The Rinehart Brick Wall on Hubby's Tree

 

One big brick wall is going further back on my husband's family tree beyond great-great-grandfather Joseph Rinehart (1806-1888), who was born in Pennsylvania.

 By 1850, he is farming in Crawford County, Ohio, shown in the U.S. Census (above) with his wife Margaret Shank Rinehart (1807-1873) and their children. We know who they are--they were named by my husband's grandfather as ancestors, and the paper trail of genealogical evidence confirms this.

Looking at the household on this Census page, the final name listed is "Elizabeth Rinehart," age 76, born in PA. 

Is Elizabeth my husband's 3d great-grandma?

My working hypothesis (not a great leap) is that Elizabeth is Joseph's mother, living with him after being widowed. There is an Elizabeth Rinehart buried in Oceola #2 Cemetery, Crawford County, Ohio (where others from the same family are buried). She died on June 15, 1850, at the age of 74 years (and some months/days). 

Knowing that ages recorded in the Census aren't always accurate, and knowing how many other descendants are buried in this same cemetery, I'm strongly leaning toward accepting Elizabeth as Joseph's mother--making her my hubby's great-great-great grandmother. As of now, I have no clue about the name or dates for hubby's great-great-great grandfather, who left Elizabeth widowed.

Did Elizabeth die before being listed in the Census?

Note that the 1850 U.S. Census was taken "as of" June 1. However, the actual date on the excerpt above is November 5. Yet the Elizabeth in the local cemetery died in mid-June. Did the Census enumerator include her in Joseph's household anyway, because she was alive as of June 1? As wonderful reader Linda correctly notes, the enumerator was supposed to include her even if she died after June 1. Or is it possible that these two Elizabeth Rineharts are different people?

The Elizabeth in the Oceola Cemetery died on June 15, which means she will not be included in the Census Mortality Schedule covering the year June 1, 1849-May 31, 1850. 

Despite contacting the local historical society and the local town clerk, I was unable to locate any death certificate from Crawford County, Ohio to get more information about Elizabeth. No local news reports, no compiled obits. I doubt she had a will. It's more likely that her late husband left any property or valuables to their children.

In another attempt to pierce this brick wall, I'm going down the list of possible data sources in the Family Search wiki page for Crawford County, hoping to spot something I haven't yet searched or browsed.

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"Brick wall" is this week's prompt for the #52Ancestors challenge!

My 1950 U.S. Census Release To-Do List: From Address to ED

To be ready for the release of the 1950 U.S. Census next April, I'm listing ancestors of special interest and indicating their 1940 and 1950 addresses (guessing if necessary). 

The goal is to be able to browse images and locate these ancestors in the unindexed Census records that will be made public in April of 2022. To do this, I have to turn the 1950 address into an Enumeration District (ED). Then I'll only need to click through the images of that one ED to look for each ancestor or family.

Using the Unified Census ED Finder

Luckily, Stephen Morse and Joel Weintraub have an extremely powerful tool to transform an address into an ED. They call it a Unified Census ED Finder. You can find it on SteveMorse.org. 

Be sure you set the ED Finder to 1950, as shown in the screen shot at top. I've entered "1933 Marmion Ave" in the Bronx, New York, as my ancestor's address. However, that street appears in a number of Enumeration Districts. To narrow down my search, I need to look at a map and name other streets that are in back of or that cross with Marmion. Not crossing any streets, just on the same city block.

Looking at the Bronx map above, Elsmere Place is at the corner of this apartment building. When I select "Elsmere Pl" from the handy drop-down menu of "cross or back street on same city block" I see the number of EDs reduced to only four.

Keep adding cross or back streets

Next, looking at the map, I select "Tremont Ave" from the drop-down menu because that's the street at the other end of this city block. This reduces the number of EDs to only two. That's still too many EDs to easily browse. 

Again I add another back street from the drop-down menu, after consulting the map once more. This time, I choose the street at the very back of this same city block, which is "Prospect Ave." 

