A Genealogy Adventure
Agnes Mattson is my husband’s paternal great-grandmother. She was quite a lady. I have written a previous post about her husbands (Wedding Wednesday – The Many Husbands of Agnes Mattson)
Agnes was buried with her “favorite” husband Donald Frazier at Olivet Memorial Park in Colma, California.
Donald E Frazier December 4, 1896 – May 26, 1958
Agnes M O’Malley 1909-1982
The phrase “two steps forward, one step back” has been in my thoughts the last couple of days. Some forward progress was made in my quest to locate where in Hungary Louis Radvany and Mary Nagy were born. I also hit my head against that concrete wall at the same time. The previous posts I have written about this research are My Wall Is Made Of Concrete and Mystery Monday – Unraveling the Radvany Secrets.
I wish more of my (or my husband’s) ancestors lived in Indiana. The people and government offices I have contacted in the last several weeks have been amazing. Great service and lightning speed on delivery of documents.
Two weeks ago our mailman delivered the death certificates for Louis, Mary, and their son, William. The death certificates for Mary and William confirmed the information that I had already found in their obituaries but also added new information for each of them. The cause of death for Mary was a heart attack. The highlight was finding her mother’s maiden name – Elizabeth Viro.
William died in the garage of his home due to carbon monoxide poisoning. His death was ruled a suicide. The death certificate disputes the story of William’s younger sister that the ex-boyfriend of William’s girlfriend killed him and then made it look like a suicide. I want to check to see if there are any coroner’s record to back up the death certificate. William’s death certificate also indicates that he was a World War II veteran. I need to add finding his military records to my research plan.
Receiving Louis Radvany’s death certificate in the mail was the biggest find. I did not know his date of death prior to the death certificate. I only knew that my husband’s grandfather was young when he died. I guessed the correct five-year range when applying for the death certificate. Louis died November 16, 1930. It listed his parents as Stephen Radvany and mother Unknown. Unfortunately the cause of death section of the certificate is illegible.
There are a couple of family stories regarding his death. The first is that he was a spy for Hungary and when he decided to quit being a spy, he was killed. The second story was that he was hit by a bus. I was skeptical about both stories. It turns out that the second one comes close to the truth.
After receiving the death certificate, I immediately sent a request to the Lake County Library for an obituary for Louis’ death. The obituary was actually a front page story, “Pedestrian Fatally Hurt By Autoist.” Louis was hit by a door handle of a passing car. The car was driven by a man accompanied by his family. Louis died before the ambulance reached the hospital. The man was held by local police pending an investigation. Again, I need to check to see if there is any access available to the coroner’s records.
The genealogy question I am trying to answer is where were Louis Radvany and Mary Nagy born? I have made some positive steps forward for Mary by identifying both of her parent’s names. This is key since she immigrated with them as a baby. While I have filled in stories about Louis’ life, I am still no where close to finding where he was born. I still have some action items on my research plan to follow-up on. I will keep you posted!
I was recently browsing the record collections on Family Search when I stumbled across Pennsylvania County Marriage Records, 1885-1950. Since my Dad’s family lived in and around Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania, I immediately clicked on the record set. A quick search brought up the marriage record for my grandparents! Yipee!
The three images included an outside cover, the application, and the portion returned to the county by the Priest who officiated their wedding. The information is all items I already know about my grandparents. It is nice to have something with their signatures on it.
Celio Capelli and Mary Dempsey were married the day after Valentine’s Day in 1947. My grandfather told us the story once about how he met my grandmother. He had been driving home with a friend in the car. The friend, who also knew my grandmother, pointed her out walking down the street. My grandfather pulled over to offer her a ride home. My grandfather was so focused on my grandmother that he did not notice his sister(cousin) walking down the street. He failed to give her a ride home and heard about it when she finally made it.
Last month I took the kids on an adventure to Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma, California. This is the cemetery where many of my husband’s Pope ancestors are buried. There are many people buried in the family grave so I will present a couple of them to you at a time. This week is the head of the family, John and Catherine Pope.
John Pope is the family patriarch. He immigrated to the United States from Germany in the late 1800’s. He married Catherine Offerman after arriving in San Francisco. They had 4 children together. John was the president of Northstar Brewing Company in San Francisco. He is my husband’s great-great-grandfather.
