Over the weekend St. Louis County Library shared a link to their Digital Archives on social media. It's been around since March, but I hadn't realized it.
Organized by registration number, these would be next to impossible to browse if they weren't digitized and made searchable. I knew Barney's address from city directories and census records.
Oakland, a division of General Motors, would later change its name to Pontiac.
I've long had a photograph in my collection of my great grandfather, Barney, great grandmother Bertha, and their two sons, Melvin and Harold - standing in front of a car. There was no date on the photograph. Since there are multiple cars in the background, I surmised they were on a parking lot. But they could easily be on a sales lot as well. In 1921 Melvin would have been 9 and Harold 6. That seems about right for the photograph.
The directory only tells us the make, not the model. We don't see much of the car in the background. But assuming it's a 1921 Oakland, I have been able to find online images of a coupe, touring car, and a sedan. For a family of four, it's not difficult to guess which one they bought.
There's no guarantee that the photograph is of them purchasing the car, but it seems likely.
This doesn't add a lot of genealogical information, but it does provide a very likely year for a photograph.
Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.
After a long hiatus, I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.
Below I transcribe an article found at Newspapers.com providing a nice biography of my maternal grandfather, late in his career.
Article from Apr 18, 1963 The Crane Chronicle (Crane, Missouri)
Meanwhile, for the local postal dedication, the Postmaster announced that the principal speaker will be Mr. Martin J Deutsch, Director, Engineering and Facilities Division. St Louis Regional Office.
Mr. Deutsch was raised in Chicago where he attended the public schools, including a technical High School and Junior College. He received a LLB from DePaul University and is a member of the Illinois Bar. He has been with the Postal Service during his entire adult life, starting out as a postal clerk in the Chicago Post Office in 1925. He was a Postal Inspector (St. Louis Division) for about 25 years, specializing in buildings and facilities in Missouri, Iowa, and Arkansas. Subsequently, he was re-assigned as Real Estate Officer in the St. Louis Region. He has occupied his present position as Director Engineering and Facilities Division, St Louis Region, since establishment of the office in late 1962.
Mr. Deutsch served in Africa and the Caribbean Area with the Air Transport Command during World War II. He has two married daughters _______, Pt Washington, New York, and _______ Lincoln, Nebraska.
Notes
1) I continue my practice of leaving out the names of living relatives. However I will note that in both instances the individuals were residing in locations they were only in briefly, so it was a well-timed newspaper article.
2) I am fascinated by the detail the newspaper article went into the career and family of my grandfather when he was simply a speaker at a building dedication.
3) This does suggest he maintained his membership with the Illinois Bar Association even though he never practiced as a lawyer.
I’ve written before about a conundrum between records uncovered and family lore in my Blatyta/Blatt line. I’ve uncovered a possible explanation behind the conundrum.
Family lore:
Morris Blatt (Moshe son of Jacob) and Belle Wyman were married in Ĺosice, Poland.
They had two daughters: Blanche and Annie.
Belle died of a bee sting in Poland, but likely after Morris and Belle had separated/divorced.
Morris, Blanche, and Annie immigrated to America (St. Louis, Missouri).
Morris married Mollie Kellner in St. Louis, and they had two more children.
Blanche married Joe Wyman, and there were family jokes about whether she married a cousin.
Earlier Research:
Early in my research, I received well-cited research done by a cousin stating a Moshe (son of Yankiel) Blatyta married Chaia Beila Boksern in Losice. Yankiel is a common nickname for Jacob. When I uncovered the actual marriage record, it confirmed that this was the first marriage for both individuals.
How could Chaia Beila’s daughters be confused about their mother’s maiden name to the point that a family joke developed? Perhaps there were Wymans in her family tree, but there seemed to be some certainty that Belle was a Wyman herself. Could there be two Moshe sons of Jacob? We did not have birth records for Blanche or Anna. The records for their years of assumed birth do not appear to have survived. Even for years that records survived, the records are likely not complete.
Morris arrived in America in September 1889. In 1900 he, Blanche, Anna, his second wife, and their one son, are all living in St. Louis. (Morris and Mollie’s second child, a daughter, would be born in 1903.) Additional records uncovered there was a son of Morris and Molile who died as an infant in the intervening years.