At this point, I only have a single ED listed, as shown above. To double-check, I can select the "Streets in the 1950 ED" button and click "More details." 

This takes me to a summary showing the ED and the description of the streets it includes. Note that this is a single city block. Not across any boulevards, avenues, streets, or places--just one big city block. For a city address, it's a fairly easy process to determine the proper ED, because the boundaries are easily ascertained by looking at a map.**

Put the ED on your list

My final step is to write the ED on my list. Here's an excerpt of my current listing. The two ancestors who lived on Marmion Avenue should both be in ED 3-798, as listed here. I've also found other EDs for ancestors on this list. Note that I also decided to alphabetize my ancestors by surname, so I can sort that way if I choose. And I can sort by "1950 ED" in order to group all ancestors who live in one ED together for more efficient browsing when the images are released next year.

Try the Unified Census ED Finder and once you see how it works, you'll be ready to work your way down the list of ancestors little by little. 

Remember to read the "Getting Ready for the 1950 Census" introduction on Steve Morse's site. He steps through the ED Finder process using Donald Duck's address. Really! Worth a look.

Also see my summary page of 1950 US Census tips and techniques here.

** Reader Amanda has an important reminder: "Be sure to check to see if the area you are looking in has had any house renumberings or street name changes. For example, Chicago renumbered many of its houses in 1909, and there's a list of street name changes available through 1948 (although the dates of each change are not noted). Portland, Oregon, renumbered most of its streets 1931-33, and changed directionals (NW, NE, etc.) on many as well. These changes will be important to know about when using modern-day maps to find cross and back streets when using the Unified Census ED Finder."

This is also my January 2022 post for The Genealogy Blog Party!

My 1950 U.S. Census Release To-Do List: Find Addresses

When the 1950 U.S. Census is released to the public on April 1, 2022, I want to be ready to find ancestors of special interest. I'm creating a list of priority ancestors and filling in their 1940 address/Enumeration District (ED) and then their 1950 address (see my previous post here). With an exact address, I can find the 1950 ED. This will enable me to browse images before the Census is indexed.

Sources for 1950 addresses

There are many possible sources for finding an ancestor's 1950 address, as shown in the above graphic. You may not find an address for that exact year, but one close to that year is a good starting point.

Today I'm on the trail of a 1950 address for my husband's maternal grandfather, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970).

Spoiler alert: I don't yet have the address. But I can share the steps I took to try locating Brice in the years surrounding 1950. And I may be successful in the end!

Where was this ancestor in the 1940s?

I know where Brice Larimer McClure was living during and after World War II. The last "known sighting" of an actual address is in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where he and his wife Floyda Steiner McClure were living at the time of her death on November 2, 1948.

Family story: Not long after his wife died, Brice moved to Willoughby, Ohio and then later, around 1953, he moved to Cleveland to be closer to family.

My search plan for an exact address

I began with a "from scratch" search on all the major genealogy websites, entering Brice's information and specifying residence in Willoughby, Ohio, in the years 1949-1953. That didn't work.

Records show Brice's Social Security card was issued "prior to 1951." Actually, it was just after World War II, when he intended to retire and collect (which he did). Unlikely I will find a Willoughby address on that application (and it takes time and money to get this document). 

Moving on, the Willoughby-area newspapers were either too old, too new, or not very local for my purposes. 

Looking for a house purchase/sale would take time, digging into deeds, land records, etc. I set this aside for now.

Other non-official potential sources I tried, as suggested by Joel Weintraub on his super- detailed, info-rich page about the 1950 Census were: photographs (nope); address book (not that far back); diaries (none that far back).

Check the directories!

High on my list and on Joel's list were--directories! After a few false starts, I checked the local library in Willoughby. The website has a convenient "chat with a librarian" feature (see my screen capture at top).

