Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

In the year leading up to the 1932 Summer Olympic Games, my grandfather, Harry Foltz, hitched a ride from Portland, Oregon down to Los Angeles to be a spectator. But that spontaneous change in scenery became much more than just a fanciful holiday. He ended up settling in Pasadena, California, and with that move, LA and its surrounding suburbs became the new fixture for the Foltz family. Some time around 2016 or 2017, my uncle, Roy Foltz, called me in a seemingly talkative mood one evening while I was still stuck at the office working. He began heading down memory lane, touching on all sorts of topics that related to the past. And unfortunately it took me a few minutes to realize I'd need to jot down some notes if I was ever to remember any of the stories he was regaling. One of the tales took me by much surprise, as he noted that his father had worked as an extra in the background of old movies to make some extra money when he had first arrived in LA. It was the Depression Era, so ...

I think it's possible that without my 5th great grandfather, Isaac Wilcox, I may never have become as infatuated with genealogy as I am. He was supposed to be my ticket into the lineage society, Daughters of the American Revolution. My great grandmother, Ethel (Hinman) Eggenberger, and her daughter, Vera, had become members based on his alleged participation as a patriot in the war for independence. However, when his records didn't hold up under the scrutiny of modern day genealogical standards, he became that enigma for me that has held my interest ever since. While I did, eventually, gain admittance into the DAR (via another ancestor's service), Isaac has remained a constant question mark for me. Upon submitting my original application to DAR's offices in D.C., the genealogist assigned to verify my case, wrote me a kind rejection letter explaining why Isaac Wilcox was no longer considered a "valid" patriot. It turned out that when this registrar did their d...

After my maternal great aunt, Frances (Dean) Wise, passed away in 2019, her daughter saw it fit to ship me two of the enlarged, framed photographs that had adorned her walls in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They had hung above the ancestral bed that had once belonged to her great grandmother, Elizabeth (Pitcock) Rockwell, who happened to be my 3rd great grandmother. I was already well acquainted with the two pictures, seeing as I was already in possession of much smaller versions in the photo albums I had inherited from my grandmother (Frances' sister). But I was stoked to add the framed stills to my personal collection, all the same. The frames themselves are pretty unique as they are made with sturdy wood and convex bubble glass over the picture. My best guess is that the frame may date back to the 1930s or '40s. The other thing that makes the photographs interesting is the fact they were hand-painted to bring color to minute details within the image, such as rosy cheeks. The smaller vers...

At the June 2018 Southern California Genealogical Society's Genealogy Jamboree event in Burbank, California, I had the pleasure of sitting down with The Photo Detective, Maureen Taylor, on the convention floor. She was offering immediate, in-person consultations on two photos for just $20. I couldn't pass up this opportunity to get her expertise on a photo of my 3rd great grandmother (actually two of my 3rd great grandmothers!). I admit I was a little intimidated. Although I had been studying my tree for years, I was still a baby genealogist and was rather green when it came to doing research the right way. Maureen was already well-known and established, so this was kind of like meeting a celebrity in genealogy circles. And I could tell she meant business when we began our session and she broke out her audio-set with a microphone that helped amplify her voice above the buzz of the expo floor. I asked if it was okay to record our session and her response was, "Absolutely!...

In 1873, my 3rd great grandparents, John and Margaret (Marshall) Dean, were living along Wheeling Creek in West Virginia. They had been married for about 20 years and had raised 7 children by that point. John followed in his father's footprints making a living as a blacksmith, and Margaret took care of their home. Relying only on the fact that they never separated or divorced and were able to pose for a family photo together later in life with their grown children, I would surmise their marriage was a fairly happy and satisfying one. The Dean Family (Front Row L to R: Joseph Dean, John Dean, Margaret (Marshall) Dean, Athe Dean;  Back Row L to R: Ralph Dean, Ben Dean, Chester Dean, John A. Dean) However, in September of 1873, it would seem Margaret had a bone to pick with John. A piece of their dirty laundry was aired when she published a post in the local newspaper for all the neighbors to see! "Notice.,"  The Wheeling Daily Register,  Ohio County, West Virginia, 27 Sep 1...

One of the conflicts that Americans participated in, which I know the least about, happens to be the Vietnam War. I won't even pretend to know the first thing about what sparked the initial standoff between North and South Vietnam, nor why the United States felt the need to become involved.  With minimal research, I can report that the war spanned 20 years, from 1955 to 1975, with ties to the Cold War which was "raging on" as the backdrop. North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union, and South Vietnam had the U.S. and other anti-communist countries backing its interests. The U.S. military was actively involved from 1965, under President Lyndon B. Johnson's command, until its withdrawal in 1973 during President Richard Nixon's term. According to the Department of Defense Statistical Information Analysis Division (SIAD), nearly 60,000 American service members died as a result of the war, with another 300,000+ wounded in action. Many of those men had not enlisted in...

My paternal grandparents were married on the 9th of April in 1939. It was a Sunday in San Bernardino, California. Harry and Alta (Eggenberger) Foltz, 9 Apr 1939, San Bernardino, California. But it wasn't just any Sunday in April, it happened to be Easter Sunday. They were accompanied by two of their friends from the Pasadena area, where they were living at the time, Jesse E. Chamberlain and A. E. Myers Jr. Jesse was a laundry mangler residing nearby Alta, so I assume they met by chance within their community. Myers and his family ran the restaurant that Harry bartended at on the corner of Orange Grove and Fair Oaks avenues in Pasadena. It appeared to be a very small affair, indeed, as I know Harry's out-of-state mom was not able to be in attendance and I assume the same went for Alta's out-of-state mom, as well, their fathers both having passed away when they were younger. Harry and Alta (Eggenberger) Foltz with marriage witnesses Jesse Chamberlain and A. E. Myers, Jr., 9 A...

It's ironic that the most colorful character in my family tree was born with the surname of White! Related to me only through marriage to a great granduncle, Gertrude was anything but plain, white bread. "Grandma Dean, 1912"; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Nov 2024), user-submitted photo by Shannon Katz-Dean on 11 Feb 2018. The images left behind of Gertrude clearly shine a light on this woman's wild and free spirit. She certainly didn't maintain societal norms for her day.  "Gertrude White";  Ancestry  (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Nov 2024), user-submitted photo by Shannon Katz-Dean on 29 Aug 2017. Born in 1893 in Upshur County, West Virginia to farming parents of modest means, the U.S. censuses show her education spanned at least from age 7 through 17 reaching the 8th grade, which is already far superior to the majority of the men in my family tree who typically dropped out of school around the age of 12 or so to begin earn...

Coincidentally this weekend, I sat down for lunch at Camarillo Airport with a couple who I met on a genealogy research trip and who happen to own a private plane! Plus, one is the Air Boss for the Wings Over Camarillo annual air show in California. Planes truly seem to be this week's overall theme. We chatted a bit about what motivated them to start flying, as well as touching on some of my own family's aviation history. I've never taken up too much interest in the business of airlines or flights or even space exploration, though I've certainly been intrigued with others who have. My aunt is a retired flight attendant, a cousin worked for Boeing (I think on the B-52 bombers? I likely don't have my facts straight there), and my maternal grandfather was a part of the Apollo 11 mission. Aside from taking commercial flights to my vacation destinations and one helicopter ride over the Pt. Mugu and Malibu area, I've never really had any further connection to planes. ...