Father's Day: Looking Back at Ancestral Fathers

Edgar J. Wood

Harold D. Burk

First, a salute to our beloved fathers. Hubby's dad was Edgar James Wood (1903-1986) and my dad was Harold D. Burk (1909-1978).

Now, a look back at forefathers on both family trees. This was my wonderful daughter-in-law's idea. On Mother's Day she wrote her sibs about all the Moms in their family tree.

Edgar J. Wood's father was James Edgar Wood (1871-1939), one of 17 children born to a carpenter (the Wood name reflected hundreds of years of the family's occupation). Edgar was an exception: He became an insurance adjuster and his night/weekend vocation was musician.

James E. Wood was, of course, a carpenter building homes in Cleveland at the turn of the 20th century. James's paternal grandfather was Thomas Haskell Wood (1809-1890), a carpenter originally from the Northeast. James's paternal great-grandfather was Isaiah Wood Sr (1784-1834), and his paternal g-g-grandfather was Elihu Wood Sr (1760-1837).

Harold D. Burk's father was Isaac Burk (1882-1943), a cabinetmaker who left Lithuania around the turn of the 20th century, stopped in Manchester, England with an aunt, and continued on to North America, where he eventually settled in New York City. Harold's paternal grandfather was Solomon Elias Birck, and that's all I know of my father's paternal line.

Thinking of them all with affection and respect on Father's Day.

Sibling Saturday: The Twins and Their Matching Pearls

For decades, I've had a three-strand pearl bracelet with silver-backed clasp, too tiny for ordinary human wrists.

I knew it was inherited, but I had no other info. Which side of the family was it from? Who had worn it? No idea.

Until now. Yesterday, my sis "rediscovered" a photo of my mother and her twin sister, dressed in matching 1920s dresses for some occasion, with matching Buster Brown haircuts.

No names are on the back, so we don't know which one is Daisy Schwartz (1919-1981) and which is Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001).

Nor do we know what the occasion was. They were born in winter, so these aren't birthday dresses.

Notice the sisters are wearing matching pearl necklaces and on one of the wrists, a slender three-strand pearl bracelet is visible. (See close-up of the wrist, below.)

Mystery solved: This bracelet must have been inherited from my mother or aunt, whose normal-sized adult wrists were too large for the tiny pearls. Of course the bracelet will be passed down in the family with the photo and the story! 

Surname Saturday: McKibbin/McKibben family of Indiana

I've returned to searching newspaper databases for colorful tidbits about ancestors, inspired by Janeen Bjork.

Fortunately for my research into hubby's McKibbin/McKibben family, there are lots of old Indiana newspapers available to search.

(NOTE: I just posted a new ancestor landing page for McKibbin/Larimer connections.)

At left, one of the more bizarre articles I found in Elkhart newspapers from 1903. Headline: Skeleton Puzzles Farmers Living East of Goshen.

The key man in the action is John Wright McKibben (McKibbin), hubby's 2d cousin 3x removed, son of "Squire" Alexander McKibbin and Harriet Larimer McKibbin.


It seems that farmer McKibben (1850-1911) unearthed a skeleton in a gravel pit.

The newspaper speculated on who the dead person might be. Possibly Bill Swazy who went missing after a night of heavy drinking?

I previously found an article about another of "Squire" McKibbin's children, Phoebe McKibbin Herrold. The headline: Dies in Chair as She Crochets. Can't make this stuff up!

The squire's wife, Harriet Larimer McKibbin, died of "lung fever" according to the sentence in the news I found. The squire himself "dropped dead" at his home, as the news item above shows. 

Any McKibbin-McKibben-Larimer cousins reading this, please feel free to comment!

Saluting Relatives Who Served Our Country

For Veterans' Day 2015, I wrote (again) about my father and uncle, Harold and Sidney Burk, who served in the US Army during WWII. Also my aunt, Dorothy Schwartz, who was a WAC in WWII, and my uncle, Fred Shaw, who was in the US Army in WWII.

Now I want to honor other relatives who served our country during the world wars.

Let me start with my great uncle Louis Volk, whose service seems particularly dangerous because he was in munitions factories during 1918. Louis married my paternal great-aunt Ida Mahler in 1920 and was a close member of the family, helping my father get a leg up on his career before WWI.


My maternal grandma Farkas's cousin, Johnny Weiss, was also in WWI. His service "CAC" stands for US Army's Coast Artillery Corps.

My two Farkas great-uncles, Julius and Morris Farkas, were in WWI, even though Julius registered as a conscientious objector. Julius served as a cook in the war, while Morris processed new recruits and discharged vets for the US Army.

Farkas in-law Milton Grossman (who married great-aunt Irene Farkas) served in the Infantry during WWI. Farkas in-law Morris Pitler (who married great-aunt Freda Farkas) was also in the Army Coast Artillery Corps during WWI, serving as a radio sgt.

Farkas cousins and cousins-in-law who served in WWII included George Farkas and his brother Bob Farkas, Abe Ezrati, and Harry Pitler.

