Posts Tagged ‘Chicago’
Have you signed up for the Generations newsletter? If not, you should! There are giveaways, news about the new Branching Out kids’ books, news from other genealogists and information for kids and teachers, just to name a few of the included items.
Sign up today! Monday, March 19, I’m giving away a copy of Finding Your Chicago Ancestors by Grace DuMelle.
And, you will be among the first to receive the press release with links to purchase my new kids’ books!
Lake Claremont Press sent me a couple of books to read and review on my website. Finding Your Chicago Irish, by Sharon Shea Bossard was one of these books.
Before I opened this book I thought it would provide a lot of information about Irish genealogy in Chicago. Well, it has a chapter on genealogy, but the book is much more than that. Bossard writes not only about finding your Irish roots, but enjoying and being a part of the Irish culture in Chicago. Her book is described as a GPS of finding your Chicago Irish.
Her book is divided into twelve chapters which aid researchers and non-researchers on their quest of everything Chicago Irish. By exploring the resources and participating in the events Bossard describes, you will learn more about your heritage and the place of the Irish in the city.
- Cinema and Theater
- Music, Dance, and Performance
- Organizations and Clubs
- Education, Language, and Media
- Sports
- Pubs and Restaurants
- March and St. Patrick’s Day
- Events, Festivals, and Tourism
- Shopping
- Canines
- Citizenship and Genealogy
- Recipes
Of special interest to genealogists is the Citizenship and Genealogy chapter. Bossard discusses how to research and submit documentation for dual citizenship. She goes on to briefly explain how to begin genealogical research, where to find records and suggests local resources and various websites such as Ellis Island.
This book is definitely a must have for anyone tracing their Irish Chicago ancestors. I am giving away a copy of this book on March 19. All you have to do is subscribe to my newsletter to enter the giveaway.
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I ordered the first proof copy of the first book in my new Kids’ Genealogy Series!! I should have it in a couple of days. I’m so excited!
To celebrate I’m doing a giveaway! I received a complimentary copy of Finding Your Chicago Ancestors by Grace DuMelle from Lake Claremont Press. I will have a random drawing on Monday, February 20, 2012. All you have to do to enter the drawing is subscribe to my newsletter!
The subscription area is in the left-hand column of this site.
My newsletter will begin going out on Monday, February 20, 2012. The winner will be announced there!
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I am happy to report that my Kids Genealogy Lesson Books are on track to sell April 1. Lessons 1-15 are complete and proofs have been ordered! The following titles will be released.
- Branching Out: Genealogy for 1st – 3rd Grade Students Lessons 1-15
- Branching Out: Genealogy for 1st – 3rd Grade Students Lessons 16-30
- Branching Out: Genealogy for 4th – 8th Grade Students Lessons 1-15
- Branching Out: Genealogy for 4th – 8th Grade Students Lessons 16-30
- Branching Out: Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 1-15
- Branching Out: Genealogy for High School Students Lessons 16-30
- Engaging the Next Generation: A Guide for Genealogical Societies and Libraries
If you would like to stay informed of the progress and possibly win a copy of one of the books, you can sign up for my newsletter on this site in the top left column of the page. My newsletter will launch in May where the winner will be announced.
For more information, watch this blog or my Generations site. You can also “Like” us on FaceBook.
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- Kids Genealogy: Where To Begin (examiner.com)
Are you a homeschool parent or teacher? Librarian or scout leader? A parent or grandparent? Are you interested in engaging the younger generation in their family history?
April 1, 2012 I will launch a set of kids genealogy lesson books for first through twelfth grade students.
Stay tuned for more information and where you can find these books and me in April!
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My friend Terri at Finding Our Ancestors blog asked me why someone would get a marriage license in Chicago and go to Kewanee, Illinois to get married. That is a good question and one I have wondered as my grandparents appeared to have done the same thing!
I have two documents for my grandparents, Joseph Holik and Libbie Brouk. One is a Marriage License issued 19 April 1930 in Chicago. States they married on the same day. The second document was given to me recently by my father and is a fancy Certificate of Marriage for Joseph Holik and Libbie Brouk. Glancing over the document I can see it was signed by a Judge of the Circuit Court of Kewanee, IL named H. Sterling Pomeroy.
So they married in Kewanee? Why on earth in 1930 would they drive from Chicago to Kewanee to get married?
They didn’t. Let’s break this down and look at the clues.
As Terri and I found, looking more closely at our documents, they were indeed married in the County Building in the city of Chicago. The address given is 226 County Building, Chicago, IL.
