Family Recipe Friday: Home Ec Taught Me Something

When I was a preteen, I bought this cookbook for Home Ec class (remember that?). The copyright date is 1960.

The cookbook is still on my kitchen bookshelf for nostalgia reasons. After all, I wrote my name and address in it (below). But most of the recipes were too complicated or time-consuming for me, and my mother used mixes anyway, which was fine with her daughters.

The book falls open to a page showing "Penny-Wise Cake" which I remember using as the basis of a pineapple upside down cake we baked in Home Ec class.

Here's the recipe for pineapple upside down cake:

2 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg, unbeaten
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Also have ready for "topping"--1/4 cup melted butter, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1 can of sliced pineapple rings (drain but reserve juice).

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream shortening thoroughly. Add sugar gradually, and cream together well. Add egg, beat very thoroughly. Add flour alternately with milk, beating after each addition until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Set aside.

2. Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Mix well, spread in 9 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Drain 1 can (8.5 oz) pineapple rings and sprinkle 2 TB of the juice over sugar mixture. Cut drained pineapple rings into quarters, arrange over mixture in pan. Pour cake batter over pineapple and bake at 350 for 45-50 min until done.

3. Cool in pan for 5 min, then invert on plate and let stand for a minute or two before gently removing the baking pan. Serve warm! A little vanilla ice cream wouldn't hurt either. Enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday: Mystery Burk-Mahler-Markell Celebration

These photos (scanned from negatives) were taken in the mid-1950s. My mother, baby sister, and we twins (shown above) are at a party where my father's Burk, Mahler, and Markell relatives are present.

I don't know who's who (except for Uncle Dave, at center of center photo below). Where are they celebrating, and why? Cousin Lois noticed birthday party things...whose birthday?

Update: Cousin Lois identified the couple above as Joan and Bob, with their son Andy.

Update: Above, the lady on the left is Lois's grandma, Ida. Below, lady on right is Ida's sister, Mary. Thank you for your sharp eyes, Lois!

Wordless Wednesday: Washington, D.C., 1966

Summer, 1966

My cousin Lois and I have been talking about the first time we met, when my father (her great-uncle) took my sister and me to Washington, D.C., where Lois lives. But I couldn't remember the exact year. Then these photos came to light in a forgotten album--and instantly I thought: 1966! I'm nearly positive that the shorts outfit I'm wearing (note the hip-hugger belt) and my Sassoon-inspired haircut were from that year. No more words needed...

Sympathy Saturday: Dora Lillie Mahler

My great-aunt Dora Lillie Mahler died on June 9, 1950, and her life and death remain a mystery. She was living in a nice area of the Bronx with her mother, Tillie, at this time...and possibly with her widowed sister Henrietta Mahler Burk, whose husband Isaac Burk had died unexpectedly in 1943. (Henrietta and Isaac were my paternal grandparents.)

Dora was a millinery saleslady, as this cert shows and as I also found in the 1930 Census. But apparently by 1950 she had been retired 10 years. (This is a good reason to check the 1940 Census when it comes out next month!) And this cert shows she had been under the doctor's care from April 1939 until her death. Did she have a chronic illness? 2022 update: Yes, a chronic illness confirmed by a cousin who remembered this ancestor.

Her June 10, 1950 obit in the New York Times was short and to the point: Dora Lillie Mahler was the "devoted daughter of Tillie and the late Meyer Mahler, dear sister of Henrietta Burk; David Mahler; Sarah Smith; Morris Mahler; Ida Volk; and Mary Markell." 

PS: Morris, Dora's brother, gave her birth date on the cert as July 11, 1905. Impossible: The New York Census shows her as 11 years old in 1905; the US Census shows her as 6 in 1900, 15 in 1910, and 24 in 1920. Locating her actual birth cert in 2022, I see her birth year is 1894. Mystery solved!

I Married Him for His Ancestors, St. Patrick's Day Edition

This is the first year since the start of my genealogical adventure that I know for certain that there are Irish ancestors in my hubby's family tree. This year, we can wear green and celebrate with specific ancestors in mind! (No Irish ancestors in my family tree . . . I had to marry into the shamrocks.)

Here's a summary of himself's Irish roots:

• John & Mary Shehen (or Shehan or Sheehan). According to the 1841 UK Census, John & Mary Shehan were both born in Ireland around 1801 (she might have been born as late as 1806, if later census records are correct). No trail yet to indicate when and how they came to London, but in 1841 they lived in Gray's Buildings, Marylebone, Middlesex county. They were married with three children, all born in London: Thomas (7), Mary (3), and Michael (8 mos). Mary grew up to marry John Slatter Sr., and become hubby's g-gma.
• Robert Larimer & Mary O'Gallagher Larimer. According to a Larimer family history, the young Robert Larimer sailed from Ireland in 1740 with a chest of Irish linen, bound for the new world. He was shipwrecked, then rescued by a man who made him an indentured servant to pay for his rescue. After many years, Robert decided he'd repaid his benefactor with enough years of his life and walked away from the man's land near Philadelphia, going west to Kishocoquillis Valley, PA. He married Mary O'Gallagher (or Gallagher), who was born in Northern Ireland about 1721, and together they settled in Fairfield county, Ohio. Robert & Mary were hubby's  5th g-grandpa.
• John McClure. Hubby's 3d g-grandpa was born from a line of McClures who probably came from County Donegal. John McClure married Ann McFall in 1801 and their son was Benjamin McClure, hubby's 2d g-gfather.

May the road rise up to meet you ...

Tombstone Tuesday: Wm Madison McClure & Margaret Larimer McClure of Wabash, IN

The Wabash Carnegie Public Library is a good source of genealogical info for folks like me, who are tracing ancestors in Indiana via long-distance. They're so busy that sometimes it takes a few months to process a request, but yesterday I was delighted to receive the obits for William Madison McClure (1849-1887) and Margaret Jane Larimer McClure (1854-1913), my husband's maternal g-grandparents. There was a bit of a surprise in William's obit when we learned he was a victim of typhoid fever.