On my maternal grandfather's side, his nephew, Morton M. Schwartz, served in WWII.

Thank you to these relatives who served during wartime.

Genealogy Blog Party: Duh to Wow! Uncle Sidney's Birth Record Leads to New Cousins

The May theme for Elizabeth O'Neal's Genealogy Blog Party is: Duh! What was your genealogy "duh" moment and how did you solve it?

Dad (Harold Burk) and Uncle Sidney in WWII

I knew my father's younger brother, Sidney Burk, was born in Canada in 1914, and brought across the border by his mom a year later when she moved back to NYC as her husband looked for work there.

But since Uncle Sidney died a bachelor, and I knew him well, I never bothered to look for his birth records or even his naturalization, assuming there was one.

This was an anomaly: I'm forever chasing after genealogy documents of ancestors' siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins--because there are often nuggets hidden in their documents that can help me learn more about the family (like maiden names or hometowns). For some reason, I just didn't see my uncle's birth as a research priority, especially since I knew little about searching in Canadian records.

Then I heard an expert in French-Canadian genealogy mention the Drouin collection. I went home, logged on, and entered "S Berk" with "Quebec, Canada" as the place of birth. (Berk was the family's name before Burk.)

The top result of my search was "Samuel B. Berk," a name I never heard of. But with a click, I had on the screen a handwritten record of Uncle Sidney's birth, as the son of Henrietta Mahler Berk and Isaac Berk, my grandparents. Duh. So simple, and quite intriguing to find out he'd been given a different name than the one I knew him by.

Double duh: A few lines down in the results was a "Lily Berr" and below that, "Rose Bert." Click: they were both related to Abraham Berk (not transcribed correctly but worth a click to check). I know that name! It's my great-uncle, the brother of my grandpa Isaac. Never before had I known where Abraham lived or the names of his children, and suddenly that entire line opened up to me. Even better, there were living cousins who I soon traced and now am in contact with.

So my duh led to discovering an entire limb of my father's family tree. From duh to WOW!

Gen Go-Over: Eyes on the Prize

Yesterday, my cousin (found through genealogy, of course) said something profound that applies to this year's Genealogy Go-Over. My cousin is a brilliant businesswoman and has keen insight into people. When she talks, I listen.

She was talking about a friend who played golf very, very well. This man was a perfectionist. When he was in a tournament, he would agonize over every swing and analyze every shot afterward, going over and over what he should have done and how he could improve.

While this gentleman was trying to perfect each shot, his competitors were playing golf. And winning. His obsession with perfecting technique derailed his ability to win.

My cousin's point: Keep your eyes on the prize. She was reminding me not to miss seeing the forest by being distracted by all the trees. Every tree is important (just like every ancestor is important) but the big picture is equally important. Stepping back to see the big picture is every bit as vital as checking, sourcing, and documenting every last detail.

One of my goals is to find out about ancestors who are known only by name, like Rachel Shuham and Jonah Jacobs, who were my paternal 2d great-grandparents from Lithuania. We know Jonah died some time before Rachel and their two children and grandchildren came to New York City in the 1880s. Lots more to learn there!

So for me, the Genealogy Go-Over is really about carefully reviewing what I know and using that info, plus new cousin connections, new techniques, and new data, to move ever closer to the prize of understanding who my ancestors were, where (exactly) they were from, and whether we have other cousins out there, still to be found!

I'm awaiting DNA results from Ancestry that I hope will offer a window into a different family story, one about my maternal grandfather's background. The story is about the various tribes that conquered Hungary hundreds of years before grandpa Tivador Schwartz was born in Ungvar. The tribes raped and pillaged their way across the landscape, and supposedly some of that tribal blood found its way into my grandpa's bloodline generations back. Will my DNA results reveal any trace of the conquering tribes? Waiting to see.

Free the Faces on Slides to Unlock Family Stories

Do you, like me, have binders or boxes filled with 35mm slides?

Think of all those faces and stories trapped on those teeny, tiny slides. Some of my big breakthroughs in genealogy have come when a cousin recognized a face in a photo and dredged up an old family story. If those little faces don't escape from the slides, family stories may not come to light.

My late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood, had a dozen slide trays filled with travel images. Others in the family stored slides in binders (see above). These slides were not only dated, they had a table of contents with each binder and notes about where/why the photos were taken. A great head start for family history research!

However, it's not a good idea to leave slides in these plastic sleeves for decades, unless they're archival quality. Even then, remember that slide technology is old technology.

How many of our descendants will have or want a slide projector? I have one spare projector bulb. In 15 or 50 years, will another bulb be available if a grandchild or great-great-grandkid wants to view slides? Probably not. Will they even know what a projector was??

So it's time to downsize, move to newer technology, and organize.

