The Case of Chicken Charley

Sometimes while researching a particular family I will become distracted by another find that is so interesting or humorous that I can’t help but follow that trail just to find out how the story ends. Such was the case with “Chicken Charley”.

I was researching a friend’s family. Much to his surprise, I discovered that his Rodda ancestors had been to California for the gold rush, and his 3^rd great-grandfather died there. This was a surprise because he wasn’t aware of that fact, nor that his 2^nd great-grandparents had immigrated to California for several years, but then returned to Cornwall, England to have a family and spend the rest of their lives there. It was that couple’s son who is my friend’s great-grandfather; he was born in Cornwall and immigrated to Pennsylvania as a young man.

While researching the Rodda family in California during the gold rush days, I discovered a wonderful resource for people with California ancestors – the California Digital Newspaper Collection. There I struck gold with a wildly humorous story about another Rodda – Charles “Chicken Charley” Rodda. How could a researcher not be distracted by this story?

08 November 1889 – Rodda’s Raid

A Chicken Thief on Whom the Habit Had a Firm Hold

The other day Charles Rodda was arrested by officer Carroll on suspicion of being a chicken thief. Sufficient evidence, however, was not obtainable to insure conviction, but a charge of vagrancy was placed against him. In the Police Court he succeeded in satisfying Judge Buckley that he was not guilty. Late Wednesday night, as officer Crump was patrolling his beat, he spied Rodda acting in a suspicious manner, and followed him into a yard on Thirteenth and J streets, where Rodda concealed twenty-one chickens. He was at once arrested, and, with the chickens, was taken to City Prison. On his way down he resisted the officer, and threw the chickens into a yard. The stolen property is at the police station awaiting an owner.[i]

Two days later, on 10 November 1889, this appears in the “Brief Notes” section of the newspaper:

The chickens captured by officer Crump from a thief the other night are still at the police station awaiting the owner.[ii]

Well, if the chickens were stolen, why didn’t anyone claim them? I’m starting to feel sorry for Charley. Then, the story gets more colorful with a delightfully descriptive (and potentially slanderous) article. I wish that the newspaper reporter was given a byline, because this reads as if it was written by Mark Twain:

12 November 1889 – Talked Himself to Jail

An Aged Chicken-Thief’s Idea of Defense. “Call the case of Charles Roder, charged with petit larceny,” was Police Judge Buckley’s first utterance upon taking his seat yesterday.

“Here I be,” said a wild-eyed, shockheaded old man jumping up from the prisoner’s dock.

Clerk Larkin informed Roder that he was accused of stealing chickens, and asked him if he was guily or not guilty.

“Not guilty, by dang,” shouted Roder, smiting himself upon the breast. “I never stole no chickens, ner anything else. I never was —.”

“That’ll do now; sit down,” admonished Baliff Rowland, motioning to the witness.

“Sit yerself down, yer wall-eyed scalpeen,” roared the petty larcenist, stamping with his feet and swinging his arms wildly. “Yer a set of blackmailers, and I’ll —“

“Shut up and sit down!” This was from Judge Buckley, and Roder only needed to glance at his Honor before concluding that it would be a good idea to sit down. But his tongue never ceased. He denounced the police force and everybody in general, and kept up a constant jabber all through his trial.  Police officer Crump testified to having caught Roder in the vicinity of Fifteenth and K streets, early in the morning, with two sacks full of chickens, which he could not explain how he came into the posession of. Officers Carroll and Farrell both stated that Roder had admitted in their presence of having stolen the chickens. Roder denied all of this, of course, and never ceased in his denunciations.

“Where did you get those chickens, Roder?” asked City Attorney Church.

“I got ‘em honestly,” replied Roder, doggedly.

“But where?”

“Well, that’s my business, and not yours,” was the reply.

Judge Buckley tried to get some information on the subject from Roder, but fared no better than the City Attorney. As a result Roder was found guilty and will be sentenced to-day.[iii]

This “news” reporting conjures up quite an image of what the town and townspeople were like in 1889. But it must have been a slow news day for the story of the infamous chicken thief to get such press! As a side note, the spelling of Charles’ name is “Roder” while it was “Rodda” just days before – and it will show up in other editions of the paper in other forms.

Charley didn’t fare too well at sentencing after talking back to the judge (did they find people in contempt back then?).  On 13 November 1889 it was reported in the “Brief Notes” section of the newspaper that “Charles Rodda, convicted of stealing chickens, was sentenced to three months imprisonment in the County Jail yesterday by Police Judge Buckley.”[iv]

The newspapers are quiet about Charley until nine months later. On 20 August 1890, the following appears:

Who Lost the Chicks?

At an early hour yesterday morning E. R. Dole, Captain of the chain-gang, encountered that incorrigible poultry fiend, “Chicken Charley,” at Fifteenth and I streets, coming from the northeastern part of the city. Dole examined his load and found it to comprise nineteen fowls. Surmising that Charley had been on one of his periodical raids, he arrested him. The fowls are at the police station, and as policemen do not like chicken-meat, they are in the way. The owner is requested to call and identify them.[v]

I had to laugh picturing the chickens at the police station getting in the way. While this chicken thief named Charley isn’t identified by a surname, it became clear that it was the same man by looking at entries for the next few days (although they still keep varying the spelling of the surname).

22 August 1890: “Chicken Charley’s” Plunder

Yesterday Daniel Healy visited the police station and identified several of the fowls found in the posession of Charles Reddy as his. It looks as though the officers now have a case against the slippery fellow that will stick. He generally manages to escape conviction when up for robbing hen-roosts, in which business he is said to be an expert.[vi]

23 August 1890: Chickens Need Not Roost So High

Charles Rodda, known to fame as “Chicken Charley,” was held to answer before the Superior Court yesterday on a charge of petit larceny and a prior conviction. Rodda, as usual, denied having stolen any chickens, but his explanation of how he got them was so lame that Judge Buckley concluded it was a good case for a jury to look after.[vii]

The next mention (that I found, anyway) was not until 15 January 1891:

Rhodda Acquitted. The Veteran Chicken-Parloiner is at Liberty Again.

Charles Rhodda, a tottering old man of seventy years, who has a mania for stealing chickens, and who has in consequence become familiar with the interior of various prisons, was tried before Superior Judge Van Fleet and a jury, yesterday, on another charge of chicken larceny.

He was arrested something like six months ago, and not being in affluent circumstances, has had to remain in jail until his trial was called.

When the jurors became aware of this fact, they evidently felt that Rhodda had been punished sufficiently already, for they acquitted him readily.[viii]

At this point I’m almost rooting for poor Chicken Charley…

But, he’s back to his old ways soon thereafter. On 12 March 1891 it was reported that Charles Rodda, alias “Chicken Charley,” was charged with vagrancy. He pled not guilty and “demanded” a jury trial. The article said his case was set for Friday[ix], but I was unable to find any reference to it in the newspapers that week.

Interestingly, he may appear once more – but not in Sacramento. The Marin Journal reports on 21 July 1892:

“Chicken Charley” is the euphonious and approriate title of a man arrested in Grass Valley the other day. He confessed to stealing over 300 fowl in that town and vicinity within a comparatively short space of time.[x]

Grass Valley is about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento. Is this the same Chicken Charley? Maybe, because he’s talented enough a thief to steal much in a short amount of time. But maybe not, because Sacramento’s Chicken Charley always pled not guilty! Oddly enough, Grass Valley is where my friend’s Rodda relatives lived. But I haven’t yet found any connection to his family.

Charley was portrayed as such a colorful character in these newspaper articles that I would love to learn more about his life and ultimate fate. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to dig up any information on a Charles Rodda in California that definitively connects to Chicken Charley. But, I’m glad to have discovered this character who distracted me from my more serious research pursuits. The writing in these newspapers was so entertaining that I began to search for other articles with the “characters” of officer Crump and Judge Buckley. I wish I had ancestors in Sacramento!  Thanks, Chicken Charley, I hope you either mended your ways or continued to evade conviction for the rest of your life.

Sources:

[i] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 62, Number 68, 08 November 1889. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[ii] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 1, Number 26, 10 November 1889. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[iii] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 62, Number 71, 12 November 1889. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[iv] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 62, Number 72, 13 November 1889. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[v] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 79, Number 151, 20 August 1890. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[vi] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 79, Number 153, 22 August 1890. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[vii] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 79, Number 154, 23 August 1890. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[viii] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 80, Number 125, 15 January 1891. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[ix] Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 81, Number 16, 12 March 1891. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

[x] Marin Journal, Volume 32, Number 19, 21 July 1892. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, < http://cdnc.ucr.edu >

 

“Who Do You Think You Are?” – The Drinking Game

 

Way back in February, 2011, I wrote a humorous post called The WDYTYA Drinking Game in honor of the show Who Do You Think You Are?  It was all in good fun – we genealogists simply love the show. The post was rather popular, and my most-commented upon post ever. Rather than just post the link, I’m repeating the “game” below. I’m happy that the show has found a new network (TLC) and is still on the air. In my opinion, this season is better than ever.

