Amanuensis Monday: Biography of Martin Deutsch - 1963

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.

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Martin Deutsch, bio

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.

 

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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.

My great grandfather’s birth record

A few years ago I found the below “birth record” on Ancestry. It is for my great grandfather. However, Ancestry doesn’t have the images, and FamilySearch has the images, but no index. 

The problem with browsing the images is I’m pretty certain this isn’t a birth record. The title of the database is Hungary Civil Registration 1895-1973. 1861 is not in that range. However my great grandparents were married in the late 1890s. The marriage records do provide dates of birth, places of birth, and parent names. I think Ancestry created a birth record from a marriage record. Why they don’t have the marriage record in their database I’m uncertain. It’s possible the record page was damaged in some fashion and the bride’s information was not legible. It’s supposition until I find the record. 

So I browse the marriage records, right? They’re divided by location, naturally. I did look at all the Vitka marriage records. I can’t read the Hungarian, but it’s not too difficult looking for the names on each document. The record wasn’t there, so I suspect my great grandparents were not married in Vitka. So what town were they married in?

I don’t know. That’s the problem. And there are a lot of towns in the database.

My great grandmother was born in Margitta. She doesn’t turn up in the Ancestry search, and there are no Margitta records in the FamilySearch database. I suspect they were married in some town nearby one of their births. 

I did search for the birth records of my grandfather and his siblings - without success. I have a copy of my grandfather’s birth certificate which he had in his records. But I don’t have that for his siblings. I also searched for the record of death for one of his siblings. Browsing through the images I couldn’t find the town of Nagyalmas where they were born. Those records may not have survived. 

It would be really nice if FamilySearch could index this database. 

Or I have a lot of records to browse through. 

Amanuensis Monday: The Petition for Naturalization of Herman Deutsch - 1927

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.

Today I transcribe a Petition for Naturalization completed by Herman Deutsch, a first cousin of my maternal grandfather, Martin Deutsch.

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United States of America
PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION

To the Honorable the District Court of the United States, Northern District of Illinois:

The petition of Herman Deutsch, hereby filed, respectfully showeth:

First: My place of residence is 1251 Irving Ave., Chicago, Illinois.

Second: My occupation is Upholsterer.

Third. I was born on the 7th day of April, anno Domini 1895, at Bucium, Roumania.

Fourth. I emigrated to the United States from Liverpool, England, on or about the 1st day of March
anno Domini 1921, and arrived in the United States at the port of New York, on the 11th day of March anno Domini 1921 on the vessel Imperator.

Fifth. I declared my intention to become a citizen of the United States on the 29th day of May, anno Domini 1922 at Chicago, Ill. In the Superior Court of Cook County.

Sixth. I am married. My wife’s name is Dora; she was born on the 1st day of May, anno Domini 1893 At Roumania, and now resides at with me, Chicago, Illinois. I have 5 children, and the name, date and place of birth, and place of residence of each of said children is as follows:

Sarah, born 29th July 1914 in Roumania
Sollie, born 22nd June 1916 “
Pearl, born 2nd June 1921 Chicago
Albert, born 31st December 1922 “
Lillian, born 21st May 1924 “
Reside in Chicago, Ill

Seventh. ….. renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to Ferdinand I, King of Roumania, of whom at this time I am a subject, and it is my intention to reside permanently in the United States

Eighth. I am able to speak the English language

Ninth. I have resided continuously in the United States of America for the term of five years at least immediately preceding the date of this petition, to wit, since the 11th day of March, anno Domini, 1921, and in the State of Illinois, continuously next preceding the date of this petition, since the 13 day of March, anno Domini 1921, being a residence within this State of at least one year next preceding the date of this petition.

Tenth. I have not heretofore made petition for citizenship at any court.

Signature – Herman Deutsch

Declaration of Intention # 14316 and Certificate of Arrival from Department of Labor filed this 21st day of April, 1927.

Affidavits of Petitioner and Witnesses

Witnesses:
Abraham Glick, occupation Tailor, resideing at 1452 Western Ave., Chicago Illinois
And Joseph Schwartzman, occupation Unemployed, residing at 1215 Irving Ave., Chicago Illinois

Subscribed and sworn to before me by the above named petitioner and witnesses in the offices of the Clerk of said Court at Chicago, Ill, this 21st day of April, anno Domini 1927

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Notes:

1. Starting in 1922 women had to start filling for Naturalization separately from the husbands, so there is a corresponding petition filled out for Dora (Diamant) Deutsch dated in 1929.