• Decide what to save, then toss or give away the rest. With apologies to my dad-in-law, 95% of his slides were of unknown landscapes, well-known world landmarks, grass or sky--we tossed those. We saved the 5% of slides with people and/or recognizable homes/rooms.  
• Transfer the slides to digital images. We digitized nearly everything and filed them digitally by surname. We printed some images to blow up and share with the family, adding full printed captions to the hard copies. Keep the technology up to date, switching away from CDs to USBs and the cloud, or whatever is the latest.
• Share the images. Printing allowed us to show photos to relatives who helped figure out who was who. It was fun to blow up a couple of slides of holidays in the old homestead, which would never have been seen again if they were trapped in 35mm slide technology.
• Caption, caption, caption. While relatives can still remember who's who and when slides or photos were taken, write the captions now. Store captions with printed photos and/or write up the captions and file by surname, referring to digitized images and their location in the cloud or on a DVD or wherever.

Free the faces and unlock those family stories!

Wordless Wednesday: Wood's Society Syncopators

This banner, on velvet, dates from hubby's father's career playing jazz piano during and after college in the jazz era of the mid-1920s.

Who were the Society Syncopators? Well, originally, Fate Marable's Society Syncopators popularized jazz on Mississippi riverboats during the 1920s--most likely the inspiration for Edgar James Wood using a similar name for his jazz band or trio.

Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopators were the band in 1959's Some Like It Hot, which is set in 1929.

Military Monday: It's a Long Way to Tipperary WWI Handkerchief

Hubby's grandma, Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925), kept this handkerchief from World War I. Someone wrote "World War 1914" in pencil at bottom right and then, just in case that wasn't enough, permanently inked "World War 1914" at bottom right. (Mary's Shehen grandparents were born in Ireland but she and her parents were born in England.)

Mary most likely received this from one of her bandmaster brothers in Canada, Captain John Slatter of the 48th Highlanders in Toronto or Henry Arthur Slatter of the 72d Seaforth Highlanders in Vancouver or Albert William Slatter of the 7th London Fusiliers in Ontario.

 It's a Long Way to Tipperary was popular during WWI, and troops were heard singing it all over Europe.

I did a little Web research and discovered this exact handkerchief in the collection of London's Imperial War Museum! And in other museums, including Museum Victoria in Australia and the Canadian War Museum.

The medal is the Victoria Cross.

Happy Mom's Day to Two Much-Missed Moms

A loving tribute to two loving moms.

At left is my Mom, Daisy, about age 20. She graduated high school at 16 but instead of going directly to college, she worked to help her siblings through college.

At right is hubby's Mom, Marian, about age 48. She was a talented ceramicist and enthusiastically supported all her children's artistic endeavors.

My Mom's parents were from the Farkas and Schwartz families. My mom-in-law's parents were from the McClure and Steiner families. Thinking of these Moms and the Moms in their families on Mother's Day.

In Loving Memory on Holocaust Remembrance Day

Both of the ladies in this photograph, dear sisters of my grandpa Theodore Schwartz, lost their lives in the Holocaust. On Yom HaShoah, I want to honor their memory and the lives of so many others who were killed by saying:

Never forget. Never again.

Remembering Li'l Sis

Remembering all the good times. Miss you, li'l sis.

"Uncle Joseph Roth" Links the Wajman and Weiss Families

For two years, I've been searching for the link between the Weiman family, Roth family, and Weiss family. My Roth cousins knew they were related to the Weiman family, and vice versa. But how? And we all wondered how my Roth cousins are related to me!

Part of the answer was on page 2 of a passenger manifest showing Hersch Wajman, wife Ida, and daughter Magda, sailing from Liverpool on the "Carmania" on 18 February 1921 and arriving in New York City on 28 February 1921.

On line 6, shown above, Hersch (Herman) Wajman (later Weiman) said the family was going to "Uncle Joseph Roth" at an address in New York City--an address that appears on Joseph Roth's passport application. This is an exact match for the Joseph Roth who was the brother-in-law of my great-grandma, Lena Kunstler Farkas.

It's complicated--Joseph Roth's brother was Bela Roth, and Bela's first wife was Zalli Kunstler (sister of Lena, my ggm). Gets even more complicated: Bela's second wife was Batia Bertha Weiss.

If you're still with me, the maiden name of Hersch/Herman Wajman/Weiman's wife was Ida Julia Weiss, known as Julia. We have other Weiss in-laws in my Farkas family, some who are married to Roths.

I did a search for Herman and Julia's young daughter Magda, who arrived at Ellis Island as a one-year-old, and this turned up a second manifest. The family was originally booked to sail from London to Boston on the "Saxonia" on 17 February 1921, arriving on 2 March 1921. They were crossed off that passenger list, as shown above. How and why the Weiman family switched from the port of London to the port of Liverpool and chose to land in New York instead of Boston, I just don't know.

The manifest is readable enough to be sure this is the correct Wajman/Weiman family. Hersh named his mother, "K Wajmann" as the nearest relative in Opatow, Poland, where he was from. Hersh was a watchmaker who spoke Polish, Russian, Yiddish, and Hungarian.

On page 2 of the "Saxonia" manifest, not shown here, the family says they're going to join--"Uncle Joseph Roth," a manufacturer, at his business address in New York City. MY Joseph Roth!

