Genealogy Catch-Up
Nov. 24th, 2022 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreFirst, a quick personal genealogy note. I got a hint from one of the genealogy websites which claims that my grandmother’s brother died in Auburn, California. The interesting thing is that the date of death given is what I now believe to be the death date (in Lithuania) of one of their sisters. I suspect that this confusion is related to a similar (fairly common) name and may have arisen from a cousin who is: a) not sufficiently skeptical and b) not entirely fluent in English. But it is still something I need to spend time looking at.
Now, for what I’ve been trying to write about for a while …
Back in August, I went to the International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies conference. I wrote about that at the time. Everyone had two months to watch as many remaining presentations as they could find time for. Which was, of course, fewer than I wanted to given that I tend to be a bit, er, busy. Anyway, here is a run-down of the presentations I did manage to watch.
American Jewish History Through the Lens of Literature: Cookbooks. This talk, by Jonina Duker was interesting, though I am not sure how useful it is to my research. The key point was understanding how people lived and using cooking as a window into the lives of our female relatives. Jonina talked a lot about what makes food Jewish, e.g. foods that have particular ritual significance like dates and olives. She also discussed certain products being marketed to Jews, e.g. Crisco being advertised in Yiddish. She also talked a lot about the history of Jewish cookbooks, including several types, like community fundraisers and product promotions. I was interested to learn, for example, that Gold Medal Flour had a recipe contest in Yiddish in 1921.
Bubbie, Who Are You? Finding the Maiden Names in Your Family Tree: Janice M. Sellers talked about various sources for the names of female relatives who weren’t recorded in many family records in Europe. Those included things like funeral cards, scrapbooks, nameplates in books, and diaries. Some other records that may have maiden names listed include marriage license applications (which often have more information than the license itself), affidavits to address destroyed records, and newspaper announcements. She also suggested looking for all siblings. Other possibilities are probate records, guardianship records for property, and social security applications.
Discovering My Litvak Ancestry: David Ellis is well known in Lithuanian Jewish genealogy and his talk focused on how he identified 146 direct ancestors, including 48 from Lithuania. He emphasized collaboration with other researchers as being crucial. Other key takeaways were: 1) need to repeat searches periodically, 2) records may not be accurate, and 3) family given name patterns may be helpful, particularly for the period before people took on surnames. There wasn’t really anything new to me in this, but it would be helpful for beginners.
Citing Your Sources in Genealogical Research: Janice M. Sellers gave a very brief overview of various ways to attribute prior or unoriginal work to sources, including potential style guides to use. She emphasized consistency and completeness and noted that if you are being published, the publisher will tell you what style guide to use. This whole presentation was only 11 minutes long, by the way.
Dos Gesl: The Kheyders at the Center of East European Jewish Life: This was a really interesting talk by Dan Oren about Jewish education, primarily in Poland. “Kheyder” literally means “room” and was where children spent all day being taught the basics of Jewish religion and culture, starting at the age of 3 until about the age of 12 or 13. There were big changes in the 19th and 20th centuries, including government regulations requiring teachers to be credentialed, as well as teaching the local language. However, most of the Russian that children were taught was the national anthem and the names of the tsars. There were various types of schools, depending on social status, including home schooling and private kheyders, as well as the Tamud Torah for poor children. In som cases, students were taught one-on-one, sometimes by assistants, and spent the rest of their time playing.
Researching Argentinian Jewish Families: This was a panel discussion, led by Hatte Blejer and Yoni Khpchik. There was a lot of background about Jewish immigration to Argentina, starting in 1889-1912 with agricultural communities, although many of those immigrants eventually moved to the cities. What made this presentation useful was the discussion of available archives (including information on work in progress) and the pointer to a Facebook group which I have now joined I have some work I need to do.
Witnesses at Birth, Marriage and Death Records: An Often Neglected Tool in Genealogical Research: Thomas Furth discussed what he called “social based genealogy” vs. the more common “pedigree-based genealogy,” i.e. focusing on Family, Friends, Associates, and Neighbors. In short, witnesses on vital records could be synagogue officials, relatives, or business associates. He suggested using spreadsheets to track these relationships.
Were Your Family Members Telling the Truth? And Other Inaccuracies: Steve Stein’s presentation emphasized using the Genealogy Proof Standard as the key to resolving discrepancies. His basic tips were to: 1) Get as many records as you can, 2) Use original documents when possible, 3) Evaluate sources, 4) Interview many people, asking the same questions of multiple people, and 5) Re-search (i.e. search repeatedly to find newly available information). I don’t think he said anything I didn’t already know, but he organized his information well.
