Top 10 Genealogical Finds of 2016

Photo by Pierce Place

As 2016 comes to a close, I’d like to step back and reflect on what I’ve learned over the past year.  Unfortunately, I’ve been sluggish when it comes to genealogy this year and haven’t really accomplished much so picking out 10 top things was a bit of a stretch.  I hope to rectify that in 2017.  I did go back and read what I’ve accomplished in years past (it helped a little) so inevent you’re interested in what I’ve done before this year, you can read my past posts.  2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

So in my best David Letterman voice, I bring you my sixth annual Top 10 genealogical finds of 2016.

Number 10:  The book is close to completion!  When I first began this journey, I connected with a woman who was editing a book about the Jews of Santa Cruz and my peeps were included.  Over the last several years we’ve shared information and she’s kept me apprised of the status of the book.  I shared some photos of my family (which I think might just be used) and we even met a few months ago when she was in Seattle for the International Conference on Jewish Genealogy.  And just a few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from the author to say he is hopeful the book will be published in March, 2017.  Be on the lookout for the book Between the Redwoods and the Bay: The Jewish Community of Santa Cruz County.  Stay tuned - I’m hopeful that the completed book will be one of my top 10 finds of 2017.   

Number 9:  Letters.  I know I’ve posted before about the letters I have between my grandparents while they were courting in 1916-1919 – it’s probably something that should be on my Top 10 Finds every year – but this year I felt like I made some headway.  I was able to get all of the letters from my grandmother to my grandfather sorted by date and transcribed and am pretty proud to see one of the boxes (there’s another one just like this) looking so organized.  And to know I have the words transcribed and saved in several places makes me really, really happy – even though there are 253 pages in 11 point font!

I did get started on organizing and transcribing the letters he wrote back to her but I still have a LONG way to go.  Maybe I should be blogging about my goals for 2017 and put that on the top of the list?



Number 8:  Revisiting the Copper King Mine.  It’s always fun to read about the history of a particular place from someone who was there, but even more fun when that ‘someone’ is your great grandfather!  Read the article HERE  Not only did my great grandfather, Edward Fitzgerald, work in the mine but he and my great grandmother actually spent their honeymoon there.  

Number 7:  I found a mini photo album.  Once again, my packrat grandmother has amazed me with the things she kept throughout her lifetime. 



Take a look HERE.  It’s a small look into life at the turn of the 20th century.  I love all photos but seeing my ancestors doing “normal” things is just so rewarding and a real glimpse into the past.

 
Number 6:  The mystery of Harry Meals.  



Yep, that’s right.  The headstone for Harry Meals, the husband of my husband’s great aunt.  Doesn’t look like much of a mystery here but after delving in a bit deeper, it turns out Harry Meals was, at one time, known as Charles Biesel.



After blogging about him HERE, several readers gave me some suggestions on how to proceed.  And after requesting and receiving his SS-5 form, I promptly put it aside and DID NOTHING WITH IT.  Note to self:  Put this on the top of the pile for things to do in 2017.

Number 5:  Finding the Diploma of Graduation from the Grammar School of Monterey from 1911 for my grandmother, Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer.



After spending a few years in my garage – not even in a box – I stumbled across this and realized what I had.  It prompted me to search through some other things which helped me discover her autograph book from about the same time frame.  You can read about it HERE. 

Number 4:  There were photo booths in the late 1800’s.  While I can’t be sure these photos were actually from a photo booth, it looks possible to me.  But the best part is seeing my grandfather and his brothers as young kids.



Number 3:  Photos, photos, photos!  A cousin of my husband whom I had recently connected with filled my e-mail inbox with photos of my husband’s paternal grandfather and his family.  It is amazing to me how you can know someone from the last years of their life and when you see a photo of them as a child, you know them instantly.  It was nice to take a Time Out and document these new finds – I particularly love this photo of his paternal grandfather, Herman Paul Ast, and Herman’s sister, Bertha Ast.



Number 2:  Aunt Charlotte.  Because of #9 above, I’ve been able to learn so many details of my grandparents’ lives, and even the lives (and deaths) of their families.  We all hope for these details and pray that one day we will discover first hand accounts of what our ancestors were doing on a daily basis.  And, in some cases that actually happens.  It sure hits home when you read the personal story about a victim of the 1918 Flu Pandemic, especially when it my grandmother’s Aunt Charlotte.

