Archives for Interesting Tidbits - Page 2
Christian Keller’s hospital bill
I am writing you now to let you know how I am getting along since I returned from my visit with you. On Sept. 22 I had to go to the hospital and Sept. 30 I had to undergo an operation. I was rather surprised for the doctor had not told me beforehand that I would have to have another operation. All I thought was that he would give me some treatments. But all went…
Birth Certificates
In September 1942, the American women’s magazine Good Housekeeping published an article “Why you need a birth certificate.” “America has suddenly become aware of birth certificates,” it declared. Between 1940 and 1943, as the United States shifted into a wartime industrial economy, many native-born Americans faced difficulty proving that they were, in fact, citizens by birth. In the early 1940s, about 43 million Americans—nearly one-third of working-age population—had no such document. Their births had never…
Snippets, Anecdotes and Shorts
As I enter data into the family tree, I discover interesting snippets that I extract that would otherwise be buried in the thousands of records. Stories and anecdotes handed down in the family or written up in the local newspaper: One day William Giegerich's father Nick came in his grocery store (in Canton) and told him "You know somebody shot at me this morning." What William didn't tell him was that he'd been cleaning his…
Addie’s Duck
This incident happened at the home of Addie Hanning Weiler when she lived alone in Loveland, OH, after her husband, Rev. William Weiler had passed away. It was the custom of the Paul Weiler family to visit her regularly almost every week. This was to do her weekly grocery shopping and see what else might be needed. Daughter Ophelia had brought to her a cute, small duck which had been given to her children as…
Observations
As I go through the documents and photos, I have made various observations: None of the photos ever show the women pregnant, and yet most were pregnant most of their lives. In the few photos that show hands, married people often don't have wedding rings. I noticed this in photos of my maternal great grandparents Addie and Rev. Weiler, as well as a photo of Theo and Susan Hanning. Some of the people in a…
North Side Convergence
I discovered that multiple branches of my tree lived in North Side, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I was born at exactly the same time. They probably were riding on the same trolleys and shopping at the same stores. Earnest Thornton and Helen Strawser, my paternal grandparents, moved to North Side Pittsburgh around 1929 to find work. William Weiler and his daughter Louise Weiler (my maternal grandmother), moved to North Side Pittsburgh in 1927 to pastor a…