Catherine Offerman was also born in Germany. She is listed as the beloved wife of John Pope in her obituary. Catherine died a horrible death after the house caught on fire while cleaning the floor with gasoline. Her obituary lists many women and german groups that she belonged to. Catherine is my husband’s great-great-grandmother.
I took a trip with the kids out to the beach to make some sand castles this week. While the kids were playing in the sand, I took a moment to feel the ocean. There is something about the ocean that I just can’t get enough of. The smell of the salt water, the calming sound of the waves lapping up on the shore, the wind on your face, and the feel of the sand between your toes is like heaven to me. I feel connected when at the beach. It is a kind of faith knowing that there is something bigger out there.
My father being in the Coast Guard during my childhood probably had a huge influence in how I feel about the water. I grew up living on both coasts. When we lived in Huntington Beach, California you could ride you bike to the beach. We lived on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island. This is the “island” in Rhode Island (it is the largest island in the state and where Newport is located). While living in Rhode Island, we saw water everyday. We also lived outside of Washington, DC during my middle school years. The ocean is about 3-4 hours from our Northern Virginia house but we would camp at Assateague Island each summer on the sand dunes. Summers during high school in Northern California always included beach days at Stinson Beach. And life was a beach while attending University of California San Diego.
While enjoying the beach last week, it occurred to me that most of my ancestors never lived near the ocean. I come from Middle America farmers. Most likely, the only ancestors who saw the ocean where those who traveled across it to reach the United States.
It was a WOW moment for me as I thought about the journeys they endured to get to the U.S. I wonder how they viewed the ocean? Was it just an obstacle for them to cross or was it an opportunity? Did they feel the same way about the water that I do? Did they get to spend much time outdoors when crossing the Atlantic or were they confined inside? How long was the trip from Europe to the United States? Time to do some more research!
My older daughter attends preschool three days a week. Tuesday is a non-school day so we were looking for something to do. In an attempt to avoid some house work, I suggested we go on a genealogy adventure to Colma. San Francisco does not have any cemeteries inside the city limits. Most people who live in San Francisco are buried just south of the city in the town of Colma. My husband’s side has many family members buried in three of the cemeteries there.
I was immediately bombarded with “why” questions from my daughter. It was the first time in many months that I was excited to answer several hundred why questions. We talked about why there are cemeteries, who is in them, the gravestones, and how each of the people are related to us.
I tried to keep things simple such as “You have two grandmas. Daddy’s Grandma Shirley also had two grandmas. We are going to visit both of Grandma Shirley’s grandmas.” This description worked better than “This is your great-great-great-grandma.”
We kept is fun. J did a bunch of rubbings at one cemetery. She picked the little weed flowers at another to make a tiny bouquet for our gravestone. We used each gravestone as a letters quiz. (Can you find an E?) J also acted as my photo shoot director. At the Pope family plot, she would ask who was at each headstone and then tell me we needed a picture of them.
My little one is only a year old. M had fun on our adventure too. She wanted to touch each gravestone we passed. I was cracking up because it looked like she was playing Duck, Duck, Goose. Anything outdoors makes her happy.
It was a great day! I taught my kids some family history, photographed some headstones that I was missing in my collection, and enjoyed a beautiful day outside. I still had to clean my house but I did it with a smile thinking about the day.
My mother-in-law has told me that she wants to visit Hungary next year. This is the land of her paternal line. The only problem is that we do not know anything beyond her grandfather. It is time to break down a wall! I have to admit that I have not put much effort into this wall because it seems to be made of Eastern European concrete at first glance.
Her father, Walter, was born in Indiana in 1924 to Louis and Mary Radvanyi. Walter (Wally) was the 4th child and second son born to Mary and Louis. His siblings were Julia, William, Violet, Gloria, and Angeline.
Family lore has Louis illegally immigrating to the United States around 1900 through Canada. It also states that Louis came to the U.S. as a spy for Hungary and died when he quit being a spy in the 1930’s. This story was told to my mother-in-law by her Aunt Julia (the oldest child).
What we do know is that Wally’s birth certificate confirms the names of his parents. I have found Louis Radvanyi’s WWI Draft Registration Card. It places Louis in Whiting, Indiana working for Standard Oil. His birthdate is listed as December 28, 1883. His nearest relative is his wife, Mary. I have also found a marriage index that lists the marriage between Louis Radvanyi and Mary Nagy on November 21, 1914.
