52 Ancestors Challenge Week 3: Nickname - They Called my Grandpa Whitey

They called my grandpa Whitey.

Some nicknames are obvious derivatives of the person's name. My name is April. My close family members call me A. My brother-in-law Timothy, we call Tim. My niece Sofia, we call Sofie.

And then there are other nicknames that are descriptive, Skinny Vinnie, Fat Tony. 

But every once in a while there is a nickname that makes you wonder where that came from.

Everybody called him Whitey. The story is that it stemmed from his childhood when he had white hair, but he didn't have white hair when I knew him. So I kind of didn't get it. His hair was dark, maybe salt-and-pepperish but not white. Not really. 

I don't think I knew his real name until I was in my teens, and I think it was because he didn't like his first name, Clarence. I like it. I think its better than Clair for a man, which is now more commonly a woman's name but it really is a gender neutral name. Many noteworthy men were named Clair, or Claire. or Clare. Lots of well known Canadian hockey players, not at all a feminine bunch, have the name Claire. My other grandmother was named Clare. Maybe grandpa didn't like the soft, femininity associated with name Clare, even though he was Clarence. I don't know, I'm just speculating.

However, I have never found a genealogical record about him in which he is noted as Whitey. In records he is always Clarence. You kind of need to know the person's "real" name to find them in records.

A few years ago, my mother's cousin Anita shared with me this photo of my grandfather as a boy, maybe he's 3. It's not a clear photo. You can't see his face but look at that hair. It's as white as the sand he's playing with. Now I really do see why they called my grandpa Whitey.

My Troublemakers in the Catholic Protectory Records

The one of the few Anglicized names among my direct ancestors is that of my maternal grandfather's family, the Desjardins. They changed their surname to Gardner. Yeah, not close in spelling at all but the translation of the French name, Desjardins, means "from the gardens." Likely that means that somewhere back in time I descend from some Frenchman with a green thumb. I didn't get that gene.

My great-great grandfather, Damas Desjardins, came to the United States from Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the early 1880s. I don't have any information about his immigration but according to my great-great grandmother's naturalization papers, the couple married on May 14, 1884 in New York City, so Damas was in New York before then.

His obituary was published in the Patchogue Advance in October of 1911, and it is one of my favorite pieces of genealogical documentation that I have found to date because it documents this otherwise unofficial surname change. It states that "Mr. Desjardins was known to his friends here by the name of Gardiner, an Anglicization of his French family name." That is the evidence I have to back up my grandfather's statement that the surname was changed. There seems to be no official documentation of a legal name change for them which, based on the time period is not surprising. Names could be pretty fluid back before Social Security. 

My great grandpa, Damas's son, was born Almond Desjardins in Long Island City, Queens County, New York on September 21, 1891. He died on February 11, 1946 in the same county but by that time was known as Albert Gardner. Delving into the life of Almond/Albert, I came to learn that he had many brushes with the law in his youth. In the articles dating from 1906 & 1907, he is identified by multiple names and spellings; A. Gardner, Almond Gardener, and Almond Gardner.

One such article appeared on November 8, 1907 in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, titled "Patchogue Lad in Trouble. He is Charged with Stealing Brass from Vacant Houses in L.I. City." It reads as follows:

Almond Gardener, 16 years old of Patchogue L.I. was arrested by the Long Island City police last night, and in back of his arrest is an interesting story.

Young Gardener comes of a good family. He has an industrious brother living in Long Island City, and when he left Patchogue several days ago, he took up his residence with that brother. On Wednesday night two unoccupied frame houses, 86 and 88 Main street, Long Island City were broken into and damage done to the extent of $200. The damage was due to the desire of the marauders to get possession of certain pieces of brass in the plumbing work.

Unfortunately for the guilty parties, their first visit to the buildings resulted so successfully that they returned last night, and one of them was caught. The prisoner described himself as Almond Gardener of Patchogue. As Detectives Hufman and Ebbers of the Astoria Precinct have discovered where the brass pieces were sold for 55 cents, they expect to arrest Gardener's companion.

The police say that about a year ago Gardener and another boy named James Kidney were found sleeping in buildings near the rug works in Astoria. They were arrested and committed to the Catholic Protectory. Mrs. Gardener finally got her boy out of the institution and also succeeded in having his companion released. The Gardener family had resided in Astoria but moved to Patchogue before the boys were let out. They were taken to Patchogue from the Protectory, but after behaving themselves for about four months, the pair cut loose. Kidney was the first one to incur the displeasure of Mrs. Gardener and he was sent away. In three weeks young Gardener packed up his grip and started out to find a place with more life and go in it, and now he awaits the action of the courts.

"Hmm," I wondered, "What is this Catholic Protectory that Al and his friend were sent to?"

Another article from November 8, 1907, appeared in The Brooklyn Daily Star, and went into a little more detail:

Gardner Fell From Grace

Patchogue was too Slow so he came back to L.I. City

And got into trouble again - charged with burglary in Astoria

Tale of a big-Hearted Mother who tried to reform two bad boys and what came of her efforts

About thirty cents in cash and the prospect of a term in some penal institution is the reward Almond Gardner gets for taking the leading part in a burglary in Astoria on Wednesday night that resulted in theft of over $35 worth of lead pipe and plumbing fixtures and damage to the building which $100 will not pay for.

Gardner is the lad who was sent away to the Catholic Protectory in Manhattan about a year ago because he and another boy, James Kidney, persisted in sleeping out night in the stables and outhouses, rather than stay in the soft, warm beds that their homes provided.

Gardner comes [...illegible...] the good influence of a comfortable home, and seems to prefer the excitement of the under-world to obeying his parents.

After he had been in the Protectory for a few months, his folks moved from Astoria to Patchogue, and his mother, thinking that life in a country village would offer fewer temptations to evil doing, managed to ensure his release from the institution.

Took Both Boys Home

When she went over to Manhattan to get her boy, her attention was attracted to young Kidney, who looked pale and emaciated as the result of his confinement. Her mother's heart was touched and she begged to be allowed to take Kidney home with her too. Kidney has no mother having been living with an aunt.

She took both boys with her to Patchogue and set to work to reform them. Kidney lasted about four months before he fell from grace. He could not stain the strain any longer, so he stole from his benefactor and fled out into the alluring world.

Gardner Lasted Longer

Gardner clung to the paths of rectitude with commendable tenacity up to about three weeks ago. Then he begged to be allowed to come to Long Island City to visit his brother who lives on Eighth street. Once here he became fascinated with the old life again, and began to consort with evil companions.

The climax came when he and another boy, who has not yet been arrested, tore boards off one of the rear windows of the houses at 86 and 88 Main street and forced an entrance. They tipped out all the lead pipe they could carry and took away six sewer traps. This stuff they sold to a junk dealer for fifty-five cents. It cost new about $25. A plumber will probably charge over $100 to repair the damage.

Not content with this escapade, the boys came back later on to get more loot but they were frightened away. Detectives Hufman and Ebers were put on their trail with the result that Gardner was caught Thursday evening.