Of course, there's an 11-year gap between 1889 and 1900. The missing 1890 census rears its ugly head.
Recent Research:
Recently I uncovered the immigration records for Blanche and Annie – in 1899. Ten years after their father. They were traveling under the Hebrew names of Breine and Chana, with Esther Winterman and her children, Yankel (Jacob), Abram, and Masche (Mary).
The manifest records them all as meeting a B. Winterman in St. Louis, with him identified as Esther’s husband, and the father of both the Winterman and Blatt children. In 1900 Esther and her children are living in St. Louis with Henry/Harry Winterman. (Confusion of first names isn’t impossible. Multiple names are common.)
We were familiar with the Winterman family. We knew them as some sort of Wyman cousins. We hadn’t yet identified how.
It’s possible if Morris and Belle really did separate as family lore suggests, the children remained with the mother. After Chaiia Bella died, it appears Blanche and Annie were raised by the Wintermans. So they could easily have viewed Esther as sort of a mother figure, even if they knew it wasn’t biological.
According to her death certificate, Esther’s maiden name was Wyman.
With the assistance of the cousin I mentioned in the first paragraph, we have uncovered Esther Wajman’s birth record in Polish archives, along with the birth records for two of her three children on the manifest.
It isn’t difficult to hypothesize confusion – not on the maiden name of their mother – but a confusion of details between biological and adoptive mothers.
I still need to figure out how Esther Wyman Winterman and Chaia Beila Boksern Blatyta were related, if they were. But absent birth records for Blanche and Annie, I am more confident Chaia Beila was their mother. We may never be able to find those records, so we need to do the best we can with the records that have survived.
Timelines can be a great tool. They can illustrate what records have been obtained, and what might be missing. Gaps of knowledge can sometimes be better seen. Last year I posted timelines for three of my four paternal 2nd great-grandfathers. I actually created the below timeline back then as well, but didn't post it. There may have been some dates I wanted to look up.
For Sam, and his wife Rose, most of the records I have, beyond passenger manifests, are dates pertaining to the life events of his children. The dates for all events in Poland are based on when anniversaries were observed, or dates recorded on later records.
Timeline for my 2nd great grandfather, Samuel Joseph Newmark
1862 - Samuel Joseph Newmark was born to Israel David & Leah in Warka, Poland
Dec 17, 1880 - married Rose Cantkert
Sept 15, 1882 - Son, Solomon born in Warka
March 25, 1886 - Son, Barney born in Warka
Dec 25, 1886 - Daughter, Nellie, born in Warka
March 4, 1890 - Daughter, Bella, born in Warka
Aug 16, 1892 - Son, Meier/Max, born in Warka
1893 - Family immigrates to London, England
October 1893 -- Nellie and Bella enroll at Westminster Jews Free School in London. (Boys records did not survive)
Nov 27, 1894 - Daughter, Kate, born in London
Aug 16, 1896 - Daughter, Cecile, born in London
August 1898 - Nellie and Bella leave Westminster Jews Free School (Reasons given: Required at Home/Work)
Aug 31, 1902 - Son, Solomon, marries Sarah Nathan at the Great Synagogue in London
Apr 3, 1903 - Son Israel David born in London
Nov 30, 1903 - According to a passenger manifest, Samuel may have traveled to the US.
March 9, 1904 - Granddaughter, Minnie Bertha, born to Sol and Sarah in London
March 21, 1905 - Grandson, Israel David, born to Sol and Sarah in London
Aug 27, 1906 - Grandson Moses (Maurice) born to Sol and Sarah in London
May 11, 1907 - With son, Barney, visited North America. Landed in Quebec. Crossed the border to the US in July. Returned to London.
Oct 14, 1908 - With sons, Sol & Barney, arrived in the US
March 21, 1909 - Rose and the remaining children and grandchildren arrive in the US.
