Veterans Day 2016 and A Life Well Lived!

Wanda and Gus
50th Anniversary

Today is Veteran’s Day and I salute all of my friends and family who have bravely served our country.  I also want to especially remember my father-in-law Gus Gulyban who died 6 November 2016, just five days before his ninetieth birthday.

Gus was born in Martins Ferry, Belmont County, Ohio to Gus and Mary (Fendrick) Gulyban.  They were both Hungarian immigrants who braved a long sea voyage to come to the United States for a better life.

As Gus grew up, he watched his coal miner father go off to a dangerous job with a metal lunch box in hand.  On his father’s return home, Gus would watch his father go down to the basement and try to remove the coal dust before going to the kitchen for dinner.  Mary, his mother would remain home to raise the three children (Gus, Mary Elizabeth, and John) and prepare the meals.  She also would cook for the church when there were funerals and other activities.

Gus attended public schools in Martins Ferry and St Mary’s Catholic Church.  He never out ended the habit of kneeling beside his  bed to say his night prayers.  As soon as he finished high school, Gus joined the United States Navy for the duration of World War II. 

After training at Great Lakes, Gus was assigned to ships in the Pacific, serving on the USS Zebra and the USS Lindenwald from which he was discharged. After the navy, Gus settled in Chicago where he was employed by AT&T. While working the night shift at AT&T, Gus met the love of his life, Wanda Peterson, a single mother of two children, David and Patricia.   Gus and Wanda fell in love and married on 1 Dec 1949.

After several years in the city, Gus and Wanda moved to Wheaton, IL where they had purchased a house.  It was there that their daughter Susan was born in 1952.

The family continued to grow and thrive.  In 1956, just before David was to graduate from high school,  the family build another house in Wheaton, to make room for Wanda’s widowed mother.  This enabled Wanda to continue working for Illinois Bell while Gus continued working in Chicago, walking to and from the train station daily.

 Gus joined the Knights of Columbus at St Michael’s Church in Wheaton, achieving the rank of 4^th Degree ( the patriotic arm) and becoming a member of the Color Corps.  Gus also volunteered as a counter of the Sunday collection.  This was a task he performed weekly until they moved to Florida in 1983.  Gus had retired from AT&T and after selling the house in Wheaton, they purchased a condo in St Petersburg, FL just a block from the beach.  Not one to sit around, Gus established a lawn care company which he named “WANGUS”.  He then proceeded to take care of the condo grounds as well as several other nearby properties.  He even had a vanity license plate “WANGUS”.  

In the 1990’s Wanda and Gus moved to a bigger condo in Clearwater, where they lived a quieter livfestyle.  That was to be their final move.  Wanda’s increasing health issues limited the traveling they could do.  When Wanda was required to move into an assisted living facility, Gus visited her every day at both lunch and dinner time.  Between times he would often do laundry or grocery shop.

Sadly, in 2010, Gus’ health required his move to assisted living as well.  Wanda and Gus were now in different wings of the same facility.  He still visited Wanda as often as he could until her death in January 2011.

This is the man my children knew as their grandfather.  He was cheerful, generous, patriotic, religious, loving, and honest!  I can’t imagine a better example for a child to emulate.  I am so proud to have known and loved him.

Saturday Night Genealogy - Surname Summary

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Surnames?

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

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

1)  Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.

2)  Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.

3)  Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which Surname has the most entries.  If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5!  Or 10!

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

I used Family Tree Maker 2012 for this exercise,  I went to publish, Charts & Reports, Person Reports, and finally to Surname Report. 

My  surname count for my family history file is 857 surnames.  The top ten, along with their oldest and newest dates are:

Name                    Count                    Male                      Female                 Earliest                 Most Recent

Ferguson             132                         73                           59                           1641                       1946

Sempsrott           118                         71                           47                           1694                       1966

Meurer               110                         51                           59                           1786                       1946

Burbach              95                           41                           54                           1713                       1940

Hansen                84                           49                           35                           1829                       2008

Coan                   70                           45                           25                           1793                       1971      

Hassler               69                           46                           23                           1815                       1939

Wolf                   56                           32                           24                           1843                       1931

Brahm                 44                           21                           23                           1828                       1949

Fleming               44                           24                           20                           1846                       1932      

Peterson             39                           28                           11                           1851                       1989

Fuegerson          38                           18                           19                           1748                       1861  

    

Clearly the surnames of Ferguson and Fuegerson can be combined so the combination would be

Ferguson/           170                         91                           68                           1641                       1946

Fuegerson

This would leave room for the twelfth entry to be:

Connery               37                           16                           20                           1826                       1943      

The total number in my file with the surmane Unknown is:

Unknown            31                           6                              25                           1690                       1895

Looking at the most recent dates shows that I definitely need more cousin contacts.