He readily confessed to the part he played in the burglary and said that it was no use for him to try to be good, anyway. He was arraigned in the Fifth street police court this Friday and held for the Grand Jury at $1000 bail.

This mention of the Catholic Protectory prompted me to go looking for more information about that institution. The New York City Catholic Protectory was an orphanage / juvenile delinquency program run by the Catholic Church in an effort to instill morality and ethics in children. They took in children who were under the age of 14 years, either with the consent of their parents or guardians for the well-being of the children because of the families' financial situation, or the child was committed to the institution by order of a New York City magistrate due to truancy, vagrancy, or homeless.

A few years ago, I uncovered records available in FamilySearch.org titled Residents' Identification Cards, ca. 1880-1938. The record set was authored by The Society for the Protection of Destitute Roman Catholic Children of New York City. Lot of words to remember. However, it is indeed the records for what was the New York City Catholic Protectory. At one time, it was also known as The Lincoln Hall School in Lincolndale, New York. 

In addition to being tricky title to find in the FamilySearch Card Catalog, it is also un-indexed dataset; meaning you can't search it, you have to browse through it image by image. The images are relatively well organized alphabetically by the child's surname but as I described above, Great Grandpa had some issues with his surname. 

The first time I went looking for him in the record set I did not find him. I thought maybe he was under a different last name. Essentially I gave up. Earlier this year, I decided to take another look. Actually, I went looking for his friend James Kidney first. I hadn't looked for him before. I figured if I could find James in there, Al had to be in there. And sure enough - - - there on Film #1851431 (Fucelli, Mario - Gargano, Louis) - Image Group #7856562 - Images #2862 & 2863 out of the 2916 images of that digitized real of microfilm is my great grandfather listed as Almand Gardner.

"Ungovernable." That seems right. Might be genetic but I digress...

Some children's files are, of course, much larger and reveal much more detail about them and their family's circumstances. The interesting note for me is that is the April 8, 1907 note that states "Sent on trial to friend, Miss Emily Gardner, Patchogue, L.I." The same note is on James Kidney's card. Now Al's mother's name was Malvina, not Emily. Even his card shows his mother as Alvina - close. I don't know who Emily Gardner is. Perhaps it's just a human error or maybe it was Al's oldest sister, Emma. Although, the articles do say the boys were released to Al's mother. Hmm. With every answer comes more questions.

Ungovernable. Ha. Love that.

My Young Cousin Takes an Interest in Family History

October was Family History and this year it started out in an awesome way. On September 30, my Cousin Lisa messaged me a photo of her oldest son, age 12, reading a family history book that I made for him when he was born. It's a series of brief biographies about our shared branch of his family tree. When a 12 year-old takes an interest in family history, anything really, you have to strike when the iron is hot and so a few days later he and I had a video chat about the family's history.

He seemed especially interested about my grandpa, his great grandpa. Oh I could tell him stories. I used to spend a month every summer with my grandpa at his home in Florida when I was in my teens.

My young cousin also expressed interest in looking at the old documents. Oooh, I've got them too.

I am now in the process of writing up a few more profiles on a handful of our ancestors. I have learned a lot more in the last 12 years and have collected a great deal of documents since then. Thus far, I have sent him one package including an updated biography on my great grandmother, his great-great, Mayme Sharp-Gardner (October 2, 1891 - January 25, 1961). 

I am presently writing about her paternal grandmother's line, the Moores of St. Felix-de-Kingsey, Quebec by way of Londonderry, New Hampshire of Scottish extraction. They are an interesting lot - the had family members who were Early American settlers, who served in the American Revolution (at the surrender of Burgoyne), as well as some who perished in the Glencoe Massacre in Glencoe, Scotland in 1692.

I also encouraged my young cousin to sit down with his paternal grandma and work on building his dad's family tree. I didn't want to say it like this but... grandparents don't last forever. You need to talk to your elder family member while you can. As far as I can tell, his paternal grandma's family stretches back a long way in the area that he presently lives in. I know what that is like; I live a stone's throw from where my father's family settled nearly 400 years ago. Their history is right around you. Perhaps my young cousin and his grandma could even visit a few local cemeteries where his ancestors are buried. 

Again, once their interest is piqued, you have to strike while the iron is hot. I'm excited!! I have more info headed his way this month.

I’d Like to Meet...

In 2022 I participated in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, and I am quite proud to say, I accomplished it! I blogged every week, writing to a majority of the themes she put forth. This year, I commit to writing at least once a month and I may at times use her prompts to stimulate and inspire my blogging. I would however, also like to commit some time to making more discoveries in my personal genealogy research. Writing takes time. Search takes time too.

The 52 Ancestors Challenge theme for this week, though, is "I'd Like to Meet..."

Pondering the past tense of that theme, I would have liked to have met my maternal grandmother, Marilyn Irene Fay-Gardner (August 28, 1930 - June 5, 1972). She passed away so very young, at the age of 41, the year before I was born. I had all three of my other grandparents until my Grandpa Earle died in 2000, shortly after my 26th birthday. Grandpa Gardner passed in 2004. Grandma Earle will be 94 in February. Sadly she no longer recognizes her family due to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease but she's otherwise hangin' in there. So I knew my grandparents. I can tell you a lot about each of them, well, except Grandma Gardner who no one, not my grandpa, not her children, no one spoke about. 

Prompted to want to know more about my Grandma Gardner and having tapped out the resources on Ancestry.com, I went looking in other databases, namely MyHeritage. My subscription runs out there in February so while I have it and the time off from work during this holiday week, I went looking. 

I think I have found my grandma's high school yearbook photo. I'm not sure. I've only seen 2 other images of her. Once a long time ago when I was a kid my mother showed me a photo of her mom. I want to say it was taken at a baby shower. Marilyn, or Lynne, as everyone called her, did have a bunch of babies so I'm not sure when it was taken and I don't have the image to refer back to as, sadly, I am estranged from my mother. The other image I have of Lynne was from about 1950 from an unidentified newspaper announcement of her engagement to my Grandpa. It's terribly unclear, graining like most newspaper photos.

The new image I found is from the 1948 yearbook at Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. The name, year, and location fit. I think it's her.

The day I found the image I sent it to all my siblings as well as the two cousins with whom I have any contact information. Being the eldest grandchild I didn't think any of them would be able to identify the grandmother we never knew but I thought they'd appreciate having it. I showed my father, who knew Lynne. Not only was she hid mother-in-law, he grew up next door to her. He was not confident that it was her though. She died 50 years ago and this high school yearbook photo was taken long before he knew her so I understand his reluctant to confidently identify her. I showed his brother, my Uncle Allen, and he too was unsure. I know my mother would recognize her, but again, I have no contact with her nor do I have contact with either of her sisters. Well, one I could email I guess but she was only 2 when her mother passed. Hmm. Anyway - - -

The following day it dawned on me that I should look in that same school's yearbooks for Lynne's sisters; one of them I knew. When I was in my teens, every summer I would go to Florida and spend a month with my grandfather and he would always make sure I spent a day with his sister-in-law, my Great Aunt Ann. I could probably count on my fingers how many times I saw Ann in my life, however, I am 100% sure this is Aunt Ann's yearbook photo from Newtown High School, 1938. 