Wait, there's more: Julia Weiss Weiman's Soc Sec application lists her parents as Isador Weiss and Fany Roth. So "Uncle Joseph Roth" appears to be Julia's uncle. Therefore: Joseph Roth's children are first cousins of Julia Weiss Weiman, and Joseph Roth's grandchildren are second cousins of Julia's children. Now we know!

Next, I'm going to look for Julia's siblings/parents and also try to learn more about Batia Bertha Weiss's siblings. If there's any overlap, then as they say in Britain, "Bob's your uncle." Or, in this case, "Joseph's your uncle."

Genealogy Blog Party: Time Travel Adventure with Rachel and Mary

Elizabeth O'Neal over at Little Bytes of Life is throwing a Genealogy Blog Party. Thanks, Elizabeth, for the opportunity to blog about April's theme, Time Travel to an Ancestor. I asked hubby who he would like to meet in a time travel adventure, and his answer was his paternal grandma, Mary. My answer is my paternal 2d great-grandma, Rachel.

MEETING RACHEL

My time travel adventure would be with Rachel Shuham Jacobs, shown at right. She was married to Jonah Jacobs and had two children, Tillie Jacobs Mahler and Joseph Jacobs.

As I always do when reaching out to a relative (or someone I think is a relative), I'm going to start by writing Rachel a letter. Of course I'll tell her exactly who I am--what great-great-grandma wouldn't want to know that she's remembered fondly by her family?

Dear GGG Rachel,

Greetings from the future from your great-great-granddaughter! The little girl you're holding in this photo from New York City grew up, got married, and became close friends with a young woman from the Farkas family. Set up on a blind date by these "matchmaker aunts," my parents fell in love, married, and had children--including me. 

So GGG Rachel, I would really like to bring you on a time travel adventure to meet my parents on their wedding day in 1946. Then you can hug your daughter Tillie, who as matriarch was in an honored position at the wedding. Also meet your grandchildren, including my grandma Henrietta and my great-aunt Mary, the little girl who became the matchmaker aunt. 

First, a few questions, please. Where in Lithuania were you born, and who were your parents? What was life like in your home town? How did you meet and marry your husband, Jonah? And how did you feel about leaving Lithuania to live in New York with your two children? 

When I come to pick you up, please wear something a little fancy to the wedding of your great-grandson Harold. Love, Your great-great-granddaughter

MEETING MARY

Hubby would like to meet his father's mother, Mary Slatter Wood, one of two daughters of John Slatter and Mary Shehen Slatter. Mary was born in a poor (really, really poor) area of London but left in the late 1800s for America, where she married James Edgar Wood and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Sadly, Mary died before her sons were fully grown.

Dear Grandma Mary,

Greetings from the future. I'm the oldest son of your oldest son. I want you to know that the musical ability you brought into the Wood family has come down through the generations. Thank you!

Grandma Mary, there are some questions I wish I could ask you. What was life like growing up in London? Do you remember your mother and father? Did you have an older brother Thomas, who died young? Was your mother's death the reason your father left for America? How did you meet and marry my granddaddy? 

It would be wonderful to meet you, Grandma Mary. My plan is to travel back in time to the summer of 1917, when you and Granddaddy James and your four sons took a road trip in your new Ford auto. It looked like quite an adventure. Let me join you and see my ancestors through your eyes. Love, Your grandson

Managing a Growing List of Cousin Connections

Thankfully, genealogy is connecting me with new cousins all the time. Just last week, a distant cousin from the Farkas family got in touch. With so many names from the family tree crowding my memory, I almost didn't remember to connect him with a mutual cousin who had written me months ago (I got her permission first). Once they knew about each other, they had a wonderful discussion about family ties.

This experience made me realize that I need to have all my cousin contacts in one convenient (and completely private) document. So I've set up a personal table of Cousin Connections with three columns, as shown above. I'm listing my cousins in alphabetical order, including the exact relationship along with the name. In the second column, I'm typing as much contact info as I know. The third column is for notes, as the sample shows.

Private means private. When I'm lucky enough to be connected with newfound cousins, I carefully ask permission before handing out any relative's contact info, and I always follow both people's wishes regarding privacy. After all, they're family.

PS: This is my 700th genealogy blog post! So many ancestors, so many cousins, so little time.

Ancestor Landing Pages Keep Working

All-time views as of April 15, 2016

My ancestor landing pages (those tabs just below the masthead and above the photos on my home page here) continue to attract viewers! I set up my first ancestor landing pages in January, 2013.

The goal is to summarize what I know about each of these families in my tree or my hubby's tree, and to "land" viewers who use surnames as key words to search the web for genealogical details. If my landing pages show up in their results, they'll hopefully click to read on.

Of course, landing pages make it easy to share ancestor highlights, including photos or documents, with cousins. As I continue blogging about a particular surname or family, I add a bullet point with a link on the ancestor landing page for that family. I want to make it easy for distant relatives or researchers to connect with me!

By far the most popular of my ancestor landing pages is the story of Halbert McClure and family--the folks originally from Isle of Skye, who moved to County Donegal, and then saved their money to sail across the pond and buy land in Virginia.

