Sunday Search: Familiar Faces

When my mom and I were looking through some of the family photos last weekend there were a number of times when we could easily see some other family members in the faces of the ancestors who have long since left us. And it was interesting as to when it would hit us as there was really no guarantee whether the person’s name or the current counterpart would be thought of first. At the same time, there wasn’t any certainty as to which one of us would make the connection either.

In some instances my mom would tell me who someone was in the photo and then follow up with something along the lines of “I didn’t realize how much your cousin looks like her.” There were other times when I would see either an aunt, uncle, or cousin in one of the people and as soon as my mom told me who they were it made complete sense. And, of course, there were various combinations of this throughout our time with the album on the table in front of us.

While it is certainly clear to those who know my family, I get much of my looks from my father’s side of the family. However, in looking through the photos with my mom I could see a little piece of myself in some of the pictures. I noticed a couple of little things like my hair line and posture but what really stood out to me, which I knew of before, was the handwriting that was on the backs of many of the photos. While my looks may be predominantly from my dad’s side, my handwriting is, without question, from my mom’s side.

Sometimes these ties are really what make looking through old photos in particular so interesting. On the surface you are putting faces to names but on a completely different level you are finding yourself and many of your other family members in little pieces of the past. It just goes to show that your family, your whole tree, plays a big role in who you are regardless of what you might think. This, of course, is in addition to the obvious genetic traits that we carry. Sometimes it is in the simple things like looks but sometimes it can be in other ways like handwriting, the way you hold yourself, and your demeanor.

For better or worse, I kind of have a mix of all those things. There are little pieces from both sides that I carry with me every day. And I am certain that there are many other similarities that I have yet to discover with some of my ancestors. So you can look at genealogy as pulling together the family history or you can look at it as finding pieces of yourself. For me, it is definitely a little of both.

Sunday Search: New/Old Records On Ancestry

Birth Certificate of my great grandfather Harry Gilmore Teaford

While I would like to be on the site more often, I am only occasionally able to check Ancestry.com for updates to the various databases that are available online. Recently, I have had less time than usual to browse the site but was able to do so today. There are always new data sources and updates made but, especially lately, few have caught my attention like the ones I found today.

This past week, birth, marriage, and death records from Virginia were posted. While the date range is limited and they are by no means comprehensive collections, I was still able to find some new records as well as digital copies of records that I haven’t had the chance to upload. While the latter may not be new information, given the current disarray of my office, this was a welcomed discovery.

Death certificate of my great great grandfather Roy Harrison Teaford.

Death Certificate of my great great grandmother Sallie Clapsaddle. 

With these databases now available, I was able to explore a little more and find a few of the missing documents that I had been wanting to find including my great grandfathers birth certificate (albeit a registration from 1958), my great great grandfathers death certificate (I had found this information listed but was unable until now to find the actual record), the death certificate for my three times great grandfather, and the elusive Love and Redcross death certificates which I got copies of last summer but are sitting in a box next to my desk. It is interesting to go through these documents and confirm the parents (especially the mother’s surname)… I really didn’t expect to see Nicholas’ mother listed as a Terry. However, what was particularly striking was the fact that Laura and Nicholas Love’s death certificates were only a number apart from one another with them passing away only days apart from influenza (with some other contributing factors). It was just sad to see Nicholas listed as a widower when you know that Laura died only a few days prior.

Death certificate from March 9, 1939 of my great great grandmother Laura Redcross. 

Death certificate from March 16, 1939 of my great great grandfather Nicholas Love. 

Just like when the Pennsylvania records became available, I keep searching my family tree to find those that fit into the time frame. There are a few that I have been unable to find as the rural records are a little slower when it comes to digitization and there are also the ancestors who died just before the time frame of data available. Those are usually the ones that the parents’ names need to be confirmed. Also an interesting means of confirmation with these documents is that it tells you not only where they have been buried but also who the informant was at the time of death or who witnessed the birth as in the case of my great grandfather.

Death certificate of my 3x great grandfather George W. Clapsaddle.

