Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - You Might be a Genealogist if ...

This is a fun blog post this week! It is based on Katie O's post You Might Be a Genealogist If ... on the You Are Where You Came from blog.

Here are the directions:

1)  Make up your own "You Might be a Genealogist if..." sayings.  One or more.  Lots.  The more the merrier.  You can use Katie's tax theme, or any other theme - you're completely free to make up anything you want!
2)  Tell us about them in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a Twitter feed, or in a Facebook status line or comment.

Here are mine:

1) You might be a genealogist if... the majority of your friends (if not all of them) are also fellow genealogists.
2) You might be a genealogist if... you dreams consist of researching in microfilmed records.
3) You might be a genealogist if... you're at the grocery store and think how many microfilms you could be ordering instead.
4) You might be a genealogist if... you hear a familiar surname and instantly think of genealogy.
5) You might be a genealogist if... the first section you go to in a library, is the genealogy section.
6) You might be a genealogist if... you travel half-way across the country, just to stand on the land your ancestor once owned.
7) You might be a genealogist if... you find yourself at the courthouse while on a family vacation.
8) You might be a genealogist if... your family's eyes glaze over when you try talking to them about the family tree.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the 1940 US Census

This is going to be a fun post. I saw on a website, that the 1940 census will be open to the public as of yesterday, one year from now. Immediately, I began thinking of who I should find first.

I've already been able to find my maternal grandparents. My grandfather, Thomas Thurman Rodgers, was born in Duck Hill, Montgomery County, Mississippi on 15 Jun 1928 to Fred Lamar Rodgers and Ellen Inez Martin. Here is an excerpt of him with his family in the 1930 census:

Rodgers, Fred L., Head, 30, Mississippi, Mississippi, Mississippi, Farmer
Rodgers, Ellen I., Wife, 27, Mississippi, Mississippi, Mississippi, Farm laborer
Rodgers, M. J., Son, 11, Mississippi, Mississippi, Mississippi
Rodgers, Virginia A., Daughter, 6, Mississippi, Mississippi, Mississippi
Rodgers, Wilburn H., Son, 4 8/12, Mississippi, Mississippi, Mississippi
Rodgers, Thomas T., Son, 16/12, Mississippi, Mississippi, Mississippi


My maternal grandmother was Elaine Florella Stuempges. She was born 31 Dec 1926 in Polar, Langlade County, Wisconsin, to Walter John Stuempges and Sylvia Maria Martin. Here is an excerpt of her with her family in the 1930 census:

Stuempges, Walter, Head, 30, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Bohemia, Mechanic in Garage
Stuempges, Sylvia, Wife, 20, Wisconsin, Germany, Wisconsin
Stuempges, Elaine, Daughter, 3, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin
Stuempges, Eunice, Daughter, 1, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin

As for my paternal grandparents, they were born after the 1930 census. My grandfather was John Edward Gombash. He was born 02 Oct 1935 in Caretta, McDowell County, West Virginia and was the son of Alex Gombash (previously Sándor Gombás) and Catherine Grządziel. Along with my great-grandparents and my grandfather, there will be 6 other children listed.. siblings to my grandfather. They're all living, so I won't state names and dates out of respect for their privacy.

My paternal grandmother was Mary Louise Adas. She was born 02 Mar 1940 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois to Edward Robert Adas, Sr. and his wife Martha Violet Czarny. Now knowing she was born in 1940, I'm REALLY hoping she's listed in the census. I'm not sure of the months of which the census was take that year, so I'll have to do some research on that topic. She had one younger brother who was born in 1941.

I'm going to be really curious about my paternal great-great-grandmother, as well. She was Eszter (Tóth) Gombás. Her husband, my great-great-grandfather, had died in May of 1931. She will have been a widow for 9 years now. I'm not sure of the exact location of where she will be, but I believe she may be in Lore City, Richland Township, Guernsey County, Ohio. That's where her daughter Julia (Gombash) Mayors was hopefully living at the time. I do know that Eszter died in April of 1950 in Lore City. Maybe she'll even appear in the 1950 census, too! Boy am I impatient! :)

Ancestor Approved Award

I received the Ancestor Approved Award from my friend Nuccia the other day. I've neglected to write about it until now. You can find her blog here. Thank you for the award, Nuccia!

As a recipient of this award, I am to list 10 things I have learned about my ancestors that have surprised, humbled or thrilled me and then pass the award on to 10 other genealogy bloggers I feel are doing their ancestors proud. So here goes...

Humbled
1. My 5th-great-grandfather, Hiram Howell, was murdered in 1853.
2. Agnes Gotowa, my 3rd-great-grandmother, jumped out of a third story window in Chicago in 1917, only 5 months after her husband passed away. She died two weeks later due to injuries from her fall. The secondary contributing cause of death on the certificate stated "temporarily insane".
3. My grandmother died at 45 years old from a heart attack. My life could be more than half over already.

