Family Friday: Slater/Tomlinson

Fortunately someone labeled the people in this photograph, who are (left to right) my grand uncle Pete Slater, Edith and Orvel "Orv" Manker,* my grandfather Harry Slater, my mother Alta Mae Slater, and first cousin, twice removed, John "Jack" Ashley Tomlinson and his father, my great grand uncle Arthur David "Art" Tomlinson.** 

I don't know anything about the dog but it's very cute.

[Courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

If you look closely, there's another child seated on the boulder between Edith and Harry (and mostly hidden by Orv) who didn't get identified. The Mankers never had any children and Harry is holding his hand so I'm wondering if he's my uncle James Robert "Jim" Slater who was born in 1919, two years after my mother, which would make the date of this photo about 1921.

*The Mankers also lived in Niwot and in the 1920 U.S. Census Orv's occupation was listed as "Laborer" in the Cement business which would have been his connection to the Slater Brothers.
**Harry's mother Rufina Ellen Tomlinson's half-brother.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Jasper R Nosler: Working on the Railroad

P&SR railway line crew in February, 1937 at work on the tracks. The six workers are L-R: Jess Behere, Jim Phillips, Joe Miller, Jasper Nosler, Everett Doughty and Ron Garloff.  

I was fooling around with search terms in National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) and found my 3rd cousin 1x removed Jasper R Nosler (1911-2003) posing with fellow Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway crew members.  You never know what you will find in these collections.

The cataloging metadata had some cool features, including geocoding for the location (in this case for Joe Rodota Trail, where they apparently were).

I guess they figured the group shot was over.  L-R background Joe Miller, Jess Behere, foreground in overalls- E. Yeager, Ron Garloff, Jim Phillips and Jasper Nosler behind pole.

Pictured L-R: Joe Miller, Ron Garloff, Jasper Nosler, Jim Phillips and E. Yeager.  

Not much has changed in that stretch of railway, as this Google Earth snapshot shows:

Now called the Joe Rodota Trail in Sebastopol, California, it is a bike path.

Sebastopol California Social Media Community Videos made a short video about the trail/path:

I always have to compare where these places are relative to me:

Sebastopol location, from Google Earth Pro.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: George Logan "Pete" Slater (1886 - 1957), Marine Corps, Continued

Following up on my previous post about my grand uncle: After short postings to the Marine Barracks at the Naval Station in Key West, Florida, and at the Naval Ammunition Depot on Iona Island, New York,* in November of 1918 Pete was sent to Fort Crockett in Galveston, Texas, and promoted to Corporal. 

[Ft. Crockett, Galveston, Tex., 1918, Camp site, Coast Artillery Corps and U.S. Marine Corps | Library of Congress]

Corporal Slater was transferred to the Headquarters, Overseas Depot in Quantico, Virginia, in July, 1918, after eight months in Texas. The following month he was attached to Company "D" Fourth Separate Battalion U S M C, Brest, France. The troops left Quantico on Friday, September 13, 1918, and on September 15, 1918, sailed from Hoboken, N. J., on board the HENDERSON** and VON STEUBEN, arriving at France on September 25, 1918.*** 

[Ancestry.com. U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Muster Rolls of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798-1892. Microfilm Publication T1118, 123 rolls. ARC ID: 922159. Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives in Washington, D.C.]

[U.S.S. Henderson, 22 April 1918, U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Source: ibiblio.org]

While in France, Pete served with several companies of the Third Battalion, Fifth Marines during his tour of duty, beginning in Companies "G" and "L" and he was promoted to Sergeant while in Company "K" in December 1918.

[Ancestry.com. U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Muster Rolls of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798-1892. Microfilm Publication T1118, 123 rolls. ARC ID: 922159. Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives in Washington, D.C.]

Although the recruiting posters continued to glorify war, the reality was quite different.

[First in France--U.S. Marines / John A. Coughlin. 1917, Library of Congress]

["Scott Belleau Wood". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scott_Belleau_Wood.jpg#/media/File:Scott_Belleau_Wood.jpg]

It isn't clear to me what actual battlefield experience Pete endured during the nearly ten months he was in France. But he arrived just as the Meuse-Argonne Offensive began which was the largest operation the American Expeditionary Forces undertook during World War I and since it continued until the Armistice on November 11, 1918, it's unlikely that he wasn't one of the 1.2 million American soldiers and Marines who took part in it.

["All their Weary Marches Done, All their Battles Fought and Won" American Dead in the Meuse-Argonne. Stereo copyrighted by the Keystone View Co. Library of Congress]

In August 1919, Sergeant George L. Slater was transferred back to Quantico, Virginia, attached to the 5th Reserve Casual Company.