2. The passenger manifest indicates Herman's brother, Joseph, as the contact in America to which they were headed. Until finding the manifest, I wasn't positive Herman was Joseph's brother. I knew he was related, and my grandfather and siblings recalled him as the brother of Joseph in a tape recording they made in the 1970s, but memories of family relationships can be imprecise at times. But due to the petition and manifest I can definitively place him in the tree.

3. Bucium is also the birthplace of my great grandfather, Samuel Deutsch. Though it was part of Hungary at the time of the births for both Samuel and Herman. The border-changing is part of the reason I stick with "Transylvanian" when describing that part of my ancestry.

4. For some reason Sollie is listed on the Passenger Manifest as Bela, and identified as a daughter. I suspect it was a clerical error in reading the information from their Passport Book. I have the passport book my great grandfather's family traveled under in 1913, and I'm sure it was similar. I suspect they would show the book to the ship authorities, who would then transcribe the information.

5. I do not yet know if the witnesses are relatives or friends.

Amanuensis Monday: Birth Record for Salamon Deutsch - Dec 1861

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.

Below I transcribe a transcription from a record at Ancestry.com. No image is available. The source information says it is from FamilySearch, but the record isn't there, either. At least, not yet.

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Name: Salamon Deutsch
Gender: Male
Event Type: Szulettek (Birth)
Birth Date: dec. 1861
Birth Place: Vitka, Szabolcs, Hungary
Father: Abraham Deutsch
Mother: Sara

Source Information: Ancestry.com. Hungary, Civil Registration, 1895-1978 (database on-line), Provo, UT, USA. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Original data: Hungary, Civil Registration, 1895-1980. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

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Notes:

1) The database is labeled with the years 1895-1978. The year of birth is 1861. Without seeing the record, it is uncertain what record it is taken from. I am curious whether it might be a marriage record, which could have contained the names of his parents, and birth information, from which Ancestry created a 'birth record'.

2) This is my great grandfather. The date of birth matches family records, as do the names of his parents. It is nice to have documentation to back up their names. It's a shame the maiden name for the mother isn't indicated. We believe it was Weiss. My grandfather's application for a certificate of citizenship indicated his father was born in Vitka, so this is confirmed as well.

3) The existence of these records gives me hope that I may be able to break down some brick walls in my Transylvanian ancestry.

Amanuensis Monday: The Wedding of Wallace Kamerman and Lillian Rosenblatt - 1952

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.

This week I look at a newspaper article that mentions the wedding of Wallace Kamerman (1921-1986) and Lillian Rosenblatt (1926-1960). Wallace Kamerman was the son of my grandfather's sister, Jean (Deutsch) Kamerman.

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Mr and Mrs Allen Deutsch attended the wedding Sunday June 29 of the former’s nephew Wallace Kameran of Chicago to Lillian Rosenblatt librarian of Rogers Park Public library On Tuesday July 1 Mr and Mrs Deutsch entertained a brother and two daughters Martin Deutsch and __ and __ of St Louis Mo Another brother Edward Kameran of Fresno Calif who was here for the wedding visited Mr and Mrs Deutsch for several days before returning west Mrs Deutsch and two children expect to leave about July 14 for Oakland Calif stopping enroute in St Louis Mo to pick up her two nieces __ and __ Deutsch who will accompany her and the children to the coast.

Suburbanite Economist – July 9 1952, p.9.

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Notes:

1. There is no punctuation in the article, so I haven't added it. Though the capitalization is helpful.
2. The article misspelled the Kamerman surname. However, my grandfather had a brother, Edward, who changed his surname from 'Deutsch' to 'Kameran.' Edward was a journalist in Chicago, and while I don't believe he wrote for the Suburbanite Economist, that might explain the error. I discovered this article searching for the surnames Deutsch and Kameran in conjunction with each other.
3. Martin Deutsch was my grandfather. As is my custom, I don't include the names of living individuals.

Amanuensis Monday: The Wedding of Allen Deutsch and Jean Colyar - 1943

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.

This week I look at a newspaper article on the wedding of a great uncle, Allen Deutsch.

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Oakland Tribune, Thursday, Oct 28, 1943, page 21

FORT ORD CHAPEL SCENE OF DEUTSCH’S NUPTIAL RITES

The Post Chapel at Fort Ord was the scene of a recent military wedding, when Lieut. Jean Dian Colyar, Army Nurse Corps, and Lieut. Allen Cavalry Wilson Deutsch, United States Army, were married in the presence of relatives and friends. Maj. Ira Freeman, post chaplain, read the service.

