St. Louis Public Library - Central - to close

The St. Louis Public Library - Central will close in mid to late 2010. This isn't due to the economy. On the contrary, it is a huge renovation, and they hope to re-open in 2012 on the building's 100th anniversary. (The news article says 200th, but the building was built in 1912, and I think that's only 100.)

This is the City library system, and the building is located on 14th and Olive. It's within walking distance of where I work, but I don't do a lot of research there. I've done some, when I've found through WorldCat that they have a book I want, but it hasn't been often. While the building is beautifully constructed, and a pleasure to behold, I am personally most grateful for their online index of the St. Louis Post Dispatch obituaries.

In all the detailed changes, a couple paragraphs stood out

The library will also add a stationary computer lab, a laptop checkout station, and the entire building will offer wireless internet connection.

Excellent! The stationary computer lab and wireless internet connection are almost essential for any major library renovation today, in my opinion. But the laptop checkout station is a brilliant addition. While I have my own laptop the majority of patrons will not.

Also, many of the library’s collections will be digitized, says McDonald, including special collections of photos from the 1896 tornado, photos of the Muny, of St. Louis neighborhood and glass plate negatives from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Thunderous applause.

Here's a video about the history of the library and plans for renovation

87th Carnival of Genealogy has been posted

The 87th Carnival of Genealogy has been posted at CreativeGene with 65 submissions of New Year plans and resolutions. Jasia has also announced several changes to the structure of the carnival. I agree with her that the changes aren't major, and should actually improve the quality of the carnival.

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Volunteerism! Here's a chance to toot your horn about whatever genealogy projects, organizations, or events you voluntarily give your time and efforts to. What do you get out of volunteering? How did you decide what to volunteer for? How much time each month do you spend volunteering for genealogy projects/organizations/events? Is there an organization or project you'd like to recommend to others? Tell us all about it! The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2010.

Visit CreativeGene for more information.

Amanuensis Monday: Return to the Race Riot on July 2, 1917

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, 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.

Back in April I blogged about the Race Riot in East St. Louis on July 2, 1917. It may be the deadliest in the nation's history. According to sources I've read, the riot occurred on Collinsville Avenue between Broadway and Illinois Avenue. In April, I noted that my great grandmother had two brothers who lived in the area. I wondered:

So where were my great grandmother's brothers during the riot? I don't know. Only a generation removed from European pogroms, it's hard to believe they did anything truly regretful. There are no family stories I have heard, and their names aren't mentioned in any of the online sources I searched.

I didn't expect to find out the answer. But for one of the brothers, I did, in the St. Louis Post Dispatch 1874-1922 archives. He's actually mentioned in some of the sources I read back in April. Just not by name.

---

St. Louis Post Dispatch, October 19, 1917, page 2.

STATE ATTACKS ALIBI OF RACE RIOT CASE DEFENDANT
Draws From Henry Robinson Denial of Statements Made at Coroner’s Request

Harry Robinson’s alibi, in his trial with John Dow and Charles Hanna on the charge of murder in the East St. Louis race riot of July 2, was attacked by the prosecution in the Belleville circuit court today, by comparing it with the record of Robinson’s testimony at the coroner’s inquest.



The inquest testimony is not an official record, as the testimony was not taken verbatim by the stenographer, but was summarized. If Robinson had not taken the witness stand himself, the summarized record of his statement to the coroner could not have been placed before the jury.



His employer, Ben Cruvant, and Mrs. Cruvant, testified that Robinson was working in Cruvant’s shoe shop until noon July 2. This covered the time between 10 and 11 am., in which according to the State’s testimony, Robinson was holding up a pawnbroker and looting his shop of revolvers.



Robinson was asked, on cross-examination, if he had not said at the inquest that he was in front of the pawnshop when it was entered and that he saw the mob’s acts in the street during the morning. He made a general denial of his answers as summarized in the Coroner’s record.



Here are a few relevant quotes I've found from other sources:



"In the heat of the riot on Collinsville Avenue at about 1.15 o’clock p.m., July 2, 1917, while the mob were taking negroes from street cars and beating and shooting them a stray bullet, which had been fired at a negro boy, struck and killed a retired merchant, a white man named William Keyser."

Source: Biennial report and opinions of the Attorney General of the State of Illinois, 1918, p. 18.



“Harry Robinson, 21 year old shoe repairer, who was tried for the murder of William Keyser, a white man, but concerning whose guilt the jury was unable to agree, was taken to Chester yesterday to begin serving his five year sentence for conspiracy to which charge he pleaded guilty.”

Source: St. Louis Globe Democrat, October 31, 1917

---

The name of a relative can turn up in some of the unlikeliest of places. My great great uncle probably remained in his shoe shop throughout the afternoon, even if his employee left at noon. As long as it was true, his testifying on behalf of his employee can only be looked at positively, even if his employee turned out to be guilty of other crimes.



Mrs. Cruvant would have been Dora, née Goldstein, who Ben had married in 1912.

---

If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, feel free to add a link to your post below, or in the comments.

Weekly Genealogy Picks

Weekly Genealogy Picks -- December 27 to January 2
from genealogy blogs, newspaper articles and elsewhere

• A 90-year old Tampa, Florida woman refuses to return Davy Crockett's marriage license to Tennessee officials. (hat/tip: Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

• Also in Tampa, New Years Eve, a set of twins were born on opposite sides of midnight. (Some newspapers, such as the New York Daily News have chosen the sensationalistic and grammatically incorrect headline announcing the kids were born a decade apart. They were born in separate decades, but not a decade apart.)

