Tag: <span>genealogy</span>

Sepia Saturday 240: Criminals, ID Photos, Named Photos, False Pretences

I had a bit of an internal struggle with this week’s theme.  I do have recorded evidence of minor law-breakers (busted for “illegal barbering” and running a still) on one branch of my tree, but decided against posting those photos since they weren’t mugshots and might be considered a little bit insensitive to living family members.  I personally think  history is history and it’s no big deal, but best not to make waves, right?  Instead, I turn back to my husband’s Dutch family for a great ID photo.  Please pardon the quality – I shot these with my cellphone camera and didn’t get the chance to scan the actual document!

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Here we have the passport for Doede “Douglas” Jaarsma and Hilje “Hilda” Dijkema for when they came to the USA in 1951 with their three children, Douwe “Dave,” Elizabeth, and Hendrik “Henry.”  The blurred out section on the right contains the children’s birth dates, blurred intentionally to protect their privacy.  While not quite sepia photos, they do fit nicely into the theme as ID photos!  What’s so neat about the passport is that even though it’s Dutch, it includes French and English in the official, pre-printed sections, but  the written-in data is only in Dutch.  Just a couple things to help translate on the left photo, in the “Special Marks” section for Hilda is  “litteken aan de hals,” which translates to “scar on the neck,” per google translate.  Hilda’s hair color is listed as “gray blonde” even though the family says she was pretty much all grey even as early as her mid 20’s.  Overall, I think the passport is really neat, and I’m so glad the family saved it for so long.  It’s a great piece of history to have, documenting the move from the Netherlands to the USA, and is a fantastic primary source document for birth dates and places.

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Sepia Saturday 239: Postcards, proverbs, mischievous women

I’m going with two postcards and one non-postcard to make this post today since two postcards fit into the theme  of postcards (even though I can’t be sure if any of those women were mischievous)  and the third image helps support the history behind this particular family.

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The first postcard is a postcardized photo which seemed to have been a common treatment for that time period.  The little stamp box in the top corner helps date photos, and there’s a handy dandy guide I use here.  That particular stamp box means 1904-1918 or so which is where I’d guess it as well.  The pencil was written on by Mary E Harris, daughter of Alfred John Harris and Hannah Alma Gertrude Davies.  Hannah and Alfred were born in England (Hannah in Wales, Alfred in Devon not far from where Jessie’s family was from) and came to the USA to settle down in  Pennsylvania, near where my great-great grandparents Alfred Powis and Jessie Battin lived.  They had some things in common with coming from England to PA, so I’m sure they got along well, and judging by the number of photos we have for them, it’s pretty clear they kept in touch over the years.  The postcard says,

This is all most of family.  Besure and let us know if you are coming down on Wed – Mary

The pen was added on by my great grandmother, Olga (Powis) Kitko much later in life.  It seemed that she went through the trunk of photos at some point in an attempt to identify who’s who before she passed away.  Uncle seems to be a honorary title for “Alf” and doesn’t denote any blood relation as far as I can tell.  There is some Harris up further on Jessie’s line, but I haven’t been able to make a connection yet.  Blandburg refers to a small town in Cambria county, Pennsylvania.  Alfred and Hannah are seated in the middle, and I believe Mary is seated on the far right holding a baby who is likely Merle Harris Wagner, Born 1910, fitting right into the date range from the stamp box.  No postage though!

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This is a much more stiff and formal portrait of just Hannah, Alfred, and their children.  The stamp box seems to be the same as the prior one, so I’d put this closer to the 1918 mark.  The back says,

A merry xmas from all, Hannah.

On the front, written in pencil along the left side is, “13 Harris,” perhaps a photographer’s mark indicating 13 people in the photo for the Harris family.  Possibly some sort of travelling photographer.  I don’t quite know who’s who, but the children’s’ names were George, Alfred J, Thomas D, William D, John Daniel, Anna Mae, Mary E, David James, Luther, Edward, and Charles D (in age order, oldest to youngest).  The youngest child was born in 1898 which would make him somewhere around 18-21 when this photo was taken which looks about right if we guess that the youngest is on the far left.  Mary is, I’m pretty sure, seated on the far right.