Cpl. William V. Fitzpatrick presided at the organ, playing the wedding march. Fall flowers and many candles were used in the appointments of the chapel.

The bride did not wear a corsage but carried the service brown Testament.

Her maid of honor, Lieut. Florence Plant, A.N.C., carried the white Testament of the nurses. Lieut. Perley J. Criswold, United States Army, was best man for Lieutenant Deutsch.

The attractive bride was well-known in social and professional circles in Oakland. She is a graduate of Oakland High School and attended San Francisco State College. She was graduated from Providence College of Nursing, class of 1940, receiving her R.N. from the California State Board the same year. She is the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Colyar of Oakland and her brother is Ensign Robert Colyar, U.S.N.R., now stationed at the Naval Air Station at Lambert Field, St. Louis, Mo.

The benedict, scion of a Chicago family, is the son of Mrs. And the late Samuel F. Deutsch. He is a brother of Major Martin Deutsch of Clayton, Mo., now with the armed forces in North Africa; of Dr. Gerald Deutsch of Minneapolis, Minn.; and of Edward Deutsch and of Theodore Deutsch of Chicago. His sisters are Mrs. Herman Freed and Mrs. Jean Kameran of Chicago.

The brief honeymoon was spent on the Monterey Peninsula. The couple has resumed their respective duties at the Ford Ord Army Post.

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Notes:

1. While the article is filled with wonderful information for a family historian, the most common piece of information one expects to find in a wedding announcement is missing. The date. It's only stated that it was 'recent' and a brief honeymoon of indeterminate length has already occurred.

2. Allen was 29 years old. The term 'benedict' is a reference to the character Benedick from the Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing, and means a newly married long-time bachelor. My grandfather was also 29 when he married my grandmother in 1936.

Amanuensis Monday: Letter from Ted to Martin - Feb 7, 1943 - Of War and Citizenship

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.  (Recently the posts have been sporadic, but for a few years it was weekly.) 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 and share their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

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This week I transcribe a letter my great uncle, Ted, sent to his brother, my maternal grandfather, Martin, while Martin was stationed in Africa during World War II. Ted had both a law practice and worked at a Chicago newspaper. I haven't edited any of the typographical errors. In the days of mechanical typewriters if you made a mistake, you kept on typing, as the only other option was to start over. You could backspace and X out, but I'm sure Ted didn't feel a need to do so when he was typing a letter to his brother.

CHICAGO, ILL.
FEB 7, 1943.

DEAR MARTIN:

It’s just 5 o’clock in the morning here and everything is quiet so having nothing to do I thought it would be a good idea to sit down and linotype a few lines. I am on what they call the “dog watch” on the sheet and only get busy when things happen. Ihave been “watching” now for a year and a half and nothing has yet happened on the shift.

Your letter came in vedy handily and I felt relieved as I thought maybe you have forgotten about me. The inclosed post card was a big bust. Now I know what they meant by the second front in Africa. I have shown it to many of my friends and they sure got a kick out of it.

Things are going along smoothly at home. Too smoothly infact for there isn’t many of us at home now. Mother lives mostly by herself as only Jean and Lee are stying with her and Jean Works while Lee goes to high school. Wally is now in the service at Fort Sheridan and Ed is also in being stationed in Fort Beale California. He is with a medical detachment. You may think California is a swell place for him to be but no so from the letters a get from him. He says its been raining there ever since Nov. 30 the day he got there and now its nothing but a mud hole. Betwixt the rain and his sore feet he is having one hell of a time. His last letter said the Major gave him a polite hint to apply for a discharge as he is over 38 years and the outfit could move along much faster without him. I sent him a written request from the employer and am now waiting for him to be discharge.

Allen was stationed in Missouri for awhile and he went to see Myrtle while he was there. He said she was angry with me for not writing her. If she’d know all the letters I am writing every week she’d probably forgive me. I have to do all the family correspondence as Frances is not so well and does not write to any one. Her school keeps her very busy and saps all her strength. I thing she would be much better off if she’d quit and stay home and raise a family. But she won’t hear of it.

Today I met Mother and went with her to the Customs house where she made proof of her citizen ship and received a derivative citizenship certificate. Boy was she happy. I saw Myrtle Howell the other day she has two girls of her own and told me that Emil her brother who is a captain became the father of twins. What a man!

The law business has kept up well for me. Three men from our office are in the Navy and left me to take care of all their business. In January after 15 years of practice I took in the fabulous sum of $1,200. I hope I don’t have to wait another 15 years to duplicate it. Well, it’s getting toward quitting time. The phone (damn it) is ringing somebody must have had a baby or something so I’ll say thirty and close.

