Volume 15; Number 2
Spring 1994

The Blacksmith Shop
--Herb Grabb (no relation to family below)

The photo of the Blacksmith Shop was taken about 1900 by Arthur Frost (b. 1871 - d. 1959). He took photos of all the locals including family and friends. Most of his photos were taken between 1895 and 1905, on 5x7 glass plate negatives. The negatives are in the Penfield Library. He had one daughter Celadys (1901.1977). She married Dean Adams (1901-1989) and they had no children. They are all buried in Webster Rural Cemetery.

The blacksmith in the photo is Alexander Salisbury (b. 1863) with his Adelia (b. 1865). The shop was located in West Walworth NY. The older man with the beard is Fred Bush (b. 1845) who immigrated from Germany in 1866 and lived in Penfield in a couple of places. Fred Bush's son Frank, married Christina (Tina) Grab who was the sister of Caroline Grab Frost (Arthur Frost's wife).

Networking
--Lowell E. Salyards

Have you tried networking -- the exchange of information among individuals, groups or organizations? At each of our RGS meetings, there is an announcement about queries that have come into our organization concerning some person or family that may have lived in this area in the past.

Statistically, most of these go unanswered but once in awhile one hits "pay dirt." Have you tried it with other genealogical societies around the country? Let me illustrate two success stories that I have experienced over the past two years.

Example 1:

My mother-in-law has wanted us to do some research on her ancestry over the past few years. She had accumulated some information about 20 years ago from some family cousins. Reviewing the information, it seemed that we had the best leads on her maternal grandmother, Sarah Jane Kirk, who had married Alexander McDonald in Sanilac County, Michigan in 1875. We did not know her parents names but did know the names of several of her siblings.

On a swing through the midwest visiting family, we had an opportunity to visit the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne IN which has all the U.S. census records. Since the 1870 Michigan census is not yet indexed, my wife scanned the two logical townships in Sanilac County and quite quickly found the family of William and Sarah Jane Kirk showing the right known children, including Sarah Jane at the approximate correct age. The same was done for the 1880 census and the 1900 census where the Soundex index is available. Considering that Kirk is a Scotch name, we were somewhat surprised when it said that both William and Ellen had been born in Ireland. Logic would say Northern Ireland for the Scotch-Irish.

Now is when we "networked." A cousin had said that Sarah Jane had been born in Smiths Falls, Ontario which is near Ottawa. In addition, the village of Kirkton, Ontario, which is near Stratford, had been named for the family. Looking in the July-August issue of The Genealogical Helper, we found the address for the Perth County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society for the Kirkton information, finding no address for a Lanark County Branch for Smiths Falls, we wrote to the adjacent one, Leeds-Grenville, told them what we were looking for and asked for the Lanark organization if it existed. Very shortly thereafter, Leeds-Grenville responded with a marriage record for William Kirk and Ellen Mitchell in Leeds County. Smiths Falls is right on the Lanark-Leeds County line. Perth County referred us to the St. Mary's Museum which sent us a copy of a hand-written sheet from 1965 and which showed the family of David and Mary Findley Kirk and their 11 children, 10 boys and one girl. opposite the listing of a William with an appropriate birth date was written, "Gone to Michigan?" This sheet also showed their village in N. Ireland and their year of immigration. We then sent this information back to Leeds-Grenville who published it in their fall newsletter. An immediate response came from a member in Edmonton, Alberta who descends from another Kirk male in that family. She and other Kirk descendants have compiled a massive file of the descendants but had no descendants on my wifes William. We continue this work with them.

Example 2:

A similar success story occurred with my maternal ancestry. My great grandmother Marie Mau died at about age 20 leaving her husband with a one year-old child, my grandmother. Little was known in my mother's family about this Marie Mau. However, by means of some old letters from the turn of this century that my grandmother had left, I found other Mau descendants south of Chicago. These letters had been written by an aunt of my grandmother, Mrs. William Dickman of Herscher, Kankakee County, Illinois.

Once again I turned to the July-August issue of The Helper and found the address of the Kankakee Valley Genealogical Society. A query was sent to this society asking if they had any information on a Mau/Dickman family around the small village of Herscher then in Kankakee County? Shortly thereafter, I received copies of some pages from the Herscher Centennial Booklet which described the Mau family, including a picture of my 2g grandparents. The article stated that "little was known about the eldest child Marie." By means of Telephone Directory Assistance, I located the author of the Mau article. Needless to say, she nearly fainted when I identified myself as a descendant of Marie Mau, their long-lost child. Subsequently, we have visited there and attended a Mau family Reunion this past summer.

Yes, networking can work but don't think you will succeed every time. I have only told you of two successes but not of my many failures which far exceed the successes. But if we hadn't tried we would not know my wife's Kirk ancestry back to County Antrim, Ireland and her 3g grandparents. I found my Mau 2g grandparents. In addition, we have come in contact with other living members of these families.

