Liesel's Family History Finds

Hello! I'm continuing to write shorter posts on different ancestors each week following Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy challenge. ( www.amyjohnsoncrow.com ). This is week 7! Week 7: Outcast I couldn't think of a particular ancestor who was cast out of their community. What did come to mind are two ancestors who changed their surnames because of possible stigma associated with the meaning of name, combined with a move into a new life. I figure broadly speaking they were trying to avoid being an "outcast" simply because of their names. Posladek to Nalepka My maternal 2nd-great grandmother, Margaret Posladek, went by other surnames after immigrating to the United States. Her Polish maiden surname, Posladek, translates to approximately "buttock." Perhaps she figured it was better to tell others that her maiden name was something else. It appears she used the name Nalepka, which is a relatively common surname from the region of Poland where Margaret was born, a

In the next installment of my series following the lives of my cousins, Esther and Ruth Caskey, I'm sharing a little more information about their father, Jacob Caskey. Thanks for coming back! Jacob Phillip Caskey (Kasky) was born December 9, 1898 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Albert Kasky, a naturalized Russian Polish immigrant. In 1918 Jacob registered for the draft and reported that he was a pipe fitter helper in the James Laughlin Company steel mill. He had light hair and blue eyes and was of medium height and build. In November 1918, Jacob eloped with my 2nd-great aunt, Cecelia Wisneski, who was pregnant. Their daughter Esther was born around April 1919, and the small, young family lived on Arlington Avenue on the South Side of Pittsburgh, near Jacob's family, at the time of the 1920 Census. At that time Jacob's occupation was "craneman" in the steel mill. A second daughter, Ruth, was born around 1923-24. Unfortunately, the family's trajec

Welcome to my blog! Today I'm sharing a trove of information about the orphanage where Esther and Ruth Caskey were raised. Please read the first two posts in this series for more background on how they came to be orphans. I wrote to Concordia Lutheran Ministries and received a quick and gracious reply. Their staff were eager to search the archives and share surviving records of my relatives, Esther and Ruth Caskey. They also mailed me a beautiful history book of the organization, which includes many photos and stories from the past 140 years of their ministry. They didn't find any intake records for either child, but there was one surprising note created just a few days after Ruth left the Orphans' Home. It says she entered  the home on April 10, 1927. Her mother, Cecelia, didn't die until October 22, 1927. Of course, this record appears to be a relatively informal note, written on a calendar page for June 9, 1941, about one week after it says Ruth left the home. Handwr

Hello! It's Week 6 in Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy challenge: writing about 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks ( www.amyjohnsoncrow.com ). Week 6: Social Media When I first started researching my family history, like many people, I focused on names, dates, and places. I still enjoy this piece of it, adding branches to my family tree, but what I've found is that the real excitement comes from stories. Even glimpses into the daily lives of my ancestors are thrilling and bring them to life in ways that the names and dates simply never could. One of the best sources for these more colorful bits of information is newspapers. I think we have a perception in modern times that our privacy has been confiscated by social media like Facebook and Twitter. But in reality, in most small towns and big cities across the U.S., local newspapers shared intimate details of people's lives daily to the public. I've found mentions of car accidents, social visits between family and friends, guest li

Welcome to the fifth week of Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy challenge: writing about 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks ( www.amyjohnsoncrow.com ). Week 5: Oops I had a hard time thinking of a topic to match this week's prompt. But this little notice in the newspaper that I found a couple of weeks ago popped into my mind. Excerpt from The Daily Notes, Canonsburg, PA. March 2, 1936. Accessed on Newspapers.com. Evidently, my great-grandfather, Joe Vrana, and his sort-of brother-in-law (his wife Lillian's older sister Agnes' husband, Harry Maloy), were in a car accident together. I take this as one more bit of evidence of the interconnectedness of the various families in this area and on branches of my family tree. Thanks for your time! What accidents or mishaps show up in your family history?