Here's where Margaret Jane Larimer McClure is buried, in Wabash's Falls Memorial Gardens cemetery (Indiana).

Her obit, in a nutshell, says she died at the home of her son, H. B. (Hugh Benjamin) McClure on West Main Street, on Thursday, 15 May 1913 and burial was 17 May 1913.

William Madison McClure's obit, dated 7 October 1887, says he died of typhoid fever "after an illness of six weeks." He was a member of the Presbyterian church (his father was an Elder) and he was of the "Masonic fraternity."

A search on Google for "typhoid fever wabash indiana 1887" turns up 16,000 hits, most not actually in that year. Still, it was quite a deadly problem.

I've added both newspaper obits to these ancestors' Find-A-Grave pages, hoping to help other McClure researchers.

Amanuensis Monday: Who Uncle Fred Thanked in His Book

My mother's older brother, Frederick Shaw (1912-1991), was super-smart and one of a number of authors in the family. His book, History of the New York City Legislature, was a popular civics text in high schools and colleges during the 1950s and 1960s. His acknowledgements mention his wife and...

This volume would not have been possible without the indulgence and active cooperation of my wife, Daisy K. Shaw. For the preparation of the index and other invaluable assistance in the manuscript itself I am deeply obliged to Miss Dorothy H. Schwartz. For all matters of fact and opinion in the pages which follow I am personally responsible.

Only insiders reading these acknowledgements would recognize Dorothy H. Schwartz as one of his younger sisters (and my auntie, the twin of my Mom, Daisy Schwartz Burk). Dorothy wrote books of her own, a story for another day.

Fearless Females: Heirlooms--Grandma's Lavalier

Minnie (Hermina) Farkas may have brought this lavalier from Hungary when she took her long journey to America...but more likely, she received it as a gift from Teddy (Theodore) Schwartz, sometime after they were married in New York City on October 22, 1911.

Grandma and Grandpa both worked to help pay for relatives to come to New York. Minnie and her parents brought her siblings here; Teddy teamed up with his older brother, Samuel (Simon) Schwartz, to bring their youngest sister Mary Schwartz here.

Grandma was far from wealthy, but she left each of her grandchildren a bit of jewelry in her will. I received this gold lavalier and a cocktail ring, both of which remind me of her courage and perseverance. Thank you, Grandma!

Treasure Chest Thursday: Edgar J. Wood's College Scrapbook

It's easy to get the impression that my late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood, majored in Broadway and music while at Tufts College (class of 1926). In fact, his major was economics, and although he attended for 4 years, he didn't graduate.

At least two full pages of Ed's college scrapbook are filled with ticket stubs like those above, with the name of the play and his companion(s), handwritten below. Ed was an avid theater-goer throughout life and passed that love to his children.

He also played in bands, sang with the glee club, and was a member of several music clubs at Tufts. Above is a letter advising him that he'd been selected to travel with the Tufts Musical Clubs from April 15-22, 1925. The clubs performed in Bristol, CT; Hartford, CT; Meriden, CT; New York City; Mt. Vernon, NY; and again in New York City, culminating in an appearance at the luxe Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

I'm certain that Ed took this trip--which would have returned him to Tufts just before his mother, Mary Slatter Wood, died on April 24, 1925, in Cleveland, OH. When my husband asked Ed about whether he returned home for Mary's funeral, Ed replied:

I think I was out playing a job, and came back to the dormitory, and a brother Zate [Zeta Psi, the fraternity] came to the dormitory and told me they'd gotten word that she had died. I think her health had been like [my wife] Mar­ian's, it had not been the best, so it wasn't a big surprise. I had no money, so I went to a guy by the name of _____, one of the professors of music, and a Zate also, and borrowed 50 bucks...Before the summer was over I paid it back. So I had to borrow money and take a train back to Cleveland for the funeral. 

Amenuensis Monday: Tufts College Album, Zeta Psi House, 1925

When Edgar James Wood (my late father-in-law) went to Tufts College, Massachusetts, he saved memorabilia and put together a scrapbook of his college years. His frat friends signed the book in 1925, as shown above. Here's a transcription of the first page of names, hometowns, birth dates (!), and "ambitions." Maybe one of these college kids' descendants will do a search and find this list!

Charles Errol Exley, from Trinidad, B.W.I., nickname: Bill, b. August 27, 1903. Ambition: To see Ed pass French.

Fred J. Sanders, from Southington, Conn., nickname: Ted, b. April 22, 1907. Ambition: To see "the Jumboniane" working.

Joseph Harrison, from Newark, NJ, nickname: Joe, b. June 10, 1904. Ambition: To see Edgar with a team that will make Paul & Vinnie look foolish.

Austin C. Robinson, from Fitchburg, Mass., nickname: Ace, b. September 4, 1905. Ambition: To see Ed so tight he can't move.

Robert B. Rice, from Longmeadow, Mass., nickname: Bob, b. 1900. Ambition: To see Ed. dance.

Norman S. Smith, from Brookline, Mass., nickname: Norm, b. June 11, 1903. Ambition: To hear a battle of music between Paul Whiteman and the "Jumbonians."

Austin T. Ropes, from Salem, Mass., nickname: Hemp, b. Jan. 25. Ambition: To go to a dance with Ed.

Russel L. Carpenter '24, from Meriden, Conn., nickname: Bud, b. November 7, 1901. Ambition: To read the banjo parts.

Herbert Edwon Lawson Jr., from New York City, nickname: Pop, b. February 9, 1905. Ambition: To teach Ed to inhale [beets?].

Lawrence M. Dawson, from Meriden, Conn., nickname: Larry, b. October 25. Ambition: TO see "Dead Wood" in the balcony scene with Marie _____.

Armand J. Gariepy, from Barre, Mass., nickname: Gary, b. July 31, 1901. Ambition: "Control the stock market.

Chas. J. Odenweller 3rd, Arlington, Mass., nickname: Ody, b. December 30, 1903. Ambition: To go to Cleveland again.

