Digging In...To My Past

Census Saturday - 1910 Federal Census - Joseph & Frances Legge Household

2011-10-22T11:40:00.000-04:00

This week we are still following Harry A. Legge. He was living with his parents in Hays City Ward 3, Ellis, Kansas in the 1910 Federal Census.

Joseph and Frances Legge household

Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910 - Population; State: Kansas; County: Ellis; Hays City; Supervisor's District No. 6; Enumeration District No. 19; Sheet No. 9 B; page 1451 (handwritten); Enumerated by me on the 22nd day of April, 1910. Jur. H. Freesa, Enumerator. Street: West Perry Avenue; Lines 68-72; Dwelling 199; Family 204.
Joseph Legge, head, male, white, 62 years old, married for 33 years, born in Germany, father born in Germany, mother born in Germany, immigrated in 1868, naturalized, speaks English, occupation is own income, able to read and write, owns his own home free of mortgage.
Frances Legge, wife, female, white, 50 years old, married for 33 years, gave birth to 15 children, 10 were living, born in New Jersey, father born in Germany, mother born in Germany, speaks English, no occupation, able to read and write.
Louisa Legge, daughter, female, white, 13 years old, single, born in Kansas, father born in Germany, mother born in New Jersey, speaks English, no occupation, able to read and write, attended school.
Harry Legge, son, male, white, 10 years old, single, born in Kansas, father born in Germany, mother born in New Jersey, speaks English, no occupation, able to read and write, attended school.
Tresia [sic] Legge, daughter, female, white, 6 years old, single, born in Kansas, father born in Germany, mother born in New Jersey, no occupation, [education information blank].

Harry is living with his parents and the youngest of all his siblings. There was a child between Louisa and Harry named Helena "Lena" Legge, but she died in 1901 at the age of two. His mother, Frances (Franzika), noted that she had given birth to 15 children, however only 10 were living at the time of this census. Another interesting piece of information is that "own income" is listed as the occupation for head of the household, Joseph Legge. I'm not sure if this means he is retired or self-employed, but I would think they would specify self-employed if that were the case. He does own his home home though with no mortgage. The two older children are attending school. It is also noted that they live on West Perry Avenue, however, I was unable to locate this street on a map, so it's possible the name of the street was changed at some point.

Source: 1910 U.S. census, Ellis, Kansas, population schedule, Hays, enumeration district (ED) 19, sheet 9B, p. 1451 (handwritten), dwelling 199, family 204, Joseph Legge household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http:www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Sep 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 438.

Census Saturday - 1930 Census - Harry & Veronica Legge

2011-10-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

This week I am going back another decade with Harry & Veronica Legge. In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, they were just married and she was pregnant with their first child, Harold, who would be born in July of that year. They were living in Fairview, Rush, Kansas on a farm.

Harry & Veronica Legge Household

Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920 - Population.
State: Kansas; County: Rush; Fairview Township; Supervisor's District No 7; Enumeration District No 214; Sheet No 4A; Enumerated by me on the 27th day of January 1920, Wm Crotinger, Enumerator. Lines 20-21; House number: FM; Dwelling No. 56; Family No. 56:
Harry Legge, Head, rented house, male, white, 19 years old, married, did not attend school since Sept. 1 1919, able to read, able to write, born in Kansas; father born in W-s--ollin [crossed out] Germany, mother tongue German; mother born in New Jersey, able to speak English; trade of farming on general farm; Farm schedule 57.
Veronica Legge, wife, female, white, 17 years old, married, did not attend school since Sept. 1 1919; able to read; able to write; born in Kansas; father born in [illegible crossed out word] Russia, mother tongue German; mother born in Kansas; able to speak English; occupation none.

I've learned that Harry & Veronica were living and working a farm they do not own. I learn that both of their mother were born in America and their fathers born outside of the country. What I find most interesting in this census is that the enumerator had written down a specific location within the country their fathers were born in. Unfortunately, they were badly written and then crossed out so I am unable to read them. Harry's brother was living in the same town and has the same crossed out name, but that is difficult to read as well.

Source: 1920 U.S. census, Rush, Kansas, population schedule, Fairview, enumeration district (ED) 214, sheet 4A, p. 751 (handwritten), dwelling 56, family 56, Harry Legge household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Sep 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 547.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - My Second Grade Teacher

2011-10-10T10:13:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up I loved school. I loved learning, seeing my friends, getting new school clothes and school supplies. Teachers, especially in elementary school where you only had one all year, were important and could either enrich your school experience or make you miserable for nine months. I know there were teachers I didn't care for in high school, but luckily you didn't have to spend all day with them and I learned fairly young that if you just figure out what they are looking for and give them what they ask, the year would go by pretty smoothly. In general though, my feelings were usually lukewarm for my teachers.

My all-time favorite teacher, however, was my second grade teacher Mr. Anderson. I loved him! He was young and handsome and had a beard, so that probably made him cool in our eyes. He also played guitar and he would bring it in and teach us songs like Yellow Submarine and Puff the Magic Dragon. I can remember the giant notepads that teachers used where he had written the words to the songs so that we could memorize them. Looking back, I'm not sure how it all fit into our lesson plan, but at the time we loved it.

One specific memory I have about him as a teacher is just a little snippet, but it's funny that it stuck with me. We must have had an increase in writing exercises in second grade because I developed the callous that you get on your knuckle that comes from writing with a pencil. I remember it hurting and going to him and telling him I had this injury expecting to be sent to the nurse. He just smiled and said that it comes with writing. Then he showed me that he had the same callous on his finger, only his was huge. Then he sent me on my way without a band aid or anything! It makes me laugh now because I remember walking away confused because he hadn't given me a bandage for my wound and what was I going to do now!?

Another memory I have of him is just an image... but a pretty vivid one, I must say! My mom taught an aerobics class at the school and one day I went into the gym where her class was and realized that Mr. Anderson was in the class. He was wearing a full body leotard. I remember being shocked that he was wearing that outfit and a little embarrassed. That image was forever burned in my brain and I can't think of Mr. Anderson without thinking of him in that outfit!

If my memory serves me, Mr. Anderson only taught the one year, however, when I think about it, I don't really know for sure if he taught before our class. I feel like I remember him saying it was his first year teaching although that might have been his first year at our school or teaching second grade. I do know, however, that it was his last year teaching at my elementary school. He was going into the Peace Corps. It made the end of the year all that much more sad because he wasn't coming back. I remember sitting at my desk the last day of school and we were singing Puff the Magic Dragon. I cried through the whole thing. So did many of my classmates. I don't know how he made it through the song with a bunch of second graders crying! I remember I couldn't look at him because it hurt too bad. My other classmates that I've contacted through the years still remember him and his songs and they all loved him too!

When I was pregnant with my son and thinking of names, I was having a hard time coming up with a middle name. I wanted it to be meaningful, but I hadn't started doing genealogy yet so I didn't have a vast resource of family names to choose from. A friend of mine suggested thinking of someone who influenced you in your life in a positive way to come up with a middle name. It's funny because he's the first person I thought of. It seems sad in hindsight that I didn't have more positive male influences in my life, but I knew his first name was James and it fit perfectly with my son's first name. My son today still loves to hear the story about why I picked his names for him. It blows my mind how much impact one person can have on a kid's life... even if just for one year.

Census Saturday - 1925 Kansas Census - Harry Legge Household

2011-09-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

This week I am looking at the Kansas State census of 1925. The Legge family is still living in Fairview, Rush, Kansas and only have the first three children living with them.

State: Kansas; County: Rush; Township: Fairview; Post Office: La Crosse; Page 1 (stamped); Lines 10-14; Name or number of street, avenue, rural route, etc. 2; Number of house or box, if on rural route: 52; Dwelling number 3; Family number 3.
Harry Leggle, head, male, white, 24 years old, married, born in Kansas, no occupation, did not attend school, able to read and write.
Veroniga [sic] Leggle, wife, female, white, 22 years old, married, born in Kansas, no occupation, did not attend school, able to read and write.H
Harold Leggle, son, male, white, 4 years old, single, born in Kansas, no occupation, did not attend school, not able to read and write.
Ralph Leggle, son, male, white, 2 years old, single, born in New Jersey, from New Jersey to Kansas, no occupation, did not attend school, not able to read and write.
Dorethy Leggle, daughter, female, white, 1 year old, single, born in New Jersey, from New Jersey to Kansas, no occupation, did not attend school, not able to readn and write.

First, the surname is spelled wrong. I had to look for them manually in the database on Ancestry because they weren't coming up in a simple search. Harry's name had been indexed incorrectly as Marry. The rest is just the incorrect spelling by the enumerator. Little Dorothy is only one year old and was born in New Jersey, so the family must have moved back sometime in the year and a half prior to this census and after she was born. Another interesting notation on this census is that there is no profession listed for Harry. I'm not completely positive this was an error, but it seems unlikely that he wouldn't have been working while trying to provide for a small family. It's also possible he was between jobs.

Source: 1925 State Census, Rush County, Kansas, population schedule, Fairview, p. 1 (stamped), dwelling 3, family 3, lines 10-14, Harry Leggle household; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Sep 2011); citing Kansas City Historical Society, Microfilm Reel K131.

Wednesday's Child & Wordless Wednesday - Sarah "Sadie" Barrows

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Little Sadie (Sarah) Barrows was about three years old when she died in 1887. This may be the only photo of her and looks like it was taken when she was maybe one or two years old. She is such a beautiful child and it is heartbreaking to know that she didn't live much longer when this photo was taken.

Tombstone Tuesday - Sarah A. Barrows (1884-1887)

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sarah A.

1884-1887

Sarah A. Barrows is buried near her parents, William and Minnie Barrows, and shares the same stone as her sister, Althea C. (Barrows) Thayer. She is buried in Lockwood Cemetery in Lockwood, NY.

Source: Sarah A. Barrows gravestone, Lockwood Cemetery, Lockwood (Tioga County) New York; photographed by Monica Palmer October 2010.

Census Saturday - Harry A. Legge Household, Fairview, Kansas

2011-09-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

This week I am moving to a different side of the family... the Legge family. This family is in my maternal line. In 1930, the Legge family consisted of two adults and six children all under the age of ten. They were living in Fairview, Rush, Kansas.

State: Kansas; County: Rush; Fairview Township; Enumeration District No. 83-9; Supervisor's District No. 8; Sheet No. 2B; Page 0151 (handwritten); Enumerated by me on April 17, 1930, Walter H Nickel, Enumerator. [actual census taken April 18th according to left margin] Lines 58-65; Dwelling 36; Family 38.
1) Harry A. Legge, Head, home rented, owns radio set, family lives on a farm, male, white, 29 years old, married, aged 18 at first marriage, did not attend school, able to read and write, born in Kansas, father born in Germany, mother born in New Jersey, able to speak English, Farmer, General Farm, Own account, not a veteran, farm schedule no. 39

2) Veronica M Legge, Wife of head, female, white, 27 years old, married, aged 16 at first marriage, did not attend school, able to read and write, born in Kansas, father born in Russia, mother born in Kansas, able to speak English, no occupation.

