52 Ancestors: Heirloom

This week’s prompt is HEIRLOOM.

Because my parents, their parents (mostly my paternal grandparents), and their parents (mostly my paternal grandmother’s parents) were packrats, I have A LOT of heirlooms.  They all are so special to me, which makes it hard to pick a favorite, so I’ll focus on a few.

As a young child, I remember my grandmother (and parents) telling me that when Grandma was no longer with us, I would get her mother’s diamond bracelet.  That’s a heavy thought for a young girl so I put it aside and went about my childhood.

It came up several times over the years when I heard “you get the bracelet, your sister gets a diamond watch, and your brother gets the silver flatware since he’s the only grandson and it is engraved with the letter L on it”.  I guess everyone assumed that none of the granddaughters (four of us) would marry someone with the last initial of L (we didn’t) so again, I went about my childhood.

And then in 1982, it happened – Grandma was gone.  And the family met to split up her things.  There was lots to divvy up and, sadly, my memory of that night is not a great one but it was over and I walked away with “the bracelet”.  Did no one know what the significance was or did I just not ask?



I wrote about the bracelet a couple of times but the post that really explains the significance of the bracelet is HERE – it was given to my great grandmother, Bertha Schwartz, on her high school graduation in June, 1890.  And I even have a photo of her wearing it – see it on her left arm?

Bertha Schwartz, June, 1890

Just so you can really compare, here’s a close up.

I put the bracelet in a safe place and the next memory I have of it was a couple of days before my oldest daughter was married when we pulled out the bracelet so that she could wear it on her wedding day.  As we opened the delicate clasp….SNAP!  It broke!  What to do?  Fortunately, there was a local jeweler nearby and when we rushed it to the store, we were thrilled to know he could fix it in time for the wedding!  I remember my dad feeling so proud to see his granddaughter walk down the aisle wearing her 2x great grandmother’s bracelet from more than 100 years before.

And then 5 years later, we pulled it out of the safe deposit box so that daughter number two could wear it and once again, Dad was proud.  And to be honest, so was I.

I think what is so special about this heirloom to me is the fact that it was given specifically to me.  It wasn’t something that was sitting in a stack of things to be divided but meant for ME.

A couple of new heirlooms came to live with me after my mother died and everything needed to be split up.  There was some special jewelry that is tucked away in the safe deposit box keeping the bracelet company but some other very special things found a place in our home.  I feel the presence of my ancestors in every room (and every closet) but these stand out.

The curio cabinet that I remember from my grandmother’s living room which later moved to Mom & Dad’s house.  That thing was always so packed with ‘stuff’ that I never really appreciated what was in it.  It must have meant a lot to Dad, though, as I found a photo of it in the hundreds of slides that were scanned.



And after splitting up the ‘stuff’ with my brother and sister, it now holds a special place in our home.



You’ll note a few other heirlooms.



This is a water color painting of my grandparent’s home!



I have such vivid memories of that house.  The large window upstairs on the right was my uncle’s room and where my sister and I slept when we went for a visit.

And then there’s a few things from my 2x great grandparents, Louis and Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz.

An engraved sugar and creamer set from their 25th anniversary celebration.



It’s hard to see but it has the initial LS and the date October 15 underneath.  And on the left it says 1865 and on the right 1890.

And I always remember this old tea pot set sitting on the hutch in Mom & Dad’s kitchen – see it on the left on the middle shelf?





I’m not 100% sure but I think this also belonged to Louis and Rebecca Schwartz, then Bertha Schwartz Gunzendorfer, and then to my parents.

As we started the arduous task of cleaning out our childhood home, I spent some time snapping photos.  I’m not exactly sure why I felt compelled to do it but I sure am thankful that I did. 

Excuse the mess (remember, they saved everything) but check out the fireplace screen in the back right corner behind the chair. (pay no attention to my brother-in-law in the doorway).  At one time this lived at Grandma’s house before it moved to my parents’ house.



And now it’s in my house!  Since my grandmother apparently enjoyed needlepointing, I wonder if she had a hand in this.

And last but not least is the drawing of my grandfather, Sig Levy, and his two older brothers that my parents found in the basement of Grandma and Grandpa’s home in Fresno.  They rescued it, had it framed, and it hung over their living room sofa for 30+ years.



And here it is in my house!



That’s my grandfather on the left.  The date would have been about 1889 or so, before baby brother Ben was born.  I am SOOOO thankful that my brother and sister graciously allowed me to give this a special place in my home.

Who knew I would end up with all of this stuff?

52 Ancestors: Favorite Name

This week’s prompt is:  Favorite Name

I don’t know that I have a favorite name among my ancestors – what I do like is when someone is named for an ancestor, a memory, or something else that held a memory for those who named them. 

There are different Jewish naming traditions – some Jewish families (Ashkenazi) name a newborn after a deceased relative , while others (Sephardic) may honor a living family member.  Or, some parents use only the first letter of the relative’s name, while others may choose a name that is not identical, but rather similar in sound, spelling or some other manner. One additional way to honor and commemorate through the name is to make a newborn child’s middle name, as opposed to the first name, similar or identical to that of a special relative.

Since today would have been my Dad’s 91st birthday, I will start with him – Gordon Floyd Levy. 