Utilize Indirect Evidence to Discuss and Prove Relationships: Sydney F. Cruise also emphasized the Genealogical Proof Standard. She talked about the need to understand sources, in terms of why, when, and where they were created, who wrote or created them, whether they could have been altered, and what knowledge sources had and what their motivation was. She also suggested creating spreadsheets to track documents with timelines and using those to find connections.
Testimonies Carved in Stone: This was a film about Alba Iulia. a town in the Transylvania region of Romania, and a project to document its cemetery. While it didn’t have any direct relevance to my research, I thought it was interesting and worth watching.
Genealogy Goes to the Movies: This was another film, consisting of genealogy-related film clips from various movies. It was definitely amusing, but I would have liked to have heard Jordan Auslander’s live session chat discussing it to see if there was more to it than the humor value.
Alien, Enemy, Declarant, Grief: The focus of Emily Garber’s presentation was changes in the naturalization process and their impact on what records exist (and what information is in them). Before 29 June 1906, everything was done in local courts, with no centralized record keeping. The Naturalization Act of 29 June 1906 (which was effective 17 September) federalized and standardized the process. There were later acts which impacted aliens who served in the military in World War I, as well as further changes in 1926 and 1929. She recommended keeping a timeline for the person whose naturalization you are investigating. She also noted the value of looking at manifest markings.
Finding the Missing Piece of the Puzzle: This was presented by Eli Rabinowitz, who met the rabbi at a synagogue in Talinn, Estonia, and was able to help find a connection between him and a woman who found out, due to DNA evidence, that her father was switched at birth. I remember reading about that story. The short version is that she thought she was Irish and DNA testing revealed she was half Jewish. Eventually, she found a DNA match that solved the puzzle.
Finally, there was a Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington meeting on Sunday. It was a hybrid meeting and I managed to make it in person. They are closing their library for various reasons and had a number of books for sale. I picked up one on The Jewish Communities of Long Island (where I grew up) at a very good price. Anyway, the speaker talked about records (mostly, but not entirely Holocaust related) from Ukraine which are now on-line, but mostly remain unindexed, and showed some examples of using finding aids for them. While my family is not from Ukraine, I actually do have some interest in Ukrainian records because the Jews were expelled from Kaunas Guberniya (in Lithuania) during World War 1 and I know at least two cousins were born in Ukraine in 1916. Well, one was born in Crimea. He was not sure if there were any relevant records and also did not know if the record sets included Crimea. But he told me to email him and he’d look into it.
Now, for what I’ve been trying to write about for a while …
Back in August, I went to the International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies conference. I wrote about that at the time. Everyone had two months to watch as many remaining presentations as they could find time for. Which was, of course, fewer than I wanted to given that I tend to be a bit, er, busy. Anyway, here is a run-down of the presentations I did manage to watch.
American Jewish History Through the Lens of Literature: Cookbooks. This talk, by Jonina Duker was interesting, though I am not sure how useful it is to my research. The key point was understanding how people lived and using cooking as a window into the lives of our female relatives. Jonina talked a lot about what makes food Jewish, e.g. foods that have particular ritual significance like dates and olives. She also discussed certain products being marketed to Jews, e.g. Crisco being advertised in Yiddish. She also talked a lot about the history of Jewish cookbooks, including several types, like community fundraisers and product promotions. I was interested to learn, for example, that Gold Medal Flour had a recipe contest in Yiddish in 1921.
Bubbie, Who Are You? Finding the Maiden Names in Your Family Tree: Janice M. Sellers talked about various sources for the names of female relatives who weren’t recorded in many family records in Europe. Those included things like funeral cards, scrapbooks, nameplates in books, and diaries. Some other records that may have maiden names listed include marriage license applications (which often have more information than the license itself), affidavits to address destroyed records, and newspaper announcements. She also suggested looking for all siblings. Other possibilities are probate records, guardianship records for property, and social security applications.
Discovering My Litvak Ancestry: David Ellis is well known in Lithuanian Jewish genealogy and his talk focused on how he identified 146 direct ancestors, including 48 from Lithuania. He emphasized collaboration with other researchers as being crucial. Other key takeaways were: 1) need to repeat searches periodically, 2) records may not be accurate, and 3) family given name patterns may be helpful, particularly for the period before people took on surnames. There wasn’t really anything new to me in this, but it would be helpful for beginners.
Citing Your Sources in Genealogical Research: Janice M. Sellers gave a very brief overview of various ways to attribute prior or unoriginal work to sources, including potential style guides to use. She emphasized consistency and completeness and noted that if you are being published, the publisher will tell you what style guide to use. This whole presentation was only 11 minutes long, by the way.
