TransylvanianDutch: 2013

Monday, November 25, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: Death Certificate for Barney Newmark - 1956

Monday, November 11, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: James W Usrey - WW2 Submarine Veteran

Veterans Day, 2013

Caption for photo to left: Human Statue of Liberty. 18,000 Officers and Men at Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa. Colonel William Newman, Commanding. Colonel Rush S. Wells, Directing. Mole & Thomas, 09/1918. (source)

November 11 is Veterans Day in the US, and Remembrance Day in the UK, Canada, Australia, France and Belgium. In Poland it is celebrated as Independence Day.

Below are the names of ancestors, and their siblings, who I know served their nation's military, either in a time of war, or in a time of peace. I am including my Loyalist ancestors; their nation was Great Britain. Canada became their country after the war. I am including my Confederate ancestors too, despite their desire to form a separate nation.

Fifth Great Grandfathers
McGregory Van Every (1723-1786) Loyalist/Butler's Rangers
Michael Showers (1733-1796) Loyalist/Butler's Rangers

Fourth Great Grandfather
David Van Every (1757-1820) Loyalist/Butler's Rangers (served briefly as a Patriot in the NY militia)

Fifth Great Uncle
Benjamin Van Every (1759-1795) Loyalist/Butler's Rangers (served briefly as a Patriot in the NY militia)
William Van Every (1765-1832) Loyalist/Butler's Rangers
Peter Van Every (1771-bef 1816) Loyalist/Fifth Lincoln and Second York regiments (War of 1812)

Fourth Great Uncles
David Van Every Jr. (1782-1847) Loyalist/Second York regiment (War of 1812)
Michael Van Every (1790-?) Loyalist/Fifth Lincoln and Second York regiments (War of 1812)

Second Great Grandfather
Ebenezer Denyer (1828-1872) (Mexican-American War) (Confederate Army)

Third Great Uncles
Samuel Jennings Denyer (1822-1861) (Gonzales County Minute Men - Republic of Texas -1841)
Samuel T Hartley (1830-1920) (Confederate Army)

Great Grandfather
Samuel Deutsch (1861-1938) (Franz Josef's Austro-Hungarian Army)

Grandfathers
Melvin L Newmark (1912-1992), WWII
Martin J Deutsch (1907-1991), WWII

Great Uncles
Jerry Deutsch (1909-1950), WWII
Allen Deutsch (1914-1988), WWII
Harold Newmark (1915-2003), WWII
Mandell Newmark (1923-1945), WWII (Killed in Action)
Bernard Feinstin (1913-1968), WWII
Seymour Feinstein (1917-1999), WWII

Uncle
Stevan J Newmark (1942-1997) Army Reserves

Photographs of those who served in World War II

My grandfathers Melvin Newmark (1912-1992) and Martin Deutsch (1907-1991)

Allen Deutsch (1914-1988) and Maurice "Jerry" Deutsch (1909-1950).

Harold Newmark (1915-2003) and Mandell Newmark (1923-1945).

Bernard "Benny" Feinstein (1913-1968) and Seymour "Babe" Feinstein (1917-1999)

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Nov 9: International Day Against Fascism and anti-Semitism

Why was November 9th chosen as the date for the International Day Against Fascism and anti-Semitism?

November 9th, 1938. That was the date of Germany’s pogrom where they set fire to synagogues, and broke the glass on many Jewish businesses. At the time, they called it Night of the Broken Glass (or Kristallnacht). Some have argued we shouldn’t refer to it as Kristallnacht today, since that is the euphemism Hitler's government chose, and instead we should refer to it as what it was — a pogrom. Those who feel this way often call the day Pogromnacht. Others argue that over the decades the word has developed a connotation that cancels out any original euphemistic intent. Anyway, it is considered by many as the symbolic beginning of the Holocaust.

Last year's post delved into a few other events that have happened historically on November 9th, as well as into some numerology.

This year, I'll share a video of Billy Bragg covering Woody Guthrie's song: All You Fascists Bound to Lose.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Ancestry Updates their DNA Results

Ancestry last week updated the ethnicity breakdowns on their DNA tests. Some received their update a month ago in a small 'beta preview,' but I was one of the many who had to wait for them to roll it out to everyone.

Here are my original results, which I discussed back in August of 2012, followed by the new results.

