Wally's Confectionery

Confectionery & Novelties

My grandfather, Wallace B. Dixon, was fond of sweets. There was always a dish of candy on the coffee table in the living room of my grandparents' house. There was always soda in the fridge. And after dinner, nearly every night, Gramps had a "dish" of ice cream while he watched TV. The kids in the neighborhood could always count on a hand-out, and I enjoyed free run of the treats as long as I promised to eat all my dinner.

Mary E. Dixon in front of
Wally's Confectionery, c. 1930.

It should come as no surprise that Wally Dixon, for a brief time, owned a real candy store. I've had this photo of my mother standing in front of Wally's Confectionery for a while now. Census records helped me date the photo, at least approximately.

My grandparents married in 1925. By the time the 1930 census rolled around they had two children, Wally (almost 4 years old) and Mary (2 1/2 years old).  They were living at 239 Marshall Street, Elizabeth, NJ in a building that housed two other families.

According to the 1929 Elizabeth City Directory, the family was living at 153 Clark Place, so they hadn't lived on Marshall Street for very long. The 1930 directory gives the Marshall Street address for both the residence and the business, which is listed under "Confectionery and Ice Cream - Retail." The 1931 directory listing is the same. By 1933 Wallace Dixon is no longer listed as a confectioner.

The directories also show that my grandfather was at work at a regular job as well. In 1929 he's working as a soap maker. The residential directories for 1930 and 1931 list him as a confectioner, but the 1930 census shows that he is working as a laborer for an oil company. In 1933 the city directory shows him as a painter at the Standard Oil Company.

Who was minding the store?

The 1930 census gives an additional insight into the workings of Wally's Confectionery.

The top line is for "Wallis" Dixon, the bottom line is for Sophie Dixon.

The top line of this extract from the 1930 census is for my grandfather, listed as "Wallis" Dixon. The second line is the entry for Sophie, his wife. My grandmother was not only keeping watch on her two toddlers, but she was also minding the candy store while her husband was working his "day job."

Timing is everything

On 29 October 1929, the stock market crashed marking the start of the Great Depression. It was probably not the best time to own a fledgling business. It's possible that the short life of Wally's Confectionery was in part due to the larger economic picture. Between 1929 and 1933 the unemployment rate reached nearly 25%. Certainly at a time where money is tight people were spending less on candy and "novelties." It must have been quite a struggle to keep the business afloat, a struggle that they eventually lost.

The 1935 Elizabeth city directory shows that the family had moved to 763 South Broad Street, leaving their home and business on Marshall Street. My grandfather continued working for Standard Oil, in all it's incarnations, until he retired. My grandmother got a job with the Singer Manufacturing Company where she stayed for the rest of her working life.


Sources
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Elizabeth Directory 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1935. Price & Lee, Newark, New Jersey.  

1930 census of United States, Population Schedule schedule, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey, Year: 1930; Census Place: Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey; Roll: 1385; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0029; Image: 844.0; FHL Microfilm: 2341120. 239 Marshall Street. Dixon: Wallis, Sophie, Wallis Jr., Mary E.; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com).

Other People's Ancestors : Lena E. MacKenzie

May I present Lena E. MacKenzie? I found these photos in an antique store in Virginia. The first three were taken at Lovejoy photography studio in Owego, New York. The last one was taken at the McFarlin studio in Elmira, New York. She is as elusive as my own ancestors! My searching has turned up nothing. If you know anything about Miss Lena, please contact me. I'd be delighted to return these photos to a descendant of hers.

Lena E. MacKenzie, c. 1890, Owego, NY

Lena E. MacKenzie, 3 May 1896.

I believe this is also Lena MacKenzie.
This was with the other photos, and it looks like her.

Miss Lena MacKenzie, looking very grown up in 1903.
The photographer was McFarlin in Elmira, NY

In Your Easter Bonnet

Tess, Estelle, and Sophie : The Karvoius girls.

Estelle Karvoius, Mary Dixon,
Tess (Karvoius) Starzyinski, Alice (Rimkus) Karvoius,
Sophie (Karvoius) Dixon

Sophie (Karvoius) Dixon, Liz Traina, Mary (Dixon) Traina.
And Jet, the dog.

Resource Roundup : Elizabeth City Directories

Dixons in the 1905 Elizabeth City Directory.
The year my grandfather was born. William A. is his father.
John, the antiquarian, is his grandfather.