Scan10626One final, not a postcard photo of the family again with their very own band!  I haven’t been able to find a mention of the band in any of the newspapers local to that area, but searching for a common surname like “Harris” makes it a little difficult.  There’s no mention of the band in either Hannah or Alfred’s obituary, and it looks like this was taken earlier than the other two photos, maybe around 1902 or so.  Still, what an incredible thing for a family to do, have their own band!  It’s clear these folks kept in contact for a long time and there are plenty more photos of this family in the collection I have.

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Sepia Saturday 238: Signs, big signs, small signs, men with their hands in their pockets

I had quite a few ways to go with this one, but decided to go with a few from my husband’s family.  His genealogy nearly all traces back to the Netherlands, so there are some really neat photos from his family that I absolutely love, with a great history and tons of stories from living descendants.

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First up, a photo of my husband’s paternal grandfather, Doede “Douglas” Jaarsma (b. 22 Apr 1911 Tjerkgaast, Friesland, Netherlands, d. 12 Feb 1995, Haledon, Passaic, New Jersey, USA) in front of the shop where he worked after arriving in the USA.  They arrived by boat in 1951 with their three children, including my husband’s father.  From the sign, I think “Aukema” is  Art Aukema  who is related through Douglas’ sister, Grace (Getje) who married an Aukema.  I’m pretty sure the building for “Sussex Welding” doesn’t exist anymore since that’s the area I grew up in and I can’t remember seeing it ever.  The photo was probably taken about 1953 or thereabouts.

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Another one from my husband’s family, continuing in that vein.  These are three unknown girls in front of a sign that says “An De Weg” – “Aan den weg” in Dutch, so google tells me, translates to “On The Way, so a slight misspelling, but it might be a regional dialect sort of thing.  I haven’t been able to turn up where this was taken or who is in the photo, but you can tell from the back it was taken in July of 1930 (or 1938?) in “Lunters” which I’m assuming is Lunteren, a small town in Gelderland.  The taller woman in the back almost looks like my husband’s paternal grandmother, but it’s hard to make out if that’s really her in the photo.  I did a quick search to see if the place still existed but came up with nothing for the sign and no photos that looked like that via google image search.  If you know where this was taken, please leave a comment!

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Sepia Saturday 235: Greetings and Handshakes, Pipes and Politicians

2014.06W.41This Sepia Saturday was  a tough theme for me – Greetings and handshakes, pipes and politicians.  In the hundreds upon hundreds of photos I have, I have none of politicians or handshakes/greetings.  Not a single one!  I did manage to find two with pipes though, so I’ll share those here especially since the one has intrigued me for a long time.  I’m really trying to keep the Sepia Saturday posts about family photos, so here’s my best shot!

Scan0028This photo came out of the Red Velvet Victorian Photo Album.  It was on a page with a photo of what looks like a town street.  There’s no photographer identification on the back or front, and both images are well faded which may make them earlier photos.  I can date a number of the album photos to around 1880-1910 which helps a little with a date range.  This cabinet card in particular is likely on the earlier spectrum because it’s on plain card (a hallmark of earlier photos), but the clothing and scene give us no good hints as to a date.  I threw this into a genealogy discussion board at one point and folks in England said it may have been a Christmas play or pantomime or something along those lines.  Everyone seems to be in costume, and there’s a gentleman standing to the far right who may be a director.  The greenery around the building entrance is mostly dead which would make it fall or winter.  My great-great grandmother came from Cornwall,  so it’s likely this was from around that area.  None of the people in the photo match any other photos in the album, so I doubt they’re related, but it’s still interesting, and my great-great grandmother saw it fit to include in the album so it has to be somewhat important.  In fitting the theme, the seated gentleman in the fur coat is holding a wine glass and a pipe!  If you happen to be able to identify what’s going on here, or where this may have been taken, please leave a comment!

