Friday, March 18, 2022

Save March 26-27 for History for Ukraine


Want to support Ukraine relief efforts AND learn from well-known history and genealogy experts?

Get ready for History for Ukraine, the star-studded live marathon of talks assembled by Nathalie Pithers and a team of volunteers, taking place March 26-27!

Here are some of the speakers already confirmed to participate: 

  • Josh Taylor, President of the New York Genealogy and Biography Society
  • Judy Russell, "The Legal Genealogist"
  • Amy Johnson Crow, Host of Generations Cafe podcast and #52Ancestors originator
  • Earl Charles Spencer, best-selling history author and founder of Althorp Literary Festival
  • Dr Janina Ramirez, BBC documentary maker, author, and President of the Gloucester History Festival
  • Dr Wanda Wyporska, head of the Society of Genealogists
More speakers will be announced shortly. A few days ago, Family Tree Magazine conducted an interview with Nathalie Pithers. In her words, "History for Ukraine is a combination of Live Aid and Red Nose Day, but for history!"

Although this special event is entirely free, donations will be gratefully accepted! (In fact, donations can be made in advance if you wish.)

All proceeds go to DEC Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal which is administered by the British Red Cross.

Please mark your calendars! See you at History for Ukraine on March 26-27.

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

New, Free New York City Vital Records!

Anyone with ancestors who were born, married, or died in New York City from 1855 through 1949 can now search the New York City Municipal Archives site and view more than 9 million document images, at no charge. This action wasn't directly due to any specific lawsuit by the nonprofit Reclaim the Records, although it has sued the agency four times to get public images made public. This particular release of documents is a project that New York City has been working on for years, and now the results are being made available for free

As shown in the image above, note that these images are for vital records only from 1855 through 1949. Also, not all images have yet been scanned, but the majority are available to be found via search or browsing.

Search by cert number

NYC recommends searching by certificate number, borough, and year for the best results. You can find a cert number in a number of ways. There are indexes on Ancestry, Family Search, and other sites, but usually I use the databases at ItalianGen.org - also free, thanks to the efforts of many incredible volunteers. 

As shown above, you can search the ItalianGen databases for birth, marriage, death by surname and given name or initial, specify a range of years, and narrow the search to a specific New York City borough. When I did this for my great aunt Sadie Mahler's marriage, I found two possibilities. I know her spouse (Samuel Smith) but if I didn't, the ability to look at either of these certs FOR FREE is a big, big plus.

Once I plugged in the cert number, borough, and year using the NYC search function, up popped Sadie and Sam's marriage document, both page 1 and page 2 (with their signatures and the witnesses). I don't need a certified copy for my genealogy, but if you do, you can click to buy.

Want to browse?


If you want to browse in search of an ancestor's cert (maybe you can't find the cert number, for instance), you can use the browse interface here. Select type of certificate, borough, and don't forget to use the slider to narrow the range of years.

What a wonderful treat to have, just two weeks before the 1950 US Census is released!

PS: I tried finding Sadie's marriage cert at FamilySearch but "no image" was available, only a transcription. Much better to have the actual image to view!

Saturday, March 12, 2022

1950 US Census Prep: Finding Small Town EDs

The 1950 US Census is almost here! Only 20 more days until this mid-century Census is released to the public by the US National Archives.

Even though there will be a basic index and the ability to search by name and location, nobody expects the initial index to be perfect or complete. Just in case, I've been using 1950ish addresses to locate the Enumeration District for my ancestors so I can browse the ED pages when they're made public. Or, at the very least, be able to search by name and ED, to be more specific about my searches. 

Most of my ancestors were in big cities in 1950. I described how to turn a big-city street address into an ED in an earlier post, using the incredibly powerful (and free!) Unified Census ED Finder on SteveMorse.org. 

Small town ED process

However, there's a slightly different process for finding the EDs of towns with fewer than 5,000 residents, because Steve Morse has no tables for towns that small. (He explains why on this FAQ page.)

Here's the process for finding a small town ED.

As shown in the screen grab at top, I'm using the example of the small town of Woodbury, Connecticut, which had 2,564 residents in 1950

First, I went to the Unified Census ED Finder page, and used the drop-down menus to specify the state of Connecticut and the county of Litchfield, where Woodbury is located.