They were married by a Judge from Kewanee, IL, who spent time serving in the Cook County Courts. Both documents say Chicago, IL as the marriage place. On the license, his name is stamped as the name of the officiant. On the Certificate of Marriage he signed his name and stamped “Judge of the City Court of Kewanee, IL.”
The Certificate of Marriage was even signed by the witnesses, my Great uncle Ladislav Brouk and Great uncle John J. Holik, Jr. Signatures are nice to have to compare documents.
When you break down a document for the first, second, or even third time, pull out all the clues and make sure you are reading things in the context in which they were intended. Why would you break down a document more than once? Sometimes you think you pulled all the details out but when you go back to it later, after more research is done, you may see something you “missed” before. Something that didn’t mean anything to you at the time. I find reviewing documents for an individual after more research is done sometimes sparks a new research idea or shows me a clue that now has greater meaning.
Upon first glance at both of these documents you think my grandparents drove to Kewanee to get married. Breaking down the details you find out that was not the case.
If you follow me on Twitter @jencoffeelover, you may have seen my rant recently about those Ancestry.com leaves and people merging stuff into their trees. Let me explain.
My Holik ancestors came to Chicago from Senetin, Bohemia. They all came to Chicago and appear based on all the records I have found, to not have lived anywhere in between once they got off the ship. Their ship logs all indicated another member of the family as the person in the U.S. they were meeting. For pretty much all the kids that immigrated, Frantisek Holik, their father in Senetin or Anna Holik, their mother in Senetin, was listed as the closest relative in the old country.
I found a tree on Ancestry.com where a woman had merged all my Holik stuff into her tree for a Marie Holek. Names and birth years were close so it must be right? Right? Wrong! This researcher took my Marie Holik, sister to my great grandfather John, as hers. She merged in records for that Marie and my great great grandmother Marie Rataj Holik into her Marie.
I was reading some comments on being a professional genealogist and new genealogical researchers that my friend Caroline posted and was inspired to write a breaking it down series for kids. I want to not only teach you about documents and research but break things down so you learn techniques to look for clues and make better decisions about what to add to your family tree.
Subscribe to the blog so you get updates on breaking it down. I’m going to walk you through step by step all the reasons and documents showing why my Marie is not this other researcher’s Marie. Through the process you may discover something I did not.
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Yesterday I posted a set of questions I gave my son. Below are his answers and my responses.
Why is my family history important to me?
Son: So I can learn how far my family goes back in history.
One interesting thing I learned about my family history is:
Son: My cousin was a Flying Tiger.
If I were interviewing my parents, I would ask these five questions.
1. Did you get expelled? Mom: No. Your father and I were never expelled from school.
2. Favorite food Mom: Chocolate and Home Run Inn pizza.
3. Worst grade Mom: F. I’m fairly certain I flunked out of one college course early on.
4. Favorite teacher Mom: Mrs. Willis my first grade teacher. She was so nice.
5. Best subject Mom: Band and English/Literature. I loved playing my clarinet and I loved to read. I still love to read. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.
Other things I want to know about my family history:
1. How many family members served in a war? Mom: On my side, Michael Kokoska WWI, Frankie Winkler WWII, Robert Brouk WWII, your great uncle John Vietnam. Those are the ones I have confirmed. There were a few other Kokoska men who were stateside during WWI either training or working in the Army. On your father’s side I have not identified anyone who served yet.
2. How many cousins do I have? Mom: Too many to count.
3. What is my oldest living family member? Mom: Currently that would be your great aunt Bea I believe.
4. Was my family rich? Mom: Not that I am aware of.
5. Was my family ever famous? Mom: Robert Brouk could be considered famous as he was one of the Flying Tigers in China between 1941-1942.
Kids, what would your parents answers to these questions be? What other questions do you have? Write them down and start talking. You never know what interesting facts you will uncover.
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I found a great new blog last week called Climbing My Family Tree. On that blog was a great post you should all read.
Genealogy for Kids: Cemetery Scavenger Hunt
Take a peek. I think you will enjoy it!
Last week we examined birth and marriage records. Did you find anything interesting you would like to share?
Today we will look at death certificates and causes of death. Ask your parents if they have any death certificates for family members you can look at. How do they compare to this one from 1929?
This certificate is for Carmela Fratto. This certificate provides a lot of good information such as parents names, address, birth date, burial location and date, undertaker and cause of death. The cause is listed as Enteritis. Look at the cause of death link above and see what that means. This is listed as the main cause of death. Perhaps there were other things that contributed to Carmela’s death, but they are not listed.
What other information do you see on this certificate that would be helpful if this child was a part of your family to help find other information?
Take notes from the death certificates your parents provide you and note the source. Include the type of document, number assigned to it, who it is for, the date, and where the file is held.