Family History Writing Challenge Day 28 - Becoming Americans

They came from many countries, speaking many languages.  Leaving family and friends, they traveled to the port cities to board ships that would bring them to the United States.  The ships were crowded with people speaking in foreign languages that they couldn’t understand.  Mostly they traveled in small groups of only two or three.  The trip across the ocean was long and difficult.  Storms tossed the ships around and people were frightened.  Some got sick on the voyage and spent time in the ship’s hospital.  Some died.  They all came for a better life. 

They settled in cities and small towns and rural areas.  They started stores and farms.  They worked in coal mines and ship yards.  They learned to speak English.  They are more alike than their different nationalities would suggest. 

All of my ancestors worked hard to provide for their families.  They taught by example.  Life was precious and to be treated with respect.  They attended church regularly and supported the charities of the time.  They became citizens.  They voted, and served in the military.

All of my ancestors took the oath of citizenship and renounced the foreign country of their birth.    Georg Burbach came to this country from Germany landing in New York in July 1856.  On 7 November 1864 he became a citizen of the United States.  Michael (M J) Connery came to this country in 1880 and filed his papers in 1886. He began voting in Chicago in 1888.  Jan (John) Krbec arrived in the United States in 1887 and was a registered voter in Chicago by 1892.  Adolph Hansen arrived in 1894 as a fourteen year old and became a registered voter before 1918.  Leopold Peterson emigrated from Sweden to the United States in 1870 and was granted citizenship by Boston courts in 1884 and voted in Chicago in 1892.  Robert Ferguson came from Scotland to Virginia about 1660 before citizenship was an issue and his grandsons fought in the American Revolution, the Civil War and probably every other war the United States has been part of.  Olof Hanson came from Sweden about 1850 and also served this country in the Civil War. He moved from Indiana to Chicago in 1878 and filed his citizenship papers in Chicago in 1884.   Frederich Sempsrott arrived in 1842 and was a naturalized citizen according to the 1900 census. Gust Gulyban arrived in 1906 from Hungary and enlisted in the army in 1917.  He was rejected as an enemy alien,  He later became a naturalized citizen.

These men and their wives helped to make our country what it is today.  They came here to a foreign country as teenagers and learned a new language, found work, and raised their families. They taught their children well.

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Family History Writing Challenge Day 25 - Oh How They Worked, Occupations Part One

The occupations that our ancestors followed are many and varied.  There are the ones from the rural areas and ones pursued in the cities.  There are even those who left the farms and journeyed to the cities for employment.

Oloff Hanson left Sweden and became a fisherman in Michigan City, Indiana and served in the Union Army before moving his family to Chicago where he became a laborer. One of his daughters would later found a candy factory in Chicago.  His granddaughter Mable would marry the grandson of two other immigrants from Sweden.  

Leopold Peterson and Carolina Neilsson both left Sweden for Boston, Massachusetts where they met and married in 1873.  Leopold was a carpenter and cabinet maker in Boston.  By 1880 they had relocated to Chicago where Leopold worked as a car builder for the Pullman Company.  One of his sons followed in the Pullman tradition and another became a policeman for the Chicago Park District.

Robert Ferguson left Edinburg, Scotland about 1660 and settled in Charles Parish, Virginia.  According to some reports he was reputedly a lawyer.  In Virginia he became a land owner and farmer of sorts.  The family moved over time traveling from Virginia, to South Carolina, then to Indiana and ultimately ending their journey in Jasper County, Illinois.  Not every family member completed each move so there are members of this family scattered over several states.  The members of the Illinois settlers were also farmers until the 1920s when they began migrating to the cities in search of more reliable income.  This family also provided soldiers in every war beginning with the War for Independence.

Arriving in the United States much later, Frederich and Johan Sempsrott landed in Cincinnati, Ohio about 1845 and married Anna Steinfort there before moving to Ripley, Indiana learning to farm.  When Frederich first arrived he had been trained as an apprentice cigar maker.  In 1863 the family moved further west and settled in Jasper County, Illinois where they continued to farm.  Once again family members began moving to the cities around 1920 for a better life. 