Although some larger population centers are available in the drop-down menu for town/city, Woodbury is not. So instead, I selected "other" in that drop-down menu area and typed the town name (purple arrow).

ED map or description or both?

There are five possible EDs in this general area, listed in numerical order in the image at top. I don't want to browse all five in search of a Woodbury resident.













To narrow down my options, I checked the ED descriptions (in image at top, see green arrow). 

This took me to a page with written descriptions of the five possible EDs for Woodbury, as shown directly above. However, I don't know Woodbury well enough to determine from these descriptions which ED would be the most likely for my purposes. Anyone who knows the streets might take a solid guess from these descriptions.



















Then I clicked to see the ED maps for the entire county (orange arrow). This took me to the list of map links shown above. The first five of the jpegs are what I wanted to view. These were sections of the entire county map, and I wanted to navigate around each map section to look for Woodbury. 


Most of the town is in one ED 

Of course, the fifth map I checked was the one where most of Woodbury is located. As shown directly above, the town is marked on the map and the ED number for the vast majority of that area is noted as 3-121

Combining the maps with the descriptions narrows things down considerably, even allowing for edges of the town that stick out beyond these straight lines.

Thursday, March 10, 2022

Lifespans at a Glance in New MyHeritage Feature

















New feature alert!

At RootsTech, MyHeritage announced a number of new features. Today I tried the Family Tree Timeline.

Above, one example of how the timeline allows a graphical view of ancestors' lifespans. I can select any starting ancestor (here, my late mother-in-law, Marian Jane McClure Wood), and see as many as 9 generations back (here, I selected only 3 generations back). The color-coding tells me at a glance which ancestors belong to each branch, a practical visual reminder. 

I particularly like the age of death shown at right of each bar on the graph. When a death date isn't known, the bar fades in color and no "age at death" number appears. I can also turn on and off more complete info to be shown on each bar of the graph (such as birth/death years). I can use the length of each bar and the number at the end to analyze patterns (such as short or long lifespans in a particular branch).

This feature allows me to display or not, as I choose, major historical events (such as World War II), for context. Another useful element is a consistency checker, in which a dot next to a parent/child relationship alerts me to double-check dates (did I list a child's birth date that's after the mother's death, for instance?). 

Hovering over an ancestor's name on the timeline leads me to additional options, such as opening the profile to edit it or researching that ancestor. If I wish, I can download and/or share any timeline with a click. 

In short, I find this an easy and helpful way to visualize lifespans at a glance and put them into both family and historical context.

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

What Age Was My Longest-Lived Female Ancestor in 1950?

On April 1, I hope to learn more about my oldest female ancestor, great-grandma Tillie Rose Jacobs Mahler (1852ish?-1952), daughter of Rachel Shuham Jacobs and Jonah Jacobs and husband of Meyer Elias Mahler.

At left, a 1900s photo of Tillie beautifully colorized by MyHeritage in Color.

The story passed down is that great-grandma "fooled" the family into giving her a 100th birthday party...and then died at the age of 99. Even today, nobody knows her true birth month, day, or year, only that she outlived everyone else in the family tree (by a lot).

Census records were inconsistent

I consulted US and NY Census records about Tillie's age and found, as the years went on, a number of inconsistencies. How did Tillie age so quickly between 1920 and 1925, for example? Or between 1930 and 1940? 

Likely it was not Tillie talking with the enumerator, IMHO, but someone else in the household (or a neighbor) giving an age guesstimate in later years. Take a look at how her age changes:

  • 1900 US Census: Tillie is enumerated as 39 years old (Census day: June 1)
  • 1905 NY Census: Tillie is enumerated as 45 years old (Census day: June 1)
  • 1910 US Census: Tillie is enumerated as 50 years old (Census day: April 15)
  • 1915 NY Census: Tillie is enumerated as 55 years old (Census day: June 1)
  • 1920 US Census: Tillie is enumerated as 60 years old (Census day: January 1)
  • 1925 NY Census: Tillie is enumerated as 67 years old (Census day: June 1)
  • 1930 US Census: Tillie is enumerated as 73 years old (Census day: April 1)
  • 1940 US Census: Tillie is enumerated as 86 years old (Census day: April 1) - see image excerpt below. (Note: Neither Tillie nor her daughter has a circled X next to the name, which would ordinarily suggest they were not the informants. Since no names on that page have an X, this enumerator didn't indicate which member of any household gave the information.)
  • UPDATE: 1950 US Census, Tillie is enumerated as 100 years old (April 1).


