Saturday Serendipity (November 11, 2017)

Here are a few recommended reads for this Veterans Day weekend .  .  . 

1.  As we move from pumpkin bedizened Halloween to the pumpkin on our Thanksgiving tables, The Weekly Geneaologist of NEHGS pointed out a brief history of pumpkins for our reading pleasure.  The pumpkin fruit was a mainstay of the early New England diet well before they began gracing the Thanksgiving table in the form of the pies we know and love today. You can read this short and informative piece here.     

2.  During this week of Veterans Day posts on various blogs, many celebrate the service of ancestors and family members. Barbara Poole of Life From the Roots blog posted took a different tack and posted about some famous veterans she met personally or saw during the time she lived and worked in Wahington, DC. As always, Barabra illustrates her post with photographs.  Have a look here.    
  
3.  Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog passes on some sage advice this week for all genealogists .  .  . "Ask an archivist!" Find out what she means and why she gives this pithy advice by reading her post here.              
        
4.  The always thoughful James Tanner of Geneaolgy's Star blog, ruminates on the subject of online safety.  Since genealogy in this era of digital technology inescapably involves so much online research, his post is worth reading.  You can access it here.    
  
5.  If you are like me, you really enjoy looking at documents and artifacts from the past -- especially if they could have some genelogical connection to family members.  I periodically like to look at Pam Beveridge's blog Heirlooms Reunited for this very reason.  I am hopeful I might come across an old, lushy illustrated autograph book, album, bible, photograph or other artifact that contains a connection to an ancestor or relative. But I also enjoy looking at the wide variety of objects created and preserved by folks from the past.  Many of them are beautiful pieces of folk art.  You too might enjoy the search and the viewing yourself, so have a look at Heirlooms Reunited here.  You just might find something that connects you to your ancestors or relatives.

6.  To capitalize or not to capitalize [when doing genealogy research], that is the question. Another question is, "Can it possibly make any difference?"  Well, Nancy Messier of My Ancestors and Me blog asked the questions and has the answers.  You can read her story, and the cautionary lesson it contains, here.         
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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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Rememberance Days (November 10 and 11, 2017)

"Immortality Lies in Being Remembered by Family and Friends." -- John D. Tew

Doreen E. Jeffs in Canadian Army uniform (1945)

Tomorrow is Rememberance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the United States.  Both days commemorate the sacrifice of those who fought, died, and othewise served in conflicts and wars -- especially World War I and World War II.

In Canada, Rememberance Day is often marked by people wearing artificial poppies in the days leading up to November 11th.  Red poppies are worn in memory of those who died, while white poppies are worn for those who served in non-militry interventions in conflict situations.  Special church services are held on November 11th that often include a reading of the fourth verse of the "Ode of Rememberance" by Laurence Binyon [1] and a playing of "The Last Post."  Two minutes of silence begin at 11:00 and, following the service, wreaths are laid at local war memorials.  The official Canadian national ceremonies are held at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Ontario. 

I thought of Remembrance Day in Canada today and especially about a photograph of my mother-in-law, Doreen Elizabeth O'Kane, nee Jeffs, in her Canadian Army uniform circa 1945.  The photograph is shown above.

I thought of this photograph and of Doreen because today is a day of remembrance.  Today would have been Doreen's 97th birthday.  She died peacefully in her sleep on September 24th.  She is not forgotten. We remember her.
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[1]  The fourth verse is .  .  . "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
                                            Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
                                            At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
                                            We will remember them."

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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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Heather's Honor Roll Project (Veterans Day 2017) -- Wallingford, CT World War II Memorial Part 3 -- close up panel photos

In my blog post yesterday (November 8, 2017, I contributed to the 2017 call for additions to the Honor Roll project of Heather Rojo.  My contribution for Veterans Day 2017 continued the process of transcribing the hundreds of men and women from the Wallingford, Connecticut area who served their country during World War II (my father being among them).

As the above photograph of the WWII memorial on the grounds of the Wallingford Town Hall illustrates, there are seven panels each with triple columns of the names of those who served. My 2016 Veterans Day post covered many, but not all, of the names listed on the first panel. The surnames are in alphabetical order across the entire seven panels and the first panel contains all the surnames beginning with A through B and some of those beginning with C.  

