IAJGS 2013 Conference - First Half Report

IAJGS 2013 is the first major genealogy conference I have attended and it has been an incredible learning experience. Not only have I learned that I already know a lot, but that there is always more to learn. Below I list the sessions I have attended and a bit of what I learned from each one.


Sunday
Finding Genealogy Data in U.S. Court Records with Diane Freilich JD, who has been a licensed Michigan attorney for 40 years.
I learned that I should call the county courthouse where I believe records might be (for example, the legal name change for Max Levitas to Max Levitt very possibly happened in Cape May County, New Jersey) to find out the best time to visit. I should not be afraid to ask questions of the court personnel and I should not take no for an answer.

It's News to Me! Online Historical Newspaper Research for Genealogists with Pamela Weisberger, a professional genealogist and internationally-known lecturer who specializes in map and newspaper resources.
I learned about some additional online newspaper resources beyond GenealogyBank and Ancestry.com's Historical Newspapers and was reminded of some I have used in the past. For example, Old Fulton NY Post Cards website can be a challenge to search, but it is a great resource for New York news items that may not be in the New York Times.

Clued-In: The Stories are in the Details with Ava Cohn (a.k.a. Sherlock Cohn), The Photo Genealogist with a specialty in Jewish family photographs.
I learned how to look at a photo with the eyes of the different people involved, not only those sitting for the photo, but the photographer, the keeper of the photo, and the genealogist. As a genealogist, I need to look closely at all the details in a photo including facial expressions and positioning of those in the photo, as well as their clothing and hairstyles.

One-Step Website: A Potpourri and Hodgepodge of Genealogical Search Tools with Stephen Morse, the brilliant creator of the One-Step website.
I learned that there is a lot more to Steve Morse's One-Step website than just finding enumeration districts for the 1920, 1930, and 1940 U.S. Censuses. If you are already somewhat familiar with his website and it looks really full of information (it is), scroll all the way to the bottom and click on where it says you can "click here to close all the folders." Then you can more easily explore one folder of tools at a time. If you want to get a sense of what his talk covered (as well as a taste of his sense of humor) read About This Website and How to Use It, which is a link just about at the top of the home page.

IAJGS Conference Next Week

I plan to attend most of the IAJGS (International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies) Conference in Boston next week. I figured that since I live in suburban Boston I should take advantage of the fact that this annual international conference is a commuter rail ride away from where I live. See IAJGS2013 for all the details.

I hope to learn from some of the best Jewish genealogists in the field and explore some new strategies to figure out some of the puzzles in my husband's ancestry. I also look forward to meeting some fellow geneabloggers and networking with other genealogists.

Will I see you there?

Mystery Monday ~ Who Was the Father?

I have been researching my husband's paternal grandmother's family in Hungary, where the records have been microfilmed by the Family History Library. His grandmother's mother, Anna Honevald, was from Hőgyész, one of eleven children of Jacob Honevald and Marie Weisz.

Anna had an older sister, Betti. The last entry in the following image of 1878 birth records is a birth record for a child born out of wedlock:

Hőgyész, Tolna, Hungary, "Registers of Jewish births, marriages and deaths for Hőgyész (1842-1895)"
Birth no. 935. Salomon Honevald. February 20, 1878; Family History Library microfilm #642928.

Salomon was born on February 20. The mark in the column after the Hebrew indicates the baby is male. The following two columns indicate whether the birth is (ehelich) in wedlock or (unehelich) out of wedlock. You can see that Salomon has a mark in the "out of wedlock" column and the column for a father's name is blank.

The mother's name is Betti Honevald, of Hőgyész. The midwife was Regina Wimmer and the bris was 27 February.

The interesting thing about these birth records is that if a child died soon after its birth, the death date was recorded in the birth record. Salomon died on July 21, 1878.

I am able to confirm his death in this volume of 1878 death records on the same microfilm.

Hőgyész, Tolna, Hungary, "Registers of Jewish births, marriages and deaths for Hőgyész (1842-1895)"
Death no. 495. Salomon Honevald. July 21, 1878; Family History Library microfilm #642928.

The bottom entry here notes that Salomon Honevald died on July 21, 1878. The next marks note that he is male and unmarried. I'm not a reader of German or Hungarian, but I'm guessing the word in the next column (Unnfelich) means unknown or unnamed. Betti Honevald is the mother, living in Hőgyész.

Salomon died of Schwindsucht, which translates to Consumption. He was five months old, and was buried in Hőgyész cemetery.

Betti later went on to marry and have children, but there will always be a mystery as to who was the father of her firstborn son.

George Levitt and Sarah Brodsky in 1920 Philadelphia

In the 1920 U.S. Census, Uncle George Levitt was living as a boarder in the John Cromley household at 2111 S. Hicks Street in Philadelphia.

1920 U.S. Federal Census, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Roll: T625_1629; E.D.: 811; Page: 7A. Record for George Levitt.

He reported that he was 21 in the census, though he was only 19. (He also reported his age as two years older on his WWI Draft Registration Card.)

He was a retail merchant in the auto supplies business.

~~~~~~~

Sarah Brodsky, age 37, lived with her daughter, Elizabeth, age 20, at 35 Cecil Street in Philadelphia.

1920 U.S. Federal Census, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Roll: T625_1629; E.D.: 1763; Page: 11A. Record for Sarah and Elizabeth Brodsky.

She owned the home, and carried a mortgage on it. The census reports that Sarah is widowed and that they immigrated in 1905. The "Na" means that they reported that they were naturalized citizens, but they didn't become naturalized citizens until 1927.

Sarah's occupation was "Dressmaking at home" and Elizabeth's occupation was "Saleslady, Shoes."

I don't know how they met, but sometime in the 1920's (1923 according to the 1930 census), George Levitt married Elizabeth Brodsky. I shared their census record information in Uncle George in U.S. Census Records.

Sarah Brodsky's Naturalization

My mother-in-law's Uncle George Levitt (born in New Jersey) married Elizabeth Brodsky, who immigrated to the U.S. with her mother, Sarah Brodsky. I previously shared their 1930 and 1940 U.S. census information.

In 1924, Sarah Brodsky submitted her Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States to the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania, U.S. Naturalization Originals, 1795-1930, Ancestry.com.
Record for Sarah Brodsky: Declaration of Intention

This declaration has lots of great information about Sarah Brodsky. She was 41 years old, born on May 5, 1883, in Balto, Russia, and a dressmaker. Her physical description notes that she had a ruddy complexion, was 5'5" tall and 175 lbs in weight with brown hair and hazel eyes.

She arrived at the port of New York from Odessa, Russia, on June 26, 1906, but doesn't know the name of the ship. I haven't found the passenger list with Sarah and daughter Elizabeth on it. Her address at this time was 35 South Cecil Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (which is where I find her and daughter, Elizabeth, in the 1920 U.S. Census).

Note that the signature of the declarant is in Hebrew.