Notes

There is no longer an 'uncertain' category, dashing all my hopes of being part alien.
While each percentage is actually within a range one sees after clicking for more information, using the approximate numbers given, my "European Jewish" percentage has increased from 53% to 67%, and my Eastern European percentage has dropped from 17% to 2%. This isn't really much of a change - just putting a different label meaning the same thing to me on the DNA. I am pretty certain all of the Eastern European DNA comes from my three Jewish grandparents. Ancestry now provides a detailed list of countries where the regional DNA has been found. For Eastern Europe they say: Primarily located in: Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also located in: Germany, Russia, Montenegro, Macedonia. I do have some German ancestry on my maternal grandmother's side, but I am still willing to bet that the 2% remaining "Europe East" is from one of my other three grandparents. I have known ancestors for these three from Poland, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
There are a few new regions that provided a little bit of a surprise:

Caucasus

Primarily located in: Iran, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Azerbijan
Also found in: Turkmenistan, Kuwait, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Palestine

The 5% could be entirely from my maternal grandfather's Transylvanian ancestry. Combined with the East Europe and European Jewish, that would bring the representation of those three grandparents up to 74%. As I noted in my original post last year, I know that the only thing I can be certain about is that my mother provided 50% of my DNA, and my father provided the other 50%. To assume I have exactly 25% of my DNA from each grandparent would be foolish. There are no countries, however, on that list that I currently have discovered in my maternal grandmother's ancestry, and Romania is the country that makes the most sense otherwise. (Of course, If I trace my Jewish ancestry back far enough, I'm sure all three branches reach Palestine.)

Iberian Peninsula

Primarily found in: Spain, Portugal
May also be found in: France, Morocco, Algeria, Italy

While the approximation is less than 1%, if I really have Iberian DNA, I wonder if it represents Spanish Jews who fled the inquisition in the late 15th century? I know my maternal grandmother had some ancestors from Alsace-Lorraine, so there is a chance this DNA comes from them.

Melanesia

Primarily located in: Papua New Guinea, Bougainville, Fiji, Aboriginal Australia
Also located in: Solomon Islands, New Caledonia

While less than 1%, if I really have some Melanesian DNA, I have no clue which line it comes from. British or Dutch ancestors who were among the original explorers of the Pacific Islands, met up with natives, and returned? Australia was discovered by the Dutch in 1606, and my 8th great grandfather, Myndert Fredericksen, was allegedly born in Holland in 1636. Nothing is known about Myndert's mother. The British didn't arrive in Australia until 1780 which I feel is a bit late to intersect with my known British ancestors, and European explorers don't appear to have made it to the islands in the Pacific until the late 18th century either.

Cousin Matches: The old results provided a caveat with the cousin matches that there were a high number of false-positives for European Jewish DNA. I am unable to find this caveat anymore with the new results. Does this mean that the update removed all the false-positives? I'm unsure, as for the most part I ignored any match for which I didn't see a shared surname, which was most of them. I still have a large number of matches. Over 5500 matches in total, including those that Ancestry indicates they have 'low confidence' in. I'm unsure if this is large compared to others.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Human Rights and Genealogy

Blog Action Day is a "free annual event, that has run since 2007. Its aim is to unite the world’s bloggers by posting about the same issue, on the same day, in order to raise awareness and trigger a positive global discussion around an important issue that impacts us all, raises awareness or even funds for not-for-profits associated to the theme issue."

I participated in 2008 when the theme was poverty.
I participated in 2010 when the theme was water.

This year the theme is Human Rights.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - US Declaration of Independence, 1776

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

[Image: Eleanor Roosevelt and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Spanish text.]

How have my ancestors interacted with Human Rights issues? Have they been the victims, or the perpetrator of human rights abuses? Have they fought for the human rights of others on political or martial battlefields? The answer, for me, is, 'yes.' All of the above.

I have written several posts in the past that are appropriate to re-share today.

On slave-owning ancestors

The Labors of Hercules - where I discuss my discovery that an ancestor owned a slave.
Following the Citations - where I possibly clear the name of an ancestor others alleged owned a slave

On the impact of the Holocaust on my relatives

Central Database of Shoah Victims Names and Central Database of Shoah Victim Names Part II - where I conducted some research on my Deutsch, Lichtman and Cantkert branches.

On those who fought

Every Veterans Day I share a list of those in my family who served in their nation's military - in many instances, such as World War II, fighting for the human rights of others.

I'm not proud to say a first cousin, ten times removed, is William Stoughton, the justice who presided over the Salem Witch Trials. However, through the same line, I am cousin to Samuel Huntington, who in addition to being a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and President of the Continental Congress from 1779-1781, is also said to have been an abolitionist.

More recent generations have been active in various civil rights movements. There are some who try to distinguish 'Civil Rights' from 'Human Rights,' but they can be viewed as a subset.

Teachers tend to present the ‘civil rights movement’ as a distinctly American event, from ‘Montgomery to Memphis,’ with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as its crowning moment. The term ‘civil rights’ limits our understanding, since it refers specifically to rights guaranteed by the Constitution or protected through legislation. It fails to encompass the cultural, social and economic goals of the struggle. Desegregation and voting rights were a means to achieve broader goals, such as overcoming social forces that limit freedom and opportunity. (source)

As I wrote five years ago, apathy is foreign to my genes. As I research my lineage I am proud to see ancestors and kin, near and far, who have and had an interest in the freedom of others.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: The Van Every Family in San Marcos - 1883-1885

Monday, September 23, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: Van Every's Restaurant and Boarding House - San Marcos, TX 1887-1888

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

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.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009. Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

As I mentioned last week, I found several references to the Van Every family in the San Marcos Free Press at Chronicling America. Unfortunately, not every reference included a first name, and there were at least three "Mr. and Mrs. Van Everys" in town at the time. Samuel and Margaret (Watkins) Van Every, Melvin and Margaret (Denyer) Van Every, and George and Caroline (Allen) Van Every. Samuel was my second great grandfather, and Melvin and Margaret were my great grandparents. George was another son of Samuel's. It appears one of the couples briefly operated a restaurant and boarding house.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Jewish Pirates: Ahoy Vey!

