Follow Friday–Fab Finds for November 30, 2012

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order) -

1. Leftover Ancestors - 2012 Edition by Destination:  Austin Family
2. Say ‘Prunes’, Not ‘Cheese’: The History of Smiling in Photographs by PetaPixel
3. Instant Replay: A Big Game for the Big Day by A Sense of Family
4. I'm Alive... but just barely. by Ancestral Breezes
5. Baby Talk and The Theory of Relativity by Notable Characters
6. Mappy Monday by Honoring Our Ancestors
7. In Defense of Beginners by The Who Hunter
8. Tuesday's Tip - Something For Everyone by The Last Leaf On This Branch
9. War of 1812 Pension Digitization Fund Receives Generous $250,000 Donation by FGS Voice
10. Do I Need to Blog Genealogy Every Day? by Blogging Genealogy
11. Step by Step Summary of Personal Archiving by FamilySearch Blog
12. The Path of a Beginner Genealogist by GenBlog
13. ANCESTRY.COM LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE NEWSPAPERS.COM by The Olive Tree Genealogy
14. First Look at Newspapers.com by Dear Myrtle

New Blog Discoveries

• As Craig Sees It
• Lore, Legends & Lies
• Many Years Ago
• Bridge to the Past

Thanks for reading!


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Those Places Thursday–Webster Family Road Trip: California or Bust!

This is part of a series of posts dedicated to the immigration story of Debs Webster and his family.

On July 7, 1952, my Grandpa Debs Webster and his family boarded the S. S. Brazil in Santos, Brazil on their way to a new life in the United States.  When they arrived in New York, they bought a car and traveled across the United States to their final destination in Southern California.

Here is the car Grandpa Debs purchased in New York.  It’s a 1951 Chevrolet Sedan.  My mom just recently showed me this awesome photo of the car with my uncles standing in front of it.  The car is parked in front of their new house in Pomona, California.  The lumber on top of the Chevy indicates to me that my Grandpa was working on some kind of project.  He was a very handy guy and always liked to have projects to work on.

1951 Chevrolet Sedan
Click to Enlarge

My uncle (the boy on the left in the photo above) wrote an email to me about his memories of their immigration to the United States and subsequent road trip from New York to California. As you read what he said, please keep in mind that they were traveling during the summer.  Here's a little snippet from his email:

"The trip was long—made longer by the heat!  We rolled down the windows and tried to be cooled by the wind as it passed through the car.  Unfortunately, the air was usually hot and we got little relief from it.  At the time, some people had a device that hooked on to the top of a window on their cars which they filled with a quantity of ice or dry ice (I really don’t know which).  This served as a scooping device that would chill the hot air from outside and circulate it inside.  This served as air conditioning in those days.  We had no such device!  Evenings were more comfortable, except that I found the concept of sleeping outdoors to be uncivilized.  After all, people were meant to sleep inside, or so I thought!  As I grew up I learned to enjoy camping out until being in Korea in the Infantry cured me of it forever!  Typically Pop would find a wide shoulder on the side of the highway where we could pull over and set up for the night."

I was intrigued by my uncle’s description of the cooling devices attached to car windows.  I had never heard of such a thing.  I did a little research on the internet to see if I could find anything about these cooling devices.  And, to my surprise, I found not only information about them, but photos too.

Wikipedia referred to this device as a car cooler.  The website stated , “A car cooler is an automobile window-mounted evaporative air cooler, sometimes referred to as a swamp cooler.  It is an early type of automobile "air conditioner."

If you’d like to read more about this fascinating early air conditioner for cars, just click HERE.

Below are photos of these car coolers from Wikimedia Commons.

Car Cooler on 1950 Chevy
Wikimedia Commons - Photo by Doug Coldwell
Click to Enlarge

Thermador Car Cooler
Wikimedia Commons - Photo by Doug Coldwell
Click to Enlarge



Car Cooler Front View
Wikimedia Commons - Photo by Doug Coldwell
Click to Enlarge

As “cool” as these early air conditioners look, I’m so happy for the modern air conditioning systems we enjoy today!

The next installment of my Grandpa Debs and his family’s immigration story will find them arriving at their sponsor’s home in Glendora, California.

Thanks for reading!

Jana


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Sepia Saturday 153 ~ Two Sisters and a Cactus

Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.

The Sepia Saturday photo prompt (at end of post) is a photo of Lala Williams and Elgie Crook.  In doing research on Google.com about Lala and Elgie, I found out the following:  When Elgie’s mother died, Elgie was sent to live with her uncle J. Shelby Williams, Lala’s father.  Elgie and Lala were first cousins, but Elgie grew up as a sister to Lala.

