John Joyce, Where Are You?

Common names are so frustrating to research. My John Joyce is killing me. If he weren't already long dead I might kill him myself. Grrr. 

Where are you buried great-great-great grandpa o' mine?

I can't find a death certificate for him in the NY City Municipal Archives records. There are John Joyces, many of them which is the problem but maybe he didn't die in the City of New York even though all his children were born and died in the city.
 
His wife, Mary Ann O'Neill-Joyce is buried in Calvary Cemetery. I suspect John is interred there...somewhere. I went through the hassle and expense of ordering the list of plot interment. Mary Ann is one of seven people interred in one family plot which means I paid $120; $90 for the first name and $5 for each additional name. I did this with the hope that John was along side of her and that it would lead me to his death certificate. But nope! No, John.

This investment is not a total lose, of course. I did receive a list of six other individuals buried with Mary Ann. This included four of her six children and two grandchildren. 

The four children buried with her are:

• John A. Joyce Jr. who died at age 38 on February 27, 1896.
• George Joyce who died at age 76 on March 6, 1931.
• Gertrude Joyce-Sheridan who died at age 70 on April 21, 1934.
• Mary J. Joyce who died at age 79 on January 24, 1940.

The two grandkids were the children of my great-great grandparents, Michael Fay and Agnes Joyce-Fay. They were two children that I knew nothing about and would not have known even existed if I depended on census records alone. They were:

• John Lawrence Fay who died at 2 months old on September 21, 1894.
• Michael Fay who died at 1 year old on July 22, 1897.  

The next time I have the chance to visit the NYC Municipal Archives I will look at the death certificates for these family members as I am curious to see their causes of death. Cause of death is one of the things not indexed on any list of NYC death certificates.

But again, when did John die and where the heck is he buried?

The Murder-Suicide: Portraits

I was recently contacted through this blog by a distant cousin. Cousin Laura is my third cousin which means we have the same great-great grandparents in common; Victor Henry and Annette Hinch-Henry.

Although Cousin Laura and I did not know each other, I do know her grandmother. She and I had met at a family reunion many years ago. At that reunion another cousin brought a photo of the man who is our common ancestor. Cousin Laura was able to send me a digital photo of Victor Henry.

Victor Henry committed a murder-suicide on June 23, 1908 when he was just 34 years-old. Cousin Laura knew of the suicide but not the murder. I suspect it was an event Victor's children wanted buried with their father.

In retelling this event I want to clearly distinguish facts from the story.

• FACT: On the morning of June 23, 1908, Victor Henry went to the residence of Mrs. Mary Ann Hinch-Cassidy on Water Street in Woodhaven, Queens, NY
• FACT: Mary Ann was a widow and the first cousin on Victor's wife;  Annette Hinch-Henry.
• FACT: Victor shot and killed Mary Ann and then turned the revolver on himself.

Now the story, as told through several newspapers articles is that Victor was married with three children but that he was estranged from his wife, Annette. During the alleged separation, Victor had taken up boarding in Mary Ann's house which I just find weird. Why would you want to live with your estranged spouse's family? Or better yet, why would they want you living with them? But I digress... It is interesting to note that the year before, in 1907, Victor's mother, Mary Carrillion-Henry, had also resided and passed away at a house on Water Street.

Most of the newspaper articles state that Victor and Mary Ann were romantically involved or that at the very least Victor had romantic interest in Mary Ann. The neighbors who were interviewed for the articles state jealousy was Victor's motivation but who really knows what his motivation was. He was undoubtedly unwell as anyone is who takes such drastic measures.

You can read an article about the murder-suicide for free online from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 23 June 1908, page 1, http://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/5132888//. There is also an article from the following day, 24 June 1908, buried on page 14 (http://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/5132772//) which states that Victor's brother, Charles (by the way, I don't know of any brother named Charles although that was Victor's son's name), told reporters that yes, Victor was madly in love with Mary Cassidy but it is untrue that he ever boarded at her home or that he was separated from his wife.

