It occurs to me that I should have split the last post into two sections and just stick the Bieda family by itself. And I have to say this again. They are driving me crazy.
Today I started looking in directories again thinking the name changes I found yesterday will make a difference. I even looked in one with Lewis Bieda that I already saved. And then I saw it. Bigenski. Oh but isn't that the same one I found yesterday? Nope. The ole switcheroo with an i and an e. Well that's ok I thought. Not too bad I can deal with one more. So I go to another one. And again. Biegnski. Ok just put the i and e together now and slide the gn together. Sure.
Before today I had no record of my peeps in the 1930 census. After looking in all these directories I think to myself "Self!"... Sorry I had an Emril moment.. if you don't get that don't worry. Anyway I did a search in the 1930 census and found Joseph and his wife, Jakob and Anna, and Alex and his wife. With yet another spelling. So at this point I'm getting kind of ticked off. Not to mention that Alex, who already has several variations to his first name, is spelled Elex in this census. AH! I believe it was at this point where I wanted to crack open a bottle of vodka at 10:30am. But I digress. The last name this time was Bignskie. See it's not major differences but if you try to search for them, even using the soundex or whatever it's called on ancestry.com.... it's just annoying. I also want to add that Alex or whatever the hell his name is eventually moved to Philly with his family. Philly is a whole hell of a lot bigger than Shamokin and with this many name variations, and possibly more... how will I ever find him?
A brief note on the 1930 census, I actually did find some helpful info. For example Joseph's wife Mary (not to be confused with Alex's wife Mary) and her parents were born in Germany. Yet the language in the home was Polish. But go back to thinking about the crazy borders back then. It also said they arrived in 1908. That could be helpful, but then again for the Biedas they said it was 1912 and not 1913. I also saw Alex's children in the 1930 census: Joseph, Eleanor and Angela. Now I called my busia to confirm about Angela and she wasn't sure. She gave me the name Marie before, so I don't know. The last thing I found was that Joseph, Jakob, and Anna couldn't speak English. I can kind of see Jakob and Anna but Joseph? He was only 11 when he came over, and this was 17yrs later so he should have picked up something. Anyway.
Lewis was living in a different ED. So again I had to fiddle around to find it but it wasn't that bad. I had the address which helped me before. And when I got to 1212 Hemlock... dear lord I almost had a fit. Borzinskie. Its not even a mistake in the indexing. Its clearly a cursive 'or' on the sheet.
So here they are:
Bieda
Biedzinski
Budzinskie
Beginskie
Bigenski
Biegnski
Bignskie
Borzinskie
And I thought the Lapinsky's were bad! I still haven't found Jakob. I know in 1936-37 he was living at 440 s. Pearl and in 1948 he was at 34 s. Franklin. I checked both on the 1940 census. So I don't know where the guy is. Or was I should say. Hopefully I won't have to do a part 3 for this name thing.
That's all for now!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
What's in a name?
I hope everyone had a good Easter Sunday and a successful first week of census searching.
After the initial frustration on release day I've been pretty successful so far. Only a handful of relatives missing.
The first batch I was able to view was on my dad's side, the Turner and Melick families in Mount Pleasant Twp, Pa. I found his mother, my grandmother and her six siblings. Yes, six. Holy cow. Elaine Turner is a twin, I don't know if I mentioned that in one of my other posts. Her sister was Eilean Turner and she passed away a few years ago. One of the other Turner sisters is named Della Jane. I kind of like that name and I don't know why. Anyway the parents (Ellis Turner and Minnie Melick) were listed there too and her father's occupation was a farmer. Shocker in Pa woo! Lol. I also found Ellis Turner's parents Harry and Lovina. A few other Melick's as well but I'm not 100% sure on a connection, if any.
I figure that was a good start considering I didn't know anything about those guys and never talked to any of that side of the family. Onto the next one!
