Surprises! Who is The Little Girl in the Photo – and Whose Bed Am I Sleeping In?

The prompt for the #52Ancestors challenge this week was “Surprise.” I planned on writing about why Scott and I were at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC last week, but as usual, another opportunity presented itself which is an even better match for the topic this week.

A Seeley Surprise

If you have been following my blog, you are aware that I just completed a book project about Scott’s great-grandmother, Catherine C. FitzAllen (That’s the name she chose. Her “original” name was Catherine Kenny Seeley.) There are several unanswered questions about her life (birth, marriage, a motive for her antics…) and I am always on the lookout for documents that may help. So, I was very happy to hear that Scott’s nephew, Greg and his wife, Kathryn, had found some old photo albums among the many family boxes they are storing. (Shout out to Greg and Kathryn for being such wonderful stewards. Not only have they been willing to store what is found, but they also pass the items along so the stories won’t be lost!)

We spent my birthday weekend together – great fun! But we also took some time to go through some family archives. So, it was with great hope that we opened up the aged, dried-out leather album. After pretty much destroying Kathryn’s white tablecloth, we had a few “nuggets” to treasure. (Word of advice: temper your excitement – take a minute to put an old towel or sheet under old albums before examining them!)

Among the images of people we didn’t know and places we couldn’t identify, were wonderful childhood photos of Catherine FitzAllen’s only grandchildren; Kathryn, John, and William “Bill” Holman. There were photos of Catherine’s daughter, Katherine “Kitty” Pearl, who married John “Jack” Holman.

Sadly, there were no pictures of Catherine’s older daughter, Ida Mae, but there was… surprise!... the only picture I have seen of Katherine and Ida’s half-sister, Ada Seeley!! What a great find!

Ada Seeley and her half-nephew, William "Bill" Holman - mid-1920s

There were also a few pictures of family in Albany, New York which verified the accuracy of some family relationships.

Keniston family in Albany, NY. Catherine's sister, Maria married a Dunn. Their daughter then married a Keniston. 

The best surprise was a few portraits from a photography studio in Albany. On the back of one is written, “two years, ten months.” I have been unable to verify the birthdate of Katherine Pearl, Catherine’s youngest daughter so this could be extremely helpful. I have scheduled a photo consultation with Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective, during my visit to RootsTech at the end of the month. Hopefully, she will be able to assist me in making a determination!

Possibly Katherine "Kitty" Pearl SEELEY

Poor quality photo of Catherine C. FitzAllen (Catherine Kenny SEELEY).
Catherine is seated to the left of grandson William "Bill" HOLMAN.
Standing behind William is his mother, Katherine Pearl Seeley, youngest daughter of Catherine FitrzAllen.
Others are unknown. This was possibly taken on Catherine's farm in Illinois. Possibly 1914-1915

The Bed – A Holman Family Heirloom

And now, in keeping with this year’s theme of documenting “Our Stuff,” I share another surprise. For years, Holman family lore passed down the story of “the bed.” The four-poster bed (possibly mahogany?) has been moved around the country for years! 

This four-poster bed has been in the Holman family for more than a century!

According to the family story, Scott’s dad, William Winchester Holman was born in the bed. Bill was born on June 12, 1910, in the family home at 418 Oakdale Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. That makes the bed at least 108 years old. I’m betting his parents owned the bed since their marriage began, so that dates the bed back to 1900. Over the years, the bed “traveled” to Connecticut, back to Illinois, back to Connecticut, New York, Connecticut (again!), Nova Scotia, and Georgia, before settling in its newest home, North Carolina.

As I lay in the bed (new mattress, don’t freak out!) during our stay with Greg and Kathryn, a thought occurred to me—what if Bill’s mother brought the bed with her into the marriage? It is possible the bed actually belonged to her mother, the “infamous” Catherine C. FitzAllen. I lay there thinking, “What if Catherine did own this bed? Will she come and haunt me?” It took all I had not to climb under and around the bed to look for identifying marks. I did ask Greg who said there weren’t any clues as to where the bed was made. Hmmm…. another mystery to add to my list. For now, we will have to remain content with the knowledge that this family story is accurate; the bed is at least more than a century old! Thank you, Greg and Kathryn, for giving it such a beautiful home in the “Lackey Bedroom.”