What will 1950 US Census say?

Looking ahead: If Tillie was 99 years old when she passed away in 1952, she would be enumerated as 96 or 97 years old in the 1950 Census. NOPE, she was supposedly 100 yrs old as enumerated in 1950 US Census.

Remembering Great-Grandma Tillie with affection on International Women's Day.

This is my post for the Genealogy Blog Party of March, 2022.

Sunday, March 6, 2022

RootsTech 2022: Don't Forget to Check the Chats! (Limited Time)

My favorite sessions during the kickoff weekend of all-virtual RootsTech 2022 were the live talks and panel discussions. 

Why? Because these encouraged interactivity and offered a sense of connection even though we were home in our bunny slippers rather than being together in person at the Salt Palace.

Above, the four panelists who spoke on Saturday with enthusiasm and candor about their experiences with YouTube. More than 400 people attended the Zoom. The session is on YouTube here. I'm a fan of these folks and I enjoyed hearing them discuss their experiences, successes, frustrations, and ideas for the future. The audience chat was a mix of questions, comments, and "hi from Connecticut" greetings that added to the community feeling.

Another group discussion I really liked was the Ethical Dilemmas panel, on YouTube here.

Check the chats! Available until about March 13

With prerecorded sessions, the chat box was a great way to interact with other audience members and, crucially, with content experts. During the first day's session about the 1950 US Census (featuring Crista Cowan of Ancestry and Stephen Valentine of Family Search), I actually learned key, updated details from the experts in the chat. My least favorite parts of this session were the interviews with people in New York's Time Square--entertaining but not informative. You can watch the entire recorded session here.

As I watched the main sponsors' keynotes, I joined the chat and was pleased to see links to some of the new features being introduced. A running Q&A in chat (still available after the sessions) was of interest, as well. More than 500 people commented in the MyHeritage keynote chat...more than 230 in the Ancestry keynote chat...more than 550 in the FamilyTreeDNA keynote chat. Not all chat comments were of broad interest, but there were many good suggestions and links.

As of today, "join the chat" is still available for all sessions on my playlist. BUT chats will be unavailable after another week or so (by March 13 approximately). Do take a moment to check the chat for any session on your RootsTech playlist. 

Mark your calendar: The next RootsTech will begin March 2-4, 2023, less than a year away ;)

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Important Last-Minute 1950 US Census Info





We have less than a month to wait for the release of 1950 US Census!

The US National Archives (NARA) has begun posting a series of video presentations to help us get ready to find ancestors in this mid-century Census. No preregistration, no fee, just click to watch.

You can see the full schedule and watch individual videos, as they're posted, on this YouTube page. If you watch as each video debuts, you can participate in live Q&A via chat and get answers from experts in the know! If you watch after that time, you can still read the entire Q&A in the chat box, but you can't ask new questions.

Two highlights from talk by Claire Kluskens

The initial presentation in the National Archives series took place yesterday, March 2d. Here are two of many key takeaways from this excellent talk by Claire Kluskens. 

  • Look for Sheet #71. Once you've determined that your ancestor is likely to be in a particular Enumeration District, be sure to browse the final ED pages. You're looking for sheet #71. Why? Because if your ancestor wasn't home when the enumerator came calling the first time, that household would likely have been enumerated out of order. The details would have been written on sheet #71. Remember, even if an ED was tiny and had only 12 pages, there will be a sheet #71 if any household was enumerated out of order for some reason. It's not that sheets were missing between page 12 and page 71.  The Census Bureau deliberately designated Sheet #71 as the page where households enumerated out of order would be recorded in each ED. So always go to the end and look for sheet #71 (sheet numbers are at far right corner of population schedule, see star in image above).
  • Look at notes section. As shown here, the notes section is a blank area midway on the page. Enumerators might write comments or explanations here (such as whether an age is actually an estimate or whether a respondent might not be telling the truth). Also see whether the little box (red arrow) is checked. If your ancestor is enumerated on the final line(s) of that page, the box being checked is an indication to continue onto the next page to see more people in that same household. Do glance at the notes, if any, and look for the check box.
Don't wait--download NARA presentation slides now!