• The St. Elmo Historical Society needed to raise some money, so they came up with a calender they called "Naughty, but nice." "It features 13 color shots of everybody from the city veterinarian to the local newspaper owner to a waitress with a seductive smile posing in the altogether. Strategically arranged props, ranging from an impressively sized bolt-action rifle to a golden retriever (which even appears to be smiling), cover the truly naughty bits, although readers' imaginations are given free rein." The Post Dispatch article shares a 'recreation' of the photo of the veterinarian and the golden retriever.

• The Library of Congress and the Internet Archive have put 60,000 books online. Many of a historical or genealogical nature.

• Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak writes about Annie Moore, the first Ellis Island Immigrant, for The Huffington Post.

• Missouri Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, talks about the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative

• You still have the rest of today to enter the Data Backup Weekend Contest over at GeneaBloggers.

• Mark Tucker at ThinkGenealogy writes about the new social networking site, FourSquare, and how genealogists might use it.

• Craig Manson at GeneaBlogie concludes his mock courtroom argument on certification.

For other weekly lists visit:

• Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Genealogical Round-up at RootsWorld
• Randy Seaver's Best of the Genea-Blogs at Genea-Musings
• Apple's Weekly Rewind at Apple's Tree

Finally, while it isn't genealogically related, I thought author Neil Gaiman had a great New Years Benediction

Repeat: Missouri Digitial Heritage

The below originally appeared on May 6, 2009. (some minor revisions have been made, and an addendum included.)

---

Through the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative, the Missouri State Archives and the Missouri State Library, in partnership with the State Historical Society of Missouri, are assisting institutions across the state in digitizing their records and placing them online for easy access. We invite you to explore our website and to join with us in celebrating our collective past.

While the Missouri Death Certificate collection is perhaps the best known part of this collection, there is a whole lot more there. Following is a sample of some of the things you will find there of genealogical or historical interest

We will start with collections housed at the Missouri State Archives:

• Missouri Census Schedules from 1830-1930

Index to federal and state census records, 1830-1930, available on microfilm at the Missouri State Archives.

• Missouri Birth & Death Records Database Pre-1910

Abstracts of Missouri birth, stillbirth, and death records recorded before 1910.

• Missouri Death Certificates (1910-1958)

Index of death certificates, linked to digital images of the original death certificate. Updated annually.

• Missouri Judicial Records

These historic probate records offer insight into the lives of Missourians through wills, inventories, settlements, and guardianship records. Circuit court cases provide a wealth of information on everything from the fur trade to the Civil War, steamboats to McCormick Reapers, and agriculture to urbanization.

• Missouri Coroner's Inquest Database

Index of coroner records from seven Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis, dates range from 1842 to 1932.

• Missouri Local Records Inventory Database

This database, produced by the Missouri Local Records Preservation Program, is a compilation of inventories of local government records identified as having permanent or enduring value and housed primarily in county and municipal offices, but includes some libraries, museums, and historical and genealogical societies that maintain government records. Not all Missouri offices have been inventoried. This database is being updated periodically as additional inventories are completed.

• Missouri Naturalization Records Database (1816-1955)

Abstracts of citizenship records from 22 Missouri counties.

• Missouri Soldier's Database: War of 1812 - WWI

Database abstracted from the service cards of over 576,000 Missourians who served in twelve wars and military engagements. Includes those in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I, as well as the Heatherly War (1836), the Mormon War (1838), and the Iowa (Honey) War (1839). Over 380,000 of the records are for Civil War soldiers.

• Missouri County & Municipal Records on Microfilm

Listing of microfilm reels, by county, office, and municipality, held by the Missouri State Archives.

• Missouri Mormon War

Gateway to state records concerning the Missouri-Mormon conflict, 1838-1841. Includes finding aids and some digitized records.

The Digital Heritage collections also includes links to collections elsewhere that have been ‘contributed’ by outside sources.

• University of Missouri Libraries Electronic Books

Contributed by: University of Missouri Libraries
Electronic books from University of Missouri Digital library. [Includes St. Louis Social Registers of 1916, 1922. 1924 and 1925, Missouri Plat books from 1930, Sanborn Maps, and more]

• Dred Scott Case

Contributed by: Washington University Libraries

Collection of one hundred and eleven documents, over 400 pages of full-text searchable resource that represents the full case history of the Dred Scott Case.

• Ozarks Digital Library - Greene County Missouri, Records

Contributed by: Springfield-Greene County Library District

Collection of full text indexes and abstracts to records including circuit court record books, coroner's records, alms house records, justice of the peace records and others.

• Polk City Directories 1859-1925, Hannibal, MO

Contributed by: Hannibal Free Public Library

Polk City Directories 1859 - 1925.

• Blue Springs Historical Society Archives Photograph Collection

Contributed by: Blue Springs Historical Society

Historical photograph collection depicting life in Blue Springs, Missouri.

• 1948 Presidential Campaign

Contributed by: Harry S. Truman Library & Museum

Collection of 90 documents of President Truman's 1948 Presidential Campaign covering years 1946-1968

This is still a small sampling, but should give an idea of the diverse materials available through this collection. I am hopeful that the initiative, the brainchild of our current Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, will continue expanding unabated if in 2010 she wins her Senate campaign.

---

On December 28th, the Democrat News, the local paper for Fredericktown, Missouri published a column written by Robin Carnahan: Discover Your Family History with Missouri's Digital Heritage.

Excerpts:

The holiday season is a great time to reconnect with family and reminisce about the past. At the Secretary of State’s office, we’ve created a tool Missourians can use to piece together their family history and explore the shared history of our state.

In April of 2008, my office launched the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative, which provides thousands of documents online, including photographs, newspapers and manuscripts from Missouri’s past. In fewer than 20 months, www.MissouriDigitalHeritage.com has received more than 95 million hits from people all across Missouri and the world.

[...]