In terms of audience: The #2 landing page is about my Schwartz family from Ungvar, then Hungary and now Uzhorod in Ukraine, followed by #3, about the Larimer family whose patriarch was shipwrecked in the Atlantic.

Another way to confirm that landing pages are working is by reading the key phrases that people use to search and land on the blog. Those key phrases can be found under the "traffic sources" section of the blog's statistics. Sure enough, this week I see "Halbert McClure" and "Benjamin McClure" and even "Markell family tree." These ancestor landing pages keep on working! 

Wordless Wednesday: Taped to the Back of a Farkas Wedding Photo

Almost 90 years ago, great-uncle Alex Farkas married Jennie Katz in New York City. On the back of their family wedding photo is this hand-written note by another Farkas relative, showing the birth and death dates of Alex's Papa, Mama, wife, and many of his siblings (plus his brother-in-law Ted Schwartz, my grandpa). Also shown is Alex's nephew's date of passing.

Tuesday's Tip: Gifting a DNA Test? Gift a Family Tree Chart Too!

My good friend suggested giving relatives a DNA test as a birthday gift. She did it for her children, their spouses, and the grandchildren. The recipients were fascinated. They even asked questions about ancestors! What a wonderful way to get the next generation interested in family history.

I took her suggestion and gifted a niece with a DNA test. To give her a headstart on figuring out which ancestors might have been responsible for which parts of her DNA, I also gave her a colorful family tree showing her mother's and father's lines, going back 3 generations. Sure, she can see our family tree on Ancestry. But for a quick peek, it's to easier to read the printed version.

When the results came in, she was excited about the surprises in her background--but the answers were too far back to be reflected on the family tree I printed for her. So my next recipient will get a DNA test, a family tree, and a pedigree chart (more than one, showing each side's pedigree as far back as I can document).

I downloaded the chart above for free from Misbach (there are more generations on the chart, too many to show here). By the way, I also keep pedigree charts in each of my main surname file folders so I can consult them without having to crank up my software or go online.

Here are a few sources for a number of free family tree charts, pedigree charts, and family group sheets.

• Misbach Enterprises (offers free downloadable .pdf charts and forms)
• Family Tree Magazine (offers free downloadable .pdf charts and forms)
• Ancestry (free downloadable .pdf charts and forms)
• Family Search (free downloadable .pdf charts and forms)

For a more complete list of sources, check Cyndi's List. Happy gifting!

Mystery Monday: Indexing Your Family's Records to Solve Mysteries

You finished indexing your grandfather's diary, your mother's letters, your grandmother's baby book. Now what?

In my previous post, I outlined how to index letters or other documents or books from your family's past. Before you file your index (a copy with the document you indexed and copies inside the files of the main surnames mentioned), mine it for clues to family mysteries. You’re not indexing simply for the sake of getting organized—the process is important for making progress on your genealogical research.

Here are five ways you can use an index to deepen your knowledge of family history and to solve family mysteries:

• Check dates against what you know. Does the index help you narrow down possible birth, marriage, death dates? Does it fill in the blanks on where ancestors were during key periods? Who is missing on key dates? During indexing, I noticed that a great-grandfather was suddenly absent from the documents after being mentioned year after year. That was a clue to his approximate death date, which I’d been unable to pinpoint.
•  Look at relationships. Does the index shed light on whether family members were estranged or close? Does it confirm relationships that you suspected? Who is present at family gatherings, and how often do they show up? One set of family meeting minutes I indexed showed how warmly a widowed in-law was welcomed, along with her second family. The same index reflected the rare attendance of an uncle whose marriage outside the faith was frowned upon.
• Look at occasions. Who’s visiting on holidays? Which holidays are celebrated? Are weddings, birthdays, funerals mentioned? Who’s giving gifts, who’s receiving gifts, where and when? One baby book I indexed gave me a clue that someone was more than a “family friend” because she gave a surprisingly valuable gift. Sure enough, she turned out to be the ex-spouse of a close relative.  
• Cross-reference the index against other items. Do you have photos of the people mentioned in the index during the period covered by the documents? See whether the index can help you identify mystery people in your photos or give you more context for when, where, and why the photos were taken.
• Verify details. If a diary mentions someone’s birth, marriage, or death, compare the dates with official documents. A century ago, official records weren’t always filed on time, so a birth date on the vital records form might be a day or a few days later than the actual birth. Maybe the index will point you to the actual date, or explain why the date differs from the official record. Also, names on Census forms weren’t always accurate, so check your index against what you see on the Census. Use the index to match nicknames with full given names on your tree. You might find a variation via the index that you can use to when you research that person.

Solving a mystery: My sister-in-law remembered a cousin Edith, quite a tall lady, attending her wedding. Now, years later, no one remembered Edith's last name or how she was related. When I indexed my late father-in-law's diaries, I found repeated mentions of Edith in the 1960s and 1970s. This led to a hunch about Edith's parents. 