The discovering of Ann in the the same school's yearbook at the right time period, I am not confident that this is a picture of my grandma Lynne.

Hi grandma.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 47: "Wrong Side of the Law" - Albert Gardner's Brush with the Law Solidifies Name Changing

Oh this was tricky topic for me to address. Oh so many to choose from. What's a girl to do? I've got quite a few in my family who have had a brush with the law.

When I started my genealogy research over 30 years ago, I began on my father's side of the family trying to unpuzzle for myself some of the modern day connections I did not quite understand. I stayed on that side of the family for a very long time. I did not truly dig into my mother's lineage until after my grandpa passed away in 2004; about 18 years ago. 

That was in part due to the fact my maternal grandmother passed away before I was born so I had almost no source of information for her branch of my tree and my maternal grandfather was very reluctant to speak about his family history. He would answer my questions but I had to be very specific about those questions. 

I recall one time I asked him if he had any uncles to which he replied, "Oh yeah, sure." 

Silence. 

"Um, do you remember their names?" 

"Yeah" 

Silence.

"What were their names?"

"Well, let's see. I had an Uncle Babe and an Uncle Blue-Eyes..."

"Grandpa, do you know the names your grandparents gave to your uncles?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure."

Another big obstacle in researching my maternal grandfather's branch of my tree has been the fact that there was a surname change. My Great-great-grandfather, Damas Desjardins, French-Canadian by birth, Anglicized his name to Thomas Gardner. I suspect this was in order to obtain more work and avoid ethnic discrimination. I cannot find anything official about the name change and back then, before Social Security, it was easier to assume an identity. Assuming an identity isn't always about evading the authorities.

In some records Damas appears as Damas Desjardins, in others as Thomas Gardner, in others as Damas Gardner, and still others as Thomas Desjardins. To make matters even more confusing, his offspring indiscriminately used either last name as well. His son, my great grandfather, Almond Desjardins, like his father also chose to use a more American sounding first name; Albert. Almond, a.k.a. Albert, was indeed born in the United States; his name just sounded very French.

This flip-flopping of names not only makes constructing searches more challenging,  it makes proving anything a daunting task. I often hear myself saying, "Well, yes, I know it says that but it is the same man." Anything I can find that helps me to solidify this family's surname change is precious to me.

This branch of the family has also had some run ins with the law in nearly every generation. Which brings me to an article from the Brooklyn Daily Star titled "Sing Sing for John Miller: L.I. City Man who Swindled Magnus Larsen Sent Up on Suspended Sentence - Five Others Given a Chance to Reform" from December 21, 1907. In it is mentioned Almond Gardner. The first time I have seen my great grandfather listed with his very French-sounding birth name and Anglicized surname. In addition to showing his name in that way, it also documents when the family moved from Queens to Patchogue, Suffolk County, NY. What a gem of a find!!

It reads as follows:

"Almond Gardner, a former Astoria boy whose folks now live at Patchogue, took a quantity of lead pipe and brass sewer traps from a house belonging to George B. Ruthman on Main street last November. He is only seventeen years old and has promised to behave."

Interestingly enough, 24 years later, Almond's baby brother, Damas Jr., who might have been Uncle Babe, is also arrested for burglarizing a house while in his teens. That time, though, the house was out in Patchoque and Damas Jr. stole an electric pump with his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Elbert King. I found that in a March 31, 1931 article in the Patchogue Advance titled "Young Men Arrested for Stealing Pump." Tsk, tsk, tsk. What is with these boys?

Had Almond not committed his juvenile crime, though, I might never have had such concrete proof that he was known by variations of the names Almond Desjardins and Albert Gardner. Additionally, I knew the family had moved to Patchoque between the 1900 and 1910 censuses. This article, though, helps me to narrow the date of the family's move to after November 1906, when the crime was committed, and before December 1907, when the article was written.

Run-ins with the law result in documentation of the on-goings of a family. It's not all bad.
 

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 38: "New to You" - Great-great Grandma Mayme's Ring

Below is a photo of my chubby little hand decked out in 2 relatively new rings. 

The one on my ring finger is really a mother's ring. I am not a mother. A mother's ring, though, is one that presents the birthstones of all of a mother's children. My grandma has a lovely one with her birthstone and that of her 5 kids. This one has 4 birthstones representing my beautiful nieces; Sofia (October - really should be an opal but they use some pink stone. Pink tourmaline, perhaps), Breanna (March - aquamarine), Emilie (July - ruby), and Molleigh (June - should really be a pearl but they use some purplish stone. I think it is alexandrite.). I bought that ring for myself for my recent birthday.

The ring on my middle finger was given to me by a cousin I recently connected with through AncestryDNA. It was a gift from her and her mother. It belonged to my great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp-Gardner (October 2, 1891 - January 25, 1961). She is the woman on the left in the photo below.

I am sure it is not of great monetary value but it is of great value to me. I am not sure when she acquired it. I wear it on my middle finger because that is where it fits me best. I don't want to have it resized. I like that it has evidence of being shaped to Mayme's finger.

Maybe someday one of my magnificent little nieces will inherit their great-great-GREAT grandma Mayme's ring from me.

Thank you, Cousin Kristen and Cousin Anita.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 36: "Exploration" - Or not so much

Hmm...exploration. I am not sure how to interpret this theme in the context of my family history. I don't feel like I have explorers in my family history. In fact I feel the very opposite. I feel like my family got off the boat and was like, "Heck with that, we're staying right here!"

I have cousins everywhere but when there are stories of brothers, the one who went off and made his fortunes and the other who stayed at home and held down the homestead, I am always descended from the latter.

When I was in the 3rd grade we had to do a report on where one of our grandparents came from. Some of my classmates did reports on Ireland, Israel, Greece, etc., etc., etc. or about other states like Georgia, Maryland, Oregon, etc., etc., etc. I could practically walk to where each of my grandparents were born.  I was really jealous.

According to Google Maps it would take me just over an hour to drive from where Grandpa Earle was born in Bellmore, NY to the far off location of Astoria, Queens, NY where Grandpa Gardner was born, while passing both my grandmothers' birth locations. I guess Google hasn't driving the Cross Island Parkway recently though because that is going to take way more than an hour.

In any case, I did my 3rd grade report on the Town of Hempstead, Long Island, New York. Boring (Sorry, Hempstead).

As genealogist I have come to value the fact I live in close proximity to where my family has lived for hundreds of years. All my documentation is right here! Well, not all of it but quite a bit. And New York is pretty good about holding on to all their records. They aren't great about freely sharing their records but they got 'em. Pay up!