Because of the vast resources it provides, the website has been recognized nationally by two different magazines as one of the best sources for historical and genealogical research provided by any state. This year, Ancestry Magazine named the Missouri Digital Heritage website one of the top-five state websites for online genealogical records. Also, Family Tree Magazine, America’s largest-circulation genealogy magazine, named the site one of the top-10 websites for local searches.

As you visit with your families in the coming weeks, I encourage you to use the Missouri Digital Heritage website to find interesting stories about your family and our state. Maybe you can show your kids their great grandfather’s military record or look up a map of your hometown from the early 1900s. Whether your family has lived in Missouri for generations or you recently moved to our great state, I’m sure you’ll be able to discover something new by using this resource.

My Ahnentafel/Ahnenliste

I've been actively blogging about family history for two and a half years (has it really been that long?); I figured it was time I posted a list of ancestors. I have chosen to use the ahnentafel numbering system. (**)

Below I include names, and the best information I have found so far on years of birth and death, and place of birth. (I've obscured the information for all living individuals)

On their first appearance, I have linked surnames to their respective category labels for relevant blog posts (even if the labels haven't been used yet, they may be at some point), and I have added links to individual memorials on Find a Grave (FGM) where they exist.

While I can only carry the Newmark surname back six generations, I include the numbers for successive generations as a placeholder for the beginning of each generation. Inversely, I can carry my Cruvant ancestors back a few more generations, but I have promised not to share online the research given to me by a cousin, and I wouldn't know those names without her help.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who thinks they are a cousin.

---

For those unfamiliar with the ahnentafel numbering system, the number for X's father is 2X, and X's mother is 2X+1. 

1. Me, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
2. Dad, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
3. Mom, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

4. Melvin Lester Newmark, 1912-1992, St. Louis, Missouri, USA (FGM)
5. Belle Feinstein, 1914-2002, St. Louis, Missouri, USA (FGM)
6. Martin Joel Deutsch, 1907-1991, Varalmas, Hungary (FGM)
7. Myrtle Ethel Van Every, 1900-1951, Maxwell, Texas, USA (FGM)

8. Barnet Newmark, 1886-1956, Warka, Poland (FGM)
9. Bertha Cruvant, 1886-1978, St. Louis, Missouri, USA (FGM)
10. Herman Max Feinstein, 1886-1963, Volhynia, Ukraine (FGM)
11. Anna Blatt, 1889-1965, Poland (FGM)
12. Samuel Deutsch, 1861-1938, Hungary (FGM)
13. Helen Lichtmann, 1881-1958, Margitta, Hungary (FGM)
14. Melvin Elijah Van Every, 1863-1929, Middleville, Michigan, USA (FGM)
15. Margaret Jane McAlpin Monteroy Denyer, 1868-1923, Kyle, Texas, USA (FGM)

16. Samuel Joseph Newmark, 1862-1940, Poland (FGM)
17. Rose Cantkert, 1865-1943, Poland (FGM)
18. Moshe Leyb Cruvant, 1857-1911, Lithuania (FGM)
19. Minnie Mojsabovski, 1863-1924, Lithuania (FGM)
20. Selig Dudelsack, 1860-1915, Ukraine (FGM)
21. Anna Perlik, 1868-1932, Ukraine (FGM)
22. Morris Blatt, 1862-1926, Poland (FGM)
23. Belle Wyman, ?-1892, Poland
24. Abraham Deutsch, Hungary
25. Sarah Weiss, Hungary
26. Israel Lichtmann, Hungary
27. Betty Adler, Hungary
28. Samuel Van Every, 1820-1888, Brant, Ontario, Canada (FGM)
29. Abigail Stuart, 1825-1866, Welland, Ontario, Canada (FGM)
30. Ebenezer Ophan Denyer, 1828-1872, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA
31. Sarah Ann Hartley, 1836-1898, Mississippi, USA

32. Israel David Neimark, Poland
33. Leah, Poland
34. Hirsch Cantkert, Poland
35. Bryna, Poland
40. Samuel Zvi Dudelsack, Poland
41. Gitel Slupsky, 1846-1906, Poland (FGM)
42. Isaac Wolf Perlik, Poland
43. Freida Lipman, Poland
56. Andrew David Van Every, 1798-1873, Ontario, Canada (FGM)
57. Nancy Lucinda Van Sellas, 1799-1880, Ontario, Canada (FGM)
58. Elihu Stuart, 1788-1826, Canada
59. Johanna Swayze, 1796-1854, Ontario, Canada
60. William Denyer, 1794-1848 Hampshire, England
61. Elizabeth Sliver, 1798-1840, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA
62. George W. Hartley
63. Eliza Beasley (?)
64.
112. David Van Every, 1757-1820, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA (FGM)
113. Sarah Showers, 1762-1795, Pennsylvania, USA
118. Israel Swayze, 1753-1844, Warren, New Jersey, USA
119. Abigail Coleman, 1757-1843, Warren, New Jersey, USA
120. William Denyer, 1770-?, England
121. Jane Goldfinch, 1770-?, England
122. John Sliver
123. Barbara Fretz, 1775-1840, Pennsylvania, USA

128.
224. McGregor Van Every, 1723-1786, New York, USA (FGM)
225. Mary Jaycocks, 1736-1786, New York, USA
226. Michael Schauers, 1733-1796, New York, USA
227. Hannah Van Tock, 1740-1825, New York, USA
236. Israel Swayze, 1720-1774, Southold, New York, USA
237. Mary Pitney, 1720-1754, New Jersey, USA
246. Mark Fretz, 1750-1840, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA
247. Elizabeth Rosenberger, 1752-1847, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA
256.
448. Martin Van Iveren, 1685-1760, Kingston, New York, USA
449. Judith Holmes, 1694-?, New York, USA
452. Adam Schauers, 1701-1762, Baden, Germany
453. Maria Fritz, Germany
454. John Van Tock, 1714-?, New York, USA
455. Hannah Pierce
472. Judge Samuel Swayze, 1688-1759, Southold, New York, USA
473. Penelope Horton, 1690-1746, Cutchogue, New York, USA
492. John "Weaver" Fretz, 1704-1772, Baden, Germany
494. Henry Rosenberger, 1725-1809, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
495. Barbara Oberholtzer, 1726-1775, Bucks, Pennsylvania, USA

