Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Ancestors in the 1930's Great Depression

I actually know the information for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver for most of my families without even looking.

Here is your assignment, if you choose to play along (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music, please!):

1.  What did your ancestral families do during the Great Depression (1930–1940)?  Did they keep their jobs and standard of living?  Did they suffer personally or economically?

2.  Share your information about your ancestors in the Great Depression in your own blog post, write a comment on this blog post, or put it in a Substack post, Facebook Note, or some other social media system.  Please leave a comment on this post so others can find it.

NOTE:  I could use ideas for different SNGF topics.  Please send me a message at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Thank you to Marian B. Wood for this week's SNGF challenge topic.

My paternal grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers, was still married to his first wife at the beginning of the Great Depression.  They had two daughters.  In the 1930 census, the four family members were enumerated in four different locations.  My grandfather was living at home with his mother and two siblings in Mount Holly, Burlington County, New Jersey; he was working at the large textile mill which provided most of the employment in that city.  The older daughter was in the Burlington County children's home.  The younger daughter was in Camden County, boarding with a well-off family who was otherwise not connected to my family.  And the girls' mother, Grandpa's first wife, was also living in Camden County, working as a live-in private servant to another unconnected family.

I interviewed Grandpa for a civics class while I was in high school.  We were studying the Great Depression, and we were told to interview a family member who had been alive at that time.  I can't find the interview notes (I don't know if I kept them!), but I remember him telling me that he did have financial problems, particularly that he mentioned trouble supporting his family.  I really hope I kept that interview, because it will be even more relevant to me now that I know more about the family.

Grandpa's mother, Laura May (Armstrong) Sellers Ireland, was living at her home in Mount Holly in 1930, as I wrote above.  She was married at the time to John Ireland, whom she married in 1929.  I don't know when he was no longer in the picture, but I was told she didn't keep him around long.  She kept the name Ireland, though, and was known in the family as Nanny Ireland.  In 1940 she was still living in the same home, but her address was not enumerated in the census.  She was able to keep her home throughout the Depression, even though she was not listed as having an occupation in 1930.

My paternal grandmother, Anna (Gauntt) Stradling, who was at least separated from her husband (if not divorced), was living in Mount Holly and was working at the same textile mill as my grandfather.  I have always guessed that's where they met/got together, which had to have been at least by about March 1935, because my father, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr., was born in December 1935, but in an entirely different county in New Jersey (Bergen).  I have been told the family moved around quite a bit during the Depression as my grandfather found construction and civil engineering work in New Jersey and New York.  They were missed by the enumerators in 1940, but they apparently lived in three different locations that year, so they were probably either just ahead of or just behind the census takers.

Nana's parents, Thomas Kirkland and Jane (Dunstan) Gauntt, were living in Mount Holly in 1930 and 1940.  They owned their home, and both were retired.  They lived in a rural area, and I've never heard that they were affected much by the Depression.

My maternal grandmother, Lily Gordon, was living with her parents, Joe and Sarah Libby (Brainin) Gordon, and two older brothers in Baltimore, Maryland in 1930.  They moved there sometime after 1924, because they were enumerated in 1925 in the New York state census in Manhattan.  My grandmother told me they moved to Maryland because her father had some trouble finding good work in New York, but I don't know what year, so I don't know if it was related to the Depression.  By 1939 they were back in New York, but in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan.  From what I have learned my great-grandfather had continuous employment throughout the Depression working in the garment industry.  The 1940 census recorded Joe and Sarah as retired and as owning their residence.

Sarah's parents, Morris and Rose Dorothy (Jaffe) Brainin, were living in Manhattan as documented by the 1930 census.  Neither was working.  Morris died in February 1930 and Rose died in November 1934, so they did not make it through the Depression.

My maternal grandfather, Abraham Meckler, was enumerated with his parents, Morris and Minnie (Nowicki) Meckler, and four of his siblings in 1930 in Brooklyn, New York.  His father was working as a carpenter.  I have no stories that reported them as having financial problems during the Depression.  Minnie died in August 1936; Morris was still in the same house in Brooklyn in 1940.

Abraham and Lily were married in October 1939 in The Bronx for some reason, but they were living in Brooklyn according to the 1940 census.  Their occupation was retail candy store, and I even have a photo of them in the candy store they owned.  (My mother was born in November 1940, so she isn't quite enumerated in the census.)

My great-great-grandparents Gershon and Dora (Yelsky) Novitsky, Minnie Meckler's parents and Abraham Meckler's grandparents, were enumerated in the 1930 census living with one of their sons in Brooklyn.  Gershon was working as a Hebrew teacher.  Dora died in February 1936.  I know Gershon was alive in 1940, because he didn't die until 1948, but I have still not found him in the census.  I'm pretty sure he was in Brooklyn, but I don't know if he was working.  His son owned the building where he was living in 1930 and did well through the Depression, but Gershon was not living with him in 1940.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Top Five Surprises

Anytime someone asks me to list my top number X of anything, I have to think about it for a while, as I did with this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  Check out Top Five Surprises by D. M. Debacker on the Gathering Leaves blog.

2.  What are your top five surprises you have found in your genealogy research and family history work?

3.  Tell us about your surprises in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook comment.

My surprises come from more than 50 years of research.

1.  My paternal grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers, was born out of wedlock and was not the biological son of the man my great-grandmother Laura May Armstrong married.  This revelation, which I later proved with Y-DNA, came to me when I suddenly began to wonder why, if my great-grandfather had loved his stepfather so much as to name a son after him, he would name his second son after him, while naming his first son after a "close family friend."
See "I'm Apparently a Sellers by Informal Adoption"

2.  I had been told that my maternal grandfather's brother Rubin Meckler had been born and had died very young in the Russian Empire, before my great-grandparents immigrated to the United States.  I was amazed to discover him in the 1915 New York Census and then find his birth and death dates in the New York City indices.
See "Surprising Discovery in the New York Census"

3.  My great-grandmother Jane Dunstan was six months pregnant when she married my great-grandfather Thomas Kirkland Gauntt in 1891.  She had immigrated here from England only a year before.
See "Two Truths and One Lie"

4.  My great-grandmother Laura May Armstrong had an out-of-wedlock child, Bertolet Grace Sellers, three years after her husband had died.  She declined to name the father on both Bertolet's birth certificate and death certificate (she died at 6 years old).
See "Could 'Bertram' and 'Bertolet' Be Named for the Same 'Bert'?"