It was 27 Mar 1920 that the Ferguson and Sempsrott families would merge with the marriage of Murl Ferguson and Naomi Sempsrott.  Shortly after the marriage the couple would move to Chicago where work for the railroad was available. Murl’s half-brother Byrl would leave the farm to find work on the railroad thereby continuing the move to the city.  There are still descendants of each family in Jasper County, Illinois and some may very well still be farming and I suspect they are working some of the same lands their ancestors farmed in the 1860s.

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SNGF 2012 Genealympics Ancestry Flag

For these 2012 SNGF Genealympics, the motto is "Research, Cite, Analyze, Resolve, Conclude!" 

Competitors can:

a)  Design your own Genealympics flag to represent your ancestry, heritage or personal expression. 


I have chosen to create a personalized flag reflecting my children's heritage. Germany is represented twice since my husband and I both have German heritage. The left side shows my heritage, Norwegian, German, and Irish.  The right side represents my husband's heritage of Scottish, German, and Swedish.
The flags of Ireland and Sweden are a bit larger that the others to reflect a larger percentage of those ancestries.  Of course the American Flag is the central focus since we are both at least 2nd generation Americans.


My blog began during the 2010 Winter Olympics so I definitely want to participate in these Genealympics.  I'll be back!

Geneabloggers Funeral Card Friday - Wanda Bernice Gulyban

RIP 

Wanda Bernice Gulyban 10 Aug 1921 - 21 Jan 2011

Wanda was born August 10, 1921 to Murl and Naomi (nee Sempsrott) Ferguson in Hunt City, Jasper, Illinois.  The family moved to Chicago by 1930 and retained their ties to Jasper County.

Wanda married Harold Arthur Peterson in Chicago on June 1, 1938.  They had two children, David and Patricia.  She and Harold divorced in 1948.  Wanda married Gustav J Gulyban in Chicago on Dec 2, 1949.  They had a daughter Susan.

Wanda loved knitting and ceramics which she did until arthritis made the use of her hands too painful.  Due to back problems caused by a car accident, Wanda took a disability retirement from Illinois Bell Telephone Co.

In the 1980s, Wanda and Gus moved from Wheaton, IL to St Pete Beach, FL, followed by a move to Clearwater, FL.

After a long illness Wanda died on Jan 21, 2011 in Clearwater, FL.

She is survived by her husband Gus Gulyban and daughters Patricia Peterson Leithem Morgan (Gary) and Susan Gulyban Walter (Tom).  She is also survived by 7 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

Wanda did not have a formal funeral service or an obituary published so this is my attempt to memorialize her.  She was my mother-in-law and will be missed.

Geneabloggers Surname Saturday

Happy New Year Everyone!!

As the new year begins so do my genealogy resolutions.  One of my resolutions was to concentrate on one surname per month.  I plan to make sure sources are cited, add photos and documents, delete duplicate individuals and facts, and continue new research.

To that end I thought I would alphabetize the primary surnames along with any associated surnames.  Just for fun I am color-coding them and including the area of research.  My surnames will be in red and my husband's surnames will be in blue.

BURBACH - Milwaukee, WI and Hesse Nassau, Germany
                        (also Heer, Meurer, Probst and others)
CONNERY - Chicago, IL, and Kilfinnane, Limerick, Ireland
                       (also Leahy, Ryan. Dawson, Hayes, and Mc Carthy)
FERGUSON - Jasper County, IL Decature, IN, Stokes, NC, 
                         York, VA, and Scotland)
                        (also Chapman, Stuart, and Whitmarsh)
FLEMING  - Chicago, IL Eau Claire, WI, Port Huron, MI, and 
                       Ballylanders, Limerick, Ireland
                       (also Hennessy, Hogan and Walsh)
GIBNEY     - Chicago, IL, Green County, Ohio and
                       La Porte County, IN, Sweden, and Germany
                       (also Hale, Hanson, and Hepke)
HANSEN   -  Chicago, IL and Aker, Akershus Norway
                       (also Pedersen, Daniels, Christiansen, Johnsen
                        Tripp, Dvorak, Riis)
PETERSON - Chicago, IL and Sweden
                       (also Britton and Neilson
SEMPSROTT - Jasper County, IL OH, and Berlin, Germany
                       (Steinfort of Ohio and Germany)


It would certainly appear that I will be busy this year since this is only one of my genealogy goals for this year.  Next Dec 31st I will review this post and see what I have accomplished.

Genabloggers - Church Record Sunday - Scandanavian Records

Copy of a Swedish Household Inventory from Quidinge, Varmland circa 1855.

