This post is for the 54th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: The Family Language
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Some people call it Pittsburghese, but I think it’s more of a generalized Pennsylvania thing (or maybe just Western PA), but in any case, many of the older people in my family speak a bit different than the rest and/or use phrases that the typical person might not understand.

I thought some of the things that came out of of my grandparent’s mouths to be a bit silly. In many cases I just thought they weren’t enunciating (which is true to an extent), but others I thought were normal, at least until later on in life, when I would have to explain what a certain word or phrase meant.

Here is a sampling of a few sayings that you might hear from one of my grandparents (In some cases, I’ve added the meanings in parentheses where the context might not be enough.):

“How are you’inz?” (version of “ya’ll”; “all of you”)

“Be careful out there.  It’s slippy on that ice.”

“I can’t get it straight.  It’s so cattywompus.”

“I’m asceerd o’ heights.”

“Everything’s hunky-dory.” (okay)

“My hair is all greazy today.”

“You got ‘urself a nebby nose.” (you’re in everyone’s business; nosy)

And… one of my favorite foods as a kid: Dippy eggs. (eggs over-easy)

I said something about two weeks ago on twitter about how I always had thought that my husband was the only one with royal ancestors, but that I had recently (actually it was about three years ago now that I think about it) found out that I too am related to royalty through my dad’s side of the family.

To set the record straight though, I haven’t proven any of this… from Joe’s side of the family, or mine.

I’ve only thoroughly researching one side of my family (my maternal great-grandmother’s). For the rest of my lines, which would include the one that supposedly has royalty in it, and for Joe’s, I have only personally traced them back to the early/mid 1800’s. For people and events before that time (except for one or two lines) I’m only going by what I’ve found on the internet, and as we all know, you can’t trust everything you read, especially when it comes to stuff on the internet.

The two people that supposedly link Joe to royalty are Andrew Pierce Lee, his g-g-g grandfather on his father’s side, and Rachel Funderburg, his g-g-g-grandmother on his mother’s side. The person that supposedly links me to royalty is Christopher Wells, my g-g-g-grandfather on my father’s side.

Supposedly if you trace Andrew Pierce Lee’s ancestry, one of his ancestors is Geoffrey Plantagenet. Andrew is also, supposedly, a distant cousin of Robert The Bruce (remember the guy who fought with William Wallace in Braveheart?)

Supposedly if you trace Rachel Funderburg’s ancestry, one of her ancestors is Philipp Wilhelm.

And if you trace Christopher Well’s ancestry, supposedly one of his ancestors was King Henry II, who coincidently is the son of the same Geoffrey Plantagenet that my husband is supposed to be descended from.

It will take a lot of time and work to figure out if this info is right, so who knows if I ever will. If it’s not true though, it’s no big deal, we still have people in our family trees that I find very interesting, even if they aren’t royalty.

The prompt for the 51st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy says:

Do you have a relative who was feisty, spoke their own mind, was a bit of a free spirit? Anyone who most people might consider a “nut” on the family tree but you know they really just followed a “different tune?” We all have at least one person whose character and habits may have made them seem “ahead of their time” and now is the chance to tell us their story.

Almost every person in my family, in one way or another, could be considered a bit of a nut or an odd-ball, but only one person comes to mind when I think of the terms and phrases “feisty” “spoke their own mind” “free spirit” and “ahead of their time” and that is my great-grandmother, Thelma Corrine (Seibert) Furry (b. 22 January 1910 in Louisville, Kentucky; d. 22 March 2000 in Barberton, Ohio).

Even at a young age Thelma Furry was a handful. Her parents ended up sending her away to school for a year because they couldn’t control her rebellious ways. However, not long after she came back from school, she ended up getting pregnant at the age of 16 and having a daughter at age 17.

Sometime between 1932 and 1938 she ended up having an illegal “back alley” abortion even though she was studying to become a lawyer at the time.

In 1940 she graduated from the Akron School of Law, becoming the first woman trial lawyer in Akron, Ohio.

She championed the causes of those who were not generally given a fair shot, even appealing two cases to the United States Supreme Court (and winning!) when the trial results were not satisfactory. A sampling of those types of clients she represented were those who were suspected of being Communists, African Americans, clients with HIV/AIDS, and homosexuals. Any person who was unfairly discriminated against was someone she would happily represent. In the early days of her career, she was also one of the few lawyers who would work pro-bono cases or accept unusual forms of payment. In at least one case, she accepted payment in the form of her client mowing her lawn.