TED

Notes:

1) I previously transcribed a letter Ted wrote a few weeks later, on March 8th, 1943. At that time he said he'd keep writing when he found the time, but these are the only two surviving letters that he wrote my grandfather during the war.

2) We don't have the postcard my grandfather sent Ted, but from the obvious puns Ted uses, it's not difficult to get a rough idea.

3) Allen and Ed are additional brothers of my grandfather, and Jean is a sister. Wally is Jean's son, and Lee a daughter. Myrtle is Martin's wife, and Frances is Ted's wife. I'm unsure who Myrtle and Emil Howell are.

4) My great grandfather, Samuel/Salomon Deutsch, filed his Petition for Naturalization in 1921.

Amanuensis Monday: July 4, 1943 - Africa

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.  (Recently the posts have been sporadic, but for a few years it was weekly.) 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 and share their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

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This week I transcribe a letter my maternal grandfather sent home while he was stationed in Africa during World War II.

APO 606
July 6, 1943

Dear Sweetheart:

It had been raining very heavily for almost a week here until today, and finally the sun has come out in all its glory. Maybe it was the rain that caused it, the muggy weather, but my spirits have been just about as low as the clouds, which were touching the ground. And when I’m that way I just don’t care to write. You may have noticed an absence of mail for several days, and lack of enthusiasm, which you’ve noted before. I write in circles and don’t make sense. In reading you can tell that I’m very impatient to get to the bottom of the page and then stop. I don’t feel more like writing right now, but I will carry on.

We had a very good program on for the 4th of July but the rain cancelled most of the things planned. The program was put off until the 5th because of rain, but on the 5th it was no better. However, I went to the movie in the evening and stayed through the rain with hundreds of others. We saw Robert Taylor in some Navy picture the name of which I don’t know. The weather just seemed to fit with the picture because it showed a lot of rough weather and rain on the seas and you could get the effect very noticeably. I had my slicker on this time and thought I was well protected. A puddle or pool of water collected in my lap on the slicker and when I moved once it went through and made me all wet underneath, so that it wasn’t so comfortable after that.

Just prior to the movie I was in a gathering celebrating the birth of a new star, Col. Earl Hoag was just promoted from Executive Officer to Commanding General AMEW. Gen. Fitzgerald, our previous commanding officer, has gone back to the States on a new assignment. Gen. Hoag is well-liked and seems to have things on the ball. The CG AMEW is also CG of USAFICA of which I’m a member, as you know.

Christie, my roommate, had a mishap that was very funny. One evening a few days ago, he saw me leave the room and thought I went into the washroom adjoining. A few minutes later, after undressing, he went into the washroom to take a shower, and he saw me washing my face, bending over the washbowl. He thought he was being funny and gave a hard kick on the rear end, and when “I” straightened out and looked at him, he was very much surprised to find that it wasn’t I but Col. Sampey the Inspector General. Christie hardly knows Col. Sampey and he’s very much embarrassed, to say the least. After all, a major can’t go around kicking inspector generals in the rear end and get away with it without some embarrassment. Col. Sampey took it good naturedly and said he merely owes one to Christie.

Your letter of June 30th was handed to me just this minute. I’m writing this at the office at 1645 GMT.
I think too that you’re fortunate in having such good neighbors as the Franeys. I get a letter from Frank occasionally, but I put off responding as I can’t make any palaver after such a long absence. However, I finally got around to sending him a short letter.

Thanks very much for your efforts in getting a wallet for me. I’ll just hang on to the one I have until you send a new one. You probably can have it sent as official mail if it’s given by the I in C.
I’m glad to hear that ___ is interested in skating. She’ll probably learn to skate expertly by the time I get back. I hope she doesn’t get scuffed up too much. Youngsters learning to skate usually wear out their clothes very quickly, so you’ll no doubt have a job there. Ernie Pyle stayed around here quite a while and I had meals with him frequently. He certainly deserves that writeup that Time gave him. Everyone thinks he’s #1.

I have to mail this right away to get it into our outgoing pouch for the day. Most Love.