I don't have a European immigrant in my family tree until my great-great grandparents and even then, only 2 of the 16 were born across the pond. I've got many ancestors who emigrated from Canada but from Europe there are only these two:

1. My great-great grandfather on my mother's maternal line, Johann Nepom Prinz (May 2, 1853 - April 21, 1929), was from Mladá Vožice, in the Bohemia region of what is now the Czech Republic. He arrived with his family in New York on November 28, 1866 when he was just 13 years-old.

AND

2. My great-great grandmother on my father's maternal line, Annette Hinch-Henry (February 22, 1868 - March 2, 1952), was born in Barnamelia, by Knockanna, in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. She came to New York sometime between 1886 and 1890 when she was in her late teens or early 20s.

That makes Annette my most recent European immigrant. Again, not big on explorers in this tree o' mine. 

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 28: "Characters" - Grandpas & Ambrose Weeks

To me, to call someone a "character" means they are unusual in an amusing and somewhat eccentric way. 

My Grandpa Earle was a bit of a character. I suspect he had a bit of OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. He would get up multiple times throughout the night to check that the doors were locked and the stove was turned off. Every morning that I lived with my grandparents, I would watch my grandfather sit and count his prescription pills, all the while thinking out loud to myself, "It is one less than yesterday, Pop." He was funny in a teasing sort of way. He flirted with every young girl who passed his way. Always looking to borrow their long locks to replace his lost follicles. Bald as a cue ball he would sit and rub his head while announcing he needed a haircut; A hair, as in one. Incredibly sensitive, he would cry at every wedding. 

My Grandpa Gardner too was a bit of a character. I didn't know him as well as my Grandpa Earle with whom I lived for about 6 years in my 20s. Many summers though I would spend a month living with Grandpa Gardner in West Palm Beach, Florida. I'd fly down on my own and send the next few weeks just hanging out with Gramps. We'd play board games, watch movies, he'd make dinner, and we'd go for long drives to look for alligators. He'd take me to museums. He was very silly, incredibly funny, and cheated at Monopoly.

But maybe these characters aren't always jovial and amusing. Perhaps they are dark and even disturbed. For this post I am revisiting a post I wrote back in 2013 about Ambrose Weeks (About 1819 - May 4, 1900). Ambrose Weeks was the brother-in-law of my 4th great-grandmother, Lydia Smith-Losee (May 15, 1820 - December 31, 1887). He was married to Lydia's sister, Elizabeth Smith-Weeks (About 1815 - March 11, 1893). It's a distant relationship but still one of great interest to me.

Genealogy research often provides you with just the cold hard facts about a person; names, dates, places. Rarely do you get a sense of who the person was unless you're lucky enough to hear family stories or find a good newspaper article or obituary about the person.

In my opinion, the difference between calling oneself a genealogist or a family historian depends on what information you are gathering about your family. A family historian wants the stories. Filling in the names, dates, and location of life events on a chart is all well and good but if you don't invest some time in learning about the people and their stories what are you really doing this research for? What do all those names and dates and places mean to anyone if you don't glean a few good stories from your research?

Newspaper articles are some of the best resources to add some color to the family characters. If you have not spent some time searching historic newspapers for stories on your ancestors you are really missing out.

For a long time I have been fascinated with Ambrose. What a great name, right? Ambrose. It has Greek origins. It comes from the name Ἀμβρόσιος (Ambrosios) meaning "immortal." There was a St. Ambrose in the 4th-century. Sure look him up. He is the patron saint of Milan, Italy and beekeepers. Go figure. Fashionable and likely immune to stings. Anyway - - -

In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Ambrose Weeks is listed as 41 year of age, already married to Elizabeth, living in Brooklyn, and employed at a furniture store. In the 1870, Ambrose and Elizabeth are living in Port Washington, Long Island, New York where he was working as an undertaker. Now some might think that is a considerable jump in occupation but back then it wasn't all that far fetched. Furniture makers were often cabinet makers and coffins and caskets are nothing more than big cabinets really. Making coffins could lead one to working for an undertaker; and that could lead to learning the funeral business and becoming an undertaker. It seems to me, though, Ambrose was climbing the social ladder pretty quickly. In ten years to go from working in a furniture store to filling such an important role in the community as undertaker is pretty impressive to me.

However, I found a mention of Ambrose Weeks in the New York Times on November 24, 1873 in a section of the paper called City and Suburban News. Under a portion headed Long-Island it reads:

"Ambrose Weeks, of Roslyn, a cabinet-maker, made a desperate and deliberate attempt to commit suicide on Saturday morning by cutting his throat with a razor."

My God, how sad.

Note that Roslyn is a neighborhood very close to Port Washington on the North Shore of Nassau County, New York.

The report of his attempted suicide was also reported in Newtown Register, The Brooklyn Daily Union, and The New York Tribune. The worst of which was the one I found in the Newtown Register. It read as follows: 

"Ambrose Weeks, a cabinet-maker, attempted self-destruction by cutting his throat with a razor, Saturday. He inflicted a deep wound, but lives to try again."

To try again?? Really, Register, really?
 
Ambrose survived, though Register, quite a bit longer as is apparent by another article found in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from October 30, 1885 on page 6 which states that "Ambrose Weeks, of Hempstead, has sued August Belmont, Jr. to recover $35.33 for labor."

August Belmont, Jr., as in the man who built Belmont Park Racetrack here on Long Island. Yeah, where the Belmont Stakes happens; the 3rd leg of the 3 part triple crown race. August Belmont, Jr. a very well-to-do gentleman of distinguished birth. One has to wonder if Ambrose ever got that money in light of the next article I found in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from May 4, 1900 on page 11, it reads as follows:

Died in the Almshouse

Ambrose Weeks, Once a Wealthy Merchant, a Pauper, Deserted by Friends

Hempstead, L.I., May 4 - - Ambrose Weeks, who was at one time one of the prominent merchants of this section of the Island and who is connected with some of the best Long Island families, died yesterday in the almshouse at Hempstead.

He was at one time quite wealthy and was engaged extensively in the furniture business in Hempstead. Misfortune and reverses overtook him in his old age, when his relatives and friends also deserted him, he was compelled to seek refuge in the Town Almshouse in Uniondale, where he has been for some years.

Mr. Weeks was over 80 years of age. His funeral service will be conducted by the Rev. Henry B. Bryan, canon of the Garden City Cathedral.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Garden City Cathedral, or more correctly the Cathedral of the Incarnation, here in Garden City, Long Island, it is indeed a quite spectacular Gothic-style, Episcopal Cathedral.

This photo was taken in about 1885. Image is owned by the Cornell University Library, NY.

The saddest of all the articles though I think is this one appearing in the June 30, 1898 edition of the Newtown Register; a year before Ambrose's death. The mention was extracted from an article that appeared in the Hempstead Sentinel on June 23rd. It stated:

Ambrose Weeks was 79 years old last week. He has been spending the winter on the farm and Saturday he was in the village "renewing old acquaintance." Shortly after the death of his wife some five years ago, he purchased a tomb-stone and had it erected beside that of his wife's grave in Greenfield Cemetery. It is lettered requiring only a date of death to complete it.