Such is the ebb and flow of ancestry when the new sources are added followed by an extended wait and then more databases are added that are pertinent to your family research. In between is the time for digging, organizing, and finding all the more obscure sources and documents which are usually still exclusively in the physical (not digital) world. It is this back and forth multi-source process that continue to provide the results. Of course, Ancestry DNA should provide for some interesting insights as well but that is for a future post (when I get the results).

Prolonged Work Week

Spring is generally a busy time of year at the office. While the accounts remain steady, there are a variety of events and shows that take place in the Philadelphia area. Friday night was one of those events. While I had managed to stay away from the city earlier in the week, the final event was something that I could not avoid. So with the entire office heading into the city, we all cleared out and got on the road a little early to get together beforehand.

Well, that was the plan and I attempted to carry out that plan but ended up making the long trek through North Philadelphia via route 1 all the way over to the Wynnewood train station where I hoped on the R5 into the city. It is not a very long or complicated story, in fact it has happened a few times before, but I will save that for another post. In the end, I am glad that we all decided to leave a bit early because even with the long delay/detour I was still able to make it to the Comcast Center with a few minutes to spare.

The Philly Tech Week Signature Event is something that we attended last year so we expected the large crowd crammed into the lobby of the office building. While it can be challenging to get from one place to another, the interesting part of the night is stopping by all the booths to see what kinds of companies are there and the different technologies that are being developed. Scattered among the larger companies like Comcast and Microsoft are other, smaller, ventures that really puts the Philly tech scene in perspective.

There were companies present that offered a new way for businesses to track employee expenses, personal DNA testing kits (to test for illnesses), 3D printing companies making portraits of attendees, and brain training glasses designed to increase focus and performance. Of course, this is just a small sampling of the different people with whom I spoke. It was quite the variety and I am interested to see where all of these companies go over the next year.

With the music having gone silent and the bars closed, we all gathered near the door and went our separate ways for the overdue weekend. It was a long night and a long journey home but thankfully there was a lot to think about during that extended commute. If only things had gone so smoothly… but you will have to read more about that tomorrow.

Finding Your Roots vs. Who Do You Think You Are?

When talking about genealogy with people it is common for the conversation to touch upon the show “Who Do You Think You Are?” Over the years, all different kinds of people have watched the show regardless of their interest level in genealogy as a whole or their own family tree… they usually watch because they are a fan of some actor, actress, or athlete and want to learn a little more about them. More often than not, this leads them to jump to the conclusion of “I wish I had stories like that in my family tree.”

The people I have spoken with make that determination that those types of stories do not exist in their tree mostly because the show focuses on a single line in that celebrity’s genealogy. I guess you could say that is the one thing that many of us familiar with genealogy have a problem with when it comes to the show “Who Do You Think You Are?” It is for this reason that I tend to pay closer attention to and enjoy “Finding Your Roots” a little more than the main stream counterpart.

Like any PBS show, “Finding Your Roots” isn’t as well-known but it takes a much more interesting and broader look at the ancestry of celebrities (of all kinds not just main stream). During the course of an episode, three family trees are analyzed with a common thread running between the three stars. Sometimes it can be as broad as overcoming adversity while other times it is tied to a specific event such as the roles their ancestors played in the Civil War.

While that is one difference (one vs. three) the other, more important and more interesting differentiator is the fact that the latter of the two shows looks at the family tree as a whole not just a singular line (or two). From my own experience, I know that this is the most interesting part of genealogy as you never know what names, places, and events may be adding color to the individual leaves. After all, we are the culmination of all these people who played, for the most part, equal roles in determining the family story and making us who we are.

“Who Do You Think You Are” may have the bigger audience, interesting locations, and larger budget, “Finding Your Roots” brings us closer to the interesting realities of doing genealogical research. Furthermore, the latter show also explores the use of DNA in discovering the mix of places, races, and heritage that exists within all of us. This is why my preference is quite clear but, in the end, taking a look at the sponsorship, Ancestry.com wins no matter which show you prefer.

You Don’t Know Jack… Actually, We Do!