Number 1:  COUSINS!  This should be in my Top 10 finds every year!  What struck me this year is now that I have connected with cousins, and continue to connect with more, I’m also reminded how short life is and how loved ones come in and out of our lives.  While I found a new cousin – his great grandmother and my grandmother were sisters – I also lost one of the cousins I have met because of my blog.  I loved getting to know her and loved the family connection we shared.  For someone who has one surviving first cousin (out of two), I’m overwhelmed with just how many cousins I actually do have.  Read about my lost cousin HERE. 

It’s been a quiet year but I am pleased that I was able to add to this blog as my goal has been to document things for future generations.  While genealogy typically has us focused on the past I’m going to take this opportunity to focus on the future and what I still have ahead of me.  Onward!

Joseph Fitzgerald

I last wrote about my cousin, Patti, whom I “met” about 3 years ago.  Our shared ancestors were Fitzgeralds and Patti always loved hearing more about that side of the family.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have much to share but after coming across this photo last week, I realized I have more information than I thought.  And while I’m sorry I didn’t write this post before Patti passed away, I’m thinking about her as I write it today.



Patti and I both wondered who the cousin on the right was – she thought it might be my mother but that can’t be true as Joseph passed away when my mother was just shy of her first birthday and this child seems older than that.  I’m not sure we’ll ever know who it is but I do know that Lois Fitzgerald is Patti’s mother and Joseph was her grandfather.

I can’t quite be sure when Joseph was born – his Baptism Certificate shows he was born on 4 Feb 1881.



Is it normal that a Baptism Certificate would be dated almost 100 years after the event took place?  I guess this certificate was just taken from the Baptismal Register of the Church so that could make sense.

His WW1 Registration Card showed the same date of birth.



Hold on to that thought.

I don’t know many details about Joseph.  I know he was married to Edna in about 1903 and their son, Eudorus Lawrence, was born in 1905.  And then he married Josephine “Josie” Wilder in 1920-1921 – she was enumerated as a 15 year old daughter on 17 Jan 1920 and by 15 Jul 1921 she was married and gave birth to her daughter, Lois (pictured above).  Patti once told me that the marriage was arranged, which makes sense since Josie would have been about 16 and Joseph close to 40.

Unfortunately, Joseph didn’t live a long life as he was involved in an accident on 3 Jun 1929.

Woodland Daily Democrat, Monday, 3 Jun, 1929, Page 1

What a horrible accident!  And as predicted, Joseph died that night.

Woodland Daily Democrat, 4 Jun 1929, Page 4

Woodland Daily Democrat, 5 Jun 1929, Page 3

Ernest Bourn?  I don’t know why it’s ringing a bell to me that Joseph’s first wife, Edna, was a Bourn.  I need to look at that more closely.  I do find it interesting, though, that there wasn’t a Fitzgerald in the group of pallbearers.

Now back to the date of birth.  Joseph is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Woodland, Yolo County, California.  And look at his date of birth.



Patti once told me that his birth certificate showed his birth date as 3 Mar 1884 yet everything I’ve seen shows 4 Feb 1881.  Another mystery to solve.

As a side note, I think Yolo County wasn’t a great place to be in 1929 if your name was Joseph Fitzgerald.

Oakland Tribune, 19 Jul 1929, Page 18

Thinking of you today, Patti, and her mom, Lois!

We found each other, and now she’s gone

Three years ago this month, a cousin and I found each other from our trees on ancestry.com.  Our shared ancestor was Mathew Fitzgerald, my 2x great grandfather and her great grandfather. 

I knew so little about my mother’s side of the family and even Mom couldn’t help me fill in the blanks.  I knew my maternal grandmother was Clara Maxine Fitzgerald and her father was Edward Francis Fitzgerald but not much more on the Fitzgerald side.  Until I started researching about 6-7 years ago.  I’d find some new nugget and ask Mom about it and she’d reply “hmmm, I don’t know”.  But I knew she loved hearing about the discoveries I’d made.

Mom passed away in May, 2013 and I thought whatever connection I had to the Fitzgeralds was gone since she was an only child and had minimal contact with her Fitzgerald cousins.  But just a few months later that changed – I connected with Patti, who’s grandfather, Joseph, was Edward’s younger brother.  We were second cousins, once removed, and we’d found each other!

We had so much fun getting to know each other, sharing photos and stories, becoming friends on Facebook, and even playing Word with Friends together.  She shared a photo of Mathew with me, which I wrote about here.  But the photo is too good not to share again.



He looks like such a nice, and almost mischevious, man – I wish I’d known him.  And how I wish my mom had been able to see this face!

