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: Favorite Discovery

This weeks' blog prompt is Favorite Discovery.  Like most people researching their family, there isn't just one favorite discovery.  I have a few "top" discoveries but since I've written about them before, I'll just share a link to those posts.

Emery Waller's grave is marked

Bertha's bracelet

Generations photo

So today I'm taking the liberty of changing the prompt to Favorite Discovery TODAY.  Because if I open a box or letter tomorrow, I'll have a new favorite discovery.

This morning I went into the storage closet to retrieve another batch of the letters my grandfather wrote to my grandmother from 1916-1919.  I've transcribed all of the letters she wrote to him but I'm still working - slowly - on the letters he wrote to her.  And there I saw a box marked MISC LEVY PHOTOS.  When I've found photos that I can't identify or don't want to think about I put them in a miscellaneous box by surname.  Over the years I've pulled some out, scanned them, and put them in archival boxes.  Seems pretty organized - if they're in the box they're scanned - and if that's all the photos I had, I would agree.  But I have SO MANY photos that it's just overwhelming to move forward.  Hey, I still have the letters to transcribe.

So I opened the MISC LEVY box and there on the top was this photo.

 This really isn't a "new" photo as I've seen it before and have shared it before.

Old Family Home
Located on Van Ness Ave between Kern and Inyo opposite Hotel
Californian.  Built 1887
Picture taken about 1890 shows Herbert, Leon and Sig

Close up showing Goldie (Benas) and Herman Levy
Herbert, Leon and Sig Levy
Sig is my paternal grandfather

The two photos are identical, although it's puzzling to me how it looks to be printed on material not typically found in the late 1800's.  Did someone somehow make a copy of it?

And then I did something I always forget to do when I'm sure what I'm looking at - I turned the photo over.  I don't know, maybe it was already turned over and the writing on the back is what caught my eye.

It says pretty much the same thing except that this includes the address, 946 K Street.  But what really makes it a favorite discovery is that the handwriting is my grandfather's.  Remember those letters I'm slowly but surely transcribing?  After the hours upon hours I've been reading his handwriting there is absolutely no question that this is Sig's handwriting.

Okay, so maybe not the most exciting discovery of all time but it sure is the most exciting thing I've found today.  Now back to the letters...

52 Ancestors: Close to Home - Fresno

Many of my ancestors stayed close to home.  I'm sure it was fairly common back in the "olden" days but these ancestors are more current.  And so many of them stayed close to the same home - Fresno, California.

As a child, I knew that my parents were both born and raised in Fresno but I never really thought much about it.  We visited a lot - both sets of grandparents lived there and my dad's parents still lived in the house they moved into when he was just a young boy.  I loved sitting in his room, looking at all of the pictures and awards on the wall, and imagining what life had been like for him.  But that was the extent of it.

But now that I've researched things, I find that many generations on both sides of my family spent the majority of their lives there.  Starting with my parents:

Gordon Levy - born in Fresno in 1927.  Left for Stanford University in 1944 and never lived in Fresno again.

Geraldine Martin - born in Fresno in 1928.  Left for Stanford University in 1946 and never lived in Fresno again.

My paternal grandfather, Sig Levy, was born in Vallejo, California - the story passed down was that his mother went to Vallejo  (did his father go, too?)  to escape the July heat in Fresno.  Is it really that much cooler in Vallejo?  I suspect that it was more about Sig's maternal grandmother living in Vallejo at that time.  Two of Sig's brothers were born during the winter in Fresno while the other two were born during the summer in Vallejo or San Francisco.  Coincidentally, I'm fairly certain that grandma lived in the corresponding city at the time of their births.  So, maybe it was less about the heat and more about being near her mother.

Sig brought his bride to Fresno after their marriage in 1919 and the two of them raised their sons, lived their lives there, and are interred at Chapel of the Light Columbarium. 

I imagine it looked something like this in 1919

Sig's parents, Herman Levy and Goldie Benas, were not born in Fresno but lived most of their lives there.  And they, too, are both interred at Chapel of the Light, not far from Sig and his brothers. 

My maternal grandparents were both born in Fresno:

Earle Laurence Martin was born in 1900 and lived in Fresno until the late 1930's when he and my grandmother divorced.  At that time he relocated to Bakersfield.  I really have few details about his life from that point forward as he and my mother did not have much contact with each other.  Did he move for a job?  Did he want to move and Grandma declined or just what happened?  Inquiring minds want to know!  While he died in Bakersfield, he is buried in Fresno in the same cemetery, Belmont Memorial Park, as many other family members.

