Anniversary to My Paternal Grandparents

I'm just finishing a photo book telling the story of my paternal grandparents, Henrietta Mahler (1881-1954) and Isaac Burk (1882-1943). The photo above takes up a full page, but with full names superimposed--the Mahler family, circa 1904. 

I really want descendants to recognize our ancestors, so the book is filled with captioned photos, not just names but dates and places where known. Plus maps showing where our immigrant ancestors were born and where they lived in the Big Apple.

Henrietta (nicknamed "Yetta"), my Dad's mother, is the lovely young lady wearing a light dress in the back row. 

Just a couple of years after this photo was taken, Yetta married Isaac Burk on June 10, 1906, in New York City. 

For this latest photo book, I created a brightly-colored word cloud with given names and surnames in the Mahler and Burk families. It's positioned in the center of the back cover. The word cloud site I use is free.

Yetta and Isaac, you're remembered with great affection on the upcoming 117th anniversary of your June wedding.

My next photo book will be about my maternal grandparents. I'll be blogging about that soon!

The Mystery of Mary Amanda Demarest Wood

Happy 192nd birthday to Mary Amanda Demarest, my husband's paternal great-grandmother, born on June 1, 1831, in Manhattan, New York. 

Somehow Mary Amanda left New York City and wound up in Plaquemine, Louisiana where she married my husband's paternal great-grandfather, Thomas Haskell Wood, on May 14, 1845. Mary was nearly 14, Thomas was 36 on their wedding day.

This church record from St. Clements shows a Mary Amanda Demarest being baptized on March 2, 1832, along with what appear to be four sisters--all likely children of Mary Ann Demarest, who is shown as their relative in far left column. I've seen this document in the past, but I never got around to building a quick and dirty tree using these names and exact birth dates. That's what I'm going to do now, in the hope of finding more clues to try to confirm or disprove the hypothesis of this being the target ancestors I'm seeking.

Mary Amanda Demarest Wood (1831-1897) and her husband Thomas Haskell Wood (1809-1890) had 17 children together: Jane Ann "Jennie" Wood, Thomas Jefferson Isaiah Haskell Wood, John Marshall Tabor Wood, Lucy Maria Kize Wood, William Henry White Wood, Alfred Olando Wood, Francis Ellery Wood, Lavatia Allen Wood, Joe Elemuel, Charles Augustus Wood, Rachel Ellen (Nellie) Wood, George Howard Wood, Marion Elton Wood, Mary Emma Wood, James Edgar Wood (hubby's grandfather), Robert Orrin Wood, and Leander Elkanah Wood. 

Digitizing Multiple Photos with Reimagine

MyHeritage.com has just introduced a handy app, Reimagine, for scanning old photos, particularly albums or multiple photos that will fit on one screen. It's available as a standalone subscription or with the MyHeritage subscription.

The app is fast and easy to use, and I think it will help me speed through the remaining photos that need to be digitized from albums, etc.

If multiple photos are in the frame to be scanned, this clever app digitizes them separately so I can enhance or repair or colorize each one in turn. 

In this case, I set two passport photos (one from 1960s, one from 1970s) below my iPad screen and tapped the button to scan using Reimagine. These show my late mom-in-law, Marian McClure Wood (1909-1983).

The app found two faces and asked me what I wanted to do with each. 

Here's what I did with the passport photo from the 1960s. First, I used the "enhance" function to make her face clearer (see pair of photos at right, the bottom is "enhanced.")

At left, the same passport photo colorized by Reimagine. My husband says this actually looks a lot like his mother in the 1960s, purple dress and all. Younger family members tell me over and over that "black and white is boring." I'm not changing the black and white version, I'm presenting it with the colorized version to catch their eye.

I still need to experiment because, unlike flatbed scanners, using this app seems similar to taking a photo and therefore old photos may have light reflected, or other issues to deal with. With experience, I'm sure I'll be better able to manage good scans and enhancements.

Nothing will take the place of my flatbed scanner for old documents and large photos, IMHO. But for smaller items, and especially album pages, I'm giving Reimagine a try. Just want to be sure the scan is high-res enough to show all details.

Honoring US Civil War Vets for Decoration Day

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, a day to honor those who fought in the US Civil War by decorating the graves of the fallen. 