This here is an image of Mary Ann Hinch-Cassidy, the murder victim and Annette Hinch-Henry's first cousin. The photo is cropped from a digital image posted by another Ancestry.com user. Until this past week, I had never seen this picture or any other images of Mary Ann but I definitely see a family resemblance.

It's been too long...so long...scrapbook.

It has been a while since I have written. I have not had much spare time this semester but that all comes to an end tomorrow. That's right, I'm never going to study another thing again. Well, maybe that is taking it a bit too far but I'm definitely not studying anything on Thursday, that's for sure. For tomorrow, Wednesday April 27, 2016, I submit my final report on my capstone project; Mr. Boller's Scrapbook (http://bollerscrapbook.omeka.net/exhibits/show/c--v--boller-s-scrapbook/biography)

That's right, I am graduating - finally - with my second master of arts degree in public history from St. John's University.

What is public history? I get that question a lot. It's kind of like the history side of museum studies; it's about making history accessible to the public.

For the past academic year I have been working on researching and analyzing the materials bound together in one man's scrapbook dating from 1883 in his home town of Lexington, Illinois to 1907 in the garment district of New York City with a majority of it's contents focused on his life in Chicago. Mr. Claude Villette Boller was a tailor by trade who rose through the ranks of the noteworthy mail order distributor, Montgomery Ward & Co. In 1905, Chicago was the scene of one of the bloodiest labor strikes in U.S. history. That strike began in the Montgomery Ward fabric cutting room where Mr. Boller was the manager. But today I don't want to talk about the strike or the trial that followed, or the website I built about it. I want to write about how genealogy research and the networking power of Ancestry.com answered the more important, and perhaps the harder questions about Mr. Boller's life.

As soon as my colleague, Librarian Karen :) , showed me the scrapbook my first month on the job back in July 2013, I instantly wanted to know how we got this resources. All Karen knew was that it had been in our library longer than she has been. I wasn't sure if I would ever get the answer to that fundamental question but I knew how I was going to try.

I got on Ancestry.com and started looking for documentation on Mr. Boller. I used the many census records I found to build a family tree for him and I contacted every Ancestry user who had Mr. Boller or his immediate family members in their trees.

Six months after writing scores of emails I finally got the reply I needed. Oh, I got many replies prior to this one but those users didn't know much about the Mr. Boller or his life in NY. But over the recess between the Fall 2015 semester and this Spring 2016 semester, I got a reply from a gentleman named Mike.

Mike wrote that his grandmother had a brother named Claude Villette Boller. Based on an obituary I had seen for Mr. Boller, I deduced that Mike had to be the grandson of Mr. Boller's daughter, Geraldine. I wrote Mike back and said, "If your grandmother was Geraldine Boller than your great uncle was Claude Villette Boller, Junior and this scrapbook belonged to your great grandfather, Claude Villete Senior." Thus began an exchange of genealogical information that only a historian and a descendant could exchange.

I wrote Mike about the details of Great Grandpa Boller's life as revealed to me through his scrapbook and he wrote me about the facts his father, Mr. Boller's grandson, could recall. In short time it was made clear that the obituary I was working with had wrong information in it. The obituary said Mr. Boller's daughter, Kathryn, was married to a man who's last name was Flood. Mike assured me though that her married name was Kathryn Foote, not Flood.

That detail changed everything. Mr. Norman Foote was a long time administrator in the School of Agriculture at what is now called Farmingdale State College where Mr. Boller's scrapbook resides. Whether Mr. Foote bequeathed the scrapbook to us or unloaded it on us is unknown. Did he generously give it to us? Did he move away and dump all his books in the library? We will never know and nor does it matter. We have it and it is wonderful.

The moral of the story though is that stories are important and usually it takes time and patience to create a great story. Sometimes a whole lifetime. Be patient and persistent in your mission to get the whole story. But know that those answers you seek do not always come from well trusted documentation. They come from people, people with family stories. Yes families tell "stories" and Yes, people make mistakes. But people also make mistakes in writing articles and drawing up documents.

