Sunday, February 25, 2018

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 8 Heirloom


As the oldest child in the family, I have had the good fortune to have received many heirlooms over time and as my siblings have established their own homes, I have been able to share many things with them. My brother has a chandelier from my mother’s house that once hung in my grandmother’s dining room. Others have mom’s silver and china. But I have the Madonna!

The Madonna is a marble bust of the Blessed Virgin. She is eight inches high and about ten inches wide weighing at least five pounds. She is made of a combination or blue-grey veined marble with her face and neck carved of a plain white marble.

She has had a place of honor in the living rooms of four generations of our family. I don't know where her journey began or where it will end but this is her story as I know it.

I first remember her in front of a mirror in my grandmother’s living room. The mirror was almost floor to ceiling on the wall across from the sofa. About two feet above floor level was a beautiful wooden shelf. Almost like a hearth. It was about ten inches deep. And there she sat. Watching as I danced in front of the mirror. Watching as my grandmother Alice read her newspaper in her chair with the tall lamp illuminating the area as she moved her magnifying glass over the print. It was my privilege to stand behind the chair while my grandmother read her paper and brush her long silver hair.

Eventually the lovely lady moved on to my mother’s living room where she observed our comings and goings from her place of honor in the bookshelves. She shared those shelves with my mother’s treasured books. All of the Readers Digest Condensed Books with the faux leather binding under the paper dust jackets, books from my grandfather’s collection, and the works of such authors as J M Barrie, Robert Louis Stevenson among others.

Still later the lady moved into my home where once again she took up residence in the living room. As she occupied her place on the fruitwood cabinet just inside the front door, once again she kept track of our visitors as well as our own activities.

Now she lives in my daughter’s home where her place of honor is atop the piano. I find this very fitting since everyone in my daughter’s family is very musical.

Undoubtedly, she will find a future home with one of my grandchildren and hopefully the tradition will continue long into the future.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 7 Frank Valentine Krbec

Frank V Krbec
First Communion
1914
Frank Valentine Krbec was born on 10 Feb 1907 in Chicago, Illinois to Frank and Rose (Bozovsky) Krbec.  He was baptized on 10 Feb 1907 at St Procopius Catholic Church by P Valeriou and the baptism was witnessed by Frank and Catherine Kotonous, his mother’s Grandparents.[i]

Frank grew up on a Bohemian neighborhood in Chicago as a first generation American on his father’s side. His father had been born in Bohemia and immigrated to the United States in 1889 with his parents Jan Krbec and Barbara Sonka, and sister Marie.

In 1910, Frank’s father was a wood worker in a piano factory, the skills he developed there would remain with him as he became a hobbyist at wood working.

By 1917, the family had moved to Cicero, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago and Frank’s father was employed by Western Electric Co., a major employer in Cicero and a subsidiary of the telephone company.[ii]

By 1930, Frank Valentine has married Anne Angeline Mann (nee Franke) and they are living with her children Paul, Alfred, Virginia and Arthur at 2025 Racine Avenue in Chicago. Frank is a window worker in an auto garage.

On 25 May 1932 Anna gave birth to their only son, John Frank in Chicago.[iii] Sadly Anna Krbec died on 28 October 1933.[iv] She was buried on 31 Oct, 1933 at St Lucas Cemetery, in Chicago.[v] After Anna’s death her children with Alfred Mann changed their names and left Chicago.

In the 1940 census, Frank Valentine is shown living with his father Frank and son John Frank at 5404 23rd Place in Cicero, Cook, Illinois and working as a machine operator for a sporting goods manufacturer.

Frank Valentine Krbec died 20 Sept 1987 and is buried at Mt Emblem Cemetery.



[i] Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DKRN-KQ?cc=1452409&wc=M66P-V2S%3A40327401%2C40146301
[ii] Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
[iii] llinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2S8-X5K5 : 18 May 2016), Frank V Krbec in entry for John Krbec, 25 May 1932; Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 18278, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm.
[iv] "Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1994," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2M8-TPDC : 10 February 2018), Anna Krbec, 28 Oct 1933; citing Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, source reference , record number , Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm .
[v] Ibid

Saturday, February 10, 2018

My Blogiversary and the Olympics!

1988 Winter Olympic Games Program
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

                       It's my Blogiversary!! Eight years of blogging!! I thought I would go back to how it all started.


It’s time once again for the Olympics! I began this blog in 2010 as part to the Olympic Winter Games meme created by Thomas MacEntee. Wow that was eight years ago! I thought I would have run out of ideas long before now.

In 1988 my husband and I were the guests of the 3M Corporation for the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dave and I spent four wonderful days as we attended the opening ceremony, ski jumping, a hockey game, and both bobsled and luge events.  3M had rented a country club for the use of their guests and there was a frozen pond on the property.  The clubhouse had a place to borrow ice skates, so I was able to ice skate at the Olympics.

Part of the fun of the Olympics, it the custom of trading pins. Most of the sponsoring companies at the Olympics supply their guests and representatives with a special pin designed to commemorate the occasion. As you meet and mingle with other guests, pins are swapped, and it is a real contest to see how many pins you can collect. I think in the four days we were in Calgary, Dave was able to collect about thirty pins, far from a record but a nice souvenir of the trip.

Pin collecting did not end with the Olympics however, as we traveled in later years, Dave continued to collect pins representing our journeys. He especially collected the pins as we cruised in the Caribbean. The pins he collected were attached to his straw hat.His penchant for wearing his hat on trips to the various islands earned him the nickname of “Pin Man”. The Olympic influence doesn’t always end with the closing ceremony.





