Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

Alta and Harry Foltz, my paternal grandparents, had far too little time with me. In fact, Alta only met me while I was still in the womb. She died just a couple months before I was born. Harry had a couple years with me before he passed, but I don't have any memories of him -- just photos of the two of us. Harry Foltz and granddaughter Kira D. Foltz, Gardena, California, 1987. But both of them shared another loss of time spent with a loved one -- a far closer connection. They each lost their father when they were 13 years of age. Alta and Harry Foltz New Year's Day at the Millhouse's, Hawthorne, California, 1984. Harry's dad, George LeeRoy Foltz, died in November of 1923. I don't even believe I have a photo of father and son together. Myrtle and George LeeRoy Foltz wedding portrait, Vliets, Kansas, 1902. On one postcard addressed to Harry's mom, George LeeRoy did sign it as "Pappa," so perhaps that is what his kids knew him by growing up. Otherwise, he...

In a previous blog post on my Great Grandaunt Mary , I wrote about her quilting hobby and how I coincidentally found a photo of her sewing a pattern that wound up in the hands of a cousin whom I had just met online (all due to this blog!). Quilt made by Mary (Dixon) Stalnaker Hogg and gifted to Nancy Hogg.  Photo supplied by Nancy Hogg, 2022. Mary wasn't the only quilter in the family though. Her mother, Lizzie (Rockwell) Dixon, and grandmother, Elizabeth (Pitcock) Rockwell, had also been avid quilters. In 2009, our family attended a small reunion outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma at my Great Aunt Frances (Dean) Wise's home to celebrate her 90th birthday and her sister Thelma's 81st. It was the perfect opportunity to raid Frances' closet, figuratively speaking! She gave us the low down on several family heirlooms and photos hung about her bedroom, including the many handmade quilts she had stored in a box, as well as two garments she produced herself. Both she and Thelma are n...

My great grandfather George Foltz had two middle names, Lee and Roy. Nowhere in his parents' families do any of his given names exist, so it's unknown what led to him being named George LeeRoy. George LeeRoy Foltz But was he named George LeeRoy? Or was it George Lee Roy? Or how about George LeRoy or Leroy? In the end, he went by the nickname Roy, so I guess it doesn't really matter. But there are certainly historical documents out there that list him with all of those variations. And even on his homestead application, 3 of those variations are included across just 2 pages....and he corrected one of them to LeeRoy, inserting a missing "e"! Plus, he signed his name "Georg LeeRoy Foltz" on another page (oddly dropping the "e" from George)! What's that about? Is it likely that going by Roy seemed the simplest way to always get it right? Well, if that's the case, then why go and name your son Charles Leroy Foltz?  Or did they name him LeRo...