William & Beatrice Jewell

In my last post, I gave some background information on William Roy Jewell, his origins, his work life, as well as his military service.

For this post, I would like to add some focus on his wife - my great-grandmother - Beatrice Glasser.

Beatrice Glasser was born 4 February 1919 in New York City, New York to Harold and Rose Glasser. She was the youngest of three children; her siblings were David and Pearl.

It took some time before locating the 1920 U.S. Census, using FamilySearch, and assumed it would come up later. This record did come up later, only to find that Beatrice's name was misspelled by the census taker.[1]

Beatrice and her family stayed in New York City for a few decades. The above census is the 1930 U.S. Census.[2]

For the 1940 U.S. Census, Beatrice's sister, Pearl was never mentioned. Her brother, David, was still living with their parents, however. And considering for the fact that this occurred during the Great Depression, it would make sense for him to be living with mom and dad.[3]

Beatrice Glasser would meet her husband, William Roy Jewell. According to my grandmother, she told me that William and Beatrice were married in 1945 in the state of New York. But, that is what my grandmother believes they were married. So, more research is required obviously.

William and Beatrice Jewell only had two daughters together. My grandmother was the younger of the two.

They were living in a small mining town called McDermitt, which literally sits on the Oregon-Nevada state lines. I am uncertain with how long they were lived in McDermitt, but, William Roy Jewell was buried in McDermitt, Humboldt County, Nevada.

[4]

The above record is the headstone certificate which Beatrice Jewell filled out. This record was a request for a military headstone; the military service is documented on this card, where he was born, his rank in the USNR, and the ship he served on are all marked on here. (Also, since William was marked as a Christian, I took the liberty to ask my grandmother what the faiths of her parents were. She told me that he was Methodist, and that Beatrice was an inactive Catholic.)

William Roy Jewell was killed in a plane crash at the age of 30, on 3 February 1949. When I asked my grandmother about how he died, she explained he was transporting hay for their cattle on the farm, when he flew into a snow storm, which caused his plane to crash. I have learned that he actually died in Owyhee County, Idaho. And, I was able to confirm this information with my grandmother.

I do not have much knowledge as to how she lived the remainder of her life, but I do know that Beatrice Jewell raised her daughters, and ultimately spent the remainder of her days in Boise, Idaho. Beatrice passed away 2 February 1972.

[5]

[1]1920 U.S. Census, New York County, New York, population schedule, New York City, enumeration district (ED) 414, p. 33 (stamped) sheet 14-A, dwelling 48, Betrese [Beatrice] Glasser; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org : accessed 17 May 2015); NARA.

[2]1930 U.S. Census, New York County, New York, population schedule, Assembly District 22, enumeration district (ED) 31-1034, p. 145 (stamped), sheet 7-A, family 164, Beatrice Glasser; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 26 March 2015); NARA.

[3]1940 U.S. Census, Queens County, New York, population schedule, Elmhurst, enumeration district (ED) 41-307, p. 3974 (stamped), sheet 61-B, household 337, Beatrice Glasser; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 26 March 2015); NARA.

Commentary:
Another interesting fact to point out with the above census record is the supplementary questions, and Harold Glasser just so happened to be one of the lucky few to selected for the questionnaire. This census says that his mother and father are both from Germany, and the language spoken in his childhood home was German. This is an interesting twist for my research so far with this family line. Where are Harold Glasser's parents from exactly?

[4]Jeanette, Find A Grave, database (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 September 2015), William R. Jewell (1845-1917), cemetery.

Tombstone for William Roy Jewell, February 24, 1918-February 3, 1949, McDermitt Cemetery, McDermitt, Nevada. Created by David M. Habben.

[5]Sheryl, Find A Grave, digital image (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 23 January 2015), Headstone.

Farmers in Military Service

My great-grandfather, William Roy Jewell, was born in 1918 and was native to the state of Illinois. His father and mother, Harry and Susan Jewell came from farming communities in Illinois, and t

I have come to learn over the course of my family history research that there is a lot of military draft registration cards, and even some digitized images of draft cards pertaining to great-grandparents.

