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

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

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

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

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

Suburbanite Economist – July 9 1952, p.9.

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Notes:

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

Descendants of Ben and Goldie (White) Cruvant

I've mentioned previously my research into the children of Ben Cruvant (my great grandmother's brother) and his first wife, Goldie. They were married in Chicago in 1904. In 1907, he brought her, and their children, home to St. Louis. His parents, upset Goldie wasn't Jewish, gave Ben an ultimatum. And he chose his parents. Goldie returned to Chicago with the children. Ben remarried and started a second family.

Building upon research conducted by a cousin into what happened to Goldie and the children, I've made a handful of recent discoveries. Below I document what I know, in case some of the names might be found by someone else searching.

Generation One

• Goldie Lillian WHITE (10 Dec 1884 - 3 Feb 1962) and Benjamin CRUVANT (3 Jan 1883-23 May 1960)

Children:
1) Edward CRUVANT – b. July 19, 1904 - changes name to Clifford Paul WHITE
2) Goldie CRUVANT – b. July 22, 1905 - Possibly changes name to Ruth Sarah
2 or 3) Ruth Sarah CRUVANT – b. July 2, 1906 (according to death certificate)

[It is very unlikely that Clifford, Goldie and Ruth would all be born in July in successive years. I have birth records for the first two. The June 1907 Post Dispatch article about a 2 year old baby pining for a disappearing father doesn’t mention a 1-year old daughter. With the death certificate for Ruth indicating a middle name of Sarah, and the 1910 census indicating Goldie's daughter Sarah M., there is a strong possibility there really are only two children of Ben and Goldie. It’s not unusual that someone would end up with a birth year on their death certificate one year younger than reality. This would mean Edward changed his name to Clifford Paul and the younger Goldie changed her name to Ruth Sarah. It would be nice to find the official Name Change/Correction for Ruth Sarah.

Ruth’s husband, Raymond Sangbusch, was born on July 2, 1911. This could explain how her birthday got changed from July 22 to July 2…or was confused by the informant.]

• Goldie and [Unknown] TAYLOR

Children:
1) Madge Elizabeth Taylor – b. unknown

[Note: We don’t have 1920 census records for family. It is possible they had the Taylor surname at the time.]

• Goldie and Wiley Poynter SHAW

Children: None

Generation Two

• Clifford Paul WHITE marries Jessie Anna ROSS (abt 1930) [Jessie Anna ROSS born in 1903 in Westville, Nova Scotia. I believe I have found her in the 1911 Canadian census, indexed as 'Jassie.']

Children
1) Florence Augusta WHITE (date of birth known, but could be living)

• Ruth CRUVANT marries WELTY (unknown date)
• Ruth CRUVANT WELTY marries Raymond SANGBUSCH – May 6, 1939 – Scott, Iowa (divorced prior to 1959, since Raymond SANGBUSCH marries Eleanor NANCE in Dec 1959)

Children - Unknown

• Madge Elizabeth TAYLOR engaged to be married to Kenneth LINDBERGH  – May 22, 1938 [Newspaper article says wedding scheduled for June 25]
• There is a Kenneth and Betty M. Lindbergh in the California voting records in 1940 and 1942. That Kenneth Lindbergh (1915-1994) was born in Chicago, and served in WWII between 1943-1945. (Registering for the draft in Pennsylvania)  He remarried in 1946, so if he is the same, his marriage to Madge Elizabeth may have ended prior to 1943. A descendant of Kenneth and his second wife has no knowledge of first wife.

Children - Unknown

Documents uncovered (with some links to past blog posts)

• 1904 marriage record for Benjamin Cruvant and Goldie White
• 1904 birth record for Edward Cruvant (and later name correction)
• 1905 birth record for Goldie Cruvant
• 1907 newspaper article documenting Benjamin and Goldie's break-up
• 1910 Census: Goldian Lillian White, son Clifford E, daughter Sarah M., Chicago, IL
• 1914 journal clipping indicating Goldie Cruvant living in Denver Colorado
• 1930 Census: Clifford White, mother Goldie Taylor, and roomer Wiley Shaw - Chicago IL
• 1940 Census: Clifford P White, wife Jessie, daughter Florence A - Chicago, IL
• Marriage record: Ruth Cruvant Welty to Raymond Sangbusch - May 6, 1939 - Scott County, Iowa
• 1940 Census: Raymond Sangbusch, wife Ruth, Mother-in-law Goldie, Father-in-law Wiley P Shaw - Chicago, IL
• Newspaper Article: Engagement of Madge Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of Mrs. Wiley P. Shaw to Kenneth Lindbergh - Chicago Tribune
• California Death Index: Goldie L Shaw
• California Death Index: Wiley Poynter Shaw
• Marriage record of Raymond Sangbusch and Eleanor Nance - Dec 12 1959 - Los Angeles
• Birth record: Raymond Sangbusch - July 2 1911 - Chicago, IL (parents Otto Sangbusch and Susan Calon)
• Death record: Raymond Sangbusch - January 1985 - Havasu City, Mohave, Arizona 
• Birth record: Florence Augusta White - Chicago IL - Parents Clifford Paul White and Jessie Anna Ross