I typed in a succinct chat question. Within a few minutes, the librarian typed back that directories from the 1950s era are most likely at the Willoughby Historical Society. She provided contact info, and I wrote an email, requesting a lookup when convenient. My husband remembers Brice having a home phone in Willoughby, so he should be listed in either the phone directory or the city directory.

Update: Librarian found no listing in the directory. 

-- For more about the 1950 Census, see my page here.

My 1950 U.S. Census Release To-Do List: Who and Where

With the public release of the 1950 U.S. Census records less than a year away, I'm prepping to be ready for April 1, 2022. 

That mid-century Census will not be transcribed or indexed when first released. I won't be able to simply type a name into the search box and magically find my screen filled with the correct 1950 Census page. Not until the Census is indexed and transcribed, which will be months after the release date. 

In the early weeks, I'll be browsing lots and lots of handwritten pages to try to spot the people I want to find. 

From my experience following a similar process when the 1940 Census was released, I know some browsing may involve only a few pages per person. Of course, some ancestors will be found on the final page of a large district, or spread across two districts. I have to be ready for any of these possibilities.

Which ancestors do I want to find?

My first step is to list the ancestors I want to find in the 1950 Census, surname first. Setting my priorities, I'm listing my closest ancestors on each side, followed by more distant ancestors. I didn't note relationships, but I may refine my table to indicate that later on. 

As shown in the sample at top, I created a table in a Word document so that I can sort by surname, sort by 1940 location, sort by 1950 location, etc. I've left space for the 1950 Enumeration District (known as an ED, more about this in a later post). 

Sorting is important because I might find, after listing dozens of ancestors, that two or three or more live in the same ED. For more efficient browsing, I'd want to group those together. 

In this sample, I entered the names (no maiden names) of three members of my father's Mahler family. I also noted any name variations I found in the 1940 Census, as a reminder about creative spelling by enumerators. 

Where were ancestors in 1950?

The next very important step is to note where my ancestors were living in 1950. In the case of my great aunt Dora Mahler, I can be pretty confident about her address in April of 1950 because she was at that address when she died in June of 1950. She had a chronic illness and had lived with her mother for years, which is why I listed my great-grandma Tillie Jacobs Mahler at the same address in 1950. 

My grandmother Henrietta Mahler was living at 3044 Valentine Avenue in the Bronx, NY when her husband Isaac Burk died in 1943. Tentatively, I've listed that as her address in 1950, along with another possible address: the apartment building where her son and daughter lived in 1950. Maybe she was living in the same building by 1950?

I'll have more to say about ways to find 1950 addresses in my next post!

Easter Postcards from Family History

In the early 1900s, my husband's Wood ancestors exchanged postal greeting cards to stay in touch across the miles. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends wrote cards for birthdays, Easter, Christmas, New Year's, and other special events. 

The cards flew through the mail to and from Cleveland, Ohio plus Toledo, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. Writing on the back helped me track movement of family members from one address to another, as well as giving clues to relationships, both in the family and in the FAN club (friends, associates, neighbors).

For Easter, let me share four of the still-colorful cards that have survived in great shape within the Wood family for more than a century!

One Year from Today: 1950 US Census Release!

Just a year from today, on April 1, 2022, the 1950 U.S. Census will be released! 

Are you ready?

Understand what enumerators were told to ask and how they were told to write down answers by looking at the "Urban & Rural Enumerator's Reference Manual" for the 1950 Census. You can access a free copy online through this link.

For more background about the U.S. Census, you can download a free copy of  "Measuring America" from this link.

Initially, no index or transcriptions will be available. Many groups are gearing up to tackle that monumental effort. So on the first day, you will be able to look for ancestors only by browsing images of the population schedule of the enumeration district (ED) where they lived.

For more details on how to prepare for the 1950 Census release, read the "Getting Ready" Steve Morse 1-Step page. And don't miss a single one of Joel Weintraub's informative, step-by-step videos here.

