Byron Hot Springs


This is the newest addition to my vintage postcard collection - Byron Hot Springs Hotel.

The top caption reads: The beautiful hotel at Byron Hot Springs, Contra Costa County, California.  THE CARLSBAD OF AMERICA.

The bottom caption reads: Rates $4 and $5 per day, including three meals.  FREE mineral baths - mineral swimming pool - solariums.  Delicious food - real comfort - delightful atmosphere.  World renowned mineral waters and baths.  55 miles from San Francisco - paved highway all the way - S.P.R.R. direct to Springs.  (Established 1868)

Why is this important to me?  My great grandfather, Louis Schwartz, died at Byron Springs, California on May 23, 1893 at the age of 59.  While I know quite a bit about Louis, the last three months of his life are a bit of a mystery to me.  I know that he retired in Santa Cruz and moved to Byron Springs in search of health.  But then the trail is cold.

While looking for postcards, I stumbled across this one and it led me to a little research about Byron Hot Springs which led me to a historian for the area.  We've been in contact and she has hospital records from that time period.  And, she's agreed to help me with some research!

I hope to learn even more about Louis and, specifically, about his death.  Stay tuned.

SNGF: Ancestors GeneaMeme

This meme comes from Geniaus

The Ancestors' Geneameme

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item 

Which of these apply to you?

1.  Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents
2.  Can name over 50 direct ancestors
3.  Have photographs or portraits of my 8 great-grandparents
4.  Have an ancestor who was married more than three times
5.  Have an ancestor who was a bigamist
6.  Met all four of my grandparents (I met all 5 when including my step grandfather)
7.  Met one or more of my great-grandparents (spent 12-14 years with two)
8.  Named a child after an ancestor (although I didn't know it at the time)
9.  Bear an ancestor's given name/s
10.  Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland
11.  Have an ancestor from Asia
12.  Have an ancestor from Continental Europe (LOTS)
13.  Have an ancestor from Africa
14.  Have an ancestor who was an agricultural labourer
15.  Have an ancestor who had large land holdings (not sure what "large" means)
16.  Have an ancestor who was a holy man - minister, priest, rabbi
17.  Have an ancestor who was a midwife
18.  Have an ancestor who was an author
19.  Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones (Jones as both first and last name)
20.  Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng
21.  Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X
22.  Have an ancestor with a forename beginnining with Z
23.  Have an ancestor born on 25th December
24.  Have an ancestor born on New Year's Day
25.  Have blue blood in your family lines
26.  Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
27.  Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
28.  Can trace a direct family line back to the eighteenth century
29.  Can trace a direct family line back to the seventeenth century or earlier
30.  Have seen copies of the signatures of some of my great-grandparents (great great great)
31.  Have ancestors who signed their marriage certificate with an X
32.  Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university
33.  Have an ancestor who was convicted of a criminal offense
34.  Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime
35.  Have shared an ancestor's story online or in a magazine (Tell us where)
36.  Have published a family history online or in print (Details please)
37.  Have visited an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries (the city in one instance   and have seen the home on the internet in another)
38.  Still have an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries in the family
39.  Have a  family bible from the 19th Century
40.  Have a pre-19th century family bible

Sentimental Sunday: Sig Levy House

1549 Echo Avenue, Fresno, CA

This home was built in 1934 by Taylor-Wheeler.  It was built for my grandparents, Sig and Loraine Levy, and was the home my father grew up in.  He was 7 when they moved in and the family owned the home until 1982 when my grandmother passed away.  We spent so much time in this home as kids and I have so many memories of our time in Fresno staying in this home.

I remember the little room adjoining the garage where Grandpa Sig kept all of his gadgets.  We loved to explore with him and we'd always leave with some sort of treasure.  And I remember the big field behind the citrus orchard behind the house that was as big as a football field - I can just imagine my dad and his brother back there tossing the football around.

Philco, 37-650

 
I remember my dad's bedroom with the photos of Dad in his track uniform and many of his awards.  My sister and I would lie on the floor, listening to the antique radio, and coloring in our Babes in Toyland coloring book.
 
That house must have been the talk of the neighborhood with the modern ammenities inside.  There was a little niche in the hallway upstairs that held a little radio unit and there were some "call" buttons located throughout the house.  I have a vague memory that it was something like an intercom system so the maid could be called to come upstairs while she was downstairs.

And the basement!  While it was dark and a little creepy to enter, there were more treasures there.  Dad had a great collection of little army men that we'd drag out and play with for hours.  But don't leave a mess - Grandma wouldn't have liked that!

Even my oldest daughter remembers this home as she was lucky enough to visit her great grandmother several times before she died.  She has a memory of hiding crayons behind the paneling in the office/den where we watched TV.  Isn't it funny that we both have memories of crayons in that house?

How I wish I'd asked more questions when I was there.  Can you imagine the secrets that house heard in almost 50 years?

Gordon, Robert,
Loraine and Sig Levy
Behind the house, approximately 1948





SNGF: List your matrilineal line

This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Genea Musings

1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!

2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.

3) Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Status line on Facebook or in your Stream at Google Plus.

4)  If you have done this before, please do your father's matrilineal line, or your grandfather's matrilineal line, or your spouse's matriliuneal line.

5)  Does this list spur you to find distant cousins that might share one of your matrilineal lines? 

Here's mine:

Geraldine Martin - 6/8/1928, Fresno, CA - still living
Clara Maxine Fitzgerald - 1/22/1903, Fresno, CA - 2/27/1987, Fresno, CA
Mabel Viola McAboy - 6/6/1883, Clinton, IL - 11/12/1966, Fresno, CA
Rebecca Moriah Waller - 2/7/1845, Warren County, OH - 10/23/1928, Fresno, CA
Rebecca Parker - 10/10/1814 - 2/13/1845, Warren County, OH

That's it for the women on this branch of the tree. 