Computer Interest Group
--James Hall for Edward Gaulin, CIG Leader.

The Computer Interest Group Project will be completed before Summer, and extension of the work to additional volumes will be considered.

The RGS Computer Interest Group resumed meetings in September, and continued through the Winter. The membership has grown to over one hundred, with meeting attendance from 30 - 35. The meetings continue to be held at the Irondequoit Library, McGraw Branch, on East Ridge Road.

The meeting topics have been on various topics, including cost savings and availability of software upgrades/competitive upgrades, PAF Utilities, use of the Research Data Filer program of PAF, use of the new library catalog CARL for worldwide genealogy source searches, and use of the big database bulletin boards (Compuserve, Genie, Prodigy).

The Mt. Hope Project to computerize Vol. I (1838-1860) of the Mt. Hope Cemetery interment records is nearly complete in the data entry phase. About 14,000 entries are involved. Planning is underway to review/assure quality of the data entry, then obtain data from any illegible records. Members Tim Carroll and Dennis Gorman continue to lead the planning and report preparation. It is expected that the Project will be completed before Summer, and extension of the work to additional volumes will be considered.

A special benefit of membership in the CIG is a current awareness of the state of genealogical computing. Attendees at meetings share information on changes in software and hardware that can be beneficial tools in genealogical research. Members have requested and started a collection of Genealogical Newsletters and Periodicals for public use at the LDS Family History Center, Westfall Rd. in Brighton. Members also report on the latest events at this Family History Center at the RGS meetings. The CIG promoted the purchase and installation at the Family History Center of a set of 12 CD-ROM disks of Indices of U.S. Census.

As plans for the 1996 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Rochester develop, CIG members have offered to assist in operating the Genealogical Computing Center, a highlight of the technology presentations.

Passages

Katherine "Kay" Wilcox Thompson #35, one of RGS's earliest members, died 9 March 1994 at the age of 83.

Mrs. Thompson was a research historian with Monroe County, Penfield's town historian for 33 years and most recently the historian for the town of Rush. She was also an instructor in genealogy at the Rochester Museum & Science Center since 1978.

Records from the "Western Luminary"

Genesee County Marriage Notices from the "Western Luminary," a Universalist newspaper published in Rochester NY; Vols. 3 and 4 (1844 and 1845). This material is from a microfilm copy at the Andover-Harvard Theological Library in Cambridge MA. Marriages are listed in the order of appearance in the manuscript and are followed by the date of publication. Compiled and contributed by Karen E. Dau, 54 Starling St, Rochester NY 14613-2261.

• PARKER / GRANT. In Morganville on 31 Oct 1843 by Rev. J.S. Brown, Joel Parker and Henriette Grant, both of Morganville. (6 Jan 1844)
• BENNETT / POWERS. In Alexander on 20 Jan 1844 by Rev. J.M. Day, J.J. Bennett and Clarissa S. Powers, both of East Pembroke. (27 Jan 1844)
• HUNT / WRIGHT. In Alabama "on the 20th ult." by Rev. D.H. Strickland, Rev. B. Hunt, pastor of the First Universalist Society in Aurora, and Angeline Wright of Alabama. (2 Mar 1844)
• RICHMOND / HOUSE. In LeRoy "on the 5th inst." by Rev. J.M. Day of Morganville, Alonzo E. Richmond of Bergen and Sophronia House of LeRoy. (16 Mar 1844)
• BENHAM / THWING. In LeRoy "on the 14th inst." by Rev. J.M. Day, Watson P. Benham of Byron and Caroline P. Thwing of LeRoy. (30 Mar 1844)
• PERSONS / BAGLEY. In Darien on 26 Nov 1843 by Rev. J. [John] S. Flagler, William Person of Alden, Erie Co. and Marsha Bagley of Darien. (13 Apr 1844)
• HARTSHORN / BROWNELL. In Batavia on 6 Mar 1844 by Rev. J.S. Flagler, Andrew Hartshorn of Darien and Caroline Brownell of Batavia. (13 Apr 1844)
• CLARK / WHEELER. In Darien on 4 Apr 1844 by Rev. J.S. Flagler, Rufus Clark and Eunice Wheeler, both of Darien. (13 Apr 1844)
• TILLOTSON / DUGUID. In Pavilion on 13 Mar 1844 by Rev. A. [Alanson] Kelsey, Chauncey E. Tillotson and Janette L. Duguid, both of Pavilion. (20 Apr 1844)
• CRUTTENDEN / RANNY. In LeRoy on 20 Mar 1844 by Rev. J.S. Brown, A.E. Cruttenden of Covington and Julia Ranny of LeRoy. (27 Apr 1844)
• MURDOCK / BRADY. In Stafford on 3 Jul 1844 by Rev. J.M. Day, James Murdock of the Bloomfield Fourier Assn. and Margaret Brady of Stafford. (13 Jul 1844)
• STEVENS / BEEDE. In Stafford on 26 Aug 1844 by Rev. J.B. Morse, Jedediah Stevens of Bethany and Sally Beede. [A double ceremony: see Clough / Beede below]. (5 Oct 1844)
• CLOUGH / BEEDE. In Stafford on 26 Aug 1844 by Rev. LB. Morse, Jason Clough of Hanover NH and Elizabeth Beede. [A double ceremony: see Stevens / Beede above]. (5 Oct 1844)
• BROWN / SMEAD. In Bethany on 18 Sep 1844 by Rev. A. [Alanson] Kelsey, Azro Brown and Philinda H. Smead, both of Bethany. (5 Oct 1844)
• WARNER / CRAMTON. In Stafford on 17 Oct 1844 by Rev. A. [Alanson] Kelsey, Silas Warner of South Byron and Julia Cramton of Stafford. (2 Nov 1844)
• REYNOLDS / WEBSTER. In Alexander on 13 Nov 1844 by Rev. E.W. Locke, John Reynolds of Alexander and Mrs. Sally Webster of Darien. (30 Nov 1844)
• STARKWETHER/ FOX. In Pavilion on 17 Nov 1844 by Rev. A. [Alanson] Kelsey, Chauncey F. Starkwether of Hume, Allegheny Co. and Adeline M. Fox of Pavilion. (7 Dec 1844)
• TOMLINSON / SPRAGUE. In Pavilion in the Universalist Church "on the 6th inst." by Rev. [Alanson] Kelsey, George Tomlinson and Marian Sprague. (19 Apr 1845)
• KENDALL / KENDALL. In Bethany on 9 Apr 1845 by Rev. [Alanson] Kelsey, Charles Kendall Jr. and Harriet A. Kendall, both of Bethany. (10 May 1845)
• POST / MURDOCK. In Pavilion in the Universalist Church "on the 7th inst." by Rev. [Alanson] Kelsey, John Post and Sarissa Murdock of LeRoy. (13 Sep 1845)