5.  My grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers, was registered as a girl named Gertrude L. on his original birth certificate.  I still have no credible explanation as to why.
See "An Administrative Change of Sex"

Wordless Wednesday

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Do Some FamilySearch Full-Text Searching

Randy Seaver has more AI in store for us for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music) is:

1.  FamilySearch Full-Text Search continues to add databases and searchable images to their collections.  This is a gold mine, especially of land, probate, and court records.

2.  Pick one or two of your ancestors and see what you can find on FamilySearch Full-Text Search about them.

3.  Share your Full-Text Search find(s) in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

The results for most of my searches for my ancestors (and remember, an ancestor is someone from whom you descend, not a collateral relative; since there is no such thing as an "indirect ancestor", the term "direct ancestor" is redundant at best and nonsense otherwise) either had far too many results to look through, when I searched for just a surname, or no results at all, when I searched for full names in quotation marks to control the number of irrelevant results.  My names are not extremely common ones, such as Smith and Jones, but they are common enough that a blind search with no index produces far too many results to slog through.  My grandmother's name was Anna Gauntt, with no middle name that I have ever discovered, so I searched for "anna gauntt" and learned that the AI provides results with something between your search terms.  I was able to rule out all of those Anna Gauntts, because they either had middle names or initials or were not in the correct locations for my grandmother.  I abandoned my ancestors and searched for some of the unique surnames that I am doing research on.

My search for Gudapel, a name which has been used by only four people in the history of the world, produced two results.  Both had headers that read "History Records 1800–1902, Diaries 1800–1902 | New Hampshire. Genealogies 1978–1982, Society Records 1978–1982 | Maine. Genealogies 1978–1982, Society Records 1978–1982" (truncated on screen, but visible when I moused over the link).  If I were searching for a name that I did not know as well, I might have ignored these results, because I know the family was never in New Hampshire and Maine and would have no reason to appear in genealogies for those area.  Because I do know the name, I clicked on the links, hoping that maybe there was something from the 19th century, and discovered that the title was not particularly accurate.  Both links went to the same book, a 1941 Houston, Texas city directory, which did include the name of Geo. [George] Gudapel on two different pages.  While city directories can be classified as history records, the directory in question does not fall in the years of 1800–1902.  I'm not sure if I already had these directory listings.

I next searched for McStroul, a name which my aunt's grandfather created when he naturalized as an American citizen.  His original name was Moska Leib Strul.  He asked to have it changed to Leo Martin McStroul when he became a citizen.  The name McStroul belongs only to his family; when I find it, I know it has to be the right people.  When I entered it in the keyword field, I had 42 results.

I searched for McStroul when Randy did a previous FamilySearch Full-Text Search challenge.  At that time I had two results, both in my aunt's great-grandmother's will and probate.  The name appeared because my aunt's mother, who was the granddaughter of the deceased, was listed under her married name.  I noted at the time that the name actually appeared three times in the document, but only two were identified by the search.  This time the search picked up all three occurrences.

All 42 results for McStroul that Full-Text Search found were correctly read.  A couple of the given names were misread by the AI (such as Geo instead of what actually said Leo).  Many of the documents were ones that I have not previously found, such as articles in a Kingman, Arizona newspaper and naturalizations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the McStroul family members appeared as witnesses.  So these are all useful in researching the family and are nice discoveries.

I tried searching for Szocherman, a name in my family that I believe more and more may be unique to that branch of my cousins.  I had no results.  But when I searched for Socherman, a spelling which some family members have adopted, I found many results, almost all of which were not for my cousins.  Amusingly, one that was my family was misread by AI and actually does say Szocherman.

After all of that, I tried to find a collateral relative in the database and searched for "frederick dunstan" in quotation marks.  Again the AI provided results with something between my search terms, and there were far more Frederick Dunstans than I had anticipated, more than was practical to look at.  I restricted the search to New Jersey and ended up with only four results, three of which were for Frederick C. Dunstan in Burlington County, which is exactly where my great-grandmother's brother should be found.  I believe this is the right person, so it appears he had a middle name, which I previously did not know, that started with C.  All three results are from deed indices from the early 1920's.  That does provide me with information about him.

Before I restricted the search to New Jersey, some of the results were for a Frederick Dunstan in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  I looked at them bcause that isn't horribly far from New Jersey and found that they were for a Frederick Dunstan from Combe Martin, England, which is in Devon County.  My Dunstans were from Lancashire, so I knew this was not my guy, but ironically, his wife's name was Jane.  Jane Dunstan is my great-grandmother and the sister of Frederick Dunstan.  I did find that entertaining.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Did Your Grandparents Know Their Grandparents?

In some ways, I love it when Randy Seaver's theme for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is something for which I already know the answers.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  Did your grandparents know their grandparents personally?

2.  Check your family tree and share your grandparents' names and birth and death years and places, and their grandparents' names and birth and death years and places, and indicate if they knew their grandparents.

3.  Share  in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

As another poster on Randy's site commented, we did this exact same topic in February.  I took her cue and did this with my parents instead of my grandparents.  I realized after I wrote everything down that it would be difficult to look up the years I couldn't remember, because the computer on which I have been running my family tree crashed three days ago.  I shipped the computer out yesterday and won't know the status of the hard drive until at least Tuesday.  I searched for when I've posted about these ancestors, though, and retrieved the few years of which I was unsure that way.