She was very outspoken in her beliefs, and attracted quite a bit of attention because of it. Some of it in the form of hate mail. Here are two transcriptions of letters she received:

Thelma Furry, You lousy slut. If I were [you] I would keep my damnable pencil and mouth shut. Why if you want Communist “liberties” dont you just go where they already exist, not try to bring the curse to our good country. Our President is going to put you in “Camp” I hope. You will be lucky if some mother of soldier boys does not shoot you down like the dog you are. I may take a try at it my self if any thing happens to the sons I love so much. We like our country as it is, if you don’t just get your “mob” together and I am sure our government would be glad to give you free passage to Russia. Mother of 3 boys. May Gods curses rest on you!!!

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TRAITORS BEWARE See the old man at the corner where you buy your paper? He may have a silencer equipped pistol under his coat. That extra fountain pen in the pocket of the insurance salesman who calls on you might be a cyanide gas gun. What about your milk man? Arsenic works slow but sure. Your auto mechanic may stay up nights studying booby traps. These patriots are not going to let you take their freedom away from them. They have learned the silent knife, the strangler’s cord, the target rifle that hits sparrows at 200 yards. Traitors beware. Even now the cross hairs are on the back of your necks.

But none of this ever scared her, at least outwardly. She continued to believe in the same ideals and continued to work for those people that other lawyers wouldn’t represent. I’m not sure about it, but I imagine that when she opened these letters that she just laughed at them, especially the second letter. The fact that it called her a traitor who was trying to take away freedoms, would seem absolutely ridiculous to her. It was completely opposite from her beliefs and goals. And in regards to the first letter, she most definitely wouldn’t have wanted anything bad to happen to the woman’s sons, or any other allied man serving in World War II. The type of “Communist” that the woman spoke of was not embodied by my grandmother. Unfortunately a lot of people hear the word Communist and think of completely opposite beliefs than what my grandmother held. She was a member of the Communist party for about 15 years, but she did eventually quit the party, stating that it was only because she thought her clients would be treated unfairly by juries and judges because of her political affiliation. It seems odd to me that a judge would make a decision based on a lawyer’s affiliation, but it happened at least once to one of Thelma’s clients. Fortunately Thelma and the client were able to get another trial with a different judge.

About a year ago I was reading through Thelma’s FBI file (yep, she has a FBI file, and a HUGE one at that… somewhere around 400/500 pages!) and I found a statement of hers that contradicted another person’s. I asked my grandmother, Thelma’s daughter, if she might have lied when she gave her statement. The answer she gave: “I never heard her tell a lie in my entire life. She was the kind of person who would rather go to prison than tell a lie. Just on principle. She could be belligerent. She might not answer a question, but she wouldn’t have lied.”

In her private life she was ahead of the times as well. My mom has told me stories about how Thelma was very open about sex and would speak to her about sex if the topic came up. Apparently Thelma viewed sex as simply another natural part of life and that there was no reason to be ashamed by it. This coming from a woman of her generation was simply unheard of. I actually remember finding a couple quotes by Ayn Rand about sex and sexuality in some of Thelma’s papers. One was:

“I say that sex is one of the most important aspects of man’s life and, therefore, must never be approached lightly or casually. A sexual relationship is proper only on the ground of the highest values one can find in a human being. Sex must not be anything other than a response to values. And that is why I consider promiscuity immoral. Not because sex is evil, but because sex is too good and too important.”

To end, I think that throughout her life Thelma definitely followed “the beat of her own drum,” but I also think that she got the “tune” from her father and mother.
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This is my entry for the 51st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: Independent Spirit

I just read this blog post by Jessica Oswalt on the Jessica’s GeneJournal blog and it got me thinking:

My husband asks me every so often why I do genealogy and frankly I’ve never had a good answer for him.

“I just love it,” I say. “I can’t explain why.”

Well, maybe now I can explain it. In college I had the best history teacher, Dr. George Vourlojanis. He made it come alive for me and I almost switched my major because of him.

I had never cared about history before I took his class. It was boring. Just a bunch of names and dates. But Dr. Vourlojanis had us do a project dealing with the Great Depression. We had to interview someone who lived through the years of the depression and find out about their life during that time. It didn’t have to be a relative, but I chose to interview my grandparents. What a gold mine that turned out to be. Genealogically and historically. Not only did I learn what it was like for them in that time, but I found out more about the Roosevelts, the New Deal, the WPA, the CCC, etc. than any history text book will teach you. It was info about how the people viewed these people/events/ideas/projects. It was all put into context and it was fascinating.

I wont lie, I always get a thrill just adding a new name to my family tree, without knowing anything else about the person, but I now realize that my main reason for doing genealogy is to find out about my family in the context of history. The more I learn about the time period they lived in and what they dealt with makes their lives more meaningful to me. And the more I learn about my family’s genealogy the more meaningful history becomes as well.

I just decided to post a short excerpt from the genealogy book I am writing about one aspect of my g-g-grandmother’s life.

Though, a bit of data and two photos first.

