Assumptions: The Name of the Father

Third in a series of posts.

A discussion of assumptions one might be tempted to make. With examples taken from my own research.

Assumption: The name of a child indicates the name of the parent.

Example:

Question: You run across a person named John Robert Green II. What is his father's name?
Answer: You can not assume it is John Robert Green.

Sure, there is a strong likelihood. But there is no law, in the United States at least, that sets rules on how to name a child.

Sometimes a child can be named the II where an Uncle or other relative was the first.

Or you can have parents with a strange sense of humor.

You can have a John Robert Green II who is the son of David Alexander Green, with no John Robert in sight.

I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in our country there exists a Leonard Part VI.

For privacy reasons I will not indicate the example from my own research.

[Sure. In your database enter "John Robert Green" for the father, and in the notes indicate that you are guessing that is his name from the name of the son. But always remember it is a guess, until you find confirming documentation.]

Assumptions: Documents are a Snapshot in Time

Second in a series of posts.

A discussion of assumptions one might be tempted to make. With examples taken from my own research.

Assumption: Documentation that an individual lived somewhere in time indicates they lived there before or after that moment in time.

Every document is a snapshot in time. Except in rare occasions, they don't tell you what happened before or after that snapshot.

Below are entries from the St. Louis City Directory for my grandmother, Myrtle Van Every

•1921 - Astor Hotel
•1921 - 4528a Enright
•1922 - Westgate Hotel
•1922 - 4123 Westminster
•1923 - 4515 Washington
•1924 - 5630 Delmar
•1925 - 5540 Pershing
•1926 - 4506 Forest Park
•1927 - 4545 Washington
•1928 - 5707 McPherson apt 111
•1928 - 5656 Kingsbury apt 203
•1930 - Georgiana Court Apartments, 5660 Kingsbury, apt 203, St. Louis, MO (census - ED 169 - Sheet 1B)

She moved around a lot, but she remained in St. Louis. She doesn't appear in the 1929 directory, but not appearing in a particular directory isn't uncommon. I can imagine many genealogists, of varying experience levels, stating as fact that she lived in St. Louis continually from 1921 to 1930, citing the St. Louis City Directories and the 1930 census as evidence.

And there's nothing wrong with that, except for using the word 'fact.'

In April of 1927 my grandmother married in Oakland, California. In October of 1927 she divorced her husband, and returned to St. Louis. She didn't miss appearing in the 1927 directory. She appeared in the 1928 directory under her maiden name, and her married name. She did appear in the 1929 directory, but only under her married name. She returned to her maiden name by the census in 1930.

Remember: Every document is a snapshot in time. Be open to learning something important happened between two snapshots.

Ancestry doesn't handle European Dates well in Family Trees

I was looking at the entry for one of my wife's ancestors on somebody else's Ancestry Family Tree. As you can see, the person entered her birth date as 04.11.1817. And her death date as 17.07.1915.

From the death date, it is clear they are using the European system of Date.Month.Year.  There is no 17th month. The birth date could either be in April or November. 

If you glance down at the Timeline - Ancestry assumes the user was using the American Month/Date/Year format. Oops.

If I were able to copy the whole entry, you'd notice that the Ancestry Timeline gets the death date correct. Which means the software program is coded to recognize the existence of both methods, but only uses the European method if the American method returns an error. I used to be a computer programmer, and I don't think I'd have coded it this way.

Note: I went to my own family tree and tested the interface. There is no clear way to indicate which method you are using, and the software made the same mistake when I entered the same dates. However, the person who created the entry below did make a mistake in entering the date of birth. They cite FindAGrave as a source, which cites her death certificate. Both sources have her date of birth as November 14th. A simple typo, but a reminder to look at the sources.

Further Note: It was mentioned that this programming error may only exist if one uses periods to separate the numbers in the date. So I tested it with the more traditional /s and the same thing happened.

Assumptions: Government Documents Are Always Reliable

First in a series of posts.

A discussion of assumptions one might be tempted to make. With examples taken from my own research.

Assumption: Government Documents are Always Reliable

While one might say, "of course they aren't, no one would make that mistake," this is what makes me cringe most often when watching Who Do You Think You Are. The researcher finds the grandmother in a household in a census, and tells the celebrity the parents in the household are their great grandparents. Perhaps their great grandparents are dead, and these are actually the grandmother's uncle and aunt? I assume (hope) the researcher has conducted additional research to verify the information, but they don't mention it on television, leading some viewers perhaps not to ask that question in their own research.

