Two More Reasons to Create Virtual Cemeteries on FindaGrave

So far, I've created five virtual cemeteries on the free, worldwide, Ancestry-owned website FindaGrave.com. 

See my detailed post here about how and why to create a virtual cemetery on FindaGrave.

I've named each virtual cemetery and for some, I've added a brief description ("Descendants of Solomon Elias Burk and..."). Others will get a description very soon.

Names and descriptions help relatives and researchers who want to browse these memorials.

Now I want to point out two more reasons--two very good reasons!--for creating a virtual cemetery on FindaGrave.

Reason 1: Quickly go to a memorial 

Often, I access an ancestor's FindaGrave by clicking a link on my Ancestry family tree. 

If I'm not working on my Ancestry tree at the moment, I just go to my listing of virtual cemeteries on FindaGrave and locate a particular memorial that way. Fast and easy! 

I'm accessing many more of my memorials these days as I compose and post brief, bite-sized bios on FindaGrave and other websites. How easy it is to simply click on my virtual cemetery, see a memorial, and note which still need bite-sized bios.

Reason 2: Return to a memorial to see what's new

Just today I returned to a memorial I haven't accessed in months...and discovered that someone left a flower two weeks ago! In fact, looking at linked memorials, I saw this person left a flower on more than one of my ancestor's pages. Cousin bait?!

I immediately checked that person's FindaGrave profile page, found no listing of surnames, and sent a polite message (saying thank you for leaving a flower, and please let me know whether you're related to my ancestor). Fingers crossed that perhaps this is a distant cousin or someone in the FAN Club (friends, associates, neighbors).

Note I don't manage every one of my ancestor memorials (nor all of my hubby's ancestor memorials). As long as they're in good hands, I'm usually content to simply submit edits, including bite-sized bios. Other people also submit edits to these memorials on occasion (Census data, maiden names, etc). 

That's why it's always worthwhile checking back to see what's new. With my virtual cemeteries, I'm only a click away from any ancestor memorial.

RootsTech Registration Is Free and Open Now!

The first-ever all-free and all-virtual Roots Tech was an incredible worldwide success. I'm still finishing the last few #Genealogy and #FamilyHistory videos from my 2020 playlist. Having an entire year to watch (and rewatch) has been a real plus. 

Now it's time to register for RootsTech 2021, again free and again all-virtual. You can click and register right here.

Starting March 3, RootsTech will offer more than 1,500 brand new talks, plus an international exhibit hall and much more.

Something for everyone, on every level. Did I mention it's free? Go ahead and register so you can receive updates about keynote speakers and other news.

Was Frank Jacobs Enumerated on T-Night in the 1950 US Census?

Continuing my quest for addresses so I can browse for ancestors when the unindexed 1950 U.S. Census is released next year, I've been researching the whereabouts of my 1c2r cousin, Frank M. Jacobs (1896-1974). 

Serving overseas in World War I with the Marines, he was wounded at Soissons and lost a leg. After he recovered, he embarked on a career in advertising. As shown in the 1930 and 1940 Census (and in city directories), Frank lived in Brooklyn, New York with his mother (Eva Michalovsky Jacobs, 1869-1941). She died in July of 1941.

Did Frank leave Brooklyn?

Frank's World War II draft registration card from 1942 shows him living at the Hotel Tudor on East 42nd Street in Manhattan, very convenient for his work at Young & Rubicam on Madison Avenue. At the time, this hotel hosted a mix of transient guests and permanent residents in 598 rooms [source: NY Times, April 6, 1947, p. 120].

Frank also listed his brother Louis as his main contact and showed his brother's address as a mailing address in Brooklyn.

But was Frank staying at the Hotel Tudor for only a limited time? Because Frank died in Brooklyn in 1974, it's possible he returned to Brooklyn after retiring. Next step: Check city/phone directories.

Directory search

Many city and phone directories are available for free via the Internet Archive. I browsed for Frank in the 1949 and 1950 telephone directories for Brooklyn, New York, and found two "Jacobs, Frank" entries in both directories. 

The 1950 directory is dated March, 1950; the 1949 directory is dated September, 1949. Clearly, if one of the Frank Jacobs listed in 1950 is my cousin, the 1950 Brooklyn address would be the most updated one for me to use in finding an Enumeration District for him in the 1950 US Census.

