Here’s my ticket!

Revolutionary War Flag photo by Nink Allsbrook

Memorial Day is a day to reflect on my ancestors who served in the military in an effort to form our country and to keep it free for generations to come.  And while there have been many who fit the bill, I can’t think of anyone who has piqued my interest more than my 5th great grandfather, Ashbel Waller, who is my ticket to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  The process of gaining admittance into DAR is a bit overwhelming but at some point I’ll make it happen.  Until then, I’ll continue to research Ashbel and prepare for the upcoming project.

Ashbel (Ashbell, Ashabel, Asahel) Waller was the son of Phineas Waller (1717-1787) and Rhoda (Phebe) Taylor (1717-?) and from what I have learned, was the sixth of eleven children.  He was born 18 Oct 1759 in Cornwall, Connecticut, and baptized 11 Nov 1759.

Not much is known about Ashbel’s early life until 1 Aug 1779 when he enlisted in Webb’s 2nd Continental or 2nd Connecticut Line and served until he was discharged on 15 Jan 1780.  At the age of 20, Ashbel was in the throes of war and while he served for just a short period of time, his name will forever be in history books as a Revolutionary War patriot.  MY Revolutionary War patriot.

Ashbel returned from war and per the Barbour Collection, Ashbel of Cornwall was married to Sarah Abbott of Sharon on 1 Nov 1781 by Judge Kellogg, JP.  Sarah gave birth to Solomon (Salmon) Waller, my 4th great grandfather, in 1788 in Pennsylvania.  The family shows in later years in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where Ashbel owned 50 acres of land valued at $240.

More children, Hannah, Ruth, Sena and Alvin, joined the family, although I can’t confirm they were Sarah’s children or if another woman had entered Ashbel’s life.  Somewhere between 1800-1810, the family moved to Butler County, Ohio, and on 5 Sep 1820, Ashbel and Elizabeth Blackleach were married by Rev. James Hugh.  What had happened to Sarah? 

In the 1840 census Ashbel is listed as “under 90” and was living with an “under 80” female (Elizabeth) in Union Township, Butler County, Ohio.    But Ashbel had an important neighbor by the name of Jane Turner, a woman living alone.  And on 12 Apr 1842 at the spry age of 83, Ashbel and Jane Turner were married in Butler County, Ohio by Rev. David Laymon.  Which means that sometime between the 1840 census and this marriage, Elizabeth most likely died.

There is so much information about Ashbel’s life – war records, pension records, marriage ceremonies performed, death on 20 Sep 1848, and his will – but I’ve yet to be 100% sure of his final resting place.  A few years ago a researcher from the Butler Country Historical Society located some items for me, one of which was 1985 correspondence to the Butler County Commissioner regarding a gravestone with the partial name Elizabeth Walle_ and, potentially, the grave of Ashbel Waller in Liberty Township, Ohio.  This graveyard is located on property that was owned by Ashbel in 1830 and is described as about 101 acres in the northeast corner of Section 6 on the 1830 cadastral map.  It is described today as about 0.4 mile eastward from Route 747 along Hamilton-Mason Road thence about 0.2 mile southward parallel to the meridional section line.  I wish I knew more about land deeds so I could figure out exactly what that means.

The point of the 1985 correspondence was to help the establishment of the graveyard’s historical significance in light of Ashbel’s participation in the Revolutionary War.  And now nearly 30 years later, I would somehow like to learn even more about this graveyard and to, hopefully, stand in front of the grave of MY Revolutionary War patriot and 5th great grandfather, Ashbel Waller.

It’s time to step it up and get back to researching so I can punch my ticket into DAR!

The mothers in my life

In honor of the mothers in my life on Mother's Day.

My mother, Geraldine Martin (1928-2013)







My maternal grandmother, Clara Maxine Fitzgerald (1903-1987)





Clara’s mother, Mabel Viola McAboy (1883-1966)



Four generations – Clara Fitzgerald, Geraldine Martin, Mabel McAboy, Carolyn Levy, Deborah Levy



Mabel’s mother – Rebecca Moriah Waller (1845-1928)  Photo courtesy of Kris Nagamine




My maternal grandmother – Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer (1896-1982)







Loraine’s Mother – Bertha Schwartz (1872-1950)







Bertha’s mother – Rebecca Steen (1848-1918)



Four generations – Rebecca Steen, Bertha Schwartz, Hannah Plotzky, Loraine Gunzendorfer



That’s a lot of mothers!

