Looking Ahead: #genchat Turns 10!

It’s the last week of #52Ancestors and it’s time to be looking ahead.  In 2023, #genchat (the oldest genealogy chat on Twitter) will be turning ten years old! I’ve been participating since the beginning and co-hosting with Kale Liam Hobbes since 2018.  This coming year will be a year of new things for #genchat, some of which were announced during our October 21 Open Mic.

First, Liam is retiring from co-hosting, although he’s offered to continue designing the graphics we look forward to during each chat.  That leaves me as the host, with my emergency backup will be the faithful attendee, Chris Ferraiolo.  So far I’ve only called on him to lead one chat next year (an Open Mic on March 10), since I’ll be in a completely different time zone. So now I’ve been looking over where #genchat has been the past few years and where it is going.

2023 will bring a scheduling and structure change: #genchat will be every second and fourth Friday on Twitter.  With the exception of March, the first chat will be topical, as we’ve normally done them.  The second chat will be a themed Open Mic session.  See our schedule for more details.

The next big change is that we’ll be having a #genchat on Mastodon the Saturday mornings after the Twitter chats!  There have been a lot of changes at Twitter that lead to many leaving the platform. Indeed, I was concerned about whether or not Twitter would last, so I started to set things up for #genchat on Mastodon, just in case.  It turns out that there are some on that platform who would love to see it there,  as well as those who can’t make the Friday time zone.  So I’m taking the plunge and starting a 9am ET chat that will start out at half an hour, depending on how it takes off.  Read the “How It Works” section of our website for details.

#genchat’s revised website header. Visit genchatgenealogy.com!

One thing I’m holding off on with Mastodon is having a #Treeverne lead-in time. If people want to gather independently, that’s fine. I’m just not sure that I can commit to that right now. Another thing is that I’m not requiring our guest experts to attend the Mastodon chat, unless of course they want to. We’ll still pose the questions they come up with, however. 

I’m looking forward to 2023 at #genchat.  The new schedule will be easier to manage, especially with two platforms.  So mark your calendars, pick your platform and join us!

Perseverance: Answers in 2022

At the beginning of the year, I posed a bunch of research questions I wanted answers to.  Through a little perseverance and skill, I’ve found some of those answers, as well as answers to other questions!

One of my hopes was to find the passenger lists of Adam Valek and the remainder of his family.  Thanks to some insight on name variations and some broad searches, mission accomplished!  Adam arrived May 26, 1893 on the SS Darmstadt under the surname Welikes (thanks, FindaGrave, for helping with that!).  Elisabeth and the rest of the family were harder to find; I had to search under her son Anton and using a wildcard for the surname.  There they were under the spelling Welikova (probably because they were coming from Russia) on the SS Weimar, arriving April 7, 1899.  Like my mom always told me, they arrived in Ellis Island!

Also thanks to FindaGrave, I found out how William Gorton Atwell died and where he is buried.  He died of lobar pneumonia on July 9, 1923 and is buried at St. Francis Cemetery in Pawtucket, Providence County, RI.  Sad, but fortunately not scandalous.

Another question FindaGrave answered this year was where my third great-grandfather John Wesley Williams is buried:  Pocasset Cemetery, Cranston, Providence County, RI.

Earlier this year, I posted about my great-grandparents John and Anna Biliunas’ wedding certificate and my discovery of where they got married.  This summer, thanks to my aunt giving me free reign in digging into boxes in her basement, I found their actual wedding picture! Here it is:

Anna (Valek) (Urnezis) & John Biliunas. Author’s collection.

Another mystery that is partially solved is where Job and Elizabeth White’s mysterious son Joseph ended up.  Last I wrote, they knew he “went West”, but I had no idea where.  This year, I found a somewhat detailed obituary for Elizabeth, who died in 1901.  It named each of her daughters, but only mentioned her two sons by location: “one of the sons is in New Zealand and the other is in Washington territory”.  Since I know Edgar ended up in New Zealand, that leaves Joseph.  However, I haven’t found him in any Washington-based records yet.

Of course there was the release of the 1950 Census, where I was able to find all my living direct ancestors, from my parents all the way back to my great-great grandmother, Altie May (Williams) (Atwell) Woodlock.  Yes, she had re-married, though I can’t tell when exactly, and ended up in New Rochelle, Westchester County, NY!