Have you used City Directories to find more information about your ancestors? You really should give it a try! You can find all sorts of things in these little gems.

Directories generally feature an overview of the town or areas that they cover. You can learn what industries are there, how the local government and municipal services are organized, and find the names of churches and organizations that your ancestors may have belonged to. The advertisements are a treasure trove of social history, documenting the types of goods and services that were offered in a location at any given time.

Discover your ancestor's street address, occupation (mostly for the men), find others with the same surname who might be related, discover neighbors, reconstruct their neighborhood, discover an advertisement for a business that they owned. If you're having a hard time finding them on a census record, or if a census record for a particular year doesn't exist, you might glean some information from the city directory.

By compiling directory listings for your family's surnames over a range of years you can learn some interesting things. If, for instance, you are trying to narrow down a date range to help you locate a death record you might track when and where an ancestor appears in a city directory. Sometimes a note will be made if a person is deceased, or a woman might be listed as a widow.

Not every document or source will give you a complete picture of the facts surrounding your ancestor's life, but by adding up the facts from a variety of sources, including city directories, you may find just the information you need, or at least get a better idea of what their lives were like at a specific point in time.

City Directory Resources for Elizabeth, New Jersey

 

On-Line Resources

• Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822 - 1995 [database on-line]. $
  "This database is a collection of directories for U.S. cities and counties in various years. The database currently contains directories for all states except Alaska."
  
• DistantCousin.com offers a limited number of NJ city directories, including the 1921 Elizabeth City Residential Directory.
• Don's List : City Directories. Digitized copy of Elizabeth, NJ Fire Alarm and Street Directory, 1893. Some other NJ directories as well.
• LDS [Latter Day Saints] Genealogy : Union County NJ City Directories. Offers links to a variety of directories from a variety of sources, including Ancestry.com, Distant Cousin, and the Allen County Public Library. Indicates those that can be accessed through your local Family History Center. [Note: You may have to request that the microfilm be ordered for delivery to the Family History Center.]

 

Local, County, and University Libraries

It's generally a good idea to check the local library in the city that is the subject of your research. Other county, state, and organization [i.e. historical societies, etc.] libraries may also hold the resources you need.

• Elizabeth, NJ Public Library : Elizabeth Local History Room. Visit the web page to link to a pdf list of microfilm holdings of the Elizabeth City Directories 1865 - 1971.
• Newark, NJ Public Library : Guide to New Jersey City Directories. "The Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center at The Newark Public Library has city directories for many cities throughout New Jersey." The holdings include directories for Elizabeth and Elizabeth Port and covers a variety of years from 1882 to 1971.
• Rutgers University : New Jersey Genealogy : City Directories. This links to a page detailing the RU Library Holdings.

Federal Resources

• Library of Congress : New Jersey City Directories on Microfilm in the Microform Reading Room. For Elizabeth, the years 1861 - 1959 are included.
• Library of Congress : U.S. Telephone Directories - New Jersey. Available for Elizabeth are the years 1911, 1912, 1960-1976, 1995-1997, 2006, 2008-2011
• National Archives : Resources for Genealogists. Some city directories on microfilm. They can be tricky to locate on the web site. I recommend using the search box and entering "city directories."

Sources

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Entry for the Dixon surname, 1905 Elizabeth, NJ City Directory. 

The Mystery of the Lady and the Boulders

Another Mystery Photo Monday!

Another mystery woman. I like her shoes.

This was pulled off of a photo album or scrapbook with black pages. It looks like a professional portrait, though her face is sorely lacking focus, so perhaps not.

I have no other clues to her identity. It is possible that this came from one of Estelle Karvoius's scrapbooks.

Take your best shot mystery lovers. Any hints, clues, or positive ID's greatly appreciated.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

She came from Ireland.

That pretty much sums up what I know about Isabella Porter before she married my 2x-great-grandfather, John Dixon. Every census record that I have for her between the years of 1870 and 1910 give Ireland as her place of birth.

She is, most likely, the ancestor with whom I share my tiny bit (2%) of Irish DNA.