This is the 6th post for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. This year, I am focusing on telling the story of “Our Stuff.”

At the library – Literally!

                                                         

The blog prompt for this week’s 52 Ancestors challenge is “At the library.” I planned on writing about my connection to all things “library-ish,” but I found myself actually at the largest library in the world on Saturday – the Library of Congress in Washington, DC!

Scott and I drove into DC this weekend to deliver some items I’m donating to the National Building Museum (I'll be writing about that in my next post!) After visiting several really interesting exhibits at the NBM, we found ourselves with some extra time. We were with our sister-in-law, Wendy, who suggested we might enjoy visiting the Library of Congress. Check out the biggest library in the world? Yes, thank you!! (Not to mention how well matched that was to this week’s prompt!)

Coincidentally, I had just completed a webinar[1] about doing research in Washington, so it was also a good opportunity to put some of my new learning into practice. What an amazing building! I won’t go into the details here, as you can visit the LOC website yourself to learn more about it.[2]  But I will share some photos Scott took.

Looking up at the largest library in the world -
The Library of Congress!

Wouldn't you just love to spend
the day in this Reading Room?

Now on to my “originally scheduled” blog subject for this week:

I Could Have Been a Librarian

I always loved books. I remember reading by flashlight under my covers, long past my supposed bedtime. My mother never was concerned about my lack of sleep, but she definitely didn’t appreciate the cracker crumbs found in my bed after a night of reading-snacking!

Notice I wrote, “I always loved books.” Not “I always loved reading.” I did love to read but I as I got older (and busier) I found myself reading less and less. On the flip side, my fondness for books remained constant. Coupled with my passion for collecting, it’s not surprising that I own a lot of books. Unlike George Vanderbilt (of Biltmore Mansion fame), who read an average of 81 books a year, I haven’t read most of the books I own.[3] I just like collecting them!!

As a child, I created a “traveling library.” I would pile my books in a wagon and pull them around my neighborhood, lending the books to the neighbor kids. And, yes, I cataloged them! I taped little numbers to the spines and made a card catalog in order to keep track of my books. Each book had a scrap of paper taped inside the back cover where I would use the date stamp my mom bought me to stamp the return date for my “patrons.” I’m pretty sure I also had a fine system set up for those late returns!

In high school, I was a member of the Library Club.

That's me in the front row - the "shortie" in the center!
I remember that outfit - I made it from wide-wale brown
corduroy. Stylin' !

But at some point, I decided on a career as a high school English teacher rather than become a librarian. I don’t even remember how I came to change my mind on that. I do, however, vividly remember why I decided against being an English teacher. I was sitting in my freshman English class at Southern Connecticut State College, now Southern Connecticut State University. The professor was going on and on, asking us “Why did the author (of some story... ) write about a red rose? Why did the author choose red? Why not choose a different color?” All I could think was “Who friggin’ cares what color the rose was?” Then I thought, “This is so boring! There is no way I can do this the rest of my life!!” 

And, that was the end of my dream of becoming a really cool English teacher. I wasn’t going to be like Mr. Kotter, from the TV show Welcome Back, Kotter! Or even like Mr. Gerosa, the super-cool English teacher at our local high school.

While my passion for “deep-reading” never materialized, my love of books endured. In a fruitless attempt to inspire the same love of books in my students, I followed a suggestion from a workshop I attended; share your favorite books with your students—show them the books, tell them why these books are so important to you. According to the workshop presenter, your passion will become infectious and your students will be inspired to find favorite books of their own. Um. Nope.

Maybe it was my selection of books that left them less than enthused. Let me share them with you:

Slovenly Peter: This is actually a translated version of Der Struwelpeter, a book of German cautionary tales for children. The stories are actually quite frightening, featuring children who don't do as told and suffer horrible consequences!

The book at the lower right is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Writing this I realize this book has a theme quite similar to Slovenly Peter. The book contains short stories about stubborn children. The one that sticks in my memory is the little girl who wouldn't take a bath. She became so dirty, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle planted radishes on her!