Vivian Wight, Bethel, Maine, nickname: Viv., b. July 12, 1903. Ambition: To see you in Portland.

C. Proctor Stanley, N.E. Harbor, Maine, nickname: Pieye [?], b. July 6, 1904. Ambition: To play baseball.

George V. Perry, Lawrence, Mass., nickname: G.V., b. August 5, 1902. Ambition: Just now, to graduate.

Walter A. Weisleder, Meriden, Conn., nickname: [none], b. July 9, 1905. Ambition: TO get Eddie & Leo to agree.

Jack Hayes, Brooklyn, NY, nickname: "Jack" - "Spud," b. October 14, 1904. Ambition: There ain't no such onion.

Wm. H. Griffiths, Crestwood, Tuckahoe, NY, nickname: Bill, b. April 20, 1906. Ambition: To hear Eddy on the transatlantic radio.

Jack Norton, Cobleshill, New York State, nickname: [none], b. July 30. Ambition: To have Eddie remember to take his room key when he goes out.

"Fen" Reilly, West Medford, Mass, nickname: "Cap'n," b. February 6, 1906. Ambition: [none listed]

Joseph Rosselli, Waterbury, Conn., nickname: Joe, b. December 23, 1903. Ambition: To see Eddie drunk.

Joshua J. Bernstein, Springfield, Mass., nickname: Josh, b. June 15, 1905. Ambition: To spend four more years.

Ralph "Dutch" Lehan, Stoughton, Mass., nickname: "Dutch," b. "too long to remember." Ambition: To kick hell out of Reed & Browlen.

John J. Purcell, Meriden, Conn., nickname: "Jack" P., b. November 10, 1901. Ambition: To find one.

Eugene Eaton Smith, Tufts college, Mass., nickname: Gene, b. April 14, 1912 [sic]. Ambition: To tutor Eddie for P.B.K. and a degree.

P. George Nye, Malden, Mass., nickname: Joe the Great, Colonel, Sister Faint Flower, b. June 31, 1913 [sic]. Ambition: Why ? And who cares?

James E. Nickerson, West Harwich, Mass., nickname: "Red" "Nick," b. December 9, 1905. Ambition: I guess so.

Gordon L. Walls, "Where ere my hat be hung" [hometown], nickname: "The Count," b. April 4, 1905. Ambition: To hear Eddie soloing with the Symphony(!)

W. H. Erickson Jr., "Anywhere you wish" [hometown], nickname: "Shorty," b. November 8, 1904. Ambition: To play in a ___ band.

Happy Birthday to Us!

My twin and I are celebrating our birthday today (no numbers, please!). The top photo shows us at about 6 weeks old. Reportedly, we "never" slept (and neither did our parents, Daisy Schwartz and Harold Burk). I can believe it, looking at that top photo. On the other hand, we weren't even 6 lbs each at that point, and the "scrawny chicken" look lingered on for another month or so, judging by the photos.

The second photo shows us all dolled up for an outing in matching outfits that I would bet our mother didn't buy. Why? Because as a twin herself, she wasn't a big fan of matching outfits and was determined to raise us as individuals, not halves of one whole. Anyway, this was taken alongside our apartment building, near the corner of Carpenter Avenue at East 222nd Street in the Bronx.

Happy birthday to us! And many more. 

PS: We don't actually know who's who in most of these early baby photos.

Tuesday's Tip: Obits vs Death Certs (Dig Deeper!)

Sometimes a death record is more informative than an obituary...and then there are other times when the opposite is true. Here's a case where digging deeper to get the obit was a phenomenal help and broke down a long-standing brick wall.

I've been looking for Benjamin McClure's ancestors. He's my hubby's great-great-grandfather and for years I've actively sought his parents' names.

The very nice folks in Friends of Falls Cemetery in Wabash, Indiana, have photographed his grave for Find a Grave and "calculated" relationships with other relatives buried there (correctly). They (and I) had no way of knowing that Benjamin didn't die in Wabash--he died in Conway, Michigan.

Finally, I got a clue and checked Family Search's Michigan Deaths/Burial Index, finding this:

Just to be sure, I ordered the microfilm and checked it and this is a mostly accurate transcription, from a ledger book that summarizes all deaths in Michigan, by county, during that year. I just didn't believe everything it says. The birth year is right, but the death date is one day off. And it's VERY unlikely that Benjamin and his parents were from New York, and the name "Enos" appears nowhere else in the family. What I really needed was to see his obit.

The kind librarian in Petoskey, Michigan (near Little Traverse) sent me Benjamin's obit from the Petoskey Record of February 26, 1896. It told me that Benjamin, the father-in-law of locally-known Reverend John J. Cook and father of Mrs. John J. Cook, had died at Conway after a short illness. His body was brought back to Wabash, Indiana, where he had resided for nearly 52 years, but no mention was made of McClure's birthplace or other survivors.

Posting a query on a Wabash genealogy message board, I got a note from a historian who told me that Benjamin's obit had appeared in two local Wabash papers, and he gave me the dates, suggesting I send for these. I tried a few different ways to get the obits from libraries, but no luck.

Then I joined the Indiana genealogy Facebook group and, from one of their posts, got the idea to contact the Indiana State Library.

Bingo! They quickly sent me the obit (excerpted at left) for Benjamin -- which includes his likeness. It includes a very complete family history. Benjamin, as I strongly suspected, wasn't born in NY, he was born in Ohio. His parents were John McClure and Ann McFall McClure. What a gold mine!

Thank you, wonderful librarians of Indiana State Library! Now I have literally dozens of leads to follow, including exact counties where the McClures lived and the dates. Digging deeper made the difference.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Ceramic Heirlooms

Zebra sculpture by Marian McClure Wood, 1950

My late mother-in-law, Marian Jane McClure Wood, became interested in ceramic sculpture as a hobby in the late 1940s. She took classes at Oxford Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, with a well-known ceramicist, Edris Eckhardt.