• Father:  Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (1935 New Jersey–2019 Florida).  His grandparents were:
    • Cornelius Elmer Sellers (1874 Pennsylvania–1918 New Jersey; adoptive) — no
    • Laura May Armstrong (1882 New Jersey–1970 Florida) — yes
    • Thomas Kirkland Gauntt (1870 New Jersey–1951 New Jersey) — yes
    • Jane Dunstan (1871 Lancashire–1955 New Jersey) — yes

• Mother:  Myra Roslyn Meckler (1940 New York–1995 Florida).  Her grandparents were:
    • Morris Mackler (about 1882 Russian Empire–1953 New York) — yes
    • Minnie Zelda Nowicki (about 1880 Russian Empire–1936 New York) — no
    • Joe Gordon (about 1892 Russian Empire–1955 New York) — yes
    • Sarah Libby Brainin (about 1890 Russian Empire–1963 Florida) — yes

Totals:
Yes:  6
No:  2

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Tell Us about the Fathers in Your Tree

Tomorrow is Father's Day, so we knew that fathers would be the topic in some way for tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  It's Father's Day on Sunday.  This week, tell us about the fathers in your tree — their names, their birth and death years and locations, their occupations, the number of spouses, the number of children, etc.  Go back at least four generations if possible through your known second-great-grandfathers.

2.  Share your father list information in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

I can handle this!  Well, except for the chart.  Family Tree Maker and I could not agree on producing that, so I'm omitting it.  I'll try to figure out how to beat FTM into submission at a later date.

• Father:  #2 Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (1935 New Jersey to 2019 Florida), automobile mechanic, 3 spouses, 4 children (3 girls, 1 boy)

• Grandfather:  #4 Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. (1903 New Jersey to 1995 Florida), civil engineer, 3 spouses, 5 children (3 girls, 2 boys)

• Grandfather:  #6 Abraham Meckler (1912 New York to 1989 Florida), taxi driver, 1 spouse, 3 children (1 girl, 2 boys)

• Great-grandfather:  #8 Mr. Mundy, unknown everything else except at least 1 child (1 boy)

• Great-grandfather:  #10 Thomas Kirkland Gauntt (1870 New Jersey to 1951 New Jersey), farmer, 1 spouse, 10 children (5 girls, 5 boys)

• Great-grandfather:  #12 Morris Mackler (about 1882 Russian Empire to 1953 New York), carpenter, 1 spouse, 7 children (3 girls, 4 boys)

• Great-grandfather:  #14 Joe Gordon (about 1892 Russian Empire to 1955 New York), furrier, 1 spouse, 4 children (1 girl, 3 boys)

• 2nd-great-grandfather:  #16 Mr. Mundy, unknown everything else except at least 1 child (1 boy)

• 2nd-great-grandfather:  #18 Joel Armstrong (1849 New Jersey to maybe 1921 New Jersey), laborer, 1 confirmed spouse, 3 confirmed children (2 girls, 1 boy)

• 2nd-great-grandfather:  #20 James Gauntt (1831 New Jersey to 1899 New Jersey), wheelwright, 1 spouse, 10 children (4 girls, 6 boys)

• 2nd-great-grandfather:  #22 Frederick Cleworth Dunstan (1840 Lancashire to 1873 Lancashire), file grinder, 1 spouse, 6 children (3 girls, 3 boys)

• 2nd-great-grandfather:  #24 Simcha Dovid Mekler (unknown Russian Empire to before 1903 Russian Empire), unknown occupation but carpenter would be a good guess, 1 known spouse, 2 known children (1 girl, 1 boy)

• 2nd-great-grandfather:  #26 Gershon Itzhak Novitsky (about 1856 Russian Empire to 1948 New York), wood turner, 1 official spouse, 7 known children (3 girls, 4 boys)

• 2nd-great-grandfather:  #28 Victor Gordon (about 1863 Russian Empire to 1925 New York), furrier, 2 spouses, 8 children (4 girls, 4 boys)

• 2nd-great-grandfather:  #30 Morris Brainin (about 1861 Russian Empire to 1930 New York), shoemaker, 1 spouse, 8 children (4 girls, 4 boys)

Wedding Wednesday

As I have been working my way through the scanned photo bonanza I received from my sister a year and a half ago (how time flies!), I have found some lovely family gems that I was not expecting.  Among them were these beautiful wedding photos for one of my cousins, with full identifications on the backs!

As documented in the informative notes on the backs of the photos (thank you to whichever incredibly intelligent person did this!), this is the wedding of Andrea Michelle Ellis (daughter of Daniel Ellis and Patti Montgomery) and Ronald J. Bean, which was celebrated on May 27, 1999 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Not all the relationships are stated in the notes.  Albert and Imogene Ellis are the parents of Daniel, Randy, and Michael.  Daniel and Patti are the parents of Bill and Andrea.  Patti's parents (Andrea's maternal grandparents) are Bill and Betty Montgomery.  Elise is Randy's wife.  And I have to admit I don't know where Elizabeth fits in.  Maybe she is on the Bean side.

The beautiful bride, Andrea Ellis, is my 2nd cousin 1x removed through the Ellises, to whom I am related on my paternal grandmother's side, the Gauntts.  Of all the people in the photos, I knew Albert and Imogene, and I think I may have met Michael once (I know I've talked to him on the phone).  But they're all my relatives, and I am happy to celebrate the 26th anniversary of Ronald and Andrea's wedding (which actually was yesterday, but only one day off when following a blog meme is pretty good).

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Autosomal DNA Matches Descend from Your Eight Pairs of 2nd-great-grandparents?

My participation in tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver is not going to be pretty.  Or fun.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  How many autosomal DNA matches do you have descended from your eight 2nd-great-grandparents (they would be your third cousins)?  Do you know how they are related to you?  Have you corresponded with them?  Why are your numbers high or low?

2.  Share the number of your autosomal DNA matches for each of your 2GGP and answer my questions above on your own blog, on Facebook or other social media, or in a comment on this blog.  Share the link to your post on this blog, so readers can respond.

Oh, this is going to be painful.

First, I need to mention a couple of clarifications.

I do not have eight 2nd-great-grandparents.  I have sixteen 2nd-great-grandparents, as does everyone else.  I have eight pairs of 2nd-great-grandparents, which I'm pretty sure is what Randy meant (and what I changed the title of mine to).

And not all of my autosomal matches who descend from any given pair of 2nd-great-grandparents are going to be my 3rd cousins.  I can have other relatives in addition to 3rd cousins who descend from one pair of ancestors.  If the question was intended to be "How many autosomal matches do I have who are identified as 3rd cousins?", that's significantly different from what Randy wrote, and he wouldn't have to ask, "Do you know how they are related to you?"  Maybe he started with one idea and it morphed into another.