I have distant relatives who have looked at the above US census record from 1870 for the Denyer family, and recorded in online databases Amanda, Sherwood, and Ida as children of Ebenezer and Sarah, despite them being a decade older than William and McAlpin. They are actually the children of Ebenezer's brother, Samuel Denyer, who died in 1861, and his wife Zarelda, who died in 1867. (As a side note, several of the names in this record are actually middle names. McAlpin, for example, is my great grandmother, Margaret Jane McAlpin (Denyer) Vanevery.

Above is a marriage record from the UK General Register Office. The marriage occurred in London in 1902. If I asked you to tell me the name of the Father of the Bride, your answer would be "Nathan Nathan." I'm pretty certain I know what happened. The clerk asked the bride for her maiden name, and then asked only for her father's given name. Unfortunately, it appears Sarah followed the Jewish custom of using her father's first name as her last. Perhaps as an affectation, since it was no longer common in the 1900's. The 1901 UK census indicates the family name was Sandler, and Sandler appears on some documents as Sarah's maiden name.

Just because there is a government stamp on a document doesn't mean the information is necessarily correct. Record the information in your database, and cite your source, but always be open to discovering new, conflicting information.

Sarah LNU (Not any longer)

Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings, for his weekly Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, asked:

How Many Sarah LNU's Are in Your Genealogy Database? If you have one that is your ancestor, have you looked recently to determine if there are more records online that might lead you to her surname? Go look for one - you might be surprised!

LNU is an acronym for "Last Name Unknown." Using the acronym, instead of leaving the surname blank, facilitates finding these mysteries in your database to research at a later time.

LNUs, by the nature of surnames in Western European culture, are almost always female.

***

I had one Sarah LNU - however, she wasn't related to me. She was the husband of my 2nd great grandfather's business partner, Max Wieselman. I had entered Max into my database as an "Associated Person." (iFamily chart to the left.) Max and my 2nd great grandfather, Selig Dudelczyk (he changed his surname to Feinstein), worked as horse shoers/blacksmiths together, and were co-inventors of a modification to a fire hydrant. When I first visited the cemetery where Selig and Anna, as well as several other paternal ancestors are buried, I parked a fair distance from where their plots were, planning to walk the rest of the way. At my feet, when I got out of the car, was the headstones for Max and Sarah.

I had only entered their names and dates from the tombstones, and hadn't conducted any additional research yet. While he was my ancestor's business partner for a decade, I had no other reason to conduct any research on him or his family. The first thing I did this weekend was look up their death certificates at the Missouri Digital Heritage website. They were both there, as well as the certificates for two sons. According to Sarah's death certificate, her maiden name was Ottman.

However, Max's death certificate was more interesting to me. It stated he was born in Zhitomir, Volhynia. The same town Selig's brother Julius had for town of origin on his manifest. Did Selig and Max know each other in the old country, or did they meet each other in St. Louis?

Census records indicate Max immigrated in 1884, a few years prior to Selig. It looks like at some point I may need to conduct some more research on the Wieselmans. However, the information I want is likely in Ukrainian records.

Happy Labor Day Weekend 2014

For the Labor Day holiday, I thought I'd reshare the below poems and music.

For those uncertain as to the origins and intent of this holiday, these should help clarify.
It's not about barbecues.

Dropkick Murphys - Worker's Song

Fellow Citizens - Carl Sandburg (1912)

I DRANK musty ale at the Illinois Athletic Club with

the millionaire manufacturer of Green River butter

one night

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

he spoke of a beautiful daughter, and I knew he had

a peace and a happiness up his sleeve somewhere.

Then I heard Jim Kirch make a speech to the Advertising

Association on the trade resources of South America.

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

cocked it at an angle regardless of the manners of

our best people,

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

some of the reporters on his newspaper say he is

the living double of Jack London's Sea Wolf.

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

happy though it is a hard job to satisfy all the office-

seekers and eat all the dinners he is asked to eat.

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

his jaw wrapped for a bad toothache,

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

and the mayor when it came to happiness.

He is a maker of accordions and guitars and not only

makes them from start to finish, but plays them

after he makes them.