Putting together clues from Census data, Cleveland directories, and my husband's and sister-in-law's memories, we solved the mystery and figured out where Edith fits on the family tree. Using the dates and approximate ages, we also identified her and her sister in the above photo with my father-in-law. Without the index, this mystery would have taken much longer to solve.

Tuesday's Tip: How to Index Your Family's Documents

Whether your relatives left you a small bundle of letters or 25 years' worth of diaries, you'll learn a lot about your ancestors by indexing what's in your family's documents. You'll also be able to tell your relatives details about their ancestors, by referring to your index. And you may uncover clues to family ties you weren't aware of!

Even a baby or wedding book can be indexed if it includes a family tree and/or names of people who visited or gave gifts. This has helped me trace more distant relatives, by the way.

My index for my father-in-law's 25 diaries (shown here) has a few headings. I use the "comments" column to add details referring back to particular documents, a way of reminding myself of the exact source:

Name (alphabetical by surname)
Relationship (as specific as possible)
Date (so you can sort by date, try year, month, day)

Place (again, be specific if possible)
Comments (details, context, significance; identifying the particular document)

Indexing is not difficult if you take it one step at a time. Remember: Life by the inch is a cinch--life by the yard is hard. So build your index little by little:

1. Organize the documents into chronological order. That way, you'll be able to follow along as the narrative mentions upcoming events or evolving relationships. I did this with letters to my mother during the time she was dating my father. It was exciting to read what led up to his proposal and their future plans!
2. Focus on one document at a time. Don't try to index everything at one sitting. Just pick one letter, one month of the diary, one of anything in your collection. Complete one, and if you feel like it, complete another. Keep your place so you can pick up the indexing when you have a few minutes. Use your index to summarize the most critical info from each document before moving on to another.
3. Identify the people and their relationships. Use a pad and pencil or, if you prefer, a spreadsheet or database. The first time you see a name mentioned, write it down in full and note the relationship, if you know it. Also jot down the date or some other way of going back to that document for the full reference. If you see a name mentioned repeatedly, note it even if you don't know the relationship. 
4. Compile your list of people, dates, and brief explanations for each. For instance, say the Wood diaries mention a second cousin named Mac McClure for the first time on May 3, 1963. The next time Mac McClure is mentioned is July 4, 1963. My entry in the diary index might read: McClure, Mac (second cousin to E. Wood?). Visit to Wood family in Cleveland on May 3, 1963. Call on July 4, 1963 about birth of Mac's baby Julie. If baby Julie is mentioned later, you can cross-reference by saying something like: McClure, Julie (daughter of Mac McClure).
5. Watch for groups of people and repeat appearances. Maybe a letter or diary mention of several people getting together is really a mention about a family occasion. If certain names pop up regularly, especially on significant dates (such as a birthday or a holiday), chances are they have some close connection to your family. It won't take long to determine who you should be following closely and who seems to be just a casual friend. 
6. Watch for disappearances and enigmatic mentions. Sometimes people are mentioned once and never again--did they move away, was there a quarrel, did they pass away, was there a divorce? This is the puzzle part of our genealogy research. Maybe someone else in the family will have some insight if you mention what you're trying to figure out.
7. Type up your index neatly, date it, and enclose it with the documents and with the main surnames mentioned. That will give you a handy reference when you're looking someone up and will also be available to anyone who takes care of your documents in the future. Return to update your index as you learn more about the relationships and who's who. Also note the "update date" so you can keep track of your most recent copy of the index. Colleen, in her comment below this post, suggests noting the location of the documents--an excellent idea!
8. Talk up your index! Tell your relatives what you've learned, and offer to copy for them a few relevant sections of the documents. Who doesn't want to know something new about their parents and grandparents, whether just a hint of personality or a particularly surprising anecdote?

One of the most maddening things in my father-in-law's diaries was when he would write something like: "B called with disturbing news." What was the news? I knew who B was (figured it out as I indexed his diaries). But what did B have to say? Ah, the mysteries of family histories.

PS: See my next post here for ideas about how to use the indexes to solve genealogical mysteries.

Fearless Females: Emma Jane McKibbin Shoup, Administratrix

Hubby's 3d cousin, 2x removed, was Emma Jane McKibbin Shoup, married to Russell B. Shoup. I'm researching the McKibbin line to trace the origins of Emma's grandfather, Alexander "Squire" McKibbin (1817-1888), who married Harriet Larimer (1819-1887), the first of several marriages I've seen between Larimer and McKibbin ancestors.

The wonderful folks at the Elkhart County Genealogical Society have been helping me, by sending me images of McKibbin documents from their records. Above, one page from the probate file for Emma's father, James Harvey McKibbin (1846-1914), hubby's 2d cousin, 3x removed (so says Ancestry). Below, James Harvey McKibbin's obituary. After reading it, I understood why James Harvey McKibbin and his son John McKibbin are living with James's daughter Emma and her husband Russell (and their baby), according to the 1900 Census.

Before Emma could serve as administratrix for her father's estate, she had to have her husband's permission, as shown above. [Reader, you can imagine how I felt seeing that!] She also had to post a $100 bond with the court, to be returned after probate was complete.