Now that I've cleared the air on that (once an editor, always an editor), on to the disaster of my response for this challenge.

I have mentioned before (particularly when the question of DNA comes up) that my mother was Ashkenazi Jewish and that Ashkenazi Jews suffer from high degrees of endogamy due to lots of intermarriage.

Well, on Family Tree DNA, my current results show that I have 24,697 autosomal matches.

I'm sure that the vast majority of those are on my maternal side, and I have no idea (and probably never will) how they are specifically related to me, due to endogamy and the lovely obstacles that can exist for doing Jewish research in the former Russian Empire in general, particularly in the former Grodno guberniya, where three of my lines go back to.

For reasons unknown to me — I have not actually done much with my FTDNA matches in quite a while and have not kept up with all of the announcements — 1,525 of those matches are identified as paternal, 38 as maternal, and 710 as both.

I have very few matches on FTDNA where I have identified the specific relationship I have with them.  So I have no idea how FTDNA has come up with the numbers of matches that are paternal, maternal, or both.  I'm pretty sure I have not identified 38 relationship matches total, much less 38 on my maternal line alone.

And there is absolutely no crossover in a genealogically relevant period of time between the paternal and maternal sides of my family.  Absolutely none.  Period, end of report.

So I have no idea how FTDNA has identified 710 of my matches as being both paternal and maternal.  That is just flat-out wrong.  Unless there is another way to interpret "paternal and maternal" that I'm not coming up with on my own.

On top of all that, I don't even know one set of my 2nd-great-grandparents, because I as yet have not identified the biological father of my paternal grandfather.  If I don't know who that great-grandfather was, I don't know who his parents were.

As for the number of matches I have who are descended from my eight sets of 2nd-great-grandparents?

To quote Randy:

The number of autosomal DNA matches I have on FTDNA with a known common 2nd-great-grandparent is:

NONE.

The number of autosomal DNA matches I have on AncestryDNA with a known common 2nd-great-grandparent is:

Three total.

• James Gauntt (1831–1899) and Amelia Gibson (1831–1908):  2

• Mendel Hertz Brainin (c. 1860–1930) and Ruchel Dwojre Jaffe (c. 1866–1934):  1

Some days it's just not worth chewing through the straps.

I do have additional cousins who descend from various of my 2nd-great-grandparents and for whom I know the exact relationship who appear as autosomal matches in both databases.  I have corresponded with almost all of them.  Several of them I was able to determine the exact relationship only because I corresponded with them.  Some I recognized by name and knew the relationship immediately.

The huge numbers of matches on my maternal side I already discussed above.  I don't really know that I would characterize the numbers of matches on my paternal side as being particularly low.  It's more that I don't know the exact relationship for most of them.  That is due mostly to a lack of response when I have reached out, particularly with matches on AncestryDNA.  I attribute that to the fact that many, many people who test at Ancestry do it strictly for the cutesie-poo (and mostly useless) pie chart and don't care about anything else.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Two Truths and One Lie

This isn't a game that I used to play, but I have heard of it.  It certainly makes an interesting challenge for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  Let's play the game "Two Truths and One Lie."  Tell three family stories — two must be true, and one must be a lie, an untruth.

2.  Have your readers guess which story is the lie and give their reasons for picking that story.

3.  Share your three stories on your own blog, on Facebook or other social media, or in a comment on this blog.  Share the link to your stories on this blog, so readers can respond.

4.  After all comments are in, share the lie in a comment on your post.

Okay, here goes.

1.  My great-great-grandmother Martha Winn (1837–1884) was three months pregnant when she married my great-great-grandfather Frederick Cleworth Dunstan (1840–1873) in 1858.

2.  My great-grandmother Jane Dunstan (1871–1954) was three months pregnant when she married my great-grandfather Thomas Kirkland Gauntt (1870–1951) in 1891.

3.  My mother, Myra Roslyn Meckler (1940–1995), was three months pregnant when she married my father, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (1935–2019), in 1961.

Which story is the lie?  Why do you think that story is the lie?

The Big Reveal

Even though Randy's instructions said to share the lie in a comment, everyone else updated the original post, so I'll do that also.  The lie is #2.  My great-grandmother was actually six months pregnant when she married my great-grandfather.  I guess the Nineties were a little more swinging than the Sixties in this case.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: The Occupations of My 2nd-great-grandfathers

I'm sure I have most of the information for tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver, but I don't know if I have it memorized.  I'm going to test myself.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  Our ancestors had to work to support themselves and their families.  Do you know what occupations your 2nd great-grandfathers had?  Tell us about them.  If one intrigues or mystifies you, ask a free artificial intelligence tool to tell you more about the occupation in that place and time.

2.  Tell us about the occupations of your 2nd-great-grandfathers (and any AI created descriptions of those occupations) in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

Okay, let's see how I do.

My eight 2nd-great-grandfathers and their occupations are:

Joel Armstrong (about 1849–?), laborer

James Gauntt (1831–1899), wheelwright

Frederick Cleworth Dunstan (1840–1873), file grinder

Simcha Dovid Mekler (?–before 1904), possibly carpenter

Gershon Novitsky (originally Gershon Nowicki, about 1856–1948), wood turner, Hebrew teacher

Victor Gordon (originally Avigdor Gorodetsky, about 1863–1924), businessman, furrier

Morris Brainin (originally Mendel Hertz Brainin, about 1861–1930), shoemaker, peddler, rabbi

And that's only seven of them, because I still don't know who my biological great-grandfather was on the Sellers line, so I can't know who his father was.  If I include Sellers, my adoptive line:

Cornelius Godschalk Sellers (1845–1877), printer

I actually did very well from memory.  I did not remember the birth years of James Gauntt, Frederick Dunstan, and Cornelius Sellers or the earlier occupations of Gershon Novitsky and Morris Brainin.  Everything else I knew.

I still don't know when Joel Armstrong died.  I've seen it listed in a few family trees as 1921, but I have seen no documentation of his death (I don't think I've seen a complete date).  I keep looking.

Simcha Dovid Mekler never came to the United States.  I'm happy to know his name.  My guess for carpenter as his occupation is because his son, my great-grandfather Morris Mackler, was listed as a carpenter when he immigrated here, and many sons follow in their father's occupations.

