Favorite Photo That Led to a Breakthrough

 

This photo of a distinguished man in uniform was passed down in my husband's family for a century.

We had no idea who it was until 2011. 

After I posted the photo on my blog, two wonderful readers recognized the uniform, the big breakthrough I needed.

Capt. John Daniel Slatter

This is Captain John Daniel Slatter (1864-1954), in full regalia as Bandmaster of the 48th Highlanders of Toronto.

With a name and dates, I knew just where he should fit in the family tree.

Capt. Slatter is an older brother of hubby's grandma, Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925). Now I had a new research angle to explore!

Over the next few months, I corresponded with the 48th Highlanders' museum in Toronto. Later, hubby and I drove up for a visit. We learned a great deal about Capt. Slatter's military career from the curators. In turn, we left them a family tree and biographical information to supplement the military artifacts and records in the museum's possession.

Bite-Sized Bio

More recently, I wrote a bite-sized bio to memorialize this legendary bandmaster, posting it on Family Search, Find a Grave, and other sites. It wasn't easy to squeeze his personal life and professional accomplishments into four paragraphs (with sources summarized at the end--see below). 

Thanks to eagle-eyed readers getting me started with the initial identification, I've now traced the Slatter family further back in time and can memorialize more ancestors with bite-sized bios on multiple genealogy websites. 

* This is my week 3 post for Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge, with the theme of "favorite photo."

"Of the Time" 1950 US Census Ads and Training

While impatiently waiting for the release of the 1950 US Census on April 1, I've been learning a little more about what went on behind the scenes in the buildup to the actual count.

1950 ads for the Census

The U.S. government worked with Madison Avenue on a massive advertising campaign to get businesses to support and promote the 1950 US Census. 

The Ad Council made available a number of preformatted print ads for local businesses to run in local publications in advance of Census Day.

The ad shown here addresses concerns about confidentiality. "It's OK, boys: You can tell him everything...He's the Census Man!" [Note: Many enumerators were female, of course, but remember, these ads were very much of the time.]

The ad tells readers the Census has no connection with those dreaded "revenooors." It's fun to look back at those ads, which show the Census Bureau was well aware that people worried about answering personal questions asked by enumerators. 

1950 enumerator training 

In the middle of the last century, schools and businesses often used film strips for training purposes. A trainer or teacher would watch the images projected on the screen and try to synchronize the separate recorded narration on a record or cassette.

Training for the 1950 US Census involved a number of film strips. Read more here, in the fascinating History Hub post by Claire Kluskens. 

See some of these "of the time" film strips on Dr. Joel Weintraub's YouTube Channel here.

To read the script for the training film strip titled "Income--What It Is and How to Report It!" click here. 

Despite the coffee stain on page 8, and tape fixing page 9, the typed script is quite readable. It offers insight into how the Census Bureau instructed enumerators about collecting income info from the public, again very "of the time."

Getting in the mood for the 1950 US Census? We have only 78 days to wait for the release!

For links to more information about the 1950 US Census release, see my summary page here. 

Memorializing Little Ones Who Died Young

I admit it--I get a bit teary-eyed thinking of the babes in my family tree who died too young. I want their names to live on, by putting them on public family trees and making sure their burial places are recorded.

How Miriam wound up in hubby's family tree

Today I'm focusing on Miriam Louise Wise (1925-1926). This little girl's father was Clifford "Buck" Wise (1895-1963) and her mother was Edith Macklin Wise (1897-1947). After Miriam's early death, Clifford and Edith were happy to welcome a second daughter, Janice (1927-1988), bringing light back into their lives, as I know from family letters. 

Clifford was widowed in 1947 and the following year, he married my father-in-law's first cousin, Edith Eleanor Baker (1901-1989), who became a devoted and loving stepmom to Janice. This connection with the Wise family is how little Miriam Louise Wise wound up in my hubby's family tree.

Making sure Miriam is remembered

Miriam's parents (both on my family tree already) are buried in Acacia Masonic Memorial Park Cemetery in Mayfield Hts, Ohio, and memorialized on Find a Grave. But until now, I hadn't looked carefully for Miriam's final resting place.

By searching for "more Wise Memorials" in the same cemetery, I came upon a memorial page for "Marian Wise," birth/death unknown (see image above). The plot is exactly where Miriam's parents are buried. 

My conclusion: Marian is surely Miriam. Interestingly, the obit in the Fremont Daily Messenger (which I've ordered*) calls her Mariam Louise Wise, but the Ohio death index lists her as Miriam. Family letters also call her Miriam. 

Her now revised memorial page is on Find a Grave. 

This reflects edits I submitted to the memorial page's manager, correcting Miriam's name and including her dates. I also posted an image of Miriam's name in the death index. And I posted Miriam's sweet baby photo, as shown.

Miriam is already on the tree at FamilySearch and on two Ancestry public trees, courtesy of relatives in the Wise family. I'm adding her to all my Wood family trees over time. 