For some years, I've been researching and documenting Civil War vets from my husband's family tree. Nearly all returned from the war, although a few died--mainly of disease.

To honor their service, I'm listing their names, genealogical relationship to my husband, and their military branch.

Union side, US Civil War

Ira Caldwell (hubby's 1c3r) - 84th Indiana Infantry

George H. Handy (hubby's 1c2r) - 4th Massachusetts Infantry

Harvey H. Larimer (hubby's 1c3r) - 151st Indiana Volunteer Infantry

Isaac Newtown Larimer (hubby's 1c4r) - 35th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

Jacob Wright Larimer (hubby's 1c3r) - 151st Indiana Volunteer Infantry

James Elmer Larimer (hubby's 1c4r) - 17th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry

John Wright Larimer (hubby's 1c3r) - 17th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry

John N. McClure (hubby's 2d great-uncle) - 89th Indiana Infantry, then transfer to 26th Indiana Volunteers 

Train Caldwell McClure (hubby's 2d great-uncle) - 89th Indiana Infantry

Hugh Rinehart (hubby's 2d great-uncle) - 15th Ohio Infantry

Benjamin Franklin Steiner (hubby's 2d great-uncle) - 10th Ohio Cavalry

Samuel D. Steiner (hubby's 2d great-uncle) - 8th Ohio Infantry

Lemuel C. Wood, Sr. (hubby's 3d great-uncle) - Commander of the USS Daylight, Union Navy

Lemuel C. Wood, Jr. (hubby's 1c3r) - 3d Massachusetts Infantry

Robert Crooke Wood, Sr. (hubby's 4c4r) - Asst. Surgeon General, Union Army

Thomas F. Wood (hubby's 1c2r) - 3d Massachusetts Infantry

Isaac Larimer Work (hubby's 1c4r) - 74th Indiana Infantry

John Wright Work (hubby's 1c4r) - 74th Indiana Infantry

Confederate side, US Civil War

John Taylor Wood (hubby's 4c5r) - Confederate Navy, CSS Tallahassee, CSS Virginia

Robert Crooke Wood Jr. (hubby's 4c5r) - Wood's Mississippi Cavalry Regiment

Dr. Thomas Fanning Wood (hubby's 6c3r) - 18th No. Carolina Infantry, 3d No. Carolina Infantry

Gold Rush Diaries Chip Away Brick Wall

Who knew that Asenath Cornwell Larimer (1808-1897) wasn't the only one in her family to keep a diary of the difficult journey from Ohio to California during the Gold Rush era? 

Asenath: wife, mother, widow, sister, Gold Rush participant

Asenath married hubby's 3d great uncle, James Larimer (1806-1847) in Fairfield, Ohio. They had six children together and were pioneer farmers in Indiana before he was thrown from a horse and died one winter evening. 

Widowed with five youngsters at home, she sold her share of the family farm and joined with her brother John and others to try to strike it rich in California. They embarked on this risky venture on Tuesday, March 16, 1852. Asenath kept a written journal of the experience, which I've blogged about before. She briefly mentioned her parents, but nothing concrete enough to track them down by name or place or date.

Asenath's parents were a brick wall...Online family trees show names, not always the same names, and no real sources. Then a sudden breakthrough!

John: husband, father, jewelry merchant, brother, Gold Rush participant

Through a previous online search, I ascertained that Asenath's brother John Cornwell (1812-1883) had owned a jewelry store in Athens, Ohio. My query: John Cornwell Athens Ohio. One top result was a news item about the long history of John's jewelry business.

Today I tried a slightly different search: for John Cornwell Gold Rush Ohio. I found a surprising and exciting result. John, it turns out, also wrote a diary of the Gold Rush adventure, also beginning with an entry on March 16, 1852. His journal is archived in Ohio (see screen grab at top, from OhioLink), not close to where I live. Brother and sister journals!

The finding aid includes a brief bio of John, contributed by his descendants. A better starting point for parents' names, dates, places, helping to chip away at that brick wall. More research is needed to verify specific dates and places if possible, but I'm on my way now.

Also in my search results: A new book by descendants of John Cornwell, analyzing his journal and providing more family background. Published only a few months ago, Lots of Rush but Little Gold, will give me much more info about the Cornwell family in the 19th century, when I receive my copy. The book by descendants would not have been in the results for searches before the publication date of October, 2022. Timing makes a difference.