I wrote about how I searched for my numerous French-Canadian ancestors.  By doing this, I found even more ancestors!  (I love when that happens!)

And finally, I recently connected with a second cousin on my Markoski side through a DNA match.  I love finding new cousins!

I’m looking forward to new discoveries in 2023! 

Traditions: Yay or Nay?

As I reflect on the #52Ancestors theme of “Traditions”, I think about the past traditions that I’ve kept & those that I let fall by the wayside.  On the one hand, traditions are a great way of remembering times past; but on the other hand, they can lose their original meaning if you just do them for the sake of doing them.  These past couple of years have challenged my bandwidth for keeping up my usual Christmas traditions, so I figured I’d examine them here, marking “yay” to keep them up, “nay” for not.

Christmas tree – Yeah, the tree is a lot of work.  Making room in the living room for it, dragging out all the ornaments, hanging them up.  But when it’s all done, something about its beauty brings me peace.  So many of my ornaments are connected to my mom, my grandmother, and other memories of my life.  Verdict:  yay.

My Christmas tree this year. My maternal grandmother made the handmade ones! Author’s collection.

Christmas cookies – My mom used to bake a bunch of different kinds of cookies when I was young.  As she got older and became a working woman, she stopped baking for a very long time.  When I graduated college, I decided to take up the mantle and started with eight different kinds of cookies.  I eventually worked up to fourteen kinds and fudge.  Then lockdown happened and I got Covid, followed by a year of losing a number of family members.  So I haven’t baked cookies (with the exception of a batch yesterday) for three years.  Verdict:  nay for now; maybe a reduced yay next year.

A typical plate with the cookies I’ve baked in years past. Author’s collection.

Listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (now the Tabernacle Choir) – My mom loved listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Christmas.  Mind you, we’re not Mormons, but she loved the music and passed that along to us.  I even have a couple of her CDs.  Verdict:  yay.

Christmas Light Drive – Driving around town (or even neighboring towns), looking at the extravagant light displays…my parents loved doing this.  As an adult, I’d seek out all the best spots and map out an effective route to take it all in.  Many places no longer decorate now (there was one place in my old neighborhood that did it for over 40 years!), but I do love seeing the lights.  Lately I’ve just enjoyed the lights I see on the way home from work, and these past couple of years, my husband and I have done a Christmas Light Walk in our neighborhood.  Verdict:  nay; replaced with a walk.

One of the houses from our neighborhood light walk last year. Author’s collection.

Christmas Eve family gathering – Growing up, we used to open the presents from our parents (mostly clothes) on Christmas Eve, then the Santa presents on Christmas Day.  As we got older, the Christmas Day present opening was phased out.  However, I personally thought Christmas should be celebrated on Christmas Day, and I prefer spending my Christmas Eve in church.  With our own kids, we opened all our presents on Christmas Day.  Verdict:  nay.

Pierogis on Christmas Eve – My mom & my sister would make pierogis on Christmas Eve, and they were awesome.  Since I’ve worked full time most of my adult life, I just didn’t have time.  Plus, since they were doing it, why should I?  (Though I do have my mom’s recipe.)  And because I’m not doing the Christmas Eve gathering, it just doesn’t work out for me.  Verdict:  nay.  

Pierogies on Christmas Eve – yum! Author’s collection.

Christmas Dinner – It’s one of the few times a year I go all out with the cooking.  The past few years, I’ve made a roast beef (roast beast!) and Apple Cream Pie for dessert, along with other dishes.  My mom used to make a fabulous Beef Wellington for years until my dad was diagnosed with hemochromatosis.  I don’t know if I’d have the patience for it, nor do we have enough people to eat all that.  The roast beef is still delicious, though!  Verdict:  yay.  

What traditions have you kept or let fall away?

New Horizons: What Made Them Immigrate?

I have to admit, when I saw that this week’s #52Ancestors theme was “New Horizons”, my first thought was the 1972 Moody Blues song!  But from a genealogy context, I think of my ancestors gazing toward the horizon, about to embark on their immigration journey.  