The adorable photo of Lala and Elgie, cousins who were more like sisters, provides me with the perfect opportunity to share this sweet photo of my Great-Grandmother, Hilda Carlsson Gillberg, and her sister Hilma Carlsson Taylor.




Two Sweet Sisters
Hilda Carlsson Gillberg (left) and Hilma Carlsson Taylor (right)

I love how Hilda and Hilma are holding hands.   Sweet, sisterly love on display!  Unfortunately, I don’t have any information about when or where this photo was taken, but it’s so precious. 

Hilda and Hilma were the daughters of Johan Erik Carlsson and Karin Johnsson.  Both Hilda and Hilma were born in Sweden and immigrated to the United States.

Hilda was married to my Great-Grandfather, Carl Albert Gillberg, and Hilma was married to Charles Alvin Taylor.

To see what other Sepia Saturday participants have written about this week, click HERE.



Thanks for reading!

Jana

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Follow Friday–Fab Finds for November 23, 2012

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order) -

1. Sepia Saturday: Book 'em by Jollett etc.
2. GRANDPARENTS - Saturday Night Fun by TWIGS and TREES
3. Ancestry.com houses new community support site by GeneaPress
4. Motivation Monday: My 200th Post! by A Patient Genealogist
5. “Don’t Publish Ages” by A Family Tapestry
6. Time to Pop a Cap in the Term "Drive-by Genealogist" by The We Tree Genealogy Blog
7. The Guide To Sourcing Images Without Landing In Hot Water by Simply Zesty
8. Blogging Genealogy: How do I figure out what to write? by Blogging Genealogy
9. It's About Time, Facebook! by Marian’s Roots & Rambles
10. Grand Theft Genealogy by Mascot Manor Genealogy
11. Birth Record Databases Updated at FamilySearch.org by GenealogyBlog
12. Solutions to File Format Challenges AND Getting Started with Digital Preservation by FamilySearch Blog
13. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Welcomes Two Girls From Milltown by The Irish In America
14. What Thanksgiving Looks Like by Family Stories
15. I Am So Thankful ... by Genea-Musings

New Blog Discovery

• From Here to There - A Searcher's Tale

Thanks for reading!

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Thanksgiving in San Diego ~ 1952

This is part of a series of posts dedicated to the immigration story of Debs Webster and his family.


This is the last photo in my Grandpa Debs Webster’s 1952 photo album, which holds the photos documenting their immigration from Brazil to the United States.  I suppose you could call this photo album a "photo travelogue" of their immigration story.  Ya, it’s pretty cool that Grandpa put this together!

Thankfully, my Grandpa Debs wrote something around the edges of this photo to tell us a bit about it.  At the top he wrote, "Thanksgiving 1952."  And at the bottom he wrote, "San Diego  Casa do Jay" which means Jay’s House in Portuguese.  Jay was related to Grandma Willis by marriage.  He was an in-law to one of Willis' sisters.

Grandpa Debs and his family arrived in the United States on July 7, 1952.  So, this would be their very first Thanksgiving in America.

I can't say for sure if this was my Grandpa Debs' first Thanksgiving in America though, as he was the son of my "Traveling Dentist" Great-Grandpa Frederick Webster.  For all I know, Frederick and his family happened to be in America during Thanksgiving at some time.

Thanksgiving in San Diego, California - 1952

Click to Enlarge

I don't know the names of everyone in this photo, so I’ll just tell you who the people are that I do know.  Grandpa Debs is standing.  In front of him is my uncle.  Then, left to right is Grandma Willis, Helena Rohwedder Quillen, my uncle, and my mom shielding her eyes from the sun.

I’m sure my Grandpa and his family had a lot to be thankful for on that Thanksgiving Day in 1952, as our family does 60 years later in 2012.

Little Pilgrim

ClipartPal.com

And now I’d like to wish all of you, my wonderful readers, a very Happy Thanksgiving filled with fun, family, and delicious food!

Thanks for reading!

Jana


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Sepia Saturday 152 ~ “What’s In The News?”

Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.

Today’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt (at end of post) shows a library full of studious young men reading books. The photo I am sharing today doesn’t show a group of young men in a library.  Instead it is a photo of an older gentleman, casually dressed, sitting outside. It is a photo of my paternal Great-Grandfather, Carl Albert Gillberg. Why this photo was taken and who took it, I can’t say.  What I can say is that I’m glad the photo was taken. I found this special photo in one of my Grandmother Ingrid’s Books of Remembrance.

