Top 10 Genealogical Finds of 2017

Photo by Pierce Place

As 2017 comes to a close, I’d like to step back and reflect on what I’ve learned over the past year.  So in my best David Letterman voice, I bring you my seventh (and a half) annual Top 10 genealogical finds of 2017.  You can read my previous years’ discoveries here.  2016  2015  2014  2013  2012  2012.5  2011

It seems like it’s been a pretty quiet year for me.  I’ve focused on documenting things and less time on actual research and this list validates that.  So my takeaway from this is to get back to researching!

Number 10:  This is a late development and brings me back to my takeaway of researching more since this genealogical find is going to require A LOT of that.  Was my mother’s step father, and the only “Grandpa” I knew on her side, married TWICE before he married my grandmother?  I’d known about Harriet Pease, who I thought was the mother of Robert Melvin Hunter, my mother’s step brother who was killed at Pearl Harbor.  But when I found reference to Lyda Viola Souza, who died in 1920 from tuberculosis at the age of 24, as the “beloved wife of Sheldon A. Hunter”, I knew I needed to add this to my list.  If Lyda died in 1920 and Robert was born in 1918, was she his mother?



Number 9:  Was I finally able to put a name to a previously unnamed face?  Could this handsome man be Earle Norton, an early beau of my grandmother’s?



Number 8:  I was able to put photos all in one place and learned that my ancestors liked cars – who knew?  MACHINES AND ROADSTERS AND CARS



Number 7:  I learned a lot about my grandmother’s only sibling, Wilton Louis Gunzendorfer.  I have so many memories of Uncle Wilt but as I’m sure isn’t that different from most kids, it never connected that he was my grandmother’s brother.  Grandmothers had brothers?  And what fun to learn that Wilt wrote a song!  Read about him HERE and HERE.

 Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy and Wilt Gunzendorfer, c. 1980

Number 6:  I knew my family loved to scrapbook (I don’t have that gene) but I really had no idea of the extent of it until I finally opened up the box of scrapbooks and found this.



Number 5:  As part two of the scrapbooks, I discovered a scrapbook outlining the Levy Family Motoring Trip of 1940.  What fun to read about the trip my dad, his brother, and his parents took from California to Washington and back again.

Number 4:  The total eclipse on August 21 this year was all anyone could talk about for weeks (or probably even years) before hand – special glasses were flying off the shelves and people were traveling hundreds of miles to get the best view.  It occurred to me that the previous total eclipse that spanned the country was nearly 100 years before in 1918.  WAIT!  My grandparents were writing letters back and forth during that time and I wondered if they might have “talked” about it with each other – turns out they had!  Eclipse Fever

Number 3:   My Top 10 Genealogical Find of 2015 was having my grandfather’s home movies from 1936-1942 converted to DVD and how wonderful it was to see my ancestors at play.  But I knew there were more as my dad was an avid photographer and besides still photos he liked to take movies.  So we (my siblings and I) took those films and had them converted to DVD – thanks to my brother for spearheading the project.  When they arrived, my husband and I sat down to watch a movie of my life.  What made it particularly fun was that we had music from the time period (1952-1980) playing in the background.  I gotta say – it was an episode from This is Your Life! 



Number 2:  Right as I was celebrating my 6th blogiversary, I connected with a woman in Atlanta who had found my Uncle Rob’s hat!  It turns out my cousin, Rob’s daughter, had given the hat to the Goodwill by mistake and a kind soul bought the hat and found ME so that I was able to get it back in the right hands! 



Number 1:  My number 1 genealogical find of 2017 turned out to be a Christmas gift, as well.  One of the first people I connected with when I started this journey nearly 10 years ago was Victoria, a woman who was contributing and editing a book about the Jews of Santa Cruz.  We shared information and she ‘introduced’ me to the author, George Fogelson.  While I didn’t have much new information to share with George, I did share some photos that he seemed interested in and thought he might use in the book.  As part of the research, I was able to learn where my 3x great grandfather was buried (in the same cemetery as my parents!) and other tidbits that I’ve tucked away.

So how excited was I when I went to the post office on Christmas Eve and found this with MY PEEPS MENTIONED AND MY PHOTOS INCLUDED!



There is so much information about my ancestors but a couple of facts I found particularly interesting.

• In 1860, the population of Santa Cruz was 950 of which 15 were Jewish.  And on that list were my 3x great grandparents, Hannah (Plotzky) and Joseph Steen, and my 2x great grandparents, Rebecca (Steen) and Louis Schwartz.
• Rebecca’s sister, Lillie/Lily, was the first documented Jewish child born in Santa Cruz.
• The Eulogy for Louis Schwartz, delivered by Rabbi Marcus Friedlander of Temple Sinai, was delivered on May 27, 1893 and it is included in the book!