Clara Maxine Fitzgerald was born in 1903 in Fresno and lived her ENTIRE life there.  Oh wait, I'm lying - she and my mother spent a short amount of time in Oakland after the divorce.  I'm really not certain how long they were there - why didn't I ask my mother?  Although now that I think about it, I did ask my mother as I was trying to find her in the 1940 census and either she didn't remember the details or was trying to forget.  Either way, I never got the information I was seeking.  Clara is also buried in Belmont Memorial Park.

Clara and Earle, along with Gerry, lived at 1023 Thorne Avenue in Fresno in 1930.  I have a picture of the family, along with Earle's mother, from the early 1930's (I suspect based on my mother's birth in 1928) which I believe is that house.

Clara Fitzgerald, Frances Brooks, Earle Martin, Gerry Martin

Do you think it's the same house?  I know, hard to tell.

1023 Thorne Avenue today

Earle's parents, Robert Lewis Martin and Frances Maria Brooks, were both born in South Carolina but found their way to Fresno in the late 1880's.  In February, 1887 their son, Guy Lewis Martin, was born in Arkansas and their daughter, Pearl, was born in Fresno in December, 1889 so their arrival in Fresno would have been somewhere between those two births.  Both are buried in Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno.

Clara's father, Edward Fitzgerald, was born in 1879 in Yolo County.  His mother died just 6 years later which left his father alone to raise the children.  Mathew Fitzgerald was in Fresno by 1888 as evidenced by the California Voter's Registration.  So Edward lived his entire life in Fresno from about the age of 9.  After his death in 1968, he was also buried in Belmont Memorial Park.

Clara's mother, Mabel McAboy, was born in 1883 in Illinois but it appears that she moved to Fresno with her family by the early 1890's.  What took them there?  She, too, spent the rest of her life in Fresno until her death in 1966.  She is also buried in Belmont Memorial Park next to Edward.

There are so many other ancestors who lived in Fresno.  Did we ever see any of them during our visits there?  When I think of Fresno, I think of "old people" as it seemed those were the only people we saw.  I haven't been back since 1982 when my grandmother died.  However, I now know new cousins, blogging friends, and even high school friends in Fresno.  One day I hope to make a visit - I'll visit the historical society and, of course, the cemetery.

I have a lot of roots in Fresno because these folks stayed close to home!

52 Ancestors: Brother

This is a perfect prompt for me this week as I have a lot of "brothers" in my tree.  So many, in fact, that I was having trouble picking just one.  But then it hit me that my paternal grandfather, Sig Levy, was born 131 years ago today and instantly became a little brother.  So in honor of Sig and his three brothers....

Sig Levy was born to Goldie (Benas) and Herman Levy on 31 July 1888 in Vallejo, California.  Why Vallejo?  As my mother told me, because Goldie escaped the Fresno heat to be with her parents in Vallejo.  Is it really all that much cooler in Vallejo?

I think the first photo I have of Sig is this photo of Herman and Goldie and the first three of their sons in front of their home in Fresno.  I'd guess this photo to be sometime in 1889 based on Sig's age.

Goldie (Benas) and Herman Levy
Leon, Herb, Sig Levy

This is one of my favorite photos of the first three boys - in fact, I have a pencil drawing of a photo from the same photo session framed and hanging on a wall.  I treasure it!

L-R:  Leon, Sig, Herb Levy, c. 1890

The family seemed to have a lot of fun together.  Here are the boys after a day of swimming.  Youngest brother Ben was apparently too young to join in the fun.

Sig (top) Leon (left) and Herb (right) Levy

A few years later Ben was able to join in the photo session - all four brothers together.

L-R:  Herb, Leon, Sig, Ben Levy

And then some fun with dad.

Back:  Leon, Herman, Sig Levy
Front:  Ben Levy and ?????

But wait - Herb must have been busy that day so they added a different boy and hoped no one would notice.  Ha!

And then the boys starting growing up and still posed for photos.

Back, L-R:  Leon, Sig, Ben, Herb
Front:  Goldie and Herman

And then they really grew up and formed a business together, Levy Bros.  What a great time in their lives.

L to R:  Ben, Herb, Sig, Leon

I love how often times they posed in age order.

