Wedding Portrait for Andrew and Helen Stroik

I beg of you, do not store your family treasures in the basement.  Especially if your basement has a history of flooding.  Most especially, not in a cardboard box.

This is was a beautiful wedding portrait of my great-grandparents Helen Frances Goretski and Andrew Anton Stroik.  The couple was married in Stevens Point, Tipton County, Wisconsin around September 1906.

Unfortunately, I grew up in central Michigan.  My parents kept everything in cardboard boxes in the basement.  Thirty years and many, many floods later I can fully appreciate the significance of their poor storage decision.

This is the only photograph we have identified for certain as Andrew Anton Stroik.  It was peeled off the bottom of a cardboard box after being soaked multiple times in sewage water.

Notes on back of photo:
On the front of photo card are the markings: “Stankowski Studios, Stevens Point, Wis.”
On the back of the photo is a handwritten note: “Andrew Stroik, R2, Hatley”

Agnes Barkley in the Valparaiso High School 1928 Glee Club

Ancestry.com recently added a significant amount of content to their online collection of U. S. School Yearbooks.  I have been able to locate several of my family members throughout the country, but it hasn’t exactly been easy.

Of course, it goes without saying that if you really want to find someone you need to dig deep from every angle.  Here are some tips to help you learn from my trials and errors.

1. Eliminate the first name. I have found that the OCR scanning they used to index the yearbooks is less than optimal.  Many times, my family members are pictured but not listed in the index.  Many of them have been listed with last names only (i.e. “COLE”) or first initial and last name (i.e. “R. FITZGERALD”).
2. Reverse your search. Look for the last name in the first name, and first name in the last name field.  For example, I was looking for my great-grandmother “Agnes Berniece Barkley” but in order to find her, I had to search for “Barkley Agnes” in the index.  In the same yearbook twenty pages later, I found her indexed correctly as “Agnes Barkley” singing as part of the Glee Club!  Make sure you are searching all over the book in case your target person is listed multiple times.
3. Ignore the dates listed for approximate age. Since there are no birth dates or years provided, Ancestry.com has chosen to give the same exact birth year for every student in the entire yearbook. I suggest an index search range of 9-22 years after your ancestor was born for High School yearbooks, and 13-26 years for College yearbooks. In the example provided here, Agnes Barkley’s approximate age is 20 with an approximate birth year of 1908.  She was actually 16 or 17 and was born in 1911.  Take the index birth year with a giant chunk of salt.
4. Locate another photo to help with the group portrait hunts. To find your great-grandmother in a giant group portrait can be difficult.  A lot of the students look alike.  Try searching the rest of the yearbook first to see if there is an individual photograph of her to get an idea of exactly what she looked like.  You might also reference family pictures from the same era for a good place to start.  Eliminate as many people as you can and narrow down your scope for large group photos.  Send a copy of it to relatives in email (or *gasp* send a printout in an actual envelope) and ask for their assistance in locating her in the group shot.  Don’t forget to somehow document where she is once you locate her.  You could store a second copy of the image noting the location in a bright or obvious fashion (like the red circle above) or by cropping her out in a smaller JPG version stored with the original file to make it obvious to the next person generation which student she is.
5. Search all yearbooks in adjacent years. If you’ve found your grandfather in 1934, check out the yearbooks for 1933 and 1935 even if he’s not showing up in the index.  He might be indexed incorrectly or might have used an initial instead of a full name. If you know he was a Sophomore in 1934, look under the Freshman class in 1933 and the Junior class in 1935.  If you’re lucky, he’ll be listed as a Senior in 1936.
6. Don’t cut corners. I suggest you be patient and thumb through the images just like you would look through a real yearbook in your hands.  You might miss an amazing photo treasure that wasn’t indexed.  You might also find other relatives such as cousins, siblings or spouses that you didn’t even know you were looking for.
7. Don’t give up! If your ancestor is not showing up in the search, use the Browse This Collection area (on the right side) to see if there are yearbooks online for the targeted location and general time frame.