Martin

Notes:

1) I continue my habit of editing out the names of living individuals. Though depending upon their age at the time, it is possible some of his fellow servicemen are still alive.
2) During the war, those in the service were often not allowed to include their location in letters home -- they were only allowed to indicate their Army Post Office. The identification of those post offices has since been released. APO 606 was Accra, Gold Coast. [Source: Numerical Listing of APOs January 1942-November 1947 - I originally found this pdf at the 7th Armored Division website]
3) AMEW – Africa Middle East Wing
4) USAFICA – United States Armed Forces in Central Africa
5) I in C – Inspector in Charge (I think)
6) My grandfather doesn't provide a lot of identifying information for the film he saw, and I don’t know how soon films were shown to troops after release date. Bataan, starring Robert Taylor and George Murphy, and including Desi Arnaz, was released in June of 1943. Stand By For Action, starring Robert Taylor and Charles Laughton, was released in December of 1942.
7) I grew up in the house my grandparents lived in at that time. I never knew Frank Franey, as he passed away a year before I was born, but I did know his widow, Adele. Mrs. Franey would often let my siblings and me play in her backyard.
8) I have many of the letters my grandmother and grandfather sent each other, however, the letter my grandmother wrote on June 30, 1943, is not in the collection.
9) Ernie Pyle was a well-known journalist.

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

The importance of handwriting

Being able to identify the author of a document can be very helpful. It can be almost impossible to identify the author of a typed document, but a handwritten document is a different story.

I've shared part of the following image before. I hypothesized it might have been copied from a family bible. In 1918 my great-grandmother used the bible's record of birth dates to prove to FBI agents when my great uncle, Sam, was born. (An ex-wife claimed Sam had lied about his age to avoid being drafted, among other accusations.) 

From the FBI Report: Mrs. Van Every then presented the family Bible with record of births that had been kept by her for many years, and this record shows that on January 15, 1886 a son was born and that his name is Samuel Opham Van Every, the record of this Bible has not been interfered with since the birth of this subject was recorded therein as it is in perfect condition and shows plainly that there has been no erasures of any nature.

In some letters that my great grandfather wrote to my grandmother, he indicated the bible had been lost in the 1920s. I used its one-time existence as a possible explanation for how the 1900 census taker was told that the children Abigal and Delbert were still alive. (This is actually a better explanation if the record in the bible only included dates of birth, and not death, as the FBI report might indicate.)

I have identified the handwriting on this document, as well as a date for when it was written. The handwriting above appears to be a perfect match to the document below, which my grandfather noted in 1965 was created by my grandmother circa 1940. Therefore it couldn't have been copied directly from the bible, but probably came from a combination of family knowledge, and research.

For example, I am fairly certain that the dates for her grandfather's birth and death came from Rev. Abraham Fretz's genealogy on the Fretz Family. The Fretz genealogy is mentioned in some letters that her sister, Minnie, wrote. I am disappointed that no one in the family seemed to remember when Sarah Hartley Denyer Foster died (approx 1898 according to testimony provided to The Dawes Commission in 1900). Minnie was only 12 then, but it means no one recorded the date, or the records had been lost. Of course, in 1940, the only living individuals in that top chart were my grandmother, and her two sisters, Minnie and Evelyn.

My great grandmother, Helen Lichtman Deutsch, lived until 1958. Samuel Deutsch lived until 1938. Knowing my grandmother drew my grandfather's chart circa 1940, when at least one of his parents was still around to answer questions, makes it more likely that the names for his ancestors are accurate. Samuel and Helen were the immigrants, and any records of their parents and grandparents currently lie undiscovered in Transylvania.

Myrtle Van Every Deutsch (1900-1951)

For Mother's Day I decided to honor my maternal grandmother, Myrtle Van Every Deutsch. I've written a lot about her on this blog, transcribed several letters she wrote, and shared several photographs, but not all of the ones below.

I don't know the dates for all of the photographs.

• She was born in March of 1900, in Maxwell Texas, so the baby picture with her parents, Melvin and Margaret Denyer Van Every is fairly easy to estimate. 
• The photograph in the upper right hand corner was taken at the Grand Canyon, likely in the early 1920s. 
• The photograph with the horse, "Joe," was taken in the summer of 1919 - likely somewhere near El Paso, Texas.
• She is nine years old in the center-left photo. 
• The photograph center-right was also likely taken in the early 1920s. I think she was in Hollywood, as a caption indicated she was: looking for "the stars." 
• In the photo in the lower-left she is on her honeymoon with my grandfather, Martin Deutsch. The year was 1937, and I believe they were in Mexico.
• The photograph in the lower-right was taken in 1942, in St. Louis. 
• The photograph with her sisters, Minnie and Evelyn, was taken in 1947, in Texas.