Emma and her brother, John Henry McKibbin, were the only heirs, and the father died without a will. Emma was supposed to liquidate her father's property and pay his debts before splitting the proceeds, 50-50, with her brother.

John, the father, owned lots #170 and 171 in "Wilden's Walnut Hill addition" in Goshen, Elkhart county, with an estimated value of $1,000. To liquidate the estate and share with her brother, Emma had to sell the lots.

Now here's something interesting: Emma filed paperwork with the probate court saying she tried to sell the property, but the only private buyer backed out, so she asked for a public auction. The court agreed and the result is that one bidder stepped forward and paid $1,040 for the real estate. The bidder? A gentleman named Russell B. Shoup, whose signature appears in the image above as his permission for his wife to be administratrix.

After paying court costs, funeral costs, legal costs, and so on, Emma and her brother split $826.95, mainly from the sale of the two lots to Emma's husband.

Sentimental Sunday: Cousins Send Easter Greetings in 1909

In April, 1909, teenaged Charles Francis Elton Wood (1891-1951), always called Elton by the family, sent this Easter postcard to his young first cousin, Wallis W. Wood (1905-1957).

On the back is Wallis's name (not spelled correctly, as usual) and his current address, in one of the many homes built by hubby's granddaddy, James Edgar Wood (1871-1939). The pencil notes at left are from a later generation, correcting the name of the recipient.

All of these greeting postcards I've posted were exchanged among descendants of Thomas Haskell Wood and Mary Amanda Demarest Wood. Thomas and Mary had 17 children. Aunts, uncles, and cousins were encouraged to write to each other to keep the family connections close. Whether in Toledo, Cleveland, Chicago, or beyond, it's impressive that the family stayed in touch!

Matriarchal Monday: Genealogy Go-Over Yields Old Photos (New to Me)

As part of my Genealogy Go-Over, my sis unearthed a batch of old photos that we didn't remember seeing before, from the 1920s-1950s! Imagine, family photos more than 90 years old and we just "rediscovered" them.

Above, the earliest known photo of my mother and her twin sister, with a date. Below, what was written on the back--finally, we know who's who. Now we can use this to ID the twins in other early photos.

Sepia Saturday: Tracing Steiner and Rinehart Roots Geographically

Hubby's 3d great-grandparents were probably the journey-takers who left Europe for what was then either the American colonies or the brand-new United States of America.

On the Steiner side, these were almost certainly the parents of Jacob S. Steiner, who was born just before or after 1802 in Pennsylvania and died between 1850 and 1860 in Crawford county, Ohio. Hubby's "Old Gentleman" granddaddy left notes about these ancestors, as shown above.

On the Rinehart side, the journey-takers were likely the parents of Joseph W. Rinehart, who was born in 1806 in Pennsylvania and died in 1888 in Nevada, Ohio.

So part of my quest is to reconcile family stories about where the Steiner and Rinehart families were originally from. The way hubby's father heard it, these ancestors were from Switzerland, but others in the family wondered whether Germany was the original homeland.

For context, I turned to the Family Tree Historical Maps Book--Europe, which shows maps and historical milestones from the 1700s to after WWII.

In 1736, Germany and Switzerland had different borders than they do today. Only by 1815 did Switzerland's borders settle into their current location. So it's very possible that the journey-taker ancestors left from an area in Germany during the late 1700s and by the time they told their story to descendants, that region had become part of Switzerland. Or vice versa!

To complicate the situation, the Family Search wiki warns that civil registration records for pre-1800 Switzerland are generally unavailable because they weren't required by law. Similarly, German civil registration records weren't required prior to 1792. And remember, these ancestors probably arrived in America around the time of the Revolution, give or take a decade, even before the first US census.

Bottom line: My best hope for tracing hubby's Steiner and Rhinehart roots is by finding these ancestors in Pennsylvania records (not an easy task, since I need given names and a town) and then looking for any clues there (field trip!).

Those Places Thursday: From Ireland with Love, Hubby's Ancestors

Happy St. Paddy's Day! Hubby has Irish (and Scots-Irish) ancestry that we can trace to the 17th century as they prepared for their journeys to America.

1. His 5th great-grandparents, Robert Larimer (1719-1803) and Mary Gallagher Larimer (1721-1803) were from the North of Ireland. Robert is the ancestor who was shipwrecked while enroute to the New World, and was brought to Pennsylvania to work off the cost of his rescue. Above, Robert Larimore's land grant for 200 acres in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, where he eventually owned 300 acres.
2. His 5th great-grandparents, William Smith (1724-1786) and Janet (1724?-1805), were from Limerick. Their first son born in America was Brice Smith (1756-1828), who later settled in Fairfield County, Ohio. The name Brice has come down through the family, but this is the first instance documented so far.
3. His 2nd great-grandparents, John Shehen (1801?-1875) and Mary (1801?-?) were born in "Ireland" (that's all the info they told UK Census officials in 1841). Their children were born in Marylebone, London during the 1830s. Daughter Mary Shehen married John Slatter Sr., they had a family in Oxfordshire, and he ultimately followed five of those children to North America in the late 1800s.
4. His 5th great-grandparents, Halbert McClure (1684-1754) and Agnes (1690-1750?) were born in County Donegal, but the McClure clan was originally from Isle of Skye in Scotland. The McClures were the journey-takers who sailed to Philadelphia and then walked, as a family, all the way to Virginia so they could buy fertile land in a sparsely settled area.