I highly recommend watching Claire's talk and downloading her slides from this pdf. That way, you'll have the slides at hand for reference.

The next two speakers in the NARA series have already posted their slides for download. I can't stress enough how valuable these slides are, jam-packed with information that will help us find ancestors when the Census is released on April 1. 

Right now: 

Download the March 30th pdfs by Michael L. Knight because you will see, for the very first time, what the 1950 US Census website will look like! 

Here is one excerpt from his talk. The "Begin search" button will lead to a search interface. The "How to search" button will explain the different methods of searching (by location or by name). He shows a sample name search and a sample location search. 

These videos and downloaded slides will give you a headstart before the 1950 Census is actually released!

For more about the preparing for the 1950 US Census release, please see my summary page here.


Tuesday, March 1, 2022

The First Female Ph.D. in My Family Tree

My immigrant maternal grandparents (Hermina "Minnie" Farkas Schwartz, 1886-1964 and Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz, 1887-1965) had high expectations for their American-born children. 

They were big believers in education and encouraged their children to reach for the stars. 

Of their three children, one son and one daughter earned a Ph.D. From immigrants to doctorates in one generation!

Uncle Fred, the family's first Ph.D. 

The oldest child, Fred Shaw (1912-1991), earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree after graduating from James Monroe High School in the Bronx. Just before he married Daisy Katz (1913-1985) on Thanksgiving Day, 1940, he was appointed as an economics teacher at New York City's prestigious Stuyvesant High School.

After a stint as a Captain in the U.S. Army during World War II, he again taught high school economics as he earned a Ph.D. Uncle Fred went on to write the well-regarded book, History of the New York City Legislatureas well as teaching political science at the City University of New York.

Auntie Dorothy, the family's first female Ph.D.

Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001), my mom's twin sister, interrupted her studies at Hunter College in New York City to enlist as a WAC during World War II. When she returned from overseas in 1945, Sgt. Schwartz initially went to work and then resumed her college career. After graduation, she worked for Macy's, becoming assistant to the wonderful woman who ran the Thanksgiving Day Parade for many years. 

In the 1950s, Dorothy took some education courses and in 1955, she was appointed as a typing and steno teacher at Evander Childs High School in the Bronx, NY. Shortly afterward, she got a job teaching at Christopher Columbus High School, where she spent the rest of her long career. A teacher by day, she was a student by night, earning a master's degree and then a doctorate in education. Auntie Dorothy was my family's first female Ph.D.

My Mom Daisy, behind the scenes support

My Mom, Daisy Schwartz Burk (1919-1981), graduated from high school into the depths of the Great Depression. There wasn't enough money for her and her two siblings to continue to college. Although they would be attending free city universities, money was needed to pay for books, carfare, lunches, and so on. Instead of going to college, Daisy took secretarial jobs to help support her older brother and her twin sister as they studied for their degrees. 

Once she settled down with Dad (Harold Burk, 1909-1978), the focus was on educating the next generation. In later years, Daisy took college courses at night, for credit, while working during the day. She especially enjoyed her literature and history courses, even though she never earned a degree. Her strong belief in education was passed along to her daughters, who all earned masters' degrees. 

You can see how proud I am of my Mom's behind-the-scenes support. I'm proud of my uncle, the family's first Ph.D., and  my aunt, the first female Ph.D. in the entire family tree. This is my week 9 post about "females" for Amy Johnson Crow's series of prompts, #52Ancestors. (Just in time for Women's History Month).

Saturday, February 26, 2022

Bite-Sized Ancestor Bios on Find a Grave--Sometime Soon?


One of my passions is to keep family history alive for the sake of future generations and for future researchers. After years of research, I'm sharing what I know now by posting bite-sized ancestor biographies on multiple websites. 

This is part of the PASS process described in my updated book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past (available on Amazon, in the book store at American Ancestors.org, and in the book store at the Newberry Library).