I was finally able to get into Ralpho Twp that night YAY! I found Clinton, Ida, and Dora Pitner in one place. Then I found my great great grandfather Marion Hauck with Ruth Pitner and my great grandmother Eleanor and her brother Wilferd. In Shamokin I found Morris Yeager with Florence Persing and their brood including Elizabeth/Betty Yeager who I met last December. I also foun Russel/Rudy Persing with Jessie and someone named Doris. Walter Persing (my great grandfather who married Eleanor) was living with his mother Cora in Shamokin. It said he worked in a dye and paint mill. Next I found E. W Persing who is Earl, confirmed by the fact his occupation is listed as Potato Chip factory.
Those were all pretty easy. The Polish on the other hand. Sheesh. I tweeted that they were harder to find than Waldo, Carmen Sandiego, and Voldemort's nose.
Well apparently they weren't hiding in Shamokin Borough like I thought (or not all of them anyway)
The borough is apparently inside of Coal Twp. and has completely different ED numbers. Today I finally realized this and looked in 49-11 and 49-12.
I found some type of cousins. Or aunts and uncles. I don't know anymore. Stanley Kozloski married Frances Lapinsky so I found those two and their children WITH Anthony Lapinsky. Oh wait sorry. The census says Lipinski have to be correct here. He would be my great great grandfather (Mildred's father). He was 79, not working (duh) and had 0 education. Cioci Francy (aunt there it is I remembered) had a 3rd grade education.
Next up is Frank Yucha and his wife Charlotte (Frances' daughter I think) with 2 of their children. Charlotte just passed away in March.
Then I found Lawrence Matlock (?) with Louise Lapinsky (also goes by Julie. see these people can't make up their minds!) Their kids are shown along with two daughters (+ on of their husbands) from Louise/ Julie's first marriage (surname Glock/Gloc). One of the Gloc's was lucky enough to be in the extra questions but only thing I learned was Polish was spoken in the home.
Then we have Stanley Lapinsky (actually spelled Lapinsky) with his wife and 2 children.
Ok so the Lapinsky/Lipinski thing I've seen before. No surprise.
But these damn Bieda's are going to kill me.
I mentioned before there was a name change to Biedzinski but my great grandfather Ludwik/Lewis/Louis changed back to Bieda. Well apparently not until after 1940.
The census lists Budzinskie. Louis, Mildred, and my uncle Emil (my Busia's brother). I found them after remembering I had a directory saved to Ancestry.com from 1930 and 1941. 1212 Hemlock St. Shamokin Pa. I actually passed them by the first time I looked through the 49-12 section.
So then I went back to the Shamokin Borough and the million of pages that section. I had Joseph and Mary in a directory for 1928 saying they were at 442 Pearl St. and Jakob and Anna were at 440 Pearl St. Well I only found Joseph and Mary. I think Anna had passed away by then but I still didn't find Jakob. In 1950 he's listed as living with Jozef in the directory. Anyway, you would think Jozef would be listed under Biedzinski or Budzinskie. Nope. Beginskie. I'm tellin ya they want to drive me mad!
But if you think of it, in Polish the dz combo sounds like a dg sound. I think.
So I still need to find Jakob Bieda... or whatever.... and then Aleksander/ Alex/ Alexandor is somewhere in Philly at this time. But I have no address or anything so I might have to wait until the indexed version is out. And then of course deal with the possible name combinations. But I won't think about that now.
Sorry this was so long! Gotta go, I'm going out tonight. Titanic 3D Yes!!!
After the initial frustration on release day I've been pretty successful so far. Only a handful of relatives missing.
The first batch I was able to view was on my dad's side, the Turner and Melick families in Mount Pleasant Twp, Pa. I found his mother, my grandmother and her six siblings. Yes, six. Holy cow. Elaine Turner is a twin, I don't know if I mentioned that in one of my other posts. Her sister was Eilean Turner and she passed away a few years ago. One of the other Turner sisters is named Della Jane. I kind of like that name and I don't know why. Anyway the parents (Ellis Turner and Minnie Melick) were listed there too and her father's occupation was a farmer. Shocker in Pa woo! Lol. I also found Ellis Turner's parents Harry and Lovina. A few other Melick's as well but I'm not 100% sure on a connection, if any.
I figure that was a good start considering I didn't know anything about those guys and never talked to any of that side of the family. Onto the next one!