I will focus on my great-grandfather, William Roy Jewell, who was born in 1918 in the state of Illinois to Harry Alvin Jewell and Susan Peters. They were farmers, and the both William and his father, Harry, happened to serve in the military.

Harry Jewell registered for the draft during World War I, and he was married to Susan at the time. Both of whom were living in Easton, Mason, Illinois.[1]

And, according to the 1920 U.S. Census, Harry served in the United States Navy, and was stationed on the U.S.S. Wickes, in San Francisco, California. (I haven't been able to locate Harry's wife and children, yet, but I imagine that they were taking care of their family farm back in Illinois.)[2]

There are records to indicate when Harry Jewell was discharged from his service in the Navy, but he and his family relocated to another farming community in Varina, Henrico, Virginia. They raised a poultry farm. Harry and Susan Jewell would both pass away in Virginia.[3]

The above census record is the first document to list all members of the Jewell household, but the individual I'd like to focus on is William R. Jewell.

William eventually moved away from Mom and Dad to find work on his own, and he was living in McDermitt, Oregon. He was a hired laborer on a cattle farm at this time.

If there is one thing I have come to appreciate about the 1940 U.S. Census, it's the fact that you can usually find the residence of the person you are searching. And, as for William Jewell, he was living in Virginia in 1935.[4]

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, my great-grandfather enlisted to serve in the United States Naval Reserve in 1942. He was stationed on the U.S.S. Hobson, and served until the ending of the war in 1945.[5]

[1]"United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, FamilySearch Record Search ((https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 20 August 2015), card for Harry Alvin Jewell, serial no. 1695, Mason Co. Local Board, Easton, Mason, Illinois; citing United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, NARA.

[2]1920 U.S. Census, San Diego County, California, population schedule, Seaport San Diego, California, enumeration district (ED) U.S.S. Wickes, p. 150 (stamped), sheet 1-A, line 72, Harry A. Jewell; digital image, FamilySearch.org (http://www.familysearh.org : accessed 21 August 2015).

[3]1930 U.S. Census, Henrico County, Virginia, population schedule, Varina, enumeration district (ED) 44-16, p. 278 (stamped), sheet 3-A, household 44, Harry A Jewell; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org : accessed 8 April 2015); NARA.

[4]1940 U.S. Census, Malheur County, Oregon, population schedule, McDermitt 6 election-precinct, enumeration district (ED) 23-25, 147 (stamped) sheet 1-A, dwelling 11, William Jewell; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 March 2015); NARA.

[5]Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 01/01/1939-01/01/1949; Report of Changes, 30 June 1942, U.S.S. Hobson (DD-464); U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949; William Roy Jewell; Record Group 24; NARA, National Archives Catalog ID: 594996; National Archives, Washington, D.C. This is a rather loose citation, using Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

Polish Heritage, and the Family in Family History Podcast (Updated)

There has been a lot of focus on Russian heritage in most of these posts. I am going to make a switch to my Polish ancestry, which come from my maternal grandmother's side of the family.

I have been unsuccessful in trying to figure out my second great-grandmother Rose's maiden name. There is a marriage record index, and it is suggesting that her name was Rose Sanders, and that she was born in Russia.

The problem I am finding here is trying to figure out if her maiden name was even Sanders. Is Sanders even a Polish name? In fact, I have no knowledge to determine if she was even Jewish.

In regards to the birthplacethe fact that Poland has rarely been autonomous during modern history, it's likely that Rose came from a region in Poland that was under the dominion of the Russian Empire.

Rose Sanders immigrated to the United States during the 1890's. The majority of the federal census records I say that she was born in Poland. And, as a matter of fact, I recently spoke with my grandmother, and I was told that this vital detail about Rose is correct.

This is a brief, experimental podcast which I have created. Please listen by clicking on the link below.

The Family in Family History - PODCAST

Halt! Were they Russian or German?