Amanuensis Monday: Harry and Grace Feinstein, 1930-1935

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

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

This week I look at some newspaper articles related to the second wife of my second great-uncle, Harry Feinstein. (All newspaper articles were found at Newspapers.com)

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Washington Citizen (Washington, Missouri) · Fri, Mar 28, 1930 · Page 8

Marriage Licenses

Dan Ledbetter … St. Clair

Anna Lewis … St. Clair

Tecumseh J. Teuscher … Rock Island, Ill

Martha L Schenk … Rock Island, Ill

Harry S. Feinstein … St. Louis

Grace Miller …. Springfield

Tony Copeland … Union

Betty Nappier … Union

 The 1930 census indicated Grace was 26 years old, and was 24 at the time of her first marriage.  When I first looked at the 1930 census, near the beginning of my research several years ago, I wrote down that Grace and Harry were married in 1928. Well, I’ll give myself the benefit of the doubt and say I knew at the time that was an educated guess. It *appears* she was married previously, and Miller *may* not have been her maiden name.

[Looking at the online Missouri marriage record databases, there are three Graces who married Millers in 1927 or 1928, though all couples are accounted for in the 1930 census.]

I’ve mentioned that Harry’s children from his first marriage were not living with him and Grace at the time of the 1930 census. Several were living with his brother (my great grandfather) Herman, and one was in an orphanage. I wondered, if Harry was still around, why he was not raising them – and what was Grace’s role. The 1930 census was enumerated on April 5th. The question asked by the census taker was who was living where on April 1. The marriage license was obtained less than a week prior. (And...if it weren’t for the orphanage....I might guess that the kids were only living with their cousins to give their new parents a short honeymoon.)

Harry passed away in 1933.

The Sunday News and Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) · Sun, Apr 14, 1935 · Page 1

A marriage license was issued yesterday from the county recorder’s office to Thompson Lusby, of Dalton, Mo., and Clarice Shockley, of Vienna. The couple was married by the Rev. H.W. Gadd. A license was also issued late Friday to Earl Hunter and Grace Feinstein, of Camdenton, Mo.

There is, of course, no evidence that it is the same “Grace Feinstein,” but there was only one in the State of Missouri in 1930. Only two in the United States in 1930 who would have been of marrying age in 1935. (The other in New York)

I have been unable to figure out what happened to Earl and Grace (?/Miller/Feinstein) Hunter after 1935.

Happy Mother's Day - 2017

We wouldn't be who we are today without the loving mothers in our lives - past and present.

Here are the eight female ancestors (besides my mother) for whom I currently have photographs.


(click to enlarge)
From left to right:
Myrtle (Van Every) Deutsch - 1900-1951 (my maternal grandmother)
Margaret (Denyer) Van Every - 1868-1923 (my maternal grandmother's mother)
Helen (Lichtman) Deutsch - 1881-1958 (my maternal grandfather's mother)
Bertha (Cruvant) Newmark - 1886-1978 (my paternal grandfathers mother)
Minnie (Mojsabovski) Cruvant - 1863-1924 (my paternal grandfather's maternal grandmother)
Rose (Cantkert) Newmark - 1865-1943 (my paternal grandfather's paternal grandmother)
Annie (Blatt) Feinstein - 1889-1965 (my paternal grandmother's mother)
Sissie (Feinstein) Newmark - 1914-2002 (my paternal grandmother)

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

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

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

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

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

FORT ORD CHAPEL SCENE OF DEUTSCH’S NUPTIAL RITES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Notes:

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

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

Wordless Wednesday - Mr. Newmark, Thermowear Representative

Source: St. Louis Post Dispatch, Oct 27, 1957

Other sources indicate the individual demonstrating Thermowear was a Marvin Newmark from Ohio, There is no evidence that he is related.