It's comforting that Miriam will not be forgotten, because her name and dates are documented in more than one place by more than one person. Rest in peace, little Miriam.

* Turns out, the obit does name this baby correctly as Miriam Louise Wise. She died of "telescoping of the bowels" (causing dangerous blockage). Doctors operated, unsuccessfully, sad to say. 

This post is my "May Day" for The Genealogy Blog Party, 2022.

Bite-Sized Bios for Earlier vs Recent Ancestors

When I write a bite-sized bio for ancestor who was known to me or my relatives, I frequently have so much material that I have to pick and choose to make the bio both brief and informative. 

There are so many recent genealogical sources available, as well as family letters, diaries, and family photo albums, that I have a rich cache of content. Plus, older cousins who remember these people can share stories that make the bios more vivid and add personality well beyond the basic facts.

What can I learn about earlier ancestors?

However, writing a bio for an ancestor who died before the 20th century can be more of a challenge because nobody alive today knew that person and rarely do I have personalized sources. 

Still, my bio for someone who died more than a century ago usually includes: birth, marriage(s), and death dates and places (where known); parents' names; spouse(s) name(s); occupations; residence(s) and land ownership; military service (if applicable); children's names; geographical movements; and some social/historical context.

Sources for writing bios of earlier ancestors

I get these details from sources such as (but not limited to) multiple Census records, vital records, military records, naturalization records, city directories, newspapers, obits, and county histories. I use Wikipedia, history books, and other sources to add a bit of background, such as about immigration trends or frontier life, when I weave the basics into an interesting story told in my own words. 

Sometimes there are scant sources for a much earlier ancestor. Then I write what I can, emphasizing details that I do know--such as where that ancestor is in the birth order of siblings, how many of that ancestor's siblings survived to adulthood, what that ancestor did for a living, whether that ancestor married, and so on. These bios are not as long or rich as bios for more recent ancestors, but I do try to make them interesting and bring out the human angle.

Other times, I can dig up a considerable amount of content for an ancestor who died more than a century in the past. When my husband and I were in Indiana a few years ago, we cranked a local library's microfilm reader to research ancestors in 19th century newspapers. There we found a wonderfully detailed obituary for hubby's 2d great-grandfather, Benjamin McClure (1812-1896)--a truly great source for an ancestor bio!

The woodcut portrait of Benjamin McClure, shown at top, is also from a 19th century newspaper accessed via microfilm at that same local library.* I've posted the woodcut on FamilySearch and other sites where I post bios and images, to bring this ancestor to life.

*About copyright: The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, writes about copyright and newspapers from time to time--including this old but still informative post. Also see this brief Library of Congress post about newspaper databases. Note that I'm not an expert on the legalities of newspapers/books and copyright, so please do your own homework before using any published content, either words or images, from the past!

Take Your Genealogy to the Next Level via RootsTech 2022

Ready to take your genealogy to the next level? 

Register for RootsTech here.

It's free, it's entirely virtual, and it's worldwide. 

Although the official kickoff is on March 3rd, presentations will remain available for months afterward.

Learn from experts in their fields and check out the virtual exhibits featuring new products and new technology. 

Watch presentations at your own pace, whenever you wish. This is an opportunity to get tips from the best in the world and expand your knowledge of genealogy!

Best of all, did I mention this incredible conference is free? 

PS: For more, see the RootsTech blog on FamilySearch.org, here.

Caption Crazy: Foundation for Future Genealogy

This is my year to go caption crazy. Before I dive into the latest batch of ancestral photos that await scanning, captioning, and storage, I'm completing a photo book featuring highlights of 2021. Even in a pandemic year, my husband Wally and I had some adventures and family gatherings that didn't involve teleconferencing ;)

I began this photo book tradition at the end of 2008, with a slender softcover book featuring favorite photos of family and vacation fun of that year, complete with brief captions.

Since then, I've created at least one photo book per year and sometimes more than one. At right, a selection of these photo books, filled with colorful images plus captions that remind us of what we did each year, the ups and downs of our lives.

For the next few days, I'll be finishing up the full-year photo book for 2021 and pressing the button to print. 

The memories are precious to my husband and me--and the captions naming names and places will be a great foundation for future generations interested in our family's history.

A bonus: Photo books are professional, look polished, and are more likely to be kept by future genealogists because they are full of family history being made year by year!

- "Foundation" is the first prompt in Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge for 2022. 

A Colorful Postcard to Kick Off 2022

 

This colorful postcard was sent from a young Wood cousin living in Toledo, Ohio to his first cousin living in Cleveland, Ohio. It's postmarked at the very end of 1909. 

From my home to yours, sending warm "New Year Wishes" on this first day of the new year.

And if you're stateside, don't forget to watch the new season of Finding Your Roots on PBS starting the first week of 2022.