And he had a guitar of mahogany with a walnut bottom

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

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

though he never mentioned the price till I asked him,

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

music and the make of an instrument count for a

million times more than the price in money.

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

There was light in his eyes of one who has conquered

sorrow in so far as sorrow is conquerable or worth

conquering.

Anyway he is the only Chicago citizen I was jealous of

that day.

He played a dance they play in some parts of Italy

when the harvest of grapes is over and the wine

presses are ready for work.

Billy Bragg - There is Power in a Union



A Pict Song - Rudyard Kipling (1917)

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

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

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

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

We are the Little Folk, we ! etc.

Evan Greer - Never Walk Across a Picket Line



End of Summer Rituals
by John Newmark ©August 2001

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

Amanuensis Monday: Death Certificate of Moshe Leyb Cruvant - 1911

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

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

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

***
This week I transcribe the death certificate of my second great grandfather, Moshe Leyb (Morris Louis) Cruvant.

Certificate And Record of Death Register No: 31532
1. Full Name: Morris L. Cruvant
2. (a) Sex: M (b) Color: W. (c) Married
3. (a) Birthplace: Russia (b) Date of Birth: July 1, 1857
4. Age: 54 Years 3 Months
5. Died on the 26 Day of September 1911 at about 1125PM
6. Last Occupation: Merchant From 1900-1911
7. Previous Occupation: Tailor From 1881-1900
8. Place of Death: 1307 St. Louis Ave, East St. Louis County of St. Clair
9. How Long in State: 11 years
10. How Long in US (if Foreign Born): 35 years
11. (a) Name of Father: Aron Cruvant (b) Birthplace of Father: Russia
12. (a) Maiden Name of Mother: Unknown(b) Birthplace of Mother: Unknown
The foregoing stated personal particulars are true to the best of my knowledge and belief
13. Informant: David Cruvant Address: 1307b St. Louis Ave
14. Place of Burial: Hashaschelomus St. Louis Mo Date of Burial: Sept 27, 1911 1pm
15. Undertaker: H.B. Berger Address: St. Louis, Mo
Physician’s Certificate of Cause of Death
I hereby certify that I attended the Deceased from Aug 20 1911 to Sept 26 1911; that I last saw alive on the 26 day of September 1911. That death occurred on the date stated above, at about 1125pm and that to the best of my knowledge and belief the cause of his death was as Hereunder Written
(If Under One Year Old, State How Fed.)
(a) Cause of Death: Carcinoma of Liver
(b) Contributory (secondary) [blank]
Witness my hand (signature) illegible Address: (illegible) Bldg, East. St. Louis, Ill.

Notes:
1) The first thing I do when looking at a certificate is look for obvious errors.

He was born in Lithuania, though from 1795-1918 it was under control of Russia, so Russia is accurate for his birthplace.

Though there is a place on the form where indicating age to include number of days, his age was rounded up to the next month. It should say 54 years, 2 months, 26 days.

It's questionable whether he had been in the US for 35 years. That would mean an immigration year of 1876 at age 19, which isn't impossible, but his eldest son who was born about 1883 is believed to have been born in Lithuania. It is believed they were in the US by 1886/7 when my great grandmother was born. Perhaps 35 should be 25.

2) I like that there was a question for both Occupation and Previous Occupation. I don't see that on many death certificates, and it provides a year for when he changed professions. Of course, the accuracy of the years is completely dependent upon the memory of the informant, his second eldest child. In this case, the city directories confirm the dates.

3) The place of burial isn't a truly horrible spelling for what I am sure whoever wrote it down heard. They probably didn't ask the informant how to spell it, because I suspect he could have done a better job. It should say: Chesed Shel Emeth.

4) The only facts on a death certificate for which I consider the death certificate a primary source is the Date/Time of Death, Place of Death, Cause of Death, and Place of Burial. That is, I trust the recordings of the doctor and undertaker. For the rest of the information I take into consideration who the informant was, and how much they are likely to know. In this case, the informant being his son, 26 years old at the time, the reliability is pretty good.

5) Since he died on the 26th of September, 1911, after sunset, that converts to the 5th of Tishrei, 5672, which corresponds with what is inscribed on his tombstone.

Differing Reactions to Historical Figures

My wife and I were watching the Who Do You Think You Are episode with Valerie Bertinelli.

 

Ms. Bertinelli learned she had King Edward I for an ancestor.