Unlike most stunts, you actually are encouraged to try this at home rather than while you’re out!  The rules are simple – just before showtime grab a glass, can, or bottle of your favorite beverage.  If one of the following events happens during the show, take a swig of your favorite swill:

* The celebrity finds new information and remarks, “Well, I guess I have to go to <insert town, state, or country> now!” – one drink

* The celebrity goes back several generations in two minutes or less – one drink for each generation

* There is a plug for Ancestry in the show – one drink if Ancestry is accessed by a researcher, and two drinks if by the celebrity

* The celebrity finds a photograph of their ancestor in a library or archive – one drink, two if it’s a tintype

* During the commercial break, there’s a commercial for Ancestry – one drink, and get up to refill during the other commercials

* White gloves are used to handle a document – one drink

* White gloves are NOT used to handle a document – two drinks, three if you tweet The Photo Detective or footnoteMaven to complain about it

* The celebrity says, “Wow!” after a find – one drink

* The celebrity compares the ancestor’s life story to their own – one drink

* A genea-colleague tweets, “Hey, I’m related to <celebrity’s ancestor> too!” during the show – one drink, two drinks if you are related too

* While watching,  you think “I could have found that!” – one drink, two drinks if you can formulate a proper source citation for it while drinking

* The celebrity takes notes – one drink, two drinks if they use a computer

* A genea-colleague tweets, “Hey, my ancestors are from <celebrity’s ancestor’s location> too!” during the show – one drink, two drinks if yours are from there too

* You know the librarian, archivist, or genealogist who is helping the celebrity on the show – one drink

* You are the librarian, archivist, or genealogist who is helping the celebrity on the show – buy a few cases of beverages and host a party for the rest of us

Enjoy the show tonight, and remember – do try this at home!  Add your own suggestions in the comments…

Note: You can see full episodes of the show on the TLC page here.

Where I’m From

Back in July 2011, Randy Seaver posted a “Saturday Night Genealogy Fun” (SNGF) challenge to create a “Where I’m From” poem using the template at this site. I started a post then but never completed it, and I stumbled upon the draft on my laptop the other day. Now Randy has posted the challenge again tonight! This time I decided to let my creativity out and came up with this little ditty about Where I’m From.  We all have a story – where are You from?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where I’m From

I am from home-cooked meals, from chicken soup and Tastykakes.

I am from the city of brotherly love, rooting for the Fightin’ Phils and the Broad Street Bullies, from playing wiffle ball in the street and riding bikes down Kirby Drive.

I am from sweltering humid summers, occasional blizzards in cold winters, from honeysuckle and buzzing cicadas.

I am from laughter and stubbornness, from Jimmy and Chick, from Pointkouski’s and Bergmeister’s and Pater’s and Zawodny’s.

I am from factory workers and truck drivers, from part-time tap dancers and comedians, from hard workers earning a living but never doing what their hearts wanted to do most.

I am from using every pot to cook a meal and never going out with wet hair.

I am from Catholic school, from believing in the Real Presence and knowing good priests and fun nuns. I am from the rosary and down in adoration falling and holding hands to pray around the kitchen table.

I am from the Far Northeast in Philly, from Poles and Bavarians, from pledging allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. I am from cheese steaks and hoagies, from chocolate and wine.

I am from the stowaway with the secret name, or maybe not, and from the baker called Sepp, and from the made-up surname that no one can spell.

I am from mysteries and myths, from faces in too few black and white photographs, from immigrants who left the only homes they knew to create a new one far away. I am from a family that didn’t hand down heirlooms but instead I inherited humor, love, and faith.

Top 12 Reasons I Didn’t Meet All of My 12 Genealogy Goals for 2012

Well, it’s that time of year again…with just eight days to go in 2012 we genealogy bloggers sometimes brag write about what a great job we did in meeting our goals for the year. Then we usually come up with another list of genealogy-related fun things to do next year. I’m no exception…I’ve been doing the same for the last few years myself. But if I spell out this year’s goals and talk about how well – or not – I did at meeting them, I’d feel a bit ridiculous since, well…I didn’t quite get to most of them. Let’s just say my priorities changed throughout the year. But hey, it’s that time of year, so let me at least provide you with my TOP 12 REASONS I DIDN’T MEET ALL OF MY 12 GENEALOGY GOALS FOR 2012!

12. The world was supposed to be over by now…

11. Uh, some of my lofty goals were a bit too hard. I mean, what was I thinking? Twelve goals?

10. Several of my most inspirational long-time genealogy blogging friends (you all know who you are) took a blogging leave of absence and left me uninspired as a result. (Please come back!!!!!)

9. I was distracted by shiny things and spent too much of my free time reading my Pointer sister’s voluminous tweets.

My niece and nephews love Star Wars too!

8. I introduced the next generation to the wonder that is Star Wars.

7. I cheated on Facebook by having an actual real live social network.

Cast of TV’s Leverage: Christian Kane, Gina Bellman, Tim Hutton, Beth Reisgraf, Aldis Hodge

6. I spent a whole lot of time watching all 77 episodes of Leverage multiple times with great delight.

5. I was too stressed trying to complete the weekly Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge.

4. I still give up on translating Polish records that are written in Russian in under five minutes.

3. I bribed my genealogy-goal buddy, Lisa Alzo, with a case of slivovitz to stop bugging me about my progress.

2. I found out a lot of other great genealogy facts this year that weren’t on my 2012 wish list.

1. Occasionally hanging out with live relatives is more fun that looking for dead ones.

I Was a Teenage Car Thief

History:  gossip well told.  ~ Elbert Hubbard

Partners in crime: Nancy and I, probably up to no good, at National Honor Society induction during junior year (fall, 1983).

I was a teenage car thief.

Or so the story goes. That isn’t quite exactly true, but it seems to be how the story is told years later!

In my girls-only Catholic high school,my friend Nancy and I were probably known more for what we didn’t do than what we did. We didn’t smoke. We didn’t drink. We didn’t cut class, hike our uniform skirts halfway up our thighs, and we didn’t even wear makeup.

Nancy and I were good, polite, studious young ladies who got mostly straight A’s. Boring? Well, maybe to some, but we both also happened to have a great sense of humor and a mischievous streak, so we certainly weren’t bored. And, after all, the great thing about a devious mind in a goody-two-shoes body is that you rarely ever got blamed for your own mischievousness!

In junior year, we both had the good fortune to have Mrs. Campbell for history class (we called it “World Cultures”). Not only was Mrs. Campbell very smart (little did we know then that she was a future Jeopardy contestant) and an excellent teacher, but she was fun, too! Mrs. C had a sense of humor and a mischievous streak that rivaled ours in addition to a penchant for really bad puns. Let’s just say that Nancy and I learned a lot from her.

One day Mrs. Campbell broke off into an off-topic tangent about a student who attempted a  practical joke on her and failed. With a daring twinkle in her eye, she declared, “NO ONE has ever fooled me!”

Seated on the left side of the room, I immediately turned to Nancy a few rows to my right and raised my eyebrow. Nancy discreetly caught my gaze and nodded. The game was afoot! With a silent shared glance and only the faintest hint of a smirk, Nancy and I were thinking the same exact thing: “We’ll see about that, Mrs. C!”

After class, we wondered what joke we could play on her. We quickly realized it had to involve her car in some way, for the car had become a frequent detractor from our daily lesson plan. The Campbell’s bought a brand new car, and it was a complete lemon. Never in the history of American car production had a brand new car had so many mechanical failures. They were at their wits’ end in trying to get help from the dealership.

“We should steal it,” I said.

Nancy looked slightly shocked, yet amused, and gave me a questioning look.

“Well, not really steal it…just, you know – move it. If her car wasn’t where she parked it, she’d think it was stolen!”

Nancy smiled, “That’s perfect!”

Yes, perfect, until it dawned on us, both National Honor Society scholars, that neither of us could drive yet. Our friends who could drive thought we were absolutely insane and wanted nothing to do with our devious plans.

Time for Plan B! In the end, Plan B doesn’t sound like much at all – but, history is more about how things are remembered than what actually happened. Our classmate, Deena, worked in the main office during our class period. She would enter our room with a (forged) note for Mrs. Campbell that would tell her to call the dealership about her car – urgently! That’s right, kids, there were no cell phones in the mid-80’s!