Surprised
4. I was surprised to learn of my talent of Hungarian research. It came naturally to me.
5. I descend from the Swayze family, which makes me kin to Patrick Swayze!
6. In 1990, I learned I was going to have a little sister. I didn't know until years later when I was older, that my sister was actually a twin.. my mother had miscarried the other one. Looking into my family tree directly down my maternal line, my 4th great-grandmother was the daughter of a twin. Perhaps it was genetics?
7. I descend from two men who served during the Civil War. One of them was Johann Peter Stuempges, serving for the Union from Wisconsin. The other was James Andrew Costilow, serving for the Confederates from Mississippi.

Thrilled
8. How many cousins I have!
9. I'm a direct descendant of King Béla IV of Hungary. I descend through his daughter Szabina, who was the wife of Mózes, Palatine of Hungary.
10. My 3rd-great-grandfather, Johann Georg Summ, was born in the house that would later become the focus of the Schwarzwalder Freilichtmuseum ("Open Air Museum") in Gutach, Baden, Germany. The house is called Vogtsbauernhof and is the only house in the museum to be in it's original location. The other houses featured in the museum were brought in from various parts of Germany.

Now to pick 10 blogs I feel are worthy of this award - not an easy choice since I think they're all great but since I have to choose then these would be my choices.

1. ChicagoGenealogy
2. Nolichucky Roots
3. Old Stones Undeciphered
4. The Slovak Yankee
5. What's Past is Prologue
6. Royal Musings
7. The Ancestry Insider
8. Blood And Frogs: Jewish Genealogy and More
9. Bayside Blog
10. 100 Years in America

Have fun with your awards!

Why You Should Re-Examine Your Documents

There are times when we find documents and we seem to miss a few specific clues. We may be excited about our new find, or rushed for time and don't fully analyze all the wording. Whatever the case, it really does pay off to look over your documents and records every now and then. I do this every-so-often and find things I happen to have over-looked. I know I'm probably not the only one out there! Here is a great example that happened to me only a few days ago.

I was reviewing a few documents I received from a cousin around April 2010, that pertained to my noble Porkoláb family from Tiszadob, Hungary. The document is called "kihallgatás", which translates literally to mean "interrogation". The document is more of a testimony than it is an interrogation. On the second page, it explains in full detail the fourth testimony for the Porkoláb family by a Mihály Rácz. With-in this testimony, Mihály Rácz talks about an aged Márton Porkoláb with the nickname "szakálas" (bearded) and an István Zákány, from another known noble family living in Tiszadob. On the last few lines it states the following in Hungarian: "az öreg szakálas Porkoláb Mártonnak - kinek felesége Zákány leány vólt". This means "the aged 'bearded' Porkoláb Márton, whose wife was the daughter of Zákány".

"Szakálas" Porkoláb Márton lived before the time of recorded church records, in Tiszadob. So other than this document that list's his wife's (partial) name, she would've been lost to history forever. She has never been mentioned in any known document that I have for the Porkoláb family.

It really does pay to look over your previously found documents!

Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers Quarterback and His Connection to the Chicago Bears & Pittsburgh Steelers

While watching the big playoff game today, I became interested in the Green Bay Packer's quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. He shares the same surname with my mother's family.. and it's spelled the same way with the "D" too! I come across Rogers often, but not Rodgers. So, I became intrigued and wanted to know more about Aaron Rodgers' family tree.

A simple Google search brings up his name is Aaron Charles Rodgers and was born 02 Dec 1983 in Chico, Butte County, California. Knowing that Ancestry.com has database for birth, marriage and death records for California, I immediately head over there to do some simple searches.

I navigate to the database "California Birth Index, 1905-1995" and I find him with his full name and birthdate and the database also contains his mother's maiden name, Pittman. I then go to the sister database "California Marriage Index, 1960-1985" and search for a marriage between a groom Rodgers and bride Pittman. Bingo! His parent's names are Edward W. Rodgers (born about 1955) and Darla L. Pittman (born about 1958). They were married on 05 Apr 1980 in Mendocino County, California.

Going back to my trusted friend, Google, I search for Edward W. Rodgers in Chico, California. Up pops a bagillion results for a Chiropractor named Edward W. Rodgers, (JR!) in Chico, California. We now know he's a Junior! I also take note that he comes up as Edward Wesley Rodgers, Jr. I immediately go back to Ancestry.com and do an Advanced Search for an Edward Rodgers in Chico. I find what I believe to be Aaron's grandfather in the "Social Security Death Index" and also "U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002". Both name him as Edward W. Rodgers with the same birth date of 07 Nov 1917 and either living or died in Chico, Butte County, California. Noticing on the "Social Security Death Index" that he passed away in 1996, he should appear in the Ancestry.com database "California Death Index, 1940-1997". He shows up stating that he was born in Illinois and his mother's maiden name was Larrick.