Edris lived on Monticello Blvd, around the corner from the Cleveland Heights Blvd home where Marian and her family (Edgar J. Wood plus 3 children) lived. Edris was an internationally famous artist whose Alice in Wonderland sculptures had been displayed at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris and who had been a leader in Cleveland's Depression-era Federal Arts Project. She was deeply involved in the local art community and the Oxford school was one focus.

Marian quickly became so interested in ceramics that her husband Edgar and her father (Brice Larimer McClure) built her a kiln in the basement of Marian & Edgar's home, and arranged special electrical wiring for it.

Duck sculpture by Marian MccClure Wood (undated)

 Rather than make the usual ashtrays, Marian studied a book on animal anatomy and made ceramic animals. Hubby and I proudly display two zebra sculptures and a duck sculpture that she made. Marian also created a lovely series of ceramic creche figures, which my sis-in-law puts on display every Christmas.

Like all Cleveland-area artists, Marian aspired to have her works shown in the Cleveland Museum of Art's prestigious May Show. I found out when I checked the museum's database that she succeeded with four works: In 1948, she showed a zebra sculpture; in 1949, she showed "Spring Night" and a zebra; in 1950, she showed "The Champ." (Her son, my bro-in-law, had a painting in the 1960 May show; her daughter, my sis-in-law, had a textile design in the 1959 show.)

Inscription inside zebra sculpture - "1950 M Wood"

Marian's peak achievement was a three-foot-high Alice in Wonderland sculpture that she had fired in a commercial kiln and donated to the Oxford Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, in the late 1950s. This school houses an excellent collection of Federal Art, much of it produced under the supervision of or using the processes of Edris Eckhardt. Perhaps Marian's Alice is still there today?

2022 update: I wrote about Marian's ceramic artistry in an ancestor booklet that all heirs received. This means her story will be bequeathed along with her ceramics.

Monday Mystery: James & Alice Wood's divorce

Yesterday I learned that James Edgar Wood, hubby's paternal gfather, was married to Alice Hopperton Unger in 1926. Alice had previously been married and divorced (by 1919) but kept her Unger name until she married James.

Edgar (my father-in-law) told my hubby during an interview in 1983 that he thought his father James had "got a housekeeper and he married her." Edgar kept his distance after that. But clearly James's life took some other turn, because he was married to Caroline Cragg by the time of the 1930 Census.

What happened in between? Apparently, Alice and James were divorced sometime between 1926 and 1930. My best guess is they were divorced around 1929, because James seems to have gone to Jackson, Michigan in 1929, but more sleuthing is required. By the time Alice died (at only 46), she had assumed the "Unger" name once again (see below).   UPDATE: I learned about the Alice/James divorce in 2018, and you can read it here.

Alice died on April 5, 1930 in Cleveland. The informant was Mrs. Brinker, Alice's sister (see obit abstract, below, from the Cleveland Necrology file).

d#: 0369015
Name: Unger, Alice
Date: Apr 6 - 1930
Source: Source unknown;  Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #081.
Notes: Unger: Alice, beloved daughter of Mrs. Rachel Hopperton and sister of Edward F., George C., Frank J., Mrs. H. O. Brinker, Mrs. O. C. Hughes, and the late Arthur S. Hopperton, Saturday morning. Funeral Monday, April 7, 1930, at 2:30 p. m., from the home of her brother, George C. Hopperton, 2106 Overbrook Road, Lakewood.
 

Sunday Surprise: Grandpa Wood's 2d marriage

This morning I followed one of Ancestry's "hints" and discovered a relationship that nobody in the family even suspected: James Edgar Wood's second marriage to Alice Hopperton Unger, on 1 September 1926, in Cleveland, OH. James was hubby's paternal grandpa.

This is definitely the correct James E. Wood--all the details fit. His first wife, Mary Slatter Wood, had died on 24 April 1925. So who was Alice and how did they meet?

BTW, sometime later, James married a 3d time, to Caroline (Carey) Cragg, the mother-in-law of James's nephew, a match the family helped to arrange. The couple lived in Jackson, MI at the time of the 1930 Census.

Obviously I now have to find out what happened to Alice between 1926 and 1930. Stay tuned!

Sorting Saturday: Archival Boxes and Found Treasures

This was "getting organized" week. I've been threatening to put photos and other treasures into archival boxes...and this week, I finally did it. The photo shows just some of the archival boxes I have stored on my bookcase, each with photos/documents/etc for a specific branch of my family tree.

Not all individual photos have labels (yet!) but at least they're separated by family name, a very good first step. Well, almost. One box, you might notice, is "to be sorted," but I can identify almost everyone in that box's photos and so it's a matter of putting them into the correct boxes. And did I mention how much I love my little label-maker, which makes everything look so neat and organized?

Sorting through documents in my "E.J. Wood" file, I came across a photo I didn't remember, showing Edgar James Wood (my late father-in-law) at top right, his wife Marian McClure Wood at left, and between them, her father Brice Larimer McClure. Ed & Marian's three children are in the front row. My hubby is the camera-shy older son at left, his younger brother is in the middle, and their sister is at right.

Another treasure: Ed's certificates of copyright registration for songs he composed. This one is for "High on a Hilltop," which he registered in April, 1950. He also registered "Shaker Heights Polka" in February, 1961, and "Love Is a Boundless Ocean" (music by Edgar J. Wood, words by George W. Teare) in October, 1932.

Ed had played his way across the Atlantic with college bands during the 1920s and was a part-time professional piano player for many years, working mainly on weekends to supplement his day job as an insurance adjuster. He played a couple of numbers during my wedding to his son!

Workday Wednesday: John Slatter, paper hanger/cleaner

Thanks to the Ohio Genealogy Research Community on Facebook, I found out that John Slatter (hubby's g-grandpa), born in England, was a paper hanger/cleaner in Cleveland, Ohio from about 1887-1901 (when John died). I had hit a brickwall on Slatter's life in Ohio and especially his 2d wife, and I posted a note to this Facebook page. Derek answered, suggesting I check Cleveland city directories (on Fold3). I did, and jackpot! Thanks, Derek.