Amanuensis Monday: An Unknown Relative Sold His Car in Detroit in 1924

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

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

This week I look at a newspaper advertisement mentioning an unknown relative.

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To the left is the full advertisement.  If one were searching for surnames using the traditional method of browsing newspaper microfilm, most likely it would be missed. But with databases of digitized papers, one can find surnames in unlikely spots. (emphasis added)

In the lower left corner:



1923 Rickenbacker Coupe
Sale Price $1350 / List Price $2345
Equipped with 2 Bumpers, Stoplight, Motometer, good Tires. This car has the wonderful Duco Paint Job which cost $175.00, and will last for years. Driven 7,000 miles. Formerly owned by Mr. Cruvand, Peterboro Avenue.

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Notes:

1) The 'Cruvand' surname (with all of its variant spellings) is rare. While one hesitates to say that "all people with surname X are related" I have been able to connect all instances I have found. In one mysterious case, a 16-year old Cruvant popped up in an England database, and I was able to prove it was a misspelling. Could this be another? No known Cruvands, Cruvants, Kruvands or Kruvants lived in Michigan in the 1920s.

One possibility that comes to mind is Edward/Clifford Cruvant the son of my great grandmother's brother, Ben Cruvant, and his first wife Goldie White. Born in 1904, he would have been 20 in 1924. In 1910 the mother and children were in Chicago, Illinois. In 1914 Denver, Colorado.

Ten Years - Ten Discoveries

I’ve been researching and blogging about genealogy since April of 2007. Ten years. Below are ten of my most significant research discoveries, and where I found them.

1) Confirming the family story that my second great grandparents changed their surname from Dudelzak to Feinstein.

a. I found my second great grandfather’s immigration record under the surname ‘Dudelsack’, as well as his sister’s death certificate which provided ‘Duderzock’ as her father’s surname. I also found descendants of my second great grandfather’s brother who had been told the same story. I prefer the ‘Dudelzak’ spelling since I suspect it derives from the Yiddish ‘Dudel’, a diminutive for David, and means ‘Son of David,’ as opposed to the German bagpipe.

2) The European towns of origin for my Newmark and Dudelzak ancestors.

a. I found the town of Warka, Poland in the Naturalization records for my great grandfather, Barney Newmark, and second great grandfather, Samuel Newmark.

b. I found the town of Aleksandriiya, Volhynia in my great-grandfather Herman Feinstein’s application to join a Masonic organization.

3) The maiden name for my second great grandmother, Rose Cantkert Newmark.

a. Birth and death certificates for children had various spellings, including Sankad and Sandgart. Jewishgen’s database search engine actually suggested the Cantkert spelling, and I found Cantkerts listed in Warka documents. (No Newmarks appear in Warka documents, but many appear in nearby Warsaw, leading me to believe my second great grandfather was born in Warsaw, and moved to Warka either prior to or after marrying Rose.)

4) My second great grandfather, Selig (Dudelzak) Feinstein was a blacksmith in St. Louis for 10 years.

a. Family lore had passed down his occupation industries as Real Estate and Laundry. However, from the St. Louis City Directories it is clear he spent a decade as a blacksmith. He only went into Real Estate and the Laundry business when his children were starting their careers, and it appears he may only have been sharing his business experience to get their careers started.

5) My maternal grandmother’s previous three marriages

a. From a combination of sources including my grandmother’s Official Personnel Folder (She worked at the US Post Office), a divorce record she saved, letters from her parents to her, and newspaper records. [First three husbands: Jack (last name still unknown), Arthur Connevey, & Dale Ridgely]

6) The Deutsches (my maternal grandfather’s line) were Cohanim

a. The symbol for Cohanim (which is also the Vulcan symbol from Star Trek) appears on my second great grandfather’s tombstone.

7) My ancestor McGregory Vanevery didn’t own a slave

a. I was able to follow back the sources listed in a family history published in 1947 and show that the author had misinterpreted the evidence.
b. I should note it is almost next to impossible to prove a negative. But I did show that at least some of the evidence the author had used had been misinterpreted.

8) My discovery of the Dawes Commission Testimony of my Hartley and Denyer ancestors.

a. Found on the website Footnote, which is now Fold3.