3) Harold Legge, son, male, white, 9 years old, single, did attend school, born in Kansas, parents born in Kansas, no occupation.

4) Ralph Legge, son, male, white, 7 years old, single, did attend school, born in New Jersey, parents born in Kansas, no occupation.

5) Dorothy M. Legge, daughter, female, white, 6 years old, single, did attend school, born in New Jersey, parents born in Kansas, no occupation.

6) Edward Legge, son, male, white, 4 years 7 months old, single, did not attend school, born in Kansas, parents born in Kansas, no occupation.

7) Robert Legge, son, male, white, 3 years 1 month old, single, did not attend school, born in Kansas, parents born in Kansas.

8) Alfred Legge, son, male, white, 1 year 3 months old, single, did not attend school, born in Kansas, parents born in Kansas, no occupation.

I noted several things from this census. There are pretty exact ages listed for the youngest three children, which leads me to believe that it was the mother, Veronica, who was giving this information to the enumerator. It's possible that it was the father, however, it seems more likely the mother would be tracking this information more closely. The ages given match the time frame I have for the known birth dates of these children as well. The birthplaces of both Harry and Veronica confirm information I already had. I also learn that they married at relatively young ages of 18 and 16 years old. Two of the older children were born in New Jersey, so it appears the family moved there for a period of time, possibly to be closer to his family. I will be looking into that time and place to see if I can locate any records of their time there.

Source: 1930 U.S. census, Rush County, Kansas, population schedule, Fairview, enumeration district (ED) 9, sheet 2B, p. 0151 (handwritten), dwelling 36, family 38, Harry A. Legge household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 718.

Wordless Wednesday - Althea Barrows & Omar Abram Barrows

2011-09-14T08:00:00.002-04:00

July 27, [19]07.

Althea Barrow

14 years

Omar Abram Barrows

10 weeks old

Tombstone Tuesday - Althea C. (Barrows) Thayer

2011-09-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

Althea C. (Barrows) Thayer is buried in Lockwood Cemetery in Lockwood, New York. She is buried by her parents, William and Minnie Barrows, and shares a stone with her sister, Sarah Barrows.

Source: Althea C. tombstone, Lockwood Cemetery, Lockwood (Tioga County), New York; photographed by Monica Palmer, October 2010.

Wordless Wednesday - The Capek Sisters (Updated)

2011-09-07T12:32:00.000-04:00

In March, I posted a copy of this photo (see previous post here). I had been asking where the original was and my mother-in-law knew someone had it, but couldn't remember who it was. We kind of forgot about it until it was unearthed in a batch of photos lent to me by a cousin on that side of the family! I was so excited to see it and it's amazing how much detail you could not see on the previous copy I had, such as the two girls holding hands. It is such a sweet gesture captured in this photo, especially since this little sister would later die when she was eight.

Tombstone Tuesday - Wilmina "Minnie" M. Tannery Barrows (1861-1923)

2011-07-19T16:24:00.000-04:00

Minnie T. Barrows - 1861-1923

Wilmina "Minnie" M. Tannery Barrows was born in 1861 according to her grave marker in Waverly, Tioga, New York and she also died there in 1923. She is buried in the Lockwood Cemetery alongside her husband, William, and two daughters, Sarah and Althea C. Thayer. Lockwood Cemetery is located in Lockwood, Tioga, New York.

Motivation Monday - Getting Back on Track

2011-07-18T11:21:00.000-04:00

I just took a week off from everything genealogy. I put my volunteer projects on hold, stopped reading any blogs or genealogy related books, didn't touch any records, put off starting my genealogy class, and even stopped looking at my email account that I have devoted to genealogy purposes. I was feeling overwhelmed and a little burnt out with everything that I had on my plate. In short, genealogy had started to feel like a chore and that's when I knew I needed a break!

It's summertime and my son is home all day. That means more mess, more "Can't we go SOMEwhere Mom??", and more whining from my daughter as they get sick of playing with each other. And we are only halfway through! I find myself torn between different activities I've committed myself to. Time management has always been a struggle for me. So I decided to take a week off to clear my head and re-prioritize.

At first, it was really difficult getting past the "I should be doing [fill in the genealogy activity]." I have to admit that after about Day 3, I was enjoying my time off although I was having a hard time finding things to do during the hottest part of the day when I don't want to do anything that is going to make me hotter. My son was shocked that I was taking a week off and when I told him the reason he gave me some wise and simple advice: "Mom, treat it [time worked on genealogy] like money. You only have so much of it, so you budget it. Figure out how much time you want to work on genealogy and when you run out, you're done." It was pretty good advice for a 9 year old!

So today is Monday and my week off is over. I've had a chance to prioritize and hopefully I can make it stick. I'm taking my son's advice and am going to budget my time so that I can get chores done around the house, take my kids' to fun activities, and still get stuff done in my beautiful land of genealogy. First thing though is cleaning house. Literally. My house is a mess. I'm also going to have to focus my volunteer efforts on only one thing right now. I have a couple of things going that I will finish up and then I am going to focus on one main project, which is my other blog Southern Tier Cemeteries.

To keep it simple, I'm focusing on these projects:

My blogs: This one and Southern Tier Cemeteries.
I'm in the process of revamping my filing system and syncing it with my genealogy software and Ancestry.com trees.
Genealogy classes through NIGS.

Before I can do anything though, I need to get some order in my office. So my efforts this week are going to be focused on the following:

Cleaning my office
Going through the paper piles and putting them where they need to go
Finish scanning some family photos so I can get them back to their owner (and there is a family reunion in 2 weeks that I need to have them done by!)
Finish up a volunteer project so that I don't have that hanging over my head.
Start my class!
Continue working on organizing my cemetery photos for my other blog.

I think that is plenty to work on for this week! We are also doing some home improvement projects around the house, so I should be plenty busy!

Does anyone have any other advice (other than my son's) on how they manage their genealogy time in their busy daily lives?

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Census Saturday - 1920 Census - Rienerth Family

2011-07-09T10:11:00.001-04:00

Today we are going back 10 years from the previous 1930 Census for the George Rienerth household and looking at the 1920 census. They were living in Boardman, Mahoning, Ohio on McClurg Road. This is most likely the same home they were at in 1930. In this census, their last name is misspelled as Rienherth and Regina's first name is listed as Virginia. Another change on this census is the date of immigration for Regina. The 1920 census indicates she immigrated in 1903 and the 1930 census lists 1905. The native tongue for both George and Regina was German, however, both could speak English.

1920 US Census - George Rienherth Household

Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census
Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920 - Population
State: Ohio
County: Mahoning
Township or Other Division of County: Boardman Township
Supervisor's District No. 265; Enumeration District No. 105; Sheet No. 6B
Enumerated by me on the 12 day of January 1920. Levi P. Good, Enumerator.
Street: McClurg Road; House Number: X; Dwelling No: 136; Family No. 144
Lines 89-95
89) George Rienherth, Head, Owns home, Mortgaged, male, white, age 36, married, immigrated in 1903, naturalized in 1914, able to read and write, born in Austria and mother tongue was German, father born in Austria and mother tongue German, mother born in Austria and mother tongue German, able to speak English, Mason in the brick layer industry, Wage earner.
90) Virginia Rienherth, wife, female, white, age 34, married, immigrated in 1903, naturalized in 1914, able to read and write, born in Austria and mother tongue German, father born in Austria and mother tongue German, mother born in Austria and mother tongue German, able to speak English, no occupation.
91) Hilda Rienherth, daughter, female, white, age 12, single, attended school, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Austria and mother tongue German, mother born in Austria and mother tongue German, able to speak English, no occupation.
92) Carl Rienherth, son, male, white, age 10, single, attended school, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Austria and mother tongue German, mother born in Austria and mother tongue German, able to speak English, no occupation.
93) Herman Rienherth, son, male, white, age 8, single, attended school, born in Ohio, father born in Austria and mother tongue German, mother born in Austria and mother tongue German, no occupation.
94) Paul Rienherth, son, male, white, age 5, single, born in Ohio, father born in Austria and mother tongue German, mother born in Austria and mother tongue German, no occupation.
95) George Rienherth, son, male, white, age 3, single, born in Ohio, father born in Austria and mother tongue German, mother born in Austria and mother tongue German, no occupation.

Source: 1920 U.S. census, Mahoning, Ohio, population schedule, Boardman Township, enumeration district (ED) 105, sheet B, p. 6, dwelling 136, family 144, George Rienherth Household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 02 Jun 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1412.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Wedding Wednesday - Ezra Barrows and Rose Frantel

2011-07-06T10:32:00.015-04:00

Ezra Canfield Barrows and Rosie Capek Frantel met around 1923 in Elmira, New York. They both worked at American Sales Book Company in different departments. According to their daughter, Rose may have known someone in the department Ezra was working in and was visiting that person when she first noticed him and thought he was handsome. He must have noticed her too at some point along the way because he sent her a note at work asking her out. Up until this point, everyone called her Rosie. Ezra addressed her as Rose and from then on, that is the name she went by. He signed his note "I.K.E." His nickname was Ike, but since he wrote it like they were initials, she initially couldn't figure out who had sent it to her. She must have asked someone who it was because they started dating.

They did not have a formal wedding. They got their marriage license the same day and went into a church and had the minister marry them. They chose the Erste Deutsche Evangelische Kirche [First German Evangelical Church] in Elmira, New York.

By Lvklock (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Their marriage record confirms this and even shows witnesses to look into. The family story is that it was only the minister and his wife who witnessed the marriage, however, there are two witnesses and neither of them bear the same name as the minister.

Record of Marriages, page 180

No. 10888

Column 1: For the Groom

Name: Ezra Canfield Barrows

Residence: 1005 Gr. Central Ave. Elmira, NY

Occupation: Paper Cutter

Birthplace: Lockwood, N.Y.

Father: Wm. Barrows

Birthplace: U.S.A.

Mother: Minnie Tannery

Birthplace: U.S.A.

Color: White

Age 26

No. of Marriage: 1st

Column 2: For the Bride

Name: Rose Anna Frantl

Residence: 210 Washington St. Elmira, N.Y.

Occupation: Packing

Birthplace: New York City

Father: Joseph Capek

Birthplace: Austria

Mother: Antoinette Prochaska

Birthplace: [blank or illegible in copy]

Color: White

Age: 22

No. of Marriage: 1st

Date of License: Oct. 11- [19]24; Date of Marriage: Oct 11 [19]24; Place of Marriage: Elmira, N.Y.; Official: R. Vieiveg; Profession: Minister; Witness: Nellie A. Garrigan & Samuel C. Fabletta.

I also have a copy of their wedding certificate given to them by the church, which is actually quite beautiful.