Gordon Floyd Levy – c. 1933

The name Gordon is in memory of his paternal grandmother, Goldie Benas Levy, who died 19 Jan 1926, just over a year before Dad was born.  And I believe Floyd came from the long-time family physician, Floyd L. R. Burks.  I wrote a little about him HERE. 

My mother, Geraldine Martin, told me once that her name, had she been a boy, would have been Fitzgerald, her mother’s maiden name.  While she didn’t care for the name Geraldine (a nod to the name Fitzgerald), we both laughed that she got the better end of the deal. 

Geraldine Martin – c. 1932

Mom was not given a middle name, but somewhere along the line she ‘adopted’ the name Ann in order to honor her great aunt, Anna Theresa Fitzgerald Sronce, who she lived with for a period of time as her parents were going through a divorce.  And, thus, she passed the name on to me as my middle name.

When our oldest daughter was born, we decided to give her the middle name of Rebecca as that was what I was originally going to be named.  And the first time my grandmothers met her, they both told me that their ‘favorite’ grandmother was named Rebecca.  I never let on that I hadn’t known that in advance!

Rebecca Waller McAboy

Grandmother of my maternal grandmother, Clara Fitzgerald

Rebecca Steen Schwartz

Grandmother of my paternal grandmother, Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer

Not wanting my youngest daughter to feel left out, when we named her we asked Daughter #1 what she wanted to name her and she came up with the name Kristi.  We took that suggestion and gave her the middle name of Kristina so while not named after someone, she was named because of someone.

And that leads to my grandmother, Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer.  I never knew my grandmother by any name other than Loraine – I can’t blame her for that, who would want to go by Mildred?  And she was always Grandma Loraine rather than Grandma Levy, Nanna, Granny, or any other endearing name. 

Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer – c. 1898

My dad’s brother, Robert Levy, was likely named for Rebecca Steen Schwartz (above) who died about 18 months before Robert was born.  And his middle name was Sigmund after his father.

And that leads to two of my grandchildren.  Our oldest grandson has the middle name of Austen, which is very cool for a family with no sons.  And our youngest granddaughter’s middle name is Loraine, after her 2x great grandmother who she never knew.  I think she looks a little bit like her and I also think she’s going to have her spunk!

52 Ancestors: In the Census

This week’s prompt is “In the Census”.

I can’t believe it’s been nearly 6 years since the 1940 census was made available and thanks to a mighty effort but thousands of volunteers, it was searchable pretty quickly.  My main goal with the census was to find my mother, Geraldine Martin, since she wasn’t 100% sure where she even was at that time.  I’m sure that seems hard to believe but it was about that time that her parents divorced and she spent some time with her mother, some time with her grandparents, and some time with her great aunt, Anna Theresa Fitzgerald Sronce.  So many places to look – I even blogged about the clues I had HERE. 

My mother didn’t talk much about her childhood but once I started on this journey, she seemed to remember more and more details and if pressed, would even share them with me.  I wish I’d pressed her more.

One place I knew she wasn’t was with her father, Earle Martin.  I think the photo below was taken in 1937 and I believe it wasn’t too long after that her parents divorced.   

Geraldine Martin and Earle Martin, c. 1937

When I first started looking nearly 6 years ago, I was unsuccessful in all of the places I suspected she would be.  Thankfully, Mom was still living at the time so I called her and asked the obvious question “Mom, where were you in 1940?”  I don’t remember the exact sequence of events (darn, I should know not to count on my memory) but at some point I think she said “I must have been at the Hotel in Oakland”.  HOTEL???

Turns out she was right!  Lo and behold, there was my mother, along with her mother, at a hotel on Harrison Street in Oakland.



Of course it’s hard to see them here (they are the last two entries), so I’ve cropped it here.



Oh boy, that’s still small.  On the top line it shows Clara Martin, Head, Female, White, 36 years old, Divorced, born in California, lived in Fresno, California in 1935 and her occupation was Hostess Manager.  And underneath is Geraldine Martin, Daughter, Female, White, 11 years old, Single, born in California, lived in Fresno, California in 1935.  That all checks out!

It might be the first time I’ve really studied a census like I did this one.  And because of that, I learned some new information.

In 1939, Clara’s income was $1500.  I would guess they got reduced, or maybe even free, board as part of Clara’s compensation as the Hostess Manager.  But $1500 in one year to take care of yourself and an 11 year old child?

In 1939, Clara worked 50 weeks of the year and worked 40 hours per week.

Clara’s highest school grade completed was 3 years of high school or 11th grade.  So she didn’t graduate from high school?  How did I not know that and, more importantly, WHY DIDN’T I ASK MY MOTHER WHEN I FOUND THIS?

Looks like Mom was in the 6th grade.  Would that be right?  She turned 12 in June, 1940 so I guess that makes sense.

One question asked was what the work status was during March 24-30, 1940.  Clara was at work for pay or profit and Gerry was in school.  Which school did she go to?  And, more importantly, WHY DIDN’T I ASK MY MOTHER?

I did find a link with a map of where the property was located and found this:

Hmm, that looked so familiar.  Turns out my paternal grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, lived with her mother’s brother, Sam Steen, and his wife in the 1918 time period at 1733 Harrison Street which would have been just a few blocks away.  Hear the Twilight Zone music in the background? 

Geraldine Levy – c. 1940-1943

Just think – only 4 more years and the 1950 census will be released!