April 19, 1909 - Granddaughter Esther born to Sol and Sarah (dies as an infant)
Jan 30, 1910 - Daughters Nellie and Bella marry Morris Fudemberg and Charles Cohen in a double wedding in St. Louis
Feb 7, 1911 - Granddaughter Bess born to Bella and Charles Cohen
Aug 27, 1911 - Son, Barney, marries Bertha Cruvant
April 27, 1912 - Granddaughter Sylvia born to Nellie and Morris Fudemberg
Aug 27, 1912 - Grandson, Melvin, born to Barney and Bertha
Feb 6, 1913 - Daughter Kate marries Phillip Jacobs in St. Louis, MO
Feb 7, 1913 - Son, Max, marries Dora Neustetter in Chicago, IL
Dec 16, 1913 - Daughter Natalie born to Kate and Philip Jacobs in Chicago
About 1914 - Daughter Cecile marries Hyman Gold in St. Louis
April 14, 1914 - Grandson Adolph Abraham (Andy) born to Bella and Charles Cohen
June 27, 1914 - Grandson Nelson born to Max and Dora Newmark
Dec 23, 1914 - Granddaughter Nellie, born to Sol and Sarah
Sept 26, 1915 - Granddaughter Bernice, born to Cecile and Hyman Gold in St. Louis
Dec 17, 1915 - Grandson Harold Carl, born to Nellie and Morris Fudemberg
July 27, 1916 - Grandson Harold Irving David born to Kate and Philip Jacobs in Chicago
April 6, 1918 - Grandson Harold born to Max and Dora Newmark
Oct 11, 1918 - Grandson Paul William born to Nellie and Morris Fudemberg
Feb 24, 1923 - Granddaughter Minnie Bertha dies.
Feb 27, 1923 - Grandson Irving born to Nellie and Morris Fudemberg
July 13, 1923 - Granddaughter Bernice born to Bella and Charles Cohen
Jan 1927 - Son Israel David marries Clara Rubin
Sept 25, 1928 - Grandson Victor born to Cecilie and Hyman Gold, in East St. Louis, IL
Dec 9, 1928 - Grandson Philip born to Israel David and Clara
Jan 31, 1931 - Son, Max, died. (Shot by burglar)
March 28, 1932 - Grandson, Mark, born to Israel David and Clara
Dec 4, 1934 - Son, Sol, died.
1936 - Grandson, Melvin, marries Belle Feinstein
1938 - Great Grandson, ___, born to Melvin and Belle
July 20, 1940 - Samuel Joseph died.
Notes
1) Samuel Joseph and his wife, Rose, were my only 2nd great-grandparents to live to see a great-grandchild. (I tend to leave out names and dates for living kin.)
2) February 6th and 7th 1913 was a Thursday and a Friday. Did Sam and Rose manage to attend both of their kids' weddings, one in St. Louis, and one in Chicago, one day apart? What about the siblings? It's a six-hour drive, and there were trains, so it's not impossible. Couldn't the couples have arranged that better for the family?
I haven't posted in awhile, but there are several entries in my drafts folder, which I will finish editing..
Recently I went in search for information on Rev. Samuel Swayze, the brother of my 5th great grandfather, Israel Swayze. My search led me down a fascinating trail. My ancestor, Israel, like many Loyalists, fled to Canada after the Revolutionary War. But his brother, Samuel, left New Jersey in 1773 for the British Colony of West Florida.
Most people, including me until recently, when asked would say Florida was a Spanish colony. And it was. But Spain traded it to Britain for Cuba in the 1760s. Britain divided it, and territory received from France, into East Florida and West Florida.
During the Revolution, Florida mostly remained Loyal. When Britain lost, it appears they essentially abandoned their newer colony as well, so Spain retook control.