My takeaways

First, never give up on a brick wall, just circle back for a fresh look now and again. Second, thoroughly investigate siblings (and other close relatives) because they may prove to be the key to chipping away a brick wall. Third, try different online searches at different times, and examine results on the first several pages, not just the top result. 

"Brick wall" is the week 21 genealogy prompt for #52Ancestors by Amy Johnson Crow.

My Blacksmith Ancestor-in-Law in the Union Army

You know how I love tracing in-laws of my ancestors? That's how I unexpectedly found George Washington Chapman (1836-1912), the only US Civil War veteran in my family tree (so far). Today's post honors his service as Memorial Day approaches, originally known as Decoration Day to remember US Civil War veterans.

Since all four of my grandparents were immigrants from Eastern Europe who arrived in America from the 1880s to the 1900s, I never thought I'd find any ancestor who served in the US Civil War. But here he is: the grandfather of Charlotte Chapman, who married my great uncle Fred Farkas in Chicago in 1930. 

First Ohio Cavalry blacksmith

According to his obit, George Washington Chapman enlisted in the First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Company D, on November 6, 1861, and mustered out on November 6, 1864. He reenlisted for another year and was in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and the siege of Vicksburg.

Above, a pension index card for George, showing he was a Blacksmith with Company D of the Ohio Cavalry. He applied for invalid status in 1877 and after he died in 1912, his widow Anna Warnes Chapman (1849-1927) applied for a widow's pension. By the way, George's son Elwood Austin Chapman (1875-1955) also became a blacksmith.

Checking Find a Grave and Fold3

George's Find a Grave site shows his tombstone, engraved "Co. D. 1st O. Vol. Cav." I found info about George's unit on Fold3, indicating that the youngest age at enlistment for this company was 17, the oldest was 47. The Fold3 regiment history shows George likely participated in many famous US Civil War battles, not just those mentioned in his obit.

Saluting ancestor-in-law George Washington Chapman with appreciation for his years of service. And finding his service is a great reminder: expect the unexpected in genealogy!

Readying for Release of 1931 Canadian Census

Two weeks from today, the Canadian Census of 1931 will be released. Experts like Dave Obee and Ken McKinlay show exactly how to prep to find ancestors when the Census is released, unindexed at first. 

To be ready for the release, I'm listing ancestors from my tree and my husband's tree who were living in Canada in 1931 and then looking for their residential address. At least I can try to narrow down the possible addresses by starting with the 1921 Canadian Census and also looking for city directories, voters' lists, and so on.

Slatter in Toronto

At top, a 1935 voters' list for Toronto, including my husband's great uncle Capt. John Daniel Slatter and his family. They lived at 30 Harbord St., Toronto, the same address as in the 1921 Canadian Census. I was checking that they hadn't moved. Now I know exactly where to look for the Slatter family in the 1931 Census, because the family was in the same house for many years.

Burke in Montreal

On my side of the family, my great uncle Abraham Burke's residence changed from one Census to another--but only down the street. In 1911, the Canadian Census shows him at 431 Avenue Laval in Montreal. In 1921, the Canadian Census shows him at 288 Avenue Laval in Montreal. One idea is to browse the 1931 Canadian Census for that electoral district to see whether he might still be on Avenue Laval. 

Another way to find Abraham's address after 1921 and before 1931 is using Steve Morse's very handy "Searching the Montreal City Directory in One Step" technique. Checking both Burke and Berk and maybe other variations...

Maybe I'll be lucky! I want to be ready to browse the Canadian Census for ancestors when the 1931 records are released on June 1st. 

Bite-Sized Bios Show Up in Search Results!

 

I've been writing bite-sized bios of ancestors in my family tree and my husband's family tree and posting to multiple websites. Why? Because LOCKSS (lots of copies keeps stuff safe). I don't want these ancestors' names and lives to be forgotten in the future . . . posting brief bios now is part of my plan to keep family history safe for today and tomorrow.

Earlier today, I did an online search for my husband's paternal grandfather, James Edgar Wood (1871-1939), and my bite-sized bios turned up in the first 40 search results. As shown above, this includes both WikiTree profiles and Find a Grave memorial pages!