Patti was a follower of my blog and often times was the first person to “like” my post on Facebook.  She especially loved hearing about our Fitzgerald ancestors but, unfortunately, I didn’t have much to share.  Looking back, I do recall that when I wrote this post in July about my great grandfather, Edward Fitzgerald, and his revisit to the Copper King Mine she didn’t “like” it or comment on it, even though I had tagged her on Facebook.  Rather than contact her to make sure everything was fine, I just figured she was on vacation or somehow missed it and I went on with my life.

Patti, in a roundabout way, was the cause of my most recent connection to my Fitzgerald ancestors.  While researching Mathew Fitzgerald, another cousin contacted me after he read my blog.  Turns out, his great grandmother was my grandmother’s sister!  I clearly remember spending time with my grandmother, Clara Fitzgerald Martin Hunter, in Fresno but sadly, I don’t remember ever meeting her sister, Viola.  But now I’m in contact with her great grandson and I’m thrilled about a new connection.  My very, very small family seems to grow almost daily.

In fact, last Monday I sent an e-mail to Patti to tell her about this new connection as I knew how excited she’d be.  She really loved this journey she was on and was always so anxious to learn more.  How fun for us to have found another descendant of Mathew Fitzgerald.  When I didn’t hear from her, I wasn’t terribly concerned because often times when we’d send e-mails back and forth our responses to each other might take days or even weeks. 

But on Friday everything changed.  Patti’s mother, whom I am also connected to on Facebook, posted that she had a “drastic” day after she learned that Patti had passed away!  WHAT?  How could that be?  Had she been sick, was she in an accident, or just what?  And that’s when I learned that she had been battling cancer and my heart broke because I knew nothing about it. 

What I did know about Patti is her love for her family and the joy she found when working in the garden.  I was tickled when I saw that she and my sister had become friends on Facebook (another cousin for her!) and smiled every time I saw them commenting on each other’s posts.  You see, while I don’t have the gardening gene my sister does and together they shared their love of gardening.

And now she’s gone.  I wish I’d had the opportunity to meet her in person but I am thankful for the relationship we had virtually.  But I wish I knew more about her.  Why didn’t I ask her questions and truly get to know her?  I can tell how much she was loved by her friends and family and know what a hole has been left in their hearts. 

And what I take away from this is, again, the reminder of how short life can be and how we never know if today might be our last day.  I’m just happy that I had the opportunity to “meet” her, even though our time together was just a blip on the radar. 

RIP, my dear cousin!

SNGF: Female Ancestors' Age at Death

This week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (okay, so I’m a day late) from Randy Seaver is to review your pedigree chart and determine the age at death of your female ancestors back at least 5 generations.  You can read about it HERE. 

What’s interesting about this exercise is that I’ve actually given it quite a bit of thought as when my mother died at the age of 84, I thought back to her mother, and her mother, and her mother and I thought they were all about the same age.  It made me realize that I’d really like to go from age 83 to about age 85 and just bypass those ages altogether. 

So an added exercise for me was to identify the ages of those women, in addition to five generations.

My mother, Geraldine (Martin) Levy, died 15 days before her 85th birthday.  So 84 years old.

Her mother, Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter, died at the age of 84.  Uh-oh.

Geraldine (Martin) Levy & Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter

 

Clara’s mother, Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald, died at the age of 83 years, 5 months.

Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald

 

Mabel’s mother, Rebecca (Waller), died at the age of 83 years, 2 months.

 

Rebecca (Waller) McAboy

See?  I’m turning 83 and then poof – I’m gonna be 85! 

Okay, so back to the original exercise.  Some of my math might not look correct as I took into account the age at their last birthday.

Mother
Geraldine (Martin) Levy – 1928-2013 – 84 years

Grandmothers
Clara Maxine (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter – 1903-1987 – 84 years
Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy – 1896-1982 – 86 years

Great Grandmothers
Mabel Viola (McAboy) Fitzgerald – 1883-1966 – 83 years
Frances Maria (Brooks) Martin – 1860-1936 – 75 years
Bertha (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer – 1872-1950 – 78 years
Goldie (Benas) Levy – 1864-1926 – 62 years