Here's the page from the Cleveland directory of 1893, showing John and his 2d wife, Louisa, living and working at 433 1/2 St. Clair. Some years, John is listed by himself in the yearly directory; other years, John has a partner, such as Samuel Phillips (in 1889) or Samuel W. Mead (in 1892).

Louisa died in 1895 and John lived on until 1901. John was living with his daughter Mary Slatter Wood at 242 Lake St., Cleveland during the last months of his life.

When and where did Louisa & John marry? What was Louisa's maiden name, and how did they meet? More importantly, when and where did John's first wife Mary die?

I've sent for Louisa's death cert from the Cuyahoga County Probate Court. Maybe more clues will show up on it!

Treasure Chest Thursday: Edgar J. Wood, Tufts '26

Just a few days ago, a box arrived from my sis-in-law. Inside: The elaborate college scrapbook kept by my late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood, who attended Tufts College in Massachusetts, starting in 1922! Above is a close-up of the cover, showing Tuft's logo and Ed's name and expected graduation year.

I checked with Tufts, as suggested by Bryna in her comment below, and learned that Ed didn't graduate, although he attended classes and was active at the school until at least the middle of May of 1926 (graduation was in June, 1926). His major was economics, another fact the family didn't know. The reason Ed didn't graduate was because he didn't complete his foreign language requirement. (2022 update).

College must have been the time of his life, because Ed kept all kinds of memorabilia, including dance cards (which I didn't know men even had), menus from banquets, ticket stubs from shows, photos, etc. He was a member of Zeta Psi fraternity, and much of the memorabilia related to his frat brothers, trips, shows, etc.  

What a treasure chest: My husband and his sibs don't remember Ed ever showing them this scrapbook. We're all mesmerized by the exuberant life Ed led more than a decade before he married and settled down for good in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. I'll be transcribing the names of Ed's frat brothers (and their home towns) in future posts.

Above are the cover from the frat "annual banquet" Ed attended on December 9, 1922, at Boston's famous Parker House, and the inside page where he is listed as "neophyte" of the 1926 class. More to come!

 

Matrilineal Monday: Daisy's Ticket to College (unpunched for 30+ years)

My mother, Daisy Schwartz, graduated from James Monroe High School in the Bronx, NY in January, 1936, at age 16. She didn't get this "college entrance diploma" until June, 1936, because (1) she had to pass statewide exams in certain subjects and (2) the state education department had to certify her coursework.

In those days, an academic diploma was required for college entrance in New York state. To get such a diploma, the high school grad had to have passed exams representing 4 years of English, 3 years of a language (hers was French), and intermediate algebra, plane geometry, and American history. Notice that no science was required, luckily for Mom. She went straight to work to help the household (this was, after all, during the Depression) and so her twin, Dorothy Schwartz, could go to Hunter College in New York. (Her older brother had already graduated college by that time.)

Nearly 35 years later, Mom returned to college to accumulate credits and earn raises, as a school secretary. She enjoyed the literature courses, in particular, but often said she would not go for a degree because she could never pass the science or math courses. Working during the day, going to classes in the evening, and studying at night was no picnic but she did it! And she insisted that every one of her children go to college (which we all did, and then some).

Daisy's matriarchal line: Daisy Schwartz's mother was Hermina Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964); Hermina's mother was Lena Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938); Lena's mother's name in NagyBereg, Hungary (now Berehi, Ukraine) was Toby Roth.

Mystery Monday: Daisy at the Revlon Dance, 1941

On May 17, 1941, Revlon Products Corp. held its 4th Annual Dance at the Hotel Roosevelt in New York City. Art Paulson & his orchestra entertained.

Here's the mystery: My mother saved this panoramic photo for decades, rolled up in a tube as it was mailed to her from DK Relopf (or D Krelopf), 444 E. 98 St., Brooklyn, NY. I've cropped the photo in half so the faces can be seen a bit better.

Sure enough, Mom (Daisy Schwartz) is in this photo. Like nearly every other lady, she's wearing a flowered dress. She also has on a corsage. Did she come as the date of someone who works at Revlon? (Maybe the light-haired young man on her left side?) Did she work there for a time? She was a typist, stenographer, and secretary during these years. At 22 years old, she had been earning a living for several years while her twin sister Dorothy attended Hunter College.

Reading through the letters written to Mom by her friends during this time period, I have only one possibility for a boyfriend, "Dave." That would fit the first initial of the person who sent Mom this photo (alas, no readable postmark on the mailing tube).

Below, an excerpt from a letter to Mom, dated in August, 1941, about Dave (who seems to have squired Mom around town to some nice places). My guess is that the "Dave" incident was a kiss. It's a mystery!

Was glad to hear from you again and doubly happy to hear about the “Dave” incident. How does it stand now? Do you feel any differently to him now? Evidently he does to you! Hold on to him for the present anyway. The Spanish Gardens and Radio City aren’t to be laughed at, you know.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: WorldCat

A chain of events, starting with a post of a family photo on this blog, led me to my first clues about Captain John Slatter's long and illustrious career with the 48th Highlanders Regiment of Toronto, Canada. I've been in touch with the regiment and with its museum for a few months now.

To find out even more, I used WorldCat to locate any printed materials about this famous regiment. On the top of the list was George W. Beal's book (cover above), Family of Volunteers: An Illustrated History of the 48th Highlanders of Canada. And it's available from the Library of Congress, an easy inter-library-loan away from me.

My local library was kind enough to request the book (for a very minimal charge) and it arrived just 5 weeks later, for use only in the library. I read through, and then took out my new portable scanning wand and captured several pages of info about Captain Slatter, including photos and more. Also, I photographed the same pages and the cover.

Here's a shot of the index entry for Capt. Slatter: 

 

Thanks to WorldCat, I now know more about the history of the 48th Highlanders, and more about my husband's great-uncle Jack, who served as bandmaster for 50 years.