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Two photos of Great Grand Uncle Earl William Powis (b. 15 Oct 1896, Clearfield, PA – d. 26 Mar 1973, Polk, FL) and the ship he served on while in the Navy.  Earl’s BIRLS Death File lists his service as between 14 May 1917 and 21 Aug 1919, pretty much just during World War I.  I don’t have his complete service record, so I’m going off the photos which have pretty much helped tell me where he served.  In the photo on the left, Earl is standing on the far left, with the watch cap.  The back of the photo is on the bottom and says, “I was just going to the city when this was taken.  And this is the way we work.”  You can see some of the men have cigarettes, and there are even two guys with pipes, fitting us right into the theme.  On the right is the USS Amphitrite which Earl labelled, “This is the ship I am on.”  I can’t be 100% sure if the photo on the left was taken on the ship on the right, but it seems to be a pretty close match with the lines and rigging in the background.  I found a bunch more photos of the ship and its history here.  From what I’ve found, the Amphitrite served as a training vessel at the Philadelphia Navy Yard where Earl was stationed in September of 1917 based off another photo which was actually labelled with a date and location.  It’s possible he moved onto another vessel and the photo was taken at a later date, but there are no labels to be sure either way.  Still, this is another photo I love and I’m so glad I can fit it into this week’s theme!

Sepia Saturday 234: Reflections on Paddling in the Lake or Sea

2014.06W.39This week’s Sepia Saturday is, “Reflections on Paddling in the Lake or Sea.”  Part of me thought about using some of the houseboat and barge photos from my husband’s Dutch family, but that’s on canals and doesn’t quite fit the theme.  I suppose I can save those for another week (they’re awesome photos, and I hope rivers/canals comes up as a theme!).

The photos I’ve got this week are somewhat more recent, but came out really lovely and share a neat snippet of my great grandmother’s life that I hadn’t known about before.  She had a childhood friend, Mildred Witherow (b. 25 Dec 1906 in Pennsylvania, d. 12 Apr 1972 in Pontiac, Michigan), who moved out to Michigan from Pennsylvania at some point.  I think my parents mentioned her visiting someone in the midwest, but they didn’t know who specifically.  While scanning the trunk full of photos, I came across a set that were nicely labelled (it’s a rare thing to find a labelled photo in the trunk), with witty commentary and dates on the photos.  I think it’s really sweet they kept in touch, visited eachother, and still had silly adventures.  Mildred, affectionately called “Mid,” never married and my great grandma Olga (Powis) Kitko was married for a short while, but she spent most of her adult life as a single gal, raising her son amongst family.

"The lonely motor boat"
“The lonely motor boat”

I have absolutely no idea which lake this was, but I do know it was taken prior to September 1960 and somewhere around Pontiac, Michigan.  There are SO MANY lakes around that area, it’s impossible for me to narrow down at all.  The caption is exactly what great grandma wrote on the back of the photo in pencil (YAY PENCIL!).

"Mid & I, waiting for the driver, ha"
“Mid & I, waiting for the driver, ha”

Two lovely ladies on a pier!  I am just in love with this photo and have a funny feeling that the “driver” may have taken the photo.  But really, how great is this?  Two childhood friends, in their late 50s, early 60s, in lovely summer dresses out for a day on the lake.  The driver mentioned here is Mid’s brother, Alvin (b. 1 Jun 1914, d. 26 Mar 1989).  The vacation seems to have been for a small family gathering too – the other photos in this set show a group of people sitting around a table for dinner.

"Mid, Alvin & I on the lake"
“Mid, Alvin & I on the lake”

Hmm, for a motor boat, that sure does look like a paddle, fitting us nicely into the theme for this week’s Sepia Saturday.  Yeah, I know, he was probably using it to get into the dock safely since the water was maybe too shallow for the propeller.  These photos aren’t necessarily sepia toned or super old, but the whole point of Sepia Saturday is that there are no rules and to share photos  along with  the story behind them, and I’ve always had a fondness for this set of images, so there they are!