L to R:  Herb, Leon, Sig, Ben Levy

Then some drama occurred and the brothers went their separate ways.  I don't remember spending time with any of the brothers other than Leon.  But I know Sig and Ben stayed in contact because I remember spending time with Ben's two daughters.  But, sadly, all contact between Sig and Herb (and maybe others) ceased and until I started on this journey, I really knew nothing about Herb.  But I have since connected with some of Herb's grandchildren and great-grandchildren so I feel like the "brother curse" has been erased.

Sig was the last of the brothers to die.  I remember it was just two weeks after his 80th birthday when he was gone.

And I don't want this day to go by without recognizing my own brother.  I just love this thoughtful photo of him.  I used to pretend I had an older brother - I'm sure glad that was just pretend and that I have a younger brother instead!

Here's to brothers!

And now I’m 7!

Photo by Bart Maguire

Here we are - another year has passed.  Which means I’ve been blogging for seven (SEVEN!) years.  It seems like just yesterday that I got the bug and boy has it been a great ride.  Thanks again to Kerry Scott for getting me started (her blog is undergoing a makeover right now but you can find her at Clue Wagon)  And yes, she really does like dead people!

I remember my first post back in 2011 – I wasn’t sure what I was doing and was worried that no one would read it or if they did, care what I had to say.  But I’ve met a lot of people, received some great feedback, and built up my confidence.  And I’ve learned that no matter what I say, it’s MY blog and I can do and say whatever the heck I want.

I think I’ll take my blogiversary as a day to step back and reflect on some of the more popular posts throughout the years.  Not necessarily my favorites but the posts that brought the most views.  I will add that when I write about events in Fresno, I have two Fresno Facebook groups that I share my blogs in so traffic is always higher then.  So here are my top 5.

Wanted: Herman Levy from January 14, 2018.  I haven’t figured any of this out yet and I wasn’t very successful in my search in Salt Lake City but I’m not giving up.  My dad’s cousin’s two children have submitted their DNA to Ancestry.com so maybe between us we’ll figure something out. 

Back in Time from October 14, 2012.  This was definitely one of my favorite posts to write as it shows the letter my grandfather, Sig Levy, wrote to his future in-laws, Birdie and Abe Gunzendorfer, asking for my grandmother’s hand in marriage.  It’s not often you can read both sides of the story.  I’m sure glad they said yes!

On January 5, 2013, I took part in Saturday Night Genealogy Fun and wrote about where my ancestors were 100 Years Ago.  It was fun to put the post together and I was so glad that I had a picture of one of the homes.

Best Wishes for a Long and Happy Life Together, from November 17, 2013 was one of the blog posts I wrote about the wedding of my parents, Gerry (Martin) and Gordon Levy.  A beautiful portrait of my mother in her wedding gown always hung at the end of the hallway in our home so there was no forgetting – ever – what she looked like on that day.  Plus, as kids my sister and I would spend HOURS pouring through the photo album from their wedding and memory book so there will always be lots of memories in my mind.

And a repeat from last year’s top 5 is this post from June 16, 2013 A Bittersweet Day, another Father’s Day without my dad.  It was an emotional post to write as my mom had passed away a few weeks before (May 22) and then we ‘celebrated’ her first birthday (June 8) without her.  So by June 16 I was pretty emotionally spent.  I love looking back at the photos in that post but I wish I knew more about Dad’s friendship with Bob Hope!

Another Facebook group I’m a member of is GeneabloggersTribe.  How nice to be remembered for my blogiversary – you can read it HERE. 

I have so much left to say so I hope you’ll stay with me for the next seven (or seventy) years.

On to eight!

Wanted: Herman Levy

Herman Levy was my great grandfather – his son, Sig, was my paternal grandfather.  I wrote about Herman HERE.  He is also one of my greatest brick wall ancestors and I’d like nothing more than to break down this wall and learn about his life before he arrived in America somewhere in the 1870’s.  Let’s look at what I know about Herman.

From the book The History of Fresno County; the San Joaquin Valley I learned that Herman was born at Filehne, Germany on May 20, 1856 and came to the United States at the age of 17, with an uncle, I.H. Jacobs.  He settled first in Merced, then Borden, and then on to Fresno.  That’s a good start.