However, Frank was fairly consistent in listing himself as "Frank M. Jacobs" so I can't be sure whether either "Frank Jacobs" in Brooklyn was my cousin. 

Of course, his brother Louis may have listed Frank as being in the Brooklyn household with him on Census Day of 1950...which I'll see as soon as I locate the brother's household in the Census. That would be a bonus!

Transient night at the Hotel Tudor?

Suppose Frank was actually living at the Hotel Tudor in Manhattan during April of 1950. He might have wanted to be close to his office rather than commute back to Brooklyn every evening.

If this is the case, I'll have to browse for Frank in the listing of people registered at the Hotel Tudor on T-Night, April 11, 1950. This was the night set aside for distributing Individual Census Report forms to guests (and residents) at hotels, to be collected by enumerators and then recorded on the Population Schedule. 

The Hotel Tudor's street address was 302-4 East 42nd Street in New York City. Using the wonderful Enumeration District Finder on SteveMorse.org, I've narrowed down the hotel's ED to 31-1266. That's where I'l begin browsing for cousin Frank when the 1950 Census is made public on April 1.

UPDATE April 15, 2022: Frank was NOT listed as being at the Hotel Tudor in the 1950 Census. I'll have to wait for the full indexes by Family Search & Ancestry & MyHeritage to search for him by name.

NOTE: For more information about the 1950 US Census, please see my full topic page here.

Honored to be a WikiTree Challenge Guest!

This is the final month of WikiTree's Year of Accuracy Genealogy Challenge.

The goal is to make the collaborative family tree on WikiTree as complete and accurate as possible, sources and all. 

I've been putting my ancestors on WikiTree little by little, adding photos and biographical details, and -- of course -- indicating my sources. 

During December, teams of WikiTree research super-sleuths will focus on three folks in the genealogy community: Mary Roddy, James Tanner, and me. It is truly an honor to be included in the 2021 challenge!

I can't wait to see what hidden treasures the WikiTree teams will uncover as they dig deep to improve my family tree. 

A few items on my wish list:

• Was paternal grandpa Isaac Burk descended from the Shuham family, as he wrote on his Social Security application? If so, he was related to his bride, my paternal grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk. She was a granddaughter of Rachel Shuham Jacobs. Sticking with this line, was Necke Gelle Shuham (Isaac's mom) the sister of Hinda Mitav? 
• Rachel Shuham Jacobs was my paternal 2d great-grandma. Her daughter Tillie Jacobs Mahler claimed to be 100 years old when she died in 1952. If so, was Rachel a young teen when she gave birth to Tillie? 
• Who were maternal great-grandpa Moritz Farkas's siblings? These would be children of Ferencz Farkas & Hermina Gross Farkas. Knowing more about these ancestors could help me connect my tree with Elek Farkas and his wife Rozsi. I believe Elek's daughter was Ida Weiss who married Herman Weiss, and I know their descendants were cousins to my maternal Farkas family. But what kind of cousins? Was Herman Weiss also a cousin to Farkas family?
• What about the parents of my maternal great-grandma Hani Simonowitz Schwartz and her husband, Herman Yehuda Schwartz?

Thank you in advance for any ancestor details you're able to add to my tree and any brick walls you're able to smash, WikiTreers!

Remembering WWI Vet Frank M. Jacobs

My 1c2r, Frank M. Jacobs (1896-1974) enlisted in the US Marines on April 18, 1917, when he was 20 years old. While he was fighting in World War I, he left behind his mother (Eva Michalovsky Jacobs), his father (Joseph Jacobs), and his siblings in Brooklyn, New York. 

Fighting in France

After a brief period of training, Frank was sent to France on June 27, 1917, where he fought in the Toulon Sector, Aisne Defensive, Chateau-Thierry Sector, and Soissons (the Aisne-Marne Offensive). All this detail is on his New York "Abstracts of World War I Military Service" record, shown below. By June of 1918, he had been promoted to Corporal.

Sadly, Frank lost a leg on July 19, 1918 during fierce fighting at the Battle at Soissons. He received medical attention in France and was returned to the States for further treatment. Meanwhile, more tragedy in the family: His father Joseph, a chronic invalid, died in November of 1918, before Frank was formally discharged.

So far as I can determine, Frank never married or had children. He pursued a long career in advertising. On his WWII draft registration card, Frank showed his employer as the big Madison Avenue firm Young & Rubicam.