I was finally able to get into Ralpho Twp that night YAY! I found Clinton, Ida, and Dora Pitner in one place. Then I found my great great grandfather Marion Hauck with Ruth Pitner and my great grandmother Eleanor and her brother Wilferd. In Shamokin I found Morris Yeager with Florence Persing and their brood including Elizabeth/Betty Yeager who I met last December. I also foun Russel/Rudy Persing with Jessie and someone named Doris. Walter Persing (my great grandfather who married Eleanor) was living with his mother Cora in Shamokin. It said he worked in a dye and paint mill. Next I found E. W Persing who is Earl, confirmed by the fact his occupation is listed as Potato Chip factory.
Those were all pretty easy. The Polish on the other hand. Sheesh. I tweeted that they were harder to find than Waldo, Carmen Sandiego, and Voldemort's nose.
Well apparently they weren't hiding in Shamokin Borough like I thought (or not all of them anyway)
The borough is apparently inside of Coal Twp. and has completely different ED numbers. Today I finally realized this and looked in 49-11 and 49-12.
I found some type of cousins. Or aunts and uncles. I don't know anymore. Stanley Kozloski married Frances Lapinsky so I found those two and their children WITH Anthony Lapinsky. Oh wait sorry. The census says Lipinski have to be correct here. He would be my great great grandfather (Mildred's father). He was 79, not working (duh) and had 0 education. Cioci Francy (aunt there it is I remembered) had a 3rd grade education.
Next up is Frank Yucha and his wife Charlotte (Frances' daughter I think) with 2 of their children. Charlotte just passed away in March.
Then I found Lawrence Matlock (?) with Louise Lapinsky (also goes by Julie. see these people can't make up their minds!) Their kids are shown along with two daughters (+ on of their husbands) from Louise/ Julie's first marriage (surname Glock/Gloc). One of the Gloc's was lucky enough to be in the extra questions but only thing I learned was Polish was spoken in the home.
Then we have Stanley Lapinsky (actually spelled Lapinsky) with his wife and 2 children.
Ok so the Lapinsky/Lipinski thing I've seen before. No surprise.
But these damn Bieda's are going to kill me.
I mentioned before there was a name change to Biedzinski but my great grandfather Ludwik/Lewis/Louis changed back to Bieda. Well apparently not until after 1940.
The census lists Budzinskie. Louis, Mildred, and my uncle Emil (my Busia's brother). I found them after remembering I had a directory saved to Ancestry.com from 1930 and 1941. 1212 Hemlock St. Shamokin Pa. I actually passed them by the first time I looked through the 49-12 section.
So then I went back to the Shamokin Borough and the million of pages that section. I had Joseph and Mary in a directory for 1928 saying they were at 442 Pearl St. and Jakob and Anna were at 440 Pearl St. Well I only found Joseph and Mary. I think Anna had passed away by then but I still didn't find Jakob. In 1950 he's listed as living with Jozef in the directory. Anyway, you would think Jozef would be listed under Biedzinski or Budzinskie. Nope. Beginskie. I'm tellin ya they want to drive me mad!
But if you think of it, in Polish the dz combo sounds like a dg sound. I think.
So I still need to find Jakob Bieda... or whatever.... and then Aleksander/ Alex/ Alexandor is somewhere in Philly at this time. But I have no address or anything so I might have to wait until the indexed version is out. And then of course deal with the possible name combinations. But I won't think about that now.
Sorry this was so long! Gotta go, I'm going out tonight. Titanic 3D Yes!!!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Waiting.... Waiting... Still Waiting...
NARA is clearly friends with the FGCU internets people. It's like deja vous. really hope that's spelled right. Anyway. Every semester FGCU students log on to gulfline at 12am hoping to get their pick of classes. The lower down the food chain the less chance you'll get that class. Most of us wouldn't get in until 1am. Freshman year I just said screw it, went to bed, and woke up a few hours later to try again. The 1940 census seems to be going the same way. This time instead of complaining to room mates or people on facebook I can complain with people on twitter.
Right now Ancestry.com doesn't have the Pennsylvania records up yet. So I sit and wait. And wait.