Earlier this week I was scanning through the news seeing what kind of interesting things were going on the world when I came across an article that really got my attention. As it turns out, an amateur investigator and historian, Russell Edwards, has seemingly solved the Jack the Ripper case through the use of DNA evidence found on a shawl at the murder scene of Catherine Eddowes nearly 126 years ago. In the end, it was determined that the killer was not royalty, a surgeon, or a barber but rather a Polish immigrant who lived a mere 200 yards from one of the five (or more) crime scenes in London.

After a number of years that had led to countless dead ends, Edwards was made aware of the shawl heading to the auction block in 2007. After hearing the story of where it was found and how it had survived in such remarkable condition, the real investigative work began. As was written in The Mail on Sunday (UK):

I reasoned that it made no sense for Eddowes to have owned the expensive shawl herself; this was a woman so poor she had pawned her shoes the day before her murder. But could the Ripper have brought the shawl with him and left it as an obscure clue about when he was planning to strike next? It was just a hunch, and far from proof of anything, but it set me off on my journey.

Before buying it, I spoke to Alan McCormack, the officer in charge of the Crime Museum, also known as the Black Museum. He told me the police had always believed they knew the identity of the Ripper. Chief Inspector Donald Swanson, the officer in charge of the investigation, had named him in his notes: Aaron Kosminski, a Polish Jew who had fled to London with his family, escaping the Russian pogroms, in the early 1880s.

Kosminski has always been one of the three most credible suspects. He is often described as having been a hairdresser in Whitechapel, the occupation written on his admission papers to the workhouse in 1890. What is certain is he was seriously mentally ill, probably a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered auditory hallucinations and described as a misogynist prone to ‘self-abuse’ – a euphemism for masturbation.

McCormack said police did not have enough evidence to convict Kosminski, despite identification by a witness, but kept him under 24-hour surveillance until he was committed to mental asylums for the rest of his life. I became convinced Kosminski was our man, and I was excited at the prospect of proving it. I felt sure that modern science would be able to produce real evidence from the stains on the shawl. After a few false starts, I found a scientist I hoped could help.

However, even with the DNA now recovered, it was another monumental task to find a current member of the family who was willing to potentially admit their relation to one of the most famous and heinous murderers in history. Like many of us research every day, the genealogical research was the key to finding the results and bringing this century old case into the 21^st century. The decade long search finally came to a head as samples were recovered and compared to the prime suspect.

Kosminski was 23 when the murders took place, and living with his two brothers and a sister in Greenfield Street, just 200 yards from where the third victim, Elizabeth Stride, was killed. As a key suspect, his life story has long been known, but I also researched his family. Eventually, we tracked down a young woman whose identity I am protecting – a British descendant of Kosminski’s sister, Matilda, who would share his mitochondrial DNA. She provided me with swabs from the inside of her mouth.
 

Further on in the testing, a descendant of the victim, Karen Miller, the three times great granddaughter of Eddowes provided the DNA sample for cross reference with the blood on the shawl which had since been proven to be eastern European in origin. Needless to say, all samples recovered were a perfect match. All of the pieces have come together to paint a complete picture, confirming what the police could not prove at the time, and providing answers not just to the questions of the general public but of the families connected to those dark moments in history.  

The Many Definitions Of Family

Whether you realize it or not we each have many different families in our lives. Of course we all have the family we are born into, the ones with which we share the same blood (good or bad). We also have the families that we marry into (again good or bad). But we also have other families whether they be through the military, through a fraternal organization, a community service organization, or whatever other groups that we become associated with during our lives and slowly develop a bond with over time.

There is another basic group that is a little tougher which comprises of some of the close friends that you meeting during the course of your many days that you build a trust with that can only be compared to the trust that you have with a family member. These are the people, at least for me, that are probably closest to blood without being related. This is a very small group maybe the smallest of them all. These are the people that you will do anything for just like you would for someone you share your DNA with and they treat you in the same manner (essential if you are going to consider them family in the first place).

One of these friends, I will call him my Irish brother, gave me a call this past week. It had been some time since we last spoke but, as usual, we picked up the conversation as if we sat down for lunch the day before. Unfortunately, this was not a call that contained good news. No death or unemployment but it was something equally jarring (some would even say more so). Having half a continent between us, all I could do is listen and offer the little advice I had (I have never found myself in the same position).