A more pleasant book is I Can Fly. Not only does this book tell the story of a little girl who could be anything she wanted, but there was also a song to sing printed inside!

Three of my favorite books from my childhood

My Book Collections

Many of the books from my childhood were lost in a flood in my mother’s basement. I brought home the “survivors” and added them to the books I collected as an adult. Over the years, I have put together several different book collections. Sadly, as often happens, a few have been sitting in boxes for years. This is a great opportunity for me to review these collections and begin to think about dispersing my “hoard.” For now, I’ll settle for simply listing the categories. In the future, I’ll take Marian Burk Wood’s advice and begin indexing them.[4] (As a good “librarian” should 😉) Should any of these appeal to you, let me know! I’m ready to let them go!! Lists furnished upon request!!🤣

Antique Textbooks – all earlier than 1900

Some of my antique schoolbooks
are housed on this shelf in our dining room.
The little figure on the top shelf (far left) is a
character from Der Struwelpeter

Reading Books from the 1960s

We used to call these basal readers.
These are the books those of us "of a certain age"
used in grammar school.

Dollhouse and doll books

These represent only about 10% of the dollhouse books I own.

Little Golden Books

It will fun going through this box! Lots of memories!!

Books belonging to my Ancestors, My Favorite Childhood Books, 

and Antique Children’s books

Books in these categories are scattered among various
shelves. Here's a nice view of an area that
needs serious organizing!

 Books from Our Daughters’ Childhood Days

When our kids were little, we belonged to at least three different book clubs. The books on the far right are from the Sweet Pickles book club. If I remember correctly, there was a plastic bus you could store them in!

Just two boxes of books belonging to our daughters.
There's at least four more! 

I have no idea how many more there are on shelves!

Read Me a Book, Omi?

Jack's current favorites.

My four-year-old grandson shares my love of books. (His mom is a reader as well!) Whenever I visit, one of our favorite pastimes is for me to read to him. I swear that boy could listen to stories for hours! Recently, we discovered that we can have a very effective story-time session even 2000 miles away using FaceTime. I now have a little stash of books ready for whenever he calls. (Of course, from the books I saved from our girls’ childhoods.) 

There’s something really special about knowing he loves the same stories I read to his mom 30 years earlier. It’s a little tricky holding the phone over the book’s page (so Jack can see the illustrations) and reading as I go along, but it works fairly well. Our last session lasted about 40 minutes and included 5 books! I had to finally call an end because: 1) my phone battery was dying and 2) I really had to pee!

In a few weeks, I’ll be visiting another sister-in-law who is a real librarian. We will be going through my box of Little Golden Books – such fun!!!! Maybe she will volunteer to catalog my collection!!

This is the 5th post for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. This year, I am focusing on telling the story of “Our Stuff.”

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[1] What Would You Do If You Had Five Days in Washington, DC?, Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL (,https://familytreewebinars.com)

[2] https://www.loc.gov/

[3] https://www.biltmore.com/blog/article/on-the-shelves-of-george-vanderbilts-library

[4] https://www.amazon.com/Planning-Future-Your-Familys-Past/dp/1539124428

If Only I Could Ask Her… But Which Grandmother to Ask??

Who Owned the China?

When my father passed away in the summer of 2008, he left a list directing who should receive what. I use the word "list" instead of "will" because I truly don't know for sure he had an actual will. There weren't a lot of family heirlooms other than photographs to mark the lives of his parents and grandparents - his mother's lamp, a chair, some china... are a few of the items I recall.

Along with some items that belonged to my father, I received a pair of gold plates and a partial tea set which, reportedly, belonged to my great-grandmother. On Dad’s list, he denoted that the items belonged to his grandmother. No name. That’s a problem. Which grandmother?? Henrietta Ostermann, his father’s mother? Or was it his beloved maternal grandmother, Estelle Byk? I have no idea.

The "partial" tea set

Porcelain Maker's mark
on back of tray

Beautifully gilded plate

Porcelain Maker's mark
on back of plate

As I am trying to record the provenance of “Our Stuff”, it would be helpful to know. My opportunity to speak with either of my paternal great-grandmothers is long-gone. Henrietta passed away in 1956 and Estelle in 1948. How could I determine who had owned the pieces which now sit on my dining room buffet?