Repost with slight changes

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The Jewish New Year began two weeks ago.

What would be an appropriate topic, albeit perhaps a little afield from the subject of genealogy, for a blog post combining the two?

How about Jean Lafitte, the possibly Jewish Pirate?

[image - late 19th century artist's conception. [source]

The facts of his origins, and those of his demise as well, depend upon whether you believe the "Journal of Jean Lafitte" is a forgery or not. Discovered in the possession of a claimed descendant.

"My grandmother was a Spanish-Israelite. ... Grandmother told me repeatedly of the trials and tribulations her ancestors had endured at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. ... Grandmother's teachings ... inspired in me a hatred of the Spanish Crown and all the persecutions for which it was responsible -- not only against Jews." [source]

According to one account, Jean Lafitte was killed upon the General Santander, an armed private vessel in the service of Columbia, on Feb. 5, 1823, at the age of 41. In the Gulf of Honduras, the General Santander encountered two Spanish privateers or warships, and was mortally wounded in a brief battle with the vessels and buried at sea ...

According to Lafitte's Journal ( which many believe to be a hoax, claimed to have been found by a great grand son of Lafitte) written by Lafitte himself in 1851, he took the name John Lafflin and died in St. Louis in his 70s. [source]

As a St. Louisan, this last definitely interests me. Though I have been unable to determine where John Lafflin (whether or not in reality Jean Lafitte) is supposed to be buried. Mysteries tend to surround pirates, don't they?

However, while the origins of Jean Lafitte are controversial, in Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, author Edward Kritzler makes the claim for several others. Some of the earlier ones are said to have gone into the piracy business as revenge against the inquisition.

One such pirate was Moses Cohen Henriques, who helped plan one of history's largest heists against Spain. In 1628, Henriques set sail with Dutch West India Co. Admiral Piet Hein, whose own hatred of Spain was fueled by four years spent as a galley slave aboard a Spanish ship. Henriques and Hein boarded Spanish ships off Cuba and seized shipments of New World gold and silver worth in today's dollars about the same as Disney's total box office for "Dead Man's Chest." [source]

Of course, pirates tend to break a few commandments in their daily routine. Ends rarely justify the means, and revenge isn't generally considered a morally appropriate explanation for deeds. One wonders if the above Jewish pirates recited the Al Chet (confession of sins) yearly on Yom Kippur.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: Samuel Van Every's obituary - 1888

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

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.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009. Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

This weekend I returned to Chronicling America to see if there were any new finds since the last time I checked. The Library of Congress is continually adding newspapers, and I have found the collection useful for ancestors and kin who lived in small towns. I found that one recent addition was the San Marcos Free Press (1877-1892). My great grandparents, Melvin and Margaret (Denyer) Van Every, and my great-great grandfather Samuel Van Every (and his third wife Margaret) lived in San Marcos during those years. My great grandfather's older brother, George, and his family also lived there. Unfortunately, there are several references in the newspaper to "Mr. Van Every" without identifying which one. Below, however, I was able to identify who they meant, and the entries provide me with a cause of death for my great great grandfather.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Happy Labor Day

I've been busy lately with purchasing a home, packing, etc. I hope to return to writing for this blog soon. For the Labor Day holiday, I thought I'd reshare the below poems and music.

Most of us have ancestors for whom the words might ring true.

Evan Greer - Never Walk Across a Picket Line

Billy Bragg - There is Power in a Union

Dropkick Murphys - Worker's Song

Fellow Citizens - Carl Sandburg (1912)

I DRANK musty ale at the Illinois Athletic Club with

the millionaire manufacturer of Green River butter
one night

And his face had the shining light of an old-time Quaker,

he spoke of a beautiful daughter, and I knew he had
a peace and a happiness up his sleeve somewhere.

Then I heard Jim Kirch make a speech to the Advertising

Association on the trade resources of South America.

And the way he lighted a three-for-a-nickel stogie and

cocked it at an angle regardless of the manners of
our best people,

I knew he had a clutch on a real happiness even though

some of the reporters on his newspaper say he is
the living double of Jack London's Sea Wolf.

In the mayor's office the mayor himself told me he was

happy though it is a hard job to satisfy all the office-
seekers and eat all the dinners he is asked to eat.

Down in Gilpin Place, near Hull House, was a man with

his jaw wrapped for a bad toothache,

And he had it all over the butter millionaire, Jim Kirch

and the mayor when it came to happiness.