Lots of copies keep stuff safe

At top, the bite-sized bio I wrote about my husband's maternal grandfather, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970). After sharing within the family, I've posted this on Family Search, My Heritage, and WikiTree. The idea is to share this ancestor's story widely, in public, so those who come after can learn more about his life. 

I'm applying the LOCKSS principle--the concept that "lots of copies keep stuff safe." With lots of copies, it's less likely that genealogical and biographical information will be forgotten or lost or otherwise become inaccessible as time goes on.

Not yet on Find a Grave 

For the past year, I've been trying--unsuccessfully--to have this ancestor's bio posted to the memorial page on Find a Grave. 

Find a Grave is free, it's worldwide in scope, and it's another suitable place to share info about ancestors.

Image at right shows how the memorial page currently looks. Notice that I took the photo of Brice's grave and posted it years ago. 

The brief bio currently on the page was not written by me. It's not just incomplete, it's inaccurate.

I've posted other ancestral bios on Find a Grave, both on memorial pages that I manage and through the courtesy of non-relatives who manage my ancestors' pages. However, I haven't yet been able to get Brice's posted. 

Following Find a Grave's policies

Beginning in January of 2021, I submitted edits multiple times to the current manager of this memorial. Repeatedly. To date, I've had no response. I see the current manager has more than 440,000 memorials, and that person's profile mentions how much time it takes to plow through edits and requests for transfer.

Still, 13 months seems way too long to wait for edits to be posted or a transfer to be completed (with a click). I've even explained to the current manager, at least once, that Brice and Floyda are my husband's maternal grandparents. 

According to Find a Grave's policies, someone who manages a memorial page that is NOT of their ancestor is supposed to transfer to a relative, upon request. You can read those policies here

Now I'm giving Find a Grave an opportunity to stop the 13-month logjam and expedite the transfer of Brice's and Floyda's pages to me. I wrote the support folks, as Find a Grave says to do, and briefly explained why I want to manage those memorial pages and how I've attempted to have accurate bios posted for months, to no avail. 

(March 8 update: No response yet) (March 21 update: Find a Grave said, in a tweet: "We are processing a large backlog at this time. We apologize in advance for a delay in response; we are responding as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience while we process the mail we have received. Please know we are giving each request our full attention."

March 29 update: Partial success!! Find a Grave made me the manager of my Dad's memorial. Now I'm hoping they'll transfer hubby's grandparents in just as timely a manner. TY to Find a Grave.

My goal is to keep alive the memory of these ancestors, not just for descendants but also for other genealogical researchers. And I don't give up easily! Readers, I'll keep you posted about what happens. 

Friday, February 25, 2022

RootsTech Begins on March 3








In just a few days, RootsTech Connect 2022 will get underway. Are you registered and ready? Have you seen the RootsTech Facebook page with exciting announcements about famous keynoters and more?

A virtual cornucopia of genealogical education and inspiration, RootsTech will showcase more than 1,500 classes and streaming sessions, available to view for FREE. Experts will present classes on everything from documenting family history and interpreting DNA results to sharing family heritage in the kitchen and finding ancestors in old newspapers. You can already look at class descriptions and download handouts in advance!

The Expo Hall will also open on March 3, a wonderful opportunity to engage with genealogy companies and hear about new products and features. 

I'm looking forward to polishing my skills and discovering new tools that will help me do a better job of identifying ancestors, understanding their stories, and recording their lives for the sake of future generations.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

My Interview with Marie Cappart - RootsTech 2022 Speaker


Professional historian and genealogist Marie Cappart is a well-known speaker and the author of the best-selling Guide to Genealogy in Belgium

Based in Brussels, she serves as country manager for MyHeritage in Belgium and has expertise in a wide range of genealogical and historical topics, including World War I and World War II. 

Marie is also a media consultant for genealogy and history, a columnist for the Revue Française de Généalogie (France's number 1 genealogy magazine), and a proud RootsTech ambassador for years. 

Here's my interview with Marie, who returns to RootsTech Connect in 2022 with three engaging talks for family historians.

Question 1: How does your background in history help you when researching and writing about ancestors who lived and died many generations in the past?

Marie: I see it as a symbiosis: The two disciplines are so interconnected. I so much regret that European academics don't see the connection as much as Anglo-Saxons do because both parties would learn so much from each other.