John Dixon m. Isabella Porter (my 2x great-grandparents)

William A. Dixon m. Mary Elizabeth Klein (my great-grandparents)

Wallace B. Dixon m. Sophie Karvoius (my grandparents)

 

Welcome to the Family

Isabella Porter and John Dixon were married in "E Town," Elizabeth, New Jersey, on May 22 by Squire Price, a justice of the peace. John was 24, Isabella was 18, according to the marriage register. In the register, her father's name is given as W. Porter. (1) [Note that in the certificate below the marriage date is given as 20 May 1861, perhaps the clerk entering the marriage in the register made a transcription error.]

Marriage "certificate" of John Dixon and Isabella Porter, 20 May 1861. (2)

Hopefully, by next St. Patrick's Day I'll know more about Isabella and her life before and after she became a Dixon!

Sources

(1) Marriage record for John & Isabel Dixon. Return of Marriages, City of Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey. Volume AG, p. 273, from 1 May 1861 to 1 May 1862. New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, NJ.

(2) Marriage record for John Dixon and Isabella Porter. "New Jersey, County Marriages, 1682-1956," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VWR3-C6J : accessed 14 February 2016), John Dixon and Isabella Porter, 20 May 1861; citing Union, New Jersey, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton; FHL microfilm 1,301,706, Digital Folder Number 004541263, Image Number 00214.

The Mystery of the Lovely Lillian

Sincerely, Lillian

Lillian, mysterious and sinceere.

On this mysterious Monday, I bring you a photo of Lillian. Lillian is glued to the page of a scrapbook that belonged to my great-aunt, Estelle Karvoius.

Estelle was born in 1909. As a starting point, I'm going to offer this theory. If Lillian was a high school classmate, that would put this photo in the date range of somewhere between 1925 through maybe 1930. It would also mean that Lillian lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey. 

Of course, I could be entirely wrong about that.

If you recognize this sincere and lovely lady, please get in touch!

The Hawley Connection

Recently I shared the results of my Ancestry.com DNA test. It has been very interesting to look at the family trees and the lists of surnames that my cousins have researched. Honestly, I'm not seeing a lot of familiar surnames. This is, I'm sure, because I have only just scratched the genealogical surface of my own family tree. Hopefully, as I collect more evidence and push back to older generations some of the connections will start to make more sense.

One family line that seems both prolific and more inclined to participate in DNA testing and tracking down family connections is the Hawley family. Any time I have a surname in common with one of the people on my match list it's almost sure to be through the Hawley line connecting with my 2x-great-grandmother, Rachel Hawley.

Rachel Hawley m. John George Klein (my great-great-grandparents)

Mary Elizabeth Klein m. William A. Dixon (my great-grandparents)

Wallace B. Dixon m. Sophie Karvoius (my grandparents)

While I'm still focusing my research efforts on my grandfather's generation, I do have some information about Rachel and John Klein to share. Since I have yet to acquire birth records for John and Rachel, I offer the following regarding their birth information:

John George Klein
b. 1834; Wustenberg, Germany (1870 census)
b. 1838; Prussia (1880 census)
b. July 1837; Germany (1900 census)
b. 1838; Germany (1910 census)
b. 1837; Germany (Wustenberg)  (1920 census)
b. 1837; Germany (1930 census)

Rachel Hawley
b. 1845; Ohio (1870 census)
b. 1844; Ohio (1880 census)
b. Sep 1841; Ohio (1900 census)
b. 1841; Ohio (1910 census)
b. 1839; Ohio (1920 census)

It seems likely that John George Klein was born in Wustenberg, Germany in July of 1937, and Rachel Klein was born in September of 1841 in Ohio. The ages in the census seem to hover around those dates, though the gap in their ages certainly decreases [according to census records] as they get older]. The 1870 census is certainly the least consistent date.

 

1865 - Ohio

John G. Klein and Rachel Holley [Hawley] were married on 30 November, 1865 in Butler County, Ohio. (1)

30 November 1865. John George Klein married Rachel Hawley in Butler County, Ohio.

1870 - Indiana

Probable birth record for Mary Elizabeth Klein, 3 November 1867, Ohio.

In the 1870 Federal Census (2) they were living in Union Township, Union County, Indiana (Post Office: College Corner, Butler Co., Ohio). John, listed as 36 years old was working as a farm laborer. The census indicates that he was a citizen of the United States. Rachel, age 25, was keeping house and raising their children. Five years after their marriage they had three daughters: Mary E. (3), 4 years old; Katy, 3 years old; and Anna [possibly Ida], 1 year old. All of the children were born in Ohio.

