Family History Month: The "M" That Wasn't

My brain was out to lunch the day I found "Maggie" Steiner's marriage to Mr. Sutherland. They were married on November 2, 1884, in Wyandot county, Ohio, where other Steiner relatives lived. Maggie was hubby's great-great aunt, not very close, so I wasn't planning to spend a lot of time researching her and her family.

The transcription/index of their marriage said the groom was "Morris M. Sutherland." A really quick look at the righthand side of the original document* (above) seemed to confirm that, so I typed in Morris and moved along.

That was then, this is now: I've been linking more and more of my husband's Steiner ancestors in Find A Grave, part of my Genealogy Go-Over. But I was stumped about this couple's death dates and burial places. No Morris to be found. Huh?

Retracing my research, I brought up the image of their marriage record. This time, I looked carefully at each instance of his name, which appears three times on the document.

Two of the three times, he's named "Norris M. Sutherland." Only on the right side is he called "Morris." Ooops.

As soon as I changed my search to "Norris M. Sutherland," he and Maggie popped up all over the place. I've submitted edits to Find A Grave, linking her to her parents and to her spouse's real name, Norris.

Lesson learned: Read the original thoroughly the first time, carefully, to save time later. And resolve any conflicts the first time, by double-checking with other records and sources.

*You always look at the original when the image is available, right? Don't trust the transcription or index alone. Here, I looked at the original but only for a moment--so don't make my mistake. Examine the original with care!

Family History Month: The Farkas Family During the Depression

25th anniversary of Farkas Family Tree association

Starting in 1933, the Farkas Family Tree held 10 meetings a year. Charter members were the 10 children of my maternal great-grandparents, Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) and Leni Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938).

Moritz and Lena were proclaimed honorary members at the first FFT meeting in March, 1933. Since nearly all of the charter members lived in the New York City area, the meetings were a way of keeping family ties as tight as possible.

Luckily, the FFT kept written minutes at every meeting. Although some of the 1940s minutes haven't survived, I've scanned and indexed the hundreds of existing minutes for in-depth research and to safeguard for the next generation.

Outside the family, there was a Depression. Inside, the focus was on births and birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, get-well wishes for ill members, remembering relatives who died, planning family outings, and--food, food, food!

So what were my Farkas ancestors doing at their October meetings in the 1930s?

• At meeting #5, in October of 1933, "there was much joy and commotion at getting together again" after the summer break. The Entertainment Committee planned a card party of bridge, hearts, and poker for the November meeting, saying there would be "one prize each for a man and woman who are the biggest losers."
• At meeting #15, in October of 1934, the discussion centered on securing a restaurant or hotel banquet room for a family Thanksgiving dinner the following month. This was the first of many annual family Thanksgivings celebrated together.
• Because of scheduling conflicts, there was no October meeting in 1935. The first meeting of the fall was held on Sept. 29th, followed by a poker party. "All were winners," according to the minutes.
• In October of 1936, my maternal grandparents (Hermina Farkas Schwartz and Tivador Schwartz) were congratulated on their 25th wedding anniversary. The tree created a committee to choose a gift for this occasion. Attendees chowed down on coffee, strudel, cheese, and sardines. Really, this is what the minutes said.
• In October of 1937, the treasurer reported cash on hand of $241.91 (the equivalent of nearly $4,200 in today's dollars). The tree was planning ahead, buying grave plots in New Montefiore Cemetery on Long Island. And in another forward-thinking move, the tree voted to buy movie film to capture highlights of the family's year.
• At meeting #51 in October of 1938, members voted to spend 50 cents for cemetery maintenance and $3 for movie film. A special committee was formed to plan the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner, at a per-person price of $1.75.
• During meeting #61 in October of 1939, $3 was allotted for movie film, leaving a treasury balance of $79.94. Members planned the Thanksgiving dinner, to be held that year in the Hamilton Hotel. But there was one snag: "For our Thanksgiving Dinner, we would not be able to get the magician as planned. Music will be supplied by the victrola which the Freedmans have kindly offered to bring."

Family History Month: Looking for the Bentley Family

Lucy Emeline Bentley (1826-1900) was my husband's 2d great-grandma, married to 2d-great-grandpa Brice Larimer (1819-1906).

She was the middle child of 7 children born to Olivia Morgan (1799?-1838) and William Tyler Bentley (1795-1873).

I've been tracing the Bentley family for nearly a decade, with no luck getting further back than patriarch William Tyler Bentley. He and his wife and children were enumerated in Sandy Creek, Oswego county, New York, in the 1830 Census. The family moved to Elkhart county, Indiana, in 1835, according to The History of Elkhart County (p. 1071).

By 1841, however, Olivia had passed away and William Tyler Bentley was raising the children on his own. Later, he left for California as part of the Gold Rush, and he died in Tulare, CA, at the age of 77, not having remarried.