Also please look at my 1950 Census blog posts, which focus on issues such as how enumerators were told to record answers to the question "where were you born?" and other unique quirks of this mid-century Census.

One year from today, I'll be glued to my computer screen, diving into the first Census where my parents were enumerated as a married couple! Who will you be looking for?

Honoring Ancestors on Ellis Island

My great-grandparents, Moritz Farkas and Leni Kunstler Farkas, came to America from Hungary at the turn of the 20th century. Both entered through Ellis Island. 

All four of my grandparents were immigrants. Three came through Ellis Island and one sailed from England to Canada and then crossed into the United States. All made the difficult decision to leave everything they knew and forge a new life in a land they'd never seen.

A Memorable Visit to See Ancestral Name

Nearly 25 years ago, Sis and I joined several cousins on a visit to Ellis Island. We knew that one of our cousins had donated to have "The Moritz Farkas Family" inscribed on an early part of the Wall of Honor erected at Ellis Island, as a monument to immigrants.

It was emotional to see the family name on the wall and think about these ancestors' hopes, dreams, and realities. It felt wonderful knowing these ancestors were memorialized in a place so important to the arc of their lives (and ours). And that we could visit this memorial, which will stand for many years!

Ellis Island Wall of Honor

Late in 2019, Sis and I decided to honor our four immigrant grandparents by donating to have their names inscribed on the Wall of Honor. We memorialized the married couple of Theodore and Hermina Farkas Schwartz (as shown above) and the married couple of Isaac and Henrietta Mahler Burk. 

Their names were added to the wall last year! Although we haven't yet had an opportunity to visit Ellis Island, a website search of the Wall of Honor shows who they are, where they came from, and who made the donation.

We are delighted to have this tangible, enduring memorial to the courage and determination of our immigrant ancestors, the journey-takers who made our lives possible. 

Family Stories of Loss in Printed Genealogy Book

My husband's family tree, like all family trees, includes many stories of happiness and heartache, luck and loss. We are fortunate that a descendant of his LARIMER patriarch recorded lots of these stories in a printed (now digitized) genealogy book, Larimer Family, 1740-1959. 

The author, John C. Work, and his father, Aaron C. Work, were (like my husband) descended from Robert Larimer, born in the North of Ireland and shipwrecked en route to America about 1740. Father and son contacted dozens of descendants over the years, and then wrote down what they were told, in as much detail as was available at the time.

Let me share just a few snippets of family loss recorded in this Larimer genealogy book, with the intent of keeping alive the memory of these long-ago ancestors:

Loss at an early age

Lucy E. Short died in 1858 before the age of 2. Her brother, Frank B. Short, died at age 32. William Larimer died in 1849 of cholera, age 30. His brother Isaac died of consumption in 1858. Jennie Landon Short died of heart disease, age 36, leaving a son. Eleanor Larimer Haglind died at age 37, leaving three young children. Many other infant deaths were recorded, most by name but some, sadly, were noted only as "child died in infancy."

Loss due to accident

Harvey J. Larimer died when he was hit by a board kiln. James Larimer died when he hit his head on frozen ground after being thrown from his horse. Amos Larimer and his family built a boat to sail from California to Oregon in the 1870s, but they never arrived and were never heard from again. Frank A. Evans lost his life in a streetcar accident, circa 1927. William Poyser died after being struck by a falling tree. John Larimer died after being infected by a deer bone splinter in 1843. 

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This is my "loss" post for Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge.

New England Regional Genealogy Conference, April 1 - May 31

Coming soon: the all-virtual New England Regional Genealogy Conference, which combines both live and on demand (prerecorded) presentations for family historians of all levels. 

If you're researching ancestors from New England (or beyond), this is a great conference to learn a variety of effective strategies and techniques. Dozens of sessions will be available for viewing at any time, from home in your bunny slippers, from April 1 until May 31. No cost for travel, hotel, restaurants, just one conference fee of $150 to view these info-packed, on-demand sessions at your own pace. 

