1940 Census: Paternal Grandfather

After not being able to look at any images of the 1940 census yesterday, I made a lot of progress today, finding all 4 of my grandparents!  The fastest way I found to search the images was to download the entire enumeration district and then flip through it in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Grandparent number 1 (according to my pedigree chart), and the second found today, is my paternal grandfather, Theodore Acquard.  In 1940 he was 6 and living on a farm on Alleghany Rd. Bennington, Wyoming Co., NY.  He is listed with his parents, Florian and Stella (Karpinski), younger brothers Daniel and Ronald, grandfather Joseph Acquard and uncle Walter Acquard.  His name is misspelled as “Theadore”.

Source: 1940 U.S. census, Wyoming County, New York, population schedule, Bennington, enumeration district (ED) 61-8, sheet 7B, dwelling (blank), family 150, Florian Acquard household; digital images, National Archives and Records Administration, 1940 Census (http://1940census.archives.gov/ : accessed 3 Apr 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T627, roll 02816. 

SNGF: Ancestral Name Roulette

This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun by Randy at Genea-Musings is:

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) What year was your paternal grandfather born?  Divide this number by 100 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandmother, or yourself, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!

My roulette number is:

1) 1933/100=19.33 rounded to 19

2) Number 19 on my ancestral name list is Jozefa "Josephine" Szydlik (1886-1973), my great-great grandmother.

3) ---She was born somewhere in Poland on 26 Sep 1886.  I just ordered her SS-5 and am hoping for the exact place of birth in the next 20 business days;-)

---She was married to Franciszek "Francis" "Frank" Karpinski and they had 6 children, Florence, Thaddeus, Genowefa, Roman, Stanislawa and Alfreda.

---Her parents were Thomas Szydlik and Barbara (last name unknown) and she had at least two siblings, sister's Stefania and Apolania.

 

Finding the Karpinski Family: Step 3, The Cursory Online Search, Part 1

Please check out step 1 and step 2, if you have not already read them.

Step 3

You now have all of your information together and have spoken to any relatives related to your subject search, it is now time to broaden your horizons to the internet.  Every month, more and more information is placed online for genealogists, saving us time and money.   Additionally, despite what shows such as “Who Do You Think You Are?” show, most genealogists do not have the money to jump on a plane and go to the archives of a small village in their homeland.  Many of those archives will also tell you that their information is available online or through the LDS Family History Centers.  Traveling to distant (and not so distant) locales and seeing where your ancestors lived and worked is rewarding and enjoyable, but it is best to start at home and expand as needed.

Time for a Research Log

Over the course of your research you will look at hundreds of websites, books and documents.  Some of these will have information you want or need and some will not.  It is important to keep track of these items so you do not repeat your search and so that you have the correct source citations for every piece of information you have.  Often times, what you do not find in a document is just as important as what you do.

This is where a research log comes in.  There are a variety of research logs you can find on the internet and in genealogy books and programs.  Programs such as excel, RefWorks or EverNote also work for this purpose.  I prefer to keep all of my information in the notes section of my genealogy program.  The best research logs is the one that you will actually keep up with.  Start this at the beginning of your research and you will be ahead of 99% of the other genealogists I have met.

The Cursory Online Search: Recommended Sites

There are a billion websites which change daily; how do you know where to start?  Some of my favorite sites to begin looking at are:

• Google.com


• Ancestry.com


• FamilySearch.org


• Genealogy.com


• Worldcat.org


• GeneaBloggers.com

You can search for a surname (particularly if it is an unusual one), a person’s full name or something such as “surname AND genealogy” “surname AND Buffalo, New York” or “surname AND birth year”.  Make sure to check out advanced search options and to view the help or FAQ for Boolean search options, which are different for every site.

My Cursory Online Searches

The Cursory Online Search: Karpinski

The Cursory Online Search: Szydlik

Finding the Karpinski Family: Step 2, Talking to the Family

Please read Step 1 first.

Step 2

The second step of the research process is talking to family members about your subject.  If you are brand new to genealogy, you will want to interview as many family members as possible, starting with the oldest (I know this sounds morbid, but these are the people who have the most information about past generations and who will likely become a past generation first).  Additionally, no one wants to replicate another’s research, as this would be a waste of both time and money, so by taking the time to speak to your relatives and do a cursory online search (step 3), you will limit this.

Talking to the Family

For this project, the only person I know to speak to is my great aunt Dottie.  She has done a lot of research on the Acquard family and is where I received the information on the Karpinski’s.  The information I received via email was:

“Here's the info I have on your great-grandmothers (Stella Karpinski Acquard) mother and father.