BONUS IMAGE, because while it’s not a photo, it relates to the story here a little, showing the friendship these two had over the years.  It’s a simple postcard, but these gals kept in touch for so long, and it’s so cute to see a postcard from Mid to Olga about  daily life in Michigan.  Post date is 26 Apr 1947, well before the images above, but helps to establish that these two were close friends their whole lives.

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Sepia Saturday 233: Weddings

A fellow blogger contacted me about a few of the old images I’ve posted a while back.  I started following his blog and found that he was posting these Sepia Saturday posts about old photographs.  Well, I finally checked into what Sepia Saturday is, and decided to have a go at it!  I’ve got PLENTY of old family photos and it will be fun to share a few here along with their history, maybe not every week, but as often as I can.  The Sepia Saturday creator gives a few weeks out in advance, so I might actually be able to keep up.  Today’s theme is weddings.

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First up is I think the oldest wedding I have a photo of, that of my great-great grandmother and great-great grandfather, Jessie Battin and Alfred Powis.  They were married 19 Feb 1891 in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, USA.  They both came to PA from England and ended up staying in the same house their married lives.  I haven’t been able to find out much about the photographer, but I was told that the skirt of her dress was green velvet which is a neat little detail and far from the traditional white wedding gown that’s typically worn today.  Other neat things to note are  the hole in Alfred’s shoe and his IOOF pin on his vest as well as the fact that his pants are some sort of plaid print while his jacket is pinstriped.  That iconic mustache stayed with him his whole life and I don’t have a single photo of him with a clean shaven face.

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Next up is Jessie’s sister, Mary Jane’s marriage to John Samuel Creber.  Dave Creber provided a wonderful detail of the people in the photo, so I’m going to copy that in here.  The couple eventually moved to Canada but Mary Jane  kept in close contact with her sister still in England as well as the other two in Pennsylvania, USA.  Many thanks to Dave Creber for helping to fill in these precious details!

Photo is wedding of John Samuel Creber and Mary Jane Battin (14 June 1898, St. Michael’s, Lawhitton, Cornwall, England). Others in the photo are (l to r): Kate Battin, Laura Rallison (Emma Emily Battin’s daughter), George Battin, John Samuel Creber, Mary Jane Battin, Bess Battin and Emily Creber (sister of John Samuel). Man sitting on the ground is Theophilus George Creber, brother of John Samuel Creber.

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Here we have Bessie Melita Creber’s marriage to Alfred Norman Harris on 18 June 1927 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  Bessie is a child of John Samuel Creber and Mary Jane Battin.  In the photo, Bessie is standing between her father and her new husband with her brother Alfred on the far right, and her sister Mary Victoria third from the left.  I’m not sure who the other two men are on the left nor do I know who the child is in the center.  Interesting to see such a short dress, but elaborate bouquet and veil.

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My final wedding photo is of Alfred George Battin Creber’s wedding to Ruby Winnifred Esther Watson on 27 Dec 1930 also in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  The date explains the indoor photo, I guess.  Alfred, as mentioned above, is Bessie Melita’s brother (both are my great grandmother’s cousins), and is in the back on the left.  Ruby is front and center, but I don’t know who the other two ladies or the man on the right are.  The indoor photo explains the slower shutter speed and motion blur, but you still get a pretty good idea about the flowers, dresses, and veils and hats.  Those hats really are something spectacular.

I’m keeping my first Sepia Saturday  short and sweet, since I really just wanted to share these neat photos and how they relate to one another.  I just have SO many photos, and it’s almost a shame to  keep  these really incredible family photos all to myself.  I’m hoping to continue posting with the weekly theme, and hey, maybe it will help me connect to living descendants of the people in these old photos.