Not only are bios an excellent way to memorialize ancestors, they also serve as very good cousin bait. Anyone who clicks on these two results will see me as the page manager and be able to send me a note. I've posted bite-sized bios on FamilySearch and other genealogy websites as well.

Little by little, I'm continuing my bite-sized bio project, also memorializing siblings/spouses/in-laws of my ancestors, and making sure to include those who had no descendants. 

Honoring Moms in Family History

 

Happy Mother's Day, with much love, to all the Moms 

in our family, past and present! 

To make your own word cloud, try this free word cloud generator. I chose a heart shape and selected four colors, four fonts, and a variety of weights for my list of names from the family tree. 

Grandpa Teddy: Born in Ungvar, Hungary

My immigrant grandpa, Theodore "Teddy" Tivador Schwartz was born on May 12, 1887 in what was then the bustling market town of Ungvar, Hungary. Today that town is known as Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

Teddy was the first in his family to leave their hometown and cross the Atlantic to New York City, in 1902. He encouraged his older brother Sam to come through Ellis Island in 1904. The two brothers saved their nickels and brought a younger sister, Mary, to New York soon afterward.

So often, documents list only a country as birthplace. A surprising number of Teddy's documents specifically name his actual hometown, including the passenger manifest for the SS Moltke, his Declaration of Intention to become a naturalized US citizen (left), his NY State affidavit for license to marry, his Social Security application, and his WWI and WWII draft registration cards. Dated from 1902 through 1951, all of these documents show Teddy's birthplace as Ungvar, Hungary.

[Note: The document shown here has the incorrect year for Teddy's travel across the Atlantic. The actual passenger manifest is dated 1902. Always look at the original if possible!]

I knew and loved this Grandpa, who lived with our family after his wife (my Grandma Hermina Farkas Schwartz) died in 1964. Teddy died just before his 78th birthday, on May 12, 1965. You're in my thoughts, dear Grandpa, and I'm doing everything I can to keep your memory alive for the future--including putting your photo and name in a family history coloring book for the youngest descendants.

Prepping for the 1931 Canadian Census Release on June 1

More Census excitement for genealogists! The release of the 1931 Canadian Census is scheduled for June 1, 2023. Embargoed for 92 years, this Census will give us a window into so many demographic changes in Canada between the post-war 1921 Census and the Depression-era 1931 Census. 

Dave Obee, Canadian Census expert

Dave Obee, author of Counting Canada: A Genealogical Guide to the Canadian Census, is prepping for the 1931 release and helping us with posts on his informative website, CanGenealogy.com. For instance, he lists all the Census questions on his site here. 

Initially, there will be NO index. But Dave shows how to get ready by finding a residential address and district for each ancestor, so we'll be able to browse the Census documents by location when released. 

Of course, if you want to wait for the index, Canada is working with Ancestry and FamilySearch to index by AI technology. This will take months, but we'll eventually be able to search the 1931 Census the same way we can already search earlier Census documents.

Hubby's ancestors, by residence and in context

My husband had three great uncles in Canada (the three Slatter brothers, all military band masters), and I had a great uncle and cousins in Canada during that period. You know I'll be browsing for them by address, based on my notes about addresses found in city directories and their 1921 Census locations.

Once you find your ancestor in Canada, and record all the relevant details from the Census form, don't forget to put the ancestor into social and historical context. If your ancestor is working, that would be in contrast to the growing unemployment problem triggered by the Depression, for example.

I'm looking at the Dominion Bureau of Statistics Publication here (pdf in French or English), which summarizes findings of the 1931 Census and compares results to earlier Censuses. Since most of hubby's Slatter ancestors were in Canada by 1901, I can see context decade by decade and in 1931 specifically.

Above, one table showing the number and percentage of males and females who were single, married, widowed, or divorced as reported in the Canadian Censuses from 1871-1931. The number and percentage of divorced men and women began to rise after 1901, as shown. Also, the number of single individuals dropped as the number of married individuals increased steadily over the years. I'll compare my hubby's ancestors to these statistics for a bit of context.

I'm looking forward to Thursday, June 1st, when the 1931 Canadian Census is made public.

More great tips are on Ken McKinlay's blog as well, with links to resources that will help us prep for the release. Don't miss his take on this exciting Census release.

UPDATE: Since Ancestry indexed this Census very quickly, I haven't yet had to use addresses to locate my ancestors. Plus hints are now showing up on my Ancestry trees!