Oh Ambrose, I imagine you a sad, heart-broken man but I don't really know that. These articles do not clearly speak to whether Ambrose's own actions brought on his circumstances; maybe he was a miserly, cruel man unworthy of friends and affection or perhaps he was simply suffering through depression and misfortune and deeply misunderstood by those around him. Regardless, he certainly suffered in his final years alone, destitute, and estranged from friends and family; poor Ambrose. His sad story awakens in me an awareness of the harsh reality of existence. 

If not for these various newspaper articles, Ambrose Weeks would have just been another name on the tree; the husband of a 5th great-aunt who never had any children; no heirs to pass on stories of his character or experiences.

If researching your own family tree, do not disregard the importance of newspapers. They can fill in much of your family's story; bringing these names and dates to life again. If researching in the New York area, I recommend searching the Brooklyn Daily Eagle which is one of the few free online resources through Newspapers.com. It covered much more than the Borough of Brooklyn. 

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 26: "Identity" - Great Grandpa Almond Desjardins or Albert Gardner

In general my family lines possess rather short surnames, easily pronounceable by those of English extraction. Hell, most of them are English in origin. I don't see a lot of Anglicizing in my family tree. 

Looking at my great-great grandparents and their surnames, most of them don't even have more than 6 letters to them. There is Earle, Samms, Losee, Henry, Hinch, Sauer, Gray, Smith, Sharp, McLean, Fay, Joyce, Prince. Oh, ok, there is Krantzel! 8 letters in that one. Through generations Krantzel was cut down from Krantzlein. I guess that is Anglicized but then there is Desjardins. 

Desjardins became Gardner. Yeah, not even close in spelling but rather its Anglicization was based on its meaning. If you have taken high school French you can probably tell Desjardins means "from the gardens." Likely that means that somewhere back in time I descend from some Frenchman with a green thumb. 

Any of you reading this who are Canadian will probably associate the name Desjardins with different green stuff - - money! Although, Canadian money comes in an array of colors really. The Desjardins Group is a Canadian federation of financial services and credit unions, the largest in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec by a man named Alphonse Desjardins. I have Alphonse Desjardins in my family tree. That was my great grandfather's brother's name. Likely no relation to bank founder though. I mean not close enough a relation to think they are just going to give me money without expecting it to be paid back with interest.

My great-great grandfather, Damas Desjardins, came to the United States from Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the early 1880s. I don't have any information about his immigration but according to my great-great grandmother's naturalization papers, the couple married on May 14, 1884 in New York City, so Damas was in New York before then.

In Damas's obituary from the Patchogue Advance in October of 1911 it states that "Mr. Desjardins was known to his friends here by the name of Gardiner, an Anglicization of his French family name."

His son, my great grandfather, also used Gardner as his surname. However, I do believe my great grandfather used his names to play with his identity. 

Great grandpa was born Almond Desjardins in Long Island City, Queens County, New York on September 21, 1891. He died on February 11, 1946 in the same county but known as Albert Gardner. 

There seems to be no official documentation of a legal name change for him which, based on the time period is not surprising. Names could be pretty fluid back then before Social Security. Lack of official documentation of the name change has also resulted in lots of confusion including a fellow genealogist who handing me a photocopy stating, "This article is about you great grandfather." Well sure the subject of the article, dragged into court for abandonment of his wife and children, had the same name as my great grandfather but my great grandfather died 2 years before that newspaper article was printed.  She whipped that paper out of my hand and tore it up with a besmirched look on her face. Sorry, not my Al.

The first record I have for great grandpa is the 1900 U.S. Federal Census in which he is recorded as Almod Desjirdins living at 332 Hopkins Avenue in Queens, NY. The street no longer exists by that name but I believe it was in the Astoria section of Queens.

I discovered several newspaper articles from 1906 & 1907 in which great-grandpa's early brushes with the law are described in detail. Here he is identified as A. Gardner, Almond Gardener, and Almond Gardner.

December 19, 1906

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Astoria Pastor Robbed

Sneak Thieves Raided the Parsonage and Stole All the Children's Christmas Gifts

With the rounding up of gangs of hoodlums in the Astoria section of Long Island City comes the news of the robbery on Sunday night of the home of the Rev. W. L. Darby, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, in that place. It was while Pastor Darby was conducting services in his church, a short distance from his home, at Franklin street and the Boulevard, that the culprits got into the house through a kitchen window. All the family were at church and the intruders were free to ransack the house.

Among the articles carried off was a bundle of Christmas presents which the pastor and his wife had purchased for their children, relatives and friends. In their search, however, they overlooked $20 in cash which was in a bureau drawer which they rifled.

More than a dozen robberies have occurred throughout that section within the past month, and they all bear the impress of the sneak thief. In consequence sundry gangs that loiter around the village with no visible means of support are gradually being placed out of the way of temptation for the winter, and five more suspects were added to the bunch yesterday when police rounded up and captured A. Gardner, 16 years old, of 92 Sanford street; James Kidney, 16 years old, of 50 Mills street; Frank Donnelly, 15 years old, of 140 Broadway; James Sullivan, 20 years old, of 137 Ridge street, and Nicholas Donato, 15 year old, of Ridge street. This crowd had quit their homes and were living in an old building owned by the Joseph Wild Rug Company. They were charged with trespassing ad were held until their recent prowlings can be investigated.

November 8, 1907

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Patchogue Lad in Trouble

He is Charged with Stealing Brass from Vacant Houses in L.I. City

Almond Gardener, 16 years old of Patchogue L.I. was arrested by the Long Island City police last night, and back of his arrest is an interesting story.

Young Gardener comes of a good family. He has an industrious brother living in Long Island City, and when he left Patchogue several days ago, he took up his residence with that brother. On Wednesday night two unoccupied frame houses, 86 and 88 Main street, Long Island City were broken into and damage done to the extent of $200. The damage was due to the desire of the marauders to get possession of certain pieces of brass in the plumbing work.

Unfortunately for the guilty parties, their first visit to the buildings resulted so successfully that they returned last night, and one of them was caught. The prisoner described himself as Almond Gardener of Patchogue. As Detectives Hufman and Ebbers of the Astoria Precinct have discovered where the brass pieces were sold for 55 cents, they expect to arrest Gardener's companion.

The police say that about a year ago Gardener and another boy names James Kidney were found sleeping in buildings near the rug works in Astoria. They were arrested and committed to the Catholic Protectory. Mrs. Gardener finally got her boy out of the institution and also succeeded in having his companion released. The Gardener family had resided in Astoria but moved to Patchogue before the boys were let out. They were taken to Patchogue from the Protectory, but after behaving themselves for about four months, the pair cut loose. Kidney was the first one to incur the displeasure of Mrs. Gardener and he was sent away. In three weeks young Gardener packed up his grip and started out to find a place with more life and go in it, and now he awaits the action of the courts.