2nd Great Grandmothers
Rebecca (Waller) McAboy – 1845-1928 – 83 years
Julia (Horgan) Fitzgerald – 1849-1886 – 37 years
Sarah (Miller) Brooks Anderson – 1836-1923 – 86 years
Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz – 1848-1918 – 70 years
Fannie (Goldstein) Gunzendorfer – 1848-1910 – 62 years
Fredericka (Wilzinski) Benas – 1840-1915 – 75 years
Millicent (Moore) Martin – 1827-1884 – 56 years
Unknown ( ) Levy

3rd Great Grandmothers
Rebecca (Parker) Waller – 1814-1845 – 30 years
Margaret (Finley) Miller – 1812-1884 – 72 years
Monima (Williams) Brooks – 1801-1867 – 66 years
Hannah (Plotzkey) Steen – 1828-1909 – 80 years
Margaret (Callahn) Horgan – Unknown
Sarah (Frankel) Goldstein – 1838-1897 – 59 years
Sarah (Mann) McAboy – 1825-1910 – 85 years
Margaret (Cullen) Fitzgerald – Unknown
Amelia (Jackson) Wilzinski – 1816-1902 – 86 years
Elizabeth (McDaniel) Moore – 1808-1867 – 59 years
Tabitha (Rodgers) Martin – 1800-1860 – 60 years
Unknown x 5

The female ancestor to live the longest was Sarah Jane (Miller) Brooks Anderson at 31,586 days.  Sarah’s first husband (and my 2nd great grandfather) was killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg and at one point she moved across country from South Carolina to California – what stories she would have had!

A close runner-up was my grandmother whom I’ve written so much about, Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy at 31,519 days.  Besides my parents, I probably know more about her than any other ancestor.

The ancestor to live the least amount of time was Rebecca (Parker) Waller, my 3rd great grandmother.  Rebecca died at the age of 30, within days of giving birth to my 2nd great Grandmother, Rebecca (Waller) McAboy.

The average age of the 23 women I know the age for at the time of their death was about 70 years old.

It sure is hard to see how many of these women died at an age younger than I am today.  But I’m not dwelling on that, at least not until I get to be 83 years old!

Revisit to Copper King Mine

One thing I do NOT lack is old newspaper ‘clippings’ that my ancestors have saved over 100 years or more.  Sometimes they’re interesting to me, sometimes not so much.  And while I have no idea which ancestor to thank for this, one article from The Fresno Bee (December 3, 1961) really caught my eye.



Why this one in particular, you might ask.  Easy!  Because the young man the newspaper interviewed for this story, Edward Fitzgerald, was my great grandfather! 

In the photo above, it states that Edward was the sixth man from the right but after blowing it up the quality is so poor I can’t be sure.  But I do have a photo of Edward from 1907 which is about the same time period so you can see him.



And here’s how he looked in 1961 when he was photographed for the article.



The article is awfully long so I won’t transcribe it all but here are some interesting excerpts.

“Snorting steam engines sent echoes bounding through the foothills east of Fresno as they chugged downgrade toward Clovis dragging heavy wagons loaded with copper bearing mother rock of the Sierra.
These snorting behomoths of another day always traveled the Pittman Creek Road by night because the horses which drew the stages to the mountains bolted whenever they saw one approaching.
This is how it was in 1900 when a young man named Edward Francis Fitzgerald applied for a position at the Copper King Mines, Ltd., as an engineer, but landed, instead, a  job on the end of a shovel.”

How did I never, ever know that he worked in the mines?  I was nearly 14 when he died but I have no recollection of ever hearing about it.  Did he not talk about it?  Did he talk about it and I didn’t listen?  Or, did he talk about it and I listened but don’t remember it today?  Thankfully, my packrat ancestors have, once again, helped me out.

“In its heydey in the 1890s the mine had a working force of about 150 men who took turns burrowing deep into the earth extracting copper ore.
The same road over which traveled the steam engines, or the two horse phaetons, still is in existence but unless you have the keys to one of five padlocks on gates barring the roadway the chances you’ll ever get to the Copper King are slim.”

I can’t imagine what it must have been like to “burrow deep into the earth”.

And the second part of page one:



Here’s some of the buildings of the old mine.



What it must have been like to peer down the main shaft of the mine.  The thought of actually veturing down into that black hole makes me squeamish!



And look at the dump and loading lines.



And on to the next page.  I love this page as it describes Edward’s early life and then with his wife, and my great grandmother, Mabel McAboy Fitzgerald.



I’d read in his obituary that they had honeymooned at a cottage at the mine but it still makes me smile to read about it here.  Not just read about it but actually see a picture of it!



They were married November 18, 1901 so the mine would have been in full swing at that time.  I can’t imagine they let that bother them, though.