But sometimes, like family, the best thing that you can do is be there for them. They know you’re not going to be able to fix whatever is wrong, sometimes you just have to donate your ear and offer whatever encouragement and/or perspective that you can to try and get them through the rough spot in their life. It is a time when your own issues need to be put aside and all of your focus needs to be given to your unrelated family. In the end, if you consider them family you know they would be doing the same for you.

In this instance, I did what I could and tried to keep things in perspective. Being able to see everything from the outside looking in I know he is going to be better off and his future has been opened up to many more opportunities than he had before. Sometimes something bad needs to happen in order for the best in life to be laid at your feet. I am certain that is what will happen and I am looking forward to the calls from the other end of the spectrum in the near future.

Optimism is sometimes the best cure for what ails you and this was one of those instances. And while I tend to be a realist during my daily life there is nothing that says the two can’t coexist. So I will finish this post with a very simple collection of thoughts for my friend, my Irish brother: While it is hard to see through the foggy lens of shock and mourning for what has been lost, you have the opportunity of a lifetime. You have the ability to create memories that will never suffer the degradation of time. You have life opening up in front of you with opportunities unthinkable in the past. You have a future that will allow you to shine and bask in all that this world has to offer. You have been born again (and not in the loopy religious way). Stay strong and carry on!

On National Night Out Every CHIP Counts!

Last night I spent the evening surrounded by children and, while tiring, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As many of you know, last night was National Night Out and as part of this campaign I assisted my fellow Masons by helping local families protect their children and guiding them through the free child ID program that we offer to the public. The program, held at Suburban Square in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, was a rousing success as we surpassed our modest goal and completed well over sixty kits during the three hour event while providing information to dozens of additional families.

The calm before the storm.

For those of you unfamiliar with this program, let me offer you a quick overview. The Child Identification Program (CHIP) addresses the alarming fact that over 1,000,000 children are reported missing in the United States each year. While most are found, many are not, and the abduction of children is both under-reported and rapidly increasing in our society. CHIP provides parents and guardians the means to quickly get vital information to emergency responders. The Masonic CHIP Program is the most comprehensive service of its kind anywhere.

It is this comprehensive approach that brought families to our booth and it was the comfort of knowing that none of the information is stored or kept in any way, shape, or form. All of the child’s information is recorded directly onto a CD which the parent takes with them and along with an actual ID card with their basic information and fingerprints. The following picture is what the kit looks like (the other items in the picture are for DNA samples that the parents do at home):

It was amazing to see the reactions on the parent’s faces as we walked them through the process. There was even a sense of comfort and relief that could be felt in some of the conversations. And by keeping the kids engaged while promoting a fun and friendly atmosphere the line grew longer and longer. At many points during the evening, we were one of the most popular attractions at the carnival/fair with a line equal to many of the attractions scattered throughout the grounds.   

What was also a wonderful sight was the participation of the local Rainbow Girls Chapter. These young girls, not much older than the children being brought to our booth, were able to connect in a way that none of the adults could. I was very happy to see these future leaders starting so early in their endeavors to serve the community.

Overall, this program epitomizes the reasons why we become masons: fraternity, family, and community. Sometimes we get caught up in the fraternal and educational aspects of Freemasonry and programs bring us back to the roots of service that are so important to the role that we play in the community as a whole. Brothers across this commonwealth and around the world do what they can to help those around them and make sure that they have a positive impact on the community. This is one aspect of how becoming a mason makes a good man better.  

It was a long and tiring night permeated by the scents of popcorn and soft pretzels but one that flew by much faster than I expected. It was a hectic and crowded evening full of loud music, noisy ride, and bright lights but everything managed to run smoothly. It was a great night for all and I am glad that I took the time to spend the cool summer evening with some of my brothers while serving the community.

I came home last night smelling like a carnival but I still look forward to doing it all over again in the fall.  

 

After the crowd was gone all that was left to illuminate the sign was the yellow glow from the amusement rides.