I start with a good perspective of events, timelines and possible events that could have happened to our ancestors or could have triggered a change in their lives. I also have a good overview of the different relevant sources and can work my way through national archives in a quite natural way. This "zoom in-zoom out" approach is also surely helpful to think of all the relevant historical sources that can be used for a genealogical research so I'm very lucky to have those two backgrounds to rely on.

Question 2: Please share your top tips for combining DNA and traditional genealogy research to correct and expand a family tree.

Marie: One of my top tips is consider DNA as a (biological) source, and cross it with archives, documentation, and oral histories. Think outside the box: If you hit a brick wall, maybe one of the key elements to the solution (names/dates/places) is not right, or not entirely right, or has been distorted over time or when transmitted orally. 

When combining DNA and genealogy research, don’t be afraid to dive into other family trees, regardless of the possible lack of connection at first. Often, at least in Europe, people are wary of researching someone they don't know, let alone someone who's still alive. The privacy regulations also make it more difficult, but not impossible, to access direct birth, marriage, and death information. People shouldn't be afraid to work those trees out to see if it makes sense to them along the way. 

Of course, there's a need for privacy regulations but some sources can be useful to overcome those difficulties and reconstruct trees with people who at first seem to be "strangers" but turn out to be genetic relatives. Both approaches are very important and equally valuable. Amongst other things, DNA needs family history to construct the trees of DNA matches and family history needs genetics to prove/disprove connections. Genealogy alone is like an old school puzzle and now with DNA, it's tridimensional and even more fun even if it is challenging.

Question 3. Have you confirmed or disproved a family story you heard about your ancestors? 

Marie: Yes, I have disproved a family legend that was running around the family. My grandmother always told me we were descended from a rich noble Italian family. It turned out that my 3x grandfather born in 1816 was in fact an abandoned child. The period makes me think that the "father" could be a fleeing soldier but of course nothing is proven at this point. 

The civil registration office custom at the time was to use antique Italian or Greek related surnames to name foundlings. My ancestor was given an Italian-sounding surname. The child before him was a Nero and the one after Cupido so I guess we were lucky he was named Tigilin (“an aide to Nero”). Those children rarely made it out of infancy. Now, more than a century later, the story has evolved over the time to give it a more dignified touch but my research set the record straight. I suspect my percentage of Italian DNA is related to that line.

Question 4. What will you be speaking about at RootsTech?

Marie: This year, I'm giving three lectures, one on Belgian immigrants to the United States, one on family food heritage, and one in French about how to do research on Belgian-language and French-language online newspapers websites. I'm also giving a talk as a Country Manager for MyHeritage.

One subject that I've been wanting to cover for a long time was cooking heritage and how family recipes are passed from one generation to another. I'm not really a foodie--I'd rather spend time on genealogy than cooking in the kitchen and have my nose in books rather than putting on an apron--but I really like old personal cookbooks as sources of how people lived, what they were eating on a daily basis or for any special events. 

Food is a key part of any culture and it's fascinating to see how it's been passed on, from old notebooks--my favorites--to the social media content of today. The pandemic has given a lot of people more time to spend in the kitchen, and of course the natural go-to recipes are the ones that were in the family for generations. These were often passed down from mothers to daughters or daughters-in-law with some additions or changes to the recipes. Sometimes these recipes were considered secrets to be carefully guarded.

Question 5. How do you plan to get the most out of the virtual RootsTech experience in 2022?

Marie: By not sleeping much? Joke aside, as much as I miss the on-site event, I found out that I could enjoy some lectures much more for my personal learning which is a bit more complicated to do on-site. I also really appreciate that the content is made available for months after the conference so we can catch up or replay if we choose. But nothing will ever beat the Salt Palace atmosphere and face-to-face conversations with genealogists. RootsTech is always the moment where the big players announce brand new features so I'm really excited to witness that. 

One tip that I always give, regardless of the show being online or on-site, is to know that you won't be able to take it all so it's very important to make your own list of what you want to see first, or of what is more relevant to your interests. 

Another tip: Pick a lecture that you wouldn't typically pick. It's a great way to learn new things and learn about other cultures, or archives, or stories—choose something out of the usual categories you go to and out of your comfort zone.

Question 6: How you are using cooking to share your heritage with your family?