Two other children, that I know of, were born between the 1870 and 1880 censuses; Christina, was born on 9 July 1876 (4), and Clara Nancy B. was born on 9 October 1877 (5). Both girls were born in Milford Township, Butler County, Ohio. It is also possible that another daughter, Gertrude, was born in 1878. I have seen her recorded on a family group sheet that was done by a relative in the 1980's, but no sources were cited, so I have no actual proof of this. She would have been two years old in 1880, but does not appear in the household enumeration for that census.

 

1880 - New Jersey

In 1880 the Klein family was living in Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey. (6) Their residence was at 62 Elizabeth Avenue. John's age is now listed as 42, and Rachel's age is given as 36. John is still listed as a laborer, but he had been unemployed for four months in the census year. The date of the census is 1 June 1880. The children in the household were Mary E., 13; Charlotte [possibly the Katy of the previous census?], 12; Rose [possibly the "Anna" from 1870 census?], 11; William, 9; Clara, 3; and Julia, 1. Christina, born in 1876, does not appear on this census.

I believe that Julia is actually Effa Julietta, born 30 March 1879 in Milford, Butler County, Ohio. (7) This means that the family moved from Ohio to New Jersey some time between the end of March 1879 and 1 June 1880, the date the census taker recorded their household information.

Here is a remarkable thing. Rachel had Malaria when this census was taken. She also had six children in the house ranging in age from 13 to 1 year old. I cannot imagine how she coped. At that time the cause of Malaria was unknown, and there was no real cure.

The same family group sheet that lists Gertrude (b. 1878) as one of the children also lists a son, Franke, born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on 25 Jun 1884. I'm still searching for him as well.

1900 - New Jersey, with grandchildren

The next Federal Census that the family appears in is the 1900 Census. (8) They are living at 132 Livingston Street, Elizabeth, NJ.  John is still the head of the household, his age listed as 62, born in July 1837. He is employed as a laborer at "Singers" - the Singer Manufacturing Company. Rachel's age is 58. Her birth month and year are September 1841. She is getting closer in age to John! In 1870 there was a 9 year age difference, in 1880 it was 6 years, and in 1900 we're down to 4 years difference. Confusing? You bet! The record also indicates that she is the mother of 13 children, 7 who are living at the time.

Rounding out the household in 1900 we find their son, William J., age 27, born in November of 1872. He had been married for 10 years, but his wife is not included in the household. It seems likely that she passed away, but more research is needed there. William is working as an oysterman, which is a traditional occupation for the men in the Dixon family. His oldest sister, Mary Elizabeth, had married into the Dixon family by this time and her husband was employed as an oysterman.

The children in the household in 1900 are John and Rachel's grandchildren, William's offspring. They are William J., Jr., age 7, born August 1892; Catherine, age 4, born June 1895; and Sarah, age 3, born in April 1897. All of the children were born in New Jersey.

1910 -  New Jersey, with granddaughter

In 1910 the family is living at 21 Butler St., Elizabeth, NJ.  John, age 72, is working as a janitor in an office. This census shows that he came to the United States from Germany in 1856, and that he is not a veteran of the Civil War. Rachel, now 69 years old [maintaining the four year age gap] claims that she is the mother of eight children, five of whom are living. This conflicts with the 13 children/7 living that was indicated in the previous census. The only other person in the household is a granddaughter, "Mamie," age 13. Mamie is attending school. (9)

1920 - New Jersey, living with their son

In 1920 John & Rachel Klein are living in the household of their widowed son, William, at 118 Franklin Street, Elizabeth, NJ. Also in the household is William's son, Fred, age 12. William is working as a dock builder. (10) [Side note: Mary E. Klein Dixon's second husband, Thomas Payne, was also a dock builder.]

At this time John Klein, age 83, is no longer working. Rachel is really catching up in age now. Just a two year gap as she lists her age as 81. Interestingly, the record indicates that John came to the United States in 1860, but he was naturalized in 1808. Time travel. That explains it!

1930 - New Jersey, John widowed, living with his oldest daughter

Mary Elizabeth (Klein Dixon) Payne,
daughter of John G. and Rachel (Hawley) Klein.
Taken after her 1927 marriage to Thomas Payne.