And I just noticed that all eight men had different occupations!

I know that a carpenter and a wood turner are not the same thing, but I decided to search for the difference to clarify what they each do.  Google now automagically returns an AI synopsis at the top of the results page most of the time.  It said:

"a wood turner focuses on creating symmetrical, rotational objects using a lathe, while a carpenter focuses on structural and functional wood construction [such as] framing [and] trim, and installing fixtures."

So Randy can be happy that I did an AI search for my post.

Tuberculosis Is Still with Us

I was reading the Wikipedia page about World Tuberculosis Day, which falls today, March 24.  I had not realized that in the 1880's TB was the cause of death for one in seven people worldwide.  That's roughly 14%.  Current numbers that I found by searching online suggest that the world's current population is around 8.2 billion and that about 1.25 million people die annually from TB, for a percentage of about .0002.  Many more people, but a significantly smaller percentage of them overall.  So even though it is still with us, we seem to have improved a little in keeping people healthy.

March 24 was inaugurated as World Tuberculosis Day in 1982 because it was the 100th anniversary of when Dr. Robert Koch announced in 1882 that he had discovered the bacterium that causes tuberculosis:  Mycobacterium tuberculosis.  The purpose of World Tuberculosis Day is to draw attention to the fact that it still kills far too many people even now, in pretty much every country, including the United States.

Many well known people historically have suffered from tuberculosis.  There's even a page devoted to them on Wikipedia!  Just a few names I noted are Aubrey Beardsley, Sarah Bernhardt, Anne and Emily Bronte, Anton Chekhov, Frederic Chopin, Edward VI of England, W. C. Fields, Robert Heinlein, Vivien Leigh, Christy Mathewson, Amedeo Modigliani, Moliere, Edvard Munch, Florence Nightingale, George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), Junipero Serra, Igor Stravinsky, and Henry David Thoreau.

I wrote about World Tuberculosis Day in 2016 and had only one relative at that time whom I knew had died of TB.  In searching through my family tree program, I now have found three more cousins who died of tuberculosis.  I as yet have not found an ancestor who died of TB, although I have a note that one of my Hananiah Gaunt grandfathers supposedly did.  I'm still looking for documentation of that.

Henry H. Gauntt, son of Hananiah Selah Gaunt and Margaret S. Scott, died October 16, 1916 in Lumberton, Burlington County, New Jersey.  He was 42 years old and is my 1st cousin 3x removed.

Robert Francis Gauntt, son of John Benjamin Gaunt and Sarah Virginia Woolston, died July 17, 1917 in Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  He was only 28 years old and is my 1st cousin 2x removed.

Ridgway Eacritt Zelley, son of Joseph Ridgway Zelley and Sarah R. Eacritt, died September 10, 1928 in Amarillo, Potter County, Texas.  He was 50 years old and is my 3rd cousin 2x removed.

Although the primary affliction we hear about spreading through World War I boot camps is influenza, tuberculosis also was a problem.  What's interesting about Robert Francis Gauntt is that his draft registration, dated June 5, 1917 — only six weeks before he died — indicates that he was having lung problems then.  If he was already sick, he probably wouldn't have made it through induction, so he appears to have acquired tuberculosis without being drafted and going to boot camp.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Did Your Grandparents Know Their Grandparents?

We have a really fun challenge today for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  Marie Cooke Beckman on her blog, MarieB's Genealogy Blog--Southeastern USA, asked and answered this question, and it is right up the SNGF alley:  Did your grandparents know their grandparents?  Thank you for the idea, Marie!

2.  Tell us about your grandparents and their grandparents in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

This is a really cool topic!  I love it!

My maternal grandparents were Abraham Meckler (1912–1989) and Lillyan "Lily" E. Gordon (1919–2006).

• Abraham Meckler's maternal grandparents were Gershon Itzhak Nowicki (c. 1856–1948) and Dube Yelsky (c. 1848–1936).  Gershon and Dube immigrated to the United States in 1922 and lived in Brooklyn.  They changed the spelling of their family name to Novitzky, and Dube used the name Dora.  My grandfather knew both of them.  My maternal uncle Gary Meckler, who was born in 1951, was named after Gershon.

• Abraham's paternal grandparents were Simcha Dovid Mekler and Beila (birth and death years unknown for both).  They both died in Europe, almost definitely before my grandfather was born, and he never met them.

• Lillyan Gordon's maternal grandparents were Mendel Hertz Brainin (c. 1862–1930) and Ruchel Dvojre Jaffe (c. 1868–1934).  The immigrated separately to the United States in 1906 and lived in Manhattan.  They used the secular names Morris/Max and Rachel Dorothy, and my grandmother knew both of them.  She was born in their house.

• Lily's paternal grandparents were Avigdor Gorodetsky (c. 1863–1925) and Esther Leah Schneiderman (c. 1867–1908).  Esther Leah was my grandmother's birth name, following the Ashkenazi tradition of naming after a deceased ancestor (my grandmother changed her name as an adult).  Esther Leah's death was what precipitated the chain migration of this branch of my family to the United States.  Avigdor came in 1914 and changed his name to Victor Gordon.  My grandmother knew him, and I have a big family photo with the two of them in it.

My paternal grandparents were Bertram "Bert" Lynn Sellers, Sr. (1903–1995) and Anna Gauntt (1893–1986).

• Anna Gauntt's maternal grandparents were Frederick Cleworth Dunstan (1840–1873) and Martha Winn (1837–1884).  They both died in England before my grandmother was born, and she never knew them.

• Anna's paternal grandparents were James Gauntt (1831–1899) and Amelia Gibson (c. 1831–1908).  Everyone lived in Mount Holly, New Jersey and the nearby vicinity.  Since Anna was born in 1893 and James died in 1899, there's a reasonable chance she knew him.  Amelia died when my grandmother was 15 years old, so I'm pretty sure she knew her.

• Bertram Sellers' maternal grandparents were Sarah Ann Deacon Lippincott (1860–aft. 1904) and Joel Armstrong (c. 1849–c. 1921).  I don't know if he knew them.  I don't have documented dates of death for either person or confirmation that they were divorced, which I believe to be the case.  I suspect he might have known his grandmother; I'm pretty sure she's in the household with Grandpa's mother in 1900, so his mother was apparently on speaking terms with her mother.  If I have researched the correct person, his grandfather remarried and had a second family, so maybe he didn't know them, but I really don't know.