George even signed the book with a personalized message.



So that’s what I’ve been up to in 2017.  24 hours ago I wasn’t sure I could even come up with 10 significant genealogical finds but here I am with 10 plus a few others in reserve.  I’m looking forward to more research in 2018 and hope I can break down a few brick walls to add to my list next year.

Who knew?

Now who is THIS guy?

This handsome gentleman has been in my box of unidentified photos for as long as I can remember.  There are only two clues.  1)  I know it had some meaning to my grandmother, Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy, as it was in her boxes of things.  2)  The photographer was Hartsook with studios in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Oakland, Sacramento, Visalia, Bakersfield, Pasadena, Santa Rosa, Pomona, Fresno, San Diego, Stockton, San Jose, Long Beach.  So, clues that are really not much help.  And, my grandmother didn’t help me out by writing the name of this gent anywhere on the photo.  Not many bread crumbs to go on.

A few weeks ago one of those Facebook memories popped up.  I love when those pop up with a blog post because it gives me an opportunity to go back and read what I wrote years ago.  Because at my age, I barely remember what I wrote last week.  And this was the post that came up.  More invites  My grandmother loved to socialize (and especially loved to dance) so I smiled as I opened it up to read about one of her parties.  But what hit me in the face was this photo.



Could that be the same unidentified soldier?  I wondered later if it could have been Grandma’s friend (beau?), Earle Norton, and wrote about it here.  And now more dancing

Some thoughts:

• The ears on both men look the same. 
• Both have on a uniform.  But I’m betting plenty of men did in those days.
• While the photo of the couple was found in the scrapbook on the page that said “Earle sent me these from San Luis”, the photo was loose on the page.  So after 100+ years, there’s a pretty good chance it was on the wrong page and he never sent her this particular picture.
• Once again I’ve contacted a few people on ancestry asking about Earle Norton.  One has quite a bit of information about his wife, Marguerite, but she is one of the individuals I contacted three years ago about this mystery and she never responded.  So I’m betting I see the same result this time.

So here I go down another genealogy rabbit hole as I try to solve this mystery.  Do you think these two men are the same or am I reaching?  If they are the same, what now? 

And that was that!

I don’t have a ton of memories of my grandmother, Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy, but I do remember her using the expression “and that was that” many times.  And as I turn to the last page of her scrapbook, I can’t get that expression out of my head. 

Of course, the last page is filled with dance cards.  Grandma must have saved them and put them in the scrapbook together but after pages and pages of them, all I can think about is how much she must have loved to dance.  And from the look of her dance cards, many suitable young men must have loved dancing with her!

First was the Junior Guild Dance held at the Del Monte Hotel.  I wish I knew the date as there is no sign of Earle Norton on this dance card.


Looks like George (AKA Geo) might have been a special friend – he got two dances!

Grandma must have been busy with all of the dancing at the Alumni Dance on 
January 1, 1915!



I love what she wrote at the bottom - “my card speaks for itself in this instance”.  Why yes it does, Grandma!  And just who do we see as her partner for dance 3, 7, and 8?  None other than Norton, who I assume is Earle Norton.  I love on dance #8 where someone else’s name was crossed out and Norton was written in.  Did he have to fight “Tom” for her?  Now I can tell that #8 Norton is different handwriting than #3 & #7 and just could be Grandma’s handwriting.  What’s the story behind that?  And our friend Mr. Lacy is back as her partner for dance #12 and #15, although I can tell that the writing for dance #15 was Grandma’s.  Her feet must have been tired that night!

And then came the dance given by the Brotherhood of American Yeomen.  Another full night of dancing!



No sign of Earle Norton :-(

And on May 14, 1915, just weeks before she graduated from high school, Loraine attended a dance given by the Monterey Ladies Civic Club.





Oh look at that – Earle Norton is back and danced the Three Step with her!  I will say, though, that much of this handwriting is Grandma’s, including Earle Norton’s name.  Does that mean she just hoped to dance with him?  Or did she not dance at all and just filled in names?  Or, was she so busy dancing that she forgot to have her card signed?

And last but not least was the dance given by the Monterey High School Alumni in 1916 at the Masonic Temple.



No dance card, no evidence of how much she danced or hoped to dance.  Just an invitation.  Did she attend?  I laugh that a ‘couple’ was 50 cents and an ‘extra lady’ was 25 cents.  Did that mean a man could bring two ladies with him and pay 75 cents?

So I’ve come to the end of the scrapbook.  Thank you, Grandma, for sharing your young adult life with me 100 years later.  I would have loved to have had the opportunity to sit with you and have you describe it all to me.  I swear I would have listened, taken good notes, and even recorded your voice.  I know there is so much left to know about the story but I feel so fortunate to have had this glimpse into your life.  I’ve gotten to know you in a way that most granddaughters never know their grandmothers – I’m so glad you were a packrat and shared this information with me.  It truly is a gift and will be loved by your descendants for generations to come.