If you have any additional tips, I’d love for you to leave a comment below.  Good luck finding your family in this wonderful collection!

– Jessica M. Green

PS: I still can’t believe my great-grandmother was in the Glee Club!  That’s awesome.

James Irvin Weddle with his mother Jane (Cline) Weddle and sister, circa 1860

This week we take a look at the lineage of the Weddle surname as it pertains to my family’s history.  Weddle is a family line I have yet to fully research.  Fortunately for me, Kathy Burns already has.  I began poking around in this line on Thursday evening, and the floodgates opened wide.  We’re talking about a genealogist’s dream come true: Kathy’s tree is incredibly complete, sourced, organized and highly accurate!

Earliest Known Ancestor

James I. Weddle was my 3rd great grandfather.  He was born in 1859 in Ohio.  He married Ida May Gordon on October 23, 1883 in Valparaiso, Indiana.  James died in April 1923.

I can’t take credit for any of the research done prior to James.  All of it comes from the amazing, incredibly organized tree of Kathy Burns mentioned above.  According to her research, the earliest ancestor for this family is my 8th great-Grandfather, Dirick Adam Wedel, born 1690 in Germany.  His son, George Adam Weddell was born 1712 in Weisbach, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. He died in 1796 in Rostraver, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.

Weddle Family Lineage

Lineage

Jessica Marie Cole > Douglass Lyal Cole > Duane Lyal Cole (1929 – 1994) > Agnes Berniece Barkley (1911 – 1991) > Ida Eleanor Weddle (1890 – 1926) > James Irvin Weddle (1859 – 1923) > William Weddle (1828 – 1878) > John Weddle (1794 – 1858) > Daniel Weddell (1759 – 1824) > George Adam Weddell (1712 – 1796) > Dirick Adam Wedel (1690 – )

Items of Interest

• The photo shows baby James Irvin Weddle with his mother Jane (Cline) Weddle and presumably one of his older sisters, either Ethelinda or Mary E.  This tin type was captured late 1860 or early 1861, as James was born in December 1859.
• The Weddle family can be found in the 1920 US Census.  James and his wife Ida were renting a home with their son Lemuel.  Washington, Porter, Indiana; Roll: T625_460; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 155; Image: 977.
• According to his headstone, George’s son Daniel Weddell was a Ranger in the Revolutionary War.
• James Brady Weddle, Ida Eleanor’s younger brother, was a very well respected Army Recruiter during World War I in Elkart, Indiana.  GenealogyBank.com has several newspaper articles featuring his recruiting activities in the area, printed in the Elkhart Daily Review (1918-1920).

Additional Information

Check out the Ancestry Family Tree belonging to researcher Kathy Burns.

Check out my Ancestry Family Tree for James Weddle.

See the grave of James and Ida Weddle on Find A Grave.

I would like to research more about William Weddle, to see whether or he served in the Civil War in Ohio or elsewhere.  A quick search finds a record for a possible match to William Weddle.  It looks like I have a Military records request to make!

Enlisted as a Private on 10 October 1861 at the age of 33. Enlisted in Company Batty K, 1st Light Artillery Regiment Ohio on 28 Dec 1861. Received a disability discharge from Company Batty K, 1st Light Artillery Regiment Ohio on 20 Feb 1863 at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, MD.

This article from The Saginaw News shows just what my grandfather Walter Anthony Dreffs was up to at the ripe old age of 19.  The article was published on January 13, 1920, less than three months after Congress had passed the Volstead Act prohibiting the production, sale and transport of intoxicating liquors.

Underage gambling and drinking during Prohibition.  Now that’s a family treasure!  I’m guessing if my Grandpa Dreffs were alive today for me to confront him about it, he would just grin at me and look away.

Arrested for Gambling: Walter Anthony Dreffs

15 FACE CLEMENTS IN JUSTICE COURT MONDAY AFTERNOON

Gambling and Intox Charges Preferred Against Majority.

FOUR GIVEN RELEASE

Still Owner Bound to Circuit Court in Bonds of $3,000.

