Ghosts of Christmas Past

I recently rediscovered the photo album my parents put together to remember the first two years of my life.  Since I was born 11 days before Christmas, I thought I might find some things to document how we spent the holidays.  We came from a 'mixed' marriage - Dad was Jewish and Mom was Christian - but we were raised Jewish.  I do remember Mom saying that she never wanted to take Santa Claus away from her kids so we became the envy of the neighborhood as we celebrated Hannukah and Christmas - SCORE! 

So here we are at what Dad wrote in the album 'Debi's first Christmas'.  I guess he didn't count the year of my birth since I was a newborn but this is technically my second Christmas.  Aren't we cute?



Carolyn and Deborah Levy
December, 1955

I know I didn't help that year but I do remember painstakingly putting tinsel on the tree in later years.  Does anyone even use that stuff anymore?

And the following year may have been the first year Dad took a photo to put on the holiday card.  I found several different poses from 1956 but thought this one was the best. 

Deborah and Carolyn Levy
November, 1956

It looks like the same Santa!  And I think those stockings are the same ones we used every year.  I'll bet at some point we run across those at Mom's house.

My sister and I live in different states now and don't get a chance to see each other very often.  But when we do, it takes me back to those early days when we spent every day together.  I just wish my memory was better so that I could actually remember some of the details!  And Doug, sorry you're not in these photos but you weren't born yet :-)

Merry Christmas - enjoy the past along with the presents!

Pearl Harbor: KIA - Robert Melvin Hunter



Robert Melvin Hunter
1918-1941



The Fresno Bee
December 16, 1941

Fresno Naval Officer Dies in Pacific Attack

Navy informs relatives Ensign Robert M. Hunter Killed in Action

Ensign Robert M. Hunter, 23, of Fresno, assistant navigation officer on an American battleship, was killed in a Japanese raid in the Pacific.

Word of his death was received from the navy department today by local relatives.  The message from Washington D.C. gave no details other than that he was killed "in line of duty" and that relatives will be informed later regarding the body.

Naval restrictions prevent the use of the name of Hunter's ship or the area in which he met death.

Second Fresnan Killed

His death was the second reported among the numerous Fresno young men serving with the navy, _____ Gastner, 21, a gunnery officer, also was killed.

Hunter, who had been in active service since his graduation from the Northwestern University Naval Academy about five months ago was the son of Sheldon A. Hunter, local district manager for the Western Union Telegraph Company, and Mrs. Harriet Hunter, a nurse, also of Fresno.  His grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Pease who reside on Church Avenue.



Robert Melvin Hunter, born April 16, 1918, was my mother's step brother.  His father's second wife was my grandmother, Clara Fitzgerald.  Robert was aboard the USS Oklahoma when it was hit and is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (aka The Punchbowl).

An interesting tidbit I discovered while I was putting this together was that there is now a memorial at Pearl Harbor for the USS Oklahoma.  We last visited Pearl Harbor in June, 2007 and I have no recollection of a memorial there.  I've learned that the memorial opened in December, 2007 which explains why I don't remember seeing it.  It looks like a beautiful place to visit.

USS Oklahoma Memorial
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Photo by Dennis Frank

Sunday's Obituary: Edward Fitzgerald

EDWARD F. FITZGERALD

Edward Francis Fitzgerald, long-time Fresno County employee, was found dead in his home at 1023 N. Thorne Ave., apparently the victim of a heart attack.

The 89-year-old Fresnan will be buried in the I.O.O.F.Cemetery Thursday in the John N. Lisle Chapel.

He was born in Yolo County, and came to the Academy district east of Fresno in 1888 with his parents, Mr. and Mrs.Matthew Fitzgerald.  He attended school in Letcher, a foothill community.

A few years ago he made a return visit to the mine where the cottage in which he and his late wife, Mabel Viola McAboy, spent their honeymoon in 1901, still stands.

In later years he was to serve two terms as constable, run unsuccessfully for sheriff and county supervisor, work in the county welfare department and become clerk in the justice court.  He retired from the latter post in 1949.

Through the years he had been active with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Native Sons of the Golden West, Fresno Elks Lodge 439, Los Palmas Lodge 366 of the Masons and the High Twelve Club.