This Certifies That Ezra C. Barrows of Elmira, NY and Rose A. Frantl of Elmira, NY were united in Marriage according to the Ordinance of God and the Laws of the State of New York on the 11th day of October in the year of Our Lord 1924 One Thousand Nine Hundred twenty four. Witnesses: Samuel C. Falletta, Nellie A. Garrigan. R. Vieweg, Pastor. [Seal] Erste Deutsche Evangelische Kirche [First German Evangelical Church], Elmira, NY.

Ezra and Rose's wedding gifts to each other were professional portraits of themselves. There are no photos of them together on their wedding day and it is unclear if these photos were taken before or after their marriage. Either way, they were most likely taken close to their marriage date, circa October 1924.

Ezra Barrows

Rose Capek Frantel Barrows

This marriage produced five children. They were married until Ezra passed away in 1987. His last years were spent in a hospice and she walked over to visit him every single day. She lived on to be 102 years old.

Sources:
Marriage Record: Chemung, New York, Marriage Records, 1908-1935, 3: 180, Barrows-Frantl, 1924; FHL microfilm 849,271, item 10888.
Marriage Certificate: Erste Deutsche Evangelische Kirche (Elmira, New York, USA), Heirloom Marriage Certificate, Ezra C. Barrows & Rose A. Frantl (1924), issued 1924; Erste Deutsche Evangelische Kirche, Elmira; Color copy of marriage certificate in author's possession. Original held privately.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Sunday's Obituary - William S. Barrows

2011-07-03T11:00:00.000-04:00

WILLIAM S. BARROWS died Thursday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Charles J. Gartenschlager, 1005 Grand Central avenue, aged seventy-three years. He is survived by his daughter, Mrs. Gartenschlager of Elmira, four sons, Frank of Auburn, Ezra of Elmira, Ray and Mitchell of Lockwood. The funeral will be held at the family home at Lockwood this afternoon at 1:30 o'clock. The Rev. M. Logan will officiate. Burial in the Lockwood cemetery.

William died approximately one year after his wife, Minnie. It has not been verified if he moved in with his daughter after her death or if he was just visiting. There is most likely a more informative obituary in the Lockwood/Barton area since he lived there for a good part of his life, however, since he died in Elmira there was a short mention of it.

Tombstone Tuesday - Harry J. Frantel (1915 - 2001)

2011-06-28T14:36:00.000-04:00

Harry J. Frantel

May 10 1915

Sept. 1 2001

WWII Veteran

Harry J. Frantel was the oldest son of Leo J. Frantel and Antonia Prochazka Capek Frantel. He was born in New York and he passed away in Sebastian Florida. He now rests in Woodlawn Cemetery near his parents.

Source: Harry J. Frantel gravestone, Section Y, Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira (Chemung County), New York; personally read and photographed by author on 26 Jun 2010.

Census Saturday - 1930 U.S. Federal Census - Rienerth Household

2011-06-25T18:15:00.001-04:00

My favorite records since I started my pursuits in genealogy have been census records. It is exciting to see your ancestors' names in these records and it is like looking at a snapshot of their lives with all the information it includes. I am starting this series on my blog to keep a record my family's census entries.

The 1930 United States Federal Cense finds my great-grandparents George and Regina (Konnerth) Rienerth living in Boardman Township in Mahoning County, Ohio. They had all of their children living with them at this point and were most likely living in the house that my great-grandfather built himself. He was listed as being a self-employed brick layer. His oldest daughter, Hilda, was still living at home and working as a teacher at a grade school. His oldest son was also working as a laborer at the steel mill. His youngest 3 boys (including my grandfather) were attending school.

1930 US Federal Census - George Rienerth household

Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census
Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930
Population Schedule
State: Ohio
County: Mahoning
Township or other division of county: Boardman twp (part)
Enumeration District No. 50-100
Supervisor's District No. 10
Enumerated by me on May 5, 1930 Stephen A Burl, Enumerator.
Street, avenue, road, etc: McClurg Rd.
House Number: [blank]
Number of dwelling house in order of visitation: 858
Number of family in order of visitation: 889
Lines 24-30
24) George Rienerth, Head, Owns home valued at $3,500, Radio set, not a farm, male, white age 46, married, 23y old at time of first marriage, did not attend school within year, able to read and write, born in Austria, father born in Austria, mother born in Austria, language before coming to the U.S. was German, immigrated in 1903, naturalized citizen, able to speak English, occupation was brick layer in the industry of contracting building, E[mployer], actually at work, did not serve in US armed forces.
25) Regina Rienerth, Wife of head, female, white, age 44, male, 21 years at time of first marriage, did not attend school within year, able to read and write, born in Austria, father born in Austria, mother born in Austria, language before coming to the U.S. was German, immigrated in 1905, naturalized citizen, occupation none.
26) Hilda Rienerth, daughter, female, white, age 21, single, did not attend school within the year, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Austria, mother born in Austria, able to speak English, occupation teacher in grade school, W[age earner], actually at work.
27) Karl Rienerth, son, male, white, age 19, single, did not attend school within the year, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Austria, mother born in Austria, able to speak English, occupation labor in steel mill, W[age earner], actually at work, did not serve U.S. armed forces.
28) Herman Rienerth, son, male, white, age 17, single, attended school within the year, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Austria, mother born in Austria, occupation none.
29) Paul Rienerth, son, male, white, age 15, single, attended school within the year, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Austria, mother born in Austria, occupation none.
30) George Rienerth Jr, son, male, white, age 13, single, attended school within the year, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Austria, mother born in Austria, occupation none.

Source: 1930 United States Federal Census, Mahoning County, Ohio, population schedule, Boardman Township (part), Enumeration District 100, p. 36A, dwelling, 858, family 889, George Rienerth household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Oct 2009); from National Archives microfilm publication T626, roll 1841.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - Hetrick Sisters

2011-06-22T13:03:00.001-04:00

Ruth Ertzinger, Arlene Rienerth, Herman Rienerth

This photo is of Ruth (Hetrick) Ertzinger, Arlene (Hetrick) Rienerth, and Herman Rienerth. They are in Tucson, Arizona most likely at the home of Herman and Arlene Rienerth. The photo was most likely taken sometime in the early 1970's.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Leo Frantel (1883-1943)

2011-06-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

Father

Leo Frantel

1883-1943

Leo Frantel, 1883-1943, was the second husband of Antonia Prochazka Capek. They were married about 1914 in an unknown location, although it is probable that it was in New York. After her first husband and youngest daughter died in New York City, she moved to Elmira with Leo. It is presumed that she married him in New York City, although I have not verified this. They had two children from this marriage. They rest together in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York.

Source: Leo Frantel gravestone, Sec. Y, Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira (Chemung County), New York; personally read and photographed by the author on 26 Jun 2010.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

The Elusive Second Marriage - Follow Up

2011-06-11T10:09:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I posted about a second marriage involving my grandmother and a mystery man. I ordered the marriage certificate online from the Clark County, Nevada Recorder's office and it arrived rather quickly.

Unfortunately, it did not have that much information on it and it kind of got lost in the shuffle since I received several information laden documents from the Family History Library the next day. Basically, I got distracted.

I did sent out an email with a copy of the scanned image to my aunts and uncles speculating that this could be the correct person, but that I couldn't know for sure. I was rewarded with several emails of confirmation that this was the right guy. The name seem to have triggered some memories because there were stories I had never heard before. They were not good ones either. I seem to have opened up a can of worms.

I guess this is the risk we take when we do more recent research. Bad feelings were brought forth that had been buried for awhile. One of my relatives asked that we just forget he ever existed. Unfortunately, I can't do that being the way that I am, however, I can just enter the facts of the record and move on. I don't have a lot of curiosity at this point about where this man ended up and what happened with him, and I certainly don't feel a need to dredge up awful memories for my family out of respect for them. I think for the time being, I will let this fact just remain what it is ... a fact only.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Marriage Record of Joseph Capek and Antonie Procházka

2011-06-10T10:49:00.000-04:00

Joseph Capek, date unknown but prior to 1908

I received a marriage record from the Family History Library that turned out to be a treasure trove of information. The family is on my husband's side and is Czechoslovakian. My mother-in-law knew they came from Bohemia, but that is about all she knew of the origins of her grandmother. Her biological grandfather passed away when her mother was a small girl, so she grew up knowing the second husband as her grandfather.

This is one of those cases where it pays to get a copy of the actual record. It was indexed simply with names, parents' names, and the date of marriage. But as you can see, there is SO much more on this one record. I did not find anything stating that I could not post an image of the certificate on my blog, but if anyone knows differently please tell me so that I'm not violating any copyright laws.

Capek-Prochazka Marriage Record, 1901

Transcription:

City of New York.
No. of Certificate, 16063

STATE OF NEW YORK

[Stamp] Bureau of Records Received Sep 25 1901 Borough of Ma[nhattan]

I Hereby Certify that Joseph Čapek and Antonie Procházka were joined in Marriage by me in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, in the City of New York, this twenty first day of September 1901.

Witnesses to the Marriage, Václar Fous, Jan Procházka. Signature of person performing the ceremony: Wenceslaus Supik.

Date of Marriage. September 21st 19[image cut off]

Groom's Full Name. Joseph Čapek

Residence. 424 E 75 St

Age. 26 years

Color. White

Single or Widowed. Single

Birthplace. Dolní Krupá in Boh. [Czech Republic]

Father's Name. John Čapek

Mother's Maiden Name. Frances Bemák

Number of Groom's Marriage. First

Bride's Full Name. Antonie Procházka

Residence. 422 E. 75 St

Age. 26

Color. White

Single or Widowed. Single

Maiden Name, if a Widow. ---

Birthplace. Hrabĕšín Bohemia [Czech Republic]

Father's Name. Joseph Procházka

Mother's Maiden Name. Marie Čerinak

Number of Bride's Marriage. Frist [sic]

Name of Person performing Ceremony. Wenceslaus Supik csm

Official Station. Catholic Priest

Residence. 323 E. 61 St

Date of [rest cut off]

[Page Two - back of form]

We, the Groom and Bride named in this Certificate, hereby certify, that the informaton given therein is correct, to the best of our knowledge and belief.

[Signature] Josef Čapek Groom,

[Signature] Tony Procháska Bride.

Signed in the presence of Vaclar Fous and J Prochaska [difficult to read]

Not only did we find more exact birthplaces for each of them, but we have parents' names (one was incorrectly indexed) and where they lived when they got married, which by the addresses it appears they were neighbors!

Page Two of this record (the back) has their signatures as well as the signatures of the witnesses. My mother-in-law was always under the impression that her grandmother had traveled to this country as an orphan and that she didn't know anyone here, but if you look at the witnesses to the marriage, one of them has the same last name as her!

I looked up the Catholic Priest who performed the marriage, Wencelaus Supik, as I thought this was an unusual name. I searched Ancestry.com and managed to find a photo posted of him at an age that was close to 31 when he performed the marriage. It makes it more personal to know what the priest looked like who performed the ceremony.