Irene Mary (Beckman) Seibert; born 28 November 1890 in Bowling Green, Kentucky and died 12 Aug 1985 in Akron, Ohio.

Irene with her two daughters, Dorothy Dixie “Dots” Seibert (on the left) and Thelma Corrinne Seibert (on the right), circa 1913:

Irene sometime between 1935 and 1940:

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Irene Seibert was one of seven women to organize the Akron’s Progressive Women’s Club. The other founders were Mrs. Thomas Basick, Mrs. Mary Quist, Mrs. Tessie Beacham, Mrs. William Kuchinsky, Mrs. John Matuska, and Mrs. Jennie Nixon.

A photo of five of the seven founders of the Akron Progressive Women’s Club. Standing, from left to right: Mrs. John Matuska and Mrs. Thomas Basick; Seated, from left to right: Irene Seibert, Mrs. William Kuchinsky, and Mrs. Jennie Nixon:

The club’s mission was to study city government and help inform it’s members about the current political issues of their city as well as of the nation, in order to prepare the women when it came time to vote. They had representatives attend City Council meetings as well as other community meetings and report back to the women’s club. Near election time, candidates were invited to their meetings to speak about their stance on issues. Mrs. Thomas Basick was quoted as saying, “Now we don’t just vote as our husbands tell us to. We think for ourselves.” One specific issue that they tried to fight was the Selective Service Act of 1940. When it was initally under consideration, they protested it by picketing outside the office of their congressman. Irene Seibert said, “If all the women were organized as we are, there wouldn’t be any war.” Mrs. Basick added, “The world would be a better place to live in.” The club also had lecturors speak to members about health issues such as birth control and sexually transmitted diseases (termed “social diseases” at the time). The club also stressed the idea of buying in union stores and asking for union clerks. They were also active in helping strikers. They would volunteer on the picket lines and even walk with the men in the lines to encourage them.

… and I wasn’t able to finish those six chapters like I had hoped I would. Boo!

I really just couldn’t help it though. I had a couple good days where I was happy with my progress, but most of the days I had this week were those where every time you turn around someone or something else more important needs your attention (e.g. my daughter) or you get stuck in a construction zone during rush hour or you have to wait in a doctor’s waiting room for almost two hours.

Actually, the two hours in the doctor’s office, while highly annoying, didn’t turn out to be that bad. I had the foresight to bring one of the outlined chapters of my genealogy with me to the doctor’s office, so I was able to do quite a bit with it. I couldn’t completely finish it, but it went from being mainly bare bones to only needing a little polishing once I got home. Pretty good if you ask me.

So, what’s this mean? In a nutshell… that I still have a lot to finish in the coming weeks. I’m still hopeful though. Not giving up yet. Now… back to work.

This photo was found in an old family photo album belonging to my great-great-grandmother, Irene (Beckman) Seibert of Louisville, KY. None of the photos were labeled, so no one knows who this is a photo of. It could just be a friend or neighbor, because we have identified a few neighbors in some of the other photos, but I’m guessing that this is of a relative.

Associated Surnames:
Beckman
Frey
Kintzer
Knörr
Rix
Seibert
Sermersheim
Strömsdörfer

If anyone can identify him, or even just date the photo, PLEASE let me know.

I was just reading some posts over at 24-7 Family History Circle and saw these valuable tips regarding names on baptismal certificates:

According to a birth certificate, my oldest sister’s birth name was Alberta. Her baptism certificate indicated her name was Margaret Alberta. This was because the Catholic Church required that a saint’s name be included. She used both names growing up. During my early years I was confused at this and just lately, at her death, I realized what happened. Someone else may have had the same circumstances. I hope this helps.
~Robert

When our daughter was baptized in 1962 we told the priest that we had named her Karen Marie. The pastor said that Karen is derived from the name Catherine, and Marie is derived from Mary. Then he further commented that since Mary is the mother of God her name had to come first. So Karen Marie is stated as Mary Catherine on her baptismal certificate, but has never gone by either of those names. If you were looking at her baptismal certificate and trying to find her by that name, you never would.
~Louise

I have an ancestor that is listed in documents by a few different names, most of them are church records, and now I wonder if this is part of the reason.

She used the name Malinda (or variations of it) in day-to-day life, but whenever she was mentioned in a church record, the name of Margarethe was used, sometimes in conjunction with the name Magdalena (sometimes before, sometimes after, Magdalena).

For the longest time I wondered if I had the correct person or if she simply went by a different name, depending on her mood.

I’ve recently realized that Malinda was probably just a shortened, anglicized version of Magdalena, but I always wondered why I never saw the name Margarethe in records other than from the church.

I don’t know if I will ever be able to answer this question, but until then, maybe I can just blame it on the church.