Except that his fifth (fourth surviving) son, my grandfather’s younger brother, Ben, wrote in his autobiography:

“My father was a refugee from Germany and came to the United States in his twenties [so not at 17?].  Several of his cousins came to California along with him and settled in small San Joaquin Valley towns.  Each cousin settled in a different town to seek his livelihood.  My father settled in Borden (Madera County) [what about Merced?] just south of the present city of Madera.  The town is no longer in existence.  My father and his cousins left Germany to get away from the rule of Bismark, which was not to their liking.  In Borden, he operated a general merchandise store.  I have had grandchildren of these pioneers that have told me how their grandparents were given extended credit by my father in order that they could get established.

When the county seat in Fresno County was moved from Millerton to Fresno, my father came to Fresno.  He worked for the pioneer firm of Kutner & Goldstein Co., [more on that in another post] which later had stores in practically every town in the Valley.  Later, my father owned and operated a clothing store on Mariposa Street and later moved to an enlarged store at the corner of J (Fulton) and Mariposa Streets.  This store was destroyed by fire and my father then became the sole agent of the New York Life Insurance Co. which he held until his death.

He died in our home at 1761 Van Ness Avenue on March 6, 1918 at the age of sixty-one.  He had sisters [how many sisters? what were their names?] in Germany whom he never saw after leaving Germany for America, but he corresponded with them throughout the years.

There’s other tidbits in the autobiography (I’ve learned A LOT from Ben and am so thankful that he wrote all of this down) but this is the majority of the information about Herman.

Ben did include a photo of the house he died in, which is a bit eerie.

1761 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, California – date unknown

I also know this to be true from Herman’s death certificate, which was one of the first death certificates I obtained in 2010.

If you look closely, you can see the place of death as 1761 Van Ness, and the date of March 6, 1918.  I also read first hand accounts of his death in the letters my grandparents wrote back and forth during that time.  So I know these facts to be true.

Another interesting tidbit, which might be hard to read, is the name of the physician who signed the death certificate:  Floyd L.R. Burks.  Probably won’t mean much to anyone except my siblings but as a child I remember Dr. Burks!  In fact, my parents hoped that Dr. Burks would be their savior and would be able to figure out a way to get me to stop sucking my thumb (whatever he tried didn’t work as I was finally successful at Girl Scout camp).  And, I seem to recall my parents telling us that my dad was given the middle name of Floyd in his honor.

What else do I know?

In 1880, Herman was living in Borden with a servant (?), Alvin Ward.  The census tells me that Herman was a merchant, born in Prussia, and that his father and mother were both born in Prussia.  Alvin Ward was born in Tennessee and was a clerk in store (maybe Herman’s store?)

Of course we all know what happened with the 1890 census so the next time I find him in a census was 1900.  He was living at 946 K Street in Fresno with his wife, Goldie, and their sons Herb, Leon, Sig, and Ben.  Also with the family was a servant, Sally.  He had been married for 16 years (1884) and immigrated to America in 1875.  That all checks out because Ben included a photo of the house at 946 “K” Street and stated that it was later known as Van Ness Avenue. (Oh boy these censuses are hard to read).

And here’s the photo of the house at 946 “K” Street which was built in 1887. As luck would have it (remember, my family saved everything), I not only had this photo in Ben’s autobiography but the original photo, as well.

Of course I had to blow it up so I could see the people.  Unfortunately, I don’t know who the woman on the porch is but these folks are Goldie, Herman, and the three sons Leon, Herb, Sig.

Based on Sig’s age, I’m going to guess that this photo is from late 1889 or very early 1890.

By 1910, the census shows Herman was at 846 K Street (I can only assume that’s a typo) with the entire family.  Also enumerated with the family was Katarina Nielson, servant, and Albert S. Blair, lodger.  Herman stated he was born in Germany, both parents were born in Germany, immigrated in 1873 (it was 1875 20 years earlier), was not naturalized, owned his home mortgage free, could read and write, and was an Insurance Agent. 

Now I can find all sorts of mention of Herman in Fresno up until his death and know A LOT about that period of his life.  But I’m not having any luck prior to 1873 or 1875 (whichever it was) – who were his parents?  Ben mentioned sisters but no brothers?  Was his uncle, I.H. Jacobs, his mother's brother?  So, was her maiden name Jacobs?

I’m getting ready to go on a research trip (Salt Lake City!) and desperately want some clues before I go so I can spend some time finding Herman.  I’d love any suggestions on where to focus my attention.  But if nothing else, I’ve documented the major details that I know about his life.

Herman, come out, come out wherever you are!