He leaves two daughters, Mrs. Clara M. Hunter and Mrs. Viola Crawford, and a son, Stanley, all of Fresno, and a brother, John in Woodland.  Five grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren also survive.

Edward Fitzgerald was the only great grandfather I had the honor of knowing and I remember him quite vividly, too.  Clara Hunter was my maternal grandmother.  I need to do more research on the 19 great-grandchildren because I have no idea where that many came from!

During a google search, I found some reference to Edward Fitzgerald with the Shaver Lake Fishing Club.  I asked my mother about it and while she doesn't remember anything specifically about his participation in the Fishing Club, she does remember going on family outings as a child to Shaver Lake.  I also found a picture of Ed Fitzgerald included with the Fishing Club historical website, and when I compare it to the obituary photo, I'm fairly convinced it's him.  And my mother agrees :-)

Ed Fitzgerald
Shaver Lake Fishing Club

Edward was born July 5, 1879 in Yolo County, California.  However, when I requested a copy of his birth record the County Recorder certified that there was no record of a birth found from 1/1/1878 to 12/31/1905.  Edward was the son of Mathew William Fitzgerald and Julia Horgan.  Edward died July 21, 1968.

Photo from obituary enlarged

Sunday's Obituary: Rebecca Waller McAboy

Fresno Morning Republican
Wednesday, October 24, 1928
Page 11

Rebecca M. McAboy, Long Time Resident, Dies at Age of 83

Mrs. Rebecca M. McAboy, 83, resident of California for 38 years, and widow of the late W.W. McAboy, died last night at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W.K. Langworthy, 463 Belmont Avenue.  Mrs. McAboy was a native of Ohio and leaves a son and two other daughters, E.J. McAboy, Mrs. A.K. Dick and Mrs. E. Fitzgerald, all of Fresno.

Funeral arrangements will be announced later by Stephens & Bean.

Fresno Morning Republican
Thursday, October 25, 1928
Page 11

McAboy Funeral Today

Funeral services for Mrs. Rebecca M. McAboy, 83, a native of Ohio and mother of Mrs. A.K. Dick, Mrs. E. Fitzgerald, Mrs. W.R. Langworthy and E.J. McAboy, all of Fresno, who died Tuesday, are to be held this afternoon at 3 o'clock at the Stephens & Bean chapel, with burial to follow in the I.O.O.F. section of Mt. View cemetery.

Rebecca Waller McAboy
Mt. View Cemetery
Fresno, California

Rebecca was my 2nd great grandmother.  I wrote about her husband, William Warren McAboy - he was my Black Sheep ancestor.  Their youngest child, Mabel McAboy Fitzgerald, was my great grandmother.

Rebecca was the daughter of my favorite subject, Emery Waller.  Her mother, Rebecca Parker Waller, died 6 days after Rebecca Waller McAboy's birth. 

I'm anxious to learn more about Rebecca and hope that at some point I'll run across a photo of her.

Emery's "First" Veteran's Day

Photo by sholden

In the two years I've been researching my family, I've learned a lot.  Not just a bunch of names and dates to identify and organize my ancestors but I've learned a lot about history.  Which to the people who know me this must seem completely ridiculous.  I was one of the kids in high school who took social studies during summer school for the sole purpose of getting it over with - quickly.  I remember about 15 years ago going on a tour of Civil War battlefields with my husband and children and trying, desperately, to at least act interested.  But in reality I just didn't care.  How I wish I could have a do-over on that trip.

And now here we are at Veteran's Day and for the first time, the celebration seems to mean so much more.  While I'm thankful for those with us today and want to honor them for their service, I'm also remembering those who helped our country get to this point.  And now I know how many of my ancestors played a hand in shaping this country and for that, I'm eternally grateful.

But no ancestor has captivated me more than my elusive 3rd great grandfather, Emery Waller.  I first wrote about Emery here and then about requesting his Civil War Pension Record.  Nothing was more exciting than the surprise of finding Emery in Kansas and, ultimately, finding his final resting place.  But if you've followed along with me you know that when I found Emery in McPherson, Kansas, he was lying in an unmarked grave.  And at that time I made a vow that the story would not end there.