I have both Norwegians and Swedes in my sights as I work on my genealogy.  As such I have found the Church records of both Norway and Sweden to be extremely valuable in my research.

Christening records indicate  the names, ages, and residences of the parents.  Godparents (usually relatives) are also listed.  Both birth date and Christening date are indicated.  Careful observation may yield even more information.  For instance I had noticed that in my Great-grandfather's Christening record his mother's name was written before his father's name.  On further checking it was determined that this indicated that his birth was illegitimate.  That is why I could never find a marriage record for his parents.

Marriage records show birth date, place of birth,  residence at time of marriage, parents names, witnesses, occupation, and when vaccinated. 

Other church records might include a household inventory, which like a census shows every member of the family.  It also includes year of birth, and where someone moved to if they left the family.

I have also found German and Hungarian records to be valuable and meticulous.  If only the Irish records hadn't all been held in thatch roofed cottages that burned!

Friday Findings - Discovering the Details

I am changing Follow Friday to Friday Findings so I can share some of my search processes in the hope that it will help someone else in their efforts. Leopold is a very unusual name Swedish name so I thought tracking my husbands great-grandfather and his wife would be an easy task.  Not so much.

Leopold Peterson and Caroline Neilson appear in the 1880 census as a married couple living in Chicago with their 3 children, Annie, John, and Frank.  According to the census, Leopold and Caroline had both been born in  Sweden and immigrated 1870 and 1871 respectively.  Daughter Annie was born in Massachusetts in 1875.  In 1892, on the Chicago voters registration, Leopold indicated that his naturalization papers were filed in Boston.

As I searched for more information,  it became apparent that the answers were in Massachusetts, probably Boston.  I looked for Leopold and/or Caroline in the 1870 census without much hope since they had said their arrival was in 1870 and 1871.  Next I ordered the Massachusetts Marriage records for 1872 and 1873 from the Family History Center.  I selected those years based on both the immigration dates and the birth of Annie in Massachusetts.  I found the marriage record of Leopold and Caroline in the LDS film # 1433032.  They were married 11 Aug 1873 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts.  According to the record, Leopold was a 22 year old cabinet maker and Caroline was 26.  Leopold's parents were Peter and Anna, Caroline,s parents were Neils and Kare, Rev. George S Noyer officiated.  After searching the Boston City directories for 1872/73, I found that Rev Noyes was associated with the the Bethel Church at North Square in Boston.  It was a Methodist Episcopal Church organized in 1828.

I have found Caroline's birth record and her parents but I am still looking for Leopold's birth and parents.  Finding the parents first names at least tells me that they followed the standard Scandinavian naming practices.  Now how do I find Peter and Anna the parents of Leopold?  Any suggestions out there?

Madness Monday - Leo the Liar

It all began with a birth certificate.  My husband's father, Harold Arthur Peterson,  was born Oct 3, 1916 to Edwin Peterson and Mable Gibney, in Chicago, Illinois.  I began trying to trace the family through the census, just like any other genealogist. Going backwards was fine.  I found Mable's family back as far as 1860 and Edwin's Peterson line back to the 1880 census in Illinois, although his name varied from Edwin to Edward. 
 
He was born Oct 23, 1883 in Chicago, Illinois to Caroline Neilson and Leopold Peterson.  Edwin (according to Chicago birth records) was the fourth of four children.  The 1900 census shows Edward Peterson living at home with his parents, Leopold and Caroline, in the Hyde Park area of Chicago.  I know Edward/Edwin married Mable Gibney about 1906/07 and they had a son Raymond, born in Chicago in 1908.  After the 1916 birth record of Harold Arthur, I could find no trace of Edward/Edwin and Mable and their family.  I tried everything I would think of.  What happened to them and where did they go?  Harold had married in Chicago in 1938,and the grandparents, Leopold and Caroline, were still in Chicago in the 1920 census, so I didn't think they had left the area.  After years of searching, on and off, I finally found the family in the 1920 census as Leo Peterson and wife Mabel!  Further research reveals that the name change occurred between Oct 3, 1916 ( the birth of Harold Arthur) and Sept 12, 1917 ( Leo Edwin Peterson registers for the draft).  Leo died in 1927 and his widow Mabel remarried which is why the family does not appear in the 1930 census.
Why did Edwin change his name to Leo?  Was it his middle name?  Was it an attempt to identify with his father Leopold?  These are questions that will probably remain unanswered.