November 8, 1907

Brooklyn Daily Star

Gardner Fell From Grace

Patchogue was too Slow so he came back to L.I. City

And got into trouble again - charged with burglary in Astoria

Tale of a big-Hearted Mother who tried to reform two bad boys and what came of her efforts

 

About thirty cents in cash and the prospect of a term in some penal institution is the reward Almond Gardner gets for taking the leading part in a burglary in Astoria on Wednesday night that resulted in theft of over $35 worth of lead pipe and plumbing fixtures and damage to the building which $100 will not pay for.

 

Gardner is the lad who was sent away to the Catholic Protectory in Manhattan about a year ago because he and another boy, James Kidney, persisted in sleeping out night in the stables and outhouses, rather than stay in the soft, warm beds that their homes provided

 

Gardner comes ...illegible... the good influence of a comfortable home, and seems to prefer the excitement of the under-world to obeying his parents.

After he had been in the Protectory for a few months, his folks moved from Astoria to Patchogue, and his mother, thinking that life in a country village would offer fewer temptations to evil doing, managed to ensure his release from the institution.

 

Took Both Boys Home

 

When she went over to Manhattan to get her boy, her attention was attracted to young Kidney, who looked pale and emaciated as the result of his confinement. Her mother heart was touched and she begged to be allowed to take Kidney home with her too. Kidney has no mother having been living with an aunt.

 

She took both boys with her to Patchogue and set to work to reform them. Kidney lasted about four months before he fell from grace. He could not stain the strain any longer, so he stole from his benefactor and fled out into the alluring world.

 

Gardner Lasted Longer

 

Gardner clung to the paths of rectitude with commendable tenacity up to about three weeks ago. Then he begged to be allowed to come to Long Island City to visit his brother who lives on Eighth street. Once here he became fascinated with the old life again, and began to consort with evil companions.

 

The climax came when he and another boy, wo has not yet been arrested, tore boards off one of the rear windows of the houses at 86 and 88 Main street and forced an entrance. They tipped out all the lead pipe they could carry and took away six sewer traps. This stuff they sold to a junk dealer for fifty-five cents, It cost new about $25. A plumber will probably charge over $100 to repair the damage.

 

Not content with this escapade, the boys came back later on to get more loot but they were frightened away. Detectives Hufman and Ebers were put on their trail with the result that Gardner was caught Thursday evening.

 

He readily confessed to the part he played in the burglary and said that it was no use for him to try to be good, anyway. He was arraigned in the Fifth street police court this Friday and held for the Grand Jury at $1000 bail.

 

December 21, 1907
Brooklyn Daily Star

 

Sing Sing for John Miller
Long Island City Man who Swindled Magnus Larsen sent up on Suspended Sentence - Five Other Given a Chance to Reform

 

County Judge Burt Jay Humphrey was very lenient with all but one of the six men who were brought before him this Saturday for sentence. Suspended sentences were handed out as Christmas presents to Henry Purse, Frank Schowsky, Almond Gardner, Joseph Daley and Joseph Casenza, and it may be safely said that few Christmas remembrances found in stockings of Santa Claus' large array of friends will be appreciated more than these tokens of judicial leniency.

...

Almond Gardner, a former Astoria boy whose folks now live at Patchogue took a quantity of lead pipe and brass sewer traps from a house belonging to George B. Ruthman on Main street last November. He is only seventeen years old and promised to behave.

... 

 

As mentioned in the above articles, by the 1910 census, the family has moved out of the city to Patchogue, Long Island in Suffolk County, New York. Here with the household, great grandpa is listed as Elman DesGardin.

On June 5, 1917, great grandpa registered for the WWI draft out in Kansas City, Missouri where he is registered as Albert Gardner. I know it is him because the birthdate matches, it states he was born in New York, and he was known to be a painter. Also by 1917, his father, Damas, was deceased and thus he would have likely been financially supporting just his mother.

After finding his WWI Draft Registration, I went looking for other military documents and I came across one that is out of sync with this timeline I am building but perhaps significant to understanding of his character and development of identity.

This record is from the U.S., Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 on Ancestry.com. It shows an Albert Gardner who enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 19, 1910 who was from New York and was 21 years and 1 month old at the time of his enlistment. My Albert would have been 19 years and 1 month on November 19, 1910 but I still think it may be him in this record because it indicates he was in the 3rd Calvary which is what I think it says on his WWI Draft Registration Card above. However, this record shows he was dishonorably discharged from Ft. Sam Houston in Texas on July 17, 1911. I don't know what all the notations below mean but maybe someone reading this does.

During the enumeration of the1920 census, I think he may have been residing in Oklahoma City, OK as I have found an Albert Gardner of the appropriate age listed as a printer at an office. The penmanship is rough and perhaps he was still actually working as a painter.

By September 1922 he is back in New York where he marries my great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp on September 5.

If you examine the above image closely, great grandpa reports his name to be Albert Gardner. His father was recorded as Thomas, not Damas Desjardins. Damas sounds like Thomas. Albert's mother is listed as Mary Desjardine although her real first name was Malvina and her maiden name was Ethier. I wonder if these errors are a result of the clerk's confusion or was it that Albert/Almond was reporting what he thought would be easiest for the clerk to record. I mean really, what did the clerk need to know. The couple did not have to produce documentation to verify these details. So it says Mary. Whateve...

From that point forward, including the 1925 New York State Census, and 1930 & 1940 U.S. Federal Census records, I only see him recorded as Albert Gardner. In all those records he is, married with children, living in Queens County, New York.

I discovered that at the time of his death on February 11, 1946 he was a resident of Creedmore Hospital, an institution for the mentally ill, in Queens, New York. He died of a heart attack but according to his New York City Death Certificate he was a resident of the hospital due to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. 

Schizophrenia is a very serious disease that involves far more than just hallucinations and talking to people that aren't there, which is so often how it is depicted on television and in movies. However, I wonder if the fluidity of his name throughout his lifetime was really just a result of the family's interest in Anglicizing their names to sound more American or if the name changes had something to do with his brush with the law or his general mental well-being. 

Often with the fluidity of name comes the question of how to record someone, by their birth name or by the name they went by. Personally, I believe a person should be recorded by the name they chose to go by with the researcher's awareness that their subject may appear with different names in their records.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 24: "Popular Name" - Mistaken Identities

My Mistaken Identity

I never thought of myself as having a common or popular name, April Earle, until someone reached out to me on Facebook accusing me of bullying her in high school. I have never bullied anyone in my life, well, maybe a younger sibling or two but - NO! When I asked the accuser where she went to high school she told me in Canada.

Um, je suis Américaine. 

I had never even been to that part of Canada at the time which made me wonder how many April Earles are out there? 

And then I got an email with a receipt for curtains purchased in Arizona or Colorado or Texas, I don't remember where exactly but from somewhere far away from where I live. At first I thought my credit card had been stolen. As it turns out, No, just another April Earle shopping who has an email address similar to mine thus I received her receipt. 

I thought to myself that this must be how John Smith feels all the time but it has to be more shocking for me because, again, it must happen to John Smiths all the time.

I do have Smith ancestors. Who doesn't? But in general, I don't have relatives with very common or popular names.

