Two Birth Years in Family Lore for Minnie

 

What if family lore indicates two different dates for an ancestor's birth year? These two notes were handwritten by hubby's grandfather, Brice Larimer McClure. One of his sisters-in-law was Minnie Estella Steiner Halbedel, who died on this day in 1947, as shown in the note above (see blue line). Brice recorded Minnie's birth year as 1867 in that note.

Here's a second note, written at a different time by this same man, with Minnie's birth year recorded as 1868. 

So which year is correct? 

AI Record Finder says birth was in 1868

I asked MyHeritage's new AI Record Finder to locate church records for Minnie, providing her full name and birth place to get the process started. In response, I received several family tree records (from MyHeritage and FamilySearch), but no church records. 

Then I asked: "Show me birth info to prove Minnie's birth in 1868." The AI's response: "The records confirm that Minnie Estella Halbedel (née Steiner) was born on May 1, 1868, in Ohio. Her parents are listed as Edward George Steiner and Elizabeth Jane Steiner (born Rinehart). These details substantiate her birth date and place for your genealogical inquiry." 

Well, no. All that was shown were family trees asserting Minnie's birth year was 1868. No proof as such. Since no official birth records are available for the time and place of Minnie's birth, and church records from that time/place are scarce, how could I resolve the conflicting dates in family lore?

My research: census records, obit, death cert, gravestone

I looked at what Census data, obits, and the death cert said about Minnie's age at different points in her life, and also looked at her gravestone. I found out:

  1870 US Census - Minnie was 3 years old (implied birth year 1867)

  1880 US Census - Minnie was 13 years old (1867)

  1910 US Census - Minnie was 42 years old (Census was taken weeks before Minnie's May birthday) (1867)

  1920 US Census - Minnie was 52 years old (Census was taken weeks before Minnie's May birthday) (1867)

   1930 US Census - Minnie was 63 (Census was taken weeks before Minnie's May birthday) (1866)

   1940 US Census - Minnie was 73 (Census was taken weeks before Minnie's May birthday) (1866)

    Obituaries: Two obits noted Minnie's age as 79 when she passed away (implied birth year 1868)

    Death cert: Informant was Minnie's youngest sister, Floyda, who gave the birthday as May 1, 1868. The cert showed Minnie's age at death as 78 years, 8 months, 2 days (calculation agrees with birth year of 1868).

    Gravestone: Birth year is shown as 1867. Not the same as the death cert!

1867 or 1868?

Ordinarily, I would put more weight on what a sibling says on a death cert than on what a Census says. The informant, a sister, should know her sister's birth year. She said on the cert that it was 1868. Yet the gravestone shows the birth year as 1867, so one of the sisters or more of them believed that was the correct year.

Contemporaneous Census records of 1870-1920 point to a birth year of 1867. I put considerable weight on earlier records like these since parents are likely to know when their children were born and what their ages are.

A bit murkier: IMHO both the 1930 and 1940 US Census enumeration answers were probably meant to suggest a birth year of 1867, with the assumption that Minnie's age was "approximately 63" in 1930 and "approximately 73" in 1940. In other words, even though Minnie's birthday was a few weeks later than the date of the Census, her age was recorded as though she had already celebrated her birthday. That's what I think, anyway.

My conclusion: Minnie was almost certainly born in 1867. The detailed note about family lore most likely had the correct birth year, 1867; the briefer note about sibling birth years was most likely incorrect in asserting 1868.

Given the scant info available to MyHeritage's AI Record Finder, I understand why it told me the birth year was 1868. Yet the AI seemed so certain! Not me. I thought it was worth digging deeper. Then again, these are my husband's ancestors.

"Family lore" is the first #52Ancestors genealogy challenge of 2024 from Amy Johnson Crow. 

Soaring into the New Year with Good Luck

 

To start the new year in 1910, a Wood cousin received this penny postcard featuring good luck symbols and a couple of youngsters flying high in a new-fangled flying machine LOL. 

May your 2024 start with much good luck!

Happy New Year 2024 with a 1909 Greeting

In 1909, a Wood cousin in Toledo, Ohio sent this colorful penny postal greeting to his four-year-old first cousin in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Usually the postcards sent to this little boy were written by other children. This New Year's greeting was written by an 18-year-old cousin who had flowing cursive handwriting. Tracking him through the 1910 US Census, I learned he soon had a job in a local drug store.

May you enjoy all the luck of a bouquet of four-leaf clovers in 2024 and have a healthy new year! 