The last census that includes information on my 2x great-grandparents is 1930. (11) Rachel (Hawley) Klein has passed away. I haven't yet discovered her date of death. John George Klein, age 93, is living with my great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth (Klein Dixon) Payne, and her second husband, Thomas Payne, in their home at 125 West Grand Street, Elizabeth, NJ

Also in the household is Hazel Dixon, daughter of Mary E. Klein and William A. Dixon, and John Payne, Thomas Payne's brother.

John Klein's year of immigration is again given as 1860.

Burial Information 

John and Rachel (Hawley) Klein are buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, New Jersey. (12)

Further research:

• Immigration and naturalization documents for John George Klein.
• Birth records for Rachel Hawley and John George Klein.
• Birth records for Katy [or Charlotte], Anna,  Rose, William, Julia
• Death record for Christina, b. 1876, d. between 1876 - 1900
• Identify other children who died before 1900.
• Death records for Rachel Hawley and John George Klein.

Sources

(1) John G. Klein and Rachel Holley, marriage, (30 November 1865), Record of Marriages, Vol. 4: 77 [No. 961]; Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, Hamilton, Ohio.

(2) Ancestry.com, 1870 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009), Ancestry.com, Year: 1870; Census Place: Union, Union, Indiana; Roll: M593_363; Page: 74B; Image: 458; Family History Library Film: 545862. Record for John G Kline.

(3) "Unknown"entry, Butler County Record of Births, Vol. 1: page 18, number 391, Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, Hamilton, Ohio.  

(4) Christina Klein entry, Butler County Record of Births, Vol. 1: page 376, number 10,226, Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, Hamilton, Ohio.

(5) Clara Nancy B. entry, Butler County Record of Births, Vo. 1: Page 402, Number 10,779, Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, Hamilton, Ohio. 

(6) Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1880 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010), Ancestry.com, Year: 1880; Census Place: Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey; Roll: 800; Family History Film: 1254800; Page: 2C; Enumeration District: 163; Image: 0007. 

(7) Effa Julietta Klein entry, Butler County Record of Births, Vol.1: Page 432, Number 12330, Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, Hamilton, Ohio.

 (8) Ancestry.com, 1900 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004), Ancestry.com, Year: 1900; Census Place: Elizabeth Ward 2, Union, New Jersey; Roll: 995; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0096; FHL microfilm: 1240995. Record for John Klein.

(9) Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006), Ancestry.com, Year: 1910; Census Place: Elizabeth Ward 4, Union, New Jersey; Roll: T624_909; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 0062; FHL microfilm: 1374922. Record for Rachael Klein.

(10) Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010), Ancestry.com, Year: 1920; Census Place: Elizabeth City Ward 4, Union, New Jersey; Roll: T625_1069; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 72; Image: 782. Record for John G Klein.

(11) Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002), Ancestry.com, Year: 1930; Census Place: Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey; Roll: 1386; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0061; Image: 850.0; FHL microfilm: 2341121. Record for John Klein.

(12) The Evergreen Cemetery (Hillside, New Jersey), map of cemetery, 22 July 1975, burial location for John George and Rachel Klein. 

John Frank Dixon : Update

Finding Family

Last month was John Frank Dixon's birthday and I was lamenting over how little I knew about him. Since then I've made some inroads into his life, his family, and I've even been in contact with one of his direct descendants.

So, here's a little update on John Frank.

John Frank and his wife married when he was 20 and she was just 16 years old. (2) I'm going to estimate the year as 1915.

In 1920, he was 24 years old and was living with his wife and two daughters at 58 Caspian Street in Elizabeth, NJ. He was working as a core maker in a foundry. His wife, Mary, was 21 years old. It's interesting to note that she indicates that she was born in New Jersey, but both her parents were born in England. Their daughters were quite young. Dorothy E. was a little over a year and a half old. Mary Agnes was two months old. (1)

The family was at the same address in 1930. Their monthly rent was $22. John was now working as a foreman in a soap factory. In this census his wife's parents are shown as being born in New Jersey. [A mystery to solve!] The family has also added another daughter, Margaret, who is 8 years old in 1930. All three of the girls are attending school. (2)

By 1940 the family was living at 30 Spencer Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey. In fact, they had been living there since at least 1935. They were paying $25 per month in rent. John, age 45, was still at the soap factory working as a foreman. All three daughters were still at home. (3)

• Dorothy, now 21, had completed one year of high school and had been working for at least one year as a machine operator at the soap factory.
• Mary, age 20, had also completed one year of high school and had been working for at least one year as an assembler in a fan manufacturing company.
• Margaret, 18 years old, had completed four years of high school and was unemployed at the time of the census.