512.
896. Burger Van Iveren, 1660-1762, Albany, New York, USA
897. Elizabeth Meyer
898. William Holmes
899. Lysbeth Wipp
904. Michael Schauers, 1679-1710, Baden, Germany
905. Anna Schauerin, 1679-1734, Baden, Germany
944. Joseph Swayze, 1653-1717, Suffolk, New York, USA
945. Mary Betts, 1654-1734, Queens, New York, USA
946. Barnabas Horton, Cutchogue, New York, USA
947. Sarah Wines
984. Johannes Fretz, 1680-1729, Alsace, Germany
985. Ann Marie Gross, 1682-1714, Baden, Germany
988. Henry Rosenberger, ?-1745, Germany
990. Jacob Oberholtzer, Germany

1024.
1792. Myndert Fredericksen, 1636-1706, Everinghe, Holland (or Jever, Oldenburg)
1793. Cathalyn Burger, 1640- (before 1663)
1888. John Swayze, 1619-1706, Suffolk, England
1889. Katherine Kinge, 1625-1692, Essex, England
1890. Capt. Richard Betts, 1613-1713, Hertfordshire, England
1891. Joanna Chamberlain, 1620, 1711, Hertfordshire, England
1892. Caleb Horton, 1640-1702, Southold, NY
1893. Abigail Hallock, 1642-1697, Suffolk, NY

2048.
3584. Frederick Van Iveren, Everinghe, Holland (or Jever, Oldenburg)
3782. Richard Chamberlain, 1590-1639, Warwickshire, England
3783. Elizabeth Stoughton, 1600-1647, Suffolk, England
3784. Barnabas Horton, 1600-1680, Leicestershire, England (FGM)
3785. Mary Langdon, 1611-1698, England (FGM)

4096.
7566. Thomas Stoughton, 1557-1622, Suffolk, England
7567. Katherine __, England

Some descendancies online for some of the more distant ancestors

• A Brief History of John and Christian Fretz and a complete genealogical family register, Rev. Abraham James Fretz, 1890. (PDF - 41 MB) (Other Formats)

• A Brief History of John and Christian Fretz and a complete genealogical family register to the fourth generation with accounts and addresses delivered at the Fretz family reunions, Rev. Abraham James Fretz, 1904. (PDF - 9 MB) (Other Formats)

• Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Martin and Jacob Oberholtzer; Together with Historical and Biographical Sketches, Rev. Abraham James Fretz, 1903. (PDF - 7 MB) (Other Formats)

• A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Henry Rosenberger of Franconia, Montgomery Co. Pa; Together with Historical and Biographical Sketches, Rev. Abraham James Fretz, 1906. (PDF - 22 MB) (Other Formats) (GEDcom at WorldConnect)

• The Rosenberger Family of Montgomery County, Edward Mathews, 1892. (PDF - 3 MB) (Other Formats)

• Horton Genealogy; or Chronicles of the Descendants of Barnabas Horton, George F Horton, M.D., 1876. (PDF - 20 MB) (Other Formats)

• Descendants of Barnabas Horton

• Sweezey.com

• Some Descendants of Rev. Thomas Stoughton of County Kent, England

• Notable Descendants of the Immigrant Stoughton Siblings of Massachusetts, Gary Boyd Roberts, New England Historic Genealogical Society.

** Note: Some consider ahnenliste to be the more accurate German word when the numbers are presented in a list format, instead of a table.  However, English-speaking genealogists seem to have largely adopted the term 'ahnentafel' to refer to both 'table' and 'list' format.  "We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James D. Nicoll, 1990

Poems to Celebrate a New Year

To-Morrow
Edgar Guest

He was going to be all that a mortal should be
To-morrow.
No one should be kinder or braver than he
To-morrow.
A friend who was troubled and weary he knew,
Who'd be glad of a lift and who needed it, too;
On him he would call and see what he could do
To-morrow.

Each morning he stacked up the letters he'd write
To-morrow.
And thought of the folks he would fill with delight
To-morrow.
It was too bad, indeed, he was busy to-day,
And hadn't a minute to stop on his way;
More time he would have to give others, he'd say,
To-morrow.

The greatest of workers this man would have been
To-morrow.
The world would have known him, had he ever seen
To-morrow.
But the fact is he died and he faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through
Was a mountain of things he intended to do
To-morrow.

Old Years and New
Edgar Guest

Old years and new years, all blended into one,
The best of what there is to be, the best of what is gone --
Let's bury all the failures in the dim and dusty past
And keep the smiles of friendship and laughter to the last.

Old years and new years, life's in the making still;
We haven't come to glory yet, but there's the hope we will;
The dead old year was twelve months long, but from it we're free,
And what's one year of good or bad to all the years to be?

Old years and new years, we need them one and all
To reach the dome of character and build its sheltering wall;
Past failures tried the souls of us, but if their tests we stood,
The sum of what we are to be may yet be counted good.

Auld Lang Syne (Modern English translation)
Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

Chorus

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit,
Sin' auld lang syne.

Chorus

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne.

Chorus

And there's a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.

Chorus

2010 Genealogy Resolutions?

Image: HMS Resolution in a gale, by Willem van de Velde, the Younger, circa 1678 (source)

87th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy This year is almost over and a new decade is knocking on the door. This is the perfect time to make your New Year resolutions, goals, aims, declarations, intentions, aspirations, objectives, plans, targets, schemes, wishes, or whatever you want to call them! This issue of the Carnival of Genealogy asks us for New Years Resolutions, or whatever we wish to call them. Do I have any?