In Frank's own words

Frank wrote home quite regularly throughout his service in WWI. His family shared some of those letters with local newspapers, a common practice at the time. Thanks to the wonderful (and completely free!) newspaper site Fulton Search, I read a number of letter excerpts and interviews with Frank, supplementing the official records with my ancestor's own words.

Only a week before being wounded, he wrote to his family that "I am glad to be one of the lucky ones to come through without a scratch. Our regiment has been cited five times for conspicuous bravery." On July 19, the newspaper reported that letter along with the news of Frank's injury.

In an interview with the Daily Standard Union newspaper in Brooklyn, New York, Frank described what happened in the Battle of Soissons. He told the reporter that "a high explosive shell broke right beside me. A pebble hit me in the head and I put my hand there. It was then that I noticed that my leg was gone. I didn't lose consciousness then or afterward."

I'm currently writing Frank's bite-sized bio and posting on genealogy websites to keep his memory alive and share his war experiences in his own words.

Plus I'm pleased to post this on the Genealogy Blog Party for November of 2021!

Penny Postcard Thanksgiving Greetings

 

More than a century ago, this colorful penny postal greeting was sent to my husband's uncle in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy and very healthy Thanksgiving! 

Book Review: Learning More About Your Ancestors Online

I've been a big fan of Kenneth R. Marks's website The Ancestor Hunt since I came upon it a few years ago. 

In one easy-to-navigate site, he's assembled 160,000+ links to free genealogy resources in North America, arranged geographically and by type of resource.

Kenneth also offers a series of free, downloadable Quick Reference Guides with useful tips for family-history researchers at all skill levels.

Now I'm a big fan of his new, very affordable reference book, Learning More About Your Ancestors Online: Genealogy Guides for Newbies, Hobbyists, and Old Pros, available in paperback and digitally on Amazon.

A baker's dozen of chapters

In 13 chapters, Kenneth organizes his advice and links according to topic: 

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Birth and marriage 
• Chapter 3: Death records and information 
• Chapter 4: General advice about genealogy research
• Chapter 5: Immigration, naturalization, travel
• Chapter 6: Military 
• Chapter 7: Miscellaneous records (such as secret societies, old-time illnesses)
• Chapter 8: Newspaper research
• Chapter 9: Occupations
• Chapter 10: Photos and physical description
• Chapter 11: Residences and other locations
• Chapter 12: Schools and yearbooks
• Chapter 13: Resources

Every chapter has a ton of useful ideas and time-tested suggestions. The final chapter, not to be missed, is a roundup of links to other websites with additional information about search techniques and genealogical records.

I highly recommend Kenneth's book, which I purchased in paperback as soon as it was published. It's a handy reference book for everyone interested in genealogy research, from beginners to experienced professionals. Happy to have it on my genealogy bookshelf!

The Penny Postcard Craze and Family History

Early in the 20th century, my husband's Wood family stayed in touch frequently via colorful penny postal greetings. 

Any holiday or celebration was a great reason to write to a young relative.

Not just on birthdays but also for Abraham Lincoln's birthday and July 4th and everything in between!

Penny postcard craze

The Wood family was completely caught up in the postcard craze of that era. 

It really took off when the price of mailing a postcard was lowered from two cents to one cent. 

At the time, the highest quality postcards were printed in Germany and shipped across the Atlantic. Most of the postcards sent by Wood ancestors in Ohio and beyond were, in fact, made in Germany. 

Postcards as family history clues 

Wallis Wood (1905-1957), my hubby's uncle living in Cleveland, received dozens of birthday postcards during his preteen years. Happily, the family held onto these postcards over the years.

Thanks to the addresses and postmarks, I was able to track this Cleveland branch of the Wood family as they moved to different houses nearly every year from 1905 to 1917. 

Why? Because Wallis Wood's papa (James Edgar Wood, 1871-1939) was a home builder. 

James constructed a new house roughly every year, moved his family in as he finished the interior, and sold that home. Then he moved the family to another home being completed by his crew. 

James, his wife (Mary Slatter Wood, 1869-1925), and their four sons had lots of different addresses over the years. In between Census years and in between directory listings, the postcards showed me where they were living.

These are just three of the fun birthday postcards sent to Wallis before 1915.

This is my post for week #46 of Amy Johnson Crow's #52 Ancestors challenge.