Searching for Fun Facts and Finding Jumbo

This week's #52Ancestors genealogy prompt from Amy Johnson Crow is "fun facts."

Looking for a fun new tidbit about my late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986), I did a quick online search with his full name in quotes and the name of his alma mater, Tufts. Ed remembered his years at Tufts with obvious affection when reminiscing many decades later. Now I wondered what a fresh search might uncover.

The 1925 Jumbo Book

Up popped a digital copy of The 1925 Jumbo Book, Tuft's yearbook. 

I actually have Ed's bound yearbook safely stored in an archival box, ready for the next generation and beyond.

But the digitized version is a valuable find because Tufts has made this downloadable by anyone, anywhere, any time. 

It's been scanned by professionals and it's easily searchable for names and activities. 

The digitized version can be read and annotated over and over again, saving the printed copy from wear and tear.

For instance, here's the page devoted to the roster of Zeta Psi fraternity. I clipped it digitally from the downloaded yearbook.

Then I highlighted Ed's name at the bottom.

Never would I write in the original! Yet the digitized version is incredibly convenient for my family history projects.

Why Jumbo?

Why was the yearbook called the Jumbo Book? The story, according to Tufts:

Master showman P.T. Barnum was a Tufts trustee and benefactor. In the 1880s, his circus toured with a huge elephant named Jumbo, standing nearly 12 feet tall and weighing six tons. 

Jumbo died in 1885, and a few years later, Barnum donated the elephant's hide to Tufts. He intended it to be the centerpiece of a Barnum natural history museum to be built on campus. 

Over time, Jumbo became a kind of good luck charm. He has served as mascot for the Tufts sports teams, as well as lending his name to the yearbook and other campus publications. He's even gone high tech: JumboSearch is the Tufts library's search system. 

Jumbo fun--one reason I enjoy the #52Ancestors challenge!

I Did a Double-Take When I Saw This Date!

 

I do a lot of horizontal genealogy research, adding siblings, their spouses, and their in-laws to my family tree. More than once, I've discovered some of these folks are actually distant cousins of my ancestors!

This man's relationship to me is not very close: sibling of husband of sister-in-law of 1c1r.

Still, by looking closely at Ray Klein and his siblings, I'm seeking to determine whether and how their mother might be related to my maternal Waldman cousins from Hungary. 

I did a double-take when this database info turned up. Anybody think this is an actual birth date?? 

Um, no. 

Automated indexing and extracts don't always get the details right. That's why I aim to look at original documents myself. 

Pandemic Pastime Becomes Family Craft

What began as a weekly craft activity  during the pandemic lockdown has become a surprisingly popular family craft. 

Pandemic rock painting parties

In the spring of 2020, Sis invited me and two friends to her place every Saturday to paint rocks. We sat socially distant and wore masks to stay safe. Our artist friend helped by sketching outlines and making suggestions about color, shading, and proportion.

Early efforts were, um, rudimentary. As we got better at painting something recognizable, we decided to share our art with neighbors. During walks around our neighborhood, we left rocks on fences, benches, and windowsills. A few are still in place, nearly two years after first placement.

Soon we began painting rocks for particular family members: A vase of flowers for a green thumb gal, a trout for a guy who loves fishing, a saxophone for a musician, a silly face for a wee one, a sun-rise for an early bird.

Sis and I became known at the local post office for mailing small boxes of rocks near and far.

Let's paint 

In 2021, we were visited by relatives with a two-year-old. This cute twig really wanted to paint rocks with us! He held the paint brush, dipped carefully in colors he liked, and decorated a couple of rocks, with his Mom's help. Easy, fast, and fun. 

After that visit, the twig began collecting rocks during walks in his home town, asking to paint them. Sis mailed out supplies and our joy of rock painting spread to that family.

Let's rock

This year, when the now three-year-old twig visited, he brought rocks he had decorated especially for us. At top, a sparkly rainbow rock he placed in my front yard. 

Of course, we held a painting party in this twig's honor. At right, two rocks he painted in bright colors to accompany our garden bunny.

By now, every member of the family has taken a turn trying rock painting, good sports that they are. 