Since all the items were produced in Europe maybe I could determine which grandmother’s family might have brought them to America.

The tea set (with its chipped spout and without the sugar bowl) was made by the Stara Role (Altrohlau) pottery works, originally established in 1810 by Benedict Haßlacher in the areas of Prague, Vienna, and Pest.^[1] The china mark on the bottom of tray places the time of manufacture somewhere between 1909 -1922. By then, the firm had been bought by C.M. Hutschenreuther and since then the MZ Altrolau mark was used.

Barnett "Barney" SAMUEL
1882-1953

Henrietta OSTERMANN
1883-1956

Henrietta, also known as “Hattie” was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1883. Hattie’s husband, Barnett Samuel was born in Jamaica, New York in 1882. His family has been in the United States since 1859. (By the way, it’s Barney’s fault I even do genealogy! Dad told me he was “Barney the Red,” born in Ireland. Looooooong story, short answer: NOPE!)

So, clearly, that family didn’t bring the tea set to America from Europe. Hattie and Barney married in 1904 – too early to have received the tea set as a wedding gift.

Harry George KESNER
1875-1950

Estelle BYK
1885- 1948

How about Estelle and her husband, Harry George Kesner? Both Brooklyn born; Harry in 1875 or 1879 and Estelle in 1885. They married in 1906. Again, this family couldn’t have brought the set from Europe since it was made after 1909. Their 1906 marriage was too early to have received the tea set as a wedding gift.

So – that was a bust. Maybe someone went on a trip and brought the set back? Or it was a gift? Or whoever owned it purchased it at a shop? Maybe I will never know. But at least we know it was either Hattie or Estelle. I guess that’s something.

Turning to the beautiful plates, created by the porcelain factory Heinrich & Co. in Bavaria (Germany). The photos don’t do them justice. The gold encrusted rims are beautifully designed with a lacy pattern. I only have two plates, which makes me wonder if there was originally an entire set.

The china mark dates these plates as probably being made around 1901. Again, too late for any of my great-grandmothers’ families to have brought them from Europe. However, it is possible that the plates could have been purchased as part of a bridal trousseau or received as a wedding gift. But for which couple?

Both pairs of my great-grandparents married a few years after these plates were made so I can’t say definitively, but I do have an “educated” guess. Let’s look at their financial status to see if that helps narrow things down.

Click on the family tree to enlarge.

Samuel-Ostermann

The Samuels were “good people” as my husband would say. However, they lived a frugal life. Barney’s father, John Samuel was the son of cigar maker Aaron Samuel who emigrated to the United States in 1859. There wasn’t a lot of money. In fact, I found a notice in a London newspaper from 1854 in which Aaron was seeking relief from his debts. John worked as an elevator man and as a newspaper clerk. At the time of his marriage, Barney was also working as a newspaper clerk. My guess is this family didn’t have the money for fancy china.

Henrietta was a first-generation American. Her father, Eduoard Ostermann arrived in the United States from Germany in 1870. Her mother, Hanshon (Hannah) Goldschmidt was also born in Germany. Eduoard and Hanshon married in 1878, in Brooklyn, New York. So, it seems, too early for them to have been the owners of the china. Eduard worked as a “provisions dealer” – first as a butcher, then as a fish dealer. Probably a comfortable life, but did he make enough money to buy fancy china?

Byk – Kesner

Estelle’s family was a little more affluent than Barney’s. Her father, Moritz (Morris) Byk, emigrated from Germany in the mid-1800s and became a wealthy real estate dealer in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Paulina Falke, also emigrated from Germany in the mid-1800s. While they couldn’t have brought the china to America, they certainly had the means to purchase fancy china, especially as a wedding gift for their daughter.

Harry George Kesner was the son of George Ralph Kesner and Jessie Davis. Born in Pennsylvania in 1856, George made a good living as an insurance adjuster. His wife, Jessie was the daughter of Jacob Davis, a jewelry dealer from Poland.