 

As the historian was telling her all about the great things King Edward, or Longshanks, did for parliamentary democracy, my wife had a very different reaction.

 

Another nickname for King Edward, besides Longshanks, was Hammer of the Scots. My wife's maiden name is Wallace.

Some historical figures have both positive and negative associations - depending upon who you are. People will react differently to discovering they have a particular US President in their family tree. There are Romanians who count Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, aka Vlad the Impaler, as a national folk hero.

 

I'm sure my wife hopes Valerie Bertinelli, and her family, are able to focus on the good things King Edward did, but she is happy we haven't found Edwardian ancestry for either of us.

 

(The image is of a portrait in Westminster Abbey thought to be of Edward I)

Happy 100th Birthday to my grandmother - Belle "Sissie" (Feinstein) Newmark (1914-2002)

 

Belle "Sissie" (Feinstein) Newmark - August 14, 1914 - Oct 11, 2002

 

Today my grandmother would have turned 100. Below are some photographs.

 

-

Top L-R: With her brother, Ben; With her brother, Seymour (Babe); With her parents, Herman and Annie, and her brother, Seymour.

Bottom L-R: With me (1995); with her husband, my grandfather, Melvin - two photographs; high school graduation. (And, of course, the baby photo, and newspaper engagement notice.)

Below: As a young girl, and two photographs of her and my grandfather on their honeymoon

Amanuensis Monday: Obituary of Caroline Mathilde G Schrock - July 23, 1915

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

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

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

***
This week I transcribe two obituaries for my wife's 3rd great grandmother, Caroline Mathilde (Ruffert) Schrock.

---

The Weekly Tribune and Cape County Herald, Friday, July 23, 1915, page 4
Mrs. C.M.G. SCHROCK IS DEAD AT 97 YEARS OF AGE

Well-Known Woman, Born in Germany, Lived in Missouri 55 Years.

Mrs. Caroline Mathilde G. Schrock died at the home of her son, Berthold Schrock, at Scopus, Mo., on July 17, at the age of 97 years.

Mrs. Schrock was the wife of Anton F.J. Schrock who died at their residence near Marble Hill on the 8th day of June, 1900. After the death of her husband she made her home with her oldest son, near Scopus.

She was born Nov. 14, 1817 at Neurode, Silesia, Germany. She was married on Feb. 7, 1843, and emigrated to America in 1852. They came to Missouri in 1860 and located on a homestead near Marble Hill, Bollinger County.

Seven children were born to their marriage, all of whom survive their parents. The children are: Berthold Schrock, of Scopus, age 71 years; Charles Schrock of Cape Girardeau, age 69 years; Cecilia Brodtman, of Cape Girardeau, age 65 years; Mary Kamp, of Burfordville, age 63 years; John Schrock, of Morley, age 61 years; Hedwig Schwartz, Lentna [?Lentner], Shelby County, age 59 years; Albert Schrock, of Marble Hill, 55 years.

She is also survived by 36 grandchildren and 67 great grandchildren.

The Scott County Kicker had a much shorter obituary on July 31, basically summarizing the information in the earlier obituary. [Morley, Missouri - where her son, John, lived - is in Scott County.]

Mrs. Caroline Schrock died at Scopus, Bollinger county last week in her 98th year. She was born in Germany and settled where Marble Hill now is in 1860. Seven children survive her, the oldest being 71 and the youngest 55. There are 36 grand children and 67 great grandchildren.

---

Notes

1) Some obituaries contain more information in them than others. It's hard to imagine an obituary, though, that was better crafted for the genealogist than the first one above. Birth date, Place of Birth, Death Date, Date and Place of Death for spouse, Marriage Date, Year of Emigration. Names and Ages of all children - from which one can figure out whether or not they were born in Germany, or the US. (Assuming all the numbers are accurate, two children were born in the same year they changed locations - Mary may have been born in Germany or the US, Albert may have been born in Missouri, or wherever they were beforehand.)

2) A simple internet search leads me to the immigration date October 3, 1853, on the ship, Marianne.
So the obituary appears to have been off by a year.

The death certificate for John Schrock, my wife's great-grandfather, says he was born in Baltimore, Maryland.  However, the manifest transcription states they were headed for Cincinnati, and Albert Schrock's death certificate states he was born in Cincinnati. So it appears they spent time in both Maryland and Ohio before moving to Missouri.

