Achievement (#52ancestors) Week 11

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Week 11: Achievement

I had always thought of my grandfather, Dennis McDonald (1903-2004), as a lifelong farmer, just like his father and grandfather and great-grandfather before him. But it turns out that he had another achievement that he seldom talked about. The most tangible clue was on the living room wall above his cot: a cracked (and hideously-glued) 3D model of Tower Bridge in London (that I wish I had kept or had at least taken a good picture of).

When I did a tape-recorded interview with him for family history in 1999 (yes, I’ve been doing this for a long time!), this is what he told me:

“I worked for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. I went to London, England, for Firestone. And I was over there when they started a factory over there.” He was one of 16 (two from each department) selected “to break in labor over there in the new factory. And I went over there [in 1928] and stayed a year.”

When I asked how he ended up in Akron, Ohio, from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, this was his response:

“Well, when I couldn’t make a living here and I decided I was going to go work for the public, I went and got on a train in Nashville and went to Akron, Ohio” (he was “just past 20” at the time). He first worked at Quaker Oats, then the freight depot, and then Goodyear for about a year. “Then I went to Firestone, and I stayed there five years, and I went over to London for them. I worked here at home on the farm, and I said, ‘I can’t make a living here’ and so I just got out and got me a job.”

He came back to Tennessee in time for the 1930 census (leaving no "official" record of his time away) and farmed for the rest of his life.

While he was overseas, he and a group of friends made the trip across the English Channel to Paris, France. He found the grave of his cousin Landon, who was killed in “the War” (World War I) and took a picture of the grave marker to take back to Landon’s father. They also engaged in a bit of sight-seeing, including the Eiffel Tower.

While this adventure might not sound like much in today’s world, in 1928 it was a pretty impressive achievement for a Tennessee farm boy!

at the Eiffel Tower -- Pap is second from left

on the Eiffel Tower -- Pap is second from left

Pap is on the left

probably crossing the English Channel to France

Language (#52ancestors Week 10)

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Week 10: Language

Back to David’s family for this one.  His maternal great-grandfather, Frank Finc (pronounced Finch or Fince), has been a bit challenging.  Depending on the source and time, his birthplace was listed as Austria or Yugoslavia, but he was Slovenian.  It’s amazing how much geography and history you learn while doing genealogy!

His 1904 marriage license says he was born in Austria; his 1907 Declaration of Intention (for citizenship) says he was born in St. Ved Austria.  The 1910 census says he was born in Aust. Slovenian; 1920 census says he was born in Austria.  His birthplace is listed as Letia, Austrilick, on his daughter’s birth certificate and Letia, Austria, on his son’s birth certificate; his son’s death certificate gives his birthplace as Austria Sentwood.  His daughter (David’s grandmother) said he was born in Yugoslavia but it was Austria at the time of his birth.  Whew!  When I did a search for Saint Ved, Google suggested Sankt Veit (there was more than one), but it had nothing for Letia, Austrilick, or Sentwood, so I was still stumped.

 His brother John’s birth info was a little more straight-forward but still no real leads:  Aust (Slovenian) (1910 census), Austria (1913 marriage license), Yugo-Slov (1920 census), Czechoslavakia (1930 census), and Austria (1940 census).

 I joined an Austrian Genealogy group on Facebook and dumped all this info in their laps and begged for help to figure out the birthplace.  They suggested Šentvid (which would explain “Sentwood”) but said there were several places with that name (like saying Columbia, USA, which could mean any one of 27 states!).  One researcher suggested Šentvid pri Stični in Slovenia.  I looked it up in Wikipedia and the German name for it is Sankt Veit (which matches “St Ved”).  The church there is dedicated to Saint Vitus (Slovene sveti Vid).  The researcher actually managed to find the birth records for both Frank (1880) and his brother John (1869), but the church register is in German, so their names are given as Franz and Johann.

 The Austrian group suggested that I join the Slovenian Genealogy group since they have more resources.  There are instructions on how to use the church parish records for birth, marriage, and death, but there is a bit of a learning curve, so I haven’t tackled it yet (website is in Slovenian and must be translated, and the records are in German).  But I know that Frank and John’s parents, Bernard / Bernhard Finc and Maria Kolisa or Kalesa have a marriage record there somewhere, just waiting to be found.  And their own birth records.  And death records.  And Frank’s wife was also from Austria / Slovenia.  A genealogist is never satisfied! :-)

(John's 1869 birth record)

(Frank's 1880 birth record)

Changing Names (#52Ancestors Week 9)

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(Still trying to play catch-up on #52ancestors writing prompts, so here's one I wrote in Feb. 2000):

Why we have trouble finding our ancestors!

