52 Ancestors: Loss - Levy Bros. Profit & Loss Records

I've had this book, which belonged to my grandfather Sig Levy, for many years sitting on a table.  I'd glanced through it a few times but it wasn't until this blog prompt came up that I spent more time with it.  Remember, my grandparents saved everything.

Here's the first page.

When I looked at this it occurred to me to search for it to see if I could find any history on it.  While I didn't find history, I did find an identical book selling on eBay for $31.45.

Look at that - a Profit and Loss Statement for May.  Actually, there are pages and pages for each month but this is just an example.

And on the opposite side of each month is individual years - this is 1931-1936.

Even though my father thought I'd be a good accountant, I quickly realized that profession was not for me.  So I'd really have to study this to figure out what it all means.

I found the salary detail interesting - this is from Jan 1-June 30, 1941.  I laugh to myself that each time the four brothers were listed it is always in age order - Herb, Leon, Sig, Ben.  So they each made $1500 dollars over 6 months or $250 per week.  In today's dollars that would be $4618 per month.  

And look at that - a couple of other Levys were working with the firm.  Herb Levy, Jr. was Herb's only son.  And Robert Levy was Sig's oldest son and my uncle.  In 1941 Rob would have been just 21 years old and about ready to enlist.  I can see that the following 6 months (July 1 - December 31, 1941) he earned $117 and the following six months was just $18.  Probably just a part time job.

And Herb's daughter, Barbara, also worked for the firm in 1944 and made a whopping $92 for the year.  

The commission page was especially interesting to see what properties sold for back then.

I looked up the house at 647 No. Van Ness Avenue, built in 1932, and Zillow shows the estimated value of $260,000 today.  And the house at 610 Pine Avenue, built in 1935, has an estimated value of $592,352.  

Levy Bros. was a successful business until 1965 after Ben's death left Sig as the only remaining brother.  Hopefully, the business never experienced a "Loss".

 

52 Ancestors: Fortune - 10 years of blogging

This week's blog prompt is Fortune.  Many of my ancestors had one fortune or another - a long and healthy life, a house full of children, a successful career, or a large bank account.  But today I want to concentrate on the Fortune I've had by starting this blog 10 years ago tomorrow.

Photo by Phae

You can read my first post HERE.  I remember writing that first post (thanks again for the push, Kerry!) and wondering if I'd have enough to say.  When I first started blogging I was so envious of the ephemera that other bloggers had and longed to find just a snippet of what they had. Be careful what you wish for!  

The first two years of blogging I was able to share what I'd learned with my mother and each year for Christmas I put together a book using Blurb to share with her since she didn't use a computer.  I remember sitting together and looking through the book and I could see a gleam in her eyes when she learned something new about her family.  Seeing the happiness it brought to her is what helped me to keep going and sometimes when I feel like I've had enough, I think that maybe, just maybe, someone will be glad that I did.

Over those 10 years, I've written 407 posts and had 1835 comments on the blog plus countless others on Facebook.  In looking back on the posts, the most read posts were:

Back in Time  The story of my grandfather asking my grandmother's parents if they could be married.  And the letter they wrote back to him giving their permission.  What a beautiful love story.

Wanted: Herman Levy Herman Levy was my great grandfather and has been a bit of a brick wall for me.  I posted this on the History of Fresno Facebook page and received a lot of views.  Over the course of the last 10 years I've connected with many grandchildren and great grandchildren of Herman - maybe one day we'll all be able to bust through this wall!

Best Wishes for a Long and Happy Life Together  The end of the books recording the wedding of my parents.  I have such wonderful memories of lying on the floor with my sister and pouring over these books.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Where Were They 100 Years Ago?  It's fun to look back at where our ancestors were living, especially when there's a picture of the house!

Grandma Was a Party Animal!  I loved going through my grandmother's scrapbook and learning about her as a young woman.  Not only am I happy that she had a scrapbook but that she saved it for me to find!

Not necessarily one of the most viewed posts (although it is much more recent so hasn't had the opportunity for people to "find" it) was one I struggled with for the blog prompt.