9) The explanation my wife’s 3rd great grandfather, Louis C Gober, gave for fighting for the Confederacy

a. I also found this information on Fold3

10) The story of how my wife’s great grandmother, Mabel Fulkerson, age 14, and two of her cousins helped prevent a train wreck

a. I found this news story at ChroniclingAmerica.

DNA by the Numbers

My DNA - Ancestry.com (as of April 2017)

• 67% European Jewish
• 11% Western Europe
• 3% Ireland
• 2% Italy/Greece
• 2% Eastern European
• 2% Finland/Russia
• 5% Scandinavia
• 5% Caucasus
• <1 Pacific Islander
• <1 Siberian
• <1 Great Britain

Genetic Communities
• Jews in Central Europe
• Jews in NW Poland, Lithuania, & West Belarus
• Settlers of New York City & Long Island

5 DNA Circles
• Samuel Vanevery (1820-1888) – 2nd great grandfather – 4 members (3 DNA matches + me)
• Abigail Stuart (1825-1866) – 2nd great grandmother – 3 members (2 DNA matches + me)
• Andrew Vanevery (1798-1873) – 3rd great grandfather – 3 members (2 DNA matches + me)
• David Vanevery (1757-1820) – 4th great grandfather – 5 members (3 DNA matches + me + 1 non-match)
• Israel Swayze (1753-1844) – 4th great grandfather – 6 members (1 DNA match + me + 4 non-matches)

Cousin Matches
• 2nd Cousins – 2
• 3rd Cousins – 9
• 4th Cousins or Closer – 1,734

30 Shared Ancestor Hints: 1 second cousin, 1 third cousin, 6 fourth cousins, 22 distant cousins

My wife's DNA - Ancestry.com (as of April 2017)
• 27% Scandinavia
• 21% Great Britain
• 20% Western Europe
• 13% Eastern Europe
• 11% Italy/Greece
• 7% Ireland
• 1% Iberian Peninsula

Genetic Communities: None
DNA Circles: None

Cousin Matches
• Second Cousin: 1
• Third Cousin: 4
• Fourth Cousin or Closer: 304

19 Shared Ancestor Hints: 1 third cousin, 10 fourth cousins, 8 Distant Cousins

Notes

1) I discussed several months ago the possibility of a Van Every Surname Non-Paternity Event. One piece of evidence I used was that I appear to have no genetic cousin matches with a known-shared-ancestor more distant than my 4th great grandfather. I granted that it might be because it gets difficult to research that far back (though research that far back has been published for the Vanevery family.) Another possibility I considered was that the amount of shared DNA that far back becomes smaller and smaller.

Looking at my “Ancestor Circles” – the cousins in my 2nd great grandparent circles, should also be in my 3rd great and 4th great. But they’re not all there. I’m sure this isn’t due to an NPE, but instead, we share less DNA from our 4th great ancestors. We can share DNA from our shared 2nd greats, but still share none from our shared 4th greats.

2) I find the non-DNA matches in my Ancestor Circles interesting, but obviously, it is possible for two people to have different non-matching DNA from a shared ancestor.

3) I’ve also discussed the significant difference in cousin matches for my wife and me. I still think this is due primarily to a higher rate of false-positive cousin matches for Jewish testers. I’m not sure the reason behind this, but I do know Ancestry stated that they changed their algorithm to reduce it. (And they did reduce it significantly) But it is still there.

Still, I notice that my wife has 33% less Shared Ancestor Hints than I do. Those aren’t false positives. It appears she has a smaller percentage of relatives interested in their genealogy. (Or a smaller percentage who have done enough research for the Shared Ancestor Hints to kick in.)

4) As I mentioned when discussing my FamilyTreeDNA results, I am curious about my alleged 1% Iberian and Pacific Islander DNA. It may be a false-positive, but both AncestryDNA and FamilyTreeDNA claim it is there.

Amanuensis Monday: Myrtle Van Every Dines in Gasconade County - 1934

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

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

This week I look at an article mentioning my maternal grandmother, Myrtle Van Every.

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Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Dingley entertained the following in their home Sunday: Misses Kathryn Howerton and Myrtle Van Every of St. Louis, Britton Harridon of Marshalltown, Iowa and his boy friend, John Burch of Alton, Ill. On this event it happened to be Miss Myrtle’s birthday. At noon a sumptuous dinner was served to the guests and the afternoon was spent in a jolly good way. Here is wishing this young lady many more such happy occasions.