My mother-in-law was very excited by all of this information as was I!! It has been one of the most exciting records I've found, although I am certainly not a seasoned researcher, so I'm hoping for many more like this in the future!

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - John & Elizabeth Rohr

2011-06-08T09:08:00.000-04:00

John & Elizabeth (Kreutzer) Rohr

Tombstone Tuesday - Great-Grandparents

2011-06-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

My daughter standing with her great-grandparents' grave

Being a stay at home mom means that my 3 year old pretty much goes with me everywhere... including cemeteries. I have to say she is a pretty good sport about it (we call them adventures or "abentures" in her words), but she is one of those children that is just happy to be wherever she is, especially when she is with her family. She insists on posing with grave markers in every cemetery we frequent (and we go to a lot of them). I hope this doesn't freak her out when she's old enough to look back and understand what that grave marker means.

Here she is standing with her great-grandparents, Ezra Canfield & Rose Ann Barrows in Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira, New York.

Barrows

Rose A.

1902-2005

Ezra C.

1898-1987

Military Monday - Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T10:57:00.002-04:00

Today is a time to remember all the soldiers who fought and died for our freedom as well as their families who worried, prayed for, and sometimes lost them.

Here is my own little tribute to the soldiers in my life...

My Dad ~ Vietnam War

Herman Rienerth ~ World War II ~ US Army

Arlene Hetrick Rienerth ~ World War II ~ MAM3 US Navy

Richard L Throp ~ US Army

Gary O. Palmer ~ US Navy

Joseph G. Lucas ~ World War I & II ~ US Army

Richard Perry (left) ~ US Navy

Ed Perry ~ US Army

Al Perry ~ US Navy

Karl Rienerth ~ World War II ~ POW ~ US Army

Roy E. Brickman ~ World War I Casualty ~ US Army

John Barrows ~ US Air Force

Thank you to my family mentioned here and to all the other soldiers out there who have served our country and protected the safety of my family!

Wordless Wednesday -

2011-05-25T15:22:00.001-04:00

Herman Rienerth

This is my grandfather, Herman Rienerth, born 1911 in Youngstown, Ohio. I am unsure of the date or location, however, am guessing that it is sometime in the 1940s, most likely after he was discharged from World War II. This photo amuses me because of the way he's standing. He always seemed so serious when I was growing up, so this pose almost looks comical to me. It could be because he makes me think of Indiana Jones with his hat and jacket.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Antoinette Frantel (1877-1956)

2011-05-24T08:48:00.000-04:00

Antoinette P. Frantel grave marker

Mother

Antoinette P.

Frantel

1877-1956

Antonia (tombstone lists her as Antoinette) Prochazka Capek Frantel was born 1877 (according to her grave marker) in Bohemia. She immigrated to America when she was 17 and married Joseph Capek, also from Bohemia. She had two daughters with him and then lost him in 1908 to influenza. Five years later, she lost her youngest daughter, Antonia, as well. She remarried Leo Frantel and moved to Elmira, New York where she spent the rest of her days. She now rests in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, NY.

Source: Antoinette P. Frantel tombstone, Section BB, Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira (Chemung County), New York; read and photographed by the writer, 26 Jun 2010.
© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Family Recipe Friday - The Old Cookbook

2011-05-20T09:57:00.001-04:00

When my step-grandfather passed away, all the items in his and my predeceased grandmother's house had to be taken care of. There was a sense of urgency surrounding the event because not all of us lived there to take care of things at our leisure. A huge pile was made at the front of the house of things that would be donated. I'm not sure who decided what was worth keeping and what was worth getting rid of; I'm sure it was a collaboration of efforts. It was one of those times where I wish I had the money to rent a storage locker and just put everything in there so that I could go through it more slowly.

1935 Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

I managed to go through the donation pile a little before it was all taken away and I thank goodness that I did. While I admit that most of it was probably not worth keeping, I did find two Better Homes and Gardens Cookbooks (I think all of us have our own copy of this cookbook). One was published in 1935 and the other in the 1950's. I kept the one from 1935 and my cousin's 12 year old daughter kept the other one because she loves to cook.

The 1935 version is too old to have been purchased new by my grandmother (she was born in 1933), so I like to think that it was her mother's and she kept it as her own when she started her own family. On the other hand, it could have been purchased by her years later at a yard sale for she was an avid "yard-saler." The sentimental side of me likes to think it's the former. Regardless, there are handwritten recipes included in this 1935 version that I believe are hers (I compared the handwriting to some samples I have of hers).

The first page of the cookbook. Notice the handwritten recipes on the side.

Unfortunately, I do not know if she made these recipes up or if she copied them from somewhere else, but I will be posting them here.

I will start with a short recipe that was found on the Table of Contents card at the front of the book (see above picture). I will transcribe the handwriting to the best of my ability.

Rolls ~ 3 pans

2 qt Milk, scalded and cooled

1/2 lb yeast

1 cup sugar

2 hands full salt

1 cup shortening

Unfortunately, there are no cooking instructions to go along with this, just ingredients. I'm sure she knew how long to cook it and probably didn't feel the need to write it down for herself. She probably would have thought me silly for posting her recipes on the internet anyway.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

The Elusive Second Marriage

2011-05-17T15:21:00.000-04:00

[Note: I am not including any names in this post to protect the privacy of living individuals.]

My grandmother married an unknown man between my biological grandfather and my step-grandfather. The marriage was short, according to the children, lasting only about six months. None of the children seem to remember his name, however, there is a sense of mystery and gloom surrounding this person.

In my search to find a marriage record for my grandmother and biological grandfather, I had come up empty on the online sources for California. On FamilySearch.org I tried the database California, County Marriages, 1850-1952. I had no luck, so I moved on to Ancestry.com's "California Marriages, 1850-1960." This database indicated that it was not inclusive of all the counties and even though the source information cited the time period as 1850-1960, the title of the database was "California Marriages, 1850-1877." I did a search anyway, but wasn't surprised when I had no results.

Knowing that my grandmother was under 18 when she got married, I thought that maybe they ventured over to Reno or Las Vegas and decided to check the Ancestry.com "Nevada Marriage Index, 1956-2005." To be honest, I didn't even look at the dates on the database and I'm glad that I didn't! If I had, I would have disregarded the database altogether because my grandmother married my grandfather sometime in the mid to late 1940s.

I decided to search through the index manually instead of entering in his last name so that way I could get a look at all of the people with the same last name. As I was scanning through them, I found, to my surprise, an entry with my grandmother's full married name (first husband). Could this be the elusive second husband?? The index was difficult to read, but if the indexed date was correct, the timing would be perfect as it fit neatly between her first and third marriage, which spanned between two years!

I quickly went to the Clark County (NV) Recorder's Office website and found the same record on their marriage search website. It took a bit of adjusting some of the settings, but it finally came up. You can order the certificate right online, but alas, I have to wait until the next payday to order mine. Then I will have to wait until the order is processed! Even though I hate waiting, it will be exciting to check the mail every day! I will write more about this when the record is received. This certificate could be the answer to some of the questions my family has about this mysterious second marriage.
© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Mary/Maria S Perry (1899-1990)

2011-05-17T09:03:00.000-04:00


Mary S. Perry 1899-1990

Mary S. (Pintor) Perry (listed as Maria in the cemetery's records) was the second wife of my great-grandfather William J. Perry. After his first wife, Lena, died in childbirth, she married William and helped him raise his seven children. It is unknown at this time whether they had any more children together, however, based on the information I do have, it is unlikely. She rests next to William in Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery.

Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery (Lompoc, Santa Barbara, California), Mary S. Perry marker, Catholic Cemetery, Lot 257, Grave 11; personally read and photographed, 15 Sep 2008.
© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Fame

2011-05-15T14:35:00.000-04:00

My big brush with fame came early on in life. I, of course, don't remember any of it. Apparently, I was the "Youngest Runner in the 1983 Canyon Ranch Fitness Marathon." I was five years old. My mom was always a big jogger and probably convinced me that it would be fun. I really was not an athletic child and I didn't like physical activities, so I either didn't understand what I was getting myself into or someone helped me make my decision. It appears that the whole family participated in it though from the few pictures I have of the event, so maybe I just didn't want to be left out.

#535 about to make some history!

There was a segment on the local news about the event that included a bit on the youngest runner and the oldest runner. I was the youngest. I can't remember who won the prize for the oldest. My mom taped the news show, but unfortunately it has gone MIA somewhere along the way. I do remember watching it in my later childhood years because I remember being embarrassed by how stupid I was (I must have been in middle school because who else would think a 5 year old is stupid, but a preteen). My mom also embarrassed me (another sign of a preteen) by saying on television (gasp!) about how I "stopped to look at every bug and rock along the way. Hahahahah!" I think that's pretty funny now too, but not when I was watching it.

I sure do wish we still had the video of that news segment as it would be fun to show the kids now how their mom was a big celebrity at the age of five. The only real proof I have that it ever happened is the two photos of before and after and also because my mommy said so right here in my School Days Memory Book!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Bedroom

2011-05-13T20:12:00.000-04:00

Week 19. Bedroom. Describe your childhood bedroom. What furniture did it contain? Were there curtains, wallpaper or paint? Was it messy or clean? Did you share a room with your siblings?

My childhood bedroom was the old master bedroom in the house that I grew up in. My dad built a new master bedroom onto the house and my brother and I drew straws over who got to have the old master bedroom. The room itself wasn't that much bigger, but it had a large bathroom with double sinks, a standing shower, and a separate bathtub. It was pretty nice for a kids' bathroom.

When I was in elementary school, my bed was a white, almost resin-like four poster bed with gold trim. I had the matching dresser. I loved it. My mom made me a comforter and a canopy for the bed. I felt so fancy sleeping in it! I had shelves on the wall full of dolls and stuffed animals. I had the old-school boombox for listening to the radio and tapes. And books. Books were always part of the picture! I don't remember that many of them actually belonging to me. I was that person that checked out the limit of 60 books at a time.

I was such a packrat! I had old letters sent from friends during class. Every. Single. One. Even if it just said "Hi." I kept gifts given to me, even little trinkets that really shouldn't have been saved. I had such a hard time getting rid of anything because I was and am a sentimental person. (Side Note: Luckily I am able to let go of things more easily now, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I finally donated all those stuffed animals. I had them stored in my grandpa's shed the entire time! Yikes! I kept one duck from when I was a baby and let my son pick one out; the rest of them went to Goodwill.)

Every weekend I had to do chores, which included cleaning my room. I was not a clean child. I had many, many, MANY stuffed animals that I couldn't bear to part with that never seemed to stay on the shelf, every My Little Pony there ever was (should have kept that collection!), cassette tapes all over the place, clothes never put away, and miscellaneous odds and ends all shoved into my closet. Most of the time my idea of cleaning was shoving it... into the closet, into drawers, under my bed. I would spend all day in my room "doing my chores." It consisted of me reading until about 30 minutes before I was supposed to have it done and then frantically running around shoving things into places.