Carl Albert Gillberg
in Salt Lake City, Utah

Carl looks like he’s reading a newspaper. Wouldn’t it be fun to know what he was reading about? Unfortunately, there is no date for this photo. But there is a handwritten note underneath it, written by my Grandmother Ingrid Gillberg (Carl’s daughter). She wrote, “My Dad, sitting on the steps of our home on Grand Ave in Salt Lake City, Utah.”

I’m wondering if my Grandma was mistaken about this home being on Grand Avenue, because when I looked for Grand Avenue on Googlemaps, the only Grand Avenue in Salt Lake City is inside a cemetery.

(Since writing this post, Wendy Mathias of Jollett etc., informed me that there is a Grand Street in Salt Lake City. After checking this out on Googlemaps, this looks to be the likely candidate for where this photo was taken.  Thanks Wendy!)

This photo must have been taken sometime between 1909 and 1930. I surmise this because Carl immigrated to the United States from Sweden in 1909 and by the 1930 census he and his family were living in Los Angeles, California. Both the 1910 census and the 1920 census show Carl and his family living in Salt Lake City, Utah. So, sometime between 1920 and 1930, Carl and his family moved to California.

Carl was born in Stockholm, Sweden on January 8, 1882. He passed away in West Covina, California on May 3, 1963 at 81 years of age. He was a hard-working family man, and did his best to provide for his family. As part of my research, I compiled a list showing Carl’s known occupations.

Occupations for Carl Albert Gillberg:

Before 1909 - According to Canadian Passenger List - Tinsmith in Sweden
1910 Census - Laborer - Tending Mason
1920 Census - Baker at Bakery Company
1930 Census - Baker at Bakery
1940 Census - Vegetable Peddler - Private Truck

That last occupation in 1940 somehow makes me sad for Carl. But, this was during "The Great Depression" so times were hard for most everyone. According to the 1940 Census, Carl was engaged in Public Emergency Work, and was seeking employment. I wrote a previous post about finding Carl and his family in the 1940 census.

While Carl worked as a baker in Utah, he was able to bring home flour sacks which his wife, Hilda, used to make clothing for their children and quilts for the family. I wrote a previous post about this. If you’d like, you can read it HERE. These were humble immigrants who did the best they could to provide for their family.

This is a photo of Carl Albert Gillberg taken in La Puente, California in 1962, the year before Carl passed away.

Carl Albert Gillberg
1962

If you’d like to see “what’s in the news” with other Sepia Saturday participants, just click HERE.




Thanks for reading!

Jana


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Follow Friday–Fab Finds for November 16, 2012

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order) -

1. Help Your Ancestors Live Forever - Write Your Family History by The Ancestor Hunt
2. I'm a DAR Gal! by (Mis)Adventures Of A Genealogist
3. Radio Man by Crazy as a Cool Fox
4. More Than a Century Later, Civil War Veteran is Honored at Last by GeneaJourneys
5. Veteran’s Day 2012 – My special veterans edition by Who Knew?
6. TUESDAY’S TIP by Honoring Our Ancestors
7. How to Tell Your Story without Boring Your Audience to Tears by Jeff Goins
8. Farmers in Your Family Between 1850 and 1880? - Tuesday's Tip by My Ancestors and Me
9. Why & how to optimize your genealogy blog for mobile by Blogging Genealogy
10. 10 Reasons to Love Genealogy by Corn and Cotton Blog
11. Why I Won’t Be Speaking at FGS 2013 by GeneaBloggers
12. Copyright and the website by The Legal Genealogist
13. The Worst Question in Genealogy by Clue Wagon
14. Veterans in the Family AND So, Now what do I do? by Kinexxions
15. Treasure Chest Thursday – Eveline’s Sewing Machine by Abbie and Eveline

New Blog Discoveries

• Dearest Esther...
• My Tree 385
• Poore Boys In Gray
• The Stephen Sherwood Letters
• Carolina Girl Genealogy

Thanks for reading!


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Those Places Thursday–Webster Family Road Trip: Arizona and Nevada

This is part of a series of posts dedicated to the immigration story of Debs Webster and his family.

My Grandpa Debs and his family are on the road again.  My uncle remembers that they visited Grand Canyon National Park on their way to California.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any photographs or postcards from their visit there.    But, there are postcards from Las Vegas, Nevada in Grandpa Debs' Scrapbook.  These postcards were between the postcards from Utah and California.  Whether this means Debs and his family actually stopped in Las Vegas on their way to California, I don’t know.

But, it would be a logical place to stop for food and fuel along their way to California, so I’m going to assume they did stop there.  With that in mind though, I’m not sure if they visited The Grand Canyon before they visited Las Vegas, or if it was the other way around.

If they visited the Grand Canyon first, here's a map showing their possible route from Manti, Utah to the Grand Canyon. 