This is when the fun really starts! I head over to the new FamilySearch.org and do an Advanced Search for Parent's surnames of Rodgers and Larrick. I find three definite results. The first two are a birth certificate for a Louis Alexander Rodgers and also a death certificate for him. The third result is what I'm looking for.. a birth certificate for Edward Wesley Rodgers, born 07 Nov 1917... in CHICAGO! As in the Chicago Bears?! So these documents state that the parents names are (with variations like abbreviations) Alexander John Rodgers and Cora Larrick. The birth certificates state that Alexander John was born in Pennsylvania and that Cora was born in Illinois.

I was then able to locate the family in the 1920 census, although they weren't living in Chicago anymore. They were living in Rock Island Township, Rock Island County, Illinois. It's definitely the right family, as you'll be able to see from the names and places of birth in the household.

According to the birth certificates of Alexander John's two children, he was born about 1892 or 1893.. prime age for the WWI draft! I find his WWI Draft Registration Card with him having registered in Jun 1917 in Chicago. It states that he was married, although unfortunately it doesn't state the wife's name. His place of birth more than makes up for the fact of a lack of his wife's name. It states he was born on 25/28 (hard to make out) Jan 1893 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.. as in the Pittsburgh Steelers! I sure wish these dang WWI Draft Registration Cards were much more clearer and easier to read. I've never seen a single clear image. Anyway..

Well considering we know his birth date and place of birth, we should look for him in the 1900 census in Pittsburgh.. and he's easily found.. maybe too easily. He is listed as Alexander J. Rodgers, born Jan 1893. He is with his widowed mother, Louisa Rodgers, born Mar 1870 in Germany. They're both living in the household of Louisa's parents (Alexander's grandparents), William and Sophia C. Houseberg.. natives of Germany. Them being from Germany leads me to believe their surname would've been Haasberg or something similar back in the old country. Haas is the German word for House.. they wouldn't have used "House" in Germany. The family is living at 646 Herron Ave, in Pittsburgh.

At this point, I'm now stuck in a rut. I'm not aware of any resources online for Pittsburgh vital records or even a state census for 1895 (does it even exist?). I then remember this awesome website that has tons of old Pittsburgh city directories digitized online, so I head over to DonsList.net to see what they have available. I find a directory for Pittsburgh 1900, so I decide to take a look.. considering I know Louisa Rodgers (widowed) was living with her parents are 646 Herron Ave. I'm surprised to locate Louisa and she's living at 648 Herron Ave.. and she's listed as the widow of Archibald! What are the odds?

As for Archibald, I did find one result in the Pittsburgh 1880 census for an Archibald that would be roughly 2 years older than Louisa; but I can't be positive it's him, I would need more proof. This Archibald is the son of Alexander (Archibald's only child's name!) and Mary Ann Rodgers, both born about 1837 in Ireland. Interestingly enough, Alexander's occupation is listed as a "puddler", which according to Wikipedia (horrible source, I know...), "puddling was an improved process to convert pig iron into wrought iron with the use of a reverberating furnace"

We now have Aaron Rodgers' connection to the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers! Now I wonder if he has a connection to New York (New York Jets!).. other than immigrations, of course.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Ancestral Name List Roulette

1) How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or comment, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandmother, or yourself, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!


I used my maternal grandfather for this exercise, his name is Thomas Thurman Rodgers (born in 1928). My whole number comes out (when rounded up) to 21 and my ancestor that fits that number is my 2nd-great-grandmother Josephine Domagalski.

A few years ago, I knew practically nothing about Josephine nor had ever seen a picture of her. Today, I have two.. maybe three.. pictures of her and I know much much more about her! :)

Fact 1: She is the only child (and the eldest) out of her eleven siblings to have been born in Medina, Orleans County, New York. The rest of her eleven siblings were born in Chicago.

Fact 2: According to the 1930 census, she was living with her family at 6019 S. Fairfield Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

Fact 3: She died in the now closed and supposedly haunted Manteno State Hospital in Kankakee County, Illinois.

Hungarian Dictionary Review

A few years ago I purchased two Hungarian dictionaries on Amazon. I purchased an English-Hungarian dictionary as well as a Hungarian-English dictionary, both published by the same author, Z. Kiss.


I bought these a few years ago and I have recommended them to a few fellow Hungarian genealogists since. These dictionaries are fabulous! Both are just under 800 pages and they are about 5 1/2 inches by 4 inches..
perfect for traveling! I have used these dictionaries during all my research since purchasing them, and they have yet to let me down.

I know the price of $21.00 is a bit steep for a simple dictionary, but this book is definitely worth it. I'm very happy I purchased them and I would recommend them to anyone needing an English-Hungarian or Hungarian-English dictionary.