I’ve been interested in my family history as far back as I can remember. I was always close with my Aunts, Uncles, and 1st Cousins. My paternal grandparents lived just five blocks from us and I spent countless hours with them. As I got older I started to become more aware of 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins, great Aunts and great Uncles. Thirty years ago I purchased a simple family tree program on a 3.5” floppy disc and started indexing our family tree. I’ve upgraded my software twice and have dived headfirst into the world of on line genealogy with accounts on Ancestry, Family Tree DNA, My Heritage, and Gedmatch Genesis. My tree has expanded to 1463 names. Much of it was handed to me by different relatives from different branches of my family and I continue to add new “leafs” on a regular basis. Every family tree has a focus person and I decided to have my two children be that focal points. They are two of the reasons I decided to spend the time to create a fami
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The Lighter Side of Genealogy
Genealogy is a great hobby. The discovery of a long lost ancestor thrills you to no end. Learning the stories and struggles of your grandparents and great grandparents is an exciting occurrence in a family historian’s day. Serious researchers require facts and documents before proclaiming a person is actually one of their ancestors. They are detail oriented, serious about their work, and many times their tunnel vision does not allow themselves to enjoy what they are doing. One thing that genealogy and genealogists aren’t is they are not prone to being uproariously funny. Other hobbies have components that can make you chuckle. Any casual, recreational sport that people participate in has lighter moments where all of the players are joking around with each other and sometimes laughing out loud. We play water volleyball up to three times a week and always have a good time. Photographers and artists are always creating funny prints and writers will pen amusing stories
What I Didn't Know I Didn't Know. The Sequel
Family research is an ever changing landscape. Everyday you find something new, be it a birthdate, a nickname, or a city where someone once lived. For instance, The Baron family emigrated from Traby in Belarus to Westmoreland county in Pennsylvania. This is the same path that my Levine family took and there is some mention that there is a family connection there. Not unlikely given the size of Traby in the early 20th century. I have yet to find any evidence of a connection but that doesn’t mean I won’t be writing about it in a future blog post. 1950 census showing Moe, Minnie, and Marian on Peach street near 17th Levine Bos. calendar showing address at 2005 Peach street. 1950 census showing Levine family mistakenly indexed as Bauer on West 8th Street When the 1950 census was released in April of this year I scoured the pages looking for my family in Erie, PA. I found my parents and older sister on Peach street near 17th just a few blocks away from my father’s busine
Connections
Every time I look at my wristwatch I think of my father. He wasn’t obsessed with time although he hated to be late for anything. He didn’t own a Rolex or an Omega. It was a Citizens Eco Drive. I remember going to visit Dad in Erie when he lived at The Regency. He had a one bedroom apartment so I would sleep on the couch in the living room. Dad would put his watch in the kitchen under the light to charge it up overnight. He insisted that I keep the light on but when he went to bed I turned it off. I couldn’t sleep with that kitchen light shining in my face. After Dad passed, my sisters and I divided up the small things that were left in the apartment and I took the watch. We all have things in our household that we use or display that are constant reminders of loved ones from the past. I’m not talking about photographs (I addressed iconic photos in a previous post) but everyday items like a kitchen tool or dish, a piece of furniture, a piece of art, or perhaps a
The Future of My Tree
Why do I do this. I’ve constructed a family tree with going as far back as the early 1800s through 16 branches. I’ve learned the history of my ancestors. Their names, places, occupations, and their stories have given me a better understanding of who I am and what they had to endure to insure their legacy would not go unappreciated. I’ve communicated with other people researching their ancestors and felt joy when they share their successes. I‘ve also felt their pain and disappointment when a particular lead did not pan out. I’ve met cousins that I did not know existed and I’ve become acquainted or reacquainted with those who I had in my tree but have never met or spoken to. This genealogy hobby takes a lot of work. You need to check your facts and sources before adding someone to a tree. Without those, somebody can accuse you of just making things up. My grandfather (Louis Levine) dictated a family tree to us which included his father and his father’s five siblin
Only Simchas
Melody Ilyse Amores Sumpter and Jason Amores Sumpter The weekend of May 14th and 15th was a very special weekend for the Levine/Boxinbaum branches of my family tree. We celebrated the wedding of Melody Ilyse Snyderman (my niece) and Jason Amores Sumpter. It was a long anticipated event, postponed due to Covid but its spirit was not at all diminished by the delay. I haven’t seen that many happy faces in one room in a long time. Their perseverance in the face of a worldwide pandemic is a testament to the love and dedication these two young people have for each other. Jason and Mel are two intelligent, hard working, and independent adults. They are both successful in their chosen careers. They are fun loving and enjoy traveling within and out of the country. They recently bought a condo in Miami where they have lived for several years. All weddings are a melding of two families and this one was no exception. Jason’s mother, Lupe, is from Spain and many relative
Revalations From the 1950 Census
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The 1950 census was released to the public on April 1st and genealogists, both professionals and amateurs alike, were chomping at the bit to analyze the millions of records that are now available. I was no exception. The mechanics of searching for records from 1950 is a little different than simply typing in a name, a place, and a date. The records have not yet been indexed by the major genealogy sites like Family Search and Ancestry. They did not get an early viewing but they have beefed up their staff and have called for volunteers to help enter the names, dates, places, occupations and other pertinent data associated with each person counted. I started my search in my home city of Erie, Pennsylvania. I was born in 1952 so I will not be in the census but my older sister, Marian just made the cut. She was born in December of ‘49 and nobody born after April 1st of 1950 would be included. I met somebody who works for the census and she informed me that the state of
Sisters
There is a bond between siblings. Sometimes they don’t see eye to eye and sometimes they get along famously. Brothers will always beat up each other, try to out compete each other in all sports, and will always have each other’s back when they are threatened by an outsider. Sisters, however, always seem to have a special bond. I can’t say what it is because I’m a brother not a sister. Girls are more nurturing to each other and they understand each other’s problems, insecurities, and aspirations. If they are close enough in age they share clothes but they share secrets about their lives, their friends, and their relationships their entire life. There are a lot of sisters in my family tree. My maternal grandmother was the oldest of 12 siblings of which 8 of them were girls. My paternal grandmother had three sisters. My paternal grandfather had two full sisters and a half sister. The next generation down had sisters on three of the four branches. My wife’s mother