He is a maker of accordions and guitars and not only

makes them from start to finish, but plays them
after he makes them.

And he had a guitar of mahogany with a walnut bottom

he offered for seven dollars and a half if I wanted it,

And another just like it, only smaller, for six dollars,

though he never mentioned the price till I asked him,

And he stated the price in a sorry way, as though the

music and the make of an instrument count for a
million times more than the price in money.

I thought he had a real soul and knew a lot about God.

There was light in his eyes of one who has conquered

sorrow in so far as sorrow is conquerable or worth
conquering.

Anyway he is the only Chicago citizen I was jealous of

that day.

He played a dance they play in some parts of Italy

when the harvest of grapes is over and the wine
presses are ready for work.

A Pict Song - Rudyard Kipling (1917)

Rome never looks where she treads,
Always her heavy hooves fall,
On our stomachs, our hearts or our heads;
And Rome never heeds when we bawl.
Her sentries pass on—that is all,
And we gather behind them in hordes,
And plot to reconquer the Wall,
With only our tongues for our swords.

We are the Little Folk—we !
Too little to love or to hate.
Leave us alone and you'll see
How we can drag down the Great!
We are the worm in the wood !
We are the rot at the root!
We are the germ in the blood !
We are the thorn in the foot !

Mistletoe killing an oak—
Rats gnawing cables in two—
Moths making holes in a cloak—
How they must love what they do!
Yes,—and we Little Folk too,
We are as busy as they—
Working our works out of view—
Watch, and you'll see it some day!

No indeed ! We are not strong,
But we know Peoples that are.
Yes, and we'll guide them along,
To smash and destroy you in War!
We shall be slaves just the same ?
Yes, we have always been slaves;
But you—you will die of the shame,
And then we shall dance on your graves.

We are the Little Folk, we ! etc.

End of Summer Rituals
by John Newmark ©August 2001

On September Third
Millions of Americans
Will celebrate the End of Summer
By having a barbecue.
Few know where the name
Of this holiday came from.
To most, it seems ironic
Since none but a few work.
Labor Day now means
The changing color of trees,
The start of the school year,
Or just another day off.
Any connection to unions
Or the forbidden word, "Socialism,"
Is obscured by the distance
From the First of May.
If we're to return to the roots
Of this annual worker's holiday
We need to barbecue Phil Knight
Over a bonfire of shoes
Or observe how Bill Gates
Changes colors
As we remove his tongue
And he can't speak a Word.^®

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Blog Action Day 2013 - October 16th

Blog Action Day is a "free annual event, that has run since 2007. Its aim is to unite the world’s bloggers by posting about the same issue, on the same day, in order to raise awareness and trigger a positive global discussion around an important issue that impacts us all, raises awareness or even funds for not-for-profits associated to the theme issue."

I participated in 2008 when the theme was poverty.
I participated in 2010 when the theme was water.
This year the theme will be Human Rights.

There are some obvious intersections of Human Rights with Genealogy/Family History research.

Do we have ancestors or kin whose human rights were violated?
Do we have ancestors or kin who violated the human rights of others?
Do we have ancestors or kin who fought for human rights, in the military or on political battlefields?

I know I will be writing a post for October 16th this year. If you are interested in participating, visit the Blog Action Day website for more information.

[Image: Eleanor Roosevelt and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Spanish text.]

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Don't Jump to Conclusions

I was looking at the marriage license application for some distant cousins, and it appeared that the uncle of the groom signed the document as the father of the bride. The document, as many marriage applications do, testified that the couple were not first cousins. The bride wasn't of legal age, which is why the father had to sign his permission.

No, I'm not going to post images, or name names. The marriage took place in 1938, and while the bride and groom are deceased, I'm sure there are living relatives.

I am positive it isn't a coincidence of names. The father/uncle's 1969 obituary clearly identifies the bride as his daughter, and the groom's mother as his sister.

However, there are two pieces of evidence that suggest the marriage was not as it seems.

1) The bride was born in 1920. She doesn't appear in the 1930 census with the father who signed her marriage license application in 1938.

2) Her tombstone follows the Jewish custom of including the father's Hebrew given name. And the inscribed given name doesn't match.

So my current hypothesis is that at some point between 1930 and 1938 she was adopted. So the marriage wasn't one of genetic first cousins. I'm unsure how the law at the time treated relationship through adoption.

Unfortunately, her death was too recent for her death certificate to be public, and I am not a close enough relative to request a copy. So the easiest way for me to confirm this would be to contact family members. While we live in the same area, this isn't a branch of the family that my family has maintained contact with over the years, and I have only learned about them through research. Even if I have found or do find close living relatives, delicate questions such as these aren't the ideal ice-breakers.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The Fine Art of Record Destruction

If everything goes according to plan...and the puzzle pieces are coming together...my wife and I will be moving to a new home in a month.

It's been fifteen years since I last moved, and there has been a lot of accumulation. I have to decide what to keep and what not to keep. My wife isn't the pack-rat that I am, but she does appreciate nostalgia, and historical record keeping, so at least she isn't encouraging me to toss everything.