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Great Grandma’s Photo Album

This was another find from grandpa’s house, and times like these are when  I’m SO SO SO glad he kept everything.  This is the photo album of Olga (Powis) Kitko (b. 27 Aug 1900, d. 29 July 1987) who lived in Clearfield County, PA.  She’s my great grandmother, and I know I’ve blogged about her before on here, but just in case you’re new, that’s her.  My grandpa was her son, born to Olga and Joseph Kitko (b. 9 Dec 1905 in Madera, PA and d. 11 Oct 1978 in Xenia Ohio)  in 1933.  Joseph skipped town shortly after and went to Ohio, leaving my great grandma with a young child and a lot of anger.  I’m not here to get into the drama and personal background, but it helps to support the rest of the story.  As a genealogist, my main focus is on the facts, trying to stay as far away from the personal drama that surrounds them – what happened, happened, and I can’t change it now, so getting upset and dwelling on it does no one any good.  The facts are that Joseph left, moved to Ohio, remarried twice.  My great grandma was reportedly very angry, and I’m told she tore up every photo of him that she ever had (there are a few spots in the album were photos were obviously torn from the pages).  I think I *may* have a few existing photos of him in this album, but no way to confirm that since none of the photos are labelled.  The album itself has a paperboard cover and is tied together with a string.  The pages feel basically like black, heavyish construction paper, and the photos are all glued to the pages, 33 sides filled with a bunch of blanks at the back.  This drives me absolutely crazy and brings me to a conundrum.  Salvage the pictures from the album or leave the album intact as a unit?  Which is best for preservation of this neat little album?  Thoughts?  Anyway, on to the photos! albumcover page1 On this page, top left, looks to be a photo of the Creber family, perhaps on a visit to their home.  Olga’s aunt Mary Jane Battin married John Samuel Creber and moved from England to Canada.  Top right is what looks to be Olga’s Aunt Kate Battin and George Thomas Rowe who stayed in England.  Bottom right is Olga Powis.  Bottom Left is a really neat photo since it lifted out of the album fairly easily and had something written on the back.  Written on the back is, “Left to right, Anna Shranko, Goldie Powis, Helen Somerville, Kathleen Troland, and Mary Shranko. The Shranko sisters are from Osceola Mills, PA. Four Budds and one bloom from Williamsport, PA. Taken May 15, 1932”  Goldie (Patchin) Powis was Olga’s oldest brother’s wife.  Alfred Herbert Powis died relatively young, allegedly of an illness he brought back with him from WWI.  They had one child together who died in infancy.  After “Herb” died, Goldie never remarried, but apparently remained close friends with Olga and the family.  Three of the ladies, Mary, Helen, and Kathleen, show up on the 1930 census living in Williamsport, PA together with Bertha Johnson.  All the ladies were  employed in various jobs from Machine Operator at a Rubber Factory to Sales Lady at a Five & Ten, and Stenographer, and in their early twenties.  Pretty neat to see industrious gals striking out on their own! page2 Yet another page – I picked out two of my favorites just to show you what kind of stuff is in here.  Top L to R: Olga Powis on the left and a friend, Olga Powis on the left and a friend, unknown woman in a car, Olga Powis on the right and a man who I believe to be Joseph Kitko.  That same car appears in other photos that are labelled as, “Me and Joe’s Car,” so I have to believe that at some point, “Me and Joe,” were standing in front of that car, the me here being Olga.  On the bottom row L to R, unknown woman and Olga (in front of Joe’s car, this photo is duplicated and appears in the collection of loose photos as well), unknown woman in front of a car, and a photo that I believe is of Joseph Kitko and his son Leon (my grandpa).  This is the same man as the above far right photo, but there’s no label to prove my hunch.

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Finally, we have just this single photo which was the only one on its page, and the glue had pretty well loosened so that it was falling out of the album.  In the back standing up is Olga Powis who was a teacher briefly at a local school in Rosebud, PA.  The date on the chalkboard up front is 1919 which means she would’ve been 19 when this was taken.  Check out the boy in the front right with the hole in his stockings!  I really REALLY love these old school photos and need to put together a separate post on them some day.