Step by Step

Don’t you just love it when you stumble across something that is not only cool but also chips away at your research?  That’s just what happened to me today!

Since I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about I decided to go into my treasure chest of “stuff” and see what caught my eye.  And this is what I found.



Standing on the right is my great grandmother, Bertha “Birdie” Schwartz.  I’d seen this photo a number of times but because it is fairly large, I’d put it into a larger box with some old newspapers and various other things and didn’t get back to it.

So I drug it out and showed it to my husband who promptly noticed the scrolls that each young person was holding and we wondered if it was some sort of graduation or something.  That could be since there were two older people (teachers?) sitting with the young people.  And that’s when he noticed Birdie’s left wrist and a bracelet she was sporting.  “Is that your bracelet?” he asked.  Oh my, I think he could be right!

One of my earliest blog posts was about Birdie where I showed a picture of the bracelet she was given at her high school graduation.  You can read it here but here is the bracelet again.



Not a great photo and the bracelet is safely housed in the safe deposit box so I couldn’t take another one but compare it to this close up of Birdie’s wrist.



Yep, that’s it!  This must be a photo of Birdie’s high school graduation!

On the back of the photo was this.

Property of Loraine Levy To be given her after my demise

Loraine Levy was Birdie’s oldest child, only daughter and my paternal grandmother.  I’m glad to know the picture ended up with not just Loraine but her granddaughter many, many years later. 

Since Birdie grew up in Santa Cruz, California and the Santa Cruz Sentinel is included in the newspapers.com collection, I decided to peruse the site in the 1890 time period to see if I could find out anything about the graduation.  And look what I found!

Santa Cruz Sentinel Saturday, 7 June, 1890 Page 3

There it is – Bertha graduated from Santa Cruz High School on Friday, 6 June, 1890!  Now if that’s not enough, it gives the list of graduates – 8 girls and 1 boy.  Take a look at the photo – 8 girls and 1 boy!  So this is the 1890 graduating class from Santa Cruz High School! 

But that’s not all - one of the graduates was Bella Steen who just so happens to have been the first cousin of Birdie’s mother, Rebecca Steen Schwartz.  Rebecca’s father, Joseph, was the brother of Bella’s father, Jacob.

I had also noted in the photo that the young lady sitting on the left looked familiar and I knew I’d seen her somewhere before.  Which got me thinking – could the familiar looking girl be Bella Steen?

A quick look at some of my photos and I found this.



Could this unidentified woman be the same as the graduate who looked familiar to me?


I think they might be one and the same!  Maybe my Steen cousin can confirm for me but I think it’s the same person. 

I need to research Bella more thoroughly.  I do know that she married Morris Benas who just happened to be a brother of Goldie Benas.  That name probably doesn’t mean much to too many people but one of Goldie’s sons was Sigmund Levy, my paternal grandfather who married Bertha’s daughter, Loraine.  I would be willing to bet that Bella and Morris were the connection to introducing my grandparents!

Just when you hit a slump a little nugget appears – so now I’m going to follow the headline of the newspaper and take it step by step.

Raise your hand!

Raise your hand if you’ve seen your mother pregnant!  Okay, that might not be too much of a stretch because many of us have younger siblings or there might be photos showing you how your mother looked as she was great with child.

But how about seeing your grandmother pregnant?  Probably not too common.  And what about your GREAT grandmother?  Raise your hand if you’ve seen that!

Can you see my hand wildly waving?  And can you see the big smile on my face?  Because I think I HAVE seen my great grandmother pregnant and now I’m going to share it with you.

Here’s my great grandparents, Bertha Schwartz and Abraham Gunzendorfer, standing on the porch of a house. 



I haven’t yet figured out if it was their house or just where they were but what a beautiful house!  They look quite at home so I’m imagining it’s their house but for now I’ll just have to be satisfied seeing them there together.

And here’s one of just Bertha by herself.



But wait!  All of the other photos I have show her as a very small woman with dresses cinched at the waist and this dress looks quite different.  So I had to zoom in closer to check it out and look what I see!



She’s pregnant, right?  Or is she just dressed up to go to a costume party as a court jester?  Maybe she’s in her bathrobe or housecoat?  Or maybe she’s not pregnant but just gave birth to a child?

Here’s a photo of Bertha (on left) with an unidentified friend – she has a very tiny waist and wore her dress tightly cinched at the waist.  Not pregnant.



So what do you think?  Have we now seen my great grandmother pregnant?  PLEASE SAY YES!

