Summertime for My German Ancestors

[This post is part of the 21st Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy hosted here at Destination: Austin Family]


The theme for this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is summertime - how your ancestors spent their summers both here and back home in the Old Country. While I don't have much information about how my Henneberg and Pressner ancestors spent their summers in the Sachsen (Saxony) area of what is now present day Germany, I do know how the summers were spent in the Bronx, New York where they settled.


My research indicates that when the Hennebergs and Pressners arrived in New York in the late 1860s and 1870s, The Bronx was a very different place. In fact The Bronx was more of a suburb with cows and pastures than it is today. But with the immigrant population explosion which began in the 1880s, New York added more people. These immigrants tended to live within their own ethnic communities and The Bronx had a very large German-American population.


As the population grew there was less and less room for trees and parks. I am certain that the humidity levels increased over the years, and that all the cement sidewalks and brick buildings made neighborhoods feel like absolute ovens during the summer.


In the photo above, left to right, are Ethel Henneberg, unknown family friend, Richard Henneberg. This photo was taken in front of their apartment building at 405 E. 162nd Street, the Bronx, around 1927. The kids grew up about 10 blocks from Yankee stadium!


And while where I grew up (in the Catskill Mountain/Hudson Valley region) about 100 miles north of New York City would become a summer get-away for families looking to cool off, this was not yet the case in the 1920s. It wasn't until the late 1930s when improvements had been made to the automobile and the highway system that families like mine - with limited economic resoures - could afford to spend a weekend, a week or even the whole summer in The Country.


[Photo: The Henneberg Family, abt. 1927, Bronx, NY. Digital photograph. Courtesy of Ray Henneberg.]

Archaeology Day at Historic Huguenot Street

From the Huguenot Historical Society in New Paltz, NY:


Archaeology Day - This Saturday [July 25, 2009]


The street is teeming with archaeologists (and archaeologists in training). The Archaeological Field School of the State University of New York at New Paltz is back, continuing their dig in the lawn between the Deyo and Bevier-Elting Houses. Artifacts, including large pieces of an 18th century bottle (shown above), have been unearthed already. Joining the group from SUNY are our Archaeology Campers. Kevin and Shari are keeping them busy, digging in their own pit and learning about the value of "what lies beneath."


On Saturday, the public is invited to join the fun. Archaeology Day is a special opportunity to be part of a live dig at what Professor Joseph Diamond, head of the Field School, calls "one of the most archaeological rich sites in the Hudson Valley."


Archaeology Day is from 9am to 4pm. Individuals may register for the full-day or a half-day. The morning is for ages 13 and up. Families with younger children are welcome at the afternoon session. $25 per half-day or register for the full-day and receive a $10 discount. Click here to register online.

SNGF: Google Yourself

At first I was hesitant to join in on Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun since I didn't see much of a point in Googling myself (or an "ego search" as it has been called). I do have Google Alerts turned on for both my name and GeneaBloggers which helps me fight the good fight in terms of blog content theft and copyright violations.


But this morning as I went through all the blog posts from close to 500 genealogy blogs (yes, we are coming up to that high water mark!), I could see that not only was this week's SNGF just plain fun for some folks - they actually found relevant genealogy information!


So here is Randy's original directive:


1. Google yourself at www.google.com. Put your first name, middle initial and last name, plus the name of your city or town in the Search box to see what other persons may have mentioned you online, or to see which blog aggregators are "collecting" you.


2. Then go to the "Images," "Videos" and "News" links and see what they show.


3. Tell us about any surprises you found, either in your blog or in Comments to this post.


And here are my results:


1. I used "thomas macentee chicago" and came up with 149,000 hits. However, as you progress to the following screen for more search results, the number of hits keep dropping. It appears that Google then accounts for duplicates. So there are 850 base hits without duplicates or related searches.


Interestingly when you start to use Boolean operators as in "thomas +macentee +chicago" the number of hits drops down to 30,000 with base of 489.


I am not sure if using Chicago in my searches is acurate - this is not my hometown, I've only lived here for the past five years and I have a much longer history in California and New York.


2. Images shows 7,990 entries with many being from my blog posts or professional sites like LinkedIn. There are no tawdry photos or anything with black bars across the eyes or any body parts. Thanks footnoteMaven for not releasing those photos from Jamboree and that wee little incident. LOL.