This simple message was merely meant to invoke her ire – at the car, not us – and send her into a brief tizzy of humorous car-related stories which would have the side effect of getting us off the day’s lesson plan for the rest of the period until we revealed the joke.

See, we were not quite comedic geniuses yet, just lazy history students.

On the appointed day (my fuzzy memory thinks it was possibly April Fool’s Day) and the designated time, the note arrives. Mrs. C read it and looked quite distressed. She then did something we didn’t expect – she said she’d be right back and bolted out of the room!

When our note-delivery girl returned with the second note that said something to the effect of “just kidding”, Mrs. C still wasn’t back yet. Deena saw her in the hallway talking on the pay phone. Those who knew of our plan asked us what was going on: “Who’s she calling?” Others laughed and said, “You’re both dead!”

She couldn’t possibly be calling the dealership, could she? Maybe moving her car was a better idea after all.

She returned to the room, breathless – not from the short walk to the classroom, but from all the talking she had just quickly done on her call. She was about to explain what happened when she noticed that Deena standing in the front of the room. Deena handed her the second note while backing towards the classroom door and simultaneously trying to give a death-stare to Nancy and me on our different sides of the room.

That second or two while Mrs. Campbell read the note seemed longer than waiting for the bell to end Sr. Cherubim’s class.

Then… she laughed! And then said, “Oh my God, I have to call my husband!” and ran out of the room. She quickly returned and was dismayed that his line was busy. She explained that she called him about calling the car dealership because something else was wrong with the car. By the time she finally did get in touch with him – before our class was over – he had called not only the car dealership but also the Vice President of General Motors to discuss the lack of quality of their new vehicles and their poor customer service.

Fortunately, Mr. Campbell was as easy-going as his wife and they both actually laughed at our little prank. They thought the car dealership needed to be told off anyway, and we just prompted them to do it a little faster.

My memory has faded on the detail of how Nancy and I were identified as the perpetrators, but either we openly bragged about it or she immediately guessed from our sheepish grins. I think she actually admired us after that for our brave initiative. Mrs. C was so cool that by the end of junior year, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell agreed to chaperone four friends and me on a trip to Rome after we graduated – and she kept her word!

No cars were harmed or even touched in the prank, yet forevermore Mrs. Campbell called Nancy and I her car thieves. And that is how I got my class out of a history lesson one day and went down in Archbishop Ryan High School for Girls history as a teenage car thief.

How Mrs. Campbell signed my yearbook in senior year: Dear Donna, You have a great future as a car thief.

Our prank made it into our senior yearbook as a caption on a photo of Mrs. Campbell teaching class!

Left: Nancy and Mrs. C at our friend Mary’s graduation party, June 1985. Right: Mrs. C and me expressing our dissatisfaction with the hotel in Rome, July 1985.

[Written for the 122nd Carnival of Genealogy: School Humor]

Seriously, What ARE They Looking For?

Photo by katieb50 under the Creative Commons license (click on image for link to katieb50’s Flickr page for this photo)

It is my pleasure to present the 4th annual Festival of Strange Search Terms – the weird, bizarre, and unusual phrases that folks have entered into search engines…and for some weird, bizarre, and unusual reason they wound up here anyway. Here are some of the best of the strange and odd search terms that have brought visitors here in 2012 – with my comments, of course! Note: these are actual search terms used!

If Only It Was That Easy

how did aunt joan die – Well, I know how my Aunt Joan died. I’m not really sure about yours.

what heritage am i – Who needs a DNA test or all that annoying research? Just Google it!

ww2 my grandpa in his uniform with my grandma – I wish finding photographs was this easy!

my grandmother in 1927 – And they really expected to find her…

find grampa – I’m tempted to Google this to see the search results. Maybe my grampa is there too!

my great great grandparents – Ta Da! I wish my smartphone was that smart. It would have saved me tons of research time.

Things That Make You Go “Huh?”

if only i had shown him my heirlooms – I so want to know the story behind this one! We need to make this a writing prompt for the next Carnival of Fictional Genealogy!

alien skulls – Hmm…

missouri recycling statistics from 2008-2011 – What’s amusing about this one is: 1) it led to my blog, which as far as I know has never mentioned  either Missouri or recycling, and 2) they stayed long enough to view two posts.

worst libraries – Why search for the best of anything when you can search for the worst?

animated obsessive compulsive – Do they mean a cartoon of an obsessive compulsive, or just an obsessive compulsive who uses a lot of hand gestures and facial expressions?

Make Me LOL

did fotomat have bathroom – While I may have wondered that as a kid, I would have never thought to search for the answer online.

if plan a doesn’t work, remember there are 25 more letters in the alphabet – If you need 26 tries to make your plan work, it’s probably not that great of an idea. Just say’n…

cat movie camera – Is this a movie camera that can only be used to film cats or one that can only be operated by cats?

a story from my past – Oh, wait, I’m drawing a blank on that memory so let me search for it online…

i used to have a life then i discovered genealogy – Didn’t we all?

This Sounds Like Fun

fountain of youth birthday party – I’ll drink to that!

time travel pictures 1940 – If they are pictures obtained by traveling back through time to 1940, then I’m all ears!

facebookancester.com [sic] – Because if they only had Facebook back then, we would now know that Grandma was often bored and played FarmVille all day.

“gene kelly’s ass” – Who could ask for anything more?

So there you have it! The next edition of the What’s Past is Prologue search term carnival will include more bizarre, freakish, and unusual ways that bring me more traffic. Until next time, I remain the Queen of Grampa’s Alien Heirlooms and Time Travel Photos of Gene Kelly’s Ass.

[Note: My past crown titles include Queen of Forgotten Unusual Facial Expressions and Dumb Mistake Cake Spelling Roulette, Queen and Super-Finder of Renegade Name-Labeled Regal Dog Portraits and Queen of Ugly Teady Beer Shakespearean Transvestite Marriage Photos. I bet you’re really jealous now.]

Internet Genealogy: Back in Time

The Internet Archive: Wayback Machine (click on image to visit the site)

When we think of the past, we usually remember things that were a part of our lives such as cars, music, or fashions, or things from before our time that we learned about as history. The internet has only been part of our lives for a relatively short time as far as the history of the world is concerned, so while I sometimes think on the days “before” the internet, I don’t usually think about its earliest days and what it looked like. That is, until I read Go Back in Time: How 10 Big Websites Looked 15 Years Ago. The post uses the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to show screen shots of several sites including Apple, Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and the New York Times. It was like the equivalent of looking at old photos of your family, friends, and self in fashions and hairstyles best kept in the past. But it was interesting to see just how “old” each of the sites looked “way back”  when and just how much the internet and technology has evolved in such a short time.

Genealogical research on the internet has shown the same leap as the sites mentioned in that article. I decided to look up some of our favorite big genealogy sites to see what is the equivalent of their old prom pictures.  While the screen shots might have that “dated” look about them, the most striking difference is that each of them have so much more information – including actual records online – than they did in the past.  Take a walk down memory lane – do you remember when the sites looked like this?

Ancestry.com on 02 March 2000. SOURCE: The Internet Archive

Ancestry.com on 28 October 1996. SOURCE: The Internet Archive

FamilySearch.org on 08 May 1999. SOURCE: The Internet Archive

Ellisisland.org on 03 March 2000. SOURCE: The Internet Archive

Rootsweb.com (before purchased by Ancestry) on 14 June 1998. SOURCE: The Internet Archive

SteveMorse.org on 02 April 2003. SOURCE: The Internet Archive

Of course, What’s Past is Prologue has looked exactly the same since its creation in 2008 except for the addition of some pages and changes to the sidebar.  But that’s just because I like the design!

Shades: Birthday Edition – The Fountain of Youth

SOURCE: footonoteMaven. "Earth Day - Birthday Graphic." footnoteMaven, 22 April 2009. http://www.footnotemaven.com/2009/04/earth-day-birthday.html : 2012.

The illustrious footnoteMaven and I go back a long time – from our days as war correspondents to back when we worked as sherpas leading Mt. Everest expeditions. When our mutual friend Penelope Dreadful mentioned fM’s birthday – that is, she mentioned the number being celebrated, for the day has long been a blogging holiday on my calendar – I was shocked. How could a woman who knows so much be so young? I mean, looks-wise, she’s striking, but youthful looks can lie (who knows how many surgeries could give me the same youthful countenance?). So although she looks much younger than her age, I was shocked at the number because she’s a woman of wisdom, and you don’t get wisdom with youth!

So that got me thinking…what if she’s really older than that? I smell a conspiracy. I mean, look at all the careers the woman has had!  From the dancing chorus girl on Broadway to the archaeologist who discovered an ancient civilization in the South Pacific to the sculptor whose work is in countless museums. Not to mention the time she tried a case before the Supreme Court. So how is it that this amazing woman could be younger than me?