My post of November 10th, 2016 transcribed and listed all the names on the first panel from George C. Abbott, Jr. to Joseph E. Buza -- 244 names all together. My Memorial Day 2017 post listed all the surnames on the Wallingford WWII memorial that begin with C through E -- 298 names in all. My Veterans Day post of November 8, 2017 transcribed an additional 317 surnames covering those beginning with F through I. In keeping with my intent to also post close-ups of the panels containing names I have transcribed and listed, this is the post of panel close-ups to provide photographs of all the surnames that begin with F through I. This is the process that will be followed for the remaining panels over time in order to keep the transciption posts to a manageable size.  The transcribed names will be posted first and photographs of the panel close-ups covering the posted names will follow shortly thereafter.

I am very indebted to my cousin, Bruce Marquardt of Wallingford, for so willingly photographing the panels in close-up for me after my efforts to do so failed.  Thank you Bruce!

The following nine panel close-ups cover the names on the Wallingford WWII memorial from Bernard Factor through Peter P. Ives, Jr. Please note that in order to be sure all names were photographed, the photos overlap and some names are therefore shown twice and can thus be used to orient the precise order of the names from Factor to Ives.  The alphabetical order flows down the first column and then up to the top of the second column and finally up to the top of third column on each of the panels. The surnames starting with F begin in the third column of the first close-up Photo No. 1 below. The surnames starting with I end in the third column of close-up Photo No. 9 where surnames beginning with J also begin. 

Photo No. 1

Photo No. 2

Photo No. 3

Photo No. 4

Photo No. 5

Photo No. 6

Photo No. 7

Photo No. 8

Photo No. 9

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All close-up photographs of the panels of the WWII memorial are by Bruce Marquardt of Wallingford, Connecticut.

Photo of the entire memorial is by the author.

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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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Heather's Honor Roll Project (Veterans Day 2017) -- Wallingford, CT World War II Memorial Part 3 -- Surnames F through I

Wallingford, Connecticut Town Hall

Saturday, November 11,  2017, is Veterans Day. 

Among the military Honor Roll memorials located in Wallingford, Connecticut on the grounds of the Town Hall is one for those who served (and in some cases died) in World War II. It is by far the most extensive memorial listing of veterans of war who lived in Wallingford.  The list contains hundreds of names -- in fact so many that it will take several posts to get them all transcribed and published. This is the third post of names from the Wallingford WWII Memorial. It will cover all the surnames names in alphabetical order from F through I . . . and that comprises 317 names for this post. [For the first post listing the 244 surnames from this memorial that begin with A or B, please see the earlier post here.  The second post listing the 298 surnames that begin with C through E can be viewed here. ]  

I know that finding a database of transcribed names is one thing for those who are searching for ancestors and relatives, but for those who cannot make a trip to see the actual memorial, a photograph of their family member's name would be a very useful gift for inclusion in family genealogies; therefore, it is my intention to do a blog post shortly after posting each list of transcribed names to publish the photographs from which I worked to do the transcriptions. Please check back here periodically after you see a listed name of an ancestor or relative in a post and you will then be able to get a photograph of the name in a close-up of the memorial panel containing your family member's name. [UPDATE: The close-up photos for surnames F through I on this memorial were published on November 8, 2017. You can view the close-up photographs here.]

For readers who take the time to scan the names, you will notice that unlike memorials for earlier wars there are a significant number of women listed on this memorial. Also, apart from the sheer number of names on the World War II memorial, one will note the wonderful ethnic diversity of the names in the list. And there are a number of obvious family members listed so that it appears several possible brother, father/son, and cousin combinations are listed.

My father is listed on the World War II memorial in Wallingford since he briefly attended a year of post-high school education at Lyman Hall in Wallingford before he entered Kings Point, the United States Merchant Marine Academy.  Prior to 1957 what is the present Town Hall was the Lyman Hall High School. [1]  I previously posted a close-up of the section of names containing my father's listing here. This post continues the transcription of the hundreds of other names that are honored on the World War II memorial. The transcription posts will be submitted as part of Heather Rojo's wonderful Honor Roll project to create a searchable listing of all U.S. war veterans on memorials erected in this country.

One other point to make on this Veterans Day regarding memorials to World War Two veterans .  .  .