Marie: What I like to do when cooking a family recipe (whether one from my mum or her mum) is to give a bit of historical context to it. My mum was born in England during World War II and my grandmother would pick up local recipes and sometimes adjust them with local ingredients if something wasn’t available.

I'm still making her recipes from England as well as cooking foods traditional to my husband's family, descended in part from Dutch ancestors. Whenever I cook those recipes, it's always a great opportunity to tell a story about our ancestors or keep the family updated with the latest research/discovery without them even noticing or being bored the way they could be if food wasn't involved ;) Remember how our mothers would hide greens in something we liked so that we would eat it without knowing? Well, recipes are a bit like that for family history!

I also love to celebrate our heritage through food on special occasions. Food is a great medium to do that, especially baking. For my wedding, the cake was created to honor our English, French, Belgian and Dutch roots all in one cake. It really had a special meaning to me. In addition, Christmas is a time when family cooking traditions play an important role, and my household is no exception. 

The best part of being a "passer" of this culinary heritage is not only to keep our ancestors alive through our plates but also to create new family culinary traditions. During lockdown, a lot of people discovered their kitchen with brand new eyes and it was the perfect occasion to study, and try, family recipes, away from the day-to-day rush. Of course, famous chefs, who are often so quick to stage their own family recipes, also had to reinvent themselves. But other public figures, not necessarily in the cooking world, did so as well. 

One example I really like is the one of Danny Wood (NKOTB) who saw an opportunity during the pandemic to set up a show he's been thinking about doing for quite a while. Although not a chef, he likes to cook for his family. Often he makes recipes from his mother or shows what he’s baking for his grandchildren, capturing the cooking experience on a YouTube channel aptly named "The Wood Works."

I find this example striking because he’s not a renowned and super skilled chef in the most professional kitchen with the latest sponsored utensils. He’s a public figure simply sharing his enjoyment of passing on family kitchen traditions, or inventing/trying new family recipes and entertaining his audience at the same time. Danny Wood takes great pleasure into demonstrating his cooking skills and it shows. Even more importantly, he likes to share the family history behind the recipe and invites his guests to do the same. 

These days, all kinds of people use social media to pass on family recipes by creating posts, stories, videos, Instagram Reels and TikTok videos, and more. Every time a long-ago ancestor is mentioned in a family recipe story or post, it's genealogy in the making. It's a real challenge to think of a way to preserve these newer methods of communicating family recipes for the sake of generations to come. The field is open for the future to determine how to preserve and pass on those newer transmissions ;) 

*To connect with Marie Cappart: 

Twitter: @histfamilles

Facebook:  Marie Cappart https://www.facebook.com/marie.cappart or page Histoires de Familles www.facebook.com/histoiresdefamilles.familiesstories/

Instagram: Marie Cappart



Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Celebrating a Twin Birthday with Lollipops and Pinwheels


Happy birthday to us! Today is another twin birthday. 🎂🎂

Maybe my beloved Sis and I will celebrate with lollipops and pinwheels?!

Saturday, February 19, 2022

1950 US Census Prep: Using ED Maps and Descriptions


A good number of my ancestors lived in New York City--many in the Bronx, some in Queens, some in Brooklyn, a few in Manhattan, but none in Staten Island. 

As I get ready to find them in the 1950 US Census when the records are released in April, I'm finding I have to dig even deeper to determine the specific Enumeration District for a few of these Big Apple residents. This holds true for other big cities, by the way, as I've discovered searching for Cleveland ancestors.

Details matter

Here's a mini case study featuring ED maps and ED descriptions. My cousins lived at 3706 72d Street in Queens, New York. But studying the map, I see that the borough of Queens also has 72d Avenue, 72d Avenue Ext, 72d Crescent, 72d Drive, 72d Lane, 72d Place, and 72d Road. 

So my first step was to be sure I entered the correct street name when using the nifty Unified Census ED Finder by Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub. 

With only the street name/number, there were too many potential Enumeration Districts for me to browse. As the site directs, I next looked at the Google map and entered a cross street (Broadway) and a back street (37th Avenue) for the block where these cousins lived. 

These two additional details narrowed the number of EDs to three. I couldn't enter a fourth cross or back street, because my cousins lived on a triangular city block. 