Francis (Francixaek) Karpinski (Karpinska) born September 16, 1880 in Poland and Died May 22, 1943 married to Josephine (Zozefa) Szydlik who was born September 26, 1886 in Poland and died April 4, 1973 in Warsaw NY.  Both are buyed[sic] in St. Joseph's cemetery on Rt. 16 in Holland NY. There headstone reads S.P. Mama Josefa 1886-1973 and S.P. Ojciec Franciszek 1880-1943 Karpinska.  He died of cancer and she died of asthma.  He had a brother Stephen. I do not know who his parents were.  Hopefully, you can find some information on him.

Josephine Szydlik Karpinski's parents were Thomas & Barbara Szydlik.  I do not have any other info on them.

Josephine had 2 sisters that I know of Stepania Szydlik who married with last name Stankiewicz.  No first name known.  Her other sister Apolania born in 1892 in Poland and married with last name Kaczanowski.  She died January 4, 1963 in North Collins NY.

In 1987 I received a letter from Apolonio Stankiewicz

address: ulico.Wojsko, Polskiego 37/20; 77-100 Bytow; woj. Stupsk.  She is a cousin that used to write to my Mom.  However, she writes in Polish and I can't read or write it so I had a terrible time communicating with her.    I also have an name and address for Barbara Stelmaszczyk, ul. Krabowska 14; 42-600 Tarnowskie Gory; Polska .  I have a picture of a girl from 1957 with the name Picowszs Kaminia.

Good Luck.  Not sure if any of these people are alive but their children or grandchildren should be.”

One email and I have a lot more information.  Things to look into:

• Visiting the cemetery in Holland next time I am visiting Buffalo to see the gravestone mentioned.  I can also see what info the cemetery has on the family.


• Josephine’s sister’s first and married names and some of their children’s names


• Francis’s brother’s name


• More spellings of first and last names.  Need to look at a Polish genealogy book for some standards.


• Addresses in Poland.  Finding hometowns in the ancestral country can be difficult, this should help.

Our next step will be a cursory search of this family online tomorrow.

Finding the Karpinski Family: Step 1, What I Know

A new season of Who Do You Think You Are? is on, life here has slowed down after the holidays and I miss genealogy.  In the past, I have always focused on my mother’s family, as I have relatives who have traced my father’s side back many generations.  Looking at my database, however, it is easy to see that not all lines were traced back multiple generations.  One of these lines is the Karpinski’s, my paternal grandfather’s mother’s line.

I am going to document my search for this family on my blog for a variety of reasons.  First, the whole point of a is to show the research I have done, get help for problems I can’t solve (especially since I have never done Polish research before), and hopefully meet cousins.  Second, if you are brand new to genealogical research, this can show you one method a genealogist takes to find their family.  You can follow along, see what conclusions you come to and then use that information to search for your own family

Step 1

Step one for any genealogical search is to start with what you know.  Although it can be easy to say “Well, I heard we are related to *insert famous person here* so let me start with them and connect backwards to my family” or “I have always been curious about my 3rd great grandmother who has the same first name as I do, so I am going to go to Ancestry.com and search for her”, these are not the best methods to do historical research.  Always begin with yourself and move backwards through time.

Write down as much information about each person as you can, including vital statistics, alternate name spellings and nicknames (particularly for immigrant ancestors), spouses, children, religion, occupation and organizations they belonged to.  The more you have, the easier it will be to find them in records and to know that you are looking at the right “John Smith”.

What I Know

What you know can be listed in a wide variety of ways.  The most basic way is in a simple list format:

Me: Amanda Acquard Perrine

Father: Dad Acquard (no, that is not his actual first name… I tend to keep that info off my blog for living people)

Grandfather: Theodore Frank Acquard

• b. 21 Sept 1933, Bennington Center, Wyoming County, New York
• m. 12 July 1958, Alden, Erie Co., NY
• d. 29 Nov 2009, Cheektowaga, Erie Co., NY

Great-Grandmother: Stanislawa “Stella” Frances Karpinski

• b. 6 May 1916, Buffalo, Erie Co., NY
• m. 28 Dec 1931, Bennington Ctr., Wyoming Co., NY to Florian Dana Acquard
• d. 26 Jan 1987, Batavia, Genesee Co., NY of Thyroid Cancer
• buried: Bennington Ctr., Wyoming Co., NY
• other: 6 children, remarried to Walter John Acquard 30 Aug 1952 in Bennington Ctr. after death of Florian.  Walter was Florian’s brother.

