Favorite Photos - 52 Ancestors challenge

This year's challenge is 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and is run by Amy Johnson Crow.

Information on the Topic
What is a favorite family photo of yours? If you're thinking, "Oh, but I don't have any old family photos," remember that you are a part of your family history! It doesn't have to be a photo of a great-great-great-grandfather. What about a favorite photo of someone in a more recent generation, like your parents, siblings, or even yourself. Why is it a favorite photo? What is the story behind it?

I'm not sure where to go with this question. I have older pictures of my grandparents and farther back, but none really could be termed favorite. I do have 2 pictures I like for different reasons. 

Picture 1:

I guess the closest one would be the one of my grandmother in the 1920s would be one of my favorites.

Jean Wojtkowski Schmitz taken October 11, 1929

Credit: M. Schmitz

In this picture, my grandmother, Jean, would have been 19 years old. She would have been in the United states for just over 9 years. 

The writing on the back is pretty important. It gives an address, what type of paper it was on and her name. I had never seen someone write her name this way until I saw this. 

It actually is the only time I've seen my grandmother's maiden name until her naturalization papers. 

She looks so young and healthy. You would have never figured she had already been through hell when they fled Poland. 

Nor does it look like she is in the middle of the Great Depression of 1929. Yes, the Great Depression started in August 1929 (2 months after it had started).  This picture was taken 13 days before the Stock Market Crash. 

It looks to be a very interesting time, but I think until the Stock Market Crashed, the family was doing well. I do know from talking to my father, Jean's father, Adam, had a huge trunk full of stocks that were worth nothing because of the crash. I wish I could have seen them and looked at them in depth. It would have been very interesting. 

In a way, I can see myself in her eyes. 

Credit: J. Fitzgerald - Myself and Brett when we were dating at Howe Caverns in NY. 

If you look at the eyes and shape of our faces on my grandmother and myself, you can see something similar. 

I think the innocent look on my grandmother's face in light of what is to come within weeks for my grandmother always has me fascinated with this picture. 

Photo 2:

This picture I had only stumbled upon when looking for more information on my grandfather as there is not much known about him at all. My father doesn't like talking about him, but there's not much written about him either. 

Credit: Department of US Naturalization - My grandfather Mathias Schmitz

Now I stumbled across this picture. This is from his Intention of Naturalization in 1930. At first I didn't think anything of it, but when you look at left eye in the picture, you can tell he had been in a fight or something because it is a swollen, black and blue eye. 

This made me laugh because who on earth would go and get a picture taken for important paperwork taken looking like this? 

I can only wonder what else he got up too if that's the case! 

Grandmother arrives at Ellis Island in 1920

My grandmother, Genowefa Wojtkowska, in later years known as Jean Schmitz, arrived in Ellis Island on September 19, 1920 with her mother, Maryanna Wojtkowska.

Ellis Island Ship Manifest arriving Ellis Island port New York page 2. Credit

This when they immigrated from Poland to the United States via the vessel "New Rochelle". They left Danzig on August 29, 1920. It took them 32 days of travel. 

New Rochelle renamed in 1920 in which my grandmother and great grandmother sailed upon. Credit1 and Credit2 

Ellis Island Ship Manifest leaving Danzig page 1. Credit

What did they need upon arrival at Ellis Island? 

The answer is simple - Not much. They had to list where their final destination was and if they could read and write. It was this simple. This was the process at Ellis Island.

Didn't they have to have a visa?

The signing in of the law in 1917. Credit

The answer is No. The 1917 Act implemented a literacy test that required immigrants over 16 years old to demonstrate basic reading comprehension in any language. This my great grandmother did (above) as you can see by the column if they can read yes/no.

The US did bring in a quota system in 1921 under the Emergency Quotas Act of 1921. This was only to limit the amount of people because the ports were so busy. A really good explanation is here with a video. 

In fact, visas were not required until 1924 when stricter visa laws came into effect under the Johnson-Reed Act. 

By this point, many of the people in the US today had ancestors who already went through this, and many other ports, to settle into the USA.

During 2016-2019's culture of "my ancestors came over legally" doesn't stand up because today there are so many more hurdles to jump through to get into the US, than back in even in 1926 when my grandfather arrived.