• Bert's biological paternal grandparents are still unknown to me, as I have not yet determined his biological father.  His adoptive father's parents were Cornelius Godschalk Sellers (1845–1877) and Catherine "Kate" Fox Owen (1849–c. 1923).  As Cornelius died so young, none of his grandchildren knew him.  Kate had a second husband, George W. Moore (1840–1920).  Bert did know Kate, and we have a photo of her.  In fact, she's the person who paid for his father's funeral, as he also died very young.  It's reasonable to believe that Grandpa probably knew George Moore, even though we don't have a photo of him, as Grandpa's brother was named after George.  I was told that Grandpa's father loved his stepfather so much that he named his second son George Moore Sellers after him.  That certainly suggests he was around the family.

And I am proud to say that I didn't need to look up any of the above information except some of the birth and death years.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: What Were Your Ancestors Doing 100 Years Ago?

Keeping tabs on my ancestors for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver should keep me busy for a while.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  Every one of your ancestors was doing "something" in their lives in early 1925.  Do you know, or do you have to guess?

2.  Tell us about what your ancestors were doing in early 2025 in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

Well, in 1925, neither of my parents was born yet, so I'm starting with my grandparents.

My paternal grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers (he wasn't Senior yet, because there wasn't a Junior yet), was still with his first wife, Elizabeth Leatherberry Sundermier.  He was 21, and she was 19.  Their first child, Bertram Ezra Sellers, was 18 months old.  My aunt, Dorothy Mae Sellers, was just barely a gleam in their eye, as she wouldn't be born until October.  They were living in Northampton township, Burlington County, New Jersey.  I don't know what my grandfather was doing for work; the first occupation I have for him is from 1930, when he was a textile weaver in the silk mill in town.

My paternal grandmother, Anna Gauntt, may have already separated from her husband, Charles Cooper Stradling; I don't know when that happened.  In 1925 she was 32 and living in Northampton, New Jersey.  She and Charles had an 11-year-old daughter, Ruth Carrie Stradling; I'm pretty sure that she was with her mother.  I don't know if my grandmother was working or if Mr. Stradling was.

My maternal grandfather, Abram Meckler, was 12 years old and living with his parents (my great-grandparents), Morris Meckler and Minnie Zelda (Nowicki) Meckler, and four of his siblings (two older brothers, two younger sisters) in Brooklyn.  Morris was about 43, and Minnie was about 45.  Morris was a carpenter, Minnie was a housewife and took care of the children, and my grandfather was going to school.

My maternal grandmother, Esther Lillian Gordon, was 5 years old and living with her parents (my great-grandparents), Joe Gordon and Sarah Libby (Brainin) Gordon, and her two older brothers in Manhattan.  Joe was about 33, and Sarah was about 35.  Joe was an operator in the clothing industry, which meant he was involved in production.  He may have been observing Jewish mourning practices, because his father had died on January 26, but this branch of my family was not as observant as my grandfather's (who were very traditional and very Orthodox), so maybe not.  Sarah was a housewife and took care of the children.  I don't think my grandmother was going to school yet.

Anna's parents, my great-grandparents Thomas Kirkland Gauntt and Jane (Dunstan) Gauntt, were living in Northampton, New Jersey.  Thomas was 54 and Jane was 53.  Thomas was probably a farm laborer, as that is what he did for most of his life.  Jane was a housewife.

Minnie's parents, my great-great-grandparents Gershon Itzhak Novitsky and Dora (Yelsky) Novitsky, were living in Brooklyn, possibly with their son Sam.  Gershon was about 69, and Dora was about 67.  They had arrived in the United States in 1922.  I don't know if Gershon was working yet, but in 1930 his occupation was listed as a Hebrew teacher, so it's possible.  Dora was a housewife.

Sarah's parents, my great-great-grandparents Morris Brainin and Rose Dorothy (Jaffe) Brainin, were living in Manhattan.  Morris was about 64 and Rose was about 57.  Morris may have been a rabbi at the time, and Rose was a housewife.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Three Grandmothers with the Same Birthday

It's easy to say that something is against the odds, but how do you determine the odds?

I've read about statistics that once you get something like 50 people together in one place, it's almost guaranteed that two of them will have the same birthday.  (I've read it, but I still don't understand it.)  But what about when you're dealing with only two or three people?  The odds have to be much lower, right?

Yet low odds are not impossible odds.

For our example here, we have my half-sister, Laurie.

We have the same father, so we share a paternal grandmother.  Anna Gauntt was born January 14, 1893.

Laurie's maternal grandmother, Louise Elsie Gaynor, was born January 14, 1903.

Okay, all you statisticians out there, can we figure out the odds of that happening?

But I'll go one step further.

Our paternal grandfather married twice after living with our grandmother.  His third wife, to whom he was married before I was born, and who can reasonably be called our stepgrandmother (my mother certainly always told me to call her Grandma), was Adelle Cordelia Taylor.  And she was born January 14, 1914.

What are the odds on that particular situation?  I certainly don't know.  Maybe our brother or sister-in-law can figure it out.  They're the mathematicians in the family.  Which I realize is not the same as a statistician, but it's the closest we have.

So today, on January 14, I'll wish a happy birthday in heaven to three of my sister's grandmothers.

This is the type of thing I noticed while going through a year's worth of births, marriages, and deaths in my family.

Family historians are a strange breed.

Events in My Family Tree: December 31 (at last!)

I have a copy of a big family photo that was taken on the occasion of Anna's wedding in 1924.  Hymie died on the 40th anniversary of his sister Anna's wedding.

Births

Edmund Hoffman was born December 31, 1825 in Pennsylvania.  He was the husband of Mary Gaunt, daughter of David Gaunt and Pamela Plummer, who is my 2nd cousin 4x removed via the Gaunts.

Clarence Eugene Easlick, son of Allen Severs Easlick and Mary E. Shemeley, was born December 31, 1912 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County.  He is my 3rd cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line through the Easlicks.