Over at #genchat this coming Friday, we’re going to be discussing migration patterns influenced by history.  This got me to thinking about what may have influenced my ancestors to come to this country.  Although I personally don’t know for sure, I want to examine the possible “why’s”.

1600s  Since just about all of my ancestors settled in New England, history tells me that those people had some serious religious differences with the Church of England.  I know that a lot of my ancestors ended up being Congregationalists, as many from the Great Migration were.  At least one of my ancestors (Nicholas Wallington) seems to have been an indentured servant, so he was basically along for the ride.

On the French-Canadian side, I know that I have a number of Filles a Marier and Filles du Roi that came to Quebec, motivated to find a good husband and start a family to help populate the new land.

1700s  A good number of my ancestors from this time period were arriving in Nova Scotia directly as a result of the American Revolution.  I’ve written about my Loyalist ancestors (the Whites and Hurlburts) who just could no longer live in the United States, and some received land grants as a result of their military service for England (such as James Bruce).  And of course there was Catherine (Quinn) O’Brien who inherited land through her dead husband’s family in Nova Scotia and took advantage of the opportunity to give her children a better life.

1800s  Both my Quebec (Pleau) and a branch of my Nova Scotia ancestors (White) arrived in the US about 1869, just two years after the provinces of Canada confederated into a single country.  I have to wonder if there was some dissatisfaction with that.

Later in the century, my Polish (Markoski and Gazda) and Lithuanian (Valek) ancestors arrived along with thousands of others immigrating to America, escaping depressed conditions and unrest in their homelands. With the Industrial Revolution, America was becoming the land of opportunity, and they took advantage of that.  The Valeks were a classic example of chain migration, where one person (Adam) went ahead of the family, bringing them over at a later time.

What we often think about when we think of immigrants. Courtesy Library of Congress.

1900s  There were just two more immigrant journeys to be had before 1920:  that of my great-grandfather John Peter Biliunas from Lithuania, and of my great-grandmother Eva Christina Lipsett of Nova Scotia.  Both may be cases of chain migration also.  In John’s case, his passenger states that he was connecting with a brother-in-law (who I know nothing about).  In Eva’s case, she had many cousins already living in Essex County, Massachusetts.  Perhaps they had good stories of opportunity where they were living, I can’t be sure.

Wrong Side of the Law: One More Crime

From what I’ve seen in old newspapers, the Pleau brothers at times found themselves on the wrong side of the law.  I’ve written about Charles Napoleon’s many troubles, which ended tragically.  Albert seemed to only have one brush with the law back in 1897, as I covered here.  And Eugene had stolen a coat in 1902.  Strangely, I could not find anything illegal that my great-grandfather did, unless you count the bigamous overlap of his marriages for which he was never arrested.

Well, there is one more crime that I’ve recently uncovered in the newspapers and it was committed by Eugene.  Apparently he rented a horse from liveryman Edward F. Higgins in Rochester, NY and drove it eight hours without a rest.  He ended up being convicted of animal cruelty on August 2, 1904 and fined $15.

This isn’t Eugene; this fellow looks like he’d treat his horse better! Courtesy Library of Congress.

The fine wasn’t good enough for Higgins.  By August 13, he brought action against Eugene in Municipal Court for $100 in damages to the horse.  I have yet to find the outcome of the suit, but I have a feeling that it didn’t end well for Eugene or the poor horse!

Tombstones: Some of My Favorites

This week’s #52Ancestors theme is “Tombstones”, and what genealogist doesn’t love a good cemetery?  (Actually, I’ll even take a bad one!)  For me what comes to mind are the graves I’ve visited that have moved me the most.  Here are a few:

Visiting the grave of my great-great grandparents, George and Emma Pleau at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, NY, was so fulfilling for a few reasons.  One, it was just an hour away from my in-laws, who my family visited often. And two, it really brought me full circle to the research that my aunt started so many years ago.  I had to wonder when the last time a descendant visited this gravesite.

George & Emma Pleau graves at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, NY. Author’s collection.

I was excited to find my direct ancestor Caleb Seward in Old Durham Cemetery in Durham, CT.  So many of the stones in that cemetery were badly weathered, but his was still in great condition!  The Sewards are tucked away toward the top of the steep hill that the cemetery is on; I only found them because I sat down to rest for a bit.  His stone notes that he was the first inhabitant of Durham.