"there were no numerical limitations on immigration, no requirements to have an existing family or employment relationship with someone in the country, and no requirement to obtain a visa prior to arriving" - American Immigration Council

When my grandfather, Mathias Schmitz, in later years known as Mathew Schmitz, arrived in Ellis Island in April 1926, he did have to have a visa, which he did and it was noted on the ship manifest. 

My grandmother and great grandmother came over while their country was at war with Russia before the Iron Curtain fell. In fact, they could have even been classified as political refugees because of the fighting. 

However, today is the day we celebrate my grandmother and great grandmother getting their dry feet on US soil and completing their journey to the USA. 

Credit

I believe all my ancestor's who came to the USA, including the ones who enter in September 1920, wanted what was written on the Statue of Liberty as it was the first beautiful, magical thing (my grandmother's words) they saw and believed in. Even today when I see videos, like below, it sends tingles down my spine.

I believe the "The New Colossus" says it all.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Taken from The New Colossus page.

What is written and bolted to the Statue. Credit

I first saw these words when I was a child, and he ones bolded above are the most important and what we understand growing up. I consider these words very important next to the pledge of allegiance. 

There can be laws put into place, but everyone still needs to treat each other with respect due to a living person. There has to be a way to work through problems and not just send the people back to places where they might end up dead for trying to get a better life. They worked through problems like these back 100 years ago, and did it with respect and consideration. 

We're all adults and it's time adults started treating others like this as this is what is sorely lacking in today's society. I think everyone is forgetting one of the basic things they were taught growing up. 

A-Z Blogging Challenge - The letter G is for Germany!

In 2017, there was a challenge. I heard about it from jillballau blog and more information can be found out about it on the A-Z Blogging Challenge (which was at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/) page itself. However, as I was testing links I found the A-Z Blogging Challenge link is no longer working *frown*

Many people had done this challenge in April 2017, but I’m a rebel and do things when I have time, so I’ll do mine now. I’ve been working on it over many days, and was hoping to get it all done before posting BUT it’s taking me a lot longer than I expected. I’ll do a few posts now and work on the rest. I know I have about ½ of this challenge done in draft format, so not too bad.  J

What can I say – I’m an original. So, here I go…

The letter G is for Germany!

Germany is country in Europe my paternal grandfather, Mathias Schmitz, was born in. From the information I have, he grew up in Mendig or Niedermendig. This is from my father’s cousin, but on some of the paperwork I have he lived in Koblenz and another says Niedermendig

This is where Niedermendig and Koblenz are on the map.
Credit

If we zoom in on this point in the map, we can see how the names come up. 

Showing Mendig, Neidermendig, Obermendig and Fallerstrabe in Germany.
Credit - GoogleEarth

My grandfather, Mathias/Mathew, lived here until he was in his late teens when he set off to the US to live with his Aunt and Uncle in Brooklyn. He arrived and lived there for a few years before filling out his application for naturalization to the USA. Notice the place he was leaving from, the names of whom he was living with and who he was going to see.

April 1926 Ship Manifest for my Grandfather (line 16). It clearly shows his father's name and area he came from and where he's going in the US. 
Credit Ellis Island.

April 1926 Ship Manifest for my grandfather on line 16. It shows who he's going to stay with and other things about him.
Credit Ellis Island

May 1930 Ship Manifest for my grandfather (line 15). It shows again where he stayed when he was in Germany.
Credit Ellis Island.

He did go back to Germany, twice, before returning to the US after each time. The 1930 was his last recorded travel to Germany – I've been able to find. Notice the place he was leaving from and the name & address in Germany.

Part of the manifest in his May 1930 when he was returning from Germany.
Credit Ellis Island. 

This the last time, that I've been able to find, that he came back to the US from Germany. After this he refiled the paperwork for his naturalization to the USA again. The number of years lapsed, so he had to redo the application again. This time he did get his US Citizenship awarded to him.

Mathias/Mathew's first declaration in 1926
Credit INS

Mathias/Mathew's second declaration in 1934
Credit INS

1939 when he was able to swear the Nationalization oath and become a citizen
Credit INS

Over this time he met my grandmother, Jean, and they got married – twice. Once in the court’s office (in January) and the second time was in the Catholic Church (in March of the same year) and both were in New York City.  Notice where he lived and my great grandparent’s names.