The Bland Courier, Bland, Gasconade County, Missouri, April 26, 1934, page 1.

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Notes:

1. My grandmother was born on March 21, almost a month prior to this article being printed.  March 21, 1934, was a Wednesday. It is certainly possible that my grandmother's birthday was being observed by her friends a few weeks late. Or the newspaper may have made a mistake, and it was Miss Kathryn who was celebrating. However, my best guess for the correct Miss Kathryn Howerton, a Kathryn Howerton Bogard (1906-1997), celebrated her birthday on Feb 14.


2. This is clearly a married couple hosting either two friends and their dates, or four single friends, in their home. However, the text would definitely be phrased a bit differently today. One has to be careful when reading old newspaper articles to interpret the language as it would have been interpreted then.

3. I do not know if my grandmother was 'with' Britton Harridon, or John Burch, or how long that association lasted. My maternal grandfather would transfer to the St. Louis Post Office Division Headquarters in June 1934, and Myrtle would transfer there in July 1935, and they would marry in December of 1936.

New FTDNA ethnicities

FamilyTreeDNA updated their DNA ethnicity guesses. (Yes, guesses, the science behind them is nowhere near exact)

My current breakdown is on the left.

I am aware that the trace results are so small that they can easily be false-positives.

However, is that Siberian indicative of my alleged maternal Native American ancestors who may have come over on the land bridge?

My mother's current DNA breakdown is on the right.

She doesn't have the trace Siberian. Is it possible that it is from my Paternal side? What about the Oceanian and Iberian?

I haven't encouraged my father to be tested as I assumed it would be 100% Jewish Diaspora/Eastern European, and the high number of false-positive cousin matches for Jewish DNA makes it less useful as a tool for finding cousins.

The odds are that my trace results are false positives, but still, perhaps I should get someone on my paternal side tested to be certain.

My Middle Eastern ancestry is clearly maternal. Ancestry (see below) still defines it as "Caucasus" and indicates it could also be Romanian, which suggests that it comes from my Transylvanian maternal grandfather.

Both Ancestry and FamilyTreeDNA suggest a trace of Pacific Islander/Oceanian. That's rather unlikely, but it does appear in both places, and is a very intriguing possibility.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2017

My Great-Grandfather, Barney, celebrated his birthday on March 17th, and claimed to have been born in Dublin, Ireland. It's significantly more likely that he was born in Warka, Poland - on the outskirts of Warsaw. The dates of March 25th and April 14th also appear on some documents as his date of birth, but no birth records have been uncovered, so anything is possible. There may be some significance to the fact that there are 20 days between March 25th and April 14th. (12 days adjustment between the Gregorian and Julian calendar, and 8 days between birth and circumcision.) There are also 8 days between March 17th and March 25th.

After a holiday post in 2007, a friend introduced me to online genealogy, and the rest is family history.





Past St. Patrick's Day Posts
2016: Corned Beef on Rye
2015: Corned Beef on Rye
2014: Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014
2013: Happy St. Patrick's Day
2012: Happy 126th Birthday to my Great Grandfather
2011: Happy St. Patrick's Day
2010: Barney's Birthday and Birthplace
2009: On St. Patrick's Day Everyone is Irish
2008: My 'Irish' Great Grandfather
2007: Corned Beef and Cabbage on Rye

Amanuensis Monday: Melvin Vanevery's Cheese Creamery 1914-1915

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.

This week I look at several reports in industry journals about my great grandfather's creamery business in Berclair, Texas - and a possible second location in Beeville.

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Manufactured Milk Products Journal, Vol 5, 1914, p. 310

Berclair, Tex. – What perhaps is the only institution of the kind in Texas began operations here this week. Mr. M. E. Vanevery, one of the most extensive apiarists in the state, has completed the erection of a creamery for the manufacture of cheese and the product turned out compares favorably with that shipped in from the North. The plant is equipped with silos and the ensilage has proven a success as a milk producer. The plant is located about two miles from town and is attracting much attention.

The Milk Dealer, Volume 4, 1914, p. 47.

Berclair, Tex. – Mr. M. E. Vanevery has in view the erection of an ice cream factory in connection with his cheese factory.

The National Provisioner, Volume 52, April 17, 1915, p. 20

The erection of a cheese factory at Beeville, Tex., is planned by M.E. Vanevery, of Berclair, Tex.