WorldCat is free and you never know what you'll find--like me, you might come across a book or two that will give you new insights about your family tree.

Workday Wednesday: John Slatter of Oxfordshire, College Cook

On the trail of my husband's Slatter ancestors from Marylebone and Oxfordshire, I e-mailed the Slatter genealogist in Oxfordshire to ask whether his family and hubby's family are related. Twelve hours later, this wonderful gentleman wrote back to say no relation...but he did a lookup for me and found more info about John Slatter in Oxfordshire!

John Slatter, college cook, of Oxford (St. Ebbe parish), was married by license to Sarah Harris of same parish on 1 May 1832.

On the baptismal records for John & Sarah's first three children, John's occupation is shown as "college cook," then "cook at ch. ch." (probably Christ Church), then "cook at ch. ch college."

In the 1841 UK Census, John Slatter (Senior) was shown as a cook, living in Banbury parish, Oxfordshire.

By 1859, when John Slatter Jr gets married, John Slatter Sr is listed on the marriage license as "deceased" father of the groom, along with his occupation, which is "cook."

2022 update: Now I know more about Sarah Harris, who saved grandchildren from terrible poverty by taking them in. The story is here!

Next steps: Find out more about Sarah Harris and check the records of the Oxfordshire Family History Society, as recommended by the Slatter genealogist.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Tools--Ancestry (I married him for his ancestors)

For years I've resisted posting my family trees on Ancestry. But toward the end of 2011, I decided to begin posting what I've gathered about hubby's ancestors, because this will make it easier for everyone in the family to see the tree, no matter where they are. And the little waving green leaf is a welcome sign of hints, sometimes valuable and sometimes not. That makes documenting the tree online a little easier, and has pointed me in the direction of new info. 2022 update: I've also been using RootsMagic to sync with Ancestry and look for hints (again, not always useful but must be checked out just in case).

My family comes from Eastern Europe, and of course I've run into brick walls on both sides of the tree. Many records are available only in offices somewhere deep in Hungary, Latvia, or Lithuania...and even then, language can be a challenge. But I have found more than expected!

For example, my grandma Henrietta Mahler is shown at left in the 1930s, at the wedding of her younger daughter, Miriam. Henrietta was born in Eastern Europe, as was her older brother, and their parents. Someday I hope to have more info about where they came from, but details have been elusive up to now. UPDATE: I've been exploring some Riga records that show Henrietta's husband Meyer Elias Mahler was married before he courted my grandma.

My husband's family, however, is from England, Ireland, and possibly Scotland, with some stopovers in Canada. Searching for his ancestors is a lot easier than searching for mine--the documents and indexes for his family are almost always in English, and many are online! Plus I've met several very kind genealogy "angels" who helped along the way, thanks to Ancestry's surname and geographical message boards.

Now you know my secret: I married him for his ancestors. LOL!

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy--Blogs: Geneabloggers Connections

Here we are, starting the new 52 Weeks series by Amy Coffin, and I want to give a new year's shout-out to Amy, Thomas MacEntee, and the many Geneabloggers who have shared their stories, methods, support, and ideas!

I've learned so much from you...been inspired to try new things...discovered resources I didn't know about...and most of all, I've enjoyed being part of this community. Thank you!

Here's to more in 2012!

2012 Genealogy Resolutions: Post, Scan, Store, Label, and Share

Welcome to 2012, the year when I plan to:

• Post my family trees on Ancestry (partly, I admit it, as cousin bait):
• Finish the Wood/McClure/Steiner/Slatter tree (including the Larimer and Shehen families).
• Start the Schwartz family tree.
• Start the Mahler family tree.
• Scan more Wood and Burk photos and documents, add to family trees on Ancestry. 2022 update: Still scanning but I removed most family photos in 2021 due to Ancestry's change in terms of service. Read more here.
• Store all my original documents in archival boxes, categorized by family. This isn't just for my convenience--it's also for the genealogists of tomorrow (you know who you are). 2022: Done!
• Label the rest of my photos and categorize by family. Nearly done.
• Share the best family photos and videos from the past 7 years (meaning since I went digital) via DVD with my immediate family. This will keep our shared history alive into the next generation and give my loved ones a head start on genealogy. Years from now, no need to scan treasured photos when everyone received the same image on DVD at the same time! Done, and also shared via cloud and other methods.

No matter what the technology in 2022, 2032, and beyond, there will still be images and names, I'm sure. Whether the Flip videos will survive, who knows? 2022 update: No, the Flip went obsolete years ago, sorry to say.

Happy new year to you all, and happy ancestor hunting!

Wordless Wednesday - Loser Socks (Again)

Future genealogy trivia: Which contestant has an unbroken record of losing the annual Christmas Day "silly" (or "surprising") sock contest?

Before I reveal the answer, take a look at the above silly, surprising crocodile sock devouring my leg.

Now the answer: I'm the perennial loser. My crock didn't even come close in this field of silly sox, which also included an alligator sock, whale socks, and other assorted silliness. The winner: the blue fuzzy snowman slipper socks at center. (The judge's arm and leg are barely visible in this sock portrait.)

Next year's sock contest will have two rules: Embellishments allowed, and fuzziness required. Stay tuned!

Sentimental Sunday: My Merry Gen Gadget Christmas

Thank you, Santa, for the gift of a portable wand scanner! And batteries of course...not to mention the mini SD card. UPDATE: My cell phone is more my choice these days, 2022 style.

Now I can scan documents that won't easily fit in my flatbed, such as these two curled-up diplomas earned by my father, Harold Burk.

The top one shows my father's graduation from PS 171, an elementary school in Manhattan, NYC, in June, 1923. He was 14 at the time. The bottom one shows his graduation from Junior High School 171 in Manhattan, NYC, in January, 1925. He was 15 at this point and went to work right after graduation, which (if I recall his stories correctly) meant he ended his educational career after eighth grade. Note that this was a "commercial" diploma, indicating that Harold wasn't expecting to continue to high school but always intended to go to work.