[Ancestry.com. U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Muster Rolls of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798-1892. Microfilm Publication T1118, 123 rolls. ARC ID: 922159. Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives in Washington, D.C.]

His war was over, although he still had to remain a Marine until his four-year term of enlistment ended at the beginning of December in 1919. For some unknown military reason he actually wasn't released from the service until 34 days later on January 10, 1920, so he's in the U.S. Census as a Marine Sergeant.****

[Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA.]

[Courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

Back home in Colorado, Pete went into business with his brother Harry (my grandfather).

[Courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

Sometime before 1930 he married a second time, to Evalyn M. Baer Atkins***** and helped raise her two children, although he never had any kids of his own. In 1934 and 1936 he ran for U.S. Congress for Colorado's Third District as a Socialist.

[Pete & Evalyn & "My cousin Mrs Purdue" Courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

Pete died on June 11, 1957, and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado, under a stone honoring his military service.

[U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963. Original data from: The National Archives. Source: Fold3.com]

*Iona Island has had an interesting history you can read about here. It's now part of Bear Mountain State Park.
**The U.S.S. Henderson had just received a "dazzle" camouflage treatment. (For more and crazier examples go here.)
***Details of the sailing information was found here; this site has a huge amount of information about the Marine Corps in World War I. For a briefer history of the conflict from the Marine perspective, look here.
****During this period Pete married for the first time, but since no one knows what her name is it's clear that it didn't work out.
*****Pete and Evalyn were quite a couple. Someday I'll share some of the stories that have come to me about them (and Jake the magpie).


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find: Mapping Norway's Parishes

Fister Parish, screenshot from Norway's Parishes.

If you are trying to figure out where in the heck those Norwegian ancestors lived in Norway, try Norway Parishes, put together by Kristian Ekenes.  Not only can you find the outlines of modern parishes, there are also links to the right connecting to FamilySearch and various Norwegian digital records/archives.  In addition to Parish searches you can do a Property/Farm Search, and there are even more links to look at in the Map Resources link at the upper right.

My grandmother Margaret Fister's parents were Berdines Rasmussen and Mette Karine, but they took on the last name Fister when they came to the United States, I'm assuming in honor to the parish where Berdines was from in Norway.  I plan to use this fantastic resource to map out the various locations where my ancestors were known to live in.



Hat tip to the Slekt og slikt! ("Family and Such!") blog for the review.



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Elizabeth Brillhart (About 1745 - 1805)

When Peter Brilhart came to make his mark and put his seal on his last will and testament on May 21, 1782, in York County, Pennsylvania, he named his ten children in the document, including his daughter Elizabeth, my maternal fifth great grandmother, who was already married.*

["Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-28759-18574-54?cc=1999196&wc=9PM8-DPD:268493601,270353201 : accessed 10 August 2015), York > Wills 1779-1789 vol E-G > image 248 of 649; county courthouses, Pennsylvania.]

Tax records place the family in Heidelberg Township in York County through at least 1782, but by the 1790 U.S. Census Samuel "Bigsler" was living in Frederick County, Maryland and his household now totaled ten people.

[Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Although Samuel was feeling sick enough to make his will on May 15, 1797, it wasn't presented at the Frederick County Courthouse for probate until June 14, 1803. In it Samuel detailed the means by which Elizabeth was to have a comfortable widowhood.** She was also named an executrix along with their son Peter and her brother-in-law Samuel Flickinger.

["Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-24294-35843-50?cc=1803986&wc=SNYC-FM3:146535301,147314001 : accessed 10 August 2015), Frederick > Wills 1794-1803 vol 3 > image 309 of 332; Hall of Records, Annapolis.]

However, both Elizabeth and Mr. Flickinger declined to act as executors, leaving Peter Bixler in control. Both of them were able to sign their names to the court record.

["Maryland, Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999," images, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-24294-37256-52?cc=1803986&wc=SNYC-FM3:146535301,147314001 : accessed 1 May 2015), Frederick - Wills 1794-1803 vol 3 - image 310 of 332; Hall of Records, Annapolis.]

Elizabeth is buried in the Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery*** in Bachman Valley in that part of Frederick County which is now Carroll County, Maryland.****

[Find A Grave Memorial# 42069578; Created by: Donna Jones Photo: Ken Marsh (#48158187)]

Samuel and Elizabeth's son Emanuel is the grandfather of Delilah Grove who is my great great grandmother.