Texas Trade Review and Industrial Record, Volume 20, April 15, 1915, p. 114

Beeville, Tex – M.E. Vanevery, Berclair, Tex., plans removing his creamery plant to this city and greatly enlarging it.

The American Produce Review, Volume 40, April 21, 1915, p. 25

Beeville, Texas – M.E. Vanevery, of Berclair, who is an experienced cheese manufacturer and who is now making and selling a first-class product in his small factory at Berclair, wants to locate in Beeville.

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Notes:

1. I found these clippings in a Google Books Search. The clipping from Manufactured Milk Products Journal is identical to what appeared in The Galveston Daily News on Nov 29, 1914. The other clippings concerning a second location in Beeville are a new discovery. It is unclear whether the plans came to fruition. My great-grandfather still had a beekeeping business in Berclair in 1916. They moved across the state to Fabens, Texas, near El Paso,  in 1917, where he had a job as County Apiary Inspector.

Approaching Anniversaries

In May of 2002, I began blogging on a myriad of topics, sometimes political, sometimes religious, rarely genealogical.

In March of 2007, I wrote an entry for the alleged birthday of my great grandfather: Corned Beef and Cabbage on Rye

Shortly thereafter, a friend emailed me a link to a census document with my great-grandfather on it. Prior to that, I had no idea what was available online.

So I am approaching my 15th year of blogging, in general, and 10 years of genealogy research. (Plus, in April, my wife and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage.) This would be a great time for some retrospective posts.

And while not chasing
twin four-year-olds, or sleeping,
I'll see what I can do.

I may find the time
to write a brilliant haiku,
or even two.

Celebrate Your Name Week

Reposted and updated from 2009 

The first week of March is Celebrate your Name Week

Celebrate Your Name Week is a holiday created in 1997 by American amateur onomatologist Jerry Hill. Hill declared the first full week in March a week for everyone in the world to embrace and celebrate his or her name, and to appreciate names in general, by having fun getting to know facts about names. This is a week set aside to participate in names-related hobbies, activities, and to take part in entertaining names-related events inspired by a fondness for and true appreciation of names.

My first name: John

John comes from the Hebrew Yochanan, meaning 'G-d is gracious.' It isn’t short, as some assume, for Jonathan. Jonathan comes from the Hebrew Yanatan, which means 'Gift from G-d,' and is a longer form of Nat(h)an.

My Hebrew name: בָּרוּ (Baruch).

Baruch is a Hebrew word meaning, “Blessed.” Benedict is the common English version of this name. My parents chose “Baruch” naming me after my great grandfather, Barnet "Barney" Newmark (1886-1956).

My middle name: Cruvant.

Cruvant is one of my ancestral surnames, the maiden name of my paternal great grandmother Bertha Cruvant Newmark (1887-1978; She and Barney were married in 1911.) Since my parents followed the tradition of choosing names from deceased ancestors, my middle name came from Bertha’s father, Moshe Leyb Cruvant. The origin of Cruvant is the town Kruvandai, Lithuania. Almost every conceivable phonetic spelling exists somewhere on the family tree: (C/K)r(U/OO)van(T/D). I blame it on individuals who were used to transliterating Hebrew to English, and had no problem 'transliterating' Lithuanian to English as well, even if the two languages shared an alphabet.

My surname: Newmark

The origin of our surname isn’t certain. It is thought that the surname was Neimark (or Nejmark) in Poland. There are multiple Newmark “clans” in the United States, and it is uncertain whether they are related, though several appear to have originated in Poland, and several made stops along the way in Great Britain.

Namesakes

I share the name “John Newmark” with a Canadian pianist (1904-1991) - Though he came from Germany, and his original surname was Neumark.

I also share my name with the British biologist, and identical twin who appeared on the television show, To Tell the Truth, with his brother, George.

Ancestry's We're Related - at 100 celebrities

Ancestry’s We’re Related app has now told me about 100 possible relatives. This is a good place to discuss some statistics.

Occupations (my categories)

• Actors - 25
• Presidents - 19
• Entertainers - 13
• Authors - 13
• Politicians - 9
• Athletes - 4
• Science - 4
• Business - 3
• Military - 4
• Activists - 2
• Artists - 2
• Vice Presidents - 1
• First Ladies - 1

Note: The meaningful of this is is of course slightly dependent on the breakdown of the individuals they have in the database.