Levy Brothers – part 2

Out of the four Levy brothers (my grandfather, Sig Levy, and his brothers), only three had children and only one, Sig, had only boys.  So to continue with the Levy brothers theme, meet my dad, Gordon (1927-2005), and his brother, Robert Levy (1920-2004)

Here’s one of the first photos of the boys together.  Since my dad was born in February, 1927 I’m guessing this is late that year.  I don’t know for sure (maybe a cousin can help me out here) but I think that might be their house at 1212 Van Ness, Fresno.  Dad doesn’t look too happy.



He seemed a little happier, and steadier on his feet, by May, 1928.  Looks like the boys were ready to swim!



Later that year, the boys posed with their mother, Loraine.  I just love her hat!



Dad turned 2 on February 11, 1929 and again the boys posed for a photo.  How cute are they in their little coats and hats?  Looks like Dad got a fun little riding toy for his birthday.  One look at this photo and there’s no doubt I’m a Levy.



And five years later, they celebrated Dad’s birthday again together – the hats and coats are gone.  Love the slicked back hair, Rob!



By 1943 Rob was off to serve his country but had to pose for a few photos first.  Look at them shaking hands – something, it seems, that my family did a lot.

July 15, 1943

March 12, 1944

And in December, 1947 the whole family posed together.  This tells a lot about my grandfather – Dad was about 5-9” and he towers over Sig. 



Fast forward about 20 years and the boys were still posing together. 

Rob and Gordon c. 1962

Dad and Rob never lived near each other as adults but even with the miles and years between them they always remained close.  We loved when “Uncle Bobo” came to town and we always laughed at his jokes, no matter how corny (and most of the time they were corny). 

I’m going to guess this photo is from the 1970’s or early 1980’s – check out the glasses!



Uncle Rob and Aunt Pat came to visit us here in Washington in 1997 – of course we couldn’t keep Dad away.  These brothers loved each other and they loved to keep their cameras close by at all times.  Since they were usually the photographers, it was hard to get them to pose together but we were able to get them to stand still in front of Snoqualmie Falls.



While I know they saw each other many more times in their lives, this might have been the last time I saw them together. 

But in early 1998, I had the pleasure of visiting Rob and Pat at their home in Louisville, Kentucky so I filled in for Dad with the photo opportunity!



I’m so glad these Levy brothers broke the mold and never let each other out of their lives! 

Levy Brothers

In honor of National Siblings Day (who knew there was a designated day?) it’s fitting to highlight siblings in my family, starting with the Levy brothers.  These brothers worked together in commercial real estate in Fresno in the early 20th century but, sadly, they didn’t all end up together at the end of their lives.  I hate thinking about the squabble that caused them to separate and I’m saddened that until recently, I wasn’t in touch with some of their descendants.  But I am now and for that I’m grateful!



The brothers were Herb (1884-1952), Leon (1886-1962), Sigmund (my grandfather, 1888-1968), and Ben (1892-1965).  Additionally, there was another brother, Arnold (1890-1890), who I wrote about here. 

Here are the boys in about 1889, before Ben was born.

Leon, Sigmund, Herbert Levy c. 1889

Here’s the young family in about 1890. 



The family looks so small in this photo – here’s a close up. 

Goldie and Herman Levy Herbert, Leon and Sig

And by 1892 Benjamin had joined the family.

Benjamin Levy

The house had sure changed by 1907!



Although I don’t know the date this was taken, the family were all together and posed for a photo.  My best guess would be that this was taken somewhere about 1906-1908 based on the ages of the boys.

Standing – Leon, Sig, Ben, Herb Levy Seated – Goldie Benas Levy and Herman Levy

By 1920 Levy Brothers was a thriving business and it looks like there were a number of people working there besides the four brothers. 



I can’t make out much in this photo except I do see my grandfather, Sigmund Levy, second from the right. 

The Levy Brothers ventured out for a photo in 1929 – boy do they look dapper!

Ben, Herb, Sig, Leon Levy August 7, 1929

And they were together again in later years.

Standing – Ben and Sig Levy Seated – Herb and Leon Levy

And that’s about where the trail runs cold as the brothers had a falling out and some never talked to each other again.  I didn’t know until recently that my grandparents lived almost around the corner from Herb and his family.  All those years of visiting Grandma and Grandpa and there were my dad’s cousins so close but yet so far.  I’ve reconnected with Herb’s grandson and hope that one day we’ll be able to meet in person (Fresno, here I come!).  These brothers may have stopped communicating in their later years but their descendants will put a stop to that!