I remembered a story she told me once, a long time ago. The details are hazy, as if remembering a dream. We both had a little too much to drink one night in Tangier while covering a coup, and she told me her deepest secret – she had discovered the Fountain of Youth. I thought she was drunk. I know I was. But looking back, I think she was trying to reveal her secret.

No wonder fM knows so much about history and historical records – could it actually be that she lived through it? Shades of the Departed, my butt…sure, those folks are departed from this world, but little did we know that fM knew all the folks in those photos – her family and friends from her past.

I had to find out the truth. There had to be evidence, and I had to cite it. One day, after many late nights spent searching, I finally found it. Oh. My. Gosh. Our own footnoteMaven was Polish after all.  And Catholic? Who knew! I guess when you live for so long you have to change your life story to keep things interesting. No wonder she always knew the answers to my Polish genealogical mysteries…I always wondered how a Lutheran girl of Irish stock from Missouri would know those things…  But records don’t lie! Here was my proof, a marriage record for Regina Mavin in 1803:

The is the only non-fictional element of the entire post (except, of course, fM's youth, beauty, wisdom, and the depth of our friendship).

The name Regina is Latin for “queen”. Mavin? Close enough – every genealogist knows how flexible spellings can be in records.  Queen Maven…was it really our Queen Maven marrying Mr. Miller in 1803? And does the current Mr. Maven know about this?  I traveled to Poland to the Archives to investigate further as anyone who watches WDYTYA knows that one must do. I entrusted Steve Danko‘s help, and we found more records about the former Regina Mavin that are not available online. We even found a painting of her, and that proved it once and for all, for Regina has the same striking visage as our very own fM. Yes, Queen Maven may have thought she covered up her tracks after her discovery of the secret of youth, but she underestimated the ability of a determined genealogist.

If only she told me more on that steamy night in Tangier when she drunkenly revealed her secret. Ah well, maybe someday she will reveal all. All I know is, the next time we attend a genealogy conference together, I’m bringing a supply of Lisa Alzo‘s slivovitz, a Slovakian liquor that’s better than a truth serum. Yes, someday I will get fM to tell me the location of that fountain!

#

Today is the birthday of footnoteMaven, editor/publisher of the award-winning Shades of the Departed Online Magazine. The Shadettes and Shades-dudes Staff Writers are pleased to present this Special Birthday Edition of the magazine as a tribute to their dear friend. The round-up of posts will be compiled today at The Family Curator. If you’re friends with fM too, join us in wishing her a very happy birthday. In case you were wondering, all of the above is fictional (and meant to be humorous) except for the fact that fM is young, beautiful, and my dear friend, and there was a very real marriage in 1803 in Poland of a woman named Regina Mavin. I figured it was either the fountain of youth or a time machine that was responsible for this amazing coincidence. 

The Genealogy Bucket List

Geniaus has proposed The Bucket List GeneaMeme in which we share genealogy-related things we’d like to do.  The “rules” said to put the things you want to do in bold and the others in plain type, but since my list contains mostly things I want to do I’m just leaving it plain.

The genealogy conference I would most like to attend is… FEEFHS (Federation of East European Family History Societies) because the topics would be relevant to my research.

The genealogy speaker I would most like to hear and see is… Fred Hoffman, because he rocks and I’ve never heard him speak.

The geneablogger I would most like to meet in person is… SmallestLeaf, also known as Lisa, because we’ve become good friends and have a lot in common, but we’ve never had the opportunity to meet.

The genealogy writer I would most like to have dinner with is… Lisa Alzo, because we always have a great time when we have dinner together! [We’re having dinner with Steve Danko to the left in June, 2011.]

The genealogy lecture I would most like to present is…. one that I already presented because I wouldn’t have much to prepare (either Genealogy Blogging or Finding Your Eastern European Ancestors in Russian Consular Records).

I would like to go on a genealogy cruise that visits…. I don’t do cruises because I would rather spend more time in a place.  I might not say no to a Mediterranean cruise, but as far as I know I have no ancestry from that area.

The photo I would most like to find is… my Piątkowski great-grandparents, because they are the only ones for whom I don’t have a photo.

The repository in a foreign land I would most like to visit is… Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych (Poland’s National Archives) as long as I have Steve Danko along to assist.

The place of worship I would most like to visit is… the church in Dobrosołowo, Poland where my Zawodny great-grandparents married in 1902 because it’s one of my ancestral churches I have not yet visited.

The cemetery I would most like to visit is …. this is a tough one because most of my ancestors who died in Europe no longer have marked graves.

The ancestral town or village I would most like to visit is…. Dobrosołowo, Poland, because I haven’t been there yet.

The brick wall I most want to smash is…. finding Elizabeth Miller’s (Elżbieta Müller’s) birthplace, because she’s my most frustrating search!

The piece of software I most want to buy is…. Family Tree Maker 2012, because I’d like the new version and haven’t gotten around to buying it yet.

The tech toy I want to purchase next is….. a Mac, because I’m tired of Windows updates and slow response times.

The expensive book I would most like to buy is… Evidence Explained, because <whispers> I don’t actually have a copy.

The library I would most like to visit is….. the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, because I found so much the last time I was there!

The genealogy related book I would most like to write is…. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, because I have a few ideas. 

The genealogy blog I would most like to start would be about…. Catholic genealogy.  Oh wait, I already did that.  Maybe one on Bavarian genealogy if I could only find other researchers that would contribute and/or be interested in the topic.

The journal article I would most like to write would be about… Polish research, because I know a few things about it.  Note to PGSCTNE, yes, I do realize I owe your society a journal article on Polish research…it’s coming! 

The ancestor I most want to meet in the afterlife is…. my great-grandfather Joseph Zawodny (1880-1944), because he had an interesting life and he seemed like a really nice guy.

As Geniaus suggested, I added a couple of my own items to the list:

The celebrity I’d most like to see on Who Do You Think You Are? is…. Johnny Galecki, so I can see if he’s related to my Galecki cousins (and it would be nice if they did some Polish research on the show).

The genealogical research skill I would most like to have is…. the sudden ability to read and comprehend Polish, Russian, and German, because it would make research so much easier.

The genealogy tech gadget I would most like to invent is…. a scanner that will automatically translate a record from a foreign language to English, because it would be not only useful but highly profitable.

The genealogical records I would most like to see become available online are…. Pennsylvania death records for the 20th Century and the entire Family History Library collection, because….well, duh, just because!

The family heirloom I would most like to own is…. my great-grandmother Zawodny’s sewing machine, because it would be cool to have it.

The living cousin I would most like to find is… any descendant of my grandfather’s brothers, Eugene Pater and Walter Miller, because I haven’t found any yet and it would be nice to connect to that branch of the family.

What’s on your genealogy bucket list?

TV’s Castle Can Help Solve Your Genealogical Mystery

Ryan, Beckett, and Castle in front of the murder board (Seamus Dever, Stana Katic, and Nathan Fillion in Castle's Season 3 episode "Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind"). Accessed via Castle-Fans.Org on January 9, 2012.

A few months ago I watched all the past episodes of the television crime drama Castle (ABC, Monday nights at 10:00 PM Eastern). I’ve always had a thing for romantic comedy shows about crime-solving duos. Castle didn’t disappoint and it’s now one of my favorite shows. It has good plots, interesting and well developed characters, subtle humor, and a hint of romance. While I enjoy the show more for the character relationships, I have to admit the characters’ crime-solving skills are impressive. I had a sudden realization of why that might appeal to me…those skills would work equally well in genealogy! After all, we may not be solving crimes, but we genealogists are solving mysteries all the time!  So I offer my favorite detectives as our new research role models…

On Castle, the NYPD homicide unit, led by Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), sets up a “murder board” for each new case.  They take a white board and start with a photo of the victim and some pertinent facts. Next they add information on potential suspects, witnesses, and a timeline of events leading up to the murder.  The character of Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) is a best-selling mystery author who “assists” the detectives on their cases.  Castle usually adds the “outside the box” thinking on how all of the pieces of the mystery fit together with how he, as a writer, would have written the story.

The “murder board” concept is perfect for solving genealogical mysteries. In fact, I realized I’ve had a murder board for years without calling it that.  The victim is the research problem – in my case, the birthplace of my great-grandmother Elizabeth (Elżbieta) Miller Pater. The suspects are the potential places based on clues I’ve found in my research of documents such as passenger list records and other documents that contain information about an immigrant’s birthplace.