Furthest confirmed ancestor on my chart

• Betts, Capt. Richard - 7
• Chamberlain, Joanna - 2
• Chamberlain, Robert - 3
• Clark, Abigail - 52
• Horton, Barnabas - 1
• Horton, Penelope - 1
• Meyer, Elizabeth - 2
• Pitney, Mary - 16
• Schauer, Michael - 2
• Swazey, Joseph - 3
• Van Tock, Hannah - 8
• Wines, Sarah - 3

Note: Abigail Clark is definitely my 'gateway ancestor' to the most alleged celebrity kin. Mary Pitney a distant second.

Individuals for whom my research confirms my alleged ancestry (8/100)

• John Kerry
• Mark Twain
• Jim Varney
• Johnny Depp
• Newt Gingrich
• Tom Hanks
• Stephen King
• Theodore Roosevelt

I could say these are individuals for whom the relationship is very likely...if I trusted the research for the celebrities. But...

Individuals for whom my research confirms my alleged ancestry, and other research I trust confirms the celebrity’s ancestry (1/100)

• John Kerry

Note: I haven't actively tried to research any of the celebrity ancestries. However, with the advent of Who Do You Think You Are and other genealogy shows, many celebrities have had some professional research done. And even without the shows, many politicians have had their genealogies well-researched.

Out of the 19 Presidents I'm allegedly related to – those for whom the alleged President’s ancestry is confirmed through Ancestors of American Presidents by Gary Boyd Roberts, 2009 edition. – 2/19

• Rutherford B. Hayes

Note: There are 4 generations in my own ancestry I'd have to confirm to prove this relationship.

• Barack Obama

Note: There are only 2 generations in my own ancestry I  have to confirm. I'll step out on a limb and say this relationship is the likeliest of all the Presidents the app has generated. If anyone can find sources for me to back up the ancestry on WikiTree linking Mary Pitney to Samuel Smith, that would be helpful. (Sources other than WikiTree, that is.) I discussed this possibility back in October.

                                                            

For the other 17 Presidents, the number of extra generations that are extended unto Gary Boyd Roberts' research

George Washington - 1
John Adams - 1
James Madison - 2
William Taft - 2
Richard Nixon - 2/3 *
Calvin Coolidge - 3
Theodore Roosevelt - 3
Harry Truman - 3
James Carter - 3
Thomas Jefferson - 4
Franklin Pierce - 4
Zachary Taylor - 4
George HW Bush - 4
George W Bush - 4
Abraham Lincoln - 5
William Clinton - 6
Ronald Reagan - 7

*App provides a different 6th great grandfather for Nixon, and then goes 2 more generations.

Note: Washington and Adams would appear to be the easiest for me to research to confirm/disprove. However, the number of unconfirmed generations in my tree are 7.
               
Celebrities whose alleged ancestry goes through an ancestor’s adopted parent (I'd have no problem with this if the app made it clear.) - At least 1/100

• Robin Williams (his mother was adopted)

In Summary

The app is very entertaining. However, without sources to back up the ancestor charts, that's all it is. The percentage of alleged matches where I have been able to confirm the ancestry back to the shared ancestor for either myself, or the celebrity, is quite small.

Defining a Person by their Occupation

Most genealogy databases have a category field for Occupation, which can be entered similar to an Event with a date and place. And if someone was faithful in entering data into the field, and used consistent terms, it could be used to search the database. You could find all the tailors, or all the famers.

However, some tailors are called furriers, and some blacksmiths are called farriers, and there are subtle differences between musicians, composers, singers, and songwriters. It's difficult to be consistent with occupation titles without running into individuals who don't quite fit into your categories. And since the choices can be subjective, decisions will vary.

***

I wrote about how Ancestry's We're Related App categorized Richard Nixon as "Politician" rather than "President." While that was an obvious error, their simple decision to sort the results into occupational categories, and only allow one occupation per individual, means many of their choices are going to be debatable.

A simple example: William Howard Taft.

Sure, his primary categorization is easy - President.

However, the app's listing of categories (see right) currently tells me that I have no relatives who were U.S. Supreme Court Justices. And I know that isn't true. (And a good percentage of the Politicians and Presidents are/were also Lawyers.)

Below are all the "Possible Relatives" the app has currently suggested to me for whom I would categorize differently. [All my suggestions are used for other individuals by the app.]