And that's how our pandemic painting parties turned into a family craft. Family history in the making!

Stories in Stone - VGA Book Club Pick

The Virtual Genealogical Association has so much to offer, for only $20 per year. The name says it all: All virtual, all the time, including informative webinars (live and on-demand), special interest groups and hangouts, even a book club.

This month, you don't have to be a member of the Virtual Genealogical Association to join the fun with the book club pick, Stories in Stone by Douglas Keister. 

The subtitle previews what's inside: A field guide to cemetery symbolism and iconography. From architecture to gravestone symbols and beyond, this compact but comprehensive book is indispensable for genealogy folks. 

Full-color photos illustrate so many of the key points, with clear explanations. In addition to an extensive index, this handy book includes pages and pages of acronyms deciphered, a big help when trying to understand organizational initials and symbols on gravestones.  

No wonder I have this book at hand for ready reference and to accompany me on any cemetery field trips.

Now VGA is hosting a contest in connection with the July book club. Mark your calendar: The book club meets virtually on Tuesday, July 26th, at 8 pm Eastern. See you there!

Seventeen Wood Children Born in Three States

 

As I continue to draft bite-sized bios of my husband's great-grandparents, Mary Amanda Demarest (1831-1897), husband Thomas Haskell Wood (1809-1890), and their children, I'm examining what was going on in their lives. This helps me put each ancestor into the context of the time, place, and ongoing family situation. Even if I write only a sentence or two for the wee ones, it keeps their memory alive for the future.

Bride from New York, groom from Massachusetts

Thomas Haskell Wood was born in Massachusetts and his bride Mary Amanda Demarest was born in New York, yet they married in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, in 1845. 

The Wood family was based in the whaling community of New Bedford, many working in the industry. There's some evidence that Thomas signed onto a whaling ship in New Bedford years earlier. He may have arranged to bring Mary to Louisiana by ship for an elopement, but we have no proof.

Their 17 children were born in three states from 1846 to 1875. At left, the names and dates of their five girls and twelve boys. Mary was 15 when her first child arrived, and nearly 45 by the time the last child arrived. 

Three born in Louisiana, 1846-1850

Jane "Jennie," Thomas, and John--the first three children--all were born in Iberville Parish, Louisiana.

Only Jane survived to adulthood, unfortunately. Thomas drowned at age 12, and John died at age 8.

Why the family left Louisiana, no one has any idea. Thomas Haskell Wood was a carpenter and much later, a coach builder, so he could go wherever work was available. But they must have had a good reason to pack up and move 900 miles away.

Six born in Virginia, 1851-1861

Once the family settled in a part of Virginia that is today in West Virginia, six more children were born: Lucy, William, Alfred, Francis, Lavatia, and Joseph. 

Sadly, not all lived long lives. Lucy died at age 18. Diphtheria claimed Lavatia just after her 5th birthday and Joseph just before his 2d birthday. William died of typhoid at age 39, leaving a wife and children. Alfred also died at age 39, leaving a widow but no children. 

Francis grew up and followed his father into carpentry, forming a business with some of his brothers. He and his wife had four children--and their descendants are in some of the old Wood family photos.

Eight born in Ohio, 1862-1875

The move to Ohio, about 300 miles away, could very well have been precipitated by the US Civil War, which broke out in April of 1861. Both parents were from the North, so maybe they wanted to leave the South to settle in the Union state of Ohio, or simply wanted to be far from the fighting. 

Another reason might have been opportunities for steady work on Ohio railroad projects, as indicated by occupation of "RR carpenter" and "coach builder" in two US Censuses taken after the family got to Ohio. 

In Toledo, Ohio, the last eight of the Wood children were born between 1862 and 1875: Charles, Rachel "Nellie," George, Marion, Mary "Mollie," James, Robert, and Leander. During this period, one of the children born in Louisiana and two of the children born in Virginia died in Toledo. 

Of those born in Ohio, neither George nor Leander lived more than a few months, sad to say. The other six children all grew up and married. The men went into carpentry or commercial painting, sometimes in partnership with each other. Photos of some of these ancestors are in our hands and in the hands of cousins.