Caleb Seward’s grave, Old Durham Cemetery, Durham, CT. Author’s collection.

I found my great-grandparents Stanislaw and Joanna Markoski in Mater Dolorosa Cemetery in South Hadley, MA only by taking an educated guess based off the Find-a-Grave photo.  Fortunately it was not far from where my grandparents were buried.  

Stanislaw and Joanna Markoski graves, Mater Dolorosa Cemetery, South Hadley, MA. Author’s collection.

When I made my 2013 pilgrimage to Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, MA, I have to say I was happy to find the graves that I saw; their map was so helpful!  But the one that moved me in particular was my second cousin twice removed Hazel Faustina (White) Hill.  I remembered her from when I was just a little toddler; whenever we’d visit she’d always have a little treat for me.  And later when my grandfather George Pleau died, she was sure to ask me, “Do you remember me?”  I sure did, I said.  Her kindness stayed with me, and visiting her final resting place was just a little way to pay that back.

Hazel Faustina (White) Hill’s grave, Pine Grove Cemetery, Lynn, MA. Author’s collection.

Ghost Story: The Story of My Research

This week’s #52Ancestors theme is “Ghost Story”, and little did I know that I’d be the ghost!

It’s been at least a couple weeks since I’ve touched my research, and I’m sure my ancestors are wondering where the heck I am!  I suppose I should feel lucky that they’re not haunting me.  Nevertheless much of what has separated us is, in fact, genealogy related.

My ancestors will be haunting me yet! (Created on Canva.)

Last weekend, I virtually attended the WikiTree Symposium which had a lot of good speakers, a couple great discussions on the future of genealogy, and some fun games like genealogy Bingo (I won a round!). This weekend has been the Fourth Annual Virtual Genealogical Association’s Conference, which has been evenly paced with its talks.

In between, I’ve been keeping a very close eye on the goings-on at Twitter.  The future there seems very uncertain right now. On top of that, my faithful #genchat partner these past five years (Kale Liam Hobbes) is retiring as co-host at the end of the year, which will necessitate some changes I’ll need to implement with the #genchat schedule and website.  

For now, #genchat will be continuing on Twitter, but if that implodes, I’ve been exploring possibilities with Mastodon.  In fact I’ve been kind of immersed in the Mastodon world this past week as many in the genealogy community have either moved there permanently or set up an account as “insurance”.

Now things are starting to settle down a bit, and I plan on visiting with my ancestors tonight.  And I’ll be back on track with blogging next week as well. Stay tuned!

Organized: My Own Finding Aid

Sometimes doing genealogy involves more than just research.  You need to know where all your research findings are, as well as other ephemera that you’ve collected relating to your family.  On September 23, #genchat had guest expert Melissa LeMaster Barker (“The Archive Lady”) discuss creating our own finding aid.  I think the chat made us all realize that this was something important we needed to do, for ourselves and anyone who might be looking at our “stuff”.

I think I’m pretty organized, particularly when it comes to my digital files.  However, does anyone know where those files are and what my organizational system is?  Even if they did, would they know where to find my photos, my grandmother’s wedding dress, my father’s sports trophies, etc.?

Viola Biliunas Markoski’s wedding dress. Author’s collection.

Melissa said that the most important part of a finding aid is the content listing, so step one is making that list!  I need to go through each part of my house where I keep the family history items and start that list.  

I was thinking of using Microsoft Excel to make the list easily searchable and sortable, as well as having the capability of having additional columns for further information.  What other information? Location in the house would help, though I have to remember to update it if the item should move.  And probably the location within the location (i.e., photo album on a shelf in the bedroom).  Provenance (aka whose hands the item has passed through) is also important; it really speaks to the sentimental factor!  I’m sure I’ll be coming up with more categories.

One important thing that Diane Rogers and Marian Wood brought up is where the finding aid should go.  Marian puts content listings in her archival boxes. Diane felt that having her finding aid in a binder or something amongst “Things My Family Should Know”.  Having gone through items after the previous generation passed these past couple years, this would have been so helpful!