1.Swayze, Rev. Samuel and wife, Hannah Horton 2.Coleman, Jeremiah and wife, Hannah (Swayze) Coleman (1733-1807) 3.Unknown and wife, Phoebe Swayze (1735-bef.1787) 4.Samuel Swayze Jr (1737-1800) and wife, Elizabeth Putnam 5.Nathan Swayze (abt.1740-1819) and wife, Bethia (Hopkins) Swayze (1747-1840) 6.Elijah Swayze (1741-abt.1814) and wife, Polly White 7.Stephen Swayze (1743-1776) and wife, Rachel Hopkins 8.Obidiah Brown and wife, Penelope Swayze (1756-1836) 9.Swayze, Richard and wife, Sarah (Horton) Swayze 10.Gabriel Swayze (1745-1814) and wife, ______ Clark 11.King, Caleb and wife, Mary Swayze 12.King, Justus and wife, Sarah (Swayze) King (abt.1740-) 13.Richard Swayze Jr (abt.1746-) and wife, Hannah Budd| 14.Cory, Job and wife, Lydia Swayze (abt.1755-) 15.Luce, Israel and wife, Deborah (Swayze) Luce (abt.1754-1828)
I’m related to several families on the list. Shared surnames include Swayze, Horton, Coleman, Clark and King. Without more information on Gabriel Swayze's wife, I am uncertain if it is the same Clark family, but there is a good chance. My fourth great-grandfather, Israel's mother-in-law was Abigail Clark Coleman. The linked website has a lot of research on the families demanding my attention.
Notable descendants of these settlers include actor, Patrick Swayze (1952-2009), and cartoonist, Marc Swayze (1913-2012), co-creator of DC's Mary Marvel.
I am back again with their ties to another slave. A historical one, that many Canadian schoolchildren might have been able to tell me about ten years ago if they read my posts.
Who was Chloe Cooley?
Chloe Cooley was a young black woman held as a slave in Fort Erie and Queenston, Upper Canada in the late 1700s, as the area was being settled by Loyalists from the United States. Her owner forced her into a boat to sell her in 1793 across the Niagara River in the United States.
This incident was observed by several witnesses, who petitioned the Executive Council of Upper Canada. Although charges were dropped against Cooley's owner, the incident is believed to have led to passage of the Act Against Slavery, 1793, in Upper Canada. It prevented slaves from being imported into the province and provided for gradual abolition of slavery within a generation among those held there.
Who was the Loyalist owner? Adam Vrooman. (Some sources give his name as William)
Geo Vanevery is almost certainly McGregory. No known son or close kin of McGregory was named George. McGregory is listed as one of the original 1782 settlers in the First Census of Niagara, 25th of August, 1782.
In that census there was one male slave, belonging to Thomas McMicken. That slave had been incorrectly assigned to McGregory by some researchers, which I clarified in Following the Citations in 2012. Vrooman isn’t in the original census, so he arrived between 1782 and 1784.
Why would Adam Vrooman and McGregory Vanevery share a lot?
Good question. I have a couple possible answers.
1) They were cousins. Or at least the families were close.
Looking at my family tree, it suggested a Sara Meyndertse married a Jacob Vrooman in the early 1700s. There was no specific date, and no source. It's continually frustrating that I wasn't very good at citing sources in early research.
Sara appears to be the great-granddaughter of Myndert Fredericksen. McGregory was the great-grandson of Myndert, so second cousins with Sara. His children would have been third cousins with any children of Sara and Jacob.
Wikitree says Adam’s parents were Jacob Vrooman and Rachel Van Woert. And that Jacob and Rachel were married in 1743.
Wikitree has no definite spouse of Sara Meyndertse, but questions whether she married Jacob Vrooman. If you look at the entry, you will see I added her entry in 2011. Since then someone has questioned her spouse. Did I make a mistake?
FamilySearch agrees with me, as does Ancestry, and they both cite New York Marriages, 1686-1980 for a 1742 marriage. So I have now added that as a source.
So there is a possibility there was a brief marriage between Sara and Jacob Vrooman, and that Jacob's children, including Adam, were not actually DNA cousins with my ancestors, though the families may have remained close. There is also a possibility there were two Adam Vroomans, marrying separate women.
2) There are also suggestions that Abigail VanEvery, daughter of McGregory married either a Peter Vrooman or an Isaac Vrooman. There are also suggestions that this Vrooman spouse died in 1782 in New York. I am not certain what Abigail and a possible child did at that time, but joining her father in Niagara is certainly a possibility. Possibly along with some Vrooman kin.
Back to the events of 1793.
There was growing sentiment in Canada to free slaves, and owners were deciding to sell before being forced to free. Vrooman arranged a sale across the Niagara River in New York. Cooley fought back.
Vrooman beat Cooley, tied her up and forced her into a small boat, aided by two other men. (Wikipedia entry above)
Who were the two other men?