My husband's grandfather was home builder James Edgar Wood (1871-1939), the tenth of twelve sons who became the father of four sons himself. 

Fleeing War on the SS Nyassa

My maternal grandfather Theodore Schwartz (1887-1965) was the first of his family to come to America from Ungvar, their Hungarian hometown. He then helped his brother Sam and sister Mary to come to America. 

Unfortunately, many of their siblings were killed in the Holocaust, including the oldest sister, Rezi Schwartz Winkler (1881-1944). 

Happily, in recent weeks, I've discovered that some of Rezi's descendants escaped Europe during and after World War II. As it turned out, in-law connections proved pivotal.

Fleeing the war

Rezi's daughter Leni Louise Winkler Price (1909-1997), her husband Eugene Preisz (Price) (1906-1979), and their daughter Edith came to America on the SS Nyassa, which left Lisbon on April 15, 1941. This trip was made possible because blocks of tickets were purchased by HIAS, the Jewish relief group working to get people out of harm's way.  

The Prices had their passports issued in Marseilles, France, in January of 1941. Waiting for safe transport from Europe, they had lived in Belgium for a time and then made their way to Lisbon, somehow, for their voyage. 

Fleeing on the very same ship were the parents and grandparents of Bettie Lennett Denny, whose blog post vividly brings to life this agonizing ordeal, truly a flight for life.

Nearest relative in America

According to the SS Nyassa's passenger list, Leni and Eugene were going to join Eugene's older brother David Price (1893-1985), who was already established with his family in Brooklyn, New York. 

After the war, Eugene Price (now also living in Brooklyn) was the US contact noted on the 1948 passenger list for his brother-in-law Albert Winkler. I wrote about Albert recently in this blog post. Albert and Leni were my first cousins, once removed. 

Thankfully, I've connected with a couple of cousins in my extended Winkler and Price families, thanks to public family trees and ancestor memorials on Find a Grave.

This week's #52Ancestors challenge by Amy Johnson Crow is "extended family." 

Independence Day Postcard from 115 Years Ago

 

For Independence Day 115 years ago, my hubby's uncle Wallis W. Wood (1905-1957) in Cleveland, Ohio received this colorful penny postcard in the mail. 

I just love these vintage postcards, still in the family more than a century later.

The sender was Rachel "Nellie" Wood Kirby (1864-1954), an attentive aunt living in Chicago, Illinois. 

Nellie and other members of the Wood family rarely missed an opportunity to send penny postcards to younger relatives. 

One year, Nellie even sent her nephew a postcard for George Washington's birthday on February 22, which was celebrated as a federal holiday beginning in 1879. 

Today, of course, George Washington shares his official holiday with Abraham Lincoln, both celebrated on Presidents' Day. 

Happy Independence Day!

Your Family Tree: One and Done or LOCKSS?

As genealogy folks, we're used to looking back toward the past. But to keep family history safe for the long term so descendants and researchers won't need to reinvent the wheel, we should look ahead to the future. 

Think LOCKSS:

Lots

of

Copies

Keep

Stuff

Safe

Will one family tree be enough? Here are some of the steps I've taken to perpetuate my family history by sharing trees (and more) in different places:

• Posting my family tree on multiple sites (Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, WikiTree, FindMyPast). These serve as cousin bait too! 
• Posting bite-sized ancestor bios on these and other sites (Fold3, FindaGrave). 
• Sharing family history with relatives now (via booklets, videos, heirloom photos, my blog, and more).
• Sharing ancestor photos with relatives now (sometimes with a story, sometimes on a shared family tree, sometimes here on my blog).
• Sharing family stories now (on my blog and during family gatherings, plus in conversation, as "memories" on family tree sites, and more).
• Sharing ancestor bios with repositories where I've donated artifacts or materials. This keeps ancestors alive in their collections!

LOCKSS. Keep your family history safe for the future. Maybe "one and done" isn't enough?

--

For more ideas, please see my book (print and ebook), Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, on Amazon (US, UK, Canada, beyond) and at the American Ancestors book store. If you're a Kindle Unlimited member, you can read the ebook for free!