Mary isn't listed on the manifest, however, her death certificate states she was born in July of 1852 in Germany. If the date of birth is correct, it's possible children under a certain age weren't listed on the manifest. It's also possible the date of birth on her death certificate is wrong, and perhaps she was named after the ship.

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.

***
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.

***

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.

A Toast to the First and the Fourth of July (repost)

A Toast to the First and the Fourth of July
for David Van Every (1757-1820)
©July 2009 - John Newmark

For two years my fourth great fought
for the creation of our nation
then in seventeen seventy seven
he deemed his disloyalty a disservice
and joined the other side.
Finally, he and his family fled to Canada.

His motivations are unrecorded.
Beyond his appearance on muster rolls,
a few brief mentions elsewhere,
we have nothing. No inkling
of the wherefores behind his decision
either in seventy five, or seventy seven.

In July’s opening barrage
of national celebrations
I honor both of his decisions -
whatever the reasons, and his willingness
to fight for what he believed
even when those beliefs changed.

***
July 1 is Canada Day
July 4 is Independence Day

This poem was based on information I'd found on the web, citing The Records of the Van Every Family, by Mary Blackadar Piersol, 1947.  After writing this poem, I discovered the muster rolls for David Van Every on Footnote that put the information somewhat in doubt.

The muster rolls suggest he enlisted on July 4, 1775, and deserted on Sept 12 (or Sept / 2) 1775. And re-enlisted on May 23, 1777, and redeserted in June of 1777. So in total it would have been for three months, not two years.

Also, since writing the poem, I obtained a copy of The Records of the Van Every Family, by Mary Blackadar Piersol. She only mentions David joining and deserting in 1777. So she didn't know about the 1775 muster roll. Somebody else must have found documentation that he joined in 1775, and an incorrect interpretation was made that he remained in service between 1775 and 1777.

It's impossible to assign motivation to the enlistments and desertions. David was 18 and 20 years old in 1775 and 1777. He may have just been a very confused young man.

While McGregory Van Every and his children ultimately joined the Loyalist camp, and fled to Canada, there were many Van Everys who fought as Patriots throughout the war.  They just aren't my ancestors.  As one researcher notes concerning David and his brother, Benjamin:

David and Benjamin Van Every perhaps had decided to join the New York Militia, as it was in this Regiment that the cousins of their father, McGregory Van Every had been serving: Martin as a Lieutenant, Cornelius (1730 - 1815) as an Ensign and later as a Lieutenant, and Rynier as a Captain. However, soon after deserting from the New York Militia, both David and Benjamin transferred themselves to Butler's Rangers, within which they fought for the duration of the American Revolution, David as a Sergeant and Benjamin as a regular soldier.

--- "Warner Cemetery: an important piece of Canada's heritage worth preserving," Robert Collins McBride, The Loyalist Gazette, March 22, 2000. 

June 28, 1914

100 Years ago today, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot by Gavrilo Princip.

Where were my ancestors on June 28, 1914?

Newmarks/Cruvants - St. Louis, Missouri

• My grandfather, Melvin Newmark, was born in 1912
• His father, Barney Newmark, had immigrated in 1909
• His mother, Bertha (Cruvant) Newmark, was likely born in Missouri in 1886. (The Cruvant family was definitely in the US at the time.)
• Three out of four of Melvin's grandparents were alive in 1914 - all living in the greater St. Louis area.

Blatts/Feinsteins - St. Louis, Missouri

• My grandmother, Belle "Sissie" Newmark was born August 14, 1914, so she wasn't quite born yet.
• Her father, Herman Feinstein, had immigrated in 1890
• Her mother, Anna (Blatt) Feinstein, had immigrated, I believe, in the late 1890s
• Three out of four of Sissie's grandparents were alive in 1914 - all living in the greater St. Louis area.

Van Everys/Denyer - Caldwell County, Texas

• My grandmother, Myrtle Van Every, was born in 1900
• Her father, Melvin Van Every, and mother, Margaret (Denyer) Van Every, were both alive in 1914 and living in Texas
• None of Myrtle's grandparents were alive in 1914

Deutsches/Lichtmans - Chicago, IL

• My grandfather, Martin Deutsch, was born in 1907 in Nagyalmas, Hungary (Almasu, Romania)
• The Deutsch family had immigrated to Chicago from Hungary between 1912-1913.
• They were the last of my ancestors to arrive in the US.
• Both of Martin's parents were alive in 1914, and living in Chicago
• All four of Martin's grandparents remained in Hungary. Their dates of death are unknown.