Really Brief Bite-Sized Bios From WikiTree Connect-A-Thon

During the weekend of April 21-24, I was one of 749 people who participated in the WikiTree Connect-A-Thon. The goal was to add as many ancestors as possible to WikiTree's free shared family tree, with a minimum of one source and a bit of biographical content. The camaraderie was wonderful and I enjoyed the opportunity to really concentrate on documenting ancestors during a defined time period. This is part of my plan to share family history across multiple platforms.

An amazing 76,995 ancestors total were added to WikiTree during the weekend. I added 107 ancestors, mostly from the paternal side of my family--especially in-laws of in-laws who were not represented at all on WikiTree but now are there.

Given the limited time I could spend on each profile, the bios were brief, more like a teeny nibble than bite-sized ;). It helps that WikiTree automatically weaves together a few facts into a narrative biography, based on what the user inputs on each profile.

The bio in the image above is representative of what I had time to write during a busy weekend of genealogy: This man was born in ___, son of ___ and ___, WWII military service, occupation, name of wife, number of children with her, death. Plus two specific sources, including one with a link to this ancestor's Find a Grave memorial page. WikiTree shows, at a glance, the names of his parents and his wife and sibling.

In the coming weeks, I'll be revisiting the new profiles to flesh them out with better bios and additional sources/links. And of course I'm continuing my bite-sized family history bio projects with posts on other genealogy websites. 

So Many Sites to Memorialize Ancestors

After 25 years of genealogy research, I've learned a lot about my ancestors--and I want to be sure this information isn't lost in the years to come.

For the past few years, I've been writing bite-sized ancestor bios and posting on key genealogy sites. The idea is to share family history more widely, and bios are also possible cousin bait. 

Above, four websites where I've posted the same bio and photo of my paternal grandmother, Henrietta "Yetta" Mahler Burk (1881-1954). 

Clockwise, from top left:

WikiTree is a free collaborative tree site that's growing fast and has the added benefits of sources and (if you wish) DNA connections. I also appreciate the ability to link to profile pages for each parent, each child, each spouse, each sibling. Plus WikiTreers are a friendly bunch!

MyHeritage.com is a subscription site that designates a place on each ancestor profile for a biography. If you want to learn more about how to post a bite-sized bio on MyHeritage, please read my article in the Knowledge Base. Bonus: MyHeritage has many nifty photo tools for enhancing/repairing/colorizing old family photos.

FamilySearch.org came online in 1999 and is the world's largest free collaborative tree site. Grandma Henrietta is well represented with photo, bio, research. A great site, and I'm glad that MyHeritage includes FamilySearch tree results when I research my ancestors.

Find a Grave, now owned by Ancestry, is another free place to post ancestor bios. I especially like that the 226 million+ memorial pages from this site are indexed and appear in search results on Ancestry, Family Search, Fold3, and more. 

Reader Diane asks whether I'm going to use Ancestry's new Storymaker Studio or MyHeritage's DeepStory for telling ancestors' stories. I tried DeepStory, and found it engaging but I do need more experimentation to refine the story and choose the right ancestor photo. It would intrigue the younger generation, but it can't be put on the bookshelf like a photobook, ready at any time for any audience. So far, I haven't yet tried Storymaker Studio but it's on my list to investigate this year.

PLUS: On Ancestry, there is a convenient space under "LifeStory" to type or paste in a full bio! I just did that for Henrietta Mahler Burk, as shown above. Another great way to share family history in narrative form.

Happy 142d birthday, Grandma Yetta, on May 9th. Your name, face, and life story are not forgotten! I'm currently creating a professional photobook about you and Grandpa Isaac, as a keepsake for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Bird-Brain Pets in Family History

Living in a New York City apartment, my parents felt we had no space or time for four-legged pets. But we did have a parakeet, always blue, always a boy! 

Directly above, Maxie, sitting on the shoulder of "Aunt" Lee Wallace, the life partner of my Auntie Dorothy Schwartz.

At top of post, you can see Tyrone, another parakeet pet, sitting on "Sha," the favorite doll of my niece. That niece, now grown up with a family of her own, has two big dogs she dearly loves.

Back in the day, my sisters and I got a kick out of our bird-brain pets, teaching them to speak intelligent phrases like "Stupid birdie." 