I have located the family in the 1920, 1930, and 1940 US Federal Census enumerations. The 1920 census lists Louis and Mary along with their children, Julia and William. There are three boarders living with the family. This census also indicates that Louis came to the US in 1904.
The 1930 census again confirms known information about the family. The family is listed as Louis, Mary, Julia, William, Violet, Walter, Gloria, and Angeline. The family last name has lost its “i.” This census puts Louis’ arrival in 1903 and Mary’s arrival in 1889. The birthplace is listed as Hungary for Louis and Austria for Mary.
The 1940 census brings sad news. Mary is now a widow and her son William, now 23, is the sole breadwinner for the family. My mother-in-law remembers stories her father told of the poverty his family faced during this time period.
I have also found Mary in the 1910 census with her parents, John and Elizabeth Nagy. Mary is the oldest of six children. The year of birth (1888) matches known information. Her parent’s birthplace is listed as Hungary/Maygar. Mary is the only child in the family to be born in Hungary. All of her siblings were born in Indiana. This matches the information regarding arrival in the US found on the 1930 census.
I was unable to locate Louis Radvanyi in the 1910 census. I am also unable to locate John and Elizabeth Nagy and their family in the 1900 census.
The 1920, 1930, and 1940 census enumerations indicate that both Louis and Mary became naturalized citizens at some point. I have tried to get copies of their records through NARA. They were unable to locate any paperwork.
Did I mention that I do not know when Louis Radvanyi died? The best information I have been given is that Wally was young. For now, I have a ten year range to work with.
My plan of attack is to start catching up on some vital records. I have sent requests to the State of Indiana for death records for Louis, Mary, and William (the older son). I have also sent a letter to Lake County to get a copy of the marriage certificate for Louis and Mary. Lastly, I have sent off to the Hammond Public Library in Lake County for copies of the obituaries of Mary and William. I also need to follow-up with the State of Indiana to see if they have any naturalization records for Mary and Louis.
I am hoping that this first round of attack helps take large chunks out of my wall. I will keep you updated how my search progresses.
John Pope is my husband’s grandfather. Last year Grandpa John, who is a young 84, was very ill and we were worried that we would lose him. Our family was very fortunate that John agreed to surgery and is now back to his active self. During one of our visits last Fall, Grandpa John, husband John, and I were talking about the time Grandpa John spent in Alaska with the Coast Guard. I was so happy to have my Iphone with me. I was able to record the conversation using the voice memo app.
John enlisted in the Coast Guard the day before his 18th birthday in November 1945. He chose to enlist in the Coast Guard to avoid the draft and possibly end up in the Army. One of John’s friends was already in the Coast Guard and worked on the San Francisco Bay. This friend tried to get John assigned to his unit but unfortunately for Grandpa John, he was sent to Alaska instead.
Out of boot camp, John boarded a train full of other enlisted me bound for Alaska. The train stopped in Seattle and the men then boarded a ship called the Rolling O. The ship had a round bottom and was constantly rolling even in the calm waters of the inside passage. Most of the men on the ship had never been on the water before and were very ill for the ride. John remembers a dog they picked up in Ketchikan was sliding back and forth across the deck.
Out of Ketchikan, the ship began dropping 5 or 6 men off at a time to different Coast Guard stations in the Aleutian Islands. Umnak Island was the final destination for Grandpa John, his buddy, Al Miller, and several other men. Umnak Island had a Loran radio that was monitored by the radiomen 24 hours a day.
According to Wikipedia, Umnak Island is the third largest island in the Aleutian Chain at 72 miles long and 16 miles wide. It has a volcano that erupted as recently as 2008. As of 2000, it was inhabited by only 39 people. Grandpa John remembers there being a few dozen people on the island including a rancher that lived nearby. He described the island as desolate. There was a large pond that served as their drinking water. The station was located above the ocean on a cliff. Each day they had to climb even higher to reach the radio station.
When the men arrived on the island, none of them had been trained for specialty jobs. The man in charge simply asked who wanted to cook. A man nicknamed Frenchie answered the he enjoyed cooking so he became the chef. Al Miller, mentioned that he like to tinker with cars so he became the mechanic who was in charge of keeping the generators running at all times. Al did not know anything about diesel but learned quickly. Grandpa John did not raise his hand for any of the jobs so he became a scope dover. John had to climb to the Loran radio each day and watch the scope while the engineers who had been trained at Loran school ran the radio. Grandpa John claims that he was not very proficient at watching the scope.