Great-Great Grandparents:

Franciszek “Francis” Karpinski

• b. 16 Sep 1880, Poland
• m. Unknown
• d. 22 May 1942, NY
• buried: Holland, Erie Co., NY
• other: 6 children (Florence, Thaddeus, Genowefa, Roman, Stanislawa and Alfreda)

Jozefa “Josephine” Szydlik

• b. 16 Sep 1886, Poland
• d. 4 April 1973, Warsaw, Wyoming Co., NY
• buried: Holland, Erie Co., NY
• other: Her parents were Thomas Szydlik and Barbara (last name unknown).  They had 3 children (Jozefa, Stefania and Apolania)

As you can see, this can get lengthy and confusing.  As such, genealogists use forms such as pedigree charts, family charts and genealogy programs to keep all of their information organized (I recommend Legacy Family tree, it’s free and tremendously simple to use, but also offers a lot of power).

Here is my pedigree chart for Stella:

Here is a family group sheet for Franciszek:

This is much more organized and easy to understand.  Once these are completed, I print them out and place them in my research binder, along with family group sheets for Stella and for Thomas Szydlik.  The printed sheets also have all of my sources for the information (in this example, all of the information I have was provided to me by my Aunt Dottie).

Now it is time to start researching, starting with your relatives.  Please read about this step tomorrow!

Fearless Females: Marriage Records

In honor of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogistblog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

March 4 — Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo too if you have one.

As both of my grandmothers are still living and probably wouldn't want this information on my blog, I will focus on my great grandparents for this post.

Alfred Marco Casell and Lillian L. Eichhorn married 11 July 1928 in Buffalo, Erie County, New York.  Al was 22, Lillian, 19.  Witnesses were Al's father Marco and Frank J. Condon.

William Herbert Whitehead married Vera Julia Gress 28 March 1921, also in Buffalo.  He was 24, she was 21.  Witnesses were Bill's brother Hobson and Alberta Suess.  Their wedding announcement was:

Whitehead-Gress.  The marriage of Miss Vera [piece ripped off] daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. [also ripped; Gress] of Forest avenue, to Mr. William H. Whitehead , took place Easter Monday night at 8:30 o'clock at the home of the bride's parents, the Rev. J. Ward officiating.  The attendents were Miss Alberta Suess and Mr. Hobson Whitehead.  Mr. and Mrs. W. Whitehead will be home at 173 Forest avenue after a trip to New York, Washington and Baltimore.

Florian Dana Acquard and Stanislawa Frances Karpinski married 28 December 1932 in Bennington Center, Wyoming County, NY.  Florian was 33, Stella was 16.

Albert Emil Nuwer married Edna Agnes Roll 22 June 1932 in Alden, Erie County, NY at St. John's Roman Catholic Church.  He was 26, she was 21.

[caption id="attachment_814" align="aligncenter" width="235" caption="Al and Edna's Wedding"][/caption]

This is the only wedding picture I have for my great grandparents.  I love the "Just Married" sign on the car.  I had calla lilies as my wedding flowers,just  like they did.

Sources

Erie County marriage certificate (short form), 4024 (1921), Whitehead-Gress; Erie County Clerk's Office, Buffalo.

New York State Department of Health, marriage certificate 2251 (1928), Casell-Eichhorn; WNYGS Erie Co. Clerk's Office Marruage Licenses microfilm 132.

"Whitehead-Gress," (Buffalo) Unknown Newspaper; Article owned by Barbara Mueller.  Copied from her home by Amanda E. Perrine 23 May 2009.

 

 

SNGF - Ancestral Name List Roulette

Courtesy of Randy at Genea-Musings:

Instructions:

1) How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

Theodore Frank Acquard was born 21 Sept 1933, so he would be 77.  77/4 = 19.25, which we will put as 19.  Spinning the ahnentafel chart, we get Jozefa Szydlik, my great-great-grandmother.

Jozefa was born 26 Sep 1886 in Poland.  One of my goals for 2011 is to look into my Polish ancestry more and figure out where in Poland they came from.  She came to New York state with her family and died in Warsaw, Warsaw Co., NY 4 Apr 1973.  She was married to Franciszek Karpinski.  Good thing we only need to give three facts because that is about all I have on her.

I finally broke down...

And got an Ancestry.com subscription.  In the past I have always used the library version, but being so far from home for so long, I thought getting the subscription would be a good idea.  So I now have a 3 month world subscription, which is already paying off in relation to some English parish register information.

I have also decided I should start looking into my fathers side of the family, even though I have a great aunt and great uncle who have already done a lot of it.  n particular I am going to work on the Karpinski family, my paternal grandfather's mother's family, as this one has not been searched very far back.  I have already found some promising leads on Franciszek Karpinski (my great-great grandfather) and a new cousin!