I have no problem resolving to continue my pursuit of family history. At this point in the obsession, it's almost like resolving to continue to breathe. Though I have learned enough about this pursuit that I am unable to predict what I will achieve. So resolving to achieve some end is akin to setting myself up for failure. I will uncover information about ancestors near and far. Which ancestors those will be is not up to me.

At least not entirely. Setting research priorities tends to have an effect. If I'm not looking for something, it's less likely I will find it. (At least slightly.) Those priorities can, however, change depending upon what I uncover. They could change tomorrow. However, right now my highest priorities involve a handful of vital records that I know I *should* be able to find.

I similarly have no problem with resolving to continue to blog. I've been doing it steadily since 2002 and I see no signs of stoppage. If the internet crashes, I'm likely to find somewhere else to write down my thoughts. Though I enjoy sharing them with a wider audience, because I know I have been helped by suggestions I have read on other blogs, and hope to return in kind. So hopefully the internet won't crash.

What I will blog about is less certain. I definitely see my weekly Amanuensis Monday series continuing. My recent discovery of old newspaper articles has briefly sidetracked my transcription of audio tapes and my great uncle's war journal, but I have so much material, and have received a lot of positive feedback from relatives. Transcription is something entirely within my control, which is helpful when it comes to resolutions.

When Does the New Decade Begin?

You may recall the endless debates about whether the New Century began on January 1, 2000 or January 1, 2001. (I tried to argue with friends that it wouldn't occur until the year 5800, which wouldn't occur until 2040, but they didn't listen to me.)

The whole question revolved around whether or not there was a "Year Zero." And obviously, with respect to the Christian/Gregorian Calendar, there wasn't. So, the argument went, the "21st Century" began on January 1, 2001.

However, as I liked to point out -- a new century begins every second. Some centuries are just more popular than others. The same applies for decades, and years.

"The 1900s" began on Jan 1, 1900, and ended Dec 31, 1999. It seems logical to me to define "The 1900s" as any four-digit year beginning with the digits '19'. "The 2000s" would be defined similarly.

What about Decades?

No one referred to the past decade as "The 201st Decade." If we referred to decades as such, the 202nd Decade would begin on January 1, 2011. But we don't. The 2010s begin on January 1, 2010. It doesn't make any sense (to me) to look at it in any other way.

Wikipedia may be helpful if you are confused.

Google Alerts - What it Does, and Doesn't Do

Legacy News (the news blog for the genealogy software company) on December 17th wrote How to Create a Google Alert

By creating a Google Alert, whenever Google finds your word or phrase that you are interested in, Google will automatically send you an email. For example, I am searching for an ancestor....If, today, I don't find anything relevant, I can create a Google Alert for his name, and then work on other things, ... Then, if someone publishes new information to a website that Google finds, I'll get an email with a direct link to the new page.

I've seen this tip on a few other blogs since then. It is very misleading in a crucial manner. In my Year in Review entry I linked to my July post on this topic, but it bears repeating since several people seem to be misled.

To quote the second question and answer from the Frequently Asked Questions page for Google Alerts (emphasis added):

2. What are the different types of alerts I can sign up for?

Google Alerts currently offers 6 variations of alerts - 'News', 'Web', 'Blogs', 'Comprehensive', 'Video' and 'Groups'.

* A 'News' alert is an email aggregate of the latest news articles that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google News search.
* A 'Web' alert is an email aggregate of the latest web pages that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top twenty results of your Google Web search.
* A 'Blogs' alert is an email aggregate of the latest blog posts that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google Blog search.
* A 'Comprehensive' alert is an aggregate of the latest results from multiple sources (News, Web and Blogs) into a single email to provide maximum coverage on the topic of your choice.
* A 'Video' alert is an email aggregate of the latest videos that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google Video search.
* A 'Groups' alert is an email aggregate of new posts that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top fifty results of your Google Groups search.

How often do you find that one hit you're searching for on the third, fifth, or 10th page in the Google Search results? Google Alerts will NEVER alert you to that hit, unless it makes it to the first two pages (twenty results) for a web search. If you're using a News Alert or Blog Alert, it will only tell you if it makes the first ten results.

So if you set up those Google Alerts and think everything is done for you and you never need to search Google manually again --- you're wrong. Unless you're OK with only knowing about the top 10 or 20 results. If that's all you want, then Google Alerts is perfect for the job.

Amanuensis Monday: Free Schools for Jewish Children

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, 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.

Back in April of 2008 I wondered if the Missouri Sanborn Maps told me where my great grandfather, Herman Feinstein, went to school.

This St. Louis Post Dispatch article from 1909, which I found in the St. Louis Post Dispatch 1874-1922 archives, reminded me of this conundrum, even if it didn’t answer all of my questions.

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St. Louis Post Dispatch – March 24, 1909

TO START FREE SCHOOLS FOR JEWISH CHILDREN
Thefharas Zion Talmod Thora Association Buys Tabernacle.

The old Memorial Tabernacle at the corner of Fifteenth and Carr streets has been bought from the Second Presbyterian Church by the Thefharas Zion Talmod Thora Association, which will conduct there a free school for Jewish children. The price was $13,100 and $3500 of it was paid in cash. The balance will be raised by contributions and by entertainments that will be given from time to time in the school.

The officers of the association are M. Appalman, president; S. Segoloff, treasurer; S. Meisinberg, secretary; and S. Feinstein, chairman. It was largely through the efforts of Dr. M. J. Birenbaum of 1697 North Tenth street that the old tabernacle was bought for the school for Jewish children.

One day a few months ago he went into the present school of the association at 913 North Ninth street and found 200 Jewish children crowded into a small place there.