There happens to be a (slight) discrepancy about the origins of Samuel and Sarah Glasser. Here is the scenario, a 1905 New York State Census was found, which indicates that they are both from Germany. However, federal censuses indicate they are both from Russia. This is a rather delicate situation, and there may be several factors to take into consideration.

In this blog post, I wish present the censuses at issue here, and propose one or two possible scenarios on why this might be the case.

The first census is the 1900 U.S. Census:

This census dictates that the parents, Samuel and Sarah Glasser are from Russia.

And this is the 1905 New York State Census:

This census dictates that Samuel and Sarah Glasser are from Germany.

What the two census records above have in common with each other are the members within the household: Samuel and Sarah, along with their four sons, Harry, Samuel (Jr.), Martin, and Louis. In matters with how long Samuel and Sarah have been living in America, and everyone's age, the math adds up correctly within the five year time span.

Something more to include from last weeks blog post with family business, the 1905 New York Census shows that Harry was a glazier at the age of 15, and it appears that he held an apprenticeship under his father.

And then there is the 1910 U.S. Census.

This census also indicates that Samuel and Sarah Glasser were from Russian, and the only census to indicate they were Yiddish.

It's likely that the individual responsible for taking the New York census made an error concerning the national origins of Samuel and Sarah. There might have been confusion with the name Glasser since it is a spelling variation of Glaser. Glaser happens to be a German-Jewish name, and it would be doubtful to think that any spelling variation of the name was uncommon.

An interesting fact which was common for Ashkenazi Jews in Europe to assimilate with the people they were living among. In fact, it was also common for Jewish names to be related to the types of work which they pursued. Glaziers went by the names Glazer, Glass, or Sklar.

Perhaps if a marriage record for Samuel and Sarah could be found, I might be able to get a better idea of where they were born. My assertion is that they came somewhere from the Russian Empire.

Family Business

When we take a look into the kinds of occupations which our ancestors held, they somehow become more dynamic for us to picture in what skills they possessed, and how they found the means to provide for their families.

I have come to learn that both my second great-grandfather, Harold Glasser, and my third great-grandfather, Samuel Glasser, were both glaziers.

Glazing belongs in the business of architecture. Glaziers essentially manufacture anything that is made out of glass. Glaziers invest time to learn the skills in this type of industry by essentially joining a labor union which sponsors their education. They start by becoming apprentices, and they take a few years to get through the program.

It appears to me from what I have analyzed from the 1910 census is that Harold (or Harry) took apprenticeship under his father, Samuel. Samuel ran a retail business with the aforesaid occupation, and Harry held a job there as well. This was a father-and-son business in Weehawken, Hudson County, New Jersey.

1910 U.S. Census

I have also come to find in the 1930 U.S. Census that Samuel Glasser changed his occupation from glazier to real estate agent.

1930 U.S. Census: Samuel Glasser

As for Harry Glasser, he continued working in the glazing business. It further appears in the 1930 census that he might have taken over his father's business, but this time they were both living in the Manhattan District in New York City.

1930 U.S. Census: Harry Glasser

With these evidences concerning both father in son, since they were both working in two different fields of work - real estate and glazing - I wonder if Samuel may have contracted his son, Harry, to assist him in renovating architectural designs for residences that were rented, bought, or sold?

Russian Pogroms

During the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries, Jews who were living in the Russian Empire went through a lot of persecution, and faced what are called pogroms. Pogroms are essentially an order or demand to persecute or exterminate a specific ethnic group, and in this case these pogroms were aimed at Jews.

In looking up the definition, the word pogrom is Yiddish meaning “destruction”; “po- like + grom thunder”. Pogrom comes from the Russian word pogromu.

These pogroms repeatedly took place in locations like Odessa, and what we know today as Poland and the Ukraine.

In consequence of the pogroms, there were many Jews who fled to Great Britain and the United States between 1880 and 1914.