On the show Castle, sometimes the detectives really think a particular suspect is the killer – the suspect was in the right place at the right time, had means and motive to commit the crime, and all of the facts seems to support the person as the one who did it.  But sometimes there’s a problem…the suspect “alibis out”.  That’s the term the show uses when a suspect has an alibi that checks out upon further review, so he or she could not have committed the crime because there is some evidence that places the person in another place at the same time.  In genealogical research, we often think we have the right answer based on sources that seem to indicate it’s correct.  But then the answer alibis out.  All records – including some in my great-grandmother’s handwriting – point to the town of Żyrardów as her birthplace.  But Żyrardów  is the wrong suspect – the town alibis out!  When the records were checked, the record for her birth was not found.

What’s next? In solving the murder mystery on Castle, the team turns to other sources such as witnesses or financial records that might lead to more clues or more suspects.  Sometimes they take a closer look at the timeline to see if they missed something in their initial research.  All of these actions have a lot to teach genealogists looking to solve their mysteries when the Number One Suspect alibis out.  In short, look for more clues!  Are there any witnesses?  Maybe older family members recall information that was passed down about the mystery.  Who else was connected to the mystery/victim?  Turn to records for siblings, collateral relatives, or even neighbors of the person you are trying to find. When did things happen? Sometimes just creating a timeline for an individual can help cross some suspected places, times, or events off of the list of suspects.

No matter what avenue your research takes, using the murder board concept can be very helpful – write it all down and plot it all out.  Even the negative searches – the suspects with alibis – need to be listed so you remember what resources you’ve already checked. Often in the show, the characters literally stare at the board trying to see if they missed something that will lead to a new search for a new suspect – or a new search for a former suspect who’s alibi was questionable or unproven. Often Castle will find a new direction based on his unique writer’s view of the “story”. Likewise, it benefits genealogists to re-view information, and to re-search, in order to find that missing piece to the puzzle.  It also helps to get help from someone like Castle – someone not so closely related to the case who might have a different view of those same facts.

I don’t have an actual physical board of information for the case of my great-grandmother’s birthplace, but after watching a few seasons of Castle I’m beginning to think it might be a good idea to throw all the pertinent facts up on the wall, or at least down on paper. This will enable me to review the facts and review the suspects and perhaps finally solve this mystery.  Where is Mr. Castle when I need him? I could use his help!

~ ~ ~

While we’re at it, let’s use a murder board to solve the mystery of how the actor who plays Castle, Nathan Fillion, who has French-Canadian and Irish ancestry, can look like the long-lost twin of genealogist Matthew Bielawa, who has Ukrainian and Galician Polish ancestry.  Hmm, have we ever seen Nathan and Matthew in the same room together?  I think a DNA test is in order…

Christmas: Then and Now

The theme for the 113th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: A Charles Dickens Christmas. In the spirit of Dickens, I was visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future…

Christmas, 1971

Here’s a photo of my big brother and me on Christmas Day in 1971.  I have a unique ability to talk people into doing crazy things for the sake of photography, so in the spirit of brotherly love (just like our hometown, Philadelphia), we re-created the scene forty years later.

Christmas, 2011

The audience for the recreation shot included our parents, my brother’s wife (the photographer), and his three youngest children…who could not stop laughing.

Christmas Future

For the image of Christmas Future, we first considered using my niece and one of the nephews.  However, the one time I would not want all three kids in a picture is the one time they’d protest about not being in it, so we avoided any sibling rivalry on Christmas Day.  We thought about using our parents, which is likely what we will look like in another 30 years. But, given the fact that my brother and I are a bit younger and had difficulty not only recreating the pose, but also getting up off the floor, we decided against it or we’d still be trying to help them stand up.  I try not to envision the future too often since it rarely turns out as I plan, but I hope that in another forty years I’ll still be celebrating Christmas with my brother and his family – and some grandnieces and grandnephews and other loved ones!

[Written for the 113th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: A Charles Dickens Christmas]

Matrilineal Monday

I missed Randy Seaver’s SNGF (Saturday Night Genealogical Fun) this weekend, but it’s been so long since I’ve posted here I decided to turn his SNGF challenge to List Your Matrilineal Line into “Matrilineal Monday”. 

Randy asked us to:

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

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

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

My Matrilineal Line

1) Me

2) Mom

3) Mae (Marianna) Zawodna (02 Aug 1907, Philadelphia, PA – 30 Apr 1986, Philadelphia, PA) married Henry M. Pater

4) Waclawa Slesinska (14 Aug 1885, Dobrosołowo, Poland –  20 May 1956, Philadelphia, PA) married Jozef Zawodny

5) Stanislawa Drogowska (04 Jun 1860, Wilczyn, Poland – 30 Dec 1918, Dobrosołowo, Poland) married Wincenty Ślesiński 

6) Konstancja Kubińska (c.1818, Luszczewo, Poland – 17 Dec 1896, Wilczyn, Poland) married Jan Drogowski

7) Apolonia Lewandowska (c.1796 – c. 1838) married Jozef Kubiński

My Father’s Matrilineal Line

1) Dad

2) Margaret H. Bergmeister (11 Apr 1913, Philadelphia, PA – 14 Jan 1998, Philadelphia, PA) married James Pointkouski

3) Maria Echerer (27 Feb 1875, Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Bavaria, Germany – 05 Feb 1919, Philadelphia, PA) married Josef Bergmeister

4) Margarethe Fischer (21 Jan 1845, Langenbruck, Bavaria – 04 Oct 1895, Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Bavaria) married Karl Echerer

5) Barbara Gürtner (14 Dec 1814, Dörfl, Bavaria – unknown) married Franz X. Fischer

6) Maria Catharine Schwarzmaier (25 May 1785, Waal, Bavaria – c. 1851) married Franz X. Gürtner

7) Barbara unknown married Jacob Schwarzmaier

More Mommas

My maternal grandfather’s side (Henry Pater 1912-1975) represents the shortest branch of my family tree.  I can name his mother, Elżbieta Müller (Elizabeth Miller), but since I have not yet found evidence of her birth I can only provide the possible name of her mother based on secondary evidence: Alzbeta Smetanna (Elżbieta in Polish, Elizabeth in English).

My paternal grandfather’s (James Pointkouski 1910-1980) matrilineal line is equally short.  I can name his mother: Rozalia Kieswetter (08 Aug 1866, Mała Wies, Przybyszew, Poland – 10 Feb 1937, Philadelphia, PA) married Jan Piątkowski.  Rozalia’s mother was Marianna Ostał (unknown, Poland – died after 1900 in Warsaw, Poland) married Jan Kiziewieter .  For now, that’s the farthest I’ve gotten on these lines.

The person on my tree whose matrilineal line goes back the farthest is my 2nd great-grandfather, Karl Echerer (31 May 1846, Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Bavaria – died after 1882, Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Bavaria).  He is my paternal grandmother’s mother’s father.  I can trace his matrilineal line back six generations in Bavaria to the 1600’s.

I have not had any DNA testing done, mtDNA or otherwise, so I have no idea what Haplogroup I’m in – nor, for that matter, what it would tell me.  I will have to investigate further unless someone wants to provide some insight in the comments.

Does this list spur me to find distant cousins that might share one of my matrilineal lines?   Actually, it spurs me to get back to my research – especially on my two grandfather’s maternal lines which are much shorter branches on the family tree than my own maternal line! But that poses an interesting question – are there actually any distant cousins that share these lines?  I don’t think so.  My Pointkouski grandfather’s sister did not have any children, to the best of my knowledge.  I know his mother had at least one brother, but his descendants would not share the matrilineal line and I have not yet discovered a sister.   My Pater grandfather had only brothers, so their descendants do not have the same matrilineal line.  But did my great-grandmother Müller/Miller have any sisters?  I wish I knew!  It is time for more research!

“What Are They Looking For?” Strikes Again

Presenting the 3rd annual Festival of Strange Search Terms that have brought visitors to this blog.  In the spirit of August 2009’s What Are They Looking For? and December 2010’s What Are They Looking For? Redux, it was time to once again review those bizarre phrases that people enter into search engines.  Well, the phrases alone may be bizarre, but what’s more bizarre is that they wind up here as a result.  This is a mere sampling, but here are some of the best of the strange, odd, and unusual search terms that have brought visitors here in 2011 – with my comments, of course! Note: these are actual search terms used!

Genealogy Related…Sort Of

i forgot my name – I’m not sure I can help you with that.

can i have my great great grandmothers gene – If she is really your great-great grandmother, then you should have a couple of her genes.

gradma [sic] roulette – I’m not sure if this is about Grandma playing roulette, or…?

joey tempest is he married?  have a child? – Is this an ex? Is this a jealous ex? And does Google really answer questions like these?

how do i title a photo with my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in it – My Family

what is polish name for fred – Fred.  No, really!

 Vague Searches

where was my family from? – Perhaps you should see Steve Morse’s Finding Your Great-Grandfather in One Step

italian girl that immigrated teenager – I’d suggest a slightly more specific search parameter.

how to find family who lived a hundred years ago – Are you hoping to find the actual family now or just evidence of their existence back then?