Opening day on April 1 is the first of three "gathering days" featuring top-notch presentations and live chats/Q&A with superstar speakers like Dear Myrtle. Don't miss that evening's "banquet speaker," well-known genealogy mystery author Nathan Dylan Goodwin. 

For special interests, the NERGC conference provides three add-on tracks: DNA, writing your family history, and a professional track about working toward genealogy certification. Each track is $30 for a full day of 4 presentations and live Q&A with speakers. (I'm debuting my "bite-sized projects" talk during the writing track on April 24.)

NERGC has even figured out a way to offer informal "table topics" discussions hosted by members of the NEAPG in a live, virtual format. The popular society fair "tables" and library/archive "tables" will also be there, virtually. Registered attendees can make an appointment for the Ancestor Road Show (help with genealogy questions and brick walls), another special feature of this conference.

Plus you can browse the exhibit hall or have a "virtual drop in" visit with companies that sell all kinds of genealogy-related products. 

I'll miss seeing my genealogy buddies in person, but this virtual conference is the next best thing. Hope to see you in April and May!

Paying to Check Out Clues Takes Me Back A Generation

Over the years, I've gotten some intriguing clues from researchers who are investigating people in my ancestors' FAN club (friends, associates, and neighbors). Of course, sometimes it pays to actually pay for documents if I want to go beyond the clue stage.

FAN club: sailing to America together

This week, I heard from a lovely researcher whose female ancestor sailed across the Atlantic with a distant Farkas female ancestor of mine in 1914. They not only were listed one after another on the manifest, their U.S. destination was the same: they were going to Herman Weiss in New York City. Herman's wife, Ida Farkas Weiss, was my 1c3r, I knew from previous documented research. 

In further investigating the FAN club connection (Farkas-Weiss-Schwartz and more), this researcher found interesting clues in transcriptions on the Sub-Carpathia Genealogy website, devoted to Jewish genealogy in the region shown on the map above. Her finds put the site at the top of my research priorities for learning more about my Schwartz family from Ungvar, Hungary (now Uzhhorod, Ukraine).

Revisit old sources and be willing to pay

In the past, I have searched the Sub-Carpathia site, but not for several years. I should have revisited before this. Many more records have been transcribed and posted. Yesterday and today I spent hours searching the site, jam-packed with birth/marriage/death documents, gravestone photos/transcriptions, and other useful resources for researching Jewish ancestors! It includes extremely helpful and detailed suggestions for exactly how to search and what spelling variations may be found in the records from this region. 

Full original scans are available for a modest fee, and the info was so compelling that I opened my wallet to see the originals. Actually, I've already spent a small fortune buying excellent scans of various documents that mention my Schwartz family and intermarried ancestors. It's an investment that has truly paid off.

To my amazement and joy, the site has taken me a full generation back on the Schwartz side in Ungvar, and maybe even another generation back before that. 

Keep traditions in mind

The Ashkenazi Jewish tradition is to name babies after relatives who are deceased, not after the living. Also, the tradition is to inscribe the gravestone of someone who has died with "son [or daughter] of ___[insert father's first name]___". Knowing the father's name, from the gravestone, takes the line one more generation back.

I was thrilled when I found the gravestone photo of my paternal great-grandmother Hani Simonowitz Schwartz, who died on April 25, 1933 (documented date and name, awaiting death record itself). The inscription says she was the daughter of Nisen. So one of my great-great-grandfathers was Nisen Simonowitz! -- CORRECTION: Stone doesn't match original death record I received after writing this. SO according to written death record, great-great-grandpa's name was Shmuel Simonowitz. 

Another gasp when I saw the gravestone of my paternal great-grandfather Herman (Yehuda) Schwartz, who died on January 21, 1921 (documented date and details, confirmed by written original record). The inscription says he was the son of Moshe. This means I've found another one of my great-great-grandfathers, Moshe Schwartz. 