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA)

Looking at the statistical data provided by the Social Security Administration (SSA) in relation to baby names (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/), I see my mom's first name was ranked 16th in the decade in which she was born as was her mother's name, Marilyn, in the decade grandma was born. Grandpa Clarence came in 30th. Dad's first name and his parents were not as popular as those on my maternal line; Dad was 111th, Grandpa Edwin was 57th, Grandma Clare was 158th but not with her spelling. 158th was Claire. Clare does not even appear on the list when spelled the same way as grandma's first name. My name was ranked 34th in the 1970s. Sorry Sister Blythe, you do not make the list. Surprise, surprise. Not a popular name ever. 

These statistics are interesting but genealogically, my family doesn't have popular names. Unlike that scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding in which the Greek father introduces all his nieces and nephews to the soon-to-be in-laws, (this is my niece Nikki, my nephew Nico, and my other niece Nicki, nephew Nico, and Diana), my family is not heavy into recycling names or naming our children after an elder. Traditionally, we don't even subscribe to traditional naming patterns.

Genealogical Statistics

Genealogically speaking, the most popular names in my family is Mary which is, according to the SSA, the most popular female name in the last 100 years. I had 2 out of 4 great grandmother named Mary. In total there are 135 Marys in my present Ancestry family tree comprised of 4002 people total. That's over 3% of my family tree.

The most popular male name in my family tree is, SURPRISE, John. I have 160 of them. That's just about 4% of my family tree. Surprisingly though, the SSA lists John as the 3rd most popular male name in the last 100 years. James and Robert out rank John. I thought for sure John would be #1.

More Mistaken Identities

Perhaps you have seen it on Ancestry as I have, someone linking your person's records to their person who happened to have the same name but it's not the same person. It doesn't necessarily mean the name was popular, though. This has happened with my grandpa, Clarence Gardner. Now again, Clarence only ranked 30th in popularity in the 1920s. It is not a totally "unheard" of name but not everyone has a Clarence among their kin. Gardner is also a fairly common surname though. Thus, I am certain Grandpa Clarence had contemporaries, unknown to him, who had the same exact name as he did; just like I have my Canadian bully. 

This logic, however, eludes the Ancestry user who I have contacted multiple times stating that they have records for their uncle that are actually my grandpa's records and my grandpa is not their uncle. Even though the email is marked read, to date no response has been sent to me, and no changes have been made to their tree. However, if they really looked and read those records they would probably come to the conclusion that there was more than one Clarence Gardner born in the mid-1920s walking around the U.S. 

Moral of the story, people, read your records. Just because they have the same name, doesn't mean it's the same person.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 16: "Negatives" - Off Topic - How to spot an NPE

The objective of this 52 Ancestor Challenge is just to get one writing about their family history research. Nothing says I have to stick to the suggested topic. This week's theme is "Negatives" and there is just nothing from my own family history research that springs to mind. When I hear "Negatives" I think of film negatives, which shows my age I guess but I don't have any negatives in my collection. Then I think of blood types. And the only members of my family for whom I know their blood type is me and my dad. I'm O+ and dad is A+ so no negatives there.

Instead I'd like to write about the ways I have been helping other researchers lately. That is through analyzing DNA test results.

First, for those of you who do not know what an NPE is, it stands for a Non-Paternity Event or Not Parent Expected experience. No matter what the letters stand for, NPE is common parlance for finding out you are adopted or your father is not your biological father. Now this could be something you discovered about yourself, it could be something you know going into your DNA testing, or it could be some mysterious DNA match you have that is facing this predicament.

And trust me, this happens more than you think. It has happened all throughout history. Hanky-panky has existed as long as mankind. Let's not paint it all with the same brush, though. Sure, spouses cheat, teenagers have unprotected sex, but women also get assaulted, or chose to be single mothers and opt for artificial insemination, and people give up children for adoption for all sorts of reasons. Back in the day it was all much more secretive than it is now. Hell, now it is very common for the birth mother to select the adoptive family herself. Some parents communicate with the birth mother (and perhaps the bio father as well) through letters and pictures throughout the child's life. 

Again, my post is not meant to be negative at all. I am just bestowing my advice to you if you are thinking about taking a DNA test. If you can't handle the truth, don't take a DNA test. Everyone ought to be prepared to be shocked when you look closely at your gene pool. That's all I'm saying.

Here are the first few things you should do when analyzing your AncestryDNA results:

1. Don't take a DNA test until you have built yourself a substantial well-documented family tree. There are a few reasons I recommend this but the most obvious being you need to know some of the surnames that are going to pop up among your DNA matches. Try to know your great grandmothers' maiden names going into this and who her sisters might have married. Because in my experience very few of my DNA matches share my surname. And it helps to know if you have very large families in your family history. Was grandma one of 5 or 15? The bigger the family the more likely the more matches you'll have on that line.

2. Connect your DNA to your family tree. This will also help to trigger any alarm bells that might need to be heard. AncestryDNA has a feature called ThruLines. This feature is no more reliable than using someone else's tree as a source. And, as you probably know, there are a lot of bad family trees out there. By "bad" I mean wrong. Just wrong. Someone has my grandfather's WWII Draft Registration attached to their great uncle. Dude is just wrong. 

Typically you can suspect a bad tree when no sources are attached to any people in the tree. That's a sure giveaway that the person has not done the research. Don't copy anyone's tree. Look at the sources they use before adding anyone to your tree. So don't "trust" ThruLines. It is, after all, based on the family trees of your DNA matches. However, if you link your DNA to your tree and then look at ThruLines and see you have absolutely no DNA matches who have the same people in their family trees, well, then you, my friend, may be looking at an NPE.

3. Look at the pie chart (a.k.a. ethnicity estimates): I wish people would stop caring about this feature so much. You know these estimate are just that - estimates. And surprise, surprise, they are going to change over time. Oh yeah. Every time the company updates it's algorithms you get more Irish or Jewish or maybe like me, your Central European disappears. Nice, huh? Stop caring about this so much. I only mention it in case the estimates are overwhelmingly not what you expected. Maybe you are like me, kind of a WASPy American mutt. I've got a little bit of everything going on in my tree. I expected Irish, English, French, German, Czech. But I don't have any known Italian ancestors for example. If my pie chart had come back 50% Italian, that should set off alarm bells. I had a client who took her DNA test expecting to be 100% Italian. She came back 50% Jewish. What does that tell you? Maybe her father isn't her biological father? BINGO!

If no alarm bells have gone off for you yet, try this...

4. Apply the Leeds Method: The Leeds Method is a technique developed by genealogist Dana Leeds in which you examine your shared matches with those in your second cousin range (400 cMs - 90 cMs) which will result in about 4 DNA groups; each group will align with one of your 4 grandparents. Now this doesn't always work out for people for a variety of reasons but for most people it is a wonderful tool. Let's assume you get 4 groups.