Fifteen prisoners made up the reception committee that welcomed Justice Arthur Clements home from Canada Monday afternoon, the police court justice, who is also president of the Saginaw baseball club, returning from the annual league meeting at London, Ont., to find the police had pulled two raids Saturday night and Sunday morning, netting 11 of the 15.  It was the biggest assemblage in the police court since the days before prohibition.

Mike Geklinski, owner of the still found in the home of Stanley Reneskewiski, 319 Lowell street, waived examination on the charge of manufacturing liquor, and was bound over to the circuit court for trial.  He was unable to furnish $3,000 bonds, with two sureties, and remained in jail.  Reneskewiski, John Jenis, Walter Maksinowicz and Walter Dreffs were all released by the court of charges of gambling, while Mike Dumon and Walker Zachsuski, taken in the same raid, pleaded guilty to charges of gambling and paid $10 fines.

Informer Gets Fine, Too.

Edward Casper, Ignatz Merko and Mike Campas, taken in the raid Saturday night on the International hotel, pleaded guilty to gaming charges and paid $10 fines.  Ed. McCusky, who informed the police and was jailed on an intox charge, also paid a $10 fine.

Lloyd Campau, intox, third offense, was bound over to circuit court and remanded to jail, being unable to furnish $1,000 bail, with two sureties.

Chester Korgein, who “rough housed” a south side dance, was sent to jail for ten days.

William Delacey pleaded guilty to the larcony of a quantity of wearing apparel from George E. Blake and was given 30 days in the county jail.

An unassuming intox who paid a $5 fine, was the fifteenth prisoner handled.

DaD, written in my handwriting

Many people ask me why I refer to my father as “DaD” instead of “Dad” or “Daddy” or some other format.  The answer is a little silly but rather simplistic: I enjoy writing the letter capital D.  When I was growing up, I would often give my DaD greeting cards for holidays.  My favorite part was writing the great big capital D on the front of the card.

One time I decided there was no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed to write two capital D’s on the envelope.  After all, it was super fun!  I loved how I purposely disconnected the stem from the loop on both sides.  I really enjoyed making that big whirl of an arch around the stem and dragging it down in a poetic manner.  I just always thought the letter was beautiful, so I wrote it twice.

It just sort of stuck.  DaD started referring to himself in writing as DaD when he wrote me letters and emails.  Now it’s part of our family history!  It is convenient too, since I also call my husband’s parents “Mom” and “Dad.”  Whenever I refer to “DaD” it means my own father Douglass; when I write “Dad” it means my father-in-law, Jerry.  I can’t give you any clues to distinguish my Mom (Diane) from his Mom (Karen) though… except that sometimes I refer to my Mom as “Ma” or “Mother” instead.

Capturing my Facebook Profile

Have you given much thought about how to preserve the social media you use every day?  There’s no telling how the stuff we put online today will be made available, if ever, to our descendents.  While the National Archives is grabbing all of our public tweets, if yours aren’t public they may be lost to time.

One of the things I have started to do is capture screen shots of Facebook profiles of my family members, myself included.  This is especially neat to do on unique occasions such as someone’s birthday, prom, Christmas, graduation, etc.  I simply take a screen shot and paste it into Photoshop and save the file as a JPG.  I name the file with the date and a description, such as 20110830_FacebookProfile_JessicaGreen.jpg.

This is also a good way to capture your family member’s Profile information at a point in time, especially for the younger generation.  Don’t forget to copy the text and paste it into a document to go along with the JPG, that way it will be searchable later.  It’s fun to look back at the status changes over time, like when your nephew is “Single” and then “In a Relationship” and then “Single” and then “In a Relationship” and eventually “Married.”

I’d love to hear your tips on how to capture today’s technology for tomorrow’s genealogists.  What do you suggest?

In December 2010 I was wandering rather aimlessly through a random antique shop in Las Vegas, Nevada while on a trip with my mother-in-law, Karen. At the end of a narrow hallway stood an old hutch filled with family photographs and memorabilia. I have a fascination with the story behind old photographs and immediately started thumbing through what was there.