Videos shows only two entries and they both seem to be a MSNBC piece with some named Tom McEntee. Sorry not me.


News fails to show any entries for the past 30 days (thank goodness) although the archives for all dates shows 401 entries. However keep in mind that I really have no history with Chicago past 2004 and many of those 401 articles are for the surname McEntee not MacEntee.


3. There were no real surprises for someone like me who has a heavier web presence than the average person. I am also not surprised with the results if I add the various cities where I've lived besides Chicago.

How Big Is It? Quality Over Quantity

I was reading an interesting post by fellow genealogy blogger Martin Hollick over at The Slovak Yankee which got me to thinking - does size really matter?

Of course Martin was talking about family tree charts and how while in my own recent post I commented about finally locating all 16 of my great-great-grandparents, it really is the width not the length that is important when it comes to one's own family tree. Martin states "The real works is knowing all your ancestors in any given generation. Researching one name is easy. Researching 128+ names takes some work."

What Martin was touching upon pertains to "quality over quantity" and something that is easy for genealogists to overlook. How many times has it happened that you mention to someone you've just met that you are involved with genealogy and then . . . BOOM! . . . their first question is, "So how far can you go back?" I would much rather have a small thoroughly researched tree and not take shortcuts rather than have a tree that reaches back 20 generations but whose roots are weak and not well-documented. That tree could fall over at any time.

* * *

As I get older, I do seem to be looking more for quality over quantity and I think this is only natural as people age. When it comes to gifts, I would rather be given an "experience" such as a spa day or tickets to a historical tour than an actual item. The same is true for me with my genealogical experiences. Here's what I mean:

• Right now I've been following developments over at GenealogyWise which is one week old today - well not officially since I believe their launch date was officially set as tomorrow, July 17, 2009. While the site has seen rapid growth, I am hoping that they stress quality not quantity. They've had some missteps and stumbles (especially with a recent contest which looked for numbers to increase not the quality of content) but that is to be expected from a one-week old.


• One common concern about GenealogyWise is the idea of standards. There seems to be a proliferation of groups at the site but no easy way to find the ones that have quality content and there are no standards as to what does or does not constitute a group. Also many are wielding the tired old "professional genealogist vs. hobby genealogist" sword which cuts both ways if you know what I mean. Standards are great if they actually mean something. And if they aren't used to constantly remind others whether they are inside or outside the margins.
  
  
• There is also a great discussion going on over at Creative Gene in a post entitled To Group or Not To Group, That is the question . . . which also touches upon the theme of standards and quality. Read the comments to see the entire conversation and you'll realize that many of us who blog about our genealogy and family history love the idea of community but we want it to have meaning. There are some great suggestions about how to move the geneablogging group forward whether it be throught GeneaBloggers or some other means. Thank you Jasia for your post - I think the feedback it has generated is very valuable.

Is it just me or have there been some great thought-provoking posts in the genealogy blogosphere this week? Perhaps we've all recharged our batteries since Jamboree and now we are getting back to the business of sharing our collective knowledge, seeking quality over quantity, and asking the questions that need to be asked.

@ Copyright 2009, Thomas MacEntee

African-American Walking Tour at Historic Huguenot Street

This looks like a great event for those genealogists and family history fans to attend in New York's Hudson Valley this weekend:

African-American Walking Tour

On Saturday, July 18, 2009, at 10am, The Missing Chapter: Walking African American History will start at the DuBois Fort. The short walking tour features homes built by and lived in by African Americans both during and after slavery. The walk begins on Historic Huguenot Street and continues into the surrounding communities. $12 per person or $10 for Friends of Huguenot Street.

Get all the latest news from Historic Huguenot Street here and you'll see they have lots of events for children and adults coming up this summer!

The Pressner Brick Wall Has Fallen

And although you may not be able to tell, I am doing a mad genealogy happy dance as I also try to type this post!
I received an e-mail from my 2nd cousin Wendy (whom I've only met on Facebook - go social media!) late this afternoon with some very interesting information based on the marriage certificate for Frances Pressner and Richard Henneberg, my great-grandparents:

• Frances' father was Robert Pressner . . . and his name was spelled "Pressnir", which may have been a shortened version of "Pressnirvinsky".
  