Here's what PS 171 looks like today: Its "name" is Patrick Henry and, as in my father's time, it serves grades K-8. The school is within walking distance of where Harold and his family lived at the time of the 1920 census, at 1642-44 Lexington Avenue near 104th Street.

Santa is so smart and even sentimental! He knows that this genealogy gadget will help me capture so many documents and photos for the future. Ho ho ho!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy: Advice (Can't Do It All!)

This is the final week of the 2011 Personal Genealogy Challenge. It's been my most active--and successful--year of genealogy research ever, because so many brick walls came tumbling down. Of course, now I have more leads to follow and more ancestors to discover, which means 2012 will be another interesting and eventful year of family history detective work!

Based on my experiences, here's some advice to myself and those who follow me:

1. You can't do it all. There will never be enough time to follow every ancestor back through the decades and across the miles, and also document their connections and movements. I just have to prioritize: My Ancestry family trees will be at the top of the list because I want everything to be in one place for relatives and descendants to see.
2. You don't have to do it all yourself. Finding new cousins has been very exciting, and new cousins also means new info and more help with the family tree. More relatives are getting the genealogy bug and will do some lookups or look for family photos. Posting on surname and place message boards has put me in touch with genealogy angels who enjoy doing small acts of kindness, such as looking up one of my hubby's ancestors in the UK census. Thank you, one and all, for making this a fun group effort!
3. You don't have to do it all at once. Genealogy is a journey, and a memorable one at that. Remember the saying "Life by the yard is hard, life by the inch is a cinch"? Genealogy progresses inch by inch, and I'm enjoying the unfolding of each new wrinkle. Every day or two, I try to add to the family trees I'm building on Ancestry or write a note about a family photo. Eventually the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place, if I work on it steadily.
4. You have to take the long view. This is related to #3. Genealogy is a long-term proposition, not an instant message. One Canadian source I contacted for info about a great-uncle told me that he'd get back to me in 6 months, once the organization's archives have been moved into their new offices and unpacked. Even if I wanted to go there in person, I couldn't see anything until the records are unpacked, so patience is a virtue. Meanwhile, I'll pursue another line of inquiry, as they say in the BBC mysteries.

Happy holidays to my relatives and Geneablogger friends!

Advent Calendar--Christmas Stockings: Made with Love

It all started with the needlepoint stocking I made for my hubby more than 20 years ago. It was time for something new! And this started a new tradition of making stockings for beloved family members.

Over the years, I've made about 12 stockings, mostly needlepoint but also cross-stitch, embroidery, and quilted.

At right, a needlepoint stocking I made for the youngest member of the family, back in 2005.

The small sports items in the "train" and on either side of the name are actually buttons sewed on as 3D embellishments. No 3D glasses needed!

Happy stitching to all.

Friday Family Trivia: Treasures from Early Days

Burk A - how tiny was the wrist that held this bracelet?

Today, a bit of genealogical trivia from my early days. Do you recognize the item in the photo at left? Hint: I'm a twin, and I was the first one born.

It's my ID bracelet from the hospital where I was born. My sis has a Burk B bracelet (photo forthcoming), also with pink beads. This is what I wore during my days in the heated crib where babies under 5 lbs stayed until they weighed enough to be discharged. I've always kept this treasure in my jewelry box.

Next are two photos showing both sides of one object. The front has my initials. The back says:

Farkas Family Tree, Feb 195__

This is the engraved sterling silver napkin ring that my mother's family, the Farkas Family Tree, presented to every new baby. Perhaps the space between the month and the year was left to be filled in later, but it's always looked exactly like this (except that in this photo, I've blurred out the year on purpose). Some babies get spoons, others get mugs, but Farkas Family babies received napkin rings.

Sentimental Sunday: The Salad Scoopers That Returned Home

Fourteen months ago, my 2d cousin Lois found me through this blog. We saw each other twice this year, both times at happy family occasions (one in her immediate family and one in mine). It has been such a joy getting to know her and her family!

Now I'm going through my photos looking for connections between our branches of the family tree, and here are two, along with the story of the salad set that went from my part of the family to hers and back again.

Lois's grandma was Ida Mahler Volk, shown above at far left with my mother, Daisy Schwartz, who was then engaged to marry my father, Harold Burk, Ida's nephew. Ida (my great-aunt) is shown alone in the photo at the right, quite a glamorous lady IMHO.

Both of these photos were taken in July 1946, when Daisy and Harold, then engaged for six months, flew to Washington, D.C. to visit with the Volks. (They flew because Harold was a travel agent and this was one of the perks at the time.*)

Ida was extremely close to her sister Henrietta Mahler, my father's mother, and Lois has several stories about the sisters' love for and generosity toward each other.

Lois also told me that Harold and Daisy brought a house gift to Ida and Louis when they visited: A lucite/stainless steel salad set with a big bowl and a serving scooper, very "mid-century modern" in today's language of style. That set was used and enjoyed for many, many years and Lois inherited it, along with the story.

Now fast-forward to my niece's wedding last month. Lois gifted the happy couple with this very set of salad utensils, a wonderful, sentimental reminder of the ties that connect the generations of our family.

My niece never met her grandparents, Daisy and Harold--they died long before she was born--but now she's the delighted caretaker of this salad set, which has come back to the Burk part of the family after 65 years. Thank you, Lois!

*How do I know they flew? These photos were in a photo album in a series that starts with a photo of Daisy and Harold on the staircase leading off a plane. That photo is marked "July 1946, Washington, D.C." The photos with Ida are only a page or so beyond. Thank you, Daisy, for marking these so clearly!

Those Places Thursday: Whitechapel, London, Middlesex, England

Straight from the General Register Office in England, here's the 1859 marriage document for my husband's great-grandma Mary Shehen [sic] Slatter and her husband, John Slatter.

I have to check the address--here it looks like Heneage Street in London--but I have a suspicion that this is where John and Mary met, since they both live at the same address in the district of Whitechapel.