Googlemaps.com
Click to Enlarge

The following photos are from the National Parks Service.  They are stunning views of the Grand Canyon.



Grand Canyon Mather Point
NPS - Public Domain Photo
Click to Enlarge



Grand Canyon Mather Point
NPS - Public Domain Photo
Click to Enlarge



Grand Canyon Mather Point
NPS - Public Domain Photo
Click to Enlarge

If Debs and his family visited the Grand Canyon before stopping in Las Vegas, here is a possible route from there to Las Vegas, Nevada.




Googlemaps.com
Click to Enlarge

And here are those Las Vegas vintage postcards from Grandpa Debs’ Scrapbook.












Debs Webster and his family are getting SO close to their new home now, although I’m sure they didn’t look like that poor fellow in the last postcard.  The next stop on their road trip is California, the place they would call home for the rest of their lives.

Thanks for reading!

Jana


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Tuesday’s Tip ~ Three Awesome Websites for Genealogy…Found on Pinterest!

I have three awesome websites to share with you today.  And, yes, I found them on Pinterest!  So, thank you Pinterest for helping me expand my Genealogy Toolbox.

This first website is great for those of us who have Civil War ancestors, or for those who are simply interested in Civil War history.

 
Battlefields of the Civil War is a very cool website.  It's a map and chronology showing the major battles of the Civil War.  It even has an animation feature.  Press the play button to see what happens.

Here’s a screenshot of the website’s start page.



There is a slider bar at the top.  You can even grab the left and right slide handles to narrow down the dates enabling you to see what battles were fought within a specific timeframe.

Hmm, I didn’t know there were Civil War battles fought in New Mexico.



Let’s click on one of those battlefields.  The Battle of Glorieta Pass has a link to the Civil War Trust website.

And after clicking on the Civil War Trust link for this battlefield, this is what you see.  There is information about that specific battle.

Mapping the Emerald Isle:  a geo-genealogy of Irish Surnames is another awesome website for those who are researching Irish ancestors.  This website shows birth surnames by county from an 1890 census.

Here’s the start page for this website.

Simply type or search for a surname on the dropdown menu at the left.  Here’s what I found with the Jennings surname.

Timeline of the Revolutionary War is a helpful website for those wanting to learn about the Revolutionary War.

Here’s the start page for this website.

Let’s say you want to learn more about The Sugar Act.  Just click on the link in the timeline, and this is what you will find.

Well, that’s it for today’s tips.  I hope these three websites will be helpful to you in your genealogical pursuits.

And thank you Pinterest for making me aware of these awesome websites!

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Military Monday–Veterans Day Edition

Source:  Lipton Sale Wikipedia.org
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

In commemoration of Veterans Day, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of the members of the military who have selflessly served their fellowmen and this great country, the United States of America.

I also wanted to list my ancestors who have contributed to keeping these United States a free nation.  There may be some I missed because I am not aware of their service at this time.  If that is the case, I hope to update this list later.

Revolutionary War

Luther L. Waterman – (4th Great-Grandfather) Surgeon

War of 1812

Asher Waterman – (3rd Great-Grandfather) – Capt. Nehemiah Gregory’s Company, Ohio Militia Regiment.

Civil War

Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster– (2nd Great-Grandfather) – Co. E, 74th Illinois Infantry Volunteers.

Watson Emery Webster – (2nd Great-Grand Uncle) – Co. E, 74th Illinois Infantry Volunteers.

Homer Clark Waterman – (2nd Great-Grand Uncle) – Assistant surgeon of the 4th West Virginia Infantry and in the 2nd West Virginia Infantry.

Charles Wesley Waterman – (2nd Great-Grand Uncle) – Co. I, Ohio 116th Infantry.

Lawrence C. Crippen – (Husband of my 2nd Great-Grand Aunt Lucy Mae Waterman) – Co. A, 92nd Ohio Infantry.

Richard Engle – (Husband of my 2nd Great-Grand Aunt Sarah Amanda Waterman) – Co. G, 63rd Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Korean War

Jan Albert Iverson – (My Father) – SP4 U.S. Army.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Sepia Saturday 151 ~ "The Traveling Dentist" at Work

Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.

Today’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt from the US National Archives (at bottom of post), is titled, "Photograph of Women Working at a Bell System Telephone Switchboard."  There are many directions I could have gone with this photo - women working, phones, switchboards, and more.  Today I decided to go with the general theme of "work.”

The photo below is of my "Traveling Dentist" Great-Grandpa Watson Emory (Frederick) Webster at work in a dental office.  Those cute little kids with him are my Grandpa Debs (far left), Edna Lillie (far right), and Carlota (in dental chair).