As further evidence of their financial well-being, there was a story run in the New York and American Journal about Harry losing a pin worth $600 on the day he and Estelle were to be married. In today’s dollars, that’s equivalent to $16,740.[2]

My Conclusion

After researching the porcelain factories and my great-grandmothers’ histories and financial statuses, I have decided the china belonged to Estelle Byk. In addition to the “intel”, I gathered, I also know that my father had a very special bond with his maternal grandmother. So much so, that he ran away at age three to go visit her! I only wish I could go back in time and ask her myself!

The “Take-Away”

As I record the stories about “Our Stuff” this year, I am reminded about the importance of doing so. If Dad had simply written “Two plates that belonged to my grandmother, Estelle,” I could have spent the last several hours very differently! You don’t have to write a book or a long blog post. Just a simple phrase will do the trick. Just remember to be specific when labeling. You might know who “Grandpa's neighbor” or “ Mom’s best friend” is but will your descendants?

More About the Porcelain Factories

MZ Altrohlau[3]

The Stara Role (Altrohlau) pottery works were established in 1810 by Benedict Haßlacher. It was then bought by Augustin Novotny in 1824. Under his management employment rose to 100 workers. He also established three warehouses in Prague, Vienna, and Pest. In 1836 Novotny started manufacturing porcelain. The factory production was constantly rising. In 1870 it employed 800 workers. 

The MZ Austria marks were used by this porcelain factory since it was bought on auction by  Moritz Zdekauer Bank. The company exported products to North and South Americas and the Dutch colonies.

In 1909 the firm was bought by C.M. Hutschenreuther and since then the  MZ Altrolau mark has been used. The Altrohlau Porcelain Factories operated until 1945 when it was nationalized.  The company still operates in the Czech Republic under the name Starorolsky Porcelan Moritz Zdekauer in the town Stara Role near Karlovy Vary.

Heinrich& Co.[4]

The manufacturer, Franz Heinrich first worked as a porcelain painter. In 1896 he built a melting pot in the parental house in Selb. Initially, he bought whiteware from local porcelain factories. From 1901 he produced porcelain himself.

Under his leadership, the Porzellanfabrik Heinrich Selb developed into one of the most important manufacturers in Germany. During the heyday, almost half of the German porcelain production came from the Hutschenreuther, Rosenthal, and Heinrich factories. Around 1930 his company had 500 employees, at the beginning of the 1970s over 800.

After the Second World War, Henry was the first porcelain producer in West Germany to resume production and sold his company to the English Slater Walker Group. In 1974 the English Bowater Group took over the company. In 1976 the Heinrich Porzellan GmbH was integrated into the Villeroy & Boch-Firmenverband.[5]

~This is the 4th post for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. This year, I am focusing on telling the story of “Our Stuff.”~

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[1] http://www.theoldstuff.com/en/porcelain-marks/category/161-mz-austria-marks

[2] http://www.in2013dollars.com/1906-dollars-in-2018?amount=600

[3] http://www.theoldstuff.com/en/porcelain-marks/category/161-mz-austria-marks

[4] http://www.porcelainzone.com/en/factories/heinrich-co

[5] http://www.porcelainzone.com/en/factories/heinrich-co

Unusual Name: “Hochwohlgeboren Frau Spiegel”

I often felt my mother, Doris Lichtenthal Falcone, was prone to exaggeration. She told me her paternal grandfather, Sigmund Lichtenthal, listed Expert on his business card. He did – I found the card. She told me there was a buzzing noise in her walls. There was – the bees actually drilled through the drywall! So, I shouldn’t have been skeptical when Mom described her beloved grandmother, Sophie Weiss Spiegel, as a "high-society" woman.  

Oy! This IS Going To Be A Challenge!!!

This week's blog prompt for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is "Challenge." My theme this year is "Our Stuff." As I explained last week, I have a lot of stuff. This week I'm giving you a little peek into the "abyss." 

In the pictures below you see my genealogy/bedroom space. It actually looks pretty good right? Now stop for a second and think about this: only about 25% of what you see has actually been cataloged, indexed, or recorded for posterity. 

Reference books and two dead-ish laptops
are good company for Topo Gigio.