But wait, there's more: I visited JewishGen.org for more research. In the same area of the Ungvar cemetery, according to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry, is a Moshe Schvarcz, who died in August of 1880. According to the transcription (no photo), Moshe's father's name is Yehuda Schvarcz. 

Combine personal knowledge with new info

In my Schwartz family, the naming pattern looks like this, based on the new info and what I know from relatives:

• Yehuda in the early 1800s had a son named Moshe
• Moshe in the mid-1800s had a son named Yehuda
• Yehuda in the late 1800s had a son named Tivador (my grandfather--he had brothers, but I don't know all their names yet--not found a Yehuda at this point)
• Tivador in the early 1900s had a son named Yehuda
• Yehuda in mid-1900s had a son whose middle name is Moshe. 

All of which supports (but doesn't quite prove) my theory that Yehuda Schvarcz is likely my 3d great-grandfather. Further research is in my future, and I'll open my wallet if needed.

--

"Fortune" is the theme for this week's #52Ancestors challenge. Despite spending a small fortune on these ancestors who lived and died many generations ago, I consider it a worthwhile investment!

Remembering Hubby's Emerald Isle Ancestors

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My wonderful husband has a number of ancestors born on the Emerald Isle. And of course I've been keeping their memory alive by reminding descendants every year on March 17th. Let me introduce you to:

• William Smith and his wife, Jean, both immigrants from Limerick, were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. Their son Brice Smith (1756-1828) was an “Ohio fever” pioneer, leaving his birthplace in Pennsylvania to settle the forested frontier of Ohio.
• Robert Larimer and his wife, Mary O’Gallagher, both from the North of Ireland, were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. Robert was shipwrecked sailing to America, worked off the cost of his rescue, ran away, married Mary, and farmed in Pennsylvania until they died about 1803. Their descendants were pioneers in Ohio and Indiana.
• John Shehen and his wife, Mary, from somewhere in Ireland, were hubby's 2d great-grandparents. They were born early in the 1800s in Ireland but had moved to London by the 1830s. Their daughter Mary Shehen married John Slatter in London in 1859. Her youngest daughter (Mary Slatter, 1869-1925) left London for Ohio, married James Edgar Wood and was a loving mother until her unexpected death from heart problems.
• Halbert McClure and his wife, Agnes, were born in County Donegal, Ireland, although the McClure family is originally from Isle of Skye. They were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. In the 1740s, this family sailed as a group to Philadelphia, walked to Virginia, and bought farmland. Their descendants became early pioneers in Indiana and other states.

Erin Go Bragh!

Genealogy Clues on Find a Grave

Find a Grave can be a very rich source of genealogy clues! I'm continuing my project of posting brief bios of ancestors online, to keep their memories alive. (This is a way to repurpose content from bite-sized family history projects, my talk for the New England Regional Genealogy Conference in April!)

Having written a few paragraphs about Arthur Albert Slatter (1887-1917), my husband's 1c1r who, sadly, was killed in action during WWI, I set out to repurpose it on multiple websites, including Find My Past, Fold3, Family Search, and Find a Grave.

Linked family members = clues

I've visited cousin Arthur's Find a Grave memorial page in the past. The page was originally created by a group focused on war graves, with photos of the Arras Memorial by another dedicated volunteer. 

To post a bio on a memorial I don't manage, I use the "suggest edits" function, and type (or paste) in a few sentences or even a few paragraphs. If I manage the memorial, it's easy to post the bio with a click.

In the process, I also look at any linked family members related to the person on the memorial page. Here, checking the links to Arthur Albert Slatter, I recognized the name and photo of his father (Henry Arthur Slatter, 1866-1942). I posted Henry's photo myself a while back. 

See image of Arthur's memorial page at top, where I've circled Arthur's parents' names? Alice is shown with a maiden name. A clue for me to check out! Of course, everything is a clue until confirmed.