Tombstone Tuesday: The Old Gentleman's Family

A number of hubby's ancestors are buried in historic Old Mission Cemetery, Upper Sandusky, Ohio. One is his granddad, known affectionately as "the Old Gentleman," Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970).

The son of William Madison McClure and Margaret Jane Larimer McClure, Brice was a master machinist who worked on railroads. Some of his tools remain in the family.

Brice married Floyda Mabel Steiner (1878-1948) in June, 1903, and they were the parents of one daughter, Marian Jane McClure (1909-1983).

My genealogy research owes a lot to the Old Gentleman, because he wrote down details about his parents, siblings, and grandparents.

Thankfully, his daughter saved these scraps of paper and they proved to be valuable in tracing the family tree.

Those Places Thursday: Ungvar's Changing National Borders

My family gifted me with a wonderful reference book for anyone with European ancestry: The Family Tree Historical Maps Book, Europe.

Magnifying glass in hand, I used it to trace the changing national borders surrounding UNGVAR, the hometown of my Grandpa Teddy Schwartz (1887-1965).

Ungvar wasn't always spelled that way on the maps, and today it is known by an entirely different name bestowed upon it by the Russians after WWII. Knowing the names and location on the maps helps me plan my research!

To locate Ungvar, I simply looked for the Carpathian Mountains, and checked cities just south of it along the river Ung. Ungvar was a market town and therefore was always visible on the maps.

Here's what I learned from the book about Ungvar's changing national borders:

1836: Unghvar is part of the Austrian Empire, in the northeast of Hungary, not too far from Galicia (which is over the Carpathian Mountains).

1856: Unghoar is in the northeast of Hungary, part of Austria.

1873: Unghvar is within the borders of Hungary, part of Austria.

1891: Unghvar is within the borders of Hungary, part of Austria-Hungary.

1901: Unghvar is within the borders of Hungary. 

1925: Ungvar is within the borders of Czechoslovakia.

1948: Uzhgorod is renamed (from previous name of Ungvar) by Russians and moved to USSR map.

TODAY: Uzhhorod (Uzhgorod/Uzhorod) is in Ukraine.

Sunday Statistics

Feeling good about my contributions to Find-A-Grave over the past nearly four years. I still have 25-30 more photos to add from my most recent cemetery visit.

Of course there are still dozens of my own ancestors to link together as parents/children or spouses on Find-A-Grave, so that future generations will see the relationships at a glance. I've started this process but won't be finished for some time.

Matrilineal Monday: Another Twin Birthday

Happy birthday to sis and me! Here we are, on the lap of our grandma Minnie, reading the funny papers.

And here's a photo of our mother and her twin sister, taken at about the same age.

Surname Saturday: Another Shuham Connection?

Today I received my paternal grandpa Isaac Burk's Soc Sec application, shown above. Since he was a carpenter, and usually self-employed, I was surprised to see him say he was working for the Better Model Form Company. Then again, since the company was owned by a relative, it's not really that surprising.

The real surprise was seeing that Isaac's mother's full name was Neche Gelle Shuham.

Why is this surprising? Because Shuham is the surname of Isaac's grandma-in-law.

Isaac married Henrietta Mahler, granddaughter of Rachel Shuham, in 1906. Rachel was born in Lithuania and came to New York City with her son and daughter and grandchildren in 1886. Above, the Mahler family around the turn of the century, with matriarch Rachel sitting in the center, holding a granddaughter.

According to the NYC census of 1905, Isaac and his brother Meyer Burk were "boarders" in the NYC apartment of the Mahler family, which is how Isaac met his future bride, Henrietta. Or so I suspected. Now I wonder whether it was actually a cousin connection that brought them together.

In the 1901 UK census, Isaac and his brother Abraham were living with Isaac Chazan and Isaac's wife, Hinda Ann Mitav Chazan, in Manchester. The census-taker wrote that Isaac and Abraham were nephews of the head of the household. Whose nephews? No sign of them in the Chazan family. I thought possibly they were Hinda's nephews, but maybe not, if Isaac's mother's maiden name was Shuham.

More research is in my future. And more Social Security applications for ancestors!

Valentine's Day Greetings from 1912

Rachel Ellen "Nellie" Wood Lervis Kirby (1864-1954) sent this sentimental valentine postcard to her nephew, Wallis W. Wood (1905-1957), mailing it 104 years ago today, as the postmark indicates.

Little Wally was just 7 years old at the time, living in Cleveland in one of the many homes built by his father, James Edgar Wood (1871-1939). Nellie lived in Chicago with her second husband, a barber. They often kept in touch with their many nieces and nephews via postcards for holidays and birthdays.