On our honeymoon in 2012, my wife and I visited the jail cell where Gavrilo Princip spent the years 1914-1918. It was Cell #1 at Terezin, which was renamed Theresienstadt by the Nazis during WWII. [Not Your Usual Honeymoon Destination]

Several ancestors and kin registered for the draft during WWI, but I am not aware of any who actually served.

How do I find out if they're dead or alive?

A relative my mother has been in contact with for a few years hasn't responded to emails recently. When she tried the phone number she had, it was disconnected.

A year ago, I would have simply gone to one of the several websites that provided access to the Social Security Death Index, and checked if the relative was there. However, Congress closed that method at the end of last year, creating a waiting period of three years before someone's information is accessible on private websites. Their rationale was that the SSDI permitted people to steal the Social Security numbers of dead people for fraudulent purposes. Of course, the SSDI was created to prevent such fraud. If anyone was getting away with using the SS#s of the recently deceased, it was not the fault of the SSDI being easily accessible, it was the fault of those who were supposed to be checking the numbers against the database not doing so.

Now if you have a "legitimate fraud prevention interest, or have a legitimate business purpose pursuant to a law, governmental rule, regulation, or fiduciary duty", while you are entitled to access the database, you have to pay for a certification program, which I am sure will encourage everyone who should be using it to do so, right? Sigh. That battle was lost last year, but it is still upsetting, because there was no good reason for Congress to do what it did.

So, without the SSDI, I checked Legacy. No obituary published within the last year for the relative, and Legacy does include the primary newspapers for the city and county of residence. However, the relative's spouse is deceased, and there are no children. Someone has to write the obituary.

I checked the online news archives at the local newspapers on both the city and county level without finding any information one way or another.

The relative was an amateur radio operator. I was able to find out that their license was renewed in February of last year, and it's a ten year license. QRZ provides online logging. The last time somebody logged that they had spoken with our relative via amateur radio was in December of last year. But that's meaningless since there are logs from the 1990s on the list of 'most recent' logs. Our relative didn't log their calls on this website, so it would be pretty random who logged on their end.

1) Can anybody think of any other resource I can check. (The state of last known residence is California.)

2) Is there anybody reading this who has paid for the certification program, has access to recent deaths in the SSDI, and would be willing, and legally allowed, to check the database for me? I don't know what the restrictions are for those who do go through the certification program, and I don't want anyone entering any gray areas for me. (If the relative is deceased, I wouldn't be interested in any information from the database beyond their date of death.)

Websites/Search Engines I've checked
Legacy
QRZ
Google
Whitepages
California Digital Newspaper Collection

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my father, grandfathers, great grandfathers, great great grandfathers, etc

LtoR: Melvin L. Newmark, Barney Newmark, Herman M. Feinstein, Samuel J. Newmark, Moshe Leyb Cruvant, Morris Blatt, Martin Deutsch, Melvin E. Van Every, Samuel Deutsch, Samuel Van Every.

Unpictured: my father, Selig Feinstein, Abraham Deutsch, Israel Lichtman, Ebenezer Denyer, etc.

For Father's Day my sons created some art for me. (Pretty good handwriting for 15 months! I think they may have had some help.)

Memorial Day 2014

A post on what Memorial Day is for, besides barbecues.

The above image comes from a past version of the Memorial Day page at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, explaining that Memorial Day is a day for remembering those who died in the service of their country.  [Read the full text of the poem.]

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the civil war), it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action. [source]

[More on the history of Memorial Day]


Unnamed Remains the Bravest Soldier - by Walt Whitman (From 'Specimen Days')

OF scenes like these, I say, who writes—whoe’er can write the story? Of many a score—aye, thousands, north and south, of unwrit heroes, unknown heroisms, incredible, impromptu, first-class desperations—who tells? No history ever—no poem sings, no music sounds, those bravest men of all—those deeds. No formal general’s report, nor book in the library, nor column in the paper, embalms the bravest, north or south, east or west. Unnamed, unknown, remain, and still remain, the bravest soldiers. Our manliest—our boys—our hardy darlings; no picture gives them. Likely, the typic one of them (standing, no doubt, for hundreds, thousands,) crawls aside to some bush-clump, or ferny tuft, on receiving his death-shot—there sheltering a little while, soaking roots, grass and soil, with red blood—the battle advances, retreats, flits from the scene, sweeps by—and there, haply with pain and suffering (yet less, far less, than is supposed,) the last lethargy winds like a serpent round him—the eyes glaze in death—none recks—perhaps the burial-squads, in truce, a week afterwards, search not the secluded spot—and there, at last, the Bravest Soldier crumbles in mother earth, unburied and unknown.