Significance in family history

In the early 1880’s, 1881 through 1884 specifically, a pogrom occurred when Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. And of course, the first group that was convenient to point figures at were the Jews. The Jews were conveniently accused of assassinating Alexander II, even though their accusers had no evidence to prove this, but it served as an excuse to attack Jewish residences anyway. Anarchists rose up against the Jewish communities, and destroyed the homes of Jewish families, and many of them had to suffer through poverty.

With how my third great-grandparents fit into this picture, I had to check census records. The 1900 census indicates that my great-great-great grandfather, Samuel Glasser, came to the United States as early as 1885 and as late as 1887, according to the 1920 census. My third great-grandmother, Sarah Miller, immigrated to the United States in 1887. At this point, is undetermined whether Samuel and Sarah traveled to the United States in the same passenger vessel. I believe they came to the United States on separate ships. And it seems like they immigrated to the United States for the same reason: to escape religious persecutions and the pogroms in the Russian Empire.

There is still a lot of research and analyses to make concerning the evidences at hand, but this is what I have come to thus far.

A Second Look...Epiphany!

During this summer I was making efforts in discovering who my ancestors are on my mother's side of the family, and was privileged to go back at least two generations. I have been successful thus far in identifying my grandmother's predecessors.
My grandmother's grandfather, Harry Glasser, was listed as a son to Samuel and Sarah Glasser, who were living in New Jersey at the time the U.S. Census had been taken in 1910.
It can be understood that while discovering the names of our ancestors, that the mothers are usually the more difficult to identify when we are seeking to find out their maiden names. However, earlier this week, as I have been preparing this current post, I had discovered Sarah Glasser's maiden name, happens to be Miller.
This occurred while I was making Google searches on possible names that are related to my research, when the 1910 U.S. Census record showed up under Mocavo.com. The digital image was available to look at, to which I took the liberty to do so, despite the fact that it has been previously downloaded onto my laptop. I decided to make a "cross-examination" of what I had in my personal collections, with the census which I had found on Mocavo.
Mocavo, like Ancestry, has the ability to highlight a household you desire to look at. And as I had selected the household which I desired to see, I discovered a man by the name of Jacob Miller who was a brother-in-law to Samuel Glasser. Once I looked upon that, a light bulb turned on and I came to realize in that moment: I had just found Sarah Glasser's maiden name.

(I could only upload this image from my computer, so I apologize for making this image rather small. I did included a hyperlink in which this image may be viewed, however.)

The funny thing about Sarah Miller is that she and her brother, Jacob, are both from Russia. And yet, they have English names for some unbeknownst reason. I have found, however, that the name Miller may or may be Jewish, since both Jewish and non-Jewish people tend to have interchanging names.

I would like to mention however, that both Sarah and Jacob Miller were naturalized citizens, which means they did immigrate to the United States, which leads to believe that they changed their name some time after they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition to the significance with this census record as far as Jewish heritage is concerned are the origins of all the adults which were recorded: "Russ Yiddish". Yiddish is what the Ashkenazim sect of Judaism speaks.

Discovery of Jewish Ancestors

My experiences with family history research have been quite adventurous this year. I have been able to trace ancestry on my mother’s side as far back as the sixth generation. I started out with the name of my great-grandmother, Beatrice Glasser (1919-1972), and have been blessed to go as far back as two generations.

While I was busy doing my summer research, I discovered that I have some Jewish ancestors who immigrated from Russia to the United States during the second half of the Nineteenth Century.

I had wondered why my third great-grandparents had immigrated from Russia to the United States during the late 1800's. So, I made my inquiry by searching the Internet, and had found that they were among many other Ashkenazi Jews who fled the Russian Empire in order to escape religious persecution.

In addition to this investigation, I learned that Glasser was a spelling variation of Glaser, which happens to be German and Jewish (Ashkenazic), according to Ancestry.com.

The map below is a rendition of the Russian Empire during the 19th Century.

(Image Source: http://www.ulm.edu/innovator/lessons/revolt/pre1917/mapeuro19thc.html)