I have not had my DNA tested.

I would love to find cousins from this branch.  If you're out there, please leave a comment!

Alvarado Street

Remember when I wrote about The White House, the Gunzendorfer family mercantile which was located on Alvarado Street in Monterey, California?

I'm now the proud owner of my first vintage postcard which shows Alvarado Street in about 1905.  Somewhere on this street stood The White House! 

As my dad used to say, now I can visualize what it looked like! 

Labor Day isn't a great day for me

Robert (standing) and Gordon Levy
December, 1930

On September 3, 1950 my parents, Gordon Levy and Geraldine Martin, were married.   On Saturday, September 3, 2005 they celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary and two days later, Labor Day, September 5, 2005 my dad was gone.  Although Dad had Parkinson's and other health issues, the heart that had been repaired 26 years before just gave out. 

Gordon Floyd Levy was born in Fresno on February 11, 1927 and was the second son of Sigmund and Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy.  He graduated from Fresno High School in 1944 and after a two year pause for service in the US Army Air Corp, he received a Bachelors Degree from Stanford University in 1949 and a MBA in 1951.  He joined Dean Witter in 1951 and served as a Broker, Partner, and Branch Manager until 1974.  After spending 10 years as General Manager for the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, he returned to Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley in 1985.  Not surprisingly, he spent a full day at work on Friday and died on Monday.  That was just the way he was.

My dad had so many "Gordy-isms" that we still laugh about today.  He loved his sports and would wait for weeks for the big game to finally come on TV.  And once it started and he was comfortable in his chair, we'd find him getting a much needed nap.  And those headphones were placed firmly on his head if he couldn't be near a TV - at weddings, graduations, you name it - he always knew the score. 

Dad bled Stanford red.  He had season tickets for the football games for over 50 years and also loved following the basketball team.  When Stanford would make it to the Rose Bowl or Final Four, Dad was first in line to buy tickets, no matter the location.  And he came to Seattle a few times to watch the UW/Stanford game and had no problem sporting his Cardinal pride amidst a sea of purple.  And then he'd throw up his hands and say "it's not fair, no one can win in this stadium".  Of course plenty of teams other than the Huskies have won but it just never happened to be Stanford when Dad was in attendance.

Dad loved his membership in all sorts of clubs and was very active in the San Jose community, but nothing was more important to him than Rotary.  He was President in the 1960's and was proud of his 51 years of perfect attendance.  I remember no matter where we were vacationing, Dad would always look for a local meeting to attend so he could keep that perfect attendance going.

Oh how I wish Dad could be here to share in this genealogy journey with me.  He loved talking about the past and was always tickled when someone would ask him questions about his youth.  He was proud of his track accomplishments at both Fresno High School and Stanford and loved telling the story of the moment he was the second fastest man in the world.  His theory was this - one day he ran against the fastest man in the world and finished a distant second but that proved that for that moment in time, he was the second fastest man in the world.  He was always looking for the positive in a situation.

I could go on and on about my Dad but to those who knew him best, I'm sure we all agree that the impact he's had on us and those who knew him was significant.  We still laugh about his antics and at times it seems like he's right here with us when his children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren mimic him.  He definitely was one of a kind.

I miss you, Dad!

Gordon Levy
July, 2005

Wedding Wednesday on Saturday: Gordon Levy and Geraldine Martin

Gordon Levy and Geraldine Martin
September 3, 1950

So I know usually we do Wedding Wednesday but today is a very special day in my family, the wedding/anniversary of my parents.  And sadly, it also was the start of a very bad Labor Day weekend for us in 2005.

My parents, Gordon Floyd Levy and Geraldine Martin, were married in Fresno on September 3, 1950.  They met in 1943 when they were students at Fresno High School - dad was a senior and mom was a sophomore.  After high school, they went off to Stanford and both studied there - Mom with a BA in Economics and Dad finished up with a MBA.  Mom likes to say she didn't "follow" him there but I'd bet she's kidding all of us with that one.

I remember as a child my sister and I would pour over their wedding album and loved to look at all of the pictures - Mom looked so beautiful in her wedding dress (which is still packed away in a hope chest) and Dad was a dapper groom.  We also liked looking at the album where Mom wrote about all of the events.  My favorite part was opening up the tissue paper where a few of the flowers had been pressed and although brown and limp with age, it was a wonderful reminder of what was surely a beautiful day.  I also remember staring at the giant portrait of Mom which still hangs at the end of the hallway in our childhood home.  All little girls dream of their wedding day and it was no exception for us. 

In 2000, Mom and Dad were ready to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and decided that the best way to celebrate would be to have all of the kids/grandkids together in a very special place.  So Labor Day weekend in 2000 found us all together in Napa for a celebration.  Everyone arrived at different times throughout the weekend but we knew we would all be together for one very special dinner.

Our surprise to Mom and Dad that year was hiring a photographer to capture the day with both group photos and individual family photos.  Dad could, at times, turn into an emotional wreck and my recollection is that he was close on this special evening.  And being the eternal Stanford football fan, I also seem to remember him sitting at the dinner table with his ever-present headphones on listening to the game.

Of course no trip to Napa would be complete without some golf and wine tasting!  One of the days found some of us off wine tasting, some at the amusement park nearby, and some playing golf at Silverado Country Club (the perks of a golf pro brother).  I don't think Dad finished his round that day but I know how much he loved being on the course with his family.  And if memory serves me correctly, that may have been the last time he was able to golf.

Sure our family has grown since then and we're still in different cities and states but I don't think any of us will ever forget that very special weekend celebrating our wonderful parents.

Gordon & Gerry Levy
September 3, 2000
50th wedding anniversary