He began looking around for a larger place that he might buy. He found it in the old tabernacle. It is being repaired now and the school will be in it within two weeks.

It is expected that 600 children will attend there. They will attend the free school from 7:30 to 8:45 am and from 3:30 to 7p.m. The free school is designed to keep the children off the streets during the hours before and after the hours of the public schools.

---

My great great grandfather, Selig Feinstein, and his children lived at 1122 North Eighth from 1896-1906. The 1909 Sanborn map places a Jewish school immediately behind 1122. So that clearly isn’t the school at 913 North Ninth. But the school on North Ninth had 200 students, and the new school at 15th and Carr was predicted to have 600, which suggests it would be getting some additional students who were possibly crowded into similar small spaces.

My great grandfather, Herman, was 23 by 1909, so this new school wouldn’t have had an impact on him. However, his brother Aaron, who would have been 11 in 1909, or his sister Rose, who would have been 8, may have attended this new school.

Most importantly perhaps this news article indicates Selig Feinstein was chairman of the the Thefharas Zion Talmod Thora Association (aka Tiphereth Zion Talmud Torah).

I already knew he was active in the Chesed Shel Emeth Society.

(note: I have only found two Feinstein families in St. Louis in the early 1900s, so I am able to differentiate most references even with initials.)

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If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, feel free to add a link to your post below, or in the comments.

Year in Review

Now is a common time to reflect and review.

Here are a list of eighteen blog posts I found in this year's archives, which I feel some readers may find informative, or entertaining, whether they are rereading or reading for the first time

Genealogy tips, resources, and fun

1. May I Ask you for a Date?
2. Accuracy of Census Information
3. St. Louis Post Dispatch Obituaries - and other area newspapers
4. Gamers Guide to Genealogy

Family History

1. My area of expertise
2. My first Amanuensis Monday post

Blogging and Computer Tips

1. Free art for your blog
2. Data Backup Day
3. Don't Rely Completely on Google Alerts

St. Louis History

1. July 2, 1917 - East St. Louis
2. St. Louis Snow Event of 1982
3. This Post is a DISASTER!

Web Technology

1. Wolfram/Alpha
2. Wolfram/Alpha for Genealogists
3. Web Annotation - More Competition
4. Kutano - Combining Twitter and Google's Sidewiki in one App
5. Google Wave is Coming

Miscellaneous

1. June 2009 - A Month Like Any Other

Weekly Genealogy Picks

Weekly Genealogy Picks -- December 20 to December 26
from genealogy blogs, newspaper articles and elsewhere

The St. Louis Post Dispatch has an installment of their "Letters Back Home" series where readers write letters sharing their memories with the current residents of childhood, or other family homes. Here's the first installment from back in November.

St. Louis Mayor, Francis Slay, writes about the importance of the census.

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings links to several posts from his blog, Chris Dunham's Genealogue, and an article by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak at The Huffington Post listing funny names from the Census. If you enjoy those, you might enjoy my Friday Five series.

James Tanner at Genealogy's Star writes Privacy, Identity Theft, and Genealogy - First in a Series. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Relatively Curious writes about the Internet Archive (which is also where I have managed to find most of the books that I discovered were no longer available from Google.)

Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers announces that Unclaimed Persons has solved it's 100th case! Unclaimed Persons is where researchers help coroners and medical examiners find the families of deceased who are 'unclaimed.'

Be sure to read Apple's and Randy's lists as well -- they usually find things I don't.

The Weekly Rewind at Apple's Tree
The Best of the Genea-Blogs at Genea-Musings

A simple reminder

When you find something online that is useful to your genealogy research -- don't assume it will remain there to return to and review at a later date. If it's downloadable, download it and save it to your hard drive. If not, copy and paste it into a word document.

This may be easy to remember with personal, educational, or other amateur websites. But don't forget even the big websites can be forced to take things down by lawsuits, etc.

Google has faced some recent lawsuits over their Google Books project. I'm not positive it's related, but I have discovered that several books that used to be "Full View" (and downloadable in PDF form) are no longer available except in "Snippet View" at best, and in some cases no preview at all.

These are all books published prior to 1920, most prior to 1900, so it's not an issue of whether or not they were in the public domain. I'm not entirely certain what the issue was.

Tombstone Tuesday: Virgin Gorda Cemetery

Click for larger images

No relatives here, but this is the Caribbean island where I am spending some vacation. I've been to this island a few times before, and have driven past the church without seeing the cemetery -- I had to find pictures and information online.

During the 19th century, worshippers from nearby St. Thomas (which was Danish at the time) joined the congregation here. In the churchyard, the foundation of an old mission house is visible, as is a very old cemetery. The graves span three centuries. Note the piles of conch shells at the gravesites. Some islanders believe these shells have special powers that drive away evil spirits. The island's only health facility--a clinic--is nearby. -- Source: The Free Library

Maybe I will convince some family members to join me on a little excursion...

Welcome fans of the Mid Continent Public Library

It has come to my attention that this blog was mentioned in the December issue of the Mid-Continent Public Library's Genealogy News Bytes. Located in Independence, MO, the library is home to the Midwest Genealogy Center, and I am honored they found my blog worthy of mention.

Visitors may be interested in my list of Missouri and Illinois Resources as well as those posts I have tagged with the labels St. Louis Missouri or Illinois.

Here's also a list of my surnames. I am naturally always interested in discussing possible connections.

Amanuensis Monday: Of Jitney Upsets - and mysteriously absent pretty girls

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, 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 is a transcription from news articles I found in the St. Louis Post Dispatch 1874-1922 archives. The articles informed me of a side-occupation for my great grandfather, Herman Feinstein.

---

St. Louis Post Dispatch, May 10, 1915, page 4.