The cartoon above is by John T. McCutcheon - published circa 1900

Caution is needed with obituaries

Obituaries can be great resources for filling in both recent and past generations of branches of your family tree, but one has to be very careful about the assumptions one makes when reading them.

[All names below have been altered.]

I read the below obituary of a distant cousin

SCHWINN, ROBIN (nee Goldstein) … dear mother of Penny Ann (Edward) Molloy, Ethan J. (Marcia) Johnson and the late Alice First; dear grandmother of Lana (Louis) Spalding, George W., Jack C., Rachel A. Johnson and Melissa Steinway; dear great grandmother of Matthew and Michael Spalding...

From this obituary I entered three children for Robin Goldstein and __ Schwinn

• Penny Ann Schwinn – (married Edward Molloy)
• Marcia Schwinn – (married Ethan J. Johnson) (daughter Rachel)
• Alice Schwinn – (married ___ First)

I was unable to assign the other grandchildren to their parents without further information. I suspect there are a number of genealogists who would fill in the blanks as I did, carefully noting where they got the information, naturally.

Then I found Alice Schwinn’s obit

...Mrs. Schwinn…She is survived by her father, Ethan Johnson; mother, Robin Schwinn; sister, Penny Molloy; brother, John Johnson; grandmother, Opal Johnson; and close friend, Patricia Marie.

I knew something was wrong somewhere. There was no way Alice's father was her sister’s husband. And here was a brother not mentioned in the first obituary.

After a little thought I redrew the tree.

Robin Goldstein (Spouse 1: Ethan John Johnson) (Spouse 2: ___ Schwinn)
Children:

• Penny Ann ___ (married Edward Molloy)
• Ethan John Johnson, Jr. (married Marcia ___) (daughter Rachel)
• Alice Johnson (married ___ First)

This information fits both obituaries, but contains some new assumptions. In order to confirm these, I could make a trip to the library and look up some marriage records in the microfilm. Or I could try to contact the cousins.

It is common for individuals to be better known by their middle name than their first, especially when they share a name with a parent. It is also common for half-siblings and step parents to be referenced without the modifiers. This leads to ambiguity that sometimes doesn't appear ambiguous.

Amanuensis Monday: Reasons for taking up arms

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.

***

I've written in the past that in the role of Family Historian "I’m careful not to infer what someone’s thoughts or beliefs were, unless they were written down. I record the facts as they are known." While the reasons that the southern states seceded in the Civil War are well recorded with each state's Declaration of Secession, the reasons individuals chose to take up arms are not. The reasons individuals join the armed services today differ greatly, and I imagine the reasons differed 150 years ago, as well. So I refuse to sit in judgment of the decisions of my ancestors without knowing their reasons.

Two years ago, I discovered some records at Fold3 concerning my wife's 3rd great grandfather, Lewis C Gober. It appeared that he spent some time in the St. Louis Gratiot Street Prison as a prisoner of war after voluntarily giving himself up. The records indicated he surrendered himself on Aug 28, 1863, was charged with violating his oath of allegiance, was tried by court martial, and was released on Feb 29, 1864. There was no other information, so I had no clue why he violated his oath and joined the Confederate army. I also had no clue why he decided to surrender himself.

In the past 2 years, Fold3's Civil War records have grown. I conducted a search recently, and found some more relevant records. I found the actual signed Oath of Allegiance, dated December 23, 1862, as well as the official declaration of charges against him, and his signed statement explaining his actions.

A transcription of his statement follows:

Statement of Lewis C. Gober

I am 33 years old reside in Cape Girardeau County and by occupation a Blacksmith. I took the oath of allegiance the 23th December 1862 at Jackson Mo. The oath was administered to me by Adjutant Greene.