Carol Alene Gauntt, daughter of James Kirkland Gauntt and Newita Wanda Scott, was born December 31, 1940 in San Bernardino, San Bernardino County, California.  She is my 1st cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line.

Marriages

Henry C. Buckley and Ella Gaunt, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Gaunt and Elizabeth K. Frazer, were married December 31, 1868, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Ella is my 2nd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

John B. Gaunt, son of James Gauntt and Amelia Gibson, and Sarah V. Woolston were married December 31, 1876 in Mount Holly, Burlington County, New Jersey.  John is my great-granduncle.

William B. Gaunt, son of Abner H. Gaunt and Emeline Severs, and Fannie Rebecca Hall were also married December 31, 1876, but I don't know where.  It was likely New Jersey or Pennsylvania.  William is my 1st cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

William Lippincott Gaunt, son of Benjamin Franklin Gaunt and Mary A. Woolman, and Clara M. Taggart were married December 31, 1921, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey.  This William is my 3rd cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Gabriel William Lederman and Anna Gordon (originally Chana Gorodetsky), daughter of Avigdor Gorodetsky and Esther Leah Schneiderman, were married December 31, 1924 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.  Anna is my great-grandaunt.

Jose "Uchey" Yngber and Edie Ida Jakowszycka, daughter of Aaron Samuel Jakowszyck and Findle "Novinska" (probably Nowicka?), were married December 31, 1939, probably in Cuba.  Edie is likely my 2nd cousin 2x removed on my Nowicki line.

Philip Charles Alexander and Jessie Utley Easlick, daughter of Vinton Thompson Easlick and Beulah Anna Elizabeth Bozarth, were married December 31, 1951 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Jessie is my 4th cousin on my Gauntt line through the Easlicks.

Melvin Cecil Gordon, son of Alexander Gordon and Roslyn Rubin, and Marcia Urrutia were married December 31, 1982 in Dade County, Florida.  Melvin is my 1st cousin 1x removed on my Gordon line.

Joel Ian Katz and Leala Rona Birnboim, daughter of Chaim Avraham Birnboim and Shirley Hirt, were married December 31, 1989 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  Leala is my 4th cousin on my Meckler line through the Birnboims.

Deaths

Hyman Gordon (originally Chaim Gorodetsky), son of Avigdor Gorodetsky and Esther Leah Schneiderman, died December 31, 1964, probably in Manhattan, New York County, New York, at the age of 65.  He is my great-granduncle.

John F. Kelly, son of Joseph Kelley and Martha W. Lawrence, died December 31, 1975 in New Jersey.  He is the 2nd cousin 1x removed of my half 1st cousin Albert Lore on his Eckman line through the Lawrences.

Events in My Family Tree: December 30

Joseph Gaunt and Phoebe Severn were married on Joseph's aunt Ann's 44th birthday.

Births

Ann Gaunt, daughter of Joseph Gaunt and Elizabeth Borton, was born December 30, 1775 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County.  She is my 4x-great-grandaunt.

Logan Thackeray, son of Selector Thackeray and Louisa Moodey, was born December 30, 1886 in Indiana, possibly in Ripley County.  He is my 4th cousin 3x removed on my Gauntt line through the Thackerays.

Clara Louise Rathert was born December 30, 1888 in Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana.  She was married to Charles Jacob Gaunt, son of Arthur Lee Gaunt and Rachel Lovena Stutsman, who is my 4th cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Bertha Florence Gaunt, daughter of James Knox Polk Gaunt and Sarah Naomi Boone, was born December 30, 1892 in Armona, Kings County, California.  She is my 3rd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

Charles E. Wickham, son of Charles E. Wickham and Martha Elizabeth Bowen, was born December 30, 1899 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.  He is the 1st cousin 2x removed of my half-sister Laurie Sellers and her half-sister Shanyn James on their Bowen line.

John H. Gauntt, son of Thomas Kirkland Gauntt and Jane Dunstan, was born December 30, 1914, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey.  He is my granduncle.

Anna Elizabeth Easlick, daughter of Daniel Leon Easlick and Ella Ritchie Mingen, was born December 30, 1925 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  She is my 4th cousin on my Gauntt line through the Easlicks.

Rose Marie Hise was born December 30, 1970.  She is my 3rd cousin 1x removed.

Geoffrey Philip McStroul was born December 30, 1975.  He is the 1st cousin 1x removed of my aunt Mary McStroul and her sister Anna McStroul, and the 2nd cousin of my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.

Marriages

Joseph Gaunt, son of Jacob Gaunt and Hannah Holmes, and Phoebe Emily Severn were married December 30, 1819 in Columbiana County, Ohio.  Joseph is my 1st cousin 5x removed via the Gaunts.

James W. Gage and Mary Rosella Hutson, daughter of Thomas R. Hutson and Ruth Thackeray, were married December 30, 1875, possibly in Indiana.  Mary is my 4th cousin 3x removed on my Gauntt line through the Thackerays.

Julius W. Berenoff and Lillian Gordon, daughter of David Gordon (originally David Gorodetsky) and Freeda Alterman, were married December 30, 1939 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.  Lillian is my 1st cousin 2x removed on my Gorodetsky line.

John Oren Clark, son of Gilbert Lewis Clark and Helen Opal Abbott, and Linda Mabbs were married December 30, 1971 in Barrington, Cook County, Illinois.  John is my 5th cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line through the Clarks.

Reed Allen Gershwind and Annick Sarma were married December 30, 1998.  Reed is my 3rd cousin.

Death

Joseph Gaunt, son of Hananiah Gaunt and Ann Ridgway, died December 30, 1806 in Evesham Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.  He is my 4x-great-grandfather.

Events in My Family Tree: December 29

It's nice to see another Janice in the family tree.

Births

Carl Thomas Gantt, son of Daniel Taylor Gantt and Phoebe Thomas, was born December 29, 1889 in Nebraska, probably in Jefferson County.  He is my 3rd cousin 3x removed via the Gantts.

Ruth E. Barnett was born December 29, 1891 in Wabash County, Indiana.  She was married to Uz Millard Votaw, son of Millard F. Votaw and Ida Mary Fisher, who is my 4th cousin 2x removed on my Gauntt line through the Votaws.