WOMAN HURT IN JITNEY UPSET
Car in Collision with Auto of Granite City Water Superintendant

Two women and four men were thrown from a jitney auto at Ninth street and Franklin avenue about 1 a.m. today when it was struck by the automobile of Arthur Lynn, Superintendant of the Granite City Water Department. Miss Mamie Thornburgh, 4550 Easton avenue, was cut on the left shoulder. The others were uninjured.

The jitney was being driven west on Franklin avenue by Herman Feinstein, of 1935 Burd avenue. In addition to Miss Thornburgh his passengers were Miss Grace Hawkins of 4550 Easton avenue, Claude and Louis Waldron of 4775 Ladue street and James Gallagher of 4828 Cottage avenue.

Lynn was accompanied by his brother, Arthur Lynn of New York, and Charles M. Horn of East St. Louis. He was driving south on Ninth street. The jitney was knocked 30 feet and overturned. Lynn and Feinstein were charged with carelessness. They furnished bond at the Carr street station.

Since fortunately no one was seriously injured in the accident the first question that comes to my mind is: My great grandfather, Herman Feinstein, drove a Jitney? What’s that?

Elizabeth Powell Crowe had a blog entry a little over a week ago about the etymology of the word, and mentioned its uses to mean a nickel, something shoddy, or another term for ‘Ford buses.’ The usage here is closest to a bus, but not quite the same. Wikipedia provides another definition which I think fits the usage here, a type of Share Taxi:

A jitney is a North American English term, which originally referred to a livery vehicle intermediate between a taxi and a bus. It is generally a small-capacity vehicle that follows a rough service route, but can go slightly out of its way to pick up and drop off passengers. In many U.S. cities (e.g. Pittsburgh and Detroit), the term jitney refers to an unlicensed taxi cab.

While jitneys are fairly common in many other countries, such as the Philippines, they first appeared in the U.S. and Canada. The first U.S. jitneys ran in Los Angeles, California in 1914. By 1915, there were 62,000 nationwide. Local regulations, demanded by streetcar companies, killed the jitney in most places. By the end of 1916, only 6,000 jitneys remained. Similarly, in Vancouver, Canada, in the 1920s, jitneys competed directly with the streetcar monopoly, operating along the same routes as the streetcars but charging lower fares. Operators were referred to as "Jitney Men." They were so successful that the city government banned them at the request of the streetcar operators.

With another search in the Historical Post Dispatch archive I found some background information on the start of the Jitney service in St. Louis. I think the reporter had a lot of fun writing the story as the antics of Richard McCulloch, general manager of United Railways (a streetcar company) provided some good fodder.

St. Louis Post Dispatch, Feb 7, 1915, page A2

‘JITNEY’ AUTOS IN PARADE; SERVICE BEGINS TOMORROW
United Railways Head Finds His Car in the Lineup – Comments on Absence of Girls.

CARS GO OVER THE ROUTE
One Passenger Leaves Street Car and is Taken to Grand Avenue in Machine.

The first “jitney” auto parade in St. Louis took place yesterday afternoon over the first regular “jitney” route in St. Louis, preliminary to the inauguration tomorrow morning of the first organized jitney service in St. Louis.

A dozen cars lined up at the courthouse for the start. Each carried a banner proclaiming it a “jitney,” associated with the Motors Service Co., the name under which co-operating auto-owners have organized to establish “jitney” transportation.

It had been announced that the “jitneys” would be loaded with pretty girls in the parade. The pretty girls were not on hand. That was the thing that struck General Manager McCulloch of the United Railways Co, as the most interesting, or it was at least the only phase of the “jitney” operation on which he chose to bestow a comment.

His Car in Lineup

The “jitneys” were drawn up on Chestnut street and Broadway at the courthouse when McCulloch came out at the Chestnut street entrance and walked rapidly toward Broadway, casting a glowing glance at the trolley rivals. “Where are all the pretty girls?” he asked. Nobody within earshot could tell him and he quickened his steps toward his own machine, which he had left at the Broadway curb and which he now discovered, to his considerable consternation, was temporarily a part of the “jitney” lineup.

He lost no time in cranking up and climbing into his machine, but before he could start the “jitney” in front of him sent a cloud of black smoke against the McCulloch machine. McCulloch swung his machine out into Broadway and into Chestnut street coughing defiance at the “jitneys.”

Manager William A Fears jockeyed his forces around into Fourth street and was lining them up for the start when a street car came along. A man loaded with bundles was just climbing on when he noticed the “jitneys.” He came tumbling off and wanted to know if he could be “jitneyed” out to Grand avenue. It was not the intention to carry any passengers on the parade trip, but the man was so disappointed that Fears told him to climb in.

[…]

Sixty automobile owners have signed the cooperative agreement and within a few days other routes will be established. The owners bind themselves to turn over 5 percent of each day’s earnings for the maintenance of the headquarters office in the Times Building.

“Jitney first and safety” is the slogan that has been adopted.

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I don't know how long the Jitneys lasted in St. Louis, and I don't know how long my great grandfather drove one. His primary occupation was the laundry business. His address isn't new information, but it does confirm this is the correct individual, even though I haven't run across any other Herman Feinsteins in St. Louis at this time in my research.

Apparently (according to the Wikipedia article) the idea of share taxis are making a comeback in some parts of the US. I think they would be a great idea in St. Louis.

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If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, feel free to add a link to your post below, or in the comments.

Weekly Genealogy Picks

Weekly Genealogy Picks -- December 13 to December 19
from genealogy blogs, newspaper articles and elsewhere

Bobby Family Tree suggests using Skype as a genealogy tool. Naturally, using Skype as a method of 'cold-calling' potential relatives doesn't work with more common surnames. And not everyone would be comfortable sending even an 'instant message' to a complete stranger. But technology is producing multiple ways of tracking down relatives.