Now, cMs or centimorgans are how DNA is measured. The amount of DNA you have in common with someone forecasts the relationship you might have with that person. For example, 1600 cMs is likely a half-sibling or an aunt/uncle. A half sibling or an aunt/uncle will have 2 grandparents in common with you. So the Leeds Method will color code these people into 2 groups and they will align with either your paternal grandparents or you maternal grandparents. Now you will likely know these people. If you don't, you ought to. Do you hear that ringing noise? You should be able to identify your aunts, uncles, and half-siblings without research. They should have shown up at some family function at some point in time.

Additionally, this method will help you group together distant cousins who only connect to one of your grandparents. So where as cMs help one to determine the potential relationship, the Leeds groups helps you to place those relationships on the correct branch of your tree.

Again, it doesn't work for everyone but it is one of the first techniques I use to help sort out someone's matches.

Now, I have a DNA match at 183 cMs which puts him in a range likely to be a half 2nd cousin, or a 2nd cousin once removed (my mom's 2nd cousin), or a half 1st cousin twice removed (my grandma Gardner's 1/2 cousin - meaning they share 1 grandparent), or a 1st cousin 3-times removed (one of my great grandparents' 1st cousins on my grandma Gardner's line). It is hard to say for sure because the man has no tree up, no profile describing his age or where he lives, and he has not replied to any of my Ancestry messages. Ordinarily I'd go looking for him on social media but he has a really common name, Daniel Clark. Don't be afraid to reach out to a match. These people took a DNA test. Some part of them wanted to find connections to other people. Connect!

I'd love to know how I'm related to Danny, so if you know him, please send him my way. I suspect he might not know who his bio father is. I don't either but I can certainly help him narrow it down.

That's my advice for if you spot an NPE in your life by any of the above described steps - COMMUNICATE! People are so afraid these days to call someone up or contact someone they match. There are so many scammers out there, sure, people are going to be suspicious but you're never going to know more if you don't ask. "Well, I don't want to upset anyone" And what if the information you share is what they have been looking for their whole life? What if what you have to share brings them joy or closure? Just reach out and ask.

Not everything has to be so negative. (See what I did there?)

Newly Available Records: 1950 Census & NYC Vital Records

Some exciting things have happened in the last 2 weeks. One of course has been the much awaited release of the 1950 U.S. Federal Census. The other came as a great surprise to me, the release of the New York City's historical vital records online.

Yes, that is right. On March 15, 2022, the City of New York released their historic vital records online, for free, searchable from home for download and print - for FREE. https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/

The index to these records have been available online for a very long time. Compiled by the Italian Genealogy Group and German Genealogy Group, the index is available on their respective websites, in Ancestry.com, and through FamilySearch.org. 

In the past I would rely on the FamilySearch.org index more often than not. For several reasons really. One, it was a more robust index record. It showed much more than just the name of the individual, county, and date of event. The FamilySearch index record showed the name of the individual, the county, the date of event AND often the name of the persons' parents, addresses, etc. depending on the type of record. Secondly, though, if you went to a Family History Center you could view the images of the records for free there, just like you can at home now. There I could view and print the records I wanted without traipsing into Manhattan. One could go to the New York City Municipal Archives at 30 Chambers St. in Manhattan and look at the vital records there. When I started doing that the records were on microfilm. Then they migrated them to digital images. I would scroll through microfilm there for hours though making wonderful discoveries. And I could look for free and transcribe the record by hand for free. In-person though I could also purchase a copy for a reduced price from ordering a record. I believe ordering online most recently had cost me $18.50. In-person it cost me $11, I think. Sometimes it was worth the trip but when you calculate in the cost of taking the train or driving in and parking, sometimes I'd just order the record but it was far too expensive to just guess and order something that was not for your person.

Now, vital records include birth certificates, marriage records, and death certificates. These records vary in date range based on the type of record.

Birth Certificates: 1855-1909

Marriage Certificates: 1866-1937

Death Certificates: 1866-1948

But don't let those start dates deceive you. Record keeping in NY did not really take hold until the 1880s. Those earlier dates reflect records that exist but it wasn't required by law to register birth, marriages, or deaths in New York State until June of 1880 for deaths and sometime in 1881 for for births and marriages. 

Vital records are typically managed by the state. Except in the instance of New York City. They are the only entity in the entire country that manages their own vital records, Sure city and town clerks might also have a register of vital events that occurred in their town but the documentation is handled by the state (except for NYC). 

One has to know where the event took place to know where to order the appropriate certificate from. Just because your relative lived their whole life in NY doesn't mean they couldn't have died on a road trip to New Jersey or while away on vacation in Florida.

So this has been very exciting to browse and download records from the City of New York for my dead people. Most of the documents I had already but not in digital format so I have been finding them online, downloading the records, and then converting them to jpegs and attaching them to my family tree on Ancestry. 

Now the 1950 census release was not a surprise. We have been waiting for that for 72 years. In the U.S. we take a census of the population every 10 years, on the years ending in "0". However, those records are not released to the public for 72 years. The aggregate data is published early on, telling us how many people live in the country breaking it down by locations, age, sex, and race. The actually census records themselves, listing residents by name, does not come out until 72 years after the record was made. That is really a measure of identity projection for the citizenry. 72 is life expectance, although that age is really increasing in our time, but still they figure in 72 year most of the people recorded in a specific census will likely be deceased and if not, they certainly will not be living with the same family set.

I was so jazzed to look for my father in the 1950 census. He was born in 1949 so he should be in there living with his parents who were married in 1948. Well - - I can't find them. 

I have found their block. I have read through every page of their enumeration district and multiple surrounding districts but there is no entry that I can find for their house; not even a note that says "no one was home." Funny as that sounds, "no one was home" is a common entry on the pages of the 1950 census.

In fact, I am offering a reward for anyone who can find my father, his parents, or his paternal grandparents in the 1950 census because I give up. I know, I know, it's only day 2 of having access to the records but I have had so much success finding others that I can't with dad no more.

The first step is to know where your people lived. Easier said then done, I know, but some of our living septuagenarians (those 70 and older, well, 72 in this case) are in these records.

If you have a potential location you can look up the Enumeration District (ED) on a map and see the ED number. My grandparents lived in Merrick, New York, which is in Nassau County. Looking at a map clearly showed their block in ED 30-338.

ED 30-338 is a 46 page document. Once in the correct ED, you can through in a surname and it might take you to the correct page of the census. That is what happened for me and finding my Drew cousins who lived across the street from my grandparents.

But no Earles show up. Either they were somewhere else that we don't know about - but I've looked in other EDs and areas of Nassau - or the census taker skipped that side of their street. As through all of time, mistakes were made, people.

Those images above were taken from https://1950census.archives.gov/ 

Go there. Give it a shot. See if you can find your people.

I have found both of my maternal grandparents (not yet married to one another), Grandpa Earle's brother, 3 out of 5 of my Grandma Earle's siblings, one of Grandma Earle's sister-in-laws, Grandma Earle's mother and grandmother, and a researching friend's family.

Today I plan to find my Grandma Earle's sister Ann, her brother Charlie, Grandma Gardner's sister Ann, and maybe Grandpa Gardner's sister Lois.