Finding Your Roots: The Irish Factor (S3 E2)

I was recently asked if I could do a workshop on Irish Ancestry Research. I declined because although I have Irish ancestry and have researched my Irish ancestors, I do not feel I am enough of an expert to teach other how to use Irish records. And perhaps that is because, as Henry Louis Gates Jr. points out in this episode, the majority of Ireland's records were lost in the early 20th century.

The details Gates leaves out is that this is due in large part to the Irish Civil War. In June 1922 the national repository building, called Four Courts, was seized during the Battle of Dublin and was destroyed by explosives and subsequent fires. Now in order to do your Irish research you must know the county or parish from whence your ancestors came.

For many of us Irish-Americans that knowledge is lost. Eight of my 32 great-great-great grandparents were born in Ireland; a whole 25% of them. I can get two of those 8 lines across the pond to their Irish Counties of origin. One of those lines were research by elder cousins before I was even born. The other's County was discovered through an obituary.

That being the case, I have not had much opportunity to use the Irish records that do exist but Finding Your Roots did; specifically Gates showed their use of Griffith's Valuation. The Griffith's Valuation is a detailed guide to the property, land and households of mid-19th-century Ireland. It is not a census. Only the head of each household is identified. It only identifies who owned or rented what land, assessed the value of the land, and determined the tax to be paid on the property.

Gates also points out that aside from County records, church records are incredibly helpful. He reveals to Bill Maher a church baptismal record for his great-great grandfather. Gates tells Maher, a strong atheist, "The church is there. You could go visit the church." To which Maher replies, "Let's not go crazy, Skip." Gates then underscores that this is often the only documentation that a person existed, a church record. "Thank God for the Church," Gates says. Which is true. Churches and government agencies are the record keepers.

I tell most of my patrons when we start that some families are better documented than others. They keep really good documents on the wealthy and criminals. In other words if we can't find much, your people were probably just good ole regular joes.

I always feel a little bad when I find out something unsavory about a patrons ancestor but it's kind of true as this episode shows us when Gates reveals to Soledad O'Brien that her Irish ancestor who wound up in Australian was a criminal. Based on deeper research though, it is revealed that her ancestor who committed robbery did so due to the poverty in which he lived.

Digging into your ancestors records, digging up the dirt humanize them because, after all, they were human. Flawed and imperfect. You inherited part of them but you are not them. They lived their own lives, stories, had their own feelings and thoughts and struggles.

I really enjoyed seeing that realization and connection come across Bill Maher's face when he saw the baptismal record of his great great grandfather and says, "I wish I knew what they were like, and what they thought, what they dreamed about."

Don't we all, Bill, don't we all.

The result was Griffith's Valuation – full name The General Valuation of the Rateable Property in Ireland but also known as the Primary Valuation (of Tenements) – a detailed guide of the property, land and households of mid-19th-century Ireland. It is not a census. It covers who owned what and who rented what, and assessed the value on which each identifiable 'parcel' of land and/or property should be taxed.
Only the head of each household is identified. Family relationships and other personal information were not recorded.
- See more at: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Griffiths-Valuation.html#sthash.Y3lbvIBL.dpuf

The result was Griffith's Valuation – full name The General Valuation of the Rateable Property in Ireland but also known as the Primary Valuation (of Tenements) – a detailed guide of the property, land and households of mid-19th-century Ireland. It is not a census. It covers who owned what and who rented what, and assessed the value on which each identifiable 'parcel' of land and/or property should be taxed.
Only the head of each household is identified. Family relationships and other personal information were not recorded.
- See more at: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Griffiths-Valuation.html#sthash.Y3lbvIBL.dpuf

Client File #1: Mrs. F Mother's Mysterious Letter

I'd like to talk about some of the amazing finds I have been privileged to share with the patrons I have worked with as a part time genealogy librarian in a public library here on Long Island. In order to write these posts I am going to alter the names of those involved in an effort to conceal their real identities. Its a matter of privacy.