Go to the NARA map

My next step was to look at the National Archives map for the three EDs that were around the address. The Steve Morse site has an easy one-step process to go to the maps. Be sure you set the year to 1950. 

Once I located the map for this section of Queens, I enlarged it to read the street names. I found my cousins' address was at a location numbered as block 12 on the NARA ED map (at top). 

The little white star on image above is where my cousins lived in 1950. But the orange lines delineating the districts didn't show me precisely which ED my cousin lived in. What now?

Read the NARA map description

To further narrow the number of EDs, I clicked on the link to read the transcription of each district in turn. The description for 41-598 wasn't as close to the address as the descriptions for 41-608 and 41-880, shown here:


It wasn't enough to glance at the boundary descriptions, because 72d Street, 37th Avenue, and Broadway are listed on both ED 41-608 and ED 41-880.

I looked more closely at the specific blocks included within each ED. Remember, the NARA map at top shows that the address is on block 12.

Block 12 is described as being within ED 41-608. So on April 1st, I'll be looking for my cousins in this single ED!

For more about the 1950 US Census release, see my summary page here. To learn more about the US National Archives ED maps and other maps of interest to genealogists, see here.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Great Cousin Bait: Ancestor Landing Pages








It's been nine years since I first created ancestor landing pages along the top of my genealogy blog, an idea I got from Caroline M. Pointer

I use these landing pages to summarize what I've learned about each ancestor or ancestral family, including images plus links to specific blog posts I've written about that ancestor or family. As I discover more details and write new posts, I add the links to the corresponding ancestor landing pages.

Just as important, ancestor landing pages are incredible cousin bait! When relatives search online for one of their ancestors, they often see my ancestor landing pages in their search results. With a click, they land on the landing page, read about the ancestor(s), and can connect with me via my blog's "contact me" widget. 

Thanks to landing pages, I've heard from dozens of farflung cousins who have landed on my landing pages. What a joy to get acquainted or reacquanted and exchange stories and photos!

By far the most popular ancestor landing page is the one devoted to my husband's McClure ancestors from Donegal. Even when most readers don't turn out to be related to this branch of the McClure family tree, they can get fresh ideas for researching their McClure ancestors by checking the resource links on this landing page or getting in touch with me.

Other genealogy bloggers have created different formats for their ancestor landing pages. For instance, Randy Seaver calls his "Randy's Genealogy," with links to his family trees plus more. Gail Dever calls hers "My Ancestors' Stories," linking to stories she has written about particular ancestors. Sandra Sue Pittman McPeak labels each landing page by surname

Different formats, same goal: to tell the ancestors' stories AND to serve as cousin bait!

"Landed" is the week 7 genealogy prompt in Amy Johnson Crow's 2022 edition of #52 Ancestors.

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

In the US, Top 10 Given Names in 1940 and 1950


In the United States, Social Security tracks the most popular given names for children born in each decade. Above, the most popular names for babies born in 2020.

Although some of the 2020 names are familiar from my family tree, I expect to find many more of the names popular in the 1940s and 1950s as I search for ancestors in the U.S. Census for 1950, being released on April 1.

According to the Social Security database, the top 10 given names for girls in the 1950s were:

  1. Mary
  2. Linda
  3. Patricia
  4. Susan
  5. Deborah
  6. Barbara
  7. Debra
  8. Karen
  9. Nancy
  10. Donna
The top 10 given names for boys in the 1950s were:

  1. James
  2. Michael
  3. Robert
  4. John
  5. David
  6. William
  7. Richard
  8. Thomas
  9. Mark
  10. Charles 

Interestingly, top given names from the 1940s were not very different. I will definitely find most of these names as I search for ancestors in the 1950 US Census.

According to Social Security, the top 10 given names for girls in the 1940s were:

  1. Mary
  2. Linda
  3. Barbara
  4. Patricia
  5. Carol
  6. Sandra
  7. Nancy
  8. Sharon
  9. Judith
  10. Susan

The top 10 given names for boys in the 1940s were:

  1. James
  2. Robert
  3. John
  4. William
  5. Richard
  6. David
  7. Charles 
  8. Thomas
  9. Michael
  10. Ronald
For more about the release of the 1950 US Census, please see my summary page here.