The names on this and other WWII memorials around the country list members of what has often been called "The Greatest Generation."  The names on these memorials recognize the hundreds of thousands of men and women who sacrificed years of their youth or middle age -- and in many cases their very lives -- to combat an undeniable evil. My father will turn 95 years old on the 28th of this month. He turned 19 years old at the very end of November, 1941 and the United States declared war on Japan and Germany on December 8th and December 11th, 1941, respectively.  Before my father turned 20 years old he was attending the United States Merchant Marine Academy and shortly thereafter was making voyages to deliver supplies and materiel in the war effort. Today as we commemorate those members of the greatest generation who served and died in WWII, it is important to pause and realize -- with respect to this particular memorial and so many others like it -- that almost all of the men and women enumerated on WWII memorials are no longer with us. If they survived the war, the great majority have lived their lives and passed on. Very, very few remain with us today. Lift a glass today to all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and to those who served!   

The World War II memorial on the grounds of the Wallingford Town Hall

The names of the men and women honored on the Wallingford World War II memorial with surnames beginning with F through I are as follows . . .

Bernard Factor                        Irving S. Factor                         Martin H. Factor

Frank L. Fagan                       Robert J. Fagan                         Frank J. Fahey
Anthony Falcigno, Jr.             Arthur Falcigno                        James Falcigno
Thomas B. Falcigno               Nicholas E. Falconieri             Francis J. Fanning
Thomas E. Fanning                Julius E. Fappiano                    Walter F. Fare
Charles J. Farkas                    George J. Farkas                       Ellwin O. Farnsworth
Nicholas Farone, Jr.               Charles B. Farrow                     Armand A. Fassino
James V. Fazzino                    Ernest W. Fekete                      George Fekete
Peter Fellegy                          Adam L. Fengler, Jr.                 Adolph A. Fengler
Andrew J. Fenick                   Charles A. Fenn                        Donald T. Ferguson
Abel J. Fernandes                   Americo J. Fernandes               Andrew Fernandes
Anthony T. Ferrari                  Frank J. Ferrari                         Thomas F. Ferrari
James J. Ferraro                      Ralph J. Ferraro                        Joseph F. Ferreira
Libero Ferri                             Ubaldo G. Ferri                        Edward J. Ferriere
James G. Ferriere                    Floyd J. Ferry                           Frank P. Ferry
Theodore J. Ferry                    Walter F. Ferry                         Alfred J. Fields
Charles L Fields, Jr.                Kenneth J. Fields                      Louis R. Flippo
William R. Fischer                  Morris Fishbein                        Curtis H. Fitcher
Russell E. Fitcher                    Samuel H. Fitcher                    John E. Fitzgerald
William H. Fitzgerald             William J. Fleischauer, Jr.        Vincent J. Fleming
Walter J. Fleming                    Anthony Flis                             George J. Flis
Jacob Flis                                 Francis J. Flynn                        James T. Flynn, Jr.
Raymond Flynn                       James D. Foran                         Robert W. Ford
William Ford, Jr.                     John T. Fordan                           Harold A. Foresto
Robert L. Foresto                    Stanley F. Fornal                       Charles H. Fosdick
Joseph F. Foster                      Paul E. Foucault                         Francis P. Fountaine
Lawrence E. Fox                    James Francesconi                      Daniel P. Francis
Charles R. Frauham                Victor I. Freeman                       Peter J. Fresina
James E. Fritz                          Raymond L. Fritz                      Clarence F. Frobel
Andrew Fucci                          Frank Fucci                               Edwin F. Fuller
Richard T. Gadd                      Wesley P. Gadd                         William E. Gadd
Emil Gaetano                           Joseph Galko                             Bernard Gallagher
Daniel G. Gallagher                 Patricia F. Gallagher                 Donald C. Galvin
Charles E. Gammerino            Charles W. Gammons               Francis H. Gannon
William C. Gannon                  Edgar E. Gardner, Jr.                Francis A. Gargaly
William J. Gargaly                   Francis R. Gariepy                   Roderick A. Garrand, Jr.
Robert M. Gavette                   Walter Gawlowicz                    Miller Gay
Raymond A. Gay                     Charles F. Gayer                       John J. Gayer
Joseph A. Gehue                      Morris Gelblum                        John S. Geleta
Anthony Gello                         Maurice J. Gello                       Salvatore Gello
Dominic J. Gelo                       Frank J. Gelt                             Ernest V. Gendron
Alphonse D. Gentile                Louis A. Gentile                       Americo Gerace
Charles Gerace                         Ernest Gere                              Lester Gere
John J. Geremia                       Leo F. Geremia                         Michael C. Geremia