Make Me LOL

family tree of first miller immigrant to new york – If only it were that easy!

how to bring old family pictures back to life – This reminds me of a bad ‘70s horror movie where the pictures come to life.

why cake misspelling so common – I have no idea, but now I want to know why…

baptist ladies “from left” – “All the Baptist ladies, all the Baptist ladies…”  What about those from the right?

sons that can not separate from mothers – Run.  Trust me on this one.

Really?

map of were [sic] most of germans live in Germany – Wirklich?

adults in an unusual facial expression in an unusual situation – I don’t even want to know.

dumb mistakes – I try to only publicize my dumb genealogical mistakes here, so you won’t find all of my dumb mistakes.

christmas 1966 or 1967 or 1968 or 1969 or 1970 or 1971 “family photos” – or something…

winter blizzard humor – There is nothing funny about winter blizzards!!!!

The Bard

shakespeares certificate of marriage – There is actually a mystery surrounding Shakespeare and a crossed-out entry in the parish book days before his recorded marriage.  But, you’ll have to find that out elsewhere…

shakespeare translation for “hey, what’s up?” – “How now?”  He used it a lot.

goethe what is past is prologue – Shakespeare said it first!

past is prologue tattoo – Cool!

Call Me

götz ursula regensburg – Please come back! She’s my great-great grandmother and I really need to know more about her!

So there you have it!  The next edition of the What’s Past is Prologue search term carnival will include more bizarre, freakish, and unusual ways that bring me more traffic.  Until next time, I remain the Queen of Forgotten Unusual Facial Expressions and Dumb Mistake Cake Spelling Roulette.  [Note: My past crown titles include Queen and Super-Finder of Renegade Name-Labeled Regal Dog Portraits and Queen of Ugly Teady Beer Shakespearean Transvestite Marriage Photos. I bet you’re jealous now.]  

Sweet Sixteen Redux

Back on August 9, 2009, Randy Seaver presented another Saturday Night Genealogical Fun (SNGF) challenge for readers to document their sixteen great-great-grandparents.  I responded to the call with Sweet Sixteen: My Great-Great Grandparents.  But, my tree was a little bare in some spots.  I did not know at least 4 names and was “iffy” on two more.  In fact, I only had documented birth and death dates for 3 of the 16.

A few months later, I was able to update my list with A Sweeter “Sweet Sixteen” – I had documented proof of 4 of the missing names.  Then, last year I attended the NGS conference in Salt Lake City and found a lot of additional information that was previously missing with many marriage and birth records.

Today, Randy posed a very similar SNGF challenge.  I decided to take a look at my list to see what I had learned in the two years since my original post. While I still have a lot of research to do, I was able to add 4 of the “unknown” birth details into the “documented” category (which means I know the names of 8 more great-great-greats!). A bigger challenge was correcting the place names. Rather than simply put the name of the town and the current country, I attempted to figure out the town, county or equivalent, state or equivalent, and country name at the time of the event.  For my Polish ancestors, whose borders changed more frequently than I can keep track of, Steve Danko’s post on Describing Place Names in Poland was invaluable.  I hope I got them right!

Here is my revised/updated Sweet Sixteen:

Note: [d] = documented , [p]=presumed based on other documents

16. Stanisław Piątkowski

• b. 1842, Mogilev, Mogilev Gubernia, Russian Empire [p]
• m. Apolonia Konopka on 10 May 1863, Holy Cross Parish church in Warsaw, Warsaw Obwód, Mazowsze Voivodeship, Congress Kingdom of Poland [d]
• d. unknown [presumed Warsaw before 1900]
• Son of Ludwik Piątkowski and Benigna Kosecka

17. Apolonia Konopka

• b. 1842, Konopki, Augustów Gubernia, Poland [p]
• d. unknown [presumed Warsaw before 1900]
• Daughter of Stanisław Konopka and Rozalia Karwowska

18. Jan Kiziewieter

• b. 1831, unknown [Poland]
• m. Marianna Ostał before 1866 [p]
• d. unknown [between 1876-1900, presumed near Warsaw]
• Parents’ names unknown

19. Marianna Ostał

• b. 1833, unknown [Poland]
• d. unknown [after 1900, presumed Warsaw]
• Parents’ names unknown

20. Josef Bergmeister

• b. 09 Feb 1843, Puch, Pörnbach, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Oberbayern, Bayern [d]
• m. Ursula Dallmeier on 11 Apr 1871 in Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Oberbayern, Bayern, Germany [d]
• d. unknown [presumed Regensburg or München before 1885]
• Son of Jakob Bergmeister and Anna Maria Daniel

21. Ursula Dallmeier

• b. 17 Mar 1847, Aichach, Aichach-Friedberg, Schwaben, Bayern [d]
• d. unknown [presumed Regensberg between 1897 – 1919]
• m2. Herman Götz by 1885 [p]
• Daughter of Josef Dallmeier and Ursula Eulinger

22. Karl Echerer

• b. 31 May 1846, Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Oberbayern, Bayern [d]
• m. Margarethe Fischer 18 May 1874, Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Oberbayern, Bayern, Germany [d]
• d. unknown [presumed after 1882, Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm]
• Son of Ignaz Echerer and Magdalena Nigg

23. Margarethe Fischer

• b. 21 Jan 1845, Langenbruck, Reichertshofen, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Oberbayern, Bayern [d]
• d. 04 Oct 1895, Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Oberbayern, Bayern, Germany [d]
• Daughter of Franz Xaver Fischer and Barbara Gürtner

24. Józef Pater

• b. 21 Sep 1864, Ruda Guzowska, Błoński Powiat, Warsaw Gubernia, Kingdom of Poland [d]
• m. Antoninan Rozalia Pluta on 25 Aug 1885 in Mszczonów, Błoński Powiat, Warsaw Gubernia, Vistula Land, Russian Empire [d]
• d. 11 Aug 1945, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA [d]
• Son of Jan Pater and Teofilia Zakrzewska

25. Antonina Rozalia Pluta

• b. 11 Jun 1863, Mszczonów, Błoński Powiat, Warsaw Gubernia, Kingdom of Poland [d]
• d. 12 Dec 1938, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA [d]
• Daughter of Ludwik Pluta and Franciszka Wojciechowska

26. Jan Müller

• b. unknown [presumed Bohemia]
• m. Elżbieta Smetana by 1881 in unknown place
• d. unknown [presumed Żyrardów, Poland after 1909]
• Parents’ names unknown

27. Elizabeth Smetanna

• b. unknown [presumed Bohemia]
• d. unknown [presumed Żyrardów, Poland]
• Parents’ names unknown

28. Wawrzyniec Zawodny

• b. 11 July 1850, Wilczyn, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Kingdom of Poland [d]
• m. Katarzyna Mariańska on 10 May 1875 in Dobrosołowo, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Vistula Land, Russian Empire [d]
• d. 13 Dec 1917, Dobrosołowo, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Regency Kingdom of Poland [d]
• Son of Szymon Zawodny and Katarzyna Ratajewska

29. Katarzyna Mariańska

• b. 19 Oct 1852, Komorowo, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Kingdom of Poland [d]
• d. 29 Jul 1923, Dobrosołowo, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Republic of Poland [d]
• Daughter of Stanisław Mariański and Michalina Radomska

30. Wincenty Ślesiński

• b. 11 Jul 1850, Wilczyn, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Kingdom of Poland [d]
• m. Stanisława Drogowska 03 Sep 1879 in Wilczyn, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Vistula Land, Russian Empire [d]
• d. 01 Jan 1919, Dobrosołowo, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Republic of Poland [d]
• Son of Jozef Ślesiński and Elżbieta Michalowska

31. Stanisława Drogowska

• b. 04 Jun 1860, Wilczyn, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Kingdom of Poland [d]
• d. 30 Dec 1918, Dobrosołowo, Słupecki Powiat, Kalisz Gubernia, Republic of Poland [d]
• Daughter of Jan Drogowski and Konstancja Kubica

My ancestry remains the same as calculated two years ago: 62.5% Polish (the guy born in what is now Belarus is ethnically Polish), 25% German (technically Bavarian since Germany did not exist as a unified state until 1871), and 12.5% presumed Czech (Bohemian).  Thanks, Randy, now those blanks are really bothering me!