First marriage in Jan 1934 in NYC offices page 1
Credit FamilySearch.org

First marriage in Jan 1934 in NYC offices page 2
Credit FamilySearch.org

First marriage in March 1934 in St Monica's Church in NYC page 1
Credit FamilySearch.org

First marriage in March 1934 in St Monica's Church in NYC page 2
Credit FamilySearch.org

If you look at his mother’s last name on the certificates, it's Kelperich. I've found the Kelperich name comes from Hausten in Germany. As you can see, its not far from Niedermendig and Hausten really. 

The map shows Hausten and Niedermendig which is not really that far.
Credit Google Earth

 Then in August of the same year, they welcomed their first child, and my father, Matthew.

When my father was about 18 months old, my grandfather’s aunt and uncle took him back to Germany to visit and meet his relatives there. Only for once they got him there, they decided to keep him. It took the US state department to get him back home as he was a US citizen.

1935 My father in the front, with his uncle (who was to sign his marriage certificate) and his aunt who my grandfather mentioned on his ship manifests. Copyright of picture Jo Ann Fitzgerald.

Now comes World War 2…  Because my father says my grandfather served in the military in the medical corps during the second war. However, I’ve found no records about it so far. So is he wrong or maybe his parents lied to him? We will only know when we find proof, which we haven't yet.

What I do know, is where the death records have my grandfather dying is Castle Point, NY. My father says he visited him there and my grandfather was getting medical treatment there due to serving. Castle Point has a VA hospital because I’ve been there to visit another friend of mine.

This  shows my grandfather's birth and death and where his last residence was in 1981.
Credit SSDI and Ancestry.com

Could reading this force my grandfather's hand at enlisting to the US Army? The article goes on for a few pages
(Find My Past).
Credit: 1936 March 7 Syracuse Herald Hitler moves into Rhine Page 1

However, questions remain – Did he serve? If so, where did he go? 

Or was this how he served?

1945 WW2 Nuernberg list cover
Credit Fold 3

1945 WW2 Nuernberg list
Credit Fold 3

I need to put on that investigating cap again.

What else?

When my uncle died, he had my father’s cousin visiting – from Germany. This is where I met them when we came to the ceremony for my uncle.

Schmitz Reunion in 2002 after my uncle passed away. The man and woman on the left are from Germany.
Credit Helmut Schmitz

He showed us the house that’s apparently been in the family for hundreds of years.

The Schmitz house in Mendig Germany. Its been in the family for hundreds of years.
Credit Helmut Schmitz

The Schmitz house in Mendig Germany. Its been in the family for hundreds of years.
Credit Helmut Schmitz

The Schmitz house in Mendig Germany. Its been in the family for hundreds of years.
Credit Helmut Schmitz

The problem is now, no matter what I try, no one returns my emails which is sad. I hate losing the connection I wish I knew more about.

If you want to read a tiny bit about some history of the area, this is covered under another blog topic. 

Timelines - My Pages updated

Hi everyone! 

When I work with an ancestor to tell their story, I put a lot of time and effort into it. One of the tools I use is a timeline. This gets things into perspective for me, so I know where I've looked and what I've found. Its also a great way to review documents and their information. 

Anyway, I've been trying to slowly go through my relatives and do their timelines as best I can do. It is a slow process especially if I'm currently researching them or find something else to add to their timeline as I go. This does include putting historic or history into their timelines to illustrate just want is going on in their lives and what could affect them. 

My goal is to eventually have all of my relatives on a page with a timeline. Now that's going to be a trick and may take the rest of my life but it s a goal! 

Anyhow, I've recently finished up my paternal grandfather's timeline, Mathias or Matthew Schmitz. His timeline is now published but beware! This is a live document and can change if I find further information. 

Challenge: Grandparents Day in USA and Canada

GENEALOGY: BEYOND THE BMD has challenged people who blog about their family genealogy to make their blog this week be about their grandparents.

Grandparents day is this weekend on September 10th in the USA and Canada.

Then there was one more step to it - tell us one story from them they told you.

This is where it will get dicey for me to fulfill this challenge. Why?

