Your Ancestor's Employer May Give a Glimpse of Her Life

Siegel-Cooper Employees, Long Branch, NJ

Many of us crave details about our ancestors so we can visualize what their lives may have been like. We want more than a bunch of dates and locations. What life struggles did they face? Why did they decide to move to another state or country? And even more trivial questions like: What did they do on Sundays?

If you know where your ancestor worked, a search for information about that employer may give you a glimpse of your ancestor's life. For example, if one of your female relatives worked for the Siegel-Cooper department store in New York, there's a publication in both Google Books and the HathiTrust Digital Library that provides details on how she may have spent a week during the summer.

Here are a few excerpts from Souvenir Program of The Siegel-Cooper Co. Employees' Association:

"The Siegel-Cooper Company's Employes' [sic] Association (duly incorporated under the laws of New York State on November 10, 1896) was formed entirely for the benefit of the employes of The Big Store. Raising a moderate revenue by the means of a monthly assessment, graded in amount according to the amount of each employe's salary, the Association pays a sick benefit to sick or disabled members, provides the free services of an able physician, makes occasional donations to sick or destitute members, and pays a death benefit of $50 or $100."

"Convinced that rest and recreation are essential for the health and happiness of its members, the Officers and Directors of The Siegel-Cooper Company Employes' Association decided to establish a summer home at Long Branch, where every eligible female employe was to be entitled to one week's vacation, free of every expense, including transportation."

"A private beach was obtained for surf-bathing, with life guards in attendance, and boats were chartered for excursions on the beautiful Shrewsbury River. The supply of daily newspapers, magazines and light literature was ample. Accommodations were provided at neighboring cottages for relatives and friends of employes, and every detail was planned with all the care and acumen that successful business men could bring to bear when their hearts as well as their heads were in the project."

Where did your ancestors work? Learning more about their employers may give you some information about your relatives, even if it's just a short period of their lives.

Related Post:  Who Was Your Ancestor's Employer?

View Labor Union Labels from 1903

This full-color advertisement appeared in a 1903 souvenir booklet published by the Utica Trades Assembly in New York to mark its 21st anniversary. Here's one paragraph from the group's introduction:

"To the wage-earners, or rather wealth producers, who have not yet joined hands with us, we extend a hearty invitation to become a part of the great army of Organized Labor. In union there is strength. Better conditions can only come through concerted action. Organized Labor points out the way to shorter hours, better wages, time for intellectual and physical improvement. Hence our path leads to the goal of enlightened, progressive citizenship."

The most interesting section of the publication provides images of many labels proudly placed by labor unions on their products or in their businesses. There are four pages of them, but here are just a few (click to view larger):

To see the dozens of other union labels, click on the link at the beginning of this post and go to page 60. Happy Labor Day!

Related Post:  Labor Day Souvenir Program, 1894

Census of New York Poorhouses, 1830-1920

I stumbled upon this New York state record for John A. Bernardy, who may be connected to my family tree. I need to investigate him further, but I wanted to share it because these images on Ancestry.com provide a lot of great information.

John A. Bernardy, 1906
(CLICK TO VIEW LARGER)

Here's what this record from the New York County Almshouse told me about John:

• Date of Admission:  February 13, 1906
• Age:  42
• Marital Status:  Single
• Last Residence:  315 E. 26 St., NYC
• Birthplace:  Germany
• Length of Time in United States:  22 years
• Length of Time in New York:  22 years
• Naturalization Details:  N.Y. Sup. Court, December 21, 1886
• Occupation:  Peddler
• Religion:  Catholic
• Habits:  Temperate
• Physical Condition:  Loss of Left Leg
• Cause of Dependence:  Destitute
• Father's Name, Birthplace, Occupation:  Alexander, Germany, Grocer
• Mother's Name:  Elizabeth Echement
• Able to perform any labor:  No
• Ever received public relief:  Yes
• Inmate of an Almshouse or other Institution:  In Bellevue, 10 months

The record for 17-year-old Edward Gribben shows that he had been in the state of New York for only one week in 1919 when he was admitted to the New York County Home, Manhattan Division, due to lack of employment. His parents were living in Baltimore, Maryland, so we can assume that's where young Edward was before his arrival in New York.