Dos Gesl: The Kheyders at the Center of East European Jewish Life: This was a really interesting talk by Dan Oren about Jewish education, primarily in Poland. “Kheyder” literally means “room” and was where children spent all day being taught the basics of Jewish religion and culture, starting at the age of 3 until about the age of 12 or 13. There were big changes in the 19th and 20th centuries, including government regulations requiring teachers to be credentialed, as well as teaching the local language. However, most of the Russian that children were taught was the national anthem and the names of the tsars. There were various types of schools, depending on social status, including home schooling and private kheyders, as well as the Tamud Torah for poor children. In som cases, students were taught one-on-one, sometimes by assistants, and spent the rest of their time playing.
Researching Argentinian Jewish Families: This was a panel discussion, led by Hatte Blejer and Yoni Khpchik. There was a lot of background about Jewish immigration to Argentina, starting in 1889-1912 with agricultural communities, although many of those immigrants eventually moved to the cities. What made this presentation useful was the discussion of available archives (including information on work in progress) and the pointer to a Facebook group which I have now joined I have some work I need to do.
Witnesses at Birth, Marriage and Death Records: An Often Neglected Tool in Genealogical Research: Thomas Furth discussed what he called “social based genealogy” vs. the more common “pedigree-based genealogy,” i.e. focusing on Family, Friends, Associates, and Neighbors. In short, witnesses on vital records could be synagogue officials, relatives, or business associates. He suggested using spreadsheets to track these relationships.
Were Your Family Members Telling the Truth? And Other Inaccuracies: Steve Stein’s presentation emphasized using the Genealogy Proof Standard as the key to resolving discrepancies. His basic tips were to: 1) Get as many records as you can, 2) Use original documents when possible, 3) Evaluate sources, 4) Interview many people, asking the same questions of multiple people, and 5) Re-search (i.e. search repeatedly to find newly available information). I don’t think he said anything I didn’t already know, but he organized his information well.
Utilize Indirect Evidence to Discuss and Prove Relationships: Sydney F. Cruise also emphasized the Genealogical Proof Standard. She talked about the need to understand sources, in terms of why, when, and where they were created, who wrote or created them, whether they could have been altered, and what knowledge sources had and what their motivation was. She also suggested creating spreadsheets to track documents with timelines and using those to find connections.
Testimonies Carved in Stone: This was a film about Alba Iulia. a town in the Transylvania region of Romania, and a project to document its cemetery. While it didn’t have any direct relevance to my research, I thought it was interesting and worth watching.
Genealogy Goes to the Movies: This was another film, consisting of genealogy-related film clips from various movies. It was definitely amusing, but I would have liked to have heard Jordan Auslander’s live session chat discussing it to see if there was more to it than the humor value.
Alien, Enemy, Declarant, Grief: The focus of Emily Garber’s presentation was changes in the naturalization process and their impact on what records exist (and what information is in them). Before 29 June 1906, everything was done in local courts, with no centralized record keeping. The Naturalization Act of 29 June 1906 (which was effective 17 September) federalized and standardized the process. There were later acts which impacted aliens who served in the military in World War I, as well as further changes in 1926 and 1929. She recommended keeping a timeline for the person whose naturalization you are investigating. She also noted the value of looking at manifest markings.
Finding the Missing Piece of the Puzzle: This was presented by Eli Rabinowitz, who met the rabbi at a synagogue in Talinn, Estonia, and was able to help find a connection between him and a woman who found out, due to DNA evidence, that her father was switched at birth. I remember reading about that story. The short version is that she thought she was Irish and DNA testing revealed she was half Jewish. Eventually, she found a DNA match that solved the puzzle.
Finally, there was a Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington meeting on Sunday. It was a hybrid meeting and I managed to make it in person. They are closing their library for various reasons and had a number of books for sale. I picked up one on The Jewish Communities of Long Island (where I grew up) at a very good price. Anyway, the speaker talked about records (mostly, but not entirely Holocaust related) from Ukraine which are now on-line, but mostly remain unindexed, and showed some examples of using finding aids for them. While my family is not from Ukraine, I actually do have some interest in Ukrainian records because the Jews were expelled from Kaunas Guberniya (in Lithuania) during World War 1 and I know at least two cousins were born in Ukraine in 1916. Well, one was born in Crimea. He was not sure if there were any relevant records and also did not know if the record sets included Crimea. But he told me to email him and he’d look into it.
