ABOUT QUESTING HEIRS 
“Find A Grave for the Family Historian” 

Have you wondered how to use the Find A Grave website to discover genealogical information about your family?

image: QHGS

Come to our October 18th meeting and hear Dick Humphrey’s lecture about using the site to grow your family tree.

COLUMBUS DAY 
Questing Heirs Wishes All a Happy Holiday 

Wikipedia tells us that, “Columbus Day first became an official state holiday in Colorado in 1906, and became a federal holiday in the United States in 1937, though people have celebrated Columbus’ voyage since the colonial period.

photo: 1912 Columbus Day Parade Washington, D.C., loc

“In 1792, New York City and other U.S. cities celebrated the 300th anniversary of his landing in the New World. During the four hundredth anniversary in 1892, teachers, preachers, poets and politicians used Columbus Day rituals to teach ideals of patriotism. These patriotic rituals were framed around themes such as citizenship boundaries, the importance of loyalty to the nation, and celebrating social progress. Many Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, the first occasion being in New York City on October 12, 1866. Columbus Day was first enshrined as a legal holiday in the United States through the lobbying of Angelo Noce, a first generation Italian, in Denver. The first statewide Columbus Day holiday was proclaimed by Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald in 1905, and it was made a statutory holiday in 1907. In April 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 a federal holiday under the name Columbus Day.”

RESEARCH NOTE: How did your ancestors celebrate this holiday? If they were Italians who lived on the East Coast, did they march in the annual parade in New York City?

GENEALOGY HINTS 
Ship Manifests: But Wait—There’s More!

Many items that look like single-page documents online actually consist of two pages, and we often forget to look at the digitized image which follows the one we are focussed on. In fact, not all genealogy websites bother to tell you that there is a page two! Ship manifests are a good example of this. The later passenger lists, after 1906, have two pages. Information on the first page tells us where the immigrant was from, and of course it is valuable to genealogists trying to find the town or village of origin for our ancestors. But information on the second page tells us where that immigrant was going once they arrived in the United States, and that can be just as valuable in different ways.

image: NARA microfilm series T715, roll 996, volume 2212

The image above shows the second page of the S.S. Cretic manifest from the ship’s arrival in New York City on 21 September 1907. Just like census records, ship manifests reward careful examination. Read each column heading to ascertain exactly what is being asked of the immigrant. When we look at this part of the passenger list we read a question in column heading 18: “Whether going to join a relative or friend and if so, what relative or friend and his name and complete address.” Concetta D’Ascenzo answered that question like this: “uncle Giovanni D’Ascenzo 271 Box New Canaan, Conn.” A family puzzle was solved by this one-line entry: the “uncle Giovanni D’Ascenzo” in New Canaan was related to the D’Ascenzo family in Chieuti, a tiny commune in Southeastern Italy.

RESEARCH TIP: With two-page manifests, follow the immigrant by numbered line: “8” on the first page will be “8” on the second page although the name will not be repeated on the second page.    

  

GENEALOGY HINTS 
Vital Records: But Wait—There’s More!

Information may be written on the back of vital records, especially those older than 1920. 

image: QHGS Blogger archives

The example above is the other side of my grandmother’s marriage certificate of 1906. It has her mother’s and father’s signatures on the back giving their consent to the marriage. 

RESEARCH TIP: Death certificates documenting children who died in diphtheria epidemics often have descriptions of elaborate burial preparation procedures on the back; and, birth certificates may include the doctor’s filing date on the back. Always turn your documents over to make sure you have not missed any important information!

GENEALOGY GOOD DEEDS 
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

Questing Heirs member Kathy Oehlman Latham has “paid it forward” by performing an Act of Genealogical Kindness for the unknown relatives of L. S. Cook.

photos: QHGS Newsletter April 2014

Kathy received some letters and photographs from her mother, Margaret Bailey Oehlman. Margaret had them because they had belonged to her father, Terry E. Bailey, and she knew that Kathy would want to have her grandfather’s correspondence since it was of genealogical interest. When Kathy examined the bundle, she decided to send scans of the photos and letters to the Sonoma County Genealogical Society (SCGS) just in case descendants of the letter writer/photographer still lived in Healdsburg or Windsor. Kathy knew nothing about L. S. Cook, the man who sent these letters and pictures to her grandfather whom he addressed as “Friend Terry” in the letters, but she assumed that her grandfather must have known Mr. Cook when he lived in Healdsburg and worked as a mechanic on both autos and airplanes because the photographs document the building by L. S. Cook of an airplane and a race car.

Photos of the race car clearly show background buildings in a town that one member of SCGS identified as Windsor, California; so, with Kathy’s permission, SCGS also gave copies of the scans to the Historical Photographs Department of the Sonoma County Library. Kathy’s “mystery photos” from 1928 and 1929 of the plane, its wings, struts, and hand-made machine parts, complete with individual shots of shock absorbers, pistons, and the disassembled motor with its propeller, were featured in the Spring 2014 edition of the SCGS journal, The Sonoma Searcher, accompanied by scans of the letters L. S. Cook wrote to Kathy’s grandfather.  

It is quite possible that Kathy will never find out if the photos and letters reach any of Mr. Cook’s descendants; but some day, far in the future, a genealogist looking for information about L. S. Cook may come across these documents and thank her silently for sharing them with SCGS. 

Why not “pay it forward” yourself and send scans of your old “mystery photos” to the genealogical or historical societies in your research area(s)? You may be contacted by people eager to identify the photos’ subjects; and, you will be preserving history, earning thanks from future genealogists.

RESEARCH NOTE: Have you been the recipient of a “Random Act of Genealogical Kindness?” Tell the QHGS Blogger about it by posting a comment below. 

ABOUT QUESTING HEIRS 
Promote Your Society with “Genwear”

Wear a QHGS t-shirt and/or cap to the next genealogical seminar you attend, and let everyone know you’re a Questing Heirs member.

photo: QHGS

Take notes at the conference in your QHGS journal, carry all of the handouts in your QHGS tote, and, when you get home, drink your coffee or tea from a QHGS mug. Our promotional merchandise is easy to order. Just go to the QHGS website at http://www.qhgs.info/ and click “Shop” in the left-hand column of choices. When the Shop page opens, click on the “cafepress” logo at the top left of the page. This will take you to the company’s QHGS page where you will be able to purchase the following items: men’s t-shirts, men’s golf shirts, men’s long-sleeve t-shirts, women’s t-shirts, women’s long sleeve t-shirts, caps, totes, mugs, boxes, and journals, all carrying the QHGS logo.

Be proud of your organization—advertise your affiliation by using and wearing QHGS merchandise!

SIDEWALK SIGNATURES 
C. W. Johnson

Long Beach’s sidewalks contain impressed “signatures” of many pavers who plied their trade in the city. If your ancestor owned a construction company or worked for one of those cement contractors, our “Sidewalk Signatures” series will be of interest to you.

photo: QHGS

In the 1923 Long Beach City Directory, C. W. Johnson is listed like this: “Johnson Chas W (Annie) cement contr h 334 E 17th,” and in the 1928 Long Beach City Directory, he is listed like this: “Johnson Carl W (Annie S) cement contr h 235 E 16th.” Looking at census records from 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940, we can surmise that Carl/Charles was born in Sweden c.1872 and became a naturalized citizen in 1922. More research would have to be done to prove either date, however.

RESEARCH NOTE: Information about C. W. Johnson was surprisingly difficult to find. The QHGS Blogger used FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, and the Long Beach Public Library website, but Carl’s date of death, burial place, and obituary remain elusive.