Anna Schwartz was born December 29, 1905 in Manhattan, New York County, New York.  She was married to Hyman Gordon (originally Chaim Gorodetsky), son of Avigdor Gorodetsky and Esther Leah Schneiderman, who is my great-granduncle.

John Joseph Preisner was born December 29, 1942 in Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois.  He is the husband of Anna Heath McStroul, daughter of Eugene Washington McStroul and Anna Krebs, who is the sister of my aunt Mary McStroul and the aunt of my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.

David Charles Ellis, son of Harold Levi Ellis and Josephine Fiori, was born December 29, 1950 in New Jersey, possibly in Burlington County.  He is my 2nd cousin on my Gauntt line through the Ellises.

Francis Wickham, son of Raymond Henry Wickham and Janice Kasabula, was born December 29, 1957, possibly in New York.  He is the 3rd cousin of my half-sister Laurie Sellers and her half-sister Shanyn James on their Bowen line through the Wickhams.

Julianna Copestick was born December 29, 2014.  She is my 2nd cousin 2x removed.

Marriages

James Edward Slentz, son of Ephraim Slentz and Zilpha Emily Gaunt, and Caroline Ella Estella Oler were married December 29, 1899 in Portland, Jay County, Indiana.  James is my 4th cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Clarence Gilbert Lore, son of Clarence Newcomb Lore and Dorothy Mae Sellers, and Carna Marie Ellis were married December 29, 1979 in Grundy, Buchanan County, Virginia.  Gil is my half 1st cousin on my Sellers line.

Les Perley and Selma Ruth Tennenhouse, daughter of Arnold Tennenhouse and Faye Garfinkel, were married December 29, 1981, possibly in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  Selma is my 4th cousin on my Meckler line through the Garfinkels.

Deaths

Loran Clarence Gaunt, son of Clarence Meridith Gaunt and Mary Grace Stewart, died December 29, 1987 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin at the age of 72.  He is my 4th cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Wanda Joan Hutson, daughter of Calvin William Hutson and Berdella Martha Elisa Abplanalp, died December 29, 2016 in West Chester, Butler County, Ohio at the age of 84.  She is my 6th cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line through the Hutsons.

Events in My Family Tree: December 28

When I saw Lynden B. the first thing I thought of was LBJ, but since Lynden was born in 1915, I guess he wasn't named for the former president.

Births

John Gaunt, son of Jacob Gaunt and Hannah Holmes, was born December 28, 1795 in Salem County, New Jersey.  He is my 1st cousin 5x removed via the Gaunts.

Anna Eliza Zelley, daughter of Joseph Ridgway Zelley and Sarah R. Eacritt, was born December 28, 1869 in Southampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.  She is my 3rd cousin 2x removed on my Gauntt line through the Zelleys.

Harold Edwin Dunn, Jr. was born December 28, 1935 in Canton, Stark County, Ohio.  He was the husband of Ruth Clara Ellis, daughter of Levi Ellis and Carrie Florence Gauntt, who is my 1st cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line.

Lynne A. Runkle, daughter of Floyd Daniel Runkle and Elizabeth Ilene Gaunt, was born December 28, 1952 in Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana.  She is my 6th cousin 1x removed via the Gaunts.

Joel Richard Kent, Jr. was born December 28, 1956 in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey.  He was the first husband of my half-sister Laurie Sellers.

Marriage

John Miller Gaunt, son of George Horner Gaunt and Emily A. Miller, and Emma A. Steward were married December 28, 1882 in Paulsboro, Gloucester County, New Jersey.  John is my 4th cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

Deaths

Lynden B. Gaunt, son of Elmer Boone Gaunt and Edna L. Wright, died December 28, 1915 in San Joaquin County, California at the age of 5 1/2 weeks.  He is my 4th cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Amanda Virginia Easlick, daughter of Jonathan Easlick and Susannah Sever, died December 28, 1945 in New Lisbon, Burlington County, New Jersey at the age of 62.  She is my 2nd cousin 2x removed on my Gauntt line through the Easlicks.

George Wendel Votaw, son of Millard F. Votaw and Ida May Fisher, died December 28, 1959 in Los Angeles County, California at the age of 52.  He is my 4th cousin 2x removed on my Gauntt line through the Votaws.

William Ellsworth Thackeray, son of Thomas B. Thackeray and Phoebe A. Miller, died December 28, 1960 in Rural, Franklin County, Indiana at the age of 84.  He is my 4th cousin 3x removed on my Gauntt line through the Thackerays.

Morris Garfinkel, son of Yikusee'ael Koifman Gorfinkel and Sora Rivka Mekler, died December 28, 1969 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada at the age of about 69.  He is my 2nd cousin 2x removed via the Meklers and the father of my dear cousin Esther Garfinkel.

Events in My Family Tree: December 27

Marla was born on her mother's 37th birthday.

Births

Esther Golub, daughter of Harry Golub (originally Herschel Golubchik) and Dora Sorin, was born December 27, 1932 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  She is my 3rd cousin 1x removed on my Meckler line through the Golubchiks.

Mark E. Gershwind, son of Irving Lawrence Gershwind and Frances Perlman, was born December 27, 1946 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.  He is my 2nd cousin 1x removed on my Nowicki line through the Perlmans.

Margaret Ann Allen, daughter of Elwood Allen and Wilma Darlene Givan, was born December 27, 1956, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey.  She is my 5th cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line through the Allens.

Marla Dina Minuk was born December 27, 1969.  She is my 4th cousin.

Marriage

Roy Birnboim, son of Menashe Birnboim and Sophie Garfinkel, and Ronna Silverberg were married December 27, 1966 in Winnipeg, Manibota, Canada.  Roy is my 3rd cousin 1x removed on my Meckler line through the Garfinkels.

Deaths

Pauline E. Smoot died December 27, 1867 in Indiana at the age of 40.  She was married to Redden N. Gaunt, son of Joseph Gaunt and Phoebe Emily Severn, who is my 2nd cousin 4x removed via the Gaunts.

Floyd Richard Williams, son of Floyd Richard Williams and Susie Lee Adams, died December 27, 2001 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio.  He is the father of my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.