James Tanner at Genealogy's Star discusses FamilySearch's Community Trees

Craig Manson at GeneaBlogie begins to contribute his views on a discussion of Standards and Certification, which he promises to continue in later posts. Raised in a legal family, I like the mock-courtroom dialogue he presents.

Thomas MacEntee at Destination: Austin Family won a 19th century diary on Ebay. The diary wasn't of anyone related, but he still bid on the auction, and he explains why. He also asks for input on how best to transcribe and share it.

In April, St. Joseph, MO will celebrate the 150th anniversary of The Pony Express

NARAtions provides The Real Scoop About Name Changes in Immigration Records. I can't imagine a more authoritative source than the National Archives for debunking the popular family myth of names being changed by US Immigration Officials.

Vickie Everhart at BeNotForgot shares a Christmas poem by John Greenleaf Whittier.

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings looks at the timelines created by OurTimeLines

Google has recently released some Translation and Transliteration tools. I noticed that out of the 17 languages for which they are providing transliterations, Hebrew isn't on the list. Perhaps it will be the 18th.

The Jewish History Channel has an entry on Claiming Descent from the Maccabees. On why some consider it similar to claiming descent from George Washington...and others don't.

Taking the Mystery out of Copyright, a website presented by the Library of Congress, and aimed towards children. (hat/tip: MoSGA Messenger)

Here are three other lists of genealogy-related links of interest from fellow genea-bloggers:

• Apple's Weekly Rewind at Apple's Tree
• Randy Seaver's Best of the Genea-Bloggers at Genea-Musings
• Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Genealogical Round-Up at Megan's Roots World

Everett Clarence Van Every (1906-1924)

I've mentioned Everett before...most recently in my post on Orphans...but my information on him has become a little more confused. He died childless at age 17, but was (possibly) the only child of Samuel Van Every, brother of my grandmother Myrtle.

Why the possibly? Well, there are two reasons. As I have mentioned in some of my earlier posts, Samuel appears to have had relationships with other women which might have led to currently unidentified children. However, there also turns out to be a chance Everett wasn't Samuel's child.

Here's what I know and how I know it.

From his death certificate, image obtained from FamilySearch:

Name : Everett Van Every
Death date : 01 Apr 1924
County: Travis, Texas
City: Near Austin, in Barton Creek
Birth date : 01 Aug 1906
Birth place : Texas
Age at death : 17 years
Gender : Male
Marital status : Single
Race or color : White
Spouse name :
Father name : S. Van Every
Birth place of father: Texas
Mother name : Esther Dahlin
Birth place of mother: Austin, Texas
Informant: G.A. Dahlin
Doctors note: "I hereby certify that I attended deceased from **saw soon after removed from water April 1, 1924** The cause of death was **drowning**
Place of Burial: Oakwood Cemetery
Date of Burial: April 2, 1924

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From genealogy notes drawn up by Marguerite Benold Spencer (born in 1906- 1st cousin to Everett - daughter of Samuel Van Every's sister, Minnie)

Everett was the son of Samuel and Esther Dahlin, and he drowned at age 17.

From _X_, 2009 (born in 1917 - 1st cousin to Everett - daughter of a brother of Esther) - She is still alive, but the information was relayed through an email conversation with her son.

Everett was the son of Esther Dahlin and a Van Landingham. Marriage between Esther and Samuel Van Every was very brief, but Everett was given Samuel's surname.

Everett drowned in Deep Eddy Pool at a high school graduation party.

GA Dahlin (informant on Death Certificate) would have been Gustav Dahlin - another brother of Esther's.

In reading the death certificate I assumed "Near Austin, in Barton Creek" literally meant that is where Everett drowned. But research shows Barton Creek is also the name of a city in Travis County. Deep Eddy Pool is about 10 miles from the physical Barton Creek. It seems strange that a high school graduation party would be held on April 1 - but it could have still been a school-related event.

In evaluating the two sources, _X_ and Marguerite Spencer are both first cousins of Everett. (By marriage if not blood.) _X_ would have been 7 years old when Everett died, and her recollection of events might be mostly second-hand. Marguerite would have been 17 or 18, the same age as Everett. _X_ may have lived in the Austin area, while Marguerite, in 1924, was likely living in El Paso. (600 miles away) However, for the first 11 years of her life, she would have lived on the outskirts of Austin, and could have known Everett well.

I don't know the details of their separation, or if my Great-Uncle kept in contact with his ex-wife and son. I do know that in the 1910 and 1920 census he was living in California, and from about 1920 until his death he was living in Missouri.

I can imagine that by the time _X_ was born, Esther may have been trying to distance herself from an ex-husband who had long since left her and Everett behind. It's harder for me to imagine why my great uncle would tell his family Everett was his, if he wasn't. It's a huge mark against a man to even appear to abandon a child. (Though to repeat, I don't know if he kept in touch or not, despite the miles he put between himself and them.)

However, I can imagine Esther telling Samuel that Everett was his, and Samuel thinking this to be the case, even if it wasn't.

On the one hand, Everett didn't live long enough to have any children. (Well...at least there is currently no evidence to the contrary.) So his paternity doesn't pose any major genealogical dilemmas. But I am saddened by the question mark that is now by his name, and which is likely never to be resolved completely, as there is no DNA to test.

Everett's birth certificate has not been found. Certificates are supposed to go back to 1903 in Texas. However, even if the Ancestry database were complete, of the 23,000 births in Texas in 1906 that it lists, over 17,000 are just recorded as "Infant of X" where X is the father's name. Since I'm no longer certain what should appear in that location, it's not too useful.

Wordless Wednesday: Truman Receives a Menorah

Caption: Photograph of President Truman in the Oval Office, evidently receiving a Menorah as a gift from the Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion (center), and Abba Eban, the Ambassador of Israel to the United States.: 05/08/1951 [National Archives]