"Pets" is the week 18 prompt from Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy challenge, #52Ancestors. 

Turning the FAN Club into the FANI or FANIL or KFAN Club

Over the 25 years of my genealogy journey, I've learned to investigate friends, associates, and neighbors (FAN Club) of ancestors to try to understand any relationships, familial and otherwise. More than once, I discovered that a "family friend" or neighbor was actually a relative.

What about rechristening the FAN Club as the FANI Club, to explicitly include in-laws? OR call it FANIL Club (for in-law, maybe FANI is not the best acronym). OR KFAN (for Kinfolk)!

Many of my hubby's Larimer ancestors settled in Indiana in the 1800s. A good number intermarried with men and women from the McKibbin family, the Short family, and the Work family. Investigating the in-law situation helped me untangle the cousin connection and recognize naming and marriage patterns in multiple generations.

As a result, I've come to suspect that these families were related in some way across the pond, well before they left for America. Some of the obits hint at that, and some of the old newspaper coverage of family reunions a century ago make that claim. No proof yet, but intriguing to investigate by scrutinizing in-laws.

Currently I'm looking at a family genealogy book (digitized and available for browsing or download via FamilySearch) called: "A family history of Murrays, McKibbins, Smiths, Planks, Neffs, and related families of Elkhart and LaGrange Counties in Indiana." As shown in the excerpted index, these families intermarried with Larimer folks, including some of my hubby's Larimers. 

The detailed index is a huge help, so I can focus on one Larimer at a time. I've already found a couple of fresh leads to follow and confirm through additional research. 

My takeaways: (1) do look at in-laws in the family tree, because some may actually be cousins or descendants of confirmed cousins; and (2) do check for digitized genealogy books in the Family Search collection.

Free Talks at Virtual Genealogical Association Birthday Party - April 22

On Saturday, April 22, the Virtual Genealogical Association is throwing a Zoom birthday party and everyone is invited! 

Here's the schedule and a link to register to see lots of FREE talks about family history.

My live talk about Find a Grave and cousin bait begins about 9:25 am Eastern. 

Speakers, prizes, trivia. Please give it a try...did I mention this special virtual event is free?!

Bite-Sized Family History: Upgrading to Professional Photobooks

For the past decade, I've been compiling bite-sized family history booklets to share facts, stories, and photos with my relatives. Choosing a specific focus helps me manage each project so it doesn't become overwhelming for me or my readers.

Now I'm in the process of converting my many paper-based family history booklets into professionally-produced photobooks, one at a time. In the past, I had a local copy shop print my bite-sized booklets in color on heavyweight paper, then I put them into a plastic sleeve or a binder for each recipient. But I've noticed the earlier booklets are becoming worn looking, pages getting creased and torn. Some of the thinner booklets have been lost in the shuffle. 

I'm ready to upgrade, little by little. Why pay more for a professional photobook?

• Professional photobooks are much higher quality, more polished looking. The photos are sharper, the layouts more sophisticated. 
• Professional photobooks will far outlast my previous paper-based booklets. 
• Professional photobooks can be customized so photos are larger or smaller, text areas carry more words, headlines are in different colors, etc. The creative possibilities are endless.
• Professional photobooks impress my readers more than the paper-based booklets. I found this out with my small (6 inch by 6 inch) photobook about ancestors in World War II. Readers responded very enthusiastically!
• Remember: Watch for discounts and sales. Some photobook sites announce discounts for major holidays...others offer free "extra pages" or other specials. Shop around and see which site meets your needs.

At top, the cover of my latest bite-sized project in progress, a photobook (8 x 11 inches) about my Mom and her twin sister. I first created this in paper booklet form two years ago. Transformed into a photobook, it will be a more durable keepsake that readers can page through again and again for years to come.

Plus I finally know the names of all the people in all the photos so my captions will be more complete! An older cousin reached back into her memory to identify the two "mystery children" in the above photo as part of the FAN club (friends, associates, neighbors), not relatives. We also dated the photo after carefully studying the apparent ages of the kids. 

Redoing my family history into a professional photobook offers an opportunity to correct, add, subtract, and focus. Everyone is identified by full name AND I inserted info from the 1950 US Census, among other changes. The paper-based booklets looked quite good, but these look really great.