Diploma for James G. Coury with $5.00 price tag

I quickly noticed an old diploma for a gentleman named James G. Coury from Kingston Borough Schools in Kingston, Pennsylvania.  I don’t really have any family from Pennsylvania, nor had I ever heard of Kingston before.  Something struck me about the grandeur of this particular piece.  It was in its original paper frame and was in perfect condition, as if it had been stored away for a long time.  The date on the document was June 11, 1935.

I picked it up and immediately noticed that directly behind it were three more diplomas from the same school.  In fact, I was a bit surprised to realize they appeared to be from the same family: Peter Anthony Coury (June 1943), Janette Mary Coury (June 1948) and Cecilia Ann Coury (June 1951).  My gut sank like a bottomless pit, and something told me there was a problem with this situation.  I couldn’t believe that these diplomas were all sitting here, together, from the same family and the same school, inconspicuously priced at $5.00 each.

At the surprise of my mother-in-law, I decided to purchase the diplomas.  I felt like I was up to the challenge of finding an ancestor from this family.  There had to be more to this story.  I took the four diplomas up to the front counter.  The shop owner just looked at me like I had three heads.  She asked me why I wanted to buy them.  I told her I was a volunteer genealogist and I wanted to try to return them to the family.  She said, in a very direct manner, that I was wasting my time and my $20.00.  She told me that nobody wants them, that’s why they were thrown out.  She was incredibly rude to me and left me feeling very angry.  She was running a business, why did she care what I did with the stuff I bought from her?  I recall standing in the parking lot and taking a good look at the front of the building, thinking to myself that I never wanted to return to her shop.

On December 11, 2010 I returned home to Phoenix and hopped on Ancestry.com.  It took me all of about 30 seconds to locate a researcher online who had these four siblings in a family tree.  I quickly sent a message and asked how this person was related to James, Peter, Janette and Cecilia.  I said that I had found something they might be interested in for their family archives.  I then waited patiently.

A few weeks went by and I heard nothing in response.  On January 6, 2011 I looked around again and found a second family with a similar tree posted.  I sent off the following message:

I see that you have the family of Anthony and Minnie Coury in your tree – specifically the children James G. Coury, Peter Anthony Coury, Janette Mary Coury, and Cecilia Ann Coury. I am looking for someone with close ties to these family members. Can you tell me how you are related to them?

Within a few hours, I received a response from her and knew I had found a good match:

My husband is the son of Viola Teresa Coury. She is the sister of James, Peter, Janette and Cecilia. They also had another brother Albert. Let me know if you have any other questions. I would love to help out. And if you could help me out too that would be great. I have had a really difficult time finding information on the Coury side of the family.

I wrote her back and explained the situation and how I came across the diplomas.  This was her response to me:

That is so great that you found those! We knew my husband’s aunt had died in 2009. They actually had a burial ceremony for her in PA. Her 2 sisters that are the only living siblings left, are my husband’s mother, Viola and his aunt, Janette. They both live together in PA. They are older, in their 80s, and couldn’t go to Las Vegas to oversee anything that was going on in regards to her house and belongings. They sent my husband’s 2 cousins out there to see what they could do. So… I guess what they did was get rid of everything instead of really taking the time to go through her stuff. That’s sad.

We would love to have the diplomas if you are willing to send them to us. I know her sisters would be delighted to see them. I am so happy you cared enough to not see them rot away like they were clearly going to do.

If you do return to the antique shop, pictures would be great if you can find any. Like I said, we have had a really hard time finding any information on the Coury side of his family. I do know that his Aunt Cecilia was a bit of a pack rat, so there is probably a lot of stuff there that is just not worth saving. I just wish they would have gone through some things instead of just throwing them out with the trash.

Thank you so much for doing this. We really appreciate it.