Adam’s brother, Isaac, and one of the sons of McGregory Van Every. (Canadian Encyclopedia)
[Another Isaac]
Which son of McGregory? Every source I can find refers to the third individual in the same format. I suspect there is no document that specifically identifies him
Records suggest, when Adam arrived in Niagara, he had another slave named Tom. Even if Adam was the owner, if the lot was a partnership with my ancestor, and they had familial ties, my ancestor likely directly benefitted, and likely approved. McGregory died in 1786, but at least one of his sons was close enough with Adam Vrooman ten years later to provide his assistance in what Canadians call the Chloe Cooley Incident.
April 23-29 is National Library Week in the United States
In 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2019 I looked at the value of my St. Louis County Library Card with respect to genealogy research. I thought I would do that again.
Here are 30 databases I can use to research genealogy courtesy of my library card. For most of them I can access the database at home, though a few are in-library only. Unfortunately, I don't get to the library very often, as the location closest to me is under construction.
1.A to Z Maps Online 2.A to Z the USA 3.AAS Historical Periodicals Collection 4.Academic Search Elite [EBSCO] 5.Access World News 6.African American History Online 7.African American Newspapers: 19th Century 8.American Ancestors (In Library Only) 9.American Indian History Online 10.Ancestry Library Edition (In Library Only) - Ancestry provided remote access for the first couple years of the pandemic, but they have stopped doing so. 11.Archion (vital records for Protestant churches in Germany) 12.Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective 13.eBooks on EBSCOhost 14.Ethnic NewsWatch [ProQuest] 15.Factiva 16.FindMyPast (In Library Only) 17.Fire Insurance Maps Online (Missouri and Illinois) 18.Fold3 19.HeritageHub (Formerly America’s Obituaries and Death Notices) 20.HeritageQuest Online 21.Historical New York Times (ProQuest) 22.Historical Newspapers US Major Dailies (ProQuest) 23.Historical St Louis Post Dispatch (ProQuest) 24.History Vault: Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War 1 & 2 25.MyHeritage Library Edition 26.NewsBank 27.NewspaperArchive 28.Newspapers.com 29.Nineteenth Century US Newspapers 30.ProQuest Digital Microfilm (NYTimes, St. Louis Post Dispatch)
AmericanAncestors, Ancestry, FindMyPast, Fold3, MyHeritage, and Newspapers.com are all major subscription genealogy websites. Having free access to even basic/library versions is excellent.
However - the St. Louis County Library system card is not the only library card I have.
Six months ago I started employment at a local university.
So now I have access to their databases as well. Here's a selection:
1.Academic Search Complete (1975-present)
2.Adams Papers Digital Edition (Rotunda) (John Adams' papers)
3.African Americans, Communists, and the National Negro Congress (Archives Unbound)
4.African American Newspapers (ProQuest)
5.African American Newspapers: 19th Century
6.Al-Ahram Digital Newspaper Archive (Egyptian newspaper)
7.Amateur Newspapers from the American Antiquarian Society (Archives Unbound)
8.America in Protest: Records of Anti-Vietnam War Organizations, The Vietnam Veterans Against the War (Archives Unbound)
9.America’s Historical Imprints
10.American Civil War: Letters and Diaries
11.American Hebrew and Hebrew Messenger 1867-1922 (New York newspaper weekly)
12.American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society
Transylvania, Holland, Alsace, Poland, England, Germany, Lithuania and Texas all contain soil upon which ancestors dwelt; Farmers, beekeepers, shepherds, tailors, blacksmiths, salesmen, clergy, judges, and doctors.
As I research ancestral lines I discover some ancestors celebrated Hanuka, others Christmas, and still others the Green Corn Ceremony; Jewish, Methodist Episcopalian, Puritan, Christian Scientist, Mennonite, Choctaw, and Cherokee.
I shall never find the records for my distant ancestors who either came to this continent by crossing the Land Bridge, or originally emerged from the Nanih Waiya in Mississippi.
I delve through obituaries, microfilm depositories, internet databases; I interview relatives, and rummage through attics.
What I find doesn't alter who I am; It illuminates the divergent, yet still intersecting paths of my ancestors.
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