Without question, photobooks are much more costly than paper booklets. For me, after 25 years of researching my family tree, it's a worthwhile investment in memorializing ancestors for the long term--but let me stress again that I wait for a sale to order. Actually, I'll first order a single copy to see how the book looks. Then I can either tinker or reorder for all my readers (on sale of course). 

--

Bring Family History Alive in Bite-Sized Projects is one of my genealogy presentations--learn more here.

Bite-Sized Ancestor Bios: Ideas from #GenChat

Last night and this morning, the #GenChat topic (on Twitter and Mastodon) was "Bite-Sized Ancestor Bios." To stimulate conversation as guest expert, I created a series of questions that participants answered in tweets or toots. Here's a recap--lots of ideas and food for thought! No right or wrong answers. "Everyone deserves to be remembered" as GenChat host Christine says. 

#GenChat Ice-breaker: Have you written any ancestor biographies, bite-sized or not?

Comments: Most folks have written at least a few ancestor bios. A bite-sized bio, no matter how brief, is more informative than no bio at all. One person said this was a good way to document both genealogy research and family lore (more about "lore" later). Several have been blogging ancestor bios for some time. Someone self-published the detailed bio of an ancestor after years of research. A few pointed to their growing number of bios on WikiTree profiles. 

One participant started with bullet points to get the ball rolling. Sometimes bios can be time-consuming if cross-reference related ancestors, research, etc. Preparing to write a bio, someone noted sources, research plans, timeline. What do you need to know before writing?

There was discussion about how short or long a bite-sized bio might be. Depends on the space available, what you know about an ancestor, the attention span of your audience, how much you want to include or need to include to help others understand that ancestor. 

Q1: What are the pros and cons of bite-sized bios?

Pros: the ability to commemorate an ancestor, preserve something of that person's life, humanize that person. Quick to research/write, quick for audience to absorb without getting overwhelmed. Interesting ancestor anecdote might spark interest among family members. Main facts at least summarize ancestor's life, putting in highlights and context adds dimension. Especially for ancestors without descendants and those who died quite young, a way to keep their memories alive. 

Cons: Difficult to choose what to include/exclude. Room for stories? Or just a teaser to capture interest, build excitement? If it's too brief, is it just a story about one episode in ancestor's life? Only include unproven "family lore" if room for explanation/proof, to avoid having anyone copy unproven info and perpetuate it. (My thought: label it clearly as "family story" or "family legend" so it will be remembered even if not proven, because adds color and personality--mention if any facts contradict or might maybe possibly tend to confirm but not actually prove.) If large family tree, might have a lot of bios to write, so prioritize (see later question). 

Q2: What to include, what to exclude in bite-sized bios?

Starting points to consider including: basic facts (birth, marriage, death); family situation/relationships; occupation; one or more notable highlights (good or bad). Also: migration, religion, military, cause of death.

Consider excluding: full names/data about living people, to protect privacy; info that could be hurtful or otherwise cause problems for living people; disclosing something consequential family doesn't know in an ancestor's bio. Keep info in your files for future if not include now.

Q3: When you know a little about an ancestor, how do you create a bite-sized bio? When you know a lot about an ancestor?

Comments: Harder to write when we know a lot because must decide on focus, such as occupation or an award/honor or whether ancestor was known/close to relatives still alive. What makes that ancestor "newsworthy" for the audience? What do we most want our audience to know? General outline might include: birth, parents, spouse/kids if any, residence, interesting fact, date of death (maybe cause). Focus on a theme if possible, breaking down into bite-sized chunks.

When we know a little: "Elevator pitch," set a goal for a small number of sentences. Mention in bio what you don't know, creates a bit of drama. Choose specific focus to do a deeper dive: occupation (specifically that person or in general type of occ that person had), immigration, schooling (or lack).

If on WikiTree, try the automatic bio generator here. It uses factual data entered by user (birth date, death date, etc) woven into narrative form, bite-sized bio that can be enhanced at later date if you want.

Q4: How can you share bite-sized bios with family and more widely?

Comments: Profiles on WikiTree and other genealogy platforms; in blog posts; in a book or letter or handout; at reunion; in family Facebook group; on family chat thread; on a family or surname or genealogy website; email to relatives; submit to selected libraries/archives/genealogy societies; post as "memory" to FamilySearch; on family calendar, one ancestor per month; posting on social media with visual to attract interest (or ask for help identifying more faces); send in cards on relatives' birthdays; during video calls, audio calls; as captions for photos; on Find a Grave, Fold3, other sites that are searchable; on ornaments, maps, more.