• Robert E. Lee - Military Figures
• Ring Lardner - Authors
• B.F. Skinner - Scientists 
• Walt Disney - Artists
• Britney Spears - Entertainers
• Franklin Pierce - Presidents
• Richard Nixon - Presidents

The last two are the most obvious mistakes. Classifying Ring Lardner as an entertainer also seems to be a mistake when he is known for his writing. Walt Disney was definitely entertaining, but I think not classifying him as an Artist is a slight against cartoons and animation. I'm not sure if B.F. Skinner's categorizing is a mistake or a slight against Psychology as a science. There are several people in the Musicians and Composers category that raised my eyebrows, but most of them have either played a musical instrument, or at least composed some of their songs. Britney Spears' name has appeared in conjunction with others in some of her song credits, but she is known for her performances.

Valentine's Day 2017

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

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

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

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

Why is Valentine's Day on February 14th?

There is a theory that the only reason today is associated with Cupid is due to a poem Geoffrey Chaucer wrote.

In 1381, Chaucer was busy composing a poem in honor of the arranged marriage between England's Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. This was a very big deal indeed, and Chaucer was looking for just the right saint to honor on May 3, the day Richard II signed the papers of engagement to his Bohemia beauty. 

His search ended, Kelly surmises, when Chaucer learned that a Saint Valentine of Genoa had an honorary feast day on May 3. Perfect! So he wrote the poem "The Parliament of Fowls" in the couple's honor. 

"The Parliament of Fowls" literally means "the meeting of birds," says Kelly. "Chaucer dreamed up the idea that all birds chose their mates on May 3rd," he says.

After Chaucer's death in 1400, Valentine's Day celebrations got pushed back to February.

Why exactly is unclear, however, if you forgot, and someone is upset, perhaps you can use this information to give yourself a few extra months.

We're Related App - Categorization Error

Apparently, Ancestry's We're Related app places Richard Nixon in the "Politicians" category and not the "U.S. Presidents & Vice Presidents" category.



I'm fairly certain this is a coding error and not a political statement. But it is humorous.
Almost makes up for the appearance of him as a possible relative.
I have informed Ancestry using the Feedback app.

Including Nixon, the app has now informed me of 17 Presidents to whom I may be related. I am unable to verify both halves of the ancestry on any of them.

• Abraham Lincoln
• Barack Obama
• Bill Clinton
• Franklin Pierce
• George H.W. Bush
• George W. Bush
• George Washington
• Harry S Truman
• James Earl Carter
• James Madison
• Richard Nixon
• Ronald Reagan
• Rutherford B. Hayes
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Thomas Jefferson
• William H. Taft
• Zachary Taylor

There are two other presidents - FDR and Grant - to whom I am fairly certain I am related, but the app, so far, hasn't found. For these connections, I am trusting the research done by Gary Boyd Roberts in Ancestors of American Presidents, and my own research for my own ancestors. 

We Are Not a Nation of Immigrants

"A Nation of Immigrants"
implies all our ancestors
were immigrants.

Some were Native Americans,
some slaves,
and some indentured servants.
Others were refugees.
Those that voluntarily came prior to 1789 --
mostly colonists.

Words matter.
Grouping all migrants together
erases differences.

Were our ancestors fleeing oppression?
Were they seeking a better economic future?
Did they arrive here under duress?
Did their nationality change?

The different paths followed
led us to where we are.
By celebrating these differences,
we honor all of our ancestors.

***

Back in November, I stated, in part:

I have immigrant ancestors from the following geographies:

• Netherlands
• Germany
• Poland
• Great Britain
• Canada
• Lithuania
• Transylvania
• Volhynia.

That's not entirely true. I can't factually state that any ancestors immigrated from The Netherlands. My Vanevery ancestors traveled from The Netherlands to a Dutch colony (New Amsterdam). That's not immigration. Immigration requires movement from one nation to another nation. A colony is part of the mother-nation.

All the other countries in that list belong there. I have British ancestors who were colonists, and others who immigrated after 1791. All of my Canadian ancestors were descendants of Loyalists who fled to Canada during the Revolution.

Whether or not some of my ancestors were refugees is open to question. My Puritan and Mennonite ancestors might be classified as such, along with my Jewish ancestors. Though I think most of my Jewish ancestors were seeking better economic circumstances and weren't fleeing any particular pogrom. As I mentioned last week my Cruvant ancestors may have left Lithuania because their home was destroyed in a fire.