"Alice Good, widow" 

I had previously noted, from Henry Arthur Slatter's military records, that he married widow Alice Good in 1887 (document excerpt at right). But until now, I haven't actively looked for Alice's maiden name. 

Alice's Find a Grave memorial offered me the clue I needed to investigate further. Using Ancestry, I quickly located Alice's 1882 marriage (to Harry Thomas Good) and added not only her first husband and her maiden name but also the name of her father to my Slatter family tree.

Then I inserted Alice's maiden name into my bio of her oldest son and submitted the request to the manager of Arthur Albert Slatter's memorial page, asking that the bio be posted. It's already up on Family Search, Find My Past, and Fold3, to help future generations know something of his name, his service, and his sacrifice.

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"Genealogy clues and cousin bait on Find a Grave" is the title of one of my most popular presentations. Links between relatives with Find a Grave memorials can be  wonderful clues to family history -- and excellent cousin bait as well! 

The Good, the Sad, the Ugly: Genealogy Programs During the Pandemic

One year ago, officials declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic. During this week in 2020, I planned to be in the audience at two local genealogy club meetings and was scheduled to be the presenter at a third local club. The first two meetings took place before authorities announced shutdowns, but few people attended, due to growing health concerns. My presentation was postponed for a month until virtual arrangements were made. Who knew this was the start of at least 12 months of virtual genealogy learning?

By now, I've become accustomed to participating in and presenting to genealogy meetings from the comfort of my home office. Here are my thoughts on the good, the sad, and the ugly of genealogy programs during the pandemic.

The Good: Endless Opportunities for Genealogy Education

Being an early member of the Virtual Genealogical Association, the idea of watching (and presenting) webinars nothing new. But during most of 2020, it was possible to watch one or more interesting online talks nearly every day, with no time or money spent on travel. A bonanza!

Last month's global, high-profile RootsTechConnect conference was a standout. Even now, weeks after the official end, I'm still working my way through a long playlist of recorded talks by experts worldwide. Just as important, I'm downloading and saving those informative handouts, for future reference. 

All kinds of national and regional conferences switched from in-person to virtual, opening the door to additional learning experiences while sitting at home in bunny slippers. At first, I wasn't sure about paying full freight for virtual conference fees. Then I realized how much I was saving on travel, hotel, and restaurant expenses. Even better, I could attend EVERY talk, rather than having to pick and choose among concurrent sessions. This is a major benefit of virtual genealogy programs.

On a local level, libraries and genealogy clubs have added more family history talks to their schedules and welcome participants from everywhere. Most of these programs have been free and others cost only a few dollars--a bargain, and very convenient, too.

The Sad: Limited Networking Opportunities

What I miss the most: special interest group breakfasts, fun lunches and dinners with pals from genealogy and blogging, and chats with those seated nearby during genealogy talks. So many fascinating conversations, sometimes family-tree discoveries, but most of all, I miss getting to know people in person. It's sad not to do be able to do this as we did in the past.

Some genealogy groups have addressed this by providing social time before and after a virtual presentation, or with breakout rooms, or with chat discussions. All are fun, and allow for interaction beyond being in the audience. Still, I am really looking forward to seeing genealogy folks in person again.

And of course I'm looking forward to doing research in person, visiting libraries or historical societies or archives or courthouses in search of genealogical info. Clicking for resources works well but not everything is online.

The Ugly: Learn Those Video and Mic Controls, Please!

The ugliest moments of genealogy programs during the pandemic have been, in my view, when technology won't work and audience members fumble with technology.

Late in February, an Internet outage hit while I was recording my presentation for the 2021 all-virtual New England Regional Genealogy Conference. I was 30 minutes into a 45-minute talk. Even though I could do nothing about the outage, I felt bad wasting the time of the lovely folks recording the talk and lovely folks in the audience. 