But it's not like I haven't been through this before. I shouldn't be surprised but all the genealogy peeps on twitter are very mature about it. All you would hear on FB about FGCU was cursing and complaining. On twitter people are giving tips and good luck and congrats for getting in!
In other news. I went through some photos yesterday. Some of my moms photo albums and pictures when I was little and blah blah blah. Tried to organize some of the stuff (the one album was a mess!) My mom told me to look through and throw out any blurry ones or doubles. Now, as a borderline hoarder/pack rat/photo nerd this was... difficult to say the least. I still have photos on memory cards from a few years ago because I thought "I might need that one!!!" or "oh, its blurry but maybe I can touch it up somehow" Anyway I did get rid of quite a few pictures.
All this blabbing and still no progress. *sigh* Well, I'm going to pick my mom up from work to go for lunch today so maybe when I get back something will change.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
On This Date...
On March 25, 1913, my great grandfather Ludwik (Lewis) Bieda arrived in America with his parents and two brothers. I find it amazing that it was 99 years ago. Not even a year after the sinking of the Titanic. How scary would that be?
another view of the smoking room.
 |
| Left to Right: Ludwik, Jakob, and Anna Bieda |
They sailed from Bremen Germany on the Kronprinzessin Cecilie. I found a few pictures of it online through Google.
another view of the smoking room.I doubt my Polish peeps would've been up in first class. I mean photos of Jakob make him look rather snazzy with a pocket watch and everything but the surname "Bieda" translates to "Poverty" in Polish. Lovely
Ever since the movie came out and we learned about it in 3rd grade, I've had a thing for the Titanic. When I found out they came to America not even a year later... I see the movie different now. Maybe all of you genealogist types see it too. When I watch the first half (pre iceberg) I feel... It helps me imagine what my ancestors might have been feeling when they boarded the Kronprinzessin Cecilie. Then when everyone is scurrying for the lifeboats... it just makes it more real knowing that it could've happened to my ancestors too.
In other news... did you all hear Titanic is coming out in 3D? Excited! Just made plans to see it with some coworkers. I'm sure I'll post about that, as well as a whole Titanic themed post including distant cousins I'm apparently related to that were on the ship. I found some sad stories (surprise right?) about some of the families. I'll share those too (if I can remember where I stashed them).
Thats all for now folks!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Other Half
This is called the Persing & Bieda family history for a reason. Up until about a week ago, I had no idea about the other half of my tree. My dad's side. Never met the guy. It awkwardly came up in conversation last week (how would that conversation not be awkward?) but I'm glad I know now. Besides. Every tree has some interesting tidbits in it. Some good some bad. But it is what it is.
I usually don't include names of living people in my blog, but I think I'll make an exception. Maybe I want him to randomly google something and find out that I exist, or to remind him that I exist. Maybe because they'res a teeny part of me that's angry and hurt and wants other people to know he's a jerk (maybe not 100% jerk. perhaps coward is a better word?)
So who is this man and his family and how much do I know? And how did I get past the little info I was given initially? Sit back and I'll tell you.
His name is Darrin Kay Snyder. He has a sister named Donna. His parents are Donald and Elaine K Snyder. The names of his parents I actually found on mylife.com. You know, that creepy website where you can find terrifying amounts of information. Hah. I have a free account but it didn't really help. I found more by not signing in. Anyway the names were confirmed by my mom so I know I have the right people. Another good tip for finding living relatives? Check the white pages online. If I wanted to I could call Darrin or send him a letter. Doesn't mean I'm going to.
Based on the birth dates of my grandparents, Ancestry.com couldn't help me with what I had. Well, not until the 1940 census comes out anyway. But I was googling here and there. And I found a Gedcom file online. I've never seen one or used one or anything before so the code took some getting used to. I think I could be a pro now. Here is the link that I found: http://www.colcohist-gensoc.org/gedcoms/melich.ged
It shows all of them. I learned that Donald passed away in 1999 and he was a Korean War vet. It even said an occupation for prison guard. The file shows that Elaine's maiden name was Turner. Her mother's maiden name was Melick. The file has the Melick/Moelich family going back to the 1500s in Germany. So last week I had no idea.... and now I'm in the 1500s? In WDYTYA drinking game talk... thats like 10 shots right there.