My parents like to tell a story about how one year they were cleaning out my closet (each one tells the story as if they were the only person in there slaving away at my awful closet) right before school was about to start and they found an sandwich in my closet... from the previous school year. I would go on to say that they were just exaggerating, but it was probably true! :)

Are All Genealogists Perfectionists... Or Is It Just Me?

2011-05-13T17:01:00.001-04:00

Why is that every time I make some headway on my data entry, I find some new and improved way to do it? In my efforts to do my family tree "right," I've restarted my family tree file three times!

My first effort, I will admit, was plagued with errors. I was using Family Tree Maker 2008, then 2009, and I was just throwing information on my tree at an almost feverish pace. At the same time, I was reading books about how to do genealogy and realized that I wasn't carefully sourcing everything I was putting on my tree. It was right about this time that I went to my first Family History Expo and realized there are a bunch of genealogy software programs to choose from! I switched over to Legacy and have not regretted that decision since.

Having said that, I didn't know how to use my software to its full potential. Even though I read the manual, I didn't really know what I was doing. I must admit that I love entering information in all the little fields; there is something so satisfying to me to fill in a blank. However, I can definitely get carried away. I had information all over the place with no citations and I knew that wasn't right. So I threw the whole file out and decided to start over.

This time I went through and started slowly adding everyone in with citations, etc. I was on a different paper filing system then and it was frustrating me how quickly I was going through index tabs (numbering system). I was so (overly, I think) meticulous in the beginning, but then slowly that changed. I have a hard time with difficult records to source. I have multiple obituaries that I scanned from my mother-in-law that have no dates or newspaper information on them. I don't know how those would be sourced. Do I go to the library and try to find it? Or do I put the information in as is and cite it as being her collection? These little questions would irritate me, so I put it off (procrastination is a symptom of perfectionism).

I started reading DearMYRTLE's organization series this year and I decided I like her filing system better than mine. So I went through and changed my hard copy filing system as well as my digital filing system to match. This caused disconnections to every record that I digitally attached to my family tree. For some reason, the thought of going back through and correcting all the errors made me want to put aside my genealogy fun for about a week. I couldn't move forward and cringed at moving back.

This brings me to the other night. I watched Geoff Rasmussen's (pretty amazing and very informative) webinar on archive called "Watch Geoff Live: Adding a Death Certificate" and loved his method of adding a record into his family tree. I got a glimpse of how neat and organized his sources looked and wanted mine to be that pretty too! He wouldn't even click on the "save" button for an event in his family tree without first adding the source! I am guilty of doing this more times than I want to admit. I figure I will add the source later. Most of the time I do, but sometimes I don't and I look at a piece of information and wonder where it came from.

So I played with the idea (AGAIN!) of starting a whole new one, but this time only adding in information based on records that I had in my hand. If I didn't have a piece of evidence, I didn't put it in my tree and the source must be added at that moment! Then I would get to make my master sources all neat and easier to navigate through. I would also get to see where I got too far ahead of myself (guilty) and make sure I had evidence that I needed to take me to the next generation. I tried to talk myself out of it. I thought I would just go back through my current tree and fix all the disconnected images and clean it up, but me being me... I found a way to do what I subconsciously wanted to do anyway.

I told myself I would just enter a couple of people with this new approach to see how it felt. So I tried. I entered vital records for myself and my immediate family... felt good. So I kept going. Next thing I know, I'm all excited because I have this new pretty tree and I'm cruising along. I'm already seeing records that I need to obtain to prove parentage, etc and thinking of other corresponding projects (migration maps on Google Earth) that I can do as I go along. I'm all atwitter with my new tree!!

So does this mean I am doomed to keep starting or restarting how I record my research?? In true perfectionist form, will the euphoria wear off and I will be faced again with an imperfect (to me) tree and start itching to create a new one? Or am I just finding my way as a beginning genealogist until I find the system that works best for me? I'm praying that it is the latter... and that my non-genealogist husband doesn't find out how many times I've redone my tree since he doesn't really understand why I want to do all this "work" anyway.

Okay, end of rant. Feel better already. :)

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Joseph G. Lucas (1899-1991)

2011-05-10T10:44:00.000-04:00

Joseph G Lucas

My great-granduncle Joseph G. Lucas is buried in Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery.

Source: Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery (Lompoc, Santa Barbara, California), Joseph G. Lucas marker, Catholic Cemetery, Lot 314, Grave 8; Personally read and photographed, 15 Sep 2008.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - A Man and His Dog

2011-05-04T09:06:00.000-04:00

George Rienerth and his dog

Book Review: Social Networking for Genealogists by Drew Smith

2011-05-03T14:27:00.000-04:00

Social Networking for Genealogists by Drew Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a 129 page reference book that covers the different aspects of using the social media available to broaden your genealogical horizons, such as mailing lists, blogs, and social networking sites. It is a simple read with screen prints showing you steps in each chapter, although it doesn't go into too much depth on any one category. At the end of each chapter, it gives suggestions to get you started in the area that chapter covered. It was written in an interesting and easy to understand way, and even though I was already familiar with most of the social media topics covered, I was able to find a couple of new ones and some that I hadn't even considered using for genealogy. It is an excellent resource for beginners in the social media realm and worth flipping through for the more experienced.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Frank & Emelia (Wages) Lucas

2011-05-03T08:33:00.001-04:00

Frank & Emelia Lucas

Frank & Emelia Lucas are my 2nd great-grandparents. Her maiden name is allegedly Wages, however, I have not been able to find documentation of that to date. As far as I know, they lived in Southern California for their entire marriage. She was born in San Luis Obispo, California and he was born in the Azores Islands, Portugal.

Source: Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery (Lompoc, Santa Barbara, California), Frank & Emelia Lucas marker, Catholic Cemetery, Lot 272, Graves 15 & 16; personally read and photographed, 15 Sep 2008.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Sunday's Obituary - George Rienerth Dies; Was Brick Mason

2011-05-01T09:03:00.001-04:00

This obituary was laminated and handed out to family members. The newspaper is unknown at this time. It was obtained from a cousin.
© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

The Story Teller

2011-04-29T17:37:00.007-04:00

I found this on a couple of different websites, but the link above actually has the author information at the bottom. I found it moving and inspiring.

The Story Teller

My feelings are in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.

To me doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do.

In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors you have a wonderful family you would be proud of us? How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say.

It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do?

It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it.

It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today.

It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family.

It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do.

With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us.

So, as a scribe called I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers.

That, is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones.

Wordless Wednesday - "That's My Great-Grandmother"

2011-04-27T09:18:00.001-04:00

Arlene (Hetrick) Rienerth, ca 1946

I love looking at this photo. My daughter saw me looking at it and wanted to know who it was. I told her it was her great-grandmother. She wants to see it often now and says "That's my great-grandmother" in her 3 year old little voice. She wishes she could sleep over at her house... so do I.

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - William John Perry (1896-1964)

2011-04-26T09:45:00.001-04:00

William John Perry (1896-1964)

William John Perry was born 13 May 1896 in the Azores Islands, which are part of Portugal. According to the family story, he came to America when he was 12. He settled in Lompoc, California and opened Perry Auto Shop, which is still run by family today. He died on 19 Feb 1964 in Lompoc, California. He was predeceased by his wife, Lena, and infant daughter, Helen. His grave marker is located in the Catholic section of Lompoc, Evergreen Cemetery in the Perry family plot.

Source: Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery (Lompoc, Santa Barbara, California), William John Perry marker, Catholic Cemetery, Lot 257, Grave 10; personally read and photographed, 15 Sep 2008.
© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Motivation Monday - DearMYRTLE's March 2011 Organization Checklist

2011-04-25T08:48:00.001-04:00

I have completed the next section of DearMYRTLE's Organization Series, 2011 March Organization Checklist! I have done almost everything on this segment of the Organization series, with the exception of joining a Second Life genealogy chat. I will be starting a class with National Institute of Genealogical Studies in May called Social Media for the Wise Genealogist and I've put any new experiences in social networking on hold so that I can experience them with the class.

I have been distracted from the tediousness of entering in the paperwork I have on hand into my genealogy program because it's, well... tedious. I really need to get back on track and this is my motivation this week. Since I am a stay at home mom and life does seem to interrupt my genealogy pursuits, I will focus on attacking the paperwork in small spurts and hopefully make some headway by the end of the week. I think I need to get working on that before moving on in DearMYRTLE's series.

So I will be hunkering down and trying to make a dent in the paperwork. Since entering some of this information that I had already looked at, I've already discovered some information I hadn't known before! Living proof of the "Go back and check your information from time to time" tip!! I am excited to find more and this is my inspiration! Wish me luck!

© copyright Monica Palmer, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - The House That Grandpa Built

2011-04-20T08:59:00.000-04:00

My great-grandfather, George Rienerth, was a brick mason and built and/or helped to build several of the houses on that side of the family, including his own. According to a family member (whom I also obtained this picture from) this house is a combination of stucco and brick. It was on McClurg Road in Boardman, Mahoning, Ohio. It is no longer there to my understanding.

McClurg Road

Tombstone Tuesday - Lena Perry (1902-1939)

2011-04-19T10:06:00.000-04:00


Lena Ann Perry 1902-1939

Lena Ann (Lucas) Perry, born 18 Oct 1902 in San Luis Obispo, California to Frank & Emelia (Wages) Lucas. She married William John Perry ca 1922. She died 09 Aug 1939 due to childbirth. She is buried in Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery in Lompoc, California.

Source: Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery (Lompoc, Santa Barbara, California), Lena Ann Perry marker, Catholic Cemetery, Lot 257, Grave 9; personally read and photographed, 15 Sep 2008.

Motivation Monday - DearMYRTLE Feb 2011 Organization Checklist

2011-04-18T16:12:00.000-04:00

I finally completed all the tasks in DearMYRTLE's January 2011 Organization Checklist. I have to admit I am not completely sold on transferring all my files into Dropbox. I love Dropbox and it's capabilities, but there are several reasons why I do not want to transfer all of my stuff there.

I already have links in my Legacy program connected to where all my media is currently located. If I switched them all it would take a lot of work to go through my program and switch everything over.
I don't want to pay for space on Dropbox. I have a hard enough time justifying the money I spend to my non-genealogist husband without adding to it. I don't think my multitudes of media will fit in the free 2 GB provided.
I don't want some of my personal information in the "cloud." I have it on my hard drive and feel that it is safe on there. I am not convinced of the safety of my information on the "cloud." If I put some stuff in Dropbox and others on my hard drive it is then breaking all my information apart and I currently have it all under one parent file "Family History" (with plenty of subcategories).