And thanks to this document, I can see that there were many more Johns in the family than I realized--John Slatter's father is John Slatter, and Mary's father is John as well. Mary's father was born in Ireland, and this says he was a bricklayer. John's father died before this marriage, so I can go looking for his death info.

Maybe the witnesses, Samuel and Elizabeth Gartley, were the landlords? Well, lots to investigate here.

Whitechapel sound familiar? Jack the Ripper worked this area of London from 1888-1891, well after the the Slatters and Shehens were gone, either died or moved to Canada.

PS - Thanks to a genealogy angel in Ireland, I found out that Mary Shehen's parents, John Shehen and Mary [maiden name UNK] Shehen, were born in Ireland in 1801 or so. More research is in my future!

Wordless Wednesday: Meyer Mahler, d. 1910

Meyer Mahler, my paternal g-grandpa, was born in Kovno. As his death cert shows, he became ill in Dec 1909 and died of cancer in Jan 1910 in New York City.

I'm still trying to trace his parents, David Mahler (b. Riga, Latvia) and Hinde Luria (b. Kovno), who almost certainly never came to the US.

The names of Meyer's parents were passed down in the family. Meyer had a son, David, and the name Hilda is also among those later in the family tree.

Advent Calendar of Memories: Christmas Past

My late father-in-law, Edgar J. Wood, kept a diary for many years, usually in yearly calendar diaries given as gifts to customers by Edgar's employer, the Buckeye Union Insurance Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Years after Edgar retired, the company kept sending him the diaries at year's end, and he faithfully wrote a few lines every day with his fountain pen.

Here are the entries he wrote for Christmas day in 1959, 1969, and 1979. (My genealogical explanations are in italics within parentheses). In 1959 and 1969, Edgar and his wife Marian McClure Wood, were living in Cleveland, Ohio. By 1979, they had moved to Pittsfield, Mass., to be near Wally and his family.

• 1959. After breakfast, presents!! R (my hubby Wally's first wife) brought up Brice (hubby's maternal grandfather). Later, Leta, Chip, Jeff & Tim (Leta was Wally's aunt, the three boys are his first cousins) dropped in for buffet supper. Much singing around piano, "Guys & Dolls" getting a big play. Ernie & Gorden Pettit (friends of Wally's) dropped in. All in all, a big day.
• 1969. Christmas morning, everyone opened presents. In P.M., W (Wally) and R (his wife) had friends in for an open-house "Sing Along." Cold & snow outside. Stayed in all day. Showed the slides of trip (Edgar and Marian took a big European trip in 1969 via ocean liner and train, arriving in England and continuing to Paris, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria before returning by ship to New York City and then by train to Cleveland).
• 1979. AM: 10:00 o'clock service. To P.O. (post office, presumably, to mail cards). P.M.: Home for lunch. Some practicing (he played piano professionally). Reading. Paperwork. Evening: To W's (Wally's) where R (his wife) prepared one of her very fine dinners. Later, exchange of presents, some from B (Wally's sister). Visiting.

Surname Saturday: Slatter (The Musical Slatter Brothers)

Captain John (Jack) Daniel Slatter (1864-1954), my husband Wally's great-uncle, was not only a well-known bandmaster in Toronto, he had two musical brothers.

Above is Henry Arthur Slatter (1866-1942), who led the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders, 1911-14 and 1919-1925. Here he is circa 1913, standing on the steps of the Vancouver Courthouse, which is today the Vancouver Art Gallery. This photo was posted by "Bold Highlander" on "X Marks the Scot," where he also posted photos of Captain Jack.

The third musical brother was Albert William Slatter, bandmaster of the 7th London Fusiliers. I'm still researching him!

All the brothers were children of John Slatter Sr. and Mary Shehen/Shehan, married in Whitechapel, London, England, in 1859. Their other children were Mary Slatter (hubby's grandma, married to James Edgar Wood) and Adelaide Mary Slatter (married to James S. Baker), of more in later posts. Mary must have passed the family musical tradition down to her son, Edgar James Wood, who played piano and other instruments professionally for many years.

UPDATE, 2022: For more about the Slatter family, see my ancestor landing page here.

Thankful Thursday: Mr & Mrs Harold Burk, 11/24/46

On this day in 1946, my parents, Harold Burk and Daisy Schwartz, were married at the Hotel McAlpin in New York City.

Here they are with Ida Mahler, one of his Mahler aunts, during the summer before they were married.

Although they became engaged on Dec. 31, 1945, after my father closed the deal to become the in-house travel agent of the posh Savoy Plaza Hotel, they soon set their wedding date for November, 1946.

Why wait, especially since they were very anxious to settle down? First, because of the severe shortage of apartments following WWII and second, I suspect, to save up money. In fact, who exactly paid for their wedding is a mystery I hope to solve one day.

On Thanksgiving, I give thanks for their love and for the family ties I've been discovering through genealogy (dear cousins, you know who you are!).

Wedding Wednesday: Future Genealogy circa 2036

For Wedding Wednesday, I'm delighted to post this photo of my lovely youngest niece and her wonderful new husband. May they be as happy and healthy on their 25th and 50th anniversaries as they were on their wedding day just three weeks ago!

Sunday's Obituary: Captain John D. Slatter

This week I connected with the granddaughter of Captain John D. Slatter! As mentioned earlier this month, Capt. Jack was (we now know) my husband's great-uncle. We plan to get acquainted with her and her brother, and exchange photos and info.

Her family knew nothing of my husband's grandmother, Capt. Slatter's sister Mary Slatter, who married James Edgar Wood in 1898 in Toledo, OH, and we knew nothing of her grandfather, an illustrious military bandleader.

A very kind genealogy angel in Canada looked up Capt. Jack's obit in the Globe & Mail of December 9, 1954 (he died on Dec 7). Here it is, complete with the names (not completely correct) of his survivors. For more about the Slatter family, see my ancestor landing page here (2022 update).