I don't think I need to save all my school papers. The collection of newspaper articles I wrote for a college newspaper, and a collection of English papers from my Senior year in high school should be sufficient. I don't want anyone reading anything earlier than that anyway. Except, perhaps, a poem I wrote when I was six, but since I scanned in the crumbling pages, I don't really need to save the original. (My handwriting has improved, a little, but not my artistic skills.)

I do wish I had a copy of several letters I've written over the years, but alas, that is the way things are with letters. The sender doesn't usually retain a copy. That is an advantage with email - if one doesn't delete them.

The photograph of some pigs I took at summer camp when I was 14 can be pitched, along with several other similar photographs. I'll try to follow the Practical Archivist's advice on what to keep, and what to toss.

I might scan some of those in, too. Scanning before pitching makes a lot of sense, however, if I do too much scanning, I'm less likely to complete the task in the month we have before closing...

Monday, July 22, 2013

Tu b'Av - A Day of Love

Tu b'Av is a relatively obscure Jewish holiday that falls on the fifteenth day of the month of Av (sundown Sunday, July 21 to sundown Monday, July 22 this year).

The fifteenth day of each month on the Hebrew calendar falls on a full moon, and the holiday was observed as a sort of fertility festival during the period of the Second Temple. After the destruction of the Second Temple, it was forgotten for the most part in the Diaspora, only to be revived in modern times as a Jewish alternative to Valentine's Day.

To A Lady
by Victor Hugo,
From Les Feuilles D'Automne

Child, were I king, I'd yield my royal rule,
     My chariot, sceptre, vassal-service due,
My crown, my porphyry-basined waters cool,
My fleets, whereto the sea is but a pool,
     For a glance from you!

Love, were I God, the earth and its heaving airs,
     Angels, the demons abject under me,
Vast chaos with its teeming womby lairs,
Time, space, all would I give--aye, upper spheres,
     For a kiss from thee!

translation by Thomas Hardy
photogravure by Goupil et Cie, from a drawing by Deveria, appears in a collection of Hugo's poetry published by Estes and Lauriat in the late 1800s.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: New Institute for Hebrew Children - December 13, 1900

Monday, July 8, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: Virginia Cruvant Zimmerman Sharp (1915-2013) - from Flower Girl to Great Grandmother

Friday, July 5, 2013

C-Span Video - For Genealogists

Back in 2010 C-Span uploaded almost its entire video library - covering 23 years, and they have added to it since then. All accessible online for free.

One could spend days (months, years) reliving history. C-Span isn't only Congressional Hearings, and I found several things that might be of interest to genealogists and family historians.

Genetic Testing and Privacy - Aug 31, 2009
Identification of an Unknown Soldier - June 30, 1998
Book Discussion of The Seven Daughters of Eve - July 19, 2001
Book Discussion on The Genealogy of Greek Mythology - Dec 11, 2003
Book Discussion on American Tapestry - June 19, 2012
Roots and Ancestry - Jan 15, 2000

It's also useful to search any database for family members. I have several close and distant relatives who have appeared on C-Span, at least briefly. At least one cousin appears in over a dozen separate programs. (He is a political pundit, and a former presidential campaign advisor, so it's not surprising.) While it is free to watch the videos online, C-Span does charge a minimal download fee. It appears to be $0.99 for most hour-length videos.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day!

The New Colossus
Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

A poem I wrote a few years back: A Toast to the First and the Fourth of July

Monday, July 1, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: A Concert in Carr Park - August 10, 1902

Friday, June 28, 2013

Ancestry New Search and Phonetic Searches

It had been awhile since I used Ancestry's "New Search" so since "Old Search" is going to disappear soon, I started to explore a bit.

One of the first things I saw briefly got me excited. In addition to the standard Soundex, they offered a 'phonetic' search. So I thought I would try it out with the one surname of mine that has several different phonetic variations, but for which I feel Soundex is a complete failure. Soundex may have been a useful algorithm when it was invented, in 1918, but better algorithms have to be possible by now. Beyond entering the surname, I selected no other restrictions:

Here were the results:

Over three million hits for phonetic variations of Cruvant? Really? This is what I expect from Soundex. Other surnames that share the same Soundex code as Cruvant include: Carpenter and Corbin. These surnames are not close to a phonetic match to Cruvant, but Soundex thinks they are. It was clear to me that whatever algorithm Ancestry was using for 'phonetic' was no better than Soundex. I started browsing through the screens to see when the non-matching names would start.

A little bit less than 300 matches for Cruvant, and over three million other surnames, none of which are likely the variations I would hope for: Kruvant, Kroovant, Cruvand, and Kruvand. There should be no reason the first two shouldn't come up with any algorithm coded for English phonetics. The latter two would be nice, but I would understand why they got missed.