Once again, I’m thankful for my packrat ancestors.  That is, until I try to organize everything they left behind.

Happy Mother’s Day

I’ve never been a Mother’s Day (or any other Hallmark holiday) fan but now that I’m older and my mother is no longer with us, I find it a perfect day to reflect.  This time of year is difficult as besides Mother’s Day, by mother passed away on May 22nd and her birthday was June 8th.  The good news is that I get all of these “days” over within about a month.

Geraldine Martin was born in Fresno on June 8, 1928 – she sure was a cutie!



Mom seemed to have a difficult childhood and didn’t talk about it much.  As I got deeper into this journey she shared a few tidbits with me but for the most part, it seemed like her life started when she met my dad.  Her parents divorced when she was about 10 so photos with her dad are almost non-existent.  But I was able to find one of the family together with her paternal grandmother.

Clara Fitzgerald Martin, Francis Brooks Martin, Earle Martin Geraldine Martin

After a few years of moving around and staying with relatives, Mom found her way back to Fresno in time to enter High School.  I don’t think it was long before she had a new beau – my dad, Gordon Levy!  I love how she signed this photo – I wonder who was more smitten with who.



After high school, Mom ended up at Stanford with Dad.  She always said she didn’t “follow” him but I’m not sure who she was trying to kid.  And once they both graduated, it was time to get married.  Mom was a beautiful bride!



Then came kids and a chance to pose for photos.  Unfortunately, the professional photos seemed to be more prevalent during the early years and before little brother joined the family. 



And just like that, the years had flown by and before she knew it, Mom had grandchildren.  I’m sure glad we were able to capture this photo with four generations but geez, what was going on with my hair?

Clara Fitzgerald Martin Hunter, Daughter #1, Geraldine Martin Levy, Me, Daughter #2  (c. 1981)

In later years, we tried to get together to celebrate Mom when we could.  I think she was happy that we were able to be with her for her 80th birthday.

Mom and Dad loved to vacation in Kauai and visited every year around Memorial Day.  Once Dad was gone, Mom continued to go by herself and loved to putter around the island and visit her favorite restaurants.  After a few years of that, she said she wasn’t sure she could do it any longer but she wanted to go back one last time with the kids.  Us?  Vacation in Kauai?  How could we say no?

I don’t know why we didn’t take many pictures while we were there but we did manage this while we were out to lunch (Kauai = restaurants in Mom’s world).



And now here we are the 3rd Mother’s Day without Mom.  Still seems hard to believe she isn’t with us any longer but we have some great memories (and photos!) to remember her by.  Miss you, Mom!

National Siblings Day – The Levy Kids

Today is National Siblings Day – time to hug our brothers or sisters and let them know how much we appreciate them.  Since my siblings both live in another state, I can’t really hug them but I can let them know how much I appreciate and love them by posting some fun photos of them!

Since my sister and I were 10 and 7 when little brother was born, you can understand why there were lots of photos of just the two of us during our very early years.

Dad was always posing us in different places.  I remember hating to do that but now I’m sure glad we did. 



Here we are with Mom – check out those stylin’ glasses!



This one is too good not to share – what the heck are you hiding under the scarf, sis?



Every once in awhile we added a stranger to the picture.  Not sure what I was thinking (or saying) as we posed next to the Indian Chief.



Then little brother joined in the fun as we posed with our grandparents, Sig and Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy.



And our maternal grandparents, Shell and Clara (Fitzgerald) Hunter.



When I was about 10, we got our horses, Smokey and Snap.  Here we are giving little brother a ride on Smokey.



Looks like we were packing for the beach – or maybe our annual family camp outing at Camp Campbell.



Every year dad would pose us for a picture to use on our holiday card.  It’s fun to look at a few that didn’t make the cut.



How did he come up with these poses?



As the girls grew older and were too busy to go places with Mom & Dad, little brother had lots of experiences without us.  Looks like this might have been Knotts Berry Farm or Frontier Village?  Love that Mom was all dressed up!



Hmmm, wonder where they were in this photo?



I don’t think there’s much doubt where this was taken.  And just like Dad with the camera around his neck!



Over the years we managed to get some photos together, but it became harder and harder as we all lived in different cities/states.  But we had some special shots together in 2000 as we celebrated Mom & Dad’s 50th wedding anniversary.



Big sisters always taking care of their little brother!



So here’s some big hugs and lots of love to my siblings.  Looking forward to seeing both of you SOOOON!