Does it end there? Of course not! I plug everything into Ancestry.com... all generations from that page. No hints for Donald, except a ss. death record and military record. I was able to find my great grandparents, Minnie Melick and Ellis Turner. And guess what? THERE WERE PICTURES! You all know how I am with pictures. Heck how all of us are with pictures. There was even a picture for Elaine's sister. Apparently they were twins! I found more twins further back. Anyway long story short I found a crap ton of people back there. Mostly German ancestry. But all of them were in America since the 16-1700s. Another branch I found, now this is exciting, goes to England. I love the UK and Ireland. You have no idea. When I saw England on the ancestry tree I was about as excited as Amy Farrah Fowler on Big Bang Theory when Sheldon gave her a tiara. At this point I'm in the 12-1300s in England. And there's a castle.
I think I'm starting to ramble a little bit so this is where I'll end it. As always leave me comments. Please? Or if you are related to me don't hesitate to let me know :)
I usually don't include names of living people in my blog, but I think I'll make an exception. Maybe I want him to randomly google something and find out that I exist, or to remind him that I exist. Maybe because they'res a teeny part of me that's angry and hurt and wants other people to know he's a jerk (maybe not 100% jerk. perhaps coward is a better word?)
So who is this man and his family and how much do I know? And how did I get past the little info I was given initially? Sit back and I'll tell you.
His name is Darrin Kay Snyder. He has a sister named Donna. His parents are Donald and Elaine K Snyder. The names of his parents I actually found on mylife.com. You know, that creepy website where you can find terrifying amounts of information. Hah. I have a free account but it didn't really help. I found more by not signing in. Anyway the names were confirmed by my mom so I know I have the right people. Another good tip for finding living relatives? Check the white pages online. If I wanted to I could call Darrin or send him a letter. Doesn't mean I'm going to.
Based on the birth dates of my grandparents, Ancestry.com couldn't help me with what I had. Well, not until the 1940 census comes out anyway. But I was googling here and there. And I found a Gedcom file online. I've never seen one or used one or anything before so the code took some getting used to. I think I could be a pro now. Here is the link that I found: http://www.colcohist-gensoc.org/gedcoms/melich.ged
It shows all of them. I learned that Donald passed away in 1999 and he was a Korean War vet. It even said an occupation for prison guard. The file shows that Elaine's maiden name was Turner. Her mother's maiden name was Melick. The file has the Melick/Moelich family going back to the 1500s in Germany. So last week I had no idea.... and now I'm in the 1500s? In WDYTYA drinking game talk... thats like 10 shots right there.
Does it end there? Of course not! I plug everything into Ancestry.com... all generations from that page. No hints for Donald, except a ss. death record and military record. I was able to find my great grandparents, Minnie Melick and Ellis Turner. And guess what? THERE WERE PICTURES! You all know how I am with pictures. Heck how all of us are with pictures. There was even a picture for Elaine's sister. Apparently they were twins! I found more twins further back. Anyway long story short I found a crap ton of people back there. Mostly German ancestry. But all of them were in America since the 16-1700s. Another branch I found, now this is exciting, goes to England. I love the UK and Ireland. You have no idea. When I saw England on the ancestry tree I was about as excited as Amy Farrah Fowler on Big Bang Theory when Sheldon gave her a tiara. At this point I'm in the 12-1300s in England. And there's a castle.
I think I'm starting to ramble a little bit so this is where I'll end it. As always leave me comments. Please? Or if you are related to me don't hesitate to let me know :)
Friday, March 2, 2012
WDYTYA Workout
Right now I'm watching Reba on Who do You Think You Are. Apparently she's my 19th cousin. In the drinking game that means I should take a drink. But if I was going to follow that I would be completely smashed right now. (Actually I'm cheating on the exercise version only b/c i have a headache and jumping jacks don't help with that).
Like I said last post, I'm modeling this after the drinking game (link in last post too) so if some of the things are similar well, you know why.
So here we go. The WDYTYA Workout:
5 crunches if...
-we go back 3+ generations in several seconds
-celeb travels to another state in the U.S
-they look at an old document
-the celeb compares their life with their ancestor's life
10 crunches if...