As a librarian it is my responcibility to ensure my patrons' right to privacy. You have the right to open inquiry without your interests being examined or scrutinized or spread about town. "You know that girl over there was looking up information on abortion." Guess what? Mine is not to judge and it's nobody's business but your own what you research in a library. I am here to help you find the information YOU want/need. Librarians protect your right to read and research without your motivations being questions. And family history research is a personal matter. I take that responsibility very seriously but on the other hand some of the lessons learned in researching are just too remarkable and enlightening not to share. And so, let me tell you about Mrs. F.'s letter.

Mrs. F wanted to know more about her mother who had come to the U.S. in about 1920 from Czechoslovakia. In 1993 Czechoslovakia was dissolved into two sovereign states; the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Mrs. F. had in her possession a few pictures, postcards, and a letter that belonged to her mother. She was not absolutely sure of the town her mother came from. Family lore had it that Mrs. F's mother left her homeland under scandal. That she was supposed to marry but instead ran away to America. The letter was in what we thought was Czech and Mrs. F believed to be a letter from her grandfather to her mother disowning his daughter.

I tried Google Translate but not knowing the language made it difficult to read the handwriting. And Czech and Slovak both have characters that aren't on my keyboard. It is an amazing tool, Google Translate, but for this it just didn't work for me.

Then I tried looking for a human translator. I have a friend who is Bulgarian and works for the European Economic Union so I though maybe she knew someone through her job who could translate the letter. I also contacted a cousin I know through genealogy research who had been to my ancestors' hometown in the Czech Republic, so maybe she knew someone. She did put me in touch with someone who was willing to translate the letter for me for a fee but told me for free that it was in 2 languages; Slokav and Hungarian. Hungarian! 

So after months of trying to find a human translator I reached out to a close friend of mine who is Hungarian. She in turn found someone who was able to reveal that the letter was from the scorned boyfriend to Mrs. F's mom. From the tone we can only suspect that it was his last letter before taking his own life.

Reading the translation brought both me and Mrs. F to tears. The portion that was in Hungarian were song lyrics he included which read:

You have ignited my heart into flames 
Only to crush it down to the dirt 
If you were able to teach me that life and love is only a dream 

Now teach me how to forget you 
The love filled summer has ended 
Butterfly wings always take your desires to someone else 

Clouds cover my heart 
As I gaze at the star filled sky and cry
Even the most beautiful dreams have come to an end.

Finding Your Roots: The Stories We Tell (S3 E1)

This is my favorite genealogy series because it is the one that really most closely examines American history with it's particular leaning to the history of African-Americans.

However, I am kind of over the experience of white people discovering their black ancestors and African-Americans discovering their white ancestors. "The intermingling of the races" - Dude, their is one race; the human race. Our skin comes in different shades and tints of brown. Raise your hand if you don't get this yet so I can come yell at you directly.

This is not to say that skin color is not deeply entangled in the American experience, oh it is! But just because I have some degree of great-grandparent who was labeled a different race than my own did not make me inherit their experiences; perhaps it develops in me a different respect or admiration for the life experience they endured but I am not a different color and I will be judged by the color I appear to be.  

African-Americans are not the only group of people to experience discrimination in American history and so I am deeply looking forward to the next episode of this series subtitled, The Irish Factor. Not that Finding Your Roots hasn't addressed the discrimination toward immigrants before, it has.

I'm not shocked that actor Ty Burrell's 4th great grandmother was a black slave or that artist, Kara Walker, who's artwork closely examines slavery and the African-American experience, has a white direct ancestor. Shocked is such a strong word. 

Rather, I love (another strong word) Burrell's amazement at the researchers' ability to find documentation and images of this woman he had only heard about and the admiration he expressed for his female ancestors. You could see his struggle to accept the fact that she had been the victim of a rape by her slave owner who he too was descended from. 

I loved Walker's furrowed brow and pursed lips as she shook her head during the reveal that her 2nd great grandfather was a white male stepping out on his wife to father a child with her black 2nd great grandmother; that white man evidently supported his biracial illegitimate son's career. But I also ached with her as she obviously grappled with what she already kind of knew, that her surname was that of the white man who owned her black ancestors.

