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?

Earle, Earle, Earle

Earle must have been an important person in my grandmother’s life as she was growing up.  Who was he?  What happened to him?  Grandma referred to him over and over in her scrapbook but the next page really tells me just how important he was to her.

Look at that – this was the first dance she went to with Earle on May 23, 1913.  And she even told me that she had a swell time!  It’s a little hard to read the names on the dance card but it looks like she danced the Grand March, two Waltzes, and an ‘Extra’ Dance, with Earle.

And just two short weeks later, she went to another dance with Earle – the Alumni Dance which was held on June 7, 1913.  And this time she danced 4 dances with Earle plus had supper with him.  Is a ‘pretty good time’ better than a swell time?


And then another dance in July, 1918.  Isn’t this little bag cute?  If you look closely you can see a postmark at the bottom of the bag – did they mail it like this?  Again, she went with Earle and had a ‘pretty good time’.  Grandma, thanks for filling me in on the details!


It’s hard to read on the dance card but it looks like Earle was her partner for three dances.

I think the next dance was December 31, 1913.

 


Oooh, now we’re up to a ‘fine time’!  And check out the little pencils that are attached to the leaf dance card – a girl always needs to be prepared with a pencil!  Unfortunately, the pencil didn’t show up too well on the dark red paper but it looks like she might have danced a few with Earle.

And then I think one dance card must be missing because there was this next to an empty spot.



A ‘fine time’ again but why was it the last dance she went to with Earle?  And just who was Earle, anyway?  Were they an ‘item’ and broke up after this dance?  Oh, Grandma, there is so much I’d like to ask you. 

Come back next time as I turn the page – we might find out who Earle is!

More Invites

The next pages of Grandma’s scrapbook are filled with invites and dance cards proving once again that my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, liked to socialize.  My dad was just like that – he hated sitting at home and always wanted to “be where the people are”.  Guess he got that from his mother!



She writes a lot about Earle.  There was a young man in her class named J. Meryl Pugh – wonder how Earle and Meryl were related?  Or were they the same person?

I love how the envelope is just addressed to Monterey, California.  Although since there is no postmark, it was probably hand delivered.





You are cordially invited to attend the Middy _____? Dance given by the + x girls April 18th, 8:30.  Civic Club – Pacific Grove.  Ladies $1.00  R.S.V.P. Geneva Marcellus, Helen Allan, committee

I wonder what or who the + x girls were?  And $1.00 for the ladies – wonder what it cost for the men?  Maybe they had separate invitations for ladies and men?

And here’s another event in Pacific Grove:



Bid to a dance in P.G.  Sent my acceptance but did not go as was in Hollister.

Yikes!  She said she was going to attend and then didn’t?  That seems so out of character for my grandmother as she always seemed to be worried about doing the right thing socially.  What was so important in Hollister that caused her to give up a dance?

What beautiful handwriting on this invitation.



Glad they confirmed there would be dancing!  Grandma left no description about this dance so I have no way of knowing if she actually attended.

And the next page said “Earle sent me these from San Luis”.  Okay, does that mean that Earle lived in San Luis Obispo?  Maybe he was a cousin or something of J. Meryl Pugh?  And who is this in the picture – is that Earle?  And who is the young lady he was with?  It almost looks like she’s wearing a wedding dress.  Sadly, I doubt I’ll ever know the answers.



And then there’s this postcard which someone mailed to Grandma with this on the back.

Picture of our colonial ball given by the Director’s wife last Friday.  Earle – chums – friends.



I scoured and scoured this photo looking for Grandma and I can’t see her.  So why would Earle send her a photo? 

So many questions and the more I look at this scrapbook, the more I have!

Top 10 Genealogical Finds of 2013

photo by Pierce Place

As 2013 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 third annual Top 10 genealogical finds of 2013.

Number 10:  I finally subscribed to newspapers.com.  I don’t know why I’d hesitated all this time but I finally signed up for an annual subscription.  I decided that since I’d think nothing of paying $40 for a sweater and since this was going to provide me with an entire year of fun, I’d forego one sweater and see what I could find.  And boy am I happy I pulled the trigger as many of my top 10 finds are a direct result of newspapers.com.

Number 9:  Louis Schwartz had siblings!  Louis has been a bit of a brick wall for me but this year I learned that Louis, indeed, was not alone in the world and had at least a brother and a sister.  Here’s what I found (thanks to newspaper.com) in the Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel:

Santa Cruz Sentinel, 19 Feb 1881

Santa Cruz Sentinel, 2 June 1893

Jackpot!  Not just one sibling but two!  I’ve yet to learn more about them but at least that’s giving me a start.

Number 8:  I learned Dena Steen’s cause of death!   About 18 months ago I connected with a Steen descendent, thanks to my blog, and we’ve kept in touch since.  Earlier this year, I wrote about Dena Steen, who was the younger sister of my 2nd great grandmother, Rebecca Steen Schwartz, wondering what caused her death at the age of 28.  I thought maybe her death was due to an accident but wasn’t quite sure how to find out more but my new Steen connection was able to learn that her death was caused by pericarditis.  Once again, blogging solved a mystery!  Thanks again, Ben.