John told us about down time on Umank island. There was a pool table and ping pong table but they were rarely used. When not working, the guys would go hiking, fishing, and hunting. There was trout in the tundra streams. When the Salmon would come up the streams, they would be so thick you could walk across the stream. The men enjoyed the freshly caught fish since all of the dry food was brought in by boat and they had no refrigeration. The electricity produced by the generators was focused on keeping the radio running.
At the time, the island was teeming with eagles. The rancher who lived nearby hated the eagles because they would attack his sheep. Sometimes the men would check out rifles and try to shoot down eagles. John says that they rarely hit any.
Although John had a 3 year enlistment, he only spent about 6 months on Umnak island. His decision to not raise his hand for a job turned out to be a good thing. The men with permanent jobs stayed on the island while John was transferred to Ketchikan to finish his enlistment. I will tell you more about his time in Ketchikan in another post.
Most people know that the 1940 U.S. Census was released on April 2nd. At the time of its release, there was no index for the census. You had to search by enumeration district to find your family members. I was able to find most of the family on my ‘most wanted’ list. There were a couple of families on my husband’s side that had to wait for an index because they had no known address for 1940.
After the census was released, I helped with transcribing efforts by participating at FamilySearch.org. This was the crowd-sourcing effort to index the census for free. There was also a simultaneous effort taking place at Ancestry.com. The indexing at Ancestry.com was outsourced to several companies located outside of the United States.
This week Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org both announced that the transcribing has been completed. FamilySearch has most states up and ready to search. The remaining states are completed and will finish a quality check before they are posted to the Internet in the next couple of weeks. Ancestry.com has all states ready to search on their website. Both sites offer free access to the 1940 census.
I took a spin yesterday on the Ancestry.com index in an effort to find my husband’s Chicago area relatives. Up first was the Radvany family living in Whiting, Indiana. I searched using the last name and the location. They were the first family listed in the search results. I will post their individual census record on another Sunday.
The second family I wanted to locate includes my husband’s grandmother. I knew this search would be a little tricky. Gwendolyn (June) Fuller and her mother, Loretta, moved to Chicago after Loretta divorced June’s father. Sometime between 1930 and 1940, Loretta was married a second time to Alexander Fraser. I knew that there could be a lot of last name variables when looking for this family. I was unable to locate the family by searching for a mix of first names and last names. I then tried using variations of Fraser but still no luck. My next plan of attack was to search using the first names for mother/daughter or spouse/spouse. Bingo! Using the location and first names only for Loretta and Alex*, I found them transcribed with the last name Troger. I have already added name variations to this family. I cannot fault the transcriber for this entry. The census enumerator did not have very clear handwriting. In fact, if I had transcribed this page I would have gotten it wrong also.
I will be interested to see how Grandma June is indexed in FamilySearch.org. Illinois is one of the states that still needs to be posted on that website so I will have to wait a couple of weeks.
The post I wrote last week about Matthias Flock’s family helped me realize some holes in my research on the family. I am not sure how but in the early 2000’s I found information that John Flock might have lived in Enid, Oklahoma at the end of his life. My early research was not always done well. I know now the importance of using citations and research logs!
I did not have death information for John F Flock or his wife, Amner Caroline Flock. I decided to follow up on the information that I already had about the family and see if I could confirm my earlier research about Enid, Oklahoma.
I started by locating Amner Flock in the 1910 Federal Census. She is living in Enid, Oklahoma and listed as widowed. This is a good start, especially since I know that John’s brother and mother are both buried in a nearby county.
I then followed up with a search on FindAGrave.com of Enid, Oklahoma. When I searched for Flock in the Enid Cemetery, I found Lillie Flock Janeway. The genealogy hairs on the back of my neck stood up because John and Amner had a daughter named Lillie. The birth date for Lillie on her gravestone matched the information I have found for her. I was unable to find an entry for John and Amner when using the search term Flock.
Using Lillie’s FindAGrave page, I requested assistance to find her parents whom I suspected were nearby. I received an email the next day from a volunteer in the area named David Schram. He let me know that there was in fact a memorial page already set up for John and Amner and that he had gone and taken a picture that morning. He is a genealogy angel! With the memorial numbers I was given, I was able to find the FindAGrave page for John and Amner. I am going to follow up with an email to FindAGrave about my search parameters and how they did not work for something that was really there.