Another purpose the finding aid would serve is being a checklist of what I have and haven’t digitized.  Yes, another couple columns: digitized & location of file.  

I think I have a 2023 genealogy resolution cut out for me!

Lost: Where Did Frank Valek Go?

A few years ago, I wrote about my “missing” great-great uncle Frank Valek.  A 1943 newspaper notice for my great-great grandfather Adam’s estate noted that “Frank left home approximately 24 years ago and nothing has since been heard from him or as to his whereabouts by his relatives.”  

Frank Valek in the early 1900s. Author’s collection.

Now that I’ve learned more about my Valek line and that there are a few more online resources, I thought I’d revisit Frank.

• According to Adam’s 1909 Petition for Naturalization stated that Frank’s birthday was May 1, 1901 in Jamesport; however, Adam seemed to get all his children’s birth dates wrong on that document.  If the World War I draft registration I found is indeed my Frank, his birthdate is September 5, 1900.   I could not find any Valek or spelling variation in the New York State birth indexes from 1900 to 1902.
• The 1915 NYS Census shows 15-year-old Frank living at home with his parents on Manor Lane in Riverhead, Suffolk County, NY.
• There is a mention of a “Frank Valek” in the June 18, 1915 issue of the “County Review”, as part of promotions from fourth to fifth grade.  True, he seems kind of old for that grade; but it is possible, especially being a farmer’s son who would often work during the school year.
• According to the September 12, 1918 World War I draft registration, Frank appears to be living in Manhattan and married to someone named “Lizzie”.  I could not find any marriage for any surname variation in the NYS Marriage Indexes from 1915 to 1918, nor in the NYC vital record search site, nor in the NYC Marriage Indexes for Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens (the most likely locations) for those years.

I couldn’t find him in any other censuses that I’m able to access.  If I’m to believe that the draft registration is my Frank, then the Social Security Death Index says that he died in February 1972 in Albany County, NY.  I could find nothing in online newspapers after 1918, having tried the NYS Historic Newspapers and Old Fulton Postcards sites.

Perhaps I could check Ancestry at the library for their search results and city directories for Manhattan around 1918 and Albany before 1972.  Hopefully I’ll have a lead on Frank there!

Passed Down: The Glass Case

One of my most precious possessions that has been given to me is a china cabinet that my family always called “The Glass Case”.  It originally belonged to my great-grandparents, Thomas F. Atwell I & Eva Christina Lipsett. Supposedly they got it secondhand after they were married. When Grampy Tom moved into a smaller house, he gave the glass case to my parents. Later, in 1997, they gave it to me before they moved.  The Glass Case holds quite a few other items that my parents and grandmothers gave to me.

This plate’s design is the official town seal of Swampscott, MA. Before we moved to CT, folks in the neighborhood threw a going-away party for my parents and gave them this plate to remember Swampscott by.

This small tea service used to belong to my mother. I only remember her using it once, when she had our neighbor, Mrs. Sinatra, over for tea.

This silver butter dish belonged to my mom. I’m not sure where she got it. She also had a silver creamer & sugar on a silver tray. I’m not sure where those went.

This mug was given to my father, who was the head coach of the Westhill High School football team. The team presented it to him at the 1982 team banquet. It says “WHS Football, 1982, Coach Pleau”.

This silver platter belonged to my grandmother, Viola Markoski. The reverse says, “SHM & Co, H704-4, Sheffield Reproduction” then an E in a circle, up arrow in a shield, and a P in a diamond.

This glass bowl belonged to my grandmother, Viola Markoski. 

This Depression Glass bowl belonged to my grandmother, Viola Markoski. 

Depression glass from my grandmother, Viola Markoski.

This little plaster girl used to belong to my great-grandfather, Thomas F. Atwell I, I believe. I think he may have given it to my grandmother (his daughter, Eugenie Pleau), who gave it to me. It had broken in half at the waist, which I glued back together. On the bottom it says “Made in Italy”.

What I cannot post a picture of, but what I’ve also inherited from my mom regarding The Glass Case, is an almost irrational overprotectiveness of it.  She always told us to be careful around it, or else!  When we moved it to my house and later when we had to store it elsewhere temporarily, I was on high alert as I protected it vigilantly!