1. I can never remember meeting my paternal and maternal grandfathers at all. Long story, but they were not good men, or so I've been told, so they kept us away from them. 
2. My paternal grandmother, the one I was closest and the only one to fully know, would only say a sentence here and there about her growing up years to me. However, there are no stories. Only sentences. 
3. My maternal grandmother, and the one I carry her middle name, I only seen a handful of times in my life. Those times she was drugged up by the nursing home staff due to her mental state. 

So, as you can see, I had a very happy home life growing up and this will be a challenge for me to fulfill.

My family tree leading back to my grandparents are:

My Family Tree made by myself for Grandparents Day on Sept 10th

Sadly, all of my grandparents are gone now. In fact, I didn't even have pictures for three of them until about 2-3 years ago, when I started researching and talking to cousins.

Maternal Grandparents
These are on my mother's side. As you can see, from the tree above, these are Janet and Louis we're talking about.

Janet Gauquie

Janet - I met her only a few times before and she was in a nursing home. She had many health complaints along with other factors which kept her in homes since around the time my parents married until her death.

Memory:
One of the best memories I have is when my mother signed her out of the nursing home and brought her to our house for Thanksgiving one year. I was about 8, 9 or 10 years old. The word got out and my brother and all of sisters and their families came along and we joined every table we had and brought as many chairs as we could and sat around the entire table. Talk about a full room. I was able to sit next to my grandmother as the meal progressed.

The sad part is my grandmother sat there looking around at everyone, but didn't eat, drink or say anything. I kept asking if she wanted a drink, some food but she just looked at me. She was on that much medication from the nursing home she probably didn't even know her own name. However, she was there and we all made it known how much we loved her.

Louis Gauquie

Louis - I never met him at all to my knowledge. In fact, my mother would only tell me about stuff he did and said how he treated Janet.

As you can see, on my mother's side, there wasn't much on an influence at all by these people unless you look at how the affected my mother, which was substantial from what I can now see and understand.

Paternal Grandparents
These are on my father's side. As you can see, from the tree above, these are Mathew/Matthew and Jean we're talking about.

Mathew Schmitz taken from his Naturalization paperwork

Mathew/Matthew - I never met, either, as to my knowledge. My father wouldn't bring him up at all. My grandmother would only call him names and get a sour face when he was mentioned.

Jean Schmitz

One of the pictures of me and my grandmother.

Jean - Jean is the only major influence of my life. She's the one that drove my mother to West Point when I was born. She used to have me stay with her two weeks of my summer vacation when I was in school. She was always trying to dress me up in dresses, which I didn't like and it used to annoy her because she wanted a granddaughter that loved to shop and wear frilly things. *shutter*

Stories/Sentences:
Growing up I would hear kids in school talk about their grandparents and stories about their families growing up. We never talked about the past in my family - at all. However, when I was staying with my grandmother, Jean, she would sometimes say things in sentences.

• I loved playing in the Bug and another River with my cousins growing up. We had such great times!
• That was my father's brother. He's gone now. They are all gone now. Assassinated and murdered. 
• *((** Germans! *(&(*& Russians. They can all go to hell! 

Aug 16 1915 The Register Page 5

Aug 16 1915
Marybourgh Chronicle Wide Bay &
Burnett Advertiser Page 4

March 15 1920 The Sun Sydney, Page 8

I heard the names and other statements growing up being called to and at me. This was in the 1980s and I was dealing with the name calling because of having a German last name of Schmitz, but it was the Polish names which were the worst. You can tell if people call you things just to get on your nerves and teasing, but these were things they meant by the looks on their faces. Think of the TV show All In The Family and how they used to call people things. That was as a joke. It got worse if people meant what they were saying. Things like this stay with you a lifetime.

Putting lives back together

Jimmy's wings he earned just before his death

I started my whole journey into genealogy because of two people. One, my mother's cousin, Jimmy, and what happened to him. The other was my grandmother, Jean, and these sentences she would say over and over again. Add this to the tiny cups she gave me when I was young, and I needed to know more about who these people were which made up - Me.

You take what information you are given and work with it until you can put their lives back together as much as you can to feel like you know the person. Jean has given me this and through research, swearing (and there's been A LOT), and determination I have found out what my grandmother most likely went through during most of her lifetime.  I have written many entries in this blog regarding them and each time I find new information out, I sit back in awe of what this little 4 foot 10 inch person did in her life.

Makes mine seem dull and very safe in comparison.