Big Focus on LOCKSS Online

Back in 2018, which was the 20th year of my genealogy journey, I began using RootsMagic. First, I really wanted to be able to sync with Ancestry and have my family trees handy on my own computer. Second, I wanted Mac software, with a roster of robust features that wasn't too complicated to learn. RM7 worked well for me for several years.

When I upgraded to RootsMagic 8, I liked the colorful new interface, but the software didn't always sync properly. I admit I didn't want to invest a lot of time trying to learn the bells and whistles, because to my mind, that took precious time away from my research and documentation. Plus this software is only on my computer, and my heirs are very unlikely to be excited about learning specialized software just to access the family tree. 

Dear readers, I recognize that some folks are very much into genealogy software. They know all the ins and outs and they appreciate the convenience. I just didn't have the ooomph to make it up the learning curve. Turns out, genealogy software just isn't my thing. 

Lots of copies keep stuff safe

As I enter the 26th year of my genealogy journey, I am more determined than ever that my family history will live on, for relatives and for researchers interested in my ancestors. Booklets and photo books are great for my immediate family, but I'm thinking longer-term.

That's why I've been expanding my trees on Ancestry, MyHeritage, and WikiTree, as well as posting bite-sized ancestor bios on those sites plus FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Fold3, and elsewhere. Of course, I continue to tell family stories and explore genealogy questions on this blog, which is in its 16th year. 

I'm putting my faith in LOCKSS--lots of copies, spread across many online genealogy sites, should keep stuff safe for the future, in 2024 and well beyond.

Two Weddings in 1937 for the Burk Family

On the morning of December 26, 1937, my aunt Miriam Burk (1911-1987) married millinery salesman David Bourstein (1907-1982) in New York City. They're the handsome young couple in the photo above, flanked by her father Isaac Burk (1882-1943) and Henrietta Mahler Burk (1881-1954).

The Depression was still underway, but when Dave proposed (he told his son years later), he showed Miriam his bankbook as proof that he could support her when they were married. 

Earlier in 1937, Miriam's older sister Mildred Burk (1907-1993) had married hairdresser Charles Lang (1906-1968), who went on to open his own beauty salon in the Bronx after World War II. 

Miriam and Dave were married at a relative's apartment, surrounded by both families. My father Harold was there, an aspiring travel agent at age 28, along with his brother Sidney, the "baby" of the Burk family at age 23. The day was mild for late December, with no snow on the ground, according to Extreme Weather Watch. 

The Boursteins shared 44 years of marriage before Dave died at the age of 74. Miriam outlived her husband by five years. The Langs were married for 31 years before Charlie died at the age of 62, outlived by Millie, who died at age 86.

Remembering my aunts and uncles on this anniversary of the Bourstein wedding.

Christmas Greetings Via Penny Post Cards in Ohio

 

Here is one of the colorful penny postal greetings sent to my husband's uncle in Cleveland, Ohio, every Christmas from 1907 to 1914. 

I was surprised to learn, from Smithsonian Magazine, about the history of Christmas penny postcards--all because someone wanted to streamline his holiday correspondence. 

Wishing you and all those dear to you a very merry Christmas.

Heirloom Wreath and Snowflake for Christmas Eve

This delightful wreath is made up of handprints from my grandkids, traced and cut from felt and then glued onto a cardboard ring. The names/dates were written on the cardboard backing.

Another favorite holiday decoration is this grandchild recreation of a snowflake. 

We hang these handcrafted heirlooms on our front door every holiday season. The colors have faded a bit, but the memories are bright and merry.

May you have a peaceful and joyous holiday!

Keeping Our Own Memories Alive for Today and Tomorrow

The final genealogy prompt in Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge for 2023 is "me, myself, and I."

Since 2007, I've created photo books featuring photos from my hubby's and my activities and adventures, big vacations, and family reunions. Above, a small sample of these books. Inside, the photos are arranged chronologically from January to December, and captions explain what's happening in each photo. Every so often, I pull a book off the shelf, leaf through, and relive those memories, happy that the photos are conveniently available.

At least once in each book, I caption a group photo with full names. Why? Although we all know who everyone is today, future generations may not recognize some people. How I wish I had inherited more photos with full names and dates! I'm learning from that experience by captioning as completely as I can.

Books or albums are a great way to get family photos off our phones and into print so others can see them too, IMHO. 

In the far future when my hubby and I join our ancestors, we hope these photo books will be enjoyed by those who come after us. Meanwhile, I'm currently working on the 2023 retrospective photo book of our "adventures."

Thank you to Amy Johnson Crow for the gift of #52Ancestor genealogy prompts throughout 2023, and now a new set of prompts for 2024.