On January 14, 2011 I sent the diplomas to the family.  They received them quickly and attempted to contact the antique shop.  I had provided them with the address and phone number so they could try to retrieve additional items if any still remained for sale.  This was her response:

I got the diplomas in the mail today! Thank you so much. I always wanted to quickly tell you that my husband spoke to the woman who owns the antique shop via email. She told him that she has no idea what we are talking about. She doesn’t think it was her shop that had Cecilia’s items. She basically blew us off completely and told us that she couldn’t help us any further.  So… if you are in the area and go in the shop if you could just check for pictures for us that would be great. Oh, she also said that once she goes through the boxes, anything she finds that she thinks is important she contacts the family members and returns the items to them. I guess she didn’t think the diplomas were important enough.

Angry.  That’s all I could feel towards this shop owner.  She was rude to me, she was rude to the Coury family and she was just all around a mean person.  She doesn’t care about the history of the items in her shop.  It’s all just a way to make money.  I didn’t much care to ever go back to her shop again.  I didn’t want to give her any more money.  I was torn between frustration towards her and the desire to help the Coury family.

The next time we went to Las Vegas was July 23, 2011.  I had little hope that I would be able to identify any additional belongings for the Coury family, knowing absolutely nothing about these people.  I had internet access and a sense of responsibility, so I went for it.

Coury Family, courtesy of the Millham Family

We walked back into the awful antique shop and past the horrible owner, straight to the end of the hall where I had found the diplomas seven months prior.  Using my Motorola Xoom tablet and my access to the Coury family tree on Ancestry.com, I began sifting through photos on the table to see if anything looked like it could have been a match. I knew the family had three boys and three girls, and they were of Italian heritage.

I noticed that most of the items had a number written in pencil on them, and remembered in a flash that the diplomas also had a number.  Thankfully I had scanned them in and posted them on Flickr before I mailed them out.  I used the Xoom to navigate to the images on Flickr and was able to read the number “1020” in the corner.  I turned back to the table and noticed the same number on a bunch of the items.  I guessed that was a lot number, and my guess turned out to be correct.

My next message to the Coury family was:

I’m back in Las Vegas and just went to that antique shop again. I found a whole bunch of photos that I believe might be from your family. I can’t be sure of course, but I found one military pamphlet with the Coury name and the lot number 1020 matched on all the items. The family had two parents and six children, three boys and three girls. I believe these are from your family.

The shop owner was as rude as ever. I tried to bargain with her, and then I tried to plead with her, I tried to bundle everything and buy it in a lot but she was just cruel about it. I couldn’t afford everything so I picked out what I felt was most important if in fact it is your family. Family portraits, military, wedding, stuff like that. I left a few of the candid pictures of just one or two kids. The total for 9 items was $70. There were about 10 more items from the lot but I wasn’t sure if it was the same family.

I took a gamble on these but what the heck, I am in Vegas right? I sure hope this is your family.

I immediately sent the package to the family straight from Las Vegas.  I didn’t even get a chance to scan them in.  (The photo shown here was scanned in and sent to me by the family for the purposes of sharing this post.)  Two days later, I received this response from the Coury family:

I got the package today! Words cannot express how unbelievably wonderful you are! A few of the pictures have yet to be explained but we are working on them as we speak. We think they are all of our family. Absolutely fabulous! The family is thrilled. I have scanned them and sent them to everyone to remind them to always look in boxes before throwing them in the trash! You are truly fantastic! Thanks again!

It just goes to show you that sometimes following your gut instinct can lead to really wonderful things.

Thanks for listening to my story.  I hope it inspires you to look for ways to volunteer as a genealogist.  You never know how you could help a family reunite with lost treasures.

Obituary for Agnes Cole

Obituary for my great-grandmother Agnes Berniece Cole published in the Vidette-Messenger of Valparaiso, Indiana on October 13, 1991.

