@transylvaniandutch.com
Genealogist. Research Admin. Father. Husband. Blog: http://blog.TransylvanianDutch.com Banner: Former Westminster Jews Free School, SoHo London. Great Grandfather attended late 1890s. Photo taken 2023. Building now used as a grocery.
If someone had ancestors in Texas before Texas became a state and you told them their ancestors were American that would just be wrong. But I feel that’s essentially equivalent to what Dr Gates told Lizzie Caplan.
The movement of borders doesn’t change your heritage.
3/3
My grandfather was born in Hungary. He considered himself Hungarian. His father fought as a Hungarian soldier under Franz Joseph. He insisted he was not Romanian simply because the border changed after he left. Romania had pogroms in the 19th century. Hungary did not.
2/3
I’m behind on watching Finding Your Roots and just watched the episode with Lizzie Caplan.
It seems a small thing, but I am bothered by Dr Gates telling her she is part Polish and not Russian because the place her ancestors were born is now Poland. It was Russia when they lived there.
1/3
My ultra cheap Ancestry student subscription ran out a week ago. My wife graduated last year, so I renewed at 50% off their US plan. Twice what I was paying for World.
Can’t really complain. I had the ultra cheap rate for three years.
If you’re a student & genealogist - don’t let the deal pass.
I have several funeral homes send me obituaries in my email. Not only am I a genealogist- I’m getting older.
Today I received one dated Nov 30, 2020. I didn’t notice the date until the obituary mentioned the pandemic.
Computer programs do the darndest things.
#genealogy #technology
A Hungarian ancestor of mine - when told they needed a German name - selected Deutsch. I like to think it was a dry sense of humor.
What are some of the craziest, wildest but definitely true stories from across history? Jay Matthews Writer, Unsolicited Non-Advice (2000-present) • Jan 12 When the French occupied the Netherlands in 1811, they took an official census and asked for last names, which weren't common for the Dutch to have. So, they made up some goofy last names, thinking this would be a temporary measure. It wasn't. Some of these names are quite common today: Niemand (nobody) Zondervan (not from anywhere) Van der Hoek (from around the corner) Zonderkop (headless) Dodeman (dead man) de Graf (the grave) Gekkehuis (looney bin) Donderwinkel (thunder store)
I have not confirmed all of the surnames. Or the origin.
#Genealogy #Netherlands #Surnames
I find the app useful for quickly looking people up in my tree when I’m not near my computer.
Image: Portrait of a Woman Text: Your famous ancestor Did you know you are related to Elizabeth Kortright? He is your half 4th cousin 8x removed. Learn more about this famous ancestor below. Elizabeth Kortright was the wife of James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, and served as the First Lady from 1817 to 1825. See relationship
Ancestry is trying out their “famous relative” feature again on their app. Shades of We’re Related and OneWorldTree. Just as inaccurate as before.
The below screenshot I found humorous as they messed up on gender, and that is something that should be easy to code.
Finally decided to try Ancestry’s Pro Tools. One key interest was their reports.
They claim to offer a Register descendancy report. The numbering system is not accurate though. They start over with 1 on every family grouping.
I can’t be the first to notice.
It should be fixable.
#genealogy
I filed about a dozen requests in December and have received the notices that they were being processed. But no files.
With the latest update that they will stop filling the requests, I suspect I won’t.
www.birls.org/updates?www....
The administration has announced that they will not be filling the Veterans Claim File FOIA requests.
They will only provide minimal genealogical information.
I filed several requests in December. I received notifications they were being processed but I have not yet received any of the files.
Graves
Tombstones
Skeletons
Cemeteries
Emily Dickinson fan fantasy.
Genealogist’s Sunday afternoon.
Cemeteries
Skeletons
Research
Trees
#Tetractys #poetry
In honor of #NationalPoetryMonth I have shared on my #OnePlaceStudy Substack a poem written by a resident of the OPS and published in 1920.
Some may feel it is still timely today.
I also share a little research conducted on the author.
A Cry of the Foreign-Born by Leah Rachel Clara Yoffie
I've emailed the owner of the online family tree where I found the images to see if they have additional information about the origin of these photos, but thought I'd ask the bsky genealogy community as well for their opinion.
Photograph of elderly woman
Photograph of elderly man
I found these images online as possible #photographs of my third great-grandparents. The woman died in 1880 and the man in 1873. The photographs would have been taken in Canada. I know photography was unusual in the #1870s, and was wondering if these are similar to other 1870s photos.
I used Ancestry’s search features to break down some demographics for my One Place Study. I used The 3rd Ward of St Louis City in the 1900 census as my starting point.
Romance in Little Jerusalem - 1895🔗 is the latest post by John Newmark @transylvaniandutch.com for his #OnePlaceStudy of Little Jerusalem and Carr Square Tenements in St Louis, #Missouri. It's a 19th-century love story transcribed from the St Louis Post Dispatch of Oct 13, 1895. #OnePlaceWednesday
Art: Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, Caspar David Friedrich, c. 1817
Art: The Raft of the Medusa, Théodore Géricault, c. 1819
1) How we imagine our ancestor’s arrival on these shores
2) Closer to the truth
#genealogy
What heirlooms have your family passed down?
This is perhaps my most unique family heirloom.
Currently approximately 63 years old.
Today's St. Louis County Obituaries Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Obituary for Cardinals manager and player, Red Schoendienst who died in 2018.
Today my legacy.com obituary alert notified me of an obituary from seven years ago.
PLEASE! If you are going to talk about an AI video do not use the adjective Weird.
Art: Agostina by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - 1866 Text: My name is not Mrs. Alberto Rossi! I have a name of my own!
Another genealogical pet peeve. The use of “Mrs. husband’s name” on documents. I want to know HER name.
But it’s not just genealogy. In 2025 my wife still gets mail addressed to her in this fashion. It really needs to stop.
Art: Ilya Repin, Portrait of Garshin, 1884, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Text: This handwriting is atrocious!
The look on a genealogist’s face when examining a census record.
Update: BIRLS.org has now sent 12,400+ #FOIA requests in just the ~63 days since launch.
That's ~20% of what the VBA (the relevant sub-agency within the VA) usually gets in a single *year*!
And yet the letters *are* going out, and some people are starting to get their C-Files too. Kudos to the VA!
Art: Winslow Homer’s Blackboard. 1877. On the blackboard is written, four times: I will backup my data.
Don’t forget to backup your data.
Image: Oliver Twist holding his empty bowl. Text: Top: Please sir Bottom: I want a source
Another meme I created a few years ago. (This one in 2019 if my FB memories app is accurate)
#genealogy
#research
#science
#politics
#everything
Toonces the Driving Cat from Saturday Night Live 1989-1993
It’s occurred to me I should add a photo of #Toonces for those of a certain age.
I have added a page to my #OnePlaceStudy listing in alphabetical order the residents of the tenements I’m researching. It’s incomplete as I have not finished going through the 1900 census for the neighborhood. I will update as I continue.
open.substack.com/pub/transylv...
Image of cat walking down a street. Text: You can't conduct all of your genealogy research online. You may need to go outside and walk (or drive) to a library, cemetery, or genealogical society.
This #cat is smart
#Caturday #genealogy
(Image came from Pixabay 12 years ago. Text added by me)