All the black boxes are full of documents
that need to be translated from German,
Dutch, or Polish,

The black drawers on the little table to the right contain pictures of me and my siblings as well as unsorted vintage photos of my grandmother's generation.

And this is where the MAGIC happens! The photo above is the shelf to the left of my desk. I have met one organizing challenge - EVERYTHING on that shelf (except for all the photos of our family 1979-2010) has been scanned and indexed.* The large boxes on top hold some of the family items you will become familiar with this year.

Not only do I possess my own stash of crafts, books, and of course, dollhouse miniatures, I also have most of our daughters' childhood items. Unlike my friend, Stacy who threw out her kids' Happy Meal toys as soon as they went to bed, (mean mother!) I still have most of ours. The Spice Girl dolls.... the Barbie stuff... and more books. So, that accounts for close to 34 years of "stuff." (Thank goodness we had a fire in 1997 or it would be even worse!) I was going to post more photographs of where all this is stored but I don't want to encourage thieves!! (Although that might be a blessing in disguise, I don't want mean people owning our stuff.)

There is one very special item visible in this
stash. If you can identify it, it's yours!
But, if you take it, it's at your own risk!!

My mother, Doris Lichtenthal Falcone passed away on December 2, 2011. She was the "original" curator of our family museum. Clearing out her home was a daunting task. Mom's house was a 1950s ranch with an attic that ran the full length of the house and it was chock-full of stuff. Her stuff, the stuff of her five children, her aunt and uncle's stuff and her mom's stuff. It took weeks to clear out the attic, the full basement, and the 1400 sq. feet of living area. My siblings and I sorted, sold, and then finally, saved. There were things that were clearly valuable, monetarily or sentimentally. And then... there was the other "stuff." Not knowing the provenance or the use of certain objects, but fearing they might be "important," I boxed them up and brought them home. And there they sit. 

So - it begins - the documenting of "Our Stuff." Telling the stories is important, but I also hope that through this process I can find homes for some of our orphaned items. I know my husband would be happy to have a little more clear space!!!

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* I learned a ton about sorting, downsizing and indexing by reading Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, a book by Marian Burk Wood. Available in print and Kindle on Amazon.com

"First" Day of School Never Happened

  

Should I or shouldn’t I? I’m trying to decide if I want to commit to another year of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog challenge. This past year was a great success for me. I responded to 49 of the 52 prompts plus wrote additional posts as the spirit moved me.   Can I accomplish that again? Probably. Is it worth the effort? Definitely. Judy Russell shared a quote by Aaron Holt, an archivist with the National Archives, “It only takes three generations to lose a piece of oral family history. … It must be purposely and accurately repeated over and over again through the generations to be preserved for a genealogist today.[1]

That would mean my grandchildren’s children might not hear about how our family was saved by a hamster! I can’t let that story evaporate into oblivion. Ok. Decision made.  The blogging will continue!! I need a focus though.

For most people the weekly writing prompts alone would be sufficient. I need a theme. Last year I focused on sharing stories about my generation. This year I will try to tell the stories of “our stuff.” I love stuff. As the self-appointed curator of our family “museum”, I have stuff. A lot of stuff.

A few years ago, I wrote a book based on letters I found in my mother’s closet after her passing. Through those letters, I discovered the origin of many of the items she and my father brought back from their two-year stay in Japan.[2] It was really exciting for me to be able to document the provenance of many objects we had grown up with.

As I draw closer to that time where I should probably be divesting myself of all the stuff, it seems all the more important to identify how these things were acquired over the years. Perhaps that will make the chore of clearing our home easier for our daughters when the time comes. At the very least, it will help them determine which vase is from Tiffany and which came from the Christmas Tree Shop!

So - inspired by Amy Johnson Crow’s Week #1 prompt “First”, I offer you the story of my mother’s schoolbag.

52 Ancestors - Week # 52 - Resolutions (Or Not...)

Every year I say “My resolution is to not make any resolutions." But then I can’t help myself.  I did a pretty good job this past year on the blog.  Counting this post I will have posted 49 out of 52 weeks. I also kept pretty close to my aim of writing about my generation each week. Luckily my family gives me plenty of content to work with!