And that was that!

And now more dancing

I’ve learned a lot about my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, from looking through her scrapbook but the one thing that stands out for me is that my grandmother loved to dance!  And it’s also clear that she loved to save mementos and for that, I am thankful.  But what’s interesting is that even though Grandma Loraine was 58 years old when I was born and lived to be 86, I don’t remember ever seeing her dance or even talk about dancing in those 28 years.  But boy did she talk about it as a young girl!

Here’s the next pages of the scrapbook.

I believe Bagby’s was an Opera House in Monterey.

Look at that – she came home with Walter Warren.  Not just came home with him but an exclamation point at the end.  Who was Walter Warren and how did she know him?  I do know that she danced the Paul Jones and Tag Two-step with him.  Hmmm, wonder what kind of dances those are?

Here is a description of the Paul Jones dance from Wikipedia.  Paul Jones is the name used for a number of mixer dances that were popular in the first quarter of the 20th century but continue to be used in traditional dance settings to the present day. One common variation is as follows. At the signal of the caller (who may also be called by other names, such as "prompter", "cuer", or “Master of Ceremonies”), all dancers join their hands to form a circle (or several concentric ones, if crowded), with ladies being to the right of their partners. At the second signal of the caller, the dancers repeatedly do the Grand Right and Left move, well known in square dancing. As a result, the ladies move to the left (clockwise) along the circle, while gentlemen move to the right. At the third signal, dancers dance with the partner whose hand they are holding at the moment. This "third signal" is traditionally the shouted words "Paul Jones", but a whistle or other device can be substituted. This procedure may be repeated "as the master deems it advisable".  Charles J. Coll, Gabrielle Rosiere, Dancing Made Easy (1919). 

Sounds like you don’t really dance with your partner, you just start the dance with your partner.

And then there was another dance in North Monterey.


WAIT JUST A MINUTE! Earle Norton brought me home!  This must be the famous Earle my grandmother talked about here.  So now we know his last name is Norton!  And if you look very carefully on the Pacific Fish Company card (looks like a train ticket rather than a dance card) you can see on the second line written very faintly in pencil the name Earle Norton.  But why did she have just a “fair time”?  I think my grandmother was smitten with this mysterious Mr. Norton!

Of course, I had to try to figure out this mystery so my first stop was to ancestry.com where I found a Charles Earle Norton born in 1890 or 1891 in California.  And in 1910 and 1920, this Charles Earle Norton lived in Monterey.  So this could be him!  And then I found a newspaper article mentioning him and someone had circled his picture, along with the picture of his future sister-in-law, with the following caption.

Enid Williams in third row, third from the left. (Charles) Earle Norton was the future brother-in-law of his classmate Enid. He married her younger sister Margerite.



I zoomed in hoping I could see the face of the man my grandmother may have been dreaming of having a future with.



Sadly, it doesn’t show me much but I do have a hint into his life since I know he married Margerite Williams.  After following some hints in ancestry.com, I found in the California Death Index that Charles Earle Norton, husband of Margerite Williams Norton, died April 5, 1953 in Monterey and had a daughter by the name of Marian N. Norton.  I also found a few people working on a tree which includes Charles Earle and Margerite and have sent them messages hoping to connect with them, but so far, no luck. 

Would my grandmother have been ‘involved’ with a man 5-6 years older than she was?  That might not be too far fetched since my grandfather was 8 years older than she was.  How did she know Earle?  They went to the same high school but graduated 5 years apart so probably weren’t even students at the same time.  Did he have feelings for her?  Oh Grandma, I love all of the tidbits you’ve left me but couldn’t you have left me just a few more?

And here’s more dance cards!

A ball given to Knights of Columbus at Del Monte May 13, 1914. Had a pretty good time.

The dance card was at least partially filled out but since it was in pencil, there’s not much to be seen 100 years later.

Just went to look on for a short while.  Saw Earle for a few minutes but did not dance. Friday night July 17, 1914

So here she is back at Bagby’s.  I find it very telling that she found it important enough to write that she “saw Earle for a few minutes” but did not dance.  Now while it appears that she didn’t dance at all since the card hasn’t been filled out, was she commenting about that or the fact that she didn’t dance with Earle.  The poor men had to pay 50 cents yet the ladies were free!



Here’s another one but Grandma didn’t leave me any clues on this.  A few of these names look familiar – I especially like that she danced with FRIEND – I wonder if that was his name or if he really was just a friend.

This one makes me laugh – the Fish Feed Benefit Dance. 



The names of the dances are quite creative - have you ever heard of a Jelly Fish Wiggle or a Mackerel Slip?