This photo was taken in Brinkley, Arkansas. It is dated January 10 – April 10, 1922.
   

Frederick, Carlota, Edna Lillie, and Debs Webster
at Dental Office in Brinkley, Arkansas circa 1922
Click to Enlarge

I find the dates interesting.  Why was he there only from January 10 - April 10, 1922?  And why was he in Brinkley, Arkansas?

My regular readers may have seen from my previous posts that I sometimes like to "break down" photos into smaller sections by cropping out certain areas of interest.  This photo has quite a few areas of interest to look at.

First of all, we’ll spotlight the people in the photo:

Here’s Great-Grandpa Frederick with dental instruments in hand ready to go to work! Notice the open window behind him? Nice view, huh?

Frederick Webster
Click to Enlarge

This close-up shows my Grandpa Debs and his big sister Carlota. These two were the only children of Frederick and Esther Webster’s five children who lived to adulthood.

Carlota and Debs Webster
Click to Enlarge

This is a very special photo of sweet little Edna Lillie, because according to my records, she passed away the next year in 1923. Wasn’t she a pretty little girl?



Edna Lillie Webster
Click to Enlarge

Next up we’ll spotlight some interesting items in the dental office.

According to the wall clock,  it’s about 10:45.  And from the sunlight shining through the windows, I’d say it’s about 10:45 in the morning.



Wall Clock
Click to Enlarge

Let’s take a look at the table by the window.  See all of the dental instruments? 



Table at Dental Office
Click to Enlarge

Could this be a suction bulb on the table?  If so, I wonder if this is an antique version of today’s dental suction tube they stick in your mouth so you don’t drown or embarrass yourself by slobbering all over.  When my kids were little, they went to a Pediatric Dentist.  At that office, they called the suction tube "Mr. Thirsty."  I wonder if this antique suction bulb was a 1922 version of "Mr. Thirsty."



Antique Dental Tool
Click to Enlarge

And here we have the dental chair.  Quite an antique by today’s standards!

Vintage Dental Chair
Click to Enlarge

After taking a closer look at this chair, I noticed a couple of fascinating features.  First, I noticed the hand crank on the side. Isn’t that interesting? I wonder what it was used for.  Could it have been used to recline the chair?  Any other ideas?

I also see that there are one or two levers, each with a flat top edge on them, extending from the back of the chair. I wonder if they were used by the dentist to lift and lower the chair.


Close-up View of Hand-Crank and Lever
Click to Enlarge

And no, I’m not trying to give you nightmares with these last two photos.

I believe this is the dreaded dental drill.  (Insert scary music)

Antique Dental Drill
Click to Enlarge

See the small motor, and the drill hanging down to the left?  I wonder if this dental drill from 1922 made the same unnerving high-pitched whirring noise as the drills of today.


Antique Dental Drill
Click to Enlarge

Well, this concludes our tour.  I hope you’ve enjoyed your virtual visit to a 1922 dentist’s office!  And hopefully the last two photos weren’t too distressing.  If they were, and you feel the urge to run screaming from the room, I don’t blame you.

But, before you bolt, take a deep relaxing breath, and check out what the other Sepia Saturday participants have written about this week by clicking HERE.




Thanks for reading!

Jana

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Follow Friday–Fab Finds for November 9, 2012

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order) -

1. Big Finds in the Smallest Places by The In-Depth Genealogist
2. Murder in Macon--Final Chapter-- The Trial by A Southern Sleuth
3. Why I Recommend the NGS Home Study Course by A Sense of Family
4. A different kind of census by The Legal Genealogist
5. Telegram! by Who Knew?
6. It's My Blogiversary! by Ancestors Live Here
7. My Ancestry DNA Results AND See Full Results in the Ancestry.com DNA Test by The We Tree Genealogy Blog
8. Workday Wednesday: The Pipeline Accident by Yvonne’s Genealogy Blog
9. Pinterest Tutorial #1: Creating a Board & Pinning by Olive Tree Genealogy Blog
10. Wordless Wednesday ~ Time Frame, Anyone? by Adventures in Genealogy
11. Nearly missed my day.... by Geniaus
12. Genealogy: The Next Generation by Ancestral Breezes
13. Saved from Dumpster: Amazing map collection by UPFRONT WITH NGS
14. The National Archives of Ireland Launches Genealogy Site by Genealogy Insider/Family Tree Magazine
15. Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research – 6 by Family Stories: Photographs and Memories

New Blog Discoveries

• Our Birch Tree
• The Lowry - Witt Genealogy Blog
• Spilling the Family Beans

Thanks for reading!


Copyright © Jana Last 2012