The WDYTYA Drinking Game

Genealogists really love Friday nights since the return of NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are (WDYTYA) . Well, knowing our crowd, we loved Friday nights even before the show’s return, but this makes the start of the weekend even more fun.  We like to watch it, we like to criticize it, we like to blog about it, we like to tweet about it, we like to discuss it.  Face it – WE LIKE IT! To add to the fun, I offer the WDYTYA Drinking Game.  Unlike most stunts, you actually are encouraged to try this at home rather than while you’re out!  The rules are simple – just before showtime grab a glass, can, or bottle of your favorite beverage.  If one of the following events happens during the show, take a swig of your favorite swill:

* The celebrity finds new information and remarks, “Well, I guess I have to go to <insert town, state, or country> now!” – one drink

* The celebrity goes back several generations in two minutes or less – one drink for each generation

* There is a plug for Ancestry in the show – one drink if Ancestry is accessed by a researcher, and two drinks if by the celebrity

* The celebrity finds a photograph of their ancestor in a library or archive – one drink, two if it’s a tintype

* During the commercial break, there’s a commercial for Ancestry – one drink, and get up to refill during the other commercials

* White gloves are used to handle a document – one drink

* White gloves are NOT used to handle a document – two drinks, three if you tweet The Photo Detective or footnoteMaven to complain about it

* The celebrity says, “Wow!” after a find – one drink (Caution notice: after seeing the coming attractions for the Rosie O’Donnell episode, make sure your DVR is set if your beverage of choice is alcoholic, because you might be passed out before the show is over.)

* The celebrity compares the ancestor’s life story to their own – one drink

* A genea-colleague tweets, “Hey, I’m related to <celebrity’s ancestor> too!” during the show – one drink, two drinks if you are related too, three if you call in to Geneabloggers Radio to talk about it

* While watching,  you think “I could have found that!” – one drink, two drinks if you can formulate a proper source citation for it while drinking

* The celebrity takes notes – one drink, two drinks if they use a computer.

* A genea-colleague tweets, “Hey, my ancestors are from <celebrity’s ancestor’s location> too!” during the show – one drink, two drinks if yours are from there too

* You know the librarian, archivist, or genealogist who is helping the celebrity on the show – one drink

* You are the librarian, archivist, or genealogist who is helping the celebrity on the show – buy a few cases of beverages and host a party for the rest of us

Enjoy the show tonight, and remember – do try this at home!  Add your own suggestions in the comments…

The Date I Was Born

This week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF) at Randy Seaver’s Genea-Musings is all about the Date You Were Born.  Suddenly I was on a trip down memory lane…not to the day of my birth, but to my freshman year of college when I had to write about the day of my birth.  What did I find out?  Read all about it below – but first I will answer Randy’s specific challenge.  He asks:

1) What day of the week were you born? Tell us how you found out.

I was born on a Wednesday.  I found this out when my parents told me!

2) What has happened in recorded history on your birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events.

I was born on the 67th day of 1967 (that’s March 8).  On that day in history, there are a lot of events listed in Wikipedia.  None of them, however, are earth-shattering historical events that are talked about centuries later. It appears that my birth might be the most exciting thing that ever happened that day (ahem). Here are five of the more interesting other events that have occurred on March 8th:

• 1775 – Thomas Paine’s “African Slavery in America,” the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery, is published.
• 1817 – The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
• 1917 – International Women’s Day protests in St. Petersburg contributed to the February Revolution and ultimately led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, ending the Romanov dynasty in Russia.
• 1979 – Philips demonstrates the Compact Disc publicly for the first time.
• 1983 – President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an “evil empire”.

3)  What famous people have been born on your birth date?  Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.

Using the same page in Wikipedia, I discovered these five others with my birthday:

• 1495 – John of God, Portuguese-born friar and saint (d. 1550)
• 1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1935)
• 1922 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (d. 2008)
• 1959 – Aidan Quinn, American actor
• 1945 – Micky Dolenz, American musician (The Monkees)

If we could get all of the musicians born on 3/8 together, we’d have an interesting group with members from The Monkees, The Eagles, Three Dog Night, Iron Maiden, and Keane.  One can only imagine what that would sound like…

As I said in the beginning, I wrote an essay about the date of my birth for an English composition class in my freshman year of college.  I found it in my files after seeing Randy’s challenge.  The date I submitted it was January 22, 1986 – almost exactly 25 years ago.  I was 19 years old and still had a lot to learn about writing, life, and myself.  But my teacher, Mrs. Bonnie Balcer, loved the essay and many others that I wrote.  She praised  my writing and encouraged me so much that I credit her for my decision to abandon the ill-conceived idea that I wanted to be a teacher, and instead I majored in English.  Twenty-five years later, I still have a lot to learn about writing, life, and myself.  But I’d like to thank Mrs. Balcer, wherever she is, for pointing me in the write direction.  (In looking for this essay, I also found one from my first semester of graduate school four years later. I wrote about my recent exploits in genealogical research. The title of that paper? What’s Past is Prologue.  Yes, I will have to reprint that essay here as well…)  This would have been a lot easier to reproduce here if it weren’t for the fact that back then I wrote on a typewriter…

This is the Day the Lord Has Made…Me

Wednesday, March 8, 1967 was an ordinary day in the lives of many people.  No major headlines graced the front page of the New York Times, no scientific breakthroughs were made, and no events of great historical importance took place.  Despite the mundaneness of the day, it was one of great significance to my family and me; it was the day of my birth.  However, the world only celebrates one’s birthday if he is very famous, so the world continued its life as I began mine, neither of us concerned with the other.  Looking back on that day, there were many interesting occurrences besides my birth.

The pages of the New York Times were filled with news about Vietnam.  The North Vietmanese attacked an American zone for the second time in a week.  Senator Robert F. Kennedy suggested that, in order to see if North Vietnam was sincere about wanting to negotiate, the United States should end bomb raids.

In the United States, Washington, D.C. seemed far removed from the Vietnam crisis.  The big problem there was a dispute over where to house diplomats in the city. Those uninterested in that quarrel may have fancied the rumor that Press Secretary Henry Cabot Lodge might resign. People all over the U.S. may have been happy to see that Jimmy Hoffa was finally put into prison after ten years of escaping the sentence.

Besides all of these headlines, Roman Catholics of the world were told by the Vatican that only sacred music was permitted for use in Church.  Because I grew up alien to the pre-Vatican II days, it was interesting to see the Church still receiving the impact of Vatican II at the time of my birth.

Two stories particularly resembled issues of today. One concerned abortion, an issue on which people take sides today. But in 1967 there was no question – abortion was illegal unless the mother’s life was endangered. The New York State legislature rejected a bill that would make the law more lenient. Because of the 15 to 3 vote, the state was criticized as trying to “abort abortion”.

The second familiar issue was nuclear disarmament. The U.S. and Russia proposed a treaty to ban the spread of nuclear weapons, but India felt it discriminated against non-nuclear countries. India also wanted joint action against the proposal. In a modern world that is still trying to achieve disarmament, it is evident that the treaty never came to life.

Another fascinating section of the paper was the entertainment section. Because faithful viewers protested the cancellation of Gunsmoke, it was returned to the air. The TV listings for the prime time hours of the major networks resembled the daytime schedules of independent stations today. Popular shows were Lost in Space, Batman, Green Acres, Gomer Pyle, Perry Mason, and The Beverly Hillbillies.  Today’s hit, The Cosby Show, was far from Bill Cosby’s mind as he enjoyed fame with I Spy. One facet of 1967 television was exactly the same as today – the soap operas. Some were General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, and Guiding Light, all of which can be seen today.

Coke is another part of our culture that is still around today, and it was in the headlines in 1967 as in recent months. There wasn’t any talk of “New Coke,” “Old Coke,” or “Coke Classic” though. The news concerned the price, which was scheduled to go up from 10 cents to 15 cents a bottle. If Coke’s price doesn’t best reflect the economy, the price of gold does – a mere $35 an ounce.

As anyone can see, the world of 1967 is both different and similar to the world of 1986. Many changes have occurred in the past 19 years, although not all of the changes were good. The world still has little concern for me, as on that cold day in March, and at times I have little concern for it. We’ve both grown a lot, but I can’t say if we’ve both “grown up.” I’m glad I did.

#

Why, oh why didn’t someone give that newborn baby her weight in gold?

Ancestral Roulette

I’m late to the party – the Saturday Night Genealogical Fun (SNGF) party brought to us each week by Randy Seaver.  This week, Randy challenged us with Ancestral Name List Roulette:

1) How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your “roulette number.”

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an “ahnentafel”). Who is that person?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the “roulette number.”

My Grandpop, James Pointkouski, was born on July 6, 1910 and would be 100 right now if he were alive. Therefore, my “roulette number” is 25.  My ahnentafel #25 is my mother’s father’s father’s mother: my great-great grandmother Antonina Rozalia Pluta Pater (born 11 June 1863, Mszczonów, Poland; died 12 December 1938, Philadelphia, PA, USA).