  
• Frances' mother was Anna Haring, but misspelled "Herring" on Frances' marriage certificate to Richard Henneberg.

Wendy provided much more information than I can digest and include here right now. I will follow-up with more information later in the week but I can now say that I have the names of all 16 of my great-great-grandparents!

Respect For The Dead

The past fews days have not brought good news for those who work hard to preserve cemeteries and other places where our ancestors are buried:

- In Oxford, Alabama as I write this a 1,500 year old Indian burial mound is being desecrated so it can serve as fill for the construction of a Sam's Club.

Oxford, Alabama Destroying A 1500-Year-Old Indian Mound To Build A Sam's Club

State Laws Offer Few Protections For Mound

- In Alsip, Illinois (outside of Chicago), four people have been charged with the uprooting more than 300 bodies and dumping them in a corner of the cemetery in order to resell the burial plots.

4 charged. 300 graves desecrated

Till's kin on neglected casket: Get it out of here

Cemetery workers made $300K in gravedigging scheme

Parents can't find graves in Burr Oak 'Babyland'

What these stories have in common is that greed seems to triumph even after death. As the saying goes you can't take it with you, but now you can't even rest in peace.

Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi has highlighted the Oxford, AL story and I've been helping him publicize it. The best way for you to get involved as a reader is to tweet this blog post or any of the links included here if you are on Twitter. Or e-mail the post to someone you know who is a fan of cemetery preservation.

For genealogy bloggers, try to take a minute and think about how you would feel if your ancestors were involved in one of these awful situations. In order to keep the preservation of burial locations in the forefront of peoples' attentions, consider posting at your blog about how important cemeteries and other burial sites have been to your family and your genealogy research.

Upcoming Summer Events at Historic Huguenot Street

As many readers know, I can trace my Huguenot heritage back to Hugo Freer (d. 1698, New Paltz, NY) who was my 9th great-grandfather. I am a far-flung member of the Huguenot Historical Society and I wish I could be in New Paltz this summer to attend one or more of these great events. Take a look:

Wickets and Wine, Wednesday, July 8th
Movies on the Lawn starting Thursday, July 16th
Special "Bare Bones" Tour of Locust Lawn on Saturday, July 11th
Moonlight Magic Tour, Saturday, July 18th
Mad Hatter's Tea, Sunday, July 19th

Get all the details here.

Justice, Choices and Freedom

Photo: Headstone of Matthew McCrickert, date unknown, Calvary Cemetery, Queens, NY. Digital photograph. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2009.

[This post was written for the 75th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Colleen at Orations of OMcHodoy]

As I get ready to celebrate our nation's 233rd birthday, I'm reminded of all my ancestors who were willing to risk their lives in military service defending their country for causes in which they believed. At least I'd like to think that this is the reason they served - they had a strong held belief in the basic tenets upon which the United States was formed: justice, choices and freedom.

If it were not for all my ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War (David Everett, Jonathan Everett, Cornelius Krom, Wigglesworth Messenger, and Frederick Visscher) and the Civil War (Alonso Sylvester Austin, Crandall William Austin, Franklin Duane Austin, Grinman Austin, Harlow Austin, Seymour Austin, Phillip DeGroodt, and David O'Keefe), I along with the rest of their descendants would most likely be living under much different conditions than we are today.

Men like my cousin Matthew McCrickert who died on July 11, 1946 in a military plane crash in Freehold, New Jersey served in peace time as well, not only to pursue a career but also to make certain that the freedoms for which my ancestors had fought remained in place.

Whether their surnames were Austin or Everett or McCrickert, whether they had been in this country since its founding or had just arrived from distant shores, these men had commonality in this:

that in order to ensure that future generations are allowed the same opportunities of justice, choices and freedom, one must be willing to put one's life in jeopardy in defense of those opportunities

I am certain, like my cousin Kenneth VonRonn who was killed in Iraq in 2005, the choices were not easy. Families were left behind, careers were disrupted, and some never came home. But those choices continue to exist - for me and for all - only because of the sacrifices made by these men.

Wordless Wednesday - SoCal Jamboree 2009 Badge

Photo: Badge from Southern California Genealogical Society’s 40th Annual Jamboree, July 2009, Chicago, IL. Digital photograph. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2009.