The Joy of Growing Up Italian
--submitted by David Serianni

I was well into adulthood before I realized that I was an American. Of course, I had been born in America and had lived here all of my life, but somehow it never occurred to me that just being a citizen of the United States meant that I was an American. Americans are people who ate Peanut Butter and Jelly on mushy white bread that came out of plastic packages. Me? I was Italian.

For me.. .as I am sure for most second generation Italian-American children who grew up in the 40's or 50's, there was a definite distinction drawn between us and them. We were Italians. Everybody else--the Irish, German, Polish, Jewish--they were the "Med-e-gones." There was no animosity involved in that distinction, no prejudice, no hard feelings, just--well----we were sure ours was the better way. For instance, we had a Bread man, a Coal and Ice man, a Fruit and a Vegetable man, a Watermelon man, and a Fish man; we even had a man who sharpened knives and scissors who came right to our homes or at least right outside our homes. They were the many peddlers who plied the Italian neighborhoods. We would wait for their call, their yell, their individual, distinctive sound. We knew them all and they knew us. Americans went to the store for most of their foods. What a waste!

Truly, I pitied their loss. They never knew the pleasure of waking up every morning to find a hot, crisp loaf of Italian bread waiting behind the screen door. Instead of being able to climb up on the Peddlers truck a couple of times a week just to hitch a ride, most of my "Med-e-gone" friends had to be satisfied going to the A&P. When it came to food, it always amazed me that my American friends and classmates only ate Turkey on Thanksgiving or Christmas, or rather that they only ate Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Cranberry Sauce. Now we Italians--we also had Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Cranberry Sauce but--only after we had finished the Antipasto, Soup, Lasagna, Meatballs, Salad and whatever else Mama thought might be appropriate for that particular holiday. This turkey was usually accompanied by a Roast of some kind (just in case somebody walked in who didn't like Turkey) and was followed by an assortment of fruits, nuts, pastries, cakes and of course, homemade cookies. No holiday was complete without some baking, none of that store bought stuff for us. This is where you learned to eat a seven course meal between noon and 4 pm, how to handle hot chestnuts and put tangerine wedges in red wine. I truly believe Italians live a romance with food!

Speaking of food--Sunday was truly the big day of the week! That was the day you'd wake up to the smell of garlic and onions frying in Olive oil, as you laid in bed, you could hear the "hiss" as tomatoes were dropped into a pan. Sunday we always had gravy (the "Med-e-gones"called it "Sauce") and Macaroni (they called it "Pasta"). Sunday would not be Sunday without going to Mass, of course, you couldnt eat before Mass because you had to fast before receiving communion. But, the good part was we knew when we got home we'd find hot Meatballs frying, and nothing tastes better than newly fried Meatballs and crisp bread dipped into a pot of gravy.

(to be continued)

If anyone knows the origin of this article please contact us.