When I found Ancestry's explanation of Phonetic Variations, I understood:

"There are other name matching algorithms that we can use to help identify records to consider for your results. If you choose phonetic we will identify appropriate algorithms that apply to specific data collections and if a record has one of those names, we will use it as a possible record for your results set. For example, if you are prioritizing Jewish Collections first, we would choose the Daitch-Mokotoff phonetic algorithm."

In other words: We know of other algorithms. We aren't going to tell you what those algorithms are except for one we randomly choose for an example. There may be others. There may not be. We're not going to tell you. You can't select to use any of these algorithms instead of Soundex. If we decide an algorithm might be appropriate for a particular collection of records, we might use it. We might not. We probably won't even tell you when we do. Selecting 'Phonetic' is really the same as selecting 'Soundex' unless we decide it isn't going to be for a particular search, and we get to decide, you don't. But if selecting 'Phonetic' makes you feel good, go ahead. That's what we're here for, to convince you to click on checkboxes that 9 times out of 10 won't do anything.

Note: I did conduct a Phonetic search on a collection of Jewish records, and a search on the surname "Kruvant" turned up no results when there were "Cruvant" records. See images below.

According to this Daitch-Mokotoff converter they have matching codes. Which means Ancestry chose not to use this algorithm for that search. What a shame. The one algorithm they do mention, and a collection they imply they might use it for, and they didn't.

(Cruvant, Kruvant, Cruvand, Kruvand, and Kroovant all have the same Daitch-Mokotoff code - 597630. For my own personal research, I would love to use this algorithm with every database at Ancestry. Ancestry claims that they have the algorithm coded into their software. Why can't I use it?)

I realize this has nothing to do with the difference between Old Search and New Search, since Old Search doesn't provide you with the 'phonetic' checkbox. I suspect someone might be able to point me to a collection where the Daitch-Mokotoff algorithm is used, but that's not the point.

Genealogical thoughts on the weekly Torah portion

In the Jewish tradition, the Torah (aka “The Pentateuch” or “The Five Books of Moses”) is divided into weekly readings. The same passage is read every year at the same time on the Hebrew calendar. Each reading is referred to by the first unique Hebrew word in the passage. This week’s passage, Pinchas, covers Numbers 25:10-30:1, and there are two chapters with obvious genealogical tie-ins. I also feel one of these two chapters is doubly meaningful for this week.

Chapter 26:
1 the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,
2 "Take a census of the whole Israelite community from the age of twenty years up, by their ancestral houses, all Israelites able to bear arms."

This is the second census taken in the Book of Numbers. The first was taken in Chapter One, at the start of the 40 years wandering in the desert. There were 603,550 enumerated. The count in Chapter 26 yields 601,730. A decrease. We are told only three individuals remain from the original census: Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. Naturally, we aren't given a complete transcription of either census (wouldn't that be wonderful?), but a summary, with only a few individuals highlighted. We have to rely on the accuracy of the source for the total figures.

Census records are of great use to genealogists, and where they don't exist, you will hear many complain.

Chapter 27
1 The daughters of Zelophehad…came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
2 They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and they said,
3 "Our father died in the wilderness… and he has left no sons.
4 Let not our father's name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father's kinsmen
5 Moses brought their case before the Lord.
6 And the Lord said to Moses,
7 "The plea of Zelophehad's daughters is just: you should give them a hereditary holding among their father's kinsmen; transfer their father's share to them.

Probate and land records are also very useful for genealogists.

However, perhaps the biggest take-away I get from this passage this week doesn't have anything to do with genealogy. Contrary to some opinion, the law isn't immutable. This biblical passage seems to be telling us: If you feel the law is treating you unfairly, take your case to the proper authorities (be it G-d or the Courts), and explain to them how you are being treated unfairly. If your cause is just (and the time is right) they will listen. The law can change.

Of course, I mentioned back in March, that Politics and Religion can't be separated from genealogy.

Genealogy and Tech: Google and Ancestry

Google Reader disappears on Monday

As they announced back in March the Google Reader app will be retired on July 1st. At the time I said I was going to try NetVibes and TheOldReader and choose the one I liked better. I chose TheOldReader very quickly. I was even very impressed when TheOldReader discovered where some old blogs had gone and moved to.

I've seen an uptick the past few days in people asking for suggestions. Not too surprising. I'm usually in the group that waits to the last minute. Many people are recommending Feedly. However, Feedly still doesn't have a version for Internet Explorer. As I said back in March, I hate IE, but I am restricted to using it for a good portion of my time. I have also heard some complaints that Feedly doesn't have a 'search' function. TheOldReader does have a search function. On the other hand, TheOldReader doesn't have a mobile app. This isn't an issue for me, as I don't like reading blog entries on my iphone. I prefer the larger screen.

Correction: TheOldReader has opened up their API and there is an iPhone/iPad mobile app that works with it. Feeddler. I will need to test it out, even though I think I will still prefer using a computer screen.

While there are other options, depending upon your OS and Browser needs, TheOldReader and Feedly seem to be the favorites.