This was a fortunate roll of the roulette wheel since I actually know a few things about her!  My 3 facts about Antonina:

• Antonina was my only 2nd great-grandmother to immigrate to the U.S., which meant my grandfather, Henry Pater, was my only grandparent that knew his grandmother (he was 26 when she died).
• Antonina was also the only mother-in-law to any of my “greats” that lived in the same country as the couple. Rumor has it that she did not get along with her daughter-in-law Elizabeth Miller Pater (my great-grandmother).
• Antonina died two weeks before my mother’s 3rd birthday.  One of my mother’s earliest memories is attending her great-grandmother’s wake. Her father made her kiss Antonina “good-bye”, which probably explains why my mother isn’t very fond of wakes or funerals to this day.

‘Twas Just Days Before Christmas Again!

This post was originally published on December 21, 2008, and it was repeated again on the same date in 2009.  I wanted to repeat it yet again for new visitors who missed it previously.  You’ll notice that I left in the reference to Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County…a click on the link will take you to Terry’s obituary at his blog.  Terry left this earth on August 9th this year, but I really couldn’t bring myself to change this parody from how I originally wrote it (and I still have the feed to his dormant blog in my blog reader).  In 2008, Terry commented on this post with his signature line: “What FUN!” 

Santa is definitely going to put us all on the naughty list if we don’t get around to researching his family tree soon!  Merry Christmas to all!

‘Twas just days before Christmas and all through the ‘net
Bloggers were quiet, even the Graveyard Rabbit.
Some were snowed in, all covered in ice
With some frightful weather that’s really not nice.

Others were busy with presents and wrap,
While some settled in for a long winter’s nap.
But then Genea-Santa made it home from the mall
And with urgency put out a very frantic call.

“Oh genea-bloggers, can you help me so?
Someone has asked for their ancestors to know.
I’m used to toys, books, and games on the list,
My elves tried Ancestry.com and can’t get the gist.”

“Can you please help?” good Santa did ask,
“So I can complete this impossible task?”
Before Old St. Nick barely finished his post
The bloggers started to answer, from coast to coast.

First Sheri, then Jasia, and Terry from Monroe County,
Then Randy, then Lisa, and Thomas upped the bounty.
Many sources did footnoteMaven then cite,
while Donna and Becky joined in the plight.

Steve and Miriam and DearMyrtle too
Used Census and newspapers to find every last clue.
The charts were all filled and ready for Santa’s sack,
Combined we had traced twelve generations back!

Santa was impressed, the pedigree had nary a hole
“Can you help me find my folks from the North Pole?”
We said we’d try, maybe next year.
Our promise left him jolly and full of good cheer.

So he subscribed to our blogs, to join in our fun
And said he’d return when his hard work was done
Santa signed off, having found what he sought
“Merry Christmas to all, may your searching not be for naught!”

-with many apologies to and great appreciation of Mr. Clement Clarke Moore…(and apologies to the many genealogy bloggers I left out for space and rhyming constraints!)

What Are They Looking For? Redux

It’s time for a much needed humor break, so welcome to the 2nd annual Festival of Strange Search Terms.  In August, 2009, I unleashed a flurry of amazingly bizarre yet true search terms that people used to “find” this blog in What are They Looking For? I have not been faithful at keeping track of the daily search terms and saving the “good” ones to make fun of publicize here – the free WordPress statistics thingy doesn’t archive every term and only counts the most recent unless you have many searches for the same terms.  Candidates for those multiple searches are not the, ahem, Exciting Topics but the “normal” searches like “Gene Kelly” (over 2,500 in the past year), Philadelphia marriage records (over 1,200), “meaning of What’s Past is Prologue” (300, usually around exam time), and the name of my childhood friend who I’ve only mentioned in two photo captions (34).  But I really should check every day because I’m guaranteed a chuckle a few times a week at the very least.  Once again, I’m amazed that people enter these phrases into the search engine of their choice.  And I’m amazed that they somehow wind up here using those phrases.  May I now present you with the best of the strange, odd, and downright scary search terms that have brought many visitors here in 2010 (note: these are actual search terms used):

GENEALOGY RELATED…SORT OF

can’t find marriage – Yeah, me neither.  Do you really have to rub it in?

renegade records philadelphia – Well, I’m certainly intrigued.  I’d love to learn more about these records myself…I’m sure I have a few renegades in my family!

someone came on a boat to united states – Here’s a hint…you might want to be a teensy bit more specific if you’re seaching for your ancestor.  I’ve heard there were actually lots of people that came on a boat to the United States.

only had six great great grandparents – Hmm.  I’m pretty sure you had sixteen unless there was quite a bit of either incest or first-cousin marriages.

VAGUE SEARCHES

german man – I really hope this wasn’t a beginner genealogist’s first attempt at a query!

my ancestors that are from the past – As opposed to your ancestors that are from the future?

unusual situation – I’ve mentioned a few in this blog, but you are looking for one because…?

what + (past)? – Haven’t + (clue)!

MAKE ME LOL

super-finder of passenger arrival record – Yes, that’s me!  How may I help you?

name labeling for babies – Labeling?!

family portrait dog 60’s – Many genealogists search for portraits of their ancestors.  Or their dogs.

regal family photo shoot – Oh, they must have been looking for the final photo on this post.

patron saint of parking – Thanks to Dr. Danko’s comment, I’ll get this one a lot from now on.

facebook from the past – I’m fairly certain my grandparents didn’t have Facebook back in the 1930s.

REALLY?

recruitment posters american revolution – Did they have them?  Wasn’t secrecy best when it comes to seditious rebellion?

shakespeare baptism act church – I can only wonder if the searcher wants to know about Shakespeare’s own baptism or one he wrote about.  Either/or, I’m relatively sure I didn’t write about it!

take me back to december 31, 1957 – Wait, let me gas up the Delorean!

what is “*” – Maybe this one belongs under “Make Me LOL”

may i ask what this is in regards to? – Funny, I have the same question!

CALL ME

the family of walburga schober – No, seriously, email me.  She’s my 4th great-grandmother!

So there you have it!  The next edition of this search term carnival will include more bizarre, freakish, and unusual ways that bring me more traffic!  If you’re a genealogy blogger, do you encounter these strange and unusual researchers?  Tell me about your best search terms!  Until next time, I remain the Queen and Super-Finder of Renegade Name-Labeled Regal Dog Portraits.  Hmm, let them find that the next time they search for an “unusual situation”!

SNGF: A Prolific Dad

In honor of Father’s Day tomorrow, Randy Seaver chose an interesting topic for this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF):  who was the most prolific dad in your family’s history?

Once again, I rely on my Bergmeister family for the answer (usually because this is the line I know the most about).  The most prolific dad, or the man in my ancestry that fathered the most children, is Jakob Bergmeister (20 May 1805 – 18 Sep 1870.  He and his wife, Anna Maria Daniel (24 Jun 1812 – 02 Feb 1871), had fifteen children in nineteen years.  Most of the children did not survive to adulthood, but it is an awe-inspiring number nonetheless.  Personally, I think Anna Maria deserves the honor for this feat – her job was harder.

When the couple married on 02 Jun 1835, Jakob was 30 years old and Anna Maria was almost 23.  She bore her first child at the age of 14, and her last at age 43.  Jakob was a father for the first time at age 31, and at 50 for the final time.  Their children were:

• 1836 Aug 08 – Anna Maria – died Aug 14.
• 1837 Aug 15 – Michael – survived to adulthood.  Marries in 1866 and has at least two sons.  Each of his sons had a son who died fighting in World War I.
• 1839 Sep 12 – Jakob – unknown if  survived to adulthood
• 1840 Nov 22 – Maria Anna – unknown if survived to adulthood
• 1841 Dec 7 – Josef – died Dec 13.
• 1843 Feb 9 – Josef – my ancestor, the father of my great-grandfather Josef.
• 1844 Jan 8 – Johann – died Apr 4 same year.
• 1845 Feb 25 – Castulus – survived to adulthood.  Marries and has several children before his death on 01 May 1912.  I have met several of his descendants.
• 1846 Jun 15 – Anton – died Sep 3 same year.
• 1847 Oct 22 – Walburga – unknown if survived to adulthood
• 1849 Jun 17 – Anna Maria – unknown if survived to adulthood
• 1850 July 31 – ??? – died Sep 15 same year.
• 1851 Sep 08 – Martin – died Sep 19.
• 1853 Nov 16 – Barbara – died Nov 27.
• 1855 Jun 02 – Kreszens – survived to adulthood.  Married Johann Baptist Haeckl on 22 May 1878.

Of Jakob and Anna Maria’s 15 children, 3 boys and 1 girl definitely survived to adulthood, 7 children died in infancy, and the fate of 4 is unknown.