In the past week or two, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am not going to be able to complete my genealogy book in time for this year’s reunion. There is still way too much that I need to get done. But I still want to take something to the reunion for people to look at.

I wanted to have a professional looking book printed by lulu.com complete with charts, photos, index, full source citations, etc.

Now I’m thinking that I’ll skimp on a couple things and just have Kinko’s print it out for me, or even just print it out myself, since I could probably borrow my in-law’s spiral binder.

So, instead of worrying about getting everything done, I need to figure out what to concentrate on and what to put aside.

Obviously, the first thing I need to finish is the actual writing. I still have eight chapters to finish. That sounds daunting, but six of them are almost there. I can probably get all six of them done by the end of this week if I really buckle down. The other two will take longer to finish, but at least I’ve already done the outlines for them. The main thing is I just need to sit down and finish them instead of working on things (i.e. the book’s cover design) that are ridiculous to be thinking about when the text isn’t even finished.

Once the writing is done, I’ll make a couple charts. This should be easy. I can just have my computer program spit some out and I can include them as is. I won’t have to worry about how I can get them to fit on a 6×9 page, which has been the main reason I haven’t already worked on them. A few weeks ago I tried to make a chart that would fit in a 6×9 book, but it was incredibly difficult to get everything to fit and be legible (i.e. not incredibly tiny).

Then, I think I’ll finish editing the photos I want to include, but not worry about cropping/resizing them. I’ll just clean them up a bit by fixing the brightness/contrast, etc.

After that I think I’ll work on the sources. And by that I mean that I will fix the sources so that they are complete and in the correct format. I will make sure to have everything sourced when I am actually writing the text… it just won’t be pretty. For example, I’ll change

Newspaper clipping in Jacie’s scrapbook.

to

“S/Sgt. Linton “Buzz” Seibert,” News clipping from unknown newspaper, June 1945. Clipping in scrapbook of Jacqueline (Osborne) Cummings, Inherited 2007 by Jacqueline’s granddaughter Amanda (Stiver) Erickson. Note: There is a handwritten note below the clipping but it is illegible. It looks like it might say “Sunroco News.”

And, I think that’s probably all I’ll have time to do… if that.

Once August 9, 2008 (the date of the reunion) has come and gone, I will be able to relax a bit and not worry about this book so much. I have spent almost every second of my free time (as well as a bit of “work” time) of the past year working on this book and I will be glad to have some time to breathe. By August 8, 2009 (the expected date of next year’s reunion), I will have had plenty time to complete the book the way I really want it.

I went to my grandfather’s yesterday to try to find two photos that I knew he had. In the process, I found a small booklet published by the Christ Evangelical Church of Louisville, Kentucky, dated February 1928.

It is called “Our Church and Home Monthly”

It is a 16 page booklet that lists all of the church officers, the upcoming events, notices about who was sick, who had recently died, been baptised, and married. It lists a full treasurers report that spans three pages, bible verses, psalms, and hymns, two historical articles (”Organization of Protestantism” and “The Layman’s Missionary Movement”) and uplifting and motivational articles. It also has a bit of humor sprinkled in:

Lawyer: Why don’t you two settle this out of court?

Cilent: That’s what we’d prefer to do, sir; but the police always stop us.

and

“Polygon” is the latin word for dead parrot.

I also found an odd statement in the historical article regarding the origins of Protestantism:

The word Protestant comes from the word Protestant.

Woah… Deep! LOL. I’m assuming that this was a typo and the woman who wrote the article meant to say “The word Protestant comes from the word Protestor.”

The booklet’s genealogical value to me is the listing of my grandmother’s baptism. I actually had no idea that she was baptized:

On February 5, at the church, Jacqueline Corrine Osborn, child of Thomas Osborn and Thelma, nee Seibert, born September 9, 1927, in Akron, Ohio. Sponsors: Mrs. Elizabeth Dugan and Mr. Rix Beckman.

It also shows that my… oi, now I have to find out how she was related to me… my g-g-great aunt, Willella Seibert-Rondi, was the Treasurer of the Mission Circle and that her husband, Richard Rondi, was the Treasurer of the Church.

Willella’s father, Jacob Seibert (my g-g-g-grandfather) was the treasurer of the church before he died in 1910. I wonder if Richard Rondi took up the job immediately after Jacob’s death, or later.

I was hoping that I could get copies of this monthly booklet for the years prior to Jacob Seibert’s death, unfortunately, the inside cover states that this booklet was started in 1913, 3 years after Jacob’s death. Oh well. It’s still a nice little find on it’s own.

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Thanks to Stephen P. Morse for his wonderful relationship calculator that helped me verify that Willella was indeed my g-g-g-aunt. I’m sure I will find many more reason’s to use it again in my research.