I do like the convenience of having some of that media available, so I am considering making copies of some of it and filing it in Dropbox, but I haven't made any final decisions yet due to the lack of determining which would be important enough to copy.

So I am moving on to February's Checklist. I have yet to participate in a Scanfest. Unfortunately, my alarm on my phone went off for yesterday's Scanfest during the movie Hop that I was watching with my daughter during our Girls Day Out. I don't regret missing it because it was time well spent with my little girl! So I will have to schedule for the next one and hopefully remember the day before instead of 10 minutes before it starts!

February's checklists consists of choosing a genealogy program, volunteer indexing, joining mail lists, getting started on photos, and continuing to work on the genealogy binders. As I read through the checklist, I've realized I've already done everything on this list! I actually have been in the process of categorizing, scanning and organizing my photos for some time now. It is as huge project because I have always been an avid photographer! I managed to check everything off the list in the 5-10 minutes it took me to read it!

I am doing my data entry differently than she is recommending it since I already had a system set up and will just continue to use that. So this week I will continue to work on getting those papers entered into my Legacy program and move on to the DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog: 2011 March Organization Checklist! I'm hoping to be completely caught up by the time she posts the May Checklist!

Wordless Wednesday - Cooking School

2011-04-06T15:41:00.002-04:00

Regina Konnerth in center

Motivation Monday - DearMYRTLE's Jan 2011 Organization Checklist

2011-04-04T08:20:00.001-04:00

I know this is April, but I just started frequenting Twitter and realized that DearMYRTLE has a checklist for getting yourself organized from a genealogy standpoint in the year 2011. I am a little late to the game, but I'm starting with the January 2011 Checklist so that I can go in order. Luckily, I've already done the majority of it, but the one thing I do have to change is my hard copy filing system.

When I started using Legacy I found this website with a filing plan that has a customized plan for Legacy as well as other genealogy programs. I started implementing it and it was effective enough. It used a numbering system based on marriages that were assigned to each family group. You would file all the paperwork for that family group under a tab with their marriage number. The only real issue I had with it was that there were A LOT of numbers! There was also a lot of dead space in my binders where I didn't have very much paperwork, if any, on certain family groups.

When reading DearMYRTLE's checklist, I loved her idea of having your genealogy binder read like a coffee table book. What sold me though, was her comment about someone else coming in on the scene and not understanding my system. I don't think my husband would be able to walk in and know that he had to look up each family in an index system to find their number and pull them all separately. And if I told him that, he'd probably walk right back out again! So I decided to switch to DearMYRTLE's plan so that it's more user friendly. I now have stacks of paper all over the floor to be sorted into the new system. Then I will be done with January and can move on to February's checklist!

Sunday's Obituary - John Rohr (1845-1918)

2011-04-03T08:41:00.001-04:00

The LaCrosse Chieftain, LaCrosse, Kansas; Thursday, March 21, 1918

John Rohr
John Rohr wa[s] born in Marienthal; Samareske Goperna, Russia, May 5, 1845. He came to America in 1877, locating at Topeka, Kansas. In 1878 he moved to Victoria, Ellis county, Kansas. In 1884 he moved to Liebenthal, Rush county, Kansas, which was his home when he died, March 14, 1918, at the age of seventy-two years, ten months and fourteen days.

He was married twice in Russia, his first wife died and he married his second wife in 1867. From this union there were ten children, four of whom survive him, two sons, Peter and John Rohr, and two daughters, Mrs. Mary Drehr and Mrs. Anna Linenberger. There are also a number of grandchildren.

Funeral services were held in the Liebenthal Catholic church by Father [there appears to be missing information here] 1918. He was buried in the Liebenthal cemetery. His wife passed away several years ago.

John Rohr was one of the pioneers of Rush county. He endured all the privations and hardships of pioneer days, with less complaint than the average man. He was an honest, hard working christian man.

Mr. Rohr was among the first Big Timber Germans with whom we became acquainted in the early days and we are pleased to state that we were always friends.

The funeral was well attended, many friends coming from neighboring towns.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-30T10:39:00.001-04:00

This photo is of George Rienerth and John Konnerth. The date is unknown, however, it is likely that it was taken after George married Regina Konnerth, so that would be around or after 1907. This is a new photo for me as it was just sent by a recently discovered cousin.

Wednesday's Child - Helen Perry

2011-03-30T10:34:00.001-04:00

Helen Perry was born on 22 Aug 1931 in Lompoc, California to William John Perry and Lena Ann (Lucas) Perry. She was the 4th child born to this couple. Exactly 3 months later on 22 Nov 1931 she passed away at Santa Maria Hospital in Santa Maria, California. Her cause of death was lobar pneumonia and she was treated for this illness for 5 days by the attending physician. She left her parents at 5:00 pm that day. I can only imagine the heartache her parents must have felt. The only record of this small infant is a death certificate and a tombstone, however, her parents did name their next daughter Helen as well when she was born in 1933, perhaps to honor her memory. She now rests in the Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery in Lompoc, California.

Helen Perry Grave Marker

George Rienerth (1883-1973)

2011-03-23T10:36:00.002-04:00

Today is the 38th anniversary of the death of my great-grandfather, George Rienerth. Here is a small tribute to him with the information I have to date (please note that not all of this information has been verified).

He was born on 18 Aug 1883 in Reusmarkt, Transylvania, Hungary in a German settlement. His parents were George Rienerth and Sophia Reuss. He was the oldest of six known children (there is a possible 7th). His siblings are, in order, Sophia (Konnerth), Mary (Schonauer), Katherine (Stancel), Simon "Sam," and Martin. He immigrated to America on 13 May 1903 via Ellis Island, New York on the Friedrich der Grosse, which had departed from Bremen. He was headed to Youngstown, Ohio from there.

George married Regina Konnerth on 10 Mar 1907 in Mahoning County, Ohio by the Pastor of Martin Luther Church. They allegedly met On their marriage record, her parents are listed as John Konnert[h] and Katy Fronius. The children of George Rienerth and Regina Konnerth are Hilda, Karl, Herman, Paul, and George Jr.


George & Regina Rienerth with baby Hilda, ca 1908

He first lived in Youngstown and then moved to farmland in Boardman, Mahoning Ohio, where he built his own home made of brick and stucco. He was a mason by trade. His grandchildren remember spending time at his house on Sundays and listening to his stories about the "old country." He was said to be a very healthy and loving man although he had a bad heart.

George lost his wife in 1943 and it doesn't appear that he ever remarried. He died on 23 Mar 1973 in Youngstown, Ohio from coronary artery disease. According to his obituary he was a self-employed brick mason who was known for installing fireplaces. He was a member of the Good Hope Lutheran Church in North Lima as well as Bricklayers Local 8.

As I was compiling the information for this blog post, I realized how little information I actually have. I have what I call the "skeleton" of his story, but no real meat on the bones. Hopefully by next year, I will be able to tell more about this ancestor!

South School Cemetery, Catlin, New York

2011-03-21T14:21:00.002-04:00

Entrance to Cemetery

Yesterday, I went to a small remote cemetery on a photo request from Find A Grave. It was called South School Cemetery, also known as Martin's Hill Cemetery. It was kind of off the beaten path although you could see it from the road. I enlisted my family to go with me as I didn't want to be out there by myself, and my 9 year-old son agreed to be my "assistant." He likes to help me on these little tasks because he feels like a detective and it is more action than looking at records. I had looked up any interments already listed for this cemetery and since there were only three, I decided to look for all of them even though there was only one actual photo request.

Before going out, I looked up the cemetery on Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice (this is becoming one of my favorite online databases) and attempted to search for the name on the photo request. I didn't find it, but thought I would make the trip anyway since it is a small cemetery.

Grave markers going every which way

When we got there, I gave my son a paper with all three names and told him to give it a shot on finding them. He, as I suspected he would, started walking quickly through the rows glancing at the headstones. This is a pretty old cemetery, so a lot of the stones are hard to read or illegible without some extra efforts. It is kind of a sad looking cemetery with sunken, broken, and missing grave markers. Some of them don't appear to have any names or I was unable to read them because they were face down. There were also sunken areas that appeared to have someone buried there without any kind of marker at all.

Large tombstones that had fallen over

I really don't like to mess with the markers other than removing debris or leaves, so I started taking pictures of the ones that I could. It was around noon so the lighting was okay, but so many of them were tilted downwards that I just couldn't get a good shot of them. It made me a bit sad walking through there as it just seemed so forgotten. When I go to a cemetery like this, I like to record as many of them as I can to put on Find A Grave for some future descendant to hopefully find.

I was unable to locate the name on the photo request as I had suspected would happen. I did, however, find the other two names already listed on Find A Grave and took photos of those. My son was unable to find them on his first go round. This was not surprising because he wasn't looking very carefully. I had seen them, photographed them and moved on. I sent him back around with some hints on looking for both the first and last names. He was so excited when he finally did find them... right at the front entrance. He had walked right past them! After an hour, my husband and kids had reached their limit of "cemetery time." As always, I was grateful that they humored me long enough to tag along so I wouldn't have to go alone.

There was one grave marker that was interesting though. It had fallen over and the grass around it was already starting to grow over it. It was the grave marker of a baby that was only 3 months old. These markers always make me a little extra sad. Someone had thoughtfully placed a baby blanket and pacifier on the grave and it seemed fairly recently since as they looked relatively new. It was nice to see that someone else had been out there to visit and that little baby was still being remembered.

Fallen over grave stone with offerings

Wordless Wednesday - The Capek Sisters

2011-03-09T17:06:00.002-05:00

Antonia & Rosie Capek, ca 1907

This is Antonia Capek and Rosie Capek. Shortly after this photo they lost their father (1908) due to sickness. Antonia later died in 1913 from sickness at the age of 8.

I love my new iPhone

2010-12-01T11:23:00.003-05:00

So my husband and I recently bought new cell phones and we decided on getting the iPhone 3GS (because it is $100 cheaper than the new iPhone 4). I really wanted it because of the apps, especially the ones that could be used for genealogy.

The first app I added (after Facebook) was the Ancestry.com Tree to Go. You can take pictures from your phone and add them directly to the tree. The photos that you've already added to your tree via the internet come out very clear on the phone as well. It shows events and research notes as well. My main use for this will be for reference if I'm out and about and the opportunity to do some research presents itself. It's also good for research trips so that I don't have to lug around my laptop. The downside is that you are not able to review your sources, such as census records. Ancestry.com does not have regular iPhone app either so that you can do searches on your phone. You can always go through the internet browser (Safari) though. I don't see myself doing a whole lot of research on it because it is a small screen. It is more for convenience sake and it's pretty neat since the app is free.

The other genealogy specific app I installed was the Families by TelGen Limited. It is specifically set up for a family tree from the Legacy Genealogy Software. I had to download a sync program to my computer, but once I did that it was very quickly added to my phone. My entire family tree at my fingertips! The photos looked great, but the most exciting thing was that all my sources, including images, were available! I was able to look directly at the birth certificates and other records added to my tree right on my cell phone! You can edit and make changes to the tree on your phone, including adding media, and it will sync back with the tree on your PC. Love it! This one was not free. It was $14.99 + tax, but it was worth every penny!