Goals for the New Year

In 2010, I hope to accomplish the following:

• Interview my grandmothers, parents and great aunts, uncles and cousins on video ASAP!
• Goal is to do this by the end of February for my grandmothers
• Update each of my lines sideways and forward.
• I usually do well with my information about my ancestors siblings, but I have not done so well finding cousins in more recent generations.
• Focus my search for my German lines so that I can visit their hometowns while I am in Germany for 4 1/2 months
• I will therefore focus on the Eichhorn, Gresz, Fink, Weiss and Tross lines for the next two months
• Stay in touch with my relatives searching my fathers side of the family.
• I research my mothers side as I have great aunts and uncles who research my fathers.  I will be helping my Aunt Dottie with her search in Poland for the Karpinski's (my great-grandmother's line)
• Complete Dear Myrtle's finally get organization checklist from 2009
• Start researching my fiancé's line (at the very least, get the information he knows into my file)
• Blog: Participate in Surname Saturday each week in order to get my surnames out there and find new cousins!  I plan on going alphabetically though all my surnames.

SNGF - My 16 great-great-grandparents

From Randy over at Genea-Musings: Here is your SNGF assignment for the evening (if you choose to accept it - this is not stump the genealogist or even Mission Impossible):

1) List your 16 great-grandparents in pedigree chart order. List their birth and death years and places.

2) Figure out the dominant ethnicity or nationality of each of them.

3) Calculate your ancestral ethnicity or nationality by adding them up for the 16 - 6.25% for each (obviously, this is approximate).

4) If you don't know all 16 of your great-grandparents, then do it for the last full generation you have.

5) Write your own blog post, or make a comment on Facebook or in this post.

1. Joseph Francis Eugene Acquard, Jr.: born 17 Jan 1855 in Cheektowaga, Erie, NY; married 15 Oct 1878 in Bennington Ctr., Wyoming, NY; died 10 Sept 1943 in Bennington Ctr., Wyoming, NY. FRENCH
2. Mary Ann Kollin: born 15 Oct 1878 in Bennington Ctr., Wyoming, NY; died 5 Feb 1938 in Bennington Ctr., Wyoming, NY. 1/2 GERMAN and 1/2 BELGIAN
3. Franciszek Karpinski: born 16 Sep 1880 in Poland; died 22 May 1943 in Erie or Wyoming, NY. POLISH
4. Jozefa Szydlik: born 26 Sep 1886 in Poland; died 4 Apr 1973 in Warsaw, Wyoming, NY. POLISH
5. John George Nuwer: born 21 Mar 1869 in Lancaster, Erie, NY; married 19 Apr 1893 in Lancaster, Erie, NY; died 1 Feb 1948 in Alden, Erie, NY. FRENCH
6. Anna M. Zaepfel: born 28 Sep 1874 in Elma, Erie, NY; died 7 Aug 1943 in Alden, Erie, NY. 1/2 GERMAN & 1/2 FRENCH
7. Edward Roll: born about 1888 in Alden, Erie, NY; married 22 Jun 1910 in Alden, Erie, NY; died 12 May 1941 in Alden, Erie, NY. FRENCH
8. Lidwina Agnes Pautler: born 16 Jan 1888 in Alden, Erie, NY; died 11 Oct 1975 in Batavia, Genesee, NY. FRENCH
9. Marcantonio Casillo: born 11 Jan 1868 in Italy; married 5 Sept 1901 in Buffalo, Erie, NY; died 26 Nov 1937 in Colden, Erie, NY. ITALIAN
10. Carolina Izzo: born 3 May 1876 in Italy; died 2 Oct 1934 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. ITALIAN
11. William Fred Eichhorn: born 22 Jun 1874 in Chippewa, Ontario, Canada; married 14 Jun 1899 in Buffalo, Erie, NY; died 9 Mar 1931 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. GERMAN
12. Augusta M. Tross: born 6 Sept 1877 in Germany; died 1 Jan 1939 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. GERMAN
13. Charles William Whitehead: born 12 Jun 1872 in Burlington, Ontario, Canada; married prior to 1896; died 27 Dec 1927 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. ENGLISH
14. Anna May Sanderson: born 17 Jun 1871 in Burlington, Ontario, Canada; died 29 Apr 1928 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. ENGLISH
15. Jacob J. Gress: born 26 Jan 1869 in Buffalo, Erie, NY; married prior to 1888; died 11 Aug 1932 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. GERMAN
16. Elizabeth Fink: born 6 Jul 1867 in Buffalo, Erie, NY; died 24 Apr 1957 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. GERMAN

That gives me 31.25% German; 28.125% French; 12.5% Polish; 12.5% Italian; 12.5% English ; and 3.125% Belgian. The French and German parts are hard to tell as most of my fathers family came from the Alsace-Lorraine region which kept changing hands. The fact that my 3rd great-grandmother was born in Belgium (like the waffle) has always been cool to me. Oddly, I most identify with the Italian part of my heritage, even though it is way down on the list.