Agnes B. Cole
VALPARAISO – Agnes B. “Mom” Cole, 80, of Valparaiso, died Sunday, Oct. 13, 1991 at home.
She was born Aug. 23, 1911 in Vaplaraiso, the daughter of Charles and Ida (Weddle) Barkley.
She was the owner of three Mom Cole’s Kitchens, which included Mom Cole’s Truck Stop on state Route 2 and U. S. 30 in Valparaiso, for 23 years.
She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Valparaiso and the Elizabeth Circle.  She was the chairperson of the United Way in 1960 and was a former member of the Women of the Moose.
On Feb. 25, 1928, in Valparaiso, she married Lyal Newton Cole, who preceded her in death in 1955.
Surviving are four sons, Duane of South Haven, Zane of Valparaiso, Blaine of Tennessee and Wayne of Illinois; five daughters, Lorraine Berg and Elaine Snider, both of Valparaiso; Darlaine Lorz of Hobart, Marlaine Gordon of Crown Point and Arlaine Jacobs of Iowa; a brother, Milton Barkley of Ohio; a sister, Ruth Piper of Knox; 35 grandchildren; and 28 great-grandchildren.  She was preceded in death by a son, Laine “Flip” Cole and a daughter, Charlaine Cole.
Services are 11 a. m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church; the Rev. Robert Stine officiating; burial at Kimball Cemetery in Liberty Township; visitation 7-9 p.m. Tuesday and 2-8 p.m. Wednesday at Bartholomew Funeral Home, Valparaiso; memorials to the family.

See the grave of Agnes Berniece (Barkley) Cole on Find A Grave.

Check out my Ancestry Family Tree for Agnes Berniece (Barkley) Cole.

This week we take a look at the lineage of the Barkley surname as it pertains to my family’s history.

Earliest Known Ancestor

Henry Moses Barkley, my 5th great grandfather, was born 1772 in Tyrone County, Ireland.  He married Zelpeh Moore in Lewistown, Pennsylvania sometime around 1810.  He died 24 Apr 1857, presumably in Jasper, Indiana.

Barkley Family Lineage

Lineage

Jessica Marie Cole > Douglass Lyal Cole > Duane Lyal Cole (1929 – 1994) > Agnes Berniece Barkley (1911 – 1991) > John Charles Barkley (1884 – 1964) > John Calvin Barkley (1854 – 1898) > William Moses Barkley (1821 – 1899) > Henry Moses Barkley (1772 – 1857)

Wedding Announcement for Agnes Barkley

Items of Interest

• Agnes Berniece Barkley married Lyal Newton Cole on February 23, 1929 in Porter County, Indiana.  Her wedding announcement in the local newspaper said, “Agnes Barkley Cole, Daughter of Charles Barkley, whose marriage to Lyal Cole, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Cole of 551 Boundary Street was solemnized Saturday afternoon in Baptist church.”

Additional Information

• Check out my Ancestry Family Tree for Henry Moses Barkley.
• Read more about Agnes Cole at Find A Grave.

In today’s Treasure Chest Thursday, I offer an original piece of family history of major significance.  This is the beautiful Certificate of Marriage for my husband’s great-grandparents, Andrew Dominik and Malvina Golkowski.

This document is very special.  Not only is it the original certificate for this important day, it is handwritten and signed by the Reverend Raymond Benedict Golkowski, Malvina’s older brother.  It is also the only official reference to Andrew’s original birth name in poland, JÄ™drzej.

Certificate of Marriage for Andrew and Malvina Dominik

CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE
STATE OF MINNESOTA
County of Morrison, SS
I hereby certify that on the 17th day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred fourteen at Ramey in said County, I, the undersigned, a Roman Catholic Priest did join in the holy bonds of Matrimony, according to the laws of this State, Malvina Golkowski of the County of Morrison, State of Minnesota and Andrew Jędrzej Dominik of the County of Morrison, State of Minnesota in the presence of Lon Goldaczi, Katy Schmolke, Witnesses.  Rev. R. Golkowski

Notice the blue ink handwritten addition of what appears to be Andrew’s Polish name, JÄ™drzej.  He often signed his name “Andrew J. Dominik” but this is the only indication in historical records of what the “J” may have stood for.  In my research, it seems that JÄ™drzej was the name Andrew in Polish.