Lucy Bentley, meanwhile, married Brice Larimer in Elkhart in 1847, and they had 4 children together. The last US Census where Lucy appears is in 1900 (see excerpt at top). The enumerator visited the Larimer household in Clinton township, Elkhart, Indiana on the 18th of June.

Just one week later, 73-year-old Lucy took a hard fall and suffered a concussion. She died on the 28th of June in 1900 and is buried in Brown Cemetery, Millersburg, Indiana.

Any Bentley cousins out there? 

Family History Month: TUVWXYZ Surnames

Edward Wirtschafter, Mary Schwartz Wirtschafter (front left), and her friend

In this last of 5 posts listing surnames being researched, I'm highlighting T-Z names in hubby's McClure/Wood tree and my Farkas/Schwartz (maternal line) and Mahler/Burk (paternal line) trees.

McClure/Wood tree:

• T is for Taber
• T is for Traxler
• V is for Van Roe
• V is for Velpel
• W is for Welburn
• W is for Wilt
• W is for Wood
• W is for Work
• W is for Wrona
• Z is for Zollinger

Farkas/Schwartz tree:

• W is for Weinberger
• W is for Weiss/Weisz
• W is for Wirtschafter

Mahler/Burk tree:

• V is for Venezky
• V is for Vinokur
• V is for Volk
• W is for Whitelaw
• W is for Wilner/Willner
• W is for Wolf

Family History Month: NOPQRS Surnames

Four Steiner sisters in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, late 1930s

This is my next-to-last post with alphabetical surnames being researched on hubby's McClure/Wood tree and my maternal tree (Farkas/Schwartz) and paternal tree (Mahler/Burk).

McClure/Wood tree:

• N is for Nitchie
• O is for O'Gallagher (possibly Gallagher)
• P is for Peabody
• P is for Piper
• P is for Post
• P is for Priest (as in Degory)
• R is for Rhuark
• R is for Rinehart
• R is for Rozelle
• S is for Shank
• S is for Shehen
• S is for Short
• S is for Slatter
• S is for Simmons
• S is for Smith
• S is for Steiner

Mahler/Burk tree:

• N is for Nemensinsky
• O is for Ohayon
• P is for Paris (or Peris)
• P for Pompionsky
• R is for Roth
• S is for Sacks/Sachs
• S is for Salkowitz
• S is for Schlanger
• S is for Schwartz
• S is for Segal
• S is for Shuham
• S is for Siegel/Siegal
• S is for Sobel

Farkas/Schwartz

• R is for Rethy
• R is for Roth
• S is for Schwartz
• S is for Simonowitz
• S is for Steinberger/Stanbury

Family History Month: IJKLM Surnames

Meyer Mahler, Tillie Jacobs Mahler, and their children

Now for the middle batch of the ABCs of surnames, beginning with I and ending with M. Above, an important M family on my tree: The Mahler family.

McClure/Wood tree:

• J is for Johnson
• K is for Kenny
• K is for Kirby
• L is for Larimer
• L is for Larkworthy
• L is for Le Gallais
• L is for Lervis
• L is for Lower
• M is for McClure
• M is for McKibbin/McKibben
• M is for Murray

Mahler/Burk tree:

• J is for Jacob
• K is for Kodritck
• L is for Lang
• L is for Lawrence
• L is for Leboff
• L is for Lebowitz
• L is for Levin
• L is for Luria
• M is for Mahler
• M is for Markell
• M is for Mikalovsky
• M is for Mitav

Farkas/Schwartz tree:

• K is for Katz
• K is for Keidansky
• K is for Klein
• K is for Kunstler
• L is for Levy
• L is for Lewis
• L is for Lipson
• M is for Mandel
• M is for Markovitz
• M is for Moscovitz

Family History Month: DEFGH Surnames

Lucille Ethel McClure de Velde with her husband, John Everett de Velde, and her mother, Margaret Jane Larimer McClure, before 1913

Today, more alphabetical surnames from three family trees I'm researching. These are D through H on each tree. Three more posts to go in the coming days as I complete the ABC surname meme.

McClure/Wood tree:

• D is for de Velde
• D is for Demarest
• D is for Denning
• D is for Devore
• E is for Eagle
• E is for Everitt
• F is for Forde
• F is for Fowler
• F is for Freeland
• G is for Grassley
• G is for Gregg
• H is for Haggarty/Haggerty
• H is for Haglind
• H is for Halbedel
• H is for Hathaway
• H is for Heemsoth
• H is for Herrold
• H is for Hilborn
• H is for Hopperton
• H is for Humrickhouse

Mahler/Burk tree:

• E is for Epstein
• E is for Etschel
• G is for Gaffin
• G is for Gennis
• G is for Goldfarb
• G is for Goodfield
• H is for Harris
• H is for Horwich

Farkas/Schwartz tree:

• E is for Ezrati
• F is for Farber
• F is for Farkas
• G is for Gelbman
• G is for Girson
• G is for Gutfried
• H is for Hurwitch/Hurwitz/Horwich