52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 6 Favorite Name “Dorette”



This week’s choice was an easy one for me as I have liked it since I first heard it as the name of the daughter of a “friend” of my parents. As it turned out the said “friend” was, actually, my father’s first cousin. His cousin Gordon had named his only daughter Dorette and I loved it from the first even though I did not realize the significance at the time. The name is pronounced as “Doretta” with the final “e” having the sound of an “a”. 

Dorette - Pronunciation of Dorette as a name for girls is of Greek origin, and the name Dorette means "gift". Dorette is a version of Dora (Greek): pet form of Dorothy.[i]

When I began doing genealogy I found that my paternal great-grandmother was Dorette Christensen and her mother had been Karen Dorothea.
Dorette Christensen was born 2 Nov 1857 in Akershus, Norway to Daniel Christensen and Karen Dorthea Christensen[ii]. She was the oldest of seven children and married Johannes Adolf Waldemar Hansen on 12 Dec 1876 at Grønland Parish, Oslo, Norway[iii].

Johannes and Dorette had seven children before her untimely death on 4 July 1887, at the age of thirty. Their youngest daughter, who died shortly after birth, was named Aagot Dorette.


RELATIONS VIA DORA Dodee, Dorae, Doralee, Dore, Dorea, Doree, Doreen, Doreina, Dorelia, Dorelle, Dorena, Dorene, Doretta, Doreyda, Dorie, Dorine, Dorita, Dorrie[iv]

Dorette’s son Adolph, my grandfather, named his daughter Dorothy, and his sister, Dagny, named her daughter Dorette. A great-granddaughter of Adolph's brother Sigurd, was named Dorette and over the years other great-granddaughters and great-great-granddaughters down to the sixth generation have used variants of the name as first or middle names.

My own name is Donna, but I never asked my parents if I was named after anyone. I assumed it was after my father Donald, but I kind of hope it was after that great-grandmother from Norway.



[i] http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Dorette#D4mVutxRAoVdWAhm.99
[ii] SAO, Garnisonsmenigheten Kirkebøker, F/Fa/L0009: Parish register (official) no. 9, 1842-1859, p. 77
Filter:Born and baptised (1857)
[iii] Norwegian Lutheran Church, , FHL film 1282502, , Marriage of Johannes Adolf and Dorette Christensen; FHL    microfilm , 1876.
[iv] ibid

Sunday, February 4, 2018

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 5 "In the Census"


wikipedia commons


Using the census records is a standard method of tracing our ancestors, but there is more to learn than the names, ages, and occupations of our ancestors.  Each census asks different questions of the population. Some of these questions reflect the social status of the family or individual. Sometimes the work lives of our ancestors are reflected and sometimes we can learn about the education and financial status of our ancestors. Sometimes we learn that there are other children that we need to locate, and we can also learn about the military service of our relatives.

The spelling of surnames can be a roadblock in our research. We need to remember that many of our ancestors spoke with the accents of their homeland when they arrived, so someone from Germany might sound very different to the ear of someone from Scotland or Italy. Also, early censuses reflect the lack of standardized spelling. I found about 15 spellings for the name “Ferguson”.

Sometimes a family or individual is counted twice in a census, so it is important to be aware that the census was not always taken on the same date in every state. The questions relate to a specific date but that distinction is not always clear. My aunt Mary is a case in point:
Mary E Connery, age 6, is enumerated on the 9th of June 1900 in Adrian, Lenawee, Michigan.[i]  She is also found in the home of her parents in Chicago, but that census was taken on June 12, 1900.[ii] The explanation is simple, Mary attended boarding school in Michigan and had traveled home for the summer vacation.

In 1910 her sister Alice appears to be living in both Chicago, Il[iii] and Victor, CO[iv] on the census. The censuses were taken on the 25th and 29th of April respectively, so I doubt that eleven year old Alice had actually been in both places on the dates involved. It’s more likely she was actually in Colorado but her parents listed her as a member of the family rather than someone who was physically in the residence on that date.

Another duplicated person was my grandfather Adolph Hansen, in 1920 he is listed on a census return for Oak Park, Cook, Illinois living with his wife Henrietta and children Dorothy and Donald. His occupation is listed as treasurer for a ship builder.[v] That census was taken on 7 Jan 1920 however on 12-13 Feb 1920 his circumstances have changed. On those dates his is living in the home of an aunt and uncle in Tampa, Florida.[vi]  His occupation was still a treasurer of a shipyard. In this case a company transfer and the time between Jan 7th and Feb 12th-13th explains how he was counted twice.

These are examples of how and why an ancestor could appear twice in the census. Until I checked the dates on the census sheets, I couldn’t understand why Adolph would be counted twice and with Alice, I recognized the names of her aunt and uncle or I might have missed out on the detail that she was sent to Colorado to live for her health. In her later years she often went to the North Woods during the summers for her health.

Don’t ignore what appears to be just two people of the same name maybe they really are the same people!




[i] US Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Adrian, Lenawee, Michigan; Roll: 725; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 1240725
[ii] US Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Chicago Ward 28, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 279; Page: 12; Enumeration District: 0851; FHL microfilm: 1240279
[iii][iii] US Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Chicago Ward 34, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T624_281; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 1459; FHL microfilm: 1374294
[iv] US Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Victor Ward 3, Teller, Colorado; Roll: T624_125; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0187; FHL microfilm: 1374138
[v] US Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Chicago Ward 33, Cook (Chicago), Illinois; Roll: T625_353; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 2120
[vi] US Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Tampa Ward 2, Hillsborough, Florida; Roll: T625_222; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 39