Philip E. Germain                    Robert A. Germain                   Max Gershberg
Frank E. Gestay                       John F. Gestay                          Fred P. Ghidini
John J. Ghidini                        Ernest Gianotti                          Howard Gianotti
Louis F. Gianotti                     Peter Gianotti                            Bruno Giapponi
Reno Giapponi                        Charles C. Gibson                     Irmelda T. Gillooly
Zoltan J. Gindel                      Richard H. Gingras                    Robert E. Gingras
Doris A. Girard                       Andrew J. Giret                         David Giret
Anthony J. Glaviano               George Glaviano                       Joseph J. Glaviano
Salvatore Glaviano                 Alfred Gnudi                             Gideon J. Gober
David M. Goddard                  Stanton H. Goddard                  John J. Godo
David M. Goldman                 Stanley Goldman                       Leonard Golub
Alex S. Gombita                     John Gomes                               Joseph Gomes
Manuel Gomes                       John F. Gomez                           Edwin F. Goodrich
Frank E. Goodrich                 Harold J. Goodrich                     John J. Goodrich
Quentin J. Goodrich              Roy T. Goodrich                         Michael J. Gorman
Warren J. Grace                     Vincent W. Graham                    Henry J. Gralton
Harrold M. Granucci              Henry T. Granucci                     Robert F. Granucci
Warren J. Granucci                Carl A. Grasser                          Joseph J. Green, Jr.
Robert W. Greene                   Edwin J. Greenwood                Russell W. Greenwood
Francis B. Griffen                  Robert T. Griffen                      Chester H. Griggs
Raymond R. Grinold             Adam S. Groncheski                 Benjamin Groncheski, Jr.
Frank J. Gross                        Harry Haberman                       Ralph D. Habersang
Andrew Hacku                       Daniel Hacku                            John F. Hacku
Aladar M. Haczku                 William P. Haggerty                  Paul Hajnal
John H. Hall                           John J. Hall, Jr.                         Marcus E. Hall
Russell A. Hall                      William R. Hall                         Herbert L. Halladay
Robert R. Haller                     Martin Hamasian                      Richard Hamasian
James Hamelin                       Norman O. Hamelin                 William F. Hamelin
Allen E. Hancock                   Vernon P. Hancock                   John Hanisko
Joseph Hanisko                      Samuel W. Hanisko                  Stephen Hanisko
Andrew C. Harduby              John A. Harkawik                     Arthur E. Harrington
Raymond T. Harrington        Robert J. Harrington                 Spencer K. Harrington
Vincent O. Harrington          Wesley M. Harris                      Sidney Harrison
George E. Hart                      William R. Hartline                  Earl J. Hartman
Francis A. Hartman               George R. Hartman                  Henry R. Hartman
Joseph W. Hartman               Willis B. Harwood                    Edwin W. Havens
Maurice J. Hayden                 Vincent J. Hayden                   John Hayes
John R. Hayes                         John B. Heald                         Thomas D. Healy
Edward J. Hearon                   James E. Hearon                     John M. Heath
Mary B. Heath                        Robert M. Heath                     James A. Heilman
Norman C. Heilman, Jr.         George A. Hellemann              Roger W. Hellemann
Richard C. Henson                 Walter P. Hentz                        Charles K. Hewitt
Alvin R. Highers                    George E. Hill                          Hazel Hill
Joel B. Hill                             William B. Hill                        Gerald B. Hines
Henry G. Hintz                       Walter P. Hintz                        Richard C. Hiob
Gerald T. Hirbour                   Edward J. Hoffman                 Edward O. Hoffman
Frank T. Hoffman                   James J. Hoffman                    John J. Hoffman
Robert J. Hoffman                  Thomas H. Hoffman               Warren W. Hoffman
Edward J. Holda                      Christopher Holloway            Eugene W. Holloway
Hazel M. Holloway                 Donald H. Holmes                  Robert L. Holmes
William C. Holroyd, Jr.           John L. Horan                         Ambrose Horbock
Eugene J. Horbock                  Phillip Horbock                      Jacob J. Horkavy
John Horkavy                          Stephen E. Hornyak               John J. Horvath
Howard M. Hotchkiss             John L. Hotchkiss                  Margaret C. Hotchkiss
Robert A. Hotchkiss                Alice M. Houlihan                 Herbert J. Houson
Robert J. Howe                        John R. Hrehowsik                John D. Hubbard
Edward P. Hubbell                   Frank Hubert                         Felix Hulicki
Frank Hulicky                          Daniel A. Hurley                  Margaret M. Hurley
Arthur R. Huskes                     Richard W. Huskes               Alton B. Hyde
Lawrence G. Hyland                Mary C. Hyland                    Carl Isakson
Rolf Isakson                             Andrew Ivan                         Donaled W. Ivan
John Clark Ives                        Peter P. Ives, Jr.                      