*Since Samuel and Elizabeth's first child was born about 1769, I'm assuming their marriage took place around that time but I haven't found any record of it.
**But if she remarries, everything is to be shared equally among his children.
***The church is located at the corner of Bachman Valley Road and Bixler Church Road.
****I have not been able to locate Samuel Bixler's grave.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Trainer/Fitzgerald/O'Brien/Tancey/O'Connor

In today's search for an appropriate image for my "Sunday Drive" I decided to take a look at this family photograph from my best friend's collection. Once again her Aunt Janette has provided a lot of genealogical data about the people pictured and even the place where they were gathered on that long-ago day. A quick glance might lead one to think that they were in an automobile...but no.

[Courtesy of B. Poppe]

[Detail of photo above]

On closer inspection it's clear that the group have posed behind a prop painted to look like a car, apparently outdoors because the trees behind them look convincing. What kind of park would have such a thing?


Janette got the place-name (slightly but understandably) wrong--it was Robison Park*, an amusement park opened in 1896 by the Fort Wayne Consolidated Railway** seven miles northwest of Fort Wayne on the St. Joseph River.

[Pavilion, Robinson [sic] Park; source: delcampe.net]

[The Rest, Robison Park, Fort Wayne, Ind.; source: CardCow.com]

[The Blue Streak, Robison Park, Fort Wayne, Ind.; source: delcampe.net]

And over the years Robison Park was in operation*** there were other options for visitors to pose in novel settings.

[From "Allen County in Vintage Postcards" by John Martin Smith, Arcadia Publishing, 2001]

The impulse to have one's photograph taken sitting in one of those newfangled automobiles wasn't restricted to residents of Indiana either. Here's an example of a family in Scotland:

[William Lees, (Family group sitting in a studio car prop), cabinet card between 1898 and 1914] Portobello, Scotland,

source: Ryerson University Library]

As to the names of the folks in the first photograph, Janette has done such a good job of identifying them in her legible handwriting, I'll leave it to her, except to point out that my friend's mother Mary Elizabeth Trainer is the youngest child in the group.


*A short illustrated history of Robison Park can be viewed here.
**The first electric trolley company in Fort Wayne.
***1896-1919
****To learn more about cars in early photographs, go here.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Bit of Sweden Restaurant in San Diego

It's amazing what you can find on the Internet!  An image Bit of Sweden in 1966 from a postcard (wasn't much different when I went there during the 1970's).

Every now and again I think about going to Bit of Sweden with my dad and Grandmother (Margaret Fister Hartley) as a child.  Grandmother's parents Ben and Mary were from Norway, and Grandmother's mysterious maternal grandfather, Gustav Andersson Bergehoin, was from Sweden.


As a kid I never thought to ask Grandmother if this was like the food her mom cooked, although I always assumed it was.

Bit of Sweden featured in a 1953 Food Basket ad (talk about blast from the past).  "Another Food Basket "Super Service" Mary Morgan reveals first of Famous-Restaurant Recipes; This Week: "Bit of Sweden," advertisement, San Diego Union, 22 Jan 1953; Genealogybank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 8 Aug 2015).

They sold shoes beginning about 1965!  "Shoe Sales in a Restaurant?," advertisement, San Diego Union, 6 Feb 1970, p. 23; Genealogybank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 8 Aug 2015).

I likely ate his cooking when I went to Bit of Sweden.  "Harry Prather Succumbs at 87," obituary, 18 Feb 1980, page 24; Genealogybank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 8 Aug 2015).

I wonder if this Chicago Bit of Sweden was from the same people?  So now I wonder, did Grandmother eat there in Chicago?  She did work in Chicago in the 1930's as a secretary, where she met and married my grandfather George Hartley, Jr (1907-1977):

"Favorite Swedish Dishes Provide Changes," San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram, 15 Apr 1936, page 9; Genealogybank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 8 Aug 2015).

Image of the Bit of Sweden's entrance from Dan Soderberg's 2007 blog post Little Sweden, where he commented: "I remember when Bit Of Sweden at 2850 El Cajon Blvd. was open for business. I probably ate there. It is now a banquet facility for rent. And sometimes it is also referred to as Vasa Hall or Club."

A shadow of its former self.  On the corner of El Cajon and Utah.  From Google Maps Street View, March 2015.

You can get a similar food experience now at Ikea.  I love this kind of food, and I suspect you can go to Illinois and Minnesota and find places like this now.  Scandinavian smorgasbords are hard to find here in San Diego.

Now I'm really hungry.



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.