Ancestry

For quite awhile Ancestry.com has been maintaining two separate search engines, one they called New Search, and the other Old Search. They announced yesterday that they are going to stop doing that. But unlike Coca Cola, they aren't retiring New Search.

An email they sent out yesterday to Old Search users:

Dear John, [I suspect the name was different on different emails]

Ancestry.com is continuing our efforts to improve the search experience across Ancestry.com and will be making changes to our search functionality in the upcoming months. Some features will be added and some will be discontinued. As part of the 2% of our subscribers that use the old search function on the site, we know that you are passionate about the search experience on Ancestry.com and we are reaching out to you to get input on potential improvements. We hope you will take the opportunity to share your insights and feedback on our plans.

To identify which areas of the experience we should focus on this year, we have drawn on customer input, usage data, usage patterns and our old search function for inspiration. From all of that, we are looking at making your time on Ancestry.com more productive by improving these areas of the search experience in 2013:

More relevant search results with the best results at the top

Easier refining and control of your search results

Keeping a better history of the work you have done

Publishing more new content and more corrections to existing content

Performance improvements to return results faster

As we begin to make these improvements, we will no longer maintain two separate search systems for the site. Maintaining two systems limits the resources we can use to make improvements and increases the complexity of every improvement we try to make. Additionally, continuing to maintain the two systems limits our ability to direct more investment into other areas like adding more record collections and correcting existing collections.Based on that, as a part of the work this year we will be bringing together the two search experiences into a single search experience on Ancestry.com. We hope to bring forward the best features of both the old and new search systems into the consolidated experience to facilitate the transition for our users and to improve the overall search experience. We expect to discontinue the old search function as a separate experience within the next 6 months.As a user of the old search feature, we wanted to give you advance notice and let you influence the changes we are making in search. Please take this survey to share your feedback and ideas on key features to improve.Best regards,

The Ancestry.com Product Team

As a former computer programmer, their explanation makes perfect sense, and I am surprised both search options lasted as long as they did.

If they do combine New Search with the best 'features' of Old Search, I think many of the 2% will be happy. I find the layout of the search results in New Search less appealing, and more difficult to navigate. There are complaints that wildcard searches more often return error messages on New Search, and when they do work, yield less complete results than Old Search. As a former computer programmer I will state, working correctly isn't a 'feature' it's a 'requirement.' But if Old Search ceases to exist, there won't be a way for people to easily discover the results are incomplete.

Other Commentary on the Upcoming Retirement of Old Search

CowHampshire: Ancestry.com - Why is a Good Idea Going the Way of the Flash Mob
Genea-Musings: Ancestry.com to Retire "Old Search" Capability
West in New England: Confession of a Genealogical Fuddyduddy Revisited
Begin with 'Craft': Time to Suck it Up and Say 'Goodbye' to Old Search
GeneaBloggers: Ancestry.com Changes Search F unctionality and Removes Old Search
GenealogyInsider: Ancestry.com's 2% Speak Up
British GENES: Ancestry's Old Search to Go in Six Months
Gene Notes: I'm a 2 Percenter
Reflections from the Fence: The 2 % Rant, NOT Feeling Special, And After All It Is ALL About ME!
Nutfield Genealogy: Flash Blog Mob
Genea-Musings: Comparing "Old Search" and "New Search" Results at Ancestry.com

Monday, June 24, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: An August Night in the Slums - 1896 - St. Louis

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

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.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009. Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

This week I share a transcription of a newspaper article I found at NewspaperArchive. No relatives are mentioned, but the setting is a neighborhood I've written about in the past, and in which several of my paternal ancestors lived at the turn of the 19th century. Finding out how the neighbors of my ancestors lived gives me an idea how my ancestors might have lived. Those who have read my earlier posts on the neighborhood know, it's not a pretty picture.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Lifespan Statistics Revisited, Again

Using my genealogy software, I first generated a lifespan report from six different family databases back in 2008 - Age is Relative, There is a lot of different data contained in the report, as can be seen in the original post, however for this post I am going to focus on average lifespan.

2008 Statistics

Note: The numbers of individuals given are for the entire database, and includes those for whom both birth and death aren't known. The average lifespans are calculated on a smaller number of individuals.

Full Database
695 males: Avg lifespan: 61
603 females: Avg lifespan: 62

"Direct Ancestors" Only
71 males: Avg lifespan: 67
58 females: Avg lifespan: 68

Descendants of Israel David Neimark (died approx 1890)
55 males: Avg lifespan: 66
53 females: Avg lifespan: 74

Descendants of Me’er Kruvant (born before 1795)
116 males: Avg lifespan: 68
110 females: Avg lifespan: 70

Descendants of William Denyer (1794-1848)
121 males: Avg lifespan: 53
103 females: Avg lifespan: 61

Descendants of Andrew Van Every (1798-1873)
93 males: Avg lifespan: 49
82 females: Avg lifespan: 48

For each of the last four databases, the forebear is a 3rd great grandfather, so they are roughly equivalent in generation. I wondered at the causes of the apparent lower lifespans for my Denyer and Van Every lines. One possible cause included rural vs urban living. Another possible cause included sampling size. Did I just not have enough data? Perhaps, over time, as the database grew, the average lifespans for the different family branches would even out.