Edward Gribben, 1919
(CLICK TO VIEW LARGER)

Many of the records don't list parent names, but they do provide a snapshot of each person during a difficult time in his or her life.

From NY to DC and Illinois in Between

The majority of my ancestors settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and never left. So while I love to research my roots in that city, I enjoy looking at records elsewhere. Lucy Waterman McCurdy was my husband's 3rd great-grandmother, the wife of a shoemaker. According to census records, she was born around 1829 in the state of New York. By the time she was 18, she was marrying Robert McCurdy in Rock Island, Illinois on October 3, 1847. Lucy gave birth to 4 daughters and stayed in Illinois until they were raised. Unfortunately, when she was only 35 years old, she became a widow when Robert died. Illinois probate records show that a man named Dan Gould was named as the guardian of her girls. At the age of 71, Lucy was living with the family of one of her daughters in Washington, DC, where she stayed until her death on May 29, 1912. Her body was taken back to Illinois for burial next to her husband. You can view her headstone on BillionGraves.com. A couple of weeks later, The Washington Times reported that Lucy left her estate to the daughter she had been living with: The Washington Times (DC), June 13, 1912

WWI Death: Remembering George J. Stenglein

On this Memorial Day, I would like to take time to remember my great-uncle George J. Stenglein who was killed in action during World War I. He was only 27 years old.

George's mother, Kunigunda Boser Stenglein, was pregnant with him when she and her husband John left Germany and arrived in New York on May 6, 1891. George was born eight days later in Newburgh, Orange County, New York. It was a temporary stop since the family settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the following year.

In 1910, at the age of 19, George was a laborer at a Pittsburgh bottle factory. His 1917 draft registration card shows his employer was Johnson-Peter Co., which was a boiler, tube and pipe dealer. George is described as being of medium height and medium build, with brown eyes and light hair. He stated that he had one sister who was "solely dependent on [him] for support," which would have been my grandmother. (His father was living but did not have a job in the 1920 census, so perhaps this was also true in 1917.)

His military records show that he was drafted into the U.S. Army in January 1918. On September 26, 1918, he was killed in action in France. My grandmother was only 10 years old when the family received the tragic news.

George J. Stenglein is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France. You can see his headstone on Find A Grave.

Family Marriage: 50+ Years of Beautiful Music

On May 18, 1934, William Jefferson Simmons married Harriet "Terry" McGovern in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. William Jefferson (called "Jeff" by my father) was my 1st cousin twice removed.

Jeff's life was full of music. At the age of 21, he started his career as a teacher at the South Hills School of Music, which was located on Brownsville Road in the Knoxville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. According to his obituary in New York's Clinton Courier, he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Music. After his time as a music teacher and public school supervisor, "he was organist and choir director in the Diocese of Pittsburgh" for more than 35 years.

Jeff and Terry were married for 53 years when he passed away in Clinton, New York. They had two sons.

1887 German Obituary: Update #1

After help from reader Michael Stephens (Thanks, Mike!), I have a brief update on my last post about the obituary for my 2nd great-uncle, Jacob Nehren. Jacob died in Pittsburgh on November 6, 1887, and his German obituary was difficult for me to understand, but Mike pointed out that it requested that Troy newspapers copy the obituary. I took this to mean that he could have had family there.

After a quick search on Ancestry.com, I found a Nehren family in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York. William Nehren was born in Germany four years after Jacob, so it's possible he could be a brother or a cousin. William arrived in the U.S. at least a decade after Jacob and was in Troy for the rest of his life. FindAGrave has a photo of his headstone, which shows he died in 1921.

A search of New York newspapers on FultonHistory.com shows that William's obituary was printed in The Troy Times:

"NEHREN--In this city, January 23, 1921, William Nehren, at the residence of his daughter, 1817 Francis Avenue, father of Frank J. and James Nehren, Mrs. H. C. Bender and Mrs. Stephen D. Lincoln. Funeral private from the residence Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock; thence to St. Lawrence's Church, where a requiem high mass will be sung."

I will post another update when I find more information to link William to my uncle Jacob Nehren.