I joined Co. A Jeffers Reg’t C.S.A. in May ’63 for the war and deserted on the 18th of August following. I knew I was violating the oath of allegiance but was under the influence of whiskey at the time I enlisted.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 15th day [?]‘63
L Dodge
District Adj’t Marshall

This is a reason for taking up arms I hadn't previously considered, and is a good example of why one shouldn't make any assumptions about an ancestor's thought processes without seeing an explanation in their own words.

[Note: This statement is clearly in the handwriting of the District Adj't Marshall, and was likely transcribed from oral testimony. Lewis Gober's signature indicates he did at least know how to sign his name.]

Surname Saturday: Hartley

Discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research.

Hartley

Hartley is a locational surname derived from the Old English 'Heort' (Hart) and 'Leah' (Wood or clearing). George W. Hartley is my 3rd great grandfather. His descendants testified in front of The Dawes Commission that he and his wife were part Native American. Most of their descendants remained in Texas.

***

The numbering below follows the d'Aboville system. The first digit represents the order surnames make their first appearance on my ahnentafel. (I've emboldened the names of  my direct ancestors.)

16. George W. Hartley ( - 1835) married Eliza Beasley

16.1 Samuel Tillman Hartley (1830-1920) married (a) Margaret Rawls (1848-?) (b)
Nancy Virginia Rock (1853-1932)
16.2 Sarah Ann Hartley (1836-1898) married (a) Ebenezer Ophan Denyer (1828-1872) (b) George Willliam Foster
16.3 William Hartley (1844-)

16.1a.1 Caroline (Callie) Texanna Hartley (1866 – 1941) married Jesse Taylor
16.1a.2 Georgia Amelia Hartley (1870 – 1940) married Miles Phillips
16.1a.3 Robert Hilliard Hartley (1872 – ) married Margaret LNU
16.1a.4 Virginia Hartley (1874 – ) married Henry Schultz (1870-)
16.1a.5 Helena Senthliza Hartley (1875 –)
16.1a.6 Sophronia Hartley (1876 –) married James Cagle (1864- )
16.1a.7 Amie Hartley (1881 – )
16.1a.8 Samuel Hamler Hartley (1885 – 1964)
16.1b.1 Edna Hartley (1891-1973) married Manuel Taylor McCorkle (1887-1933)

16.2a Follow their descent at 8.2.3 
16.2b.1 Eliza Caroline Foster (1875-1916) married William T Reeves (1871-)
16.2b.2 George William Foster (1877-1957)
16.2b.3 Sarah Ann Foster (1878-1961) married William McCarty (1865-1953)

16.1a.3.1 Bessie Leanner Hartley (1896-)
16.1a.3.2 Youler May Hartley (1898- )
16.1a.3.3. Mantie Hartley (1901 - )
16.1a.4.1 Birdie Schultz (1890- )
16.1a.4.2 Callie Schultz (1891- )
16.1a.4.3 Julia Schultz (1897- )
16.1a.4.4 Richard Schultz (1899- )
16.1a.6.1 Hazel Cagle (1894- )
16.1a.6.2 Dessie Cagle (1898- )
16.1a.6.3 Flossie Cagle (1905- )
16.1a.6.4 Edna Cagle (1907- )
16.1a.6.5 Ruby Cagle (1911- )
16.1a.6.6 Otis Cagle (1915- )
16.1b.1.1 Clarence Taylor McCorkle (1923-1988)
16.1b.1.2 Grady McCorkle (1925-1990)

16.2b.1.1 Nora Alice Reeves (1893-1985)
16.2b.1.2 Ada Bell Reeves (1895-1948) married Riley Green Vann (1890-1949)
16.2b.1.3 James Allen Reeves (1897-)
16.2b.1.4 Lona Mae Reeves (1906-) married Galveston Clark Pittman
16.2b.3.1 Lillie May McCarty
16.2b.3.2 Ollie McCarty (1898-1973) married Oda LNU
16.2b.3.3 William Franklin McCarty (1900-1971) married Ola Dee McWhorter (1902-1980)
16.2b.3.4 Elizabeth Ann McCarty (1904-1996) married Oscar Marian McWhorter (1895-1981)

16.2b.3.2.1 Ruben McCarty (1918-1997)
16.2b.3.3.1 Pearl Louise McCarty (1926-2007)
16.2b.3.3.2 Joy Lynn McCarty (1942-1971)

My number is 16.2a.3.8.1.3