Q5: How do you set priorities for bite-sized ancestor biography projects?

Comments: Create a list (or spreadsheet) of ancestors you want to write about, some with bite-sized bios and some with longer bios. Or prioritize direct ancestors, followed by siblings/spouses of direct ancestors, first cousins of direct ancestors, etc. Or pick one generation to start. Or a single family to profile. Or write about ancestors you never met. Or be spontaneous, depending on which ancestor or line "calls" to you. Try to write regularly, maybe one bio a week or whatever fits your schedule.

Want to participate or follow along during #GenChat on Twitter or Mastodon?

Schedule is 2d and 4th Friday of every month on Twitter, then Saturday morning on Mastodon. For more, see the GenChat website.

#GenChat on Twitter: @_genchat

#GenChat on Mastodon: @genchat@lor.sh

How My Immigrant Grandparents Signed Their Names

 

Some of my immigrant grandparents had lovely, flowing handwriting when signing their names...others wrote more haltingly.

Maternal grandparents

At top, the 1911 signature of my Hungarian-born maternal grandfather, Theodore Schwartz (1887-1965), on his US naturalization cert. He arrived at Ellis Island, alone, at the age of 14. In New York, Teddy initially worked as a runner for steamship lines. I'm sure he put his name to many documents then and later as owner of a small dairy store in the Bronx, NY. His formal education stopped early, but he had an ear and affinity for languages. He also regularly wrote to his son and daughter serving in the military during World War II.

Above, the 1911 signature of my Hungarian-born maternal grandmother, Hermina Farkas (1886-1964). She was 24 years old when she signed this marriage license to wed Theodore Schwartz. Another flowing, cursive signature. She signed lots of paperwork during her life, helping her husband Teddy run their dairy store. She was, for a year or two, secretary of the Farkas Family Tree (formed by herself and her siblings) and signed the monthly meeting minutes. 

Paternal grandparents

Here's the signature of my paternal grandpa, Isaac Burk (1882-1943), on his World War II draft registration card. Born in Lithuania, Isaac came to North America at the age of 21. He was a self-employed carpenter and cabinetmaker. Isaac's signature looked halting, but was recognizable. On his 1906 marriage certificate (see below), he was transitioning to a more "Americanized" version of his name. The signature reads "Isaak Berk" but the official name on the document was "Isaac Burk" on this and all subsequent documents.

My paternal grandma, Henrietta Mahler (1881-1954) was born in Latvia and arrived in New York before she was 10 years old. She and Isaac Burk married in 1906, and it's clear that her signature was less halting than his, as shown on this marriage license. Henrietta (nicknamed Yetta in the family) wrote letters and sent packages to Isaac's cousins in Manchester, England, during and after World War II. How do I know? The cousins wrote back--and one of my relatives saved those notes, time capsules of the era and of family history. 

Happy Easter 1914, from Aunt Nellie and Aunt Ada

In 1914, my husband's 9-year-old uncle, Wallis Wood, received two penny postal greeting cards for Easter. He lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and was the recipient of postcards for every holiday!

Above, a postcard from his father's older sister, Rachel Ellen Wood Kirby, who lived in Chicago. She signed "Aunt Nellie."

Below, a postcard from his mother's older sister, Adelaide Mary Ann Slatter Baker, who lived in Toledo. She signed "Aunt Ada."

Wishing you and your family a lovely Easter holiday!

Relatives by Heart, Not by Paperwork

Thanks to an exchange of messages with another genealogy researcher, I was reminded that even when relationships are unofficial, they can be super-important to our ancestors.

In this case, the researcher was interested in one of hubby's ancestors (Lynn), who had a foster daughter (no full names, for privacy reasons). 

Lynn's obit mentioned the foster daughter, indicating a close emotional link. In fact, when the foster daughter's husband died, his obit named Lynn as grandmother of his child. 

So far as we know, there was no official government documentation of this foster relationship. They were relatives by heart, not by paperwork.

To honor this special bond, the researcher is connecting all of these folks on his family tree, with an explanation. 

Sources? He cites the obits as his sources. 

A lovely tribute.