52 Ancestors: Multiple - Love Letters  My grandparents' thoughts during the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918. I have finished the transcription project and am now working through the letters my mother wrote to my father when he went away to college and then into the service.  Just proves that my dad had the packrat gene as he saved the letters.  Unfortunately, my mother must have missed the memo that she was supposed to save his letters as I haven't run across any yet.  

It's been an amazing 10 years and I've learned so much about my family.  I would like nothing more than to share this with my father, who used to give me tidbits of information, for I know the joy it would have brought him.  But he knows, he knows.

Thanks for sticking with me!

52 Ancestors: Name's the Same - Winfield Scott Byrd

A year ago, the blogging prompt was Same Name and I wrote about my husband's great grandfather, Winfield Scott Byrd.  You can read about it HERE.  

A similar blog prompt this week had me thinking about another ancestor(s) who had the same name and it suddenly occurred to me that as I was preparing last week's blog, I found a photo of Winfield Scott Byrd! 

It started with discovering this photo album that belonged to my mother-in-law.  Sure, I'd seen it before but had tucked it away into a box to save for a rainy day.

I showed it to my husband and we couldn't figure out who most of the people were because many of the photos were loose or just haphazardly thrown in.

My mother-in-law had included a Record of the Photographs, although it was written in pencil so it was a little difficult to read.  And not sure how to figure out who was on which page.

On one page there was a photo of an older gentleman who we thought might have been a teacher.  It was 'glued' down but my husband decided he wanted to look on the back to see if it was labeled.  I about had a heart attack as he lifted the photo out and what did we see?  A labeled photo.  And not just any photo but the label read "Daddy Byrd (My Grandpa), January 27, 1935, Nampa, Idaho".  This was Winfield Scott Byrd!

Winfield Scott Byrd, January 27, 1935

88 years old

I'm so glad to have found this - and especially glad that my husband didn't listen to me as he took it out of the album!

52 Ancestors: Multiples - The Mystery of the Twins

I have heard stories that I have some multiple births in my family but I have not been able to confirm that.  So when the blog prompt of Multiples came up, I immediately thought about my husband's grandmother, Pearl Grumer, and her twin, Ruth Grumer.  We have very few photos of Pearl and the one below is the only photo we have of Ruth.

LtoR:  Ruth Grumer, Kenneth Whitmore, Pearl Grumer, Ruby Byrd, Evenlyn LaRoche, Marcus Byrd

Pearl and Ruth were born on 1 April, 1894 in Rock Springs, Wyoming.  They were the daughters of Mary Nelson, who was born in Sweden, but we are unclear as to who their biological father was.  They, along with their sister Bertha, were apparently adopted by Frank Grumer after his marriage to Mary in 1897.  My mother-in-law referred to Frank as "Daddy Grumer" and thought that the children had, indeed, been adopted.  Ruth's death certificate states that her father was Frank Grumer while Pearl's states that her father was unknown.  Sadly, I don't know anything about Mary Nelson and my friend in Sweden has searched for her unsuccessfully - Mary Nelson is a pretty common name.

I can find no census records for Mary and the children in 1900 but found Frank in Green River, Wyoming as a lodger.  His age and birthplace are correct but it shows that he was single.  Huh?

By 1910 Frank is in Green River with Mary and the girls and it shows that he and Mary were married for 18 years.  Another fact that seems incorrect since they were married in 1897 - maybe they said they were married prior to the twins' birth so no one knew they were adopted.

1920 found the family in Green River - Frank, Mary, Pearl, Bertha, and Bertha's 5 year old daughter, Vernice.  Ruth was married and lived nearby.

Pearl married Marcus Burket Byrd in 1921 and by 1930, they were in Sacramento with their young daughter, Ruby.  Marcus worked on the railroad so the family moved around often.

I'd like to solve the mystery of who the biological father was - perhaps it was Frank and since the girls were all born prior to their marriage, maybe they kept that a secret.

Sadly, Pearl died before my husband was born so he never had the opportunity to know her except through the few pictures we have of her.

Pearl (Grumer) Byrd

Pearl, along with her husband Marcus Byrd, are buried in Sunrise Memorial Cemetery in Vallejo, California.  Ruth is buried with her husband, James LaRoche, in nearby Skyview Memorial Lawn in Vallejo.

I'm not giving up!