-there are no gloves used on an old document and it bothers you
-celebs travel overseas
-name change
-impossibly quick "finding" of documents in the library.
5 push ups if...
-ancestry.com mentioned in the show
-photograph found in a library
-emotional moment
10 jumping jacks if...
-they are shown a nice family tree
-wow!/ gasp/ shock/ surprise
-they go to a census
20 jumping jacks if...
-you are related to the celeb
-you've been to the city/town that they travel to
-they go to the 1600s or earlier
This is just a rough draft of course. I'm making it up as I go.
Suggestions are welcome!
(Also, I'm not proofreading any of this. Long day at work plus distracted by the show. So if something doesn't make sense... just go with it. LOL)
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Lapinsky Curse
Let me just get this out there... the curse isn't any spooky voodoo stuff. Nothing paranormal. Just genetics.
The Lapinsky women all have one thing in common (excluding maybe 1-2 females per generation). We used to all joke about it. But now I'm determined to beat it. Lets look at a photo to see if you all can guess what the common feature is.
These are the Lapinsky women (and Stanley in the middle). My great grandmother Mildred Bieda (Lapinsky) is in the greenish brown dress.
Now I'm going to go out on a limb and say potato pancakes, pierogies and kluskies and bacon *might* have been a contributing factor. Perhaps. Milly is the smallest of the others but she's not a skinny minny either. *pauses, waits for lightning strike or similar sign....*
In any case, most of the women on the Polish side of the family have a little extra weight particularly around the mid section or that little pooch. Annoying as hell.
Obviously I'm not going to show photo proof that we all have it. I value my life too much.
Anyway I've been working on that and so far so good. Lapinsky curse is slowly disappearing. But it got me thinking about family genetics and similarities. There may be a genetic tendency but thats no excuse. I'm going to kick the Lapinsky curse in the bum.
That's all for now folks. I'm toying with an idea for the next post. If you watch Who do You Think You Are on NBC you may or may not know there is a drinking game. For all interested you can go here. On a separate note, last week I was watching Harry Potter 3 and found a Harry Potter workout. Example: Harry faints from a dementor- 20 jumping jacks. And for everyone who has seen #3.... thats quite a bit. So I was toying with that and WDYTYA... What about a WDYTYA workout? Take some of the ideas from there and just switch out drinking for crunches or something (yes not as fun as alcohol... but healthier!) I'll work on the idea a bit more and hopefully post it before next week. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If no one's interested then hey I'll do it for me.
Until next time
The Lapinsky women all have one thing in common (excluding maybe 1-2 females per generation). We used to all joke about it. But now I'm determined to beat it. Lets look at a photo to see if you all can guess what the common feature is.
These are the Lapinsky women (and Stanley in the middle). My great grandmother Mildred Bieda (Lapinsky) is in the greenish brown dress.
Now I'm going to go out on a limb and say potato pancakes, pierogies and kluskies and bacon *might* have been a contributing factor. Perhaps. Milly is the smallest of the others but she's not a skinny minny either. *pauses, waits for lightning strike or similar sign....*
In any case, most of the women on the Polish side of the family have a little extra weight particularly around the mid section or that little pooch. Annoying as hell.
Obviously I'm not going to show photo proof that we all have it. I value my life too much.
Anyway I've been working on that and so far so good. Lapinsky curse is slowly disappearing. But it got me thinking about family genetics and similarities. There may be a genetic tendency but thats no excuse. I'm going to kick the Lapinsky curse in the bum.
That's all for now folks. I'm toying with an idea for the next post. If you watch Who do You Think You Are on NBC you may or may not know there is a drinking game. For all interested you can go here. On a separate note, last week I was watching Harry Potter 3 and found a Harry Potter workout. Example: Harry faints from a dementor- 20 jumping jacks. And for everyone who has seen #3.... thats quite a bit. So I was toying with that and WDYTYA... What about a WDYTYA workout? Take some of the ideas from there and just switch out drinking for crunches or something (yes not as fun as alcohol... but healthier!) I'll work on the idea a bit more and hopefully post it before next week. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If no one's interested then hey I'll do it for me.
Until next time
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