My goal was to get the grave marked, although I'm really not sure how I thought I would accomplish that.  I knew the Department of Veteran's Affairs would supply the headstone at no cost but from that point, I'm not sure how I thought I'd get the stone from my home in Washington to Kansas.  I'm not sure the details are important but I must give a shout out to Kevin Stockham of Stockham Family Funeral Home in McPherson, Kansas.  Once I connected with Kevin, he helped me through the process by completing the forms, accepting the stone, and then arranging to have it placed.  I have absolutely no idea how I could have ever completed this project without his help.

But I did have his help and thus, the project was completed this week, just in time for Veteran's Day.  Emery Waller is now present and accounted for!

Captain Emery L. Waller
1813-1890
McPherson Cemetery, McPherson, Kansas

An even bigger surprise is that I was contacted by the local newspaper, the McPherson Sentinel - they'd like to include an article in their Veteran's Day edition telling the story of how I found Emery and how we got the gravestone placed.  Stay tuned for the rest of that story - wonder if Good Morning America will also be calling me for an interview?

Who knew one ancestor would take me on such a wild ride?

Sentimental Sunday: Fresno High School

Postcard
Fresno High School

Who knew so many of my family graduated from Fresno High School?  Sure, I've always known that my parents both graduated from there (1944 and 1946), as well as my dad's older brother (1938).  We always heard the stories - Mom and Dad met there, Dad was quite the track star, Dad was class president, and I'm sure many more that I've forgotten over the years.  Plus, there were lots of ribbons and trophies in Dad's room at my grandparents' house proving just how active he was in school.  The high school was located just down the street from their home and we'd walk or drive by and I would try to envision Mom and Dad as school kids.

But now I've learned that my dad's father, Sigmund Levy, and at least two of his brothers (Leon and Ben) also graduated from Fresno High School - Leon in 1904, Sig in 1906, and Ben in 1910.  And what a surprise to learn that my mom's mom, Clara Fitzgerald, also graduated from the same school (probably 1921).  How cool for my parents to have gone to the same high school that one of their parents went to!

The first Fresno High School classes were held on September 12, 1889 and the first graduating class of 7 students completed their studies in 1891.  The school began on the second story of the Emerson Elementary School on the corner of Santa Clara and K (now Van Ness) streets.  Over the years the student body increased and in 1921 the school moved to the present location at 1839 Echo Avenue, which is within blocks of the home where my dad grew up.

Check out this picture from 1943 of the Fresno High Owlet Editorial Heads - not only is my dad in this photo, but his cousin Gilda, youngest daughter of Ben Levy.

1943 Fresno High Owlet Editorial Heads
Gordon Levy, 2nd from right
Gilda Levy, far right

What a blast I'm having collecting postcards - what will I find next?

B-I-N-G-O

Photo by klynslis

I'm not sure exactly how I decided to finally take the plunge and start blogging.  I really thought it would be too much work for someone who was just beginning to research my family and that no one would pay much attention to what I had to say.  Try as I might to ignore it, there was a little nugget out there taunting me - what if someone actually read it and turned out to be a relative?  Could that happen?  I'd heard of it happening to others but I just couldn't imagine it happening to me.

Over the last year or so I've found a few cousins through ancestry and it was defintely a high point.  They were eager to share information with me and I loved every minute of corresponding with them.  I come from a really, really small family so when I find a new relative, it feels like I've hit the jackpot.

But nothing compared to the comment left on my blog last week.

I am from the Waller line. Through Caroline waller, E. L. Waller's daughter. She married Joseph G. Foster. They stayed in this area. I assumed E.L. had until i found this post tonight. I just started this side a month ago. I am very close to where they lived here. Please get in touch with me. I am very excited to get with you.  wow, amazing!

Remember Emery. Waller, my 3rd great grandfather?  It's a long story but I thought Caroline Waller was Emery's sister, not his daughter.  But after sharing information with my new cousin she helped me realize that Caroline was, indeed, his daughter and the older sister to my 2nd great grandmother, Rebecca Waller.  Which makes us 4th cousins, 1x removed!

And the cherry on top is that she lives in DeWitt County, the place where I researched this summer.

So even though finding a cousin wasn't the only reason I'm blogging, there was a part of me that always hoped someone would find me.  I wanted to be one of the success stories bloggers talk about.

B-I-N-G-O!