2009 Statistics

In 2009, my database had grown, so I generated some updated statistics in Database Size and Lifespan Revisited for the full database, and for one family in particular.

Full Database
1030 males: Avg lifespan: 60
921 females: Avg lifespan: 62

Kruvant Descendants (Me'er and his two brothers)
368 males: Avg lifespan: 58
367 females: Avg lifespan: 62

I discussed the dramatic drop in lifespan for the Kruvant family. It wasn't unsuspected, as I had just entered a large Register I had received from a cousin researcher including many Lithuanian cousins who 'died' in rather graphic ways between 1939-1942. Though one might point out that while the lifespan for that family dropped significantly, the result was pretty close to the full database. Was this really due entirely to the Holocaust, or did the simple growth of data play a role?

Current Statistics

I didn't consider this possibility back in 2009, but as my database has grown even more since then, I thought I would return to this topic, and I realized I needed to address it.

The only way to do that was to generate a separate Kruvant database, run the statistics report, remove from that database every victim of the Holocaust, and then run the statistics report again. While I was just deleting records, and in a database I had generated only for this purpose, the process was a little disturbing, as I clicked on names, and the software asked if I was sure I wanted to delete the individuals.

Full Kruvant Line
380 males: Avg lifespan: 58
374 females: Avg lifespan: 63

Edited Kruvant Line
355 males: Avg lifespan: 63
351 females: Avg lifespan: 69

It appears the Holocaust accounted for almost all of the drop in the lifespan for Kruvant females, but it was only part of the equation for the males.

Below are the current results for several other databases.

Full Database:
1471 males: Avg lifespan: 61
1341 females: Avg lifespan: 63

Ancestors:
79 males: Avg lifespan: 67
78 female: Avg lifespan: 67

Deutsch Line:
95 males: Avg lifespan: 66
80 females: Avg lifespan: 75

Denyer Line:
188 males: Avg lifespan: 57
180 females: Avg lifespan: 62

Van Every Line:
158 males: Avg lifespan: 53
134 females: Avg lifespan: 53

Newmark Line
114 males: Avg lifespan: 69
129 female: Avg lifespan: 73

Dudelczak Line
152 males: Avg lifespan: 63
146 females: Avg lifespan: 73

The average male lifespan for the Denyer descendants has improved with added data, whereas the average female lifespan hasn't by much. The averages for my Van Every line have also improved, but only slightly. While the data so far is sparse, my mother's paternal Deutsch family appears to be among the longer-lived in my tree.

Some people might wonder at why my full database hasn't grown more in six years of research. My database could be huge, especially on my maternal line, if I added everything I found from Ancestry's Public Trees, WorldConnect, etc. Early on in my research I found at WorldConnect a 6795 individual database containing every individual from the genealogy: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Henry Rosenberger of Franconia, Montgomery Co., Pa, Rev. A.J. Fretz, 1906. I downloaded the database, but I didn't merge it with my own. (Even if I trust Fretz's research, I have no way to know if the person who entered the data copied the data correctly from the book.) It would certainly have impacted my statistics greatly if I had:

Rosenberger Descent
3435 male: Avg lifespan: 33
3360 female: Avg lifespan: 32

I believe the low figures are due mostly to a very high infant mortality rate.

For some perspective I looked at two more databases.

First, I looked at my wife's database. I've only begun researching, and haven't entered all the data from a Register someone else produced. However, so far, it seems the women have a significantly higher lifespan than the men in her family.

Jen’s family
175 males: Avg lifespan: 59
165 females: Avg lifespan: 67

For another perspective, I looked at the Royal database provided with my genealogical software program, iFamily. The data goes back to the middle ages on some lines, so one would expect a lower average lifespan, which is the case.

Royal Database
1686 males: Avg lifespan: 49
1322 females: Avg lifespan: 52

In summary

Regardless of the reasons, whether they may be based on geography, time, genetics, or something else, different families have different average lifespans. The women in my separate family databases seem to have longer lifespans, which is what I have been told is the case in general. However, in my full database, the gender difference is much less. This makes me wonder if there are some branches of my family where the stats are reversed.

Database	Size (M/F)	Lifespan (M/F)
Full	695/603 1030/921 1471/1341	61/62 62/63 61/63
Ancestors	71/58 79/78	67/68 67/67
Newmark	55/53 114/129	66/74 69/73
Kruvant	116/110 368/367 380/374 355/351*	68/70 58/62 58/63 63/69*
Dudelczak	152/146	63/73
Deutsch	95/80	66/75
Denyer	121/103 188/180	53/61 57/62
Van Every	93/82 158/134	49/48 53/53
Jen’s Family	175/165	59/67
Rosenberger	3435/3360	33/32
Royal	1686/1322	49/52

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