While nobody can control ugly technology problems like outages, audience members can get to know tech better and avoid disrupting the program. You've heard dogs barking and phones ringing in the background when you're in a virtual meeting? Or seen people doing personal grooming (or pet grooming) on the screen during a speaker's talk? Maybe you've noticed an audience member fumbling around, muttering out loud, while trying to figure out the controls even as the speaker tries to continue with the presentation? 

Please be a good audience member and learn those controls in advance. Don't just rely on the program host to mute everyone or make the request to mute. During a virtual presentation, kindly turn off your own video and mic to avoid distractions. It saves bandwidth and it's a much-appreciated courtesy to other attendees and to the speaker. On behalf of virtual attendees everywhere, I thank you!

Bite-sized Project: A Special Place in Family History

I enjoy bite-sized family history projects because I can research and produce them in a short time--and younger relatives (my audience) clearly like the short takes more than the lengthier projects. 

The key is limiting the focus, rather than trying to create a massive project about the entire family tree. Typically, I focus on one ancestor, one couple, one surname/family, or one special photo/occasion/heirloom. But there are other ways to limit the focus for a bite-sized project.

Focus on one special place

When I recorded my new talk about bite-sized projects for the NERGC 2021 Conference* last week, Carolyn (one of the wonderful audience members) asked about focusing on an ancestral hometown. I told her I love that idea and I'm stealing it! Um, I mean adapting it ;) Another genealogy buddy calls this a #Genealogy travelogue!

A bite-sized project about a special place in family history could be about:

• where an ancestor was born, lived, married, or died
• where an ancestor operated a business or traveled on business
• where an ancestor worshipped
• where an ancestor vacationed or visited
• where something of importance (good or bad) took place that affected an ancestor's life

A paragraph or two to place my ancestor in context

An example is a bite-sized page I want to write about Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Before the Soviet era, this bustling market center was known as Ungvar, Hungary. It was the home town of my maternal grandfather, Theodore Schwartz (1887-1965).

I've done a bit of research into Ungvar's past, when he was a boy and after he left but family remained behind. Also I have a key Census (including street and house number) from when borders were redrawn and the city was part of Czechoslovakia--a Census that includes five Schwartz family members! I have almost enough content for a couple of paragraphs (or a brief video) that will put my grandpa's home town into context, as an element of family history.

For visual interest, I can include a map like the one at top, from a Creative Commons source. No copyright issues as long as I include attribution (https://mapcarta.com/Uzhhorod). I know how images can catch the eye of the audience. 

*I'll be demonstrating the process in detail during my upcoming talk, "Bring Family History Alive in Bite-Sized Projects," at the all-virtual New England Regional Genealogical Conference in April.

Enhancing, Colorizing, Animating Tillie and Leni for International Women's Day

Today is #InternationalWomensDay, a good day to honor the memories of two immigrant ancestors in my family tree by focusing on bringing their faces to life using My Heritage's amazing photo/animation tools.

Possibly I'm one of the last genealogy fans on the planet to finally try My Heritage's "Deep Nostalgia" animation tool. I also enhanced and colorized their photos with My Heritage's wonderful photo tools. 

Great-Grandma Tillie Rose Jacobs Mahler (1852?-1952)

Tillie was my father's Lithuanian-born grandmother, who came to New York City in 1886. She was widowed in her late 50s, with 7 of her 10 children still living after the death of her husband Meyer Elias Mahler (1861-1910). Tillie made her home with one or more of her grown children after being widowed, and died at the age of either 99 or 100 (no one was ever quite sure).

Above is her picture. I used My Heritage's automated tools to enhance (sharpening facial features) and colorize (more lifelike, although I don't know how accurate the result actually is). 

Great-Grandma Leni Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938)

Leni was my mother's Hungarian-born grandmother who came to New York City in 1900, a year after her husband. Soon afterward, they sent for their children to join them and all were settled in New York by 1903. Leni, who ruled the household finances with a firm hand, outlived her husband Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) by only two years. 

The enhancement and colorization brings Leni's face to life for me and other descendants who never had the opportunity to meet our great-grandma.