Group Photographs

I recommended the photo for this week's Sepia Saturday prompt. It comes from the Harry Truman Library - and I found it browsing through the Missouri Digital Heritage website. It's an unusual group photo. Most group photos are from the front, but here we get to see everyone's backs, as they pose for a more traditional photograph in front of the press. The photograph was taken on July 17, 1945, the day after the atom bomb was tested in New Mexico. Truman had written on the back of the photograph, "This is the place I told Stalin about the Atom bomb, which was exploded July 16, 1945 in New Mexico. He didn't realize what I was talking about! HST"

I've shared a few large group photos here in the past.

This group photo of the St. Louis Post Office Inspectors and Office Force from 1935 came with a caption identifying everyone, which I transcribed here. Both of my maternal grandparents are in the photo.

This photograph, unfortunately, had no such caption. It's the 1924 Confirmation Class for B'nai El Temple. The youth in the front row, second from the right, with a thin white box drawn around him is my paternal grandfather, Melvin Newmark, age 12.

Here, however, is a photograph I haven't shared. The National Beekeepers Association meeting from 1906. I found this in Gleanings in Bee Culture, Volume 35, 1907, pp. 34-35.


The images can be enlarged, or one can follow the link for an ever larger look. Everyone was given a piece of paper with a number on it to hold, and the caption below identifies everyone by number. Unfortunately, #83, "E. Van Every," didn't make certain the piece of paper was visible to the camera, so I am uncertain who showed up to represent the Van Every family.

Either the caption is in error, and it should read "M.E. Van Every" for my great grandfather, Melvin Elijah. Or his fourteen year old daughter, Evelyn/Evva, represented the family. There are some young women in the photo, so it's possible. I've sent the photograph to some cousins, but haven't yet received any positive or negative identification. I do have a photograph of Melvin, shown below with his wife, Margaret. I don't see a clear match for him in the group above.

Water, Water, Every Where

The prompt for this week's Sepia Saturday contains, among other things, a body of water. So I thought I would share some photographs in my collection involving oceans and lakes. Some of these I have shared previously, others are new to this blog

Here's a photograph of my four paternal great-grandparents, on a vacation together. They were good friends prior to their children getting married. Barney and Bertha (Cruvant) Newmark are on the left, and Herman and Annie (Blatt) Feinstein are on the right. The year was 1947, they were in Miami, FL, and family lore states that while the Feinstein surname caused them enough difficulties with the area hotels in that year, as the vacation progressed, and my great grandfather's tan grew darker and darker, their difficulties are said to have grown.

Here's some photographs of the children of the above four, ten years earlier in 1937. My paternal grandparents Melvin and Sissie (Feinstein) Newmark. They are on their honeymoon in the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.

Here are my maternal grandparents, also on their honeymoon in 1937. Martin and Myrtle (Van Every) Deutsch. The water isn't visible in this photograph, though it is clear they are on a boat. They are in Mexico. The beginning of the phrase on the boat reads: "Soy del nino" which translates to "I am the child." I can't read the rest.

And finally, here is a photograph of my wife and me last year, on our honeymoon.

Sepia Saturday 162

Through my post last Wednesday, a commenter introduced me to Sepia Saturday.

Every week they post an old photograph, and participants are supposed to use it as a prompt and reflect upon an old photograph (or photographs) from their collection that in some way correspond(s) to a theme associated with the original.

I like the challenge of finding a photographic companion to their prompt. I can see that I am occasionally going to have to get a bit creative. At least they give previews for the following two weeks, which gives some time to allow the creative juices to flow.

I know one question in some reader's mind: Wait, it isn't Saturday yet!
I am posting this at midnight GMT. While it is six hours earlier where I am, the host of Sepia Saturday and several participants are "across the pond." Several participants are likely to have jumped in even earlier. Even though I posted on Wednesday last week, I was still the sixth participant.

Here's this week's photographic prompt:

Here's my response:

This is a photograph of my maternal grandfather, Martin Deutsch, from 1972, when he was 65. I was 3 years old at the time, so while I've seen pictures, I never knew him as a younger man. That's the way it is with grandfathers. However, he was very active. Not only did he ride bicycles, he lifted weights, bowled, jogged in circles around his basement, and in the winter shoveled snow.

Here's a photograph of him from 1942, during his war service. He was stationed in the Middle East and Africa.

A jeep isn't too much different from a bicycle. Both are 'open air' modes of transport. Different number of wheels. 

In both of my photographs, there are trees, and grass. Something noticeably absent from the prompt.

Veterans Day / Remembrance Day 2012

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)