Two other apps I added that can be used for genealogy purposes were Evernote and an app called CamScanner. Both of these are free so that is a bonus. The CamScanner has a full version that you can buy, but right now I have only started using the "light" version. It basically turns your phone into a scanner. You take a picture of something (i.e. a document or a photo). It scans the image and you can either email it to yourself or upload it to Dropbox.com, Google Docs, or even Evernote. It has a couple of other options to upload to as well and the full version may have more. This is perfect for those family members who won't let you leave with photos. It would also be great for scanning documents in a library. I tested it on a photocopy I took of a book in a library. It came out great!

I'm all set with all these tools to make researching easier... now I just need some extra time to do some research! Where's the app for that?

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-01T10:49:00.002-05:00

Arlene Rienerth, ca 1970's

This is a photo of my grandmother, Arlene. She passed away before I was born and I love this photo because it gives me a glimpse into her sense of humor.

Advent Calendar - The Christmas Tree

2010-12-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Oh, the Christmas tree... what a great place to start since setting up the tree and decorating it is what officially begins the Christmas season!

When I was growing up, we always had a real tree, though I don't remember how I felt about the experience of having a real tree. I don't remember picking one out that we thought was perfect, driving it home, smelling the pine (a scent that I don't care for), and happily decorating it with ornaments. What I remember most about having a real tree were the pine needles... they pricked me as I was decorating, walking by, or if I just looked at the tree wrong. The tree shed its needles like a dog sheds fur. They were all over the floor, the furniture, me. It seemed to have a never ending supply of needles to drop on the floor.

I was responsible for cleaning them, which could explain my very fixed memory. I'm sure I didn't have to do so when I was younger, but I don't remember those times. I vacuumed after the tree was set up. I vacuumed every couple of days when the tree shed more needles... and then again... and then again... whenever a newly wrapped present was added... whenever the tree was watered...

After Christmas came the epitome of pine needles... when the tree was dried up and pretty much dead. It seemed as though the tree was attempting to get rid of every last needle before we could get rid of it! And there I was... vacuuming away.

Needless to say, as an adult, I do not buy real trees. It is all fake for me! I'm so happy pulling it out of its box and putting it up and I'm happy breaking it down and putting it back in its box after New Years. I am forgiving when the wire branches sometimes poke me and when I still have to vacuum up relatively few "pine needles"!! I'm just grateful to have a non-shedding, scentless, never drying up and turning yellow tree. The cons of a fake tree are nothing compared to the magnitude of a childhood memory.

My beautiful well-loved fake Christmas tree in all its glory!

~ Just one little memory of Christmas trees... it had a bumpy start, but I love happy endings! ;)

Fearless Females - Women's History Month Prompt #8

2010-03-08T14:29:00.001-05:00

March 8 — Did one of your female ancestors leave a diary, journal, or collection of letters? Share an entry or excerpt.

Unfortunately, there are no diaries or letters in my family that I personally am aware of. I'm not sure if they just weren't written or if they weren't saved.

My mother kept these "Country Diaries" for a few years. They are those diaries that you could order through the mail and there is a small box for each day of the month. She would just write little excerpts, mainly about us kids. I have all of them, even the ones that she only wrote a couple of entries in.

Here is one entry on March 6, 1984:

"Monica says she now has 8 boyfriends. What is she going to do with all those boys? She wants to marry Chris H. Daddy is still working too many hours. Chris still lives in never-never land. Mommy found another job, more interesting. ... Monica's feet are in my face!"

That's hilarious... most of the entries are random little tidbits like this one, but they are fun to look back on! As the years progressed, I started adding little entries in. I tried to do these books again a couple of years ago, but I don't have the discipline to enter something in every day. Looking at them makes me want to try again though!

Fearless Females - Women's History Month Prompt #7

2010-03-08T14:06:00.001-05:00

March 7 — Share a favorite recipe from your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Why is this dish your favorite? If you don’t have one that’s been passed down, describe a favorite holiday or other meal you shared with your family.

In all honesty, I am unable to think of a favorite recipe passed down. It does not appear that we had "family recipes" that were passed down through the generations, which is unfortunate. My maternal grandmother was Portuguese so I'm sure she learned some of those dishes as a child. She had a couple of dishes that she said were Portuguese: Portuguese beans and Portuguese tear bread. I could not confirm the authenticity of them though.

I do know that everyone in my family loved these "Portuguese beans"... except me. I believe they were just cooked beans (I can't remember the kind) and were served in a pile with broken up cornbread. And ketchup. Doesn't sound very authentic! ;) I never liked them though. I recently borrowed a Portuguese cookbook from the library and made a kale soup. It was good, but I'm not a huge soup fan and my son was a little wary of the green soup.

One thing that we all love though on that side of the family is linguica, a Portuguese sausage. I am always trying to find it in the stores and add it to recipes. We cook it up for breakfast, put it in our spaghetti, and have added it to other pasta dishes. My children love it and I can't seem to get enough of it!

There aren't any German/Dutch (paternal) recipes passed down that I'm aware of. My dad is a creative cook and makes up a lot combinations of things to put together. The two that I have continued doing myself are Velveeta and onion sandwiches and a peanut butter sandwich with hot cauliflower. Just writing those two sandwiches down make me want to have one of each!

Personally, I have perfected recipes for both homemade refried beans and homemade salsa (after many, many batches of each of them!). I will definitely be passing these recipes down to my own children.

Fearless Females - Women's History Month Prompt #6

2010-03-08T13:56:00.001-05:00

March 6 — Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)

I'm lucky enough to have received several items from my female ancestors!

I inherited a quilt made by my paternal grandmother, Arlene. My parents had possession of it and it was passed nonceremoniously down to me when my parents divorced. It is a pink and white quilt and I'm not sure the reason why it was made.

I also received a pitcher that my aunt made. It is blue and white and beautiful. It was made for my parents and was given to me by my mother.

One other thing I received was a Bride Doll from my mother. It was her favorite doll that she received when she was 5 years old. She gave it to me when I was 5 years old. I loved it so much then and would just stare at it. It sits in a box in my closet now and the dress needs some repair, but maybe I will pass it down to my daughter when she is 5!

The last item I'm sharing is a painting done by my maternal grandmother, Helen. She used to love the Joy of Painting guy. She never had any formal lessons, but decided one day to try out painting. She was actually pretty amazing! When my step-grandfather passed away recently, we found a bunch of her paintings. Luckily there were enough for all of us to have one, including my son who has one hanging in his room.

Fearless Females - Women's History Blogging Prompt #5

2010-03-08T12:52:00.001-05:00

March 5 — How did they meet? You’ve documented marriages, now, go back a bit. Do you know the story of how your parents met? Your grandparents?

My parents met through my mom's sister and her husband. My dad was her husband's best friend. They fell in love and were married three months later. Unfortunately, their marriage only lasted another 17 years before they were divorced.

My paternal grandparents met in a similar way (we think). They met on a double date with one of his relatives. That's all I know about them.

I have no idea how my maternal grandparents met! She was 15 and still in high school and he was 23 and I'm not sure how he was even connected to the area (California). She dropped out after only completing 10th grade to marry him (1948-1949) and had her first child by the time she was 16. Unfortunately, the same goes for my maternal great-grandparents. I need to find out more information!

Fearless Females - Women's History Daily Blogging Prompts #4

2010-03-08T12:33:00.005-05:00

March 4 — Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo too if you have one.

Herman and Arlene Rienerth, ca 1946

I have marriage records for my paternal grandparents and for my paternal great-grandparents. Unfortunately, I don't know any stories behind them. That would be something for me to investigate, I guess. My grandparents, Herman Rienerth and Arlene Hetrick, were married on December 21, 1946 in Mahoning County, Ohio. It is difficult to tell whether they were married in a church and had a traditional wedding. The certificate is signed by a Rev. Donald F. Alber. Their license was granted on the same day so I'm not sure if this is an indication of anything. I do not have any wedding photos, but this picture was taken around that time.

Norman Hetrick and Florence Brickman, were married on July 3, 1919 in Mahoning County, Ohio. They were married by J.H. Graf, Pastor. The record does not indicate whether they were married in a church, but the application was dated the same day as their marriage. Their first child was born on 01 Jan 1920, so she was about 3 months pregnant at the time of this marriage. They were divorced some time after their 2nd child was born in 1922 as they were both living with their parents by the 1930 US Federal Census with their marital status marked as Divorced.

Fearless Females - Women's History Month Daily Blogging Prompts - March 3

2010-03-04T15:58:00.000-05:00

March 3 — Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

I have yet to find any ancestors with my name, Monica. I know that I was not named after anyone. My mother just liked the name.

My side of the family tree was not very creative in the naming of their girls. A lot of common names. My favorite one though is of my maternal great-grandmother, Lena. I know this was not an unusual name at the time, but I had never heard of it before. Of course now, it jumps out at me whenever I am perusing through names. I just think it's so pretty. It was not a nickname either as far as I know. Although she did name two of her girls Helen (first was an infant that died; the second was my grandmother born later), which could possibly be a variation of her full name. I have yet to find anything that actually states that though.

There was also a Tryphena in there on my paternal side. That's a name I hadn't heard before and I don't hear nowadays.

My husband's family tree has a couple of different names: Alois and Evadne. Also, my step-grandfather's family line has Lulu and Rilla. These are all unusual to me.

Fearless Females - Women's History Month Daily Blogging Prompts - March 2

2010-03-04T15:42:00.003-05:00

March 2 — Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This is a picture of my grandmother, Helen. I'm not sure when this photo was taken, but I believe it was taken while she was still living in California because the background doesn't look like it belongs in Tucson. If so, the picture would be dated before 1957 as that was when she moved to Tucson.

I chose this photo because it fascinates me what my ancestors were like when they were younger and before I knew them. I love to study the details not only of the focus person, but also what is going on in the background. Who is taking this picture? Had she already met my step-grandfather? She looks like she is dressed for work and I know she was a waitress. I also know that is how they met. I love her 50's hair and the bows in it. I also love her little purse (or maybe lunchbox?). She looks a tad tired in this picture and has her arm around her belly in what seems like a protective way. There seems to be a slight bulge, so I wonder if she is pregnant in this picture. And if she is, which of her 5 children is she pregnant with? My guess would be that it would be her 5th child and that would date this picture around early 1957. I am guessing it is her 5th because she looks older in this picture than she does in previous pictures with her other children. However, it is only a guess. :)

Fearless Females - Women's History Month Daily Blogging Prompts - March 1

2010-03-04T15:14:00.003-05:00

I decided to participate in these blogging prompts, but I'm a little behind, so I'm going to try to catch up. :)

March 1 — Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check.