Hills of Eternity Cemetery, Colma, California

Number 7:  This is late breaking news!  I finally got up my nerve and sent a letter to the current owners of the Louis Schwartz house in Santa Cruz, which I wrote a little about here.  I mailed the letter a few days before Christmas and quickly forgot about it with all of the activities.  Imagine my surprise when I opened my e-mail the day after Christmas to find a message from the owner!  I’ve given him some digital photos of the house from the 1880’s and he, in turn, shared an album with me of the home’s exterior being painted this past summer.  He also told me that the little art studio that was built for Birdie is no longer there.  I’m thrilled to have this new connection.

Number 6:  Thanks to my new subscription at newspapers.com, I was able to learn more about Louis Schwartz’ death in 1893.  I knew he died in Byron Springs but had been unable to get a death certificate to help me learn more about the cause of death.  But after finding some articles in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, I learned that Louis died from Bright’s Disease, which is now known as kidney disease.  I knew Louis was quite influential but what a gift to learn so much about him at his death.

Santa Cruz Sentinel 24 May 1893

The flags were at half staff!

Santa Cruz Sentinel 27 May 1893

I was even able to read the words the Rabbi said – who knew they printed this stuff in the newspapers?  But I’m confused because the article talks about the procession moving towards the Jewish Cemetery in Santa Cruz when I’ve seen his grave at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.  Perhaps Louis was buried in Santa Cruz and later moved to Oakland to be with Rebecca?


Number 5:  I wrote last year about finding Joseph Steen’s grave in the same cemetery where my dad, and now mom, are interred.  I was so happy to know where he was.  But imagine my surprise when I found, again in newspapers.com, a record of his death.

Santa Cruz Sentinel, 4 Aug 1866

Number 4:  I found another cousin - this time it was through a connection on ancestry.com.  Her grandfather, Joseph Fitzgerald, was the younger brother of my great grandfather, Edward Fitzgerald.  We’ve had fun sharing information and photos and I’ve learned so much from her.  For someone with such a small family, it is a thrill to add new members to the mix.  Welcome to my family, Patti!

Number 3:  Back to Louis Schwartz.  I knew that Louis had been a neighbor of his future wife (and my 2nd great grandmother), Rebecca Steen, and I knew that they were married in 1865.  But what fun to read all about their 25th wedding anniversary celebration in the 16 October 1890 edition of the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

What makes it even more interesting is that I think I ran across a few of the gifts they were given!  I found this random fork at my mother’s house and when I looked closely, I could see LRS engraved on the front and 1865-1890 on the back.  So this must have been one of the forks given to Louis and Rebecca by their children as described in the article.



And I think I also have the sugar bowl and cream pitcher given to them by Mr. and Mrs. H. Loobliner from San Luis Obispo.  I’ve read about Louis’ many business adventures and there is reference to a business he sold to Henry Loobliner, “a cousin”.  I’ve spent a little time trying to connect the dots between Henry and Louis but I haven’t run across anything that truly connects them together.  Yet.  But I do have the silver sugar and creamer set engraved with LS, 1865-1890, October 15. 



Number 2:  Finding the death notice for one of my favorite ancestors, Emery Waller, was worth the cost of the annual subscription I purchased to newspapers.com.  I’ve written a lot about my quest to find Emery’s final resting place and, ultimately, getting his grave marked (click here to read the final installment) but through all of that, I was never 100% certain of his date of death.  But when I found his death notice in the Hutchison (Kansas) News from 23 December 1890, I now know that Emery’s died on 21 December 1890 from heart disease.  Somewhere early in my research I found that death date but stupidly never sourced where I’d seen the information so finally – FINALLY – I know his date of death.  RIP, Emery.



Number 1:  Losing my mother this year has been tough and cleaning out the home she and my dad shared for over 55 years was something we’d always dreaded.  But now that it’s over and I’ve had some time to sort through the boxes of things I brought home, I’m thankful that they were such packrats.  Pictures, slides, movies, and just about everything else imaginable was tucked away in that house.  I’m not sure I’ll live long enough to catalog everything but I’ll give it a try.  I have coveted one very special family heirloom for as many years as I can remember and now that it is hanging proudly in my home, I’ve named it my Number 1 genealogical find for 2013.

My parents found this pencil drawing of my paternal grandfather, Sigmund Levy, and his two older brothers, Herbert and Leon, in the basement of my grandparents’ home as they were cleaning out their home of over 50 years in 1982 after my grandmother passed away.  It was rolled up and left as trash.  But, thankfully, my parents picked it up, had it straightened out, put it in a beautiful frame, and hung it proudly over their living room couch where it remained for 30 years.  And here it is!

L-R: Sigmund(1888-1968), Herbert(1884-1952), Leon(1886-1962)

A special thanks to my brother and sister for allowing me to have this beautiful heirloom for my very own – I love it! 

And that’s my annual list of top genealogical finds.  I can’t wait to see what I’ll discover in 2014.