The lesson I’m taking away from all this work with old photos?  LABEL YOUR PHOTOS.  Label them, all of them, use acid-free/lignin-free storage methods and use a pencil to label.  You just never know who might be looking at them 100 years later wondering who’s in that photo.

Italian Letter 16 Feb 1947

So, it might seem a little odd that I’m posting these letters to the public.  Two of the people referenced in the letter (Angelina’s daughters) may still be alive and what a thrill it would be to have the internet somehow connect us.  You hear that Thia Guerrini, Rina Guerrini?  If you’re reading this, I would absolutely love to hear from you.  We’re related by marriage, and my cousins would get a real kick out of hearing from long-lost cousins in Italy.  If they were alive, they’d be in their 80s this year (2014).  It’s a long shot, but hey, you never know.

Moving on!  The letters are also interesting for their historical information.  Nellie Gasparri, (my first cousin, once removed) apparently sent a package along with her letter to her aunt Angelina.  The reply letter from Angelina is what I’ve got posted here – she enclosed a separate, smaller piece of paper thanking Nellie very specifically for the coffee since, she explains, it was something they hadn’t seen in Italy for many years since the war.  She also mentions that they’re missing many things, and that her daughters appreciated the clothes Nellie sent.  Basic living supplies seem to have been pretty scarce in San Valentino (Sorano).  There’s also mention of Nellie’s Aunt who I can assume is her mother’s sister, my grandmother, Norma Innocenti.  Just like the last letter, the same grammatical/spelling errors persist (penziero instead of pensiero, “ai” and “o” instead of hai and ho for the verb avere, and a couple various misspellings).  It’s slowly making these easier to read since the handwriting is becoming more familiar.  At the end, Angelina writes a little blurb to also thank the friend (of Nellie’s I assume?) who wrote the letter, Gina Canali.  In my translation, I added some punctuation to help with flow and took a few liberties with some of the not-easily-translated Italian phrases.  I love perfectly literal translations, but it never flows well.  Without further babble, here’s the translation, and images of the letter.  Click any image to enlarge.


February 16, 1947.
Dearest Niece,
Days ago I received your letter and even the package that you sent. I just received it and it was delivered in good condition. I can only thank you for the thought that you had for us. Your cousins Thia and Rina thank you for the clothes that we really needed because in Italy we are lacking clothes and many other things after the war. Your cousins are ages Thia 18 and Rina 17.
Dear Niece, if it’s easier for you to write American, write that way since there is someone who reads to me. As for the letter that I wrote to your aunt, I hope that she has received it and my greetings and if she writes to me again it would make me happy. I’m glad that you are in good health. As for us, my daughters and my husband are well, but for a while I haven’t felt well but don’t worry that it’s serious.
Dear Nellie I would like to know so much about you all. Make your brothers write to me too and tell me how you’re doing now that you’re left without your father. I have so much sorrow for you all. We are far away and I cannot give you any comfort. I would like to have a memory of my brother if it’s possible (a photograph of yours); it would be much appreciated. For this time, I can only greet you and kiss you, united to my family. I tell you that your aunt thinks of you always,
Angelina Guerrini.

Don’t ever forget that my address is only this:
S. Valentino di Sorano
Pro di Grosseto
Only So
Do you understand?
Greetings again to your friend that wrote the letter,
Gina Canali

(enclosure, on green paper)
Dear Niece,
I thank you so much for the coffee, here it’s been many years and you don’t see it any more and I tell you again there are many things we’re lacking here in Italy. Nellie in as much as I remember your address it’s not as it was before. Did you move? It’s been a while since your aunti wrote to me the other time where she is. I want to tell you many other things and ask you many things but I’m afraid I’ll bore you. Write to me at length and tell me many things. Again, many kisses, your aunt,
Angelina Guerrini

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