Honestly, I don't know enough about my female ancestors to really have a favorite at this time. The two I am currently most curious about though are both my maternal and paternal grandmothers. Both of them are no longer living. My paternal grandmother died before I was born and my maternal grandmother in 2003. While I am interested in aspects of my maternal grandmother's life, such as the reason behind the things she's done, I am more curious about my paternal grandmother, Arlene.

She was born in North Lima, Ohio in 1922. She was the second girl born in her family and her parents divorced sometime in the next 8 years after she was born. She lived with her grandparents and aunt for an unknown time period. Her mother remarried, but I have not obtained that information as of yet. It is unknown if she had any other half-siblings. I don't know much about her. What I do know is that she attended school, but it is unknown if she graduated. She enlisted in the Navy during World War II, but I am unsure as to what job she did. Through a relative, I was able to discover that she was very proud of serving in the military. She befriended a woman there and through mutual friends, met her husband. They both married late in life for that time period, her being 24 and my grandfather being 35 years old. She was a Lutheran, but it is unknown whether this was her religion before she met my grandfather or if she converted. I have heard that she laughed a lot and was a very nice person. She had two boys, both born in Youngstown, Ohio.

In 1961, she moved with her little family to Tucson, Arizona. Shortly after that, she appeared in a newspaper article asking whether she would be purchasing a new Easter outfit that year. She answered that she would not as she only buys when she needs things. She also mentions that she does not spend her husband's money unless she has to and she felt sorry for other husbands (Tucson Daily Citizen, March 30, 1963). This shows she was frugal, something we have in common!

She died in 1976 from cancer. Unfortunately, my grandfather threw out a lot of pictures of her in his grief. I had only seen one picture of her shortly before she died until recently. A relative on my dad's side that I found on Ancestry.com sent me photos of her when she was younger. I was surprised to see a picture of a young woman that resembles me! It's amazing how emotional I get over that. I grew up knowing very little about my dad's side of the family because it was just never talked about... and I was too young to ask, I guess. Finding a whole new line of people and families that belong to me is what started my passion for genealogy in the first place! So I'm most curious about this woman who looks like me that I've never met.

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I have lots to learn about this woman and that whole line. I've only recently decided to focus on this line, so I have lots of work to do. I want to know more about her life in Ohio, her schooling, and her military career. I'm hoping that my dad will open up about her so I can try to get to know her personality. I will attempt to locate church records and school records. I'm hoping to find a yearbook(s) for the time period she was in school. I will be focusing on completing the "skeleton" of her life by using a timeline and completing the collection of the vital records. Then I will attempt to add the meat!

My dad managed to find some photographs that weren't destroyed. He also gave me a copy of a home video of when he was a boy! There is no audio, but I will take it! I would love to eventually visit the place she grew up and where her family is from (mainly Mahoning County, Ohio). Ultimately, my plan is to make a family history album/scrapbook with records, stories, and photographs. She will be one of my first stories.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Week #9

2010-03-01T00:39:00.003-05:00

Geneabloggers and Amy Coffin of We Tree are hosting a weekly contribution to our genealogy blogs. I am receiving the notifications via Facebook and every week I look at them and think about how I'd like to participate... and then I click "Not attending." In an effort to get back into my own genealogy, I am going to attempt to participate a little more!

I have been subscribing to the genealogy lessons that are emailed to me free of charge from USA Family Tree. To be quite honest, I'm only reading them sporadically. I happened to read the one emailed to me most recently and it suggests picking a line and focusing on that; quality, not quantity. I know this is obvious, but I obviously needed a reminder of that since most of the time I feel like I'm all over the place. I've decided that I'm going to focus on my paternal line and specifically the paternal line in Ohio, since there seems to be a lot of potential information there and it is the line that is most interesting to me at this time. I feel excited again!

This week's challenge is to find 5 blog sites that you don't already read and read them for 5 days. I've decided to go the route of finding blog pages that may help me in my own interests: Ohio and continuing education in the subject of genealogy. I've chosen the following:

1. Exploring Almost Forgotten Gravesites in Ohio ~ I chose this one because of locality, but also because cemeteries fascinate me for some reason.

2. Ohio's Yesterdays ~ This one looks like it will have some interesting stories about the people and places in Ohio.

3. The Educated Genealogist ~ This one I picked mainly for the title. :)

4. Arlene Eakle's Genealogy Blog ~ Hoping to learn some things from this one.

5. Geneapprentice ~ I chose this one because the author is pursuing a career in genealogy and is taking classes. Thought it might be interesting.

Book Review - Bringing Your Family History to Life through Social History

2009-09-04T15:13:00.001-04:00

Bringing Your Family History to Life Through Social History by Katherine Scott Sturdevant

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very informative book on looking at one's family history through the eyes of an historian. Especially like the sections on family photographs and writing letters! I wish this book wasn't out-of-print! I would love to have a copy for reference!

Book Review - Stories Grandma Never Told

2009-09-02T13:38:00.004-04:00

Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California by Sue Fagalde Lick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book follows the lives of Portuguese immigrants (all are women) and their daughters. It covers the culture, education, language, and careers of these women. It was a great read for me since I am of Portuguese descent to try to understand what these women were like and what it was like to move to a new country and learn a new language. I never realized what strong work ethic they had and what resilient people they were and are. It certainly makes me proud of my heritage. It also has a great bibliography so that I can find more books on the subject.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-02T09:42:00.005-04:00

This is a picture of my grandfather, Herman Rienerth (2nd from right) and his brothers and sister. Left to right: Hilda Rienerth, Paul Rienerth, Herman Rienerth, Karl Rienerth. c 1915. The location the picture was taken is unknown, but is possibly Ohio as this is where they lived.

Tombstone Tuesday

2009-08-18T21:18:00.007-04:00

These are the gravestones of my grandparents, Herman Rienerth and Arlene Rienerth (Hetrick). They are located at South Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery in Tucson, Arizona.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-12T16:24:00.006-04:00

This is my great-grandfather, George Rienerth (1883-1973), circa 1947

I've switched my family tree software...

2009-07-29T14:52:00.007-04:00

Recently, I attended the Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado. The Exhibit Hall there had many vendors trying to sell their wares to help us all do our genealogy.

There were about 4-5 companies there selling software to organize your family tree, along with several others who had software for helping in research and organizing your media associated with your family tree.

I decided to figure out whether I was using the best family tree software for my own needs. I gathered the information pamphlets for each of the companies: RootsMagic 4, Legacy 7, and Ancestral Quest. I downloaded the free trials on all of these as well as Personal Ancestral File (familysearch.org) and The Master Genealogist 7. I was currently using Family Tree Maker 2009. I am certainly not an expert on computers or any of those technical items, but I needed to figure out which one works best for me.

I like Family Tree Maker 2009. It has a good interface and the best thing about it is how it automatically connects to the Ancestry.com website to see if there's any new records. That is probably my favorite thing about it. It makes good charts and such, but they aren't anything that are super exciting to me. That may be because I'm so new in the game, but I'm not sure.

The Master Genealogist 7 has a lot of customizations, but to be honest, it was over my head. Maybe one day when and if I get to that point I may want to make the switch, but right now it is not for me. The link on the Ancestral Quest website to download a free trial didn't even work. I tried several times to download and even waited until the next day to try again. It didn't work at all. I gave up because I just didn't have time to keep trying over and over. I also downloaded the free version of Personal Ancestral File from familysearch.org. I wasn't really impressed from the get-go.
That left me with RootsMagic 4, Legacy 7, and Family Tree Maker 2009. All of them had the same good qualities: pleasing interface, easy to use, and search capabilities. I liked the search capabilities on FTM 2009 the best, as I mentioned above. I really liked the Research Guidance on Legacy 7, especially for a beginner like me who doesn't always know all the places to look. I also really liked the to-do lists and the sourcing templates. They were much easier to use for me than the ones on FTM.
They all had the majority of the same features, but I ended up choosing Legacy 7 because of the Research help on it. So now, I am in the process of transferring everything over from my FTM file to Legacy. I may still keep the names and dates on my FTM to use the Ancestry.com search tool and will just make sure it gets onto my Legacy file. That way I can get the best of both worlds!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-29T17:41:00.002-04:00

Dick Throp and Jack Throp. Child at bottom is unknown. Fort Wayne Indiana. Boys are wearing their Christmas cowboy suits. About 1936-1937. This picture is adorable to me because the whole "boys as cowboys" seems to be timeless.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-04T18:34:00.006-05:00

Herman & George Rienerth; location probably Ohio; date unknown.

The Beginning... For Me

2009-02-28T23:51:00.007-05:00

My first taste of genealogy started in 2001 when I was pregnant with my son. I had posted on a message board on Ancestry.com looking for family in relation to my Rienerth surname. I knew nothing of this side of the family as we had not grown up in Ohio where my dad was from nor had we ever visited there. It was a shot in the dark. The posting was actually made at the end of December 2000, but I received a response from a relative stating she was my second cousin in early 2001. It turns out there were a ton of family members over there in Ohio. I was pretty excited and kept in contact with my new family member over the years. She sent me tidbits she had learned in her own research and it was exhilarating to learn about this family that I knew nothing about. However, raising my son and life in general became time-consuming and family history took the back-burner.

Fast forward to 2008 and I’m walking in Sam’s Club looking at their discounted software. They had Family Tree Maker 2008 Deluxe for about $40.00. Now, I do love my computer programs that allow me to anally enter information in so I convinced my husband we should buy it. I took it right home, installed it, and started entering my information. The monster called obsession was born… The software came with a membership to ancestry.com and all those little leaves were popping up next to the names I entered and it was thrilling every time I clicked on one to find out what record they had in store for me! Birth records, death records, census information… I was clicking on them left and right and merging them with my tree.

I decided that it was my place to preserve our family history (no one had volunteered for the position that I was aware of) and I was more than happy to do so. As I was also pregnant with my second child at the time, I told myself that I was doing this for my children and it was important to know where they came from. It turns out I’ve been doing this for myself as well. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction and a sense of belonging somewhere. Finding out information about my own line of ancestors that I never knew has both elated me and saddened me. I’ve always loved the personal stories of history and I wonder what my own ancestors’ stories are. I can only hope to find them…

I am fairly new to this hobby. I started out frantically collecting information without putting a lot of thought process into it. I am a reader, so I decided to buy some books on the subject. Then I realized how big and complex this hobby is. So I had to take a step back and start gathering some primary information from relatives. Every little piece of information has made me happy. Every little discovery has encouraged me to keep going. I am now obsessively collecting books on genealogy and records and information on ancestors. I’ve also realized that I need to carefully document all of my sources. So I’ve bought the appropriate books and am actually redoing a new tree to make sure every little fact has some source. I enjoy these little nitty-gritty details a lot. I am also looking forward to following the research suggestions in the many genealogy books I now own. I have already started sharing some of this information with my children and hope they one day share the same excitement that I have for our family history.