                                  

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[1]  Lyman Hall (1724 - 1790) was born in Wallingford and served as a representative to the Continental Congress from Georgia.  He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and later served as a Governor of Georgia.

Photographs of the extensive list of names on the World War II memorial in Wallingford, Connecticut were provided to me for transcription by my cousin, Bruce O. Marquardt, of Wallingford.  This transcription contribution would not have been possible without Bruce's very kind and willing efforts to make sure I had legible photos from which to do the transcriptions.  THANK YOU BRUCE!
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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew
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Saturday Serendipity (November 4, 2017)

Here are a few recommended reads for this weekend .  .  . 

1.  Yesterday, James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog, posted the news about MyHeritage adding 94 MILLION Ellis Island and other New York passenger lists. You can read more about this important new development here -- complete with a couple of screen shots to illustrate the new resource. Mr. Tanner also had an interesting post this past Wednesday about the verifiability of family stories passed down from generation to generation.  These stories are almost always fascinating and out of the ordinary or else they would not be preserved, but are they verifiably true? Read Mr. Tanner's take on this issue here.

2.   Barbara Poole of Life From the Roots blog, celebrated 8 years of blogging recently! She posted this week about an important project completion for the Old Burying Ground in Lexington, Massachusetts -- and as always with Barbara it is illustrated with photos. The big news is that the cemetery has completed its names and map project for the burying ground! This is obviously an important historical cemetery and this new tool will be very helpful to genealogists and historians. Read Barbara's post, "If Only All Cemeteries Would Do This," here to find out more.  

3.  While I have been aware of, and have participated in, Heather Rojo's marvelous seven-years-old Honor Roll Project, which collects blogger posts of war memorial photographs and transcribed lists of names from the memorials to create a searchable database, I only just became aware of an equally splendid project covering heroic men and women of World War I who were from New Hampshire. Janice Brown of the Cow Hampshire blog posted yesterday the latest additions to this series of hers. The project posts contain lots of links and informative biographies of the New Hampshire men and women who served in WWI. There is a link for earlier posts in the series. If you have ancestors or relatives from New Hampshire who you know (or suspect) served in WWI, you should really check out this ongoing series. You can start by reading the most recent addition to the project here.            
        
4.   In a previous Saturday Serendipity I provided a link to a piece on the 19th century phenomenon of creating and keeping posed postmortem photographs of dead children and other relatives. This past week The Vault blog by Slate.com posted about a related practice that began in about 1860 -- that of child ghost portraits. When grieving parents could not tolerate the idea of posing the dead bodies of their children all dressed up, they could go to a so-called "spirit photographer" who would take pictures of the living and the "souls" of the deceased could supposedly appear in the finished photograph. Read more about this practice and see some examples here.   
 
5.  In my humble opinion all genealogists have a good dose of the pack rat in them and they are constantly collecting items of "genealogical gold" for themselves and their posterity. This, of course, ultimately leads to the reckoning of space vs. desire. Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree posted this week about her method of dealing with this occupational hazard. Read Marian's post on genealogy downsizing here.      

6.  Long time readers of this blog know of my deep interest in the 1918 Influenza epidemic (see "Influenza" in the Post By Topic listing), which is now considered the worst and most deadly outbreak of disease in human history. Worldwide some 50 to 100 MILLION people died in a space of 15 months and 670,000 of them were Americans. The Weekly Genealogist by NEHGS this week noted a Smithsonian article by John Barry (author of the phenomenal book about the epidemic, The Great Influenza) titled, "How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America,"  you can read Mr. Barry's informative article here and then go read his book and one by Gina Kolata of the NY Times titled simply, Flu.  And if you have not already done so, I think you will want to go out right away and get your flu shot!  
      
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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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