(sent to Burgess email list Saturday, February 12, 2000 11:58 PM)

 

Thought I would share a little humor with other frustrated searchers.  My grandmother (born a Burgess), now age 91, has been very helpful and patient with all my family history questions.  However, doing census searches in between asking her questions sheds some light on why we have trouble finding those elusive ancestors:

 

Armed with a list of her daddy’s siblings in random order, I began my search.  Very few of the names matched those on the census, so I went back to ask her more questions:

 

“Do you think ‘Mary J’ in the census could be your aunt Mae?”  “I don’t know – her name was Mary, but we always called her Mae.”  Score 1!

 

“Do you think ‘Nancy M’ could be your Aunt Minnie?”  “Could be.  I was named after her.”  Score?

 

“Was Uncle Lee’s first name Walter?  There is a Walter L in the census.”  “I don’t know.  I never saw him but once or twice.  He lived in McKinney, TX.”  (Info from another researcher showed a Walter L in McKinney, TX)  Score 1!

 

“I haven’t been able to find Sam, Arlene, and John Haley in any of the censuses.”  “Oh!  They were my daddy’s half-siblings!  His second wife was named Ella, Pappy called her Miss Ella, and she out-lived Pa Burgess.”  (They apparently married in late 1890’s and were never in a census together; Pa Burgess died in Jan. of 1900, before Ella & the 3 children were counted in the census in April; she was 37 years younger than him, so I never would have guessed her to be his wife!)  Score 3!

 

“I can’t find your Uncle Jack in any census, but there is a Millard living with your daddy who is listed as his brother.”  “Uncle Jack didn’t like his name, so he changed it.  He moved to Amarillo, TX.”  Score 1!

 

“In the 1910, census, there is a 5-month-old named Margrette, but that’s how old your sister Ellen should have been.”  “Pappy wanted to name her Margrette, but Mama wanted to name her Ellen Rose.  Her name really is Ellen Rose, but Pappy called her Margrette most of the time, and we all just called her Baby.”  (Guess who answered the census-taker’s questions?)  Score 1!

 

These are just a few of the examples.  Is it any wonder we can’t find our ancestors?  What a blessing it is to still have my grandparents to ask.  Be sure to ask questions of your living relatives – when they’re gone, so much information is gone with them.

Heirlooms (#52Ancestors Week 8)

 Week 8:  Heirlooms

 

Since I’m way behind on posting, this will be brief.  

The Barbie clothes were mostly made by my great-grandmother, Minnie Loftis Williams, with at least one of them (the gold dress) made by my mother.

 

The sewing ruler belonged to my great-great-grandmother, Louisa Chaffin Loftis.  I’m not sure where it ended up after Aunt Marr died, but it’s such a cool thing!

 

The buttercups came from both of my grandmothers.

Immigration (#52ancestors Week 7)

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Week 7:  Immigration

(this one is about David's great-grandfather)

On a spring day in 1906, 24-year-old Adam Smygelski said good-bye to his family and left his home village of Zaromb (Zareby Koscielne), about 60 miles northeast of Warsaw, Poland.  He traveled about 500-600 miles to Hamburg, Germany, where he boarded the S.S. Amerika on May 23, ready to begin a new life in America.  After a journey of more than 4000 miles, he arrived in New York on June 4, 1906.  His final destination was Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, possibly to the home of Frank Paczewski, his mother’s half-brother. 

By 1910, Adam was married and their first son was born in September in New Jersey.  Their next four children were born in New York between 1911 and 1919, and the last two children were born in New Jersey in 1921.  Adam lived in New Jersey until his death in 1974 at age 91.

Adam had two younger sisters who also immigrated – Pauline about 1909-1910 and Genevieve in 1914.  They had a brother, Boleslaw, who married in Poland in 1906, so I think it is likely that he remained in Poland, but more research would be necessary to prove it.

The coolest thing about visiting Ellis Island was being in the main processing room and knowing that David’s ancestors had been in this exact place!