One of my favorite moments though was when Gates revealed one of the sources used in researching Ty Burrell's ancestry was a family history called, Saga of the Mask Plantation North Carolina: Slaves Journey  to Oregon. Write down what you know of your family history, people! It will help future generations even if your facts aren't absolutely correct.

You are the culmination of your ancestors hopes, dreams, efforts, and life forces. You are not them. Some of them were good people of noble character and some of them, I assure you, were not. I promise you all of them were imperfect humans, except for my Jacob Raynor. I still think he might have been an alien.

Genealogy Librarianship

At the suggestion of Cousin Mary at Heritage & Vino, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my new part-time gig as the genealogy librarian at Mastic-Moriches-Shirley Community Library (MMSCL) in Shirley, NY.

It's not really that "new." I have been at it since March 2015; 9 months now. I love it.

A few months prior to starting the job I interviewed for another position as a part-time genealogy librarian at a different public library on Long Island. About a dozen friends had forwarded me the job posting and, although I have a full-time job and am still working on my second degree, how could I not interview? I didn't get the job. But one of the people who interviewed me passed my name along to MMSCL.

The position isn't really as a part-time librarian; it is more like a consultant's gig. I am a "program." I work one Saturday per month for a few hours. While I am there I meet one-on-one with about 5 patrons who registered in advance to see me. I see them back-to-back which makes for a pretty intense day, really. Each person comes with a different interest and level of experience with ancestors coming from all corners of the world. But I start each session the same way, with what librarians call "the reference interview."

"So have you started your family tree research?"
"What specifically do you want to know?"
"Okay, so tell me what you know about your mom/dad/grandma/grandpa."

Almost everyone says they don't know anything about the person they want to research but you get them talking and before you know it they know names, dates (if only approximately), locations where the person resided, other family members, etc. And from there, almost always within minutes, we can find a record of the person.

I start out in Ancestry.com for several reasons. One being that MMSCL patrons have free library access to Ancestry while in the library. Also, it is the most popular genealogy database and has one of, if not the largest collection of resources; FamilySearch.org might be bigger, if not FamilySearch is definitely free to anyone regardless of where they access it from but I digress.

Whatever record we find together, I try to show the patron how to really read it, to consider why the record was made, how reliable the information may be, and the process they should use moving forward in their research. 

"We found the 1940 census record, let's see if we can find the 1930, and then the '20. Move back in time."

My research with the patron doesn't really end after that hour. I have had patrons as young as 15 and old as 90. Some of them are there to learn how to research but others are really there to learn more about their family history. Not all of them are computer savvy; some do not have access to a computer outside of the library. And so, I promise them all that I will do an additional hour of research for them and that I will call them before I come to the library next month and let them know what I found for them. I call them a few days before I return to the library to let them know I will leave a folder of material for them at the next when I visit next. Often those folders contain anywhere from 4 to 40 documents I located related to their family from a wide variety of sources. I'd estimate that most patrons get a dozen documents from me in their folders.

If you have done any family research of your own, you know that some ancestors are forthcoming with records and some are impossible to find anything on. Thus, it may go without saying that some patrons are much happier with the service than others I am sure.

I have worked with some off the clock, over the phone, in follow up meetings, and online through email and chatting. I know it is outside of my "job" but I share a passion with these people and I understand their "need" to find answers about their family history.

To date I have worked with 37 individuals and given a presentation to one group on using DNA to further their genealogy research.

What I enjoy most about this job are the people I work with; both the library staff and the patrons. Everyone is so nice to me. I have gotten several thank you cards and even Christmas gifts. Mr. Baecker baked me cookies! Lots and lots of cookies, as the appropriate last name might suggest.

Everyone has expressed such gratitude for the work I have done for them. And what really makes me happiest is to make those calls each month telling my patrons that, "This coming Saturday I will leave a folder for you at the reference desk of the records I found about your family."

If I can get permission from my patrons, I'll share with you some of the things we have uncovered together! Some really interest revelation did indeed occur as they always do when one looks back on the lives of their ancestors.

Keep Diggin'!