Mary Agnes Dixon and Felix Cabarle
on their wedding day.
Many thanks to their family for letting me post this!

John's daughter, Mary Agnes Dixon, married Felix Cabarle on 1 February 1941 at St. Patricks Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She died in 2008, at the age of 88. (4) I'll write a little more about her later, but I'm pleased to share this photo of Mary Agnes on her wedding day.

Many thanks to Mary and Felix's grandson for sharing photos and information with me. It's nice to have met another cousin!

Citations

(1) 1920 Census, Union County, New Jersey, population schedule, Elizabeth, enumeration district (ED) 74, sheet 2A, dwelling 21, family 36, Frank Dixon; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4YK-Z63 : downloaded 18 February 2016); National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,821,069.

(2) 1930 US Census, Union County, New Jersey, population schedule, Elizabeth, enumeration district (ED) 20-29, sheet 1B, household 10, family 18, John Dixon; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4ND-9K5 : accessed 18 February 2016); The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  

(3) 1940 U.S. Census, Union County, New Jersey, population schedule, ward 5, enumeration district (ED) 23-37, 5B, household 95, John Dixon; digital images, FamilyTree (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4YP-FVG : downloaded 18 February 2016); (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 2398.

(4) Mary Agnes Cabarle, obituary. Unidentified newspaper, clipping, June 2008. Image on Ancestry.com attached to record for Mary Agnes Cabarle. Accessed 26 February 2016.

Genealogy Do-Over : Month 3

February Assignments and What I Did

February was all about establishing practices and setting up guidelines to help with the research process.

Establish Base Practices and Guidelines : I came up with five procedures for setting research goals, tracking research, and making the most of every source. I'm happy to report that I have been [mostly] sticking with them. Every once in a while I get ahead of myself and forget to log my searches in the Research Log. I've found having a procedure for dealing with my sources very helpful.

Setting Research Goals : I have written out my initial research goal in Evernote. That is to identify and document the family group of William A. Dixon and Mary E. Klein. I also created a "Research Resources Checklist" for each family member using Evernote. Each time I log in a resource in my Roots Magic research log, I go to the note for the individuals concerned and check that resource off my list. By using a master template, it is easy to copy and paste the checklist into a new note each time I find a new person. It allows me to see, at a glance, which sources I've checked and which I still might need to explore.

March Assignments and What I Plan to Do

The assignment for March is to conduct a self interview, recording information about my life. We are also supposed to conduct family interviews with our parents and siblings.

I've already started recording my own particulars. I'll go back over what I have and add to it as needed. Interviewing relatives is pretty much a non-starter. Both of my parents are dead, and I have no siblings. Instead, I will go over family group sheets for myself and my parents and make sure that they are as complete as I can possibly make them.

Helpful Resources

• The Genealogy Do-Over Website, where you'll also find a link to the Genealogy Do-Over Workbook
• The Genealogy Do-Over Monthly Topics for 2016
• The Genealogy Do-Over Facebook Group
• Genealogy Do-Over Blog posts and resources
• Genealogy Do-Over Pinterest Board
• Evernote
• Lisa Louise Cooke's Genealogy Gems
• Roots Magic

Happy Birthday Wallace B. Dixon

Here's to Gramps!

Today, March 2, 2016, is the one hundred and eleventh anniversary of my Grandfather, Wallace Bernard "Wally" Dixon.

Every birthday party needs pony rides!
Wally's on the pony, his pal, Jimmy Fahy is
keeping things under control.

Wally was born on 2 March 1905 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Two days later, Thodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 26th President of the United States. That may explain the name "Theodore Wallace" that appears on Wally's original birth certificate. [You can read about that here.]

That year, the Wright brothers seemed to have mastered air flight. By October of that year Wilber Wright was able to keep the Wright Flyer III aloft for nearly 40 minutes, covering a little over 24 miles. 1905 was also the year the Albert Einstein introduced his Theory of Relativity. 

If there are birthday parties in Heaven, Gramps will be enjoying soft shell crabs, clams casino, and a big dish of ice cream for dessert.

Happy Birthday Gramps!








Useful Links

• World History Project