Geni.com and hubris.

Genealogists should avoid Geni.com.

The genealogical website, Geni.com is displaying hubris. They are following the Netflix model of taking their service and drastically changing the terms of service. What was a free account for storing your family tree is now a pay service. For free you can only add 100 people. I have several thousand people in my tree so I cannot add people any more. Geni used to be my primary place for storing family information, but I am switching to the free tree storage at Ancestry.com. I will be migrating photos to Ancestry over the next few months. Why would anyone pay $7.95 a month for the rest of your life ... and eternity if you want your children and grandchildren to be able to add to the tree after your own death. Ancestry offers the same service for free, and with a paid account to Ancestry you get actual transcribed primary documents. All Geni offers you is access to your own tree, and access to anyone else that has a match in their tree. You do not need a paid account to access your tree in Ancestry, just a paid account to access matches in other trees. In Ancestry you just have to do it once, get a 1 month account or a one year account. Geni wants $95.4 a year just to access your own data.

Better use of $100 would be to buy a terabyte hard drive and use Ancestry.com to store your tree for free.

Remembrances of Thomas Patrick Norton II as he awaits death in a hospice at age 91

Remembrances of Thomas Patrick Norton II (1920-2011) as he awaits death in a hospice at age 91.

I had two scares over the past two year where I thought my dad had passed away. When someone is approaching 90 it is always on your mind that he is mortal. He was still living alone at his condo in Lake Hiawatha. I had arranged for a home health care aid to come three days a week to help wash him and she would stay for several hours. I would come on the days she was not there just to keep him company and clean up and make sure he was eating his food and drinking enough liquids. Before I had made myself keys, I would ring the doorbell and he would open the door. This time no answer, I rang and rang and rang. I thought my dad had passed away. I called the condo association to see if they had a key and they told me to call a locksmith. A woman came into the building and she let me in the outer door and I knocked again on the inner door and tried to force the lock open with a coat hanger. My dad then opened the door and asked "what is the commotion about." I explained that I had been ringing the doorbell for 30 minutes and then I hit the buzzer again. But now being inside I could hear the buzzer going off upstairs. He said "next time use my button, it is the middle one."

The second scare was when I had my own keys and I let myself in. There was my dad on the floor on his back seemingly lifeless. I ran over and gasped out "dad", and he opened his eyes and said "Richard. I have been waiting for you, help me up."I asked what happened and he explained "My glasses fell on the floor and when I got on my knees to pick them up, I didn't have the strength to lift myself back up again, so I slept on the floor until you came. I tried crawling over to the couch but I don't have the upper body strength I had just a few months ago." I thought of having him move in with me, but the bedrooms are upstairs, and the last time he was over for dinner he could not make it up the stairs without a struggle. I then went on a search for an assisted living facility.

September 11, 2001 remembrances on 10th anniversary

September 11, 2001 remembrances on 10th anniversary.



For September 11, 2001 I was in Baltimore, Maryland at the Society for Bimolecular Screening (SBS) trade show at the Baltimore Convention Center. I was working for ASDI at the time. I heard from the woman in the booth next to mine that her mother had called her to tell her that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. It was just after 9:00 am and the doors to the show had just opened. We both opened our laptops and connected to the Internet. Around 10:00 am they put on the big flat-screen television designed for broadcasting the talks at the show and the first image we saw was the first tower collapsing. People were quiet but there was occasional sobbing. Everyone who had one, was on their cell phones and rumors and panicking started. A man said that he just got a call from a friend in Washington and he was told that the convention center was a target. That caused people to panic and start to leave the building a little too quickly. People were outside and not sure of what to do, and then there was a roar from Air Force jets as they they engaged their afterburners. This caused people to panic even more. Baltimore is near Andrews Air Force Base and jets were being dispatched to protect the area airspace, but people were assuming the sounds they were hearing were passenger planes headed toward the convention center. A woman screamed something but I couldn’t hear what it was, but it caused people started to run down the street. One woman in a gray skirt-suit fell to the ground as people tried to rush past her. I walked back to one of the hotels with friends and we watched the events unfold on CNN. When we went to dinner later, walking down the streets was eerie. There were very few cars on the streets and several armored vehicles were now parked in front of some of the federal offices and the federal courthouse. There were also US Army vehicles in convoys moving down the streets or parked on street corners. Several buildings had a cluster of armed soldiers in front with M16s.

I drove a group of people back to New Jersey, Sophia Liang from Aurora Biomed in Vancouver and her father. They had a booth at the trade show and their next appointment was with Bristol Meyers Squibb in Princeton.

A few days later II went to Ground Zero with a woman I knew from the Internet, Judy Lanza, and I took photos and collected some ash that I now keep in an amber jar. I showed my Civil Defense badge and they let us into the inner area. They were having people collect any papers that survived the collapse of the towers or were from the airplanes. They had bins set up to drop off any papers that anyone found.

Nora B. Skinner (1903-1963) and Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) tombstone

Geni.com changes their model to push more people into the pay version

Geni.com changes their model to push more people into the pay version

The genealogical website Geni.com has changed their software and added new features to the pay Pro version of their website. The problem is that now users can no longer search for people in their tree. When you do you reach their paywall. This occurs even when the person is in your own tree that you created.

Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) Freudenberg

Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) aka Mae Winblad, was a housewife, and a cleaning and laundry woman. (b. February 16, 1895; 294 West Houston Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, USA - d. March 07, 1987; Christ Hospital, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA) Social Security Number 147188206.

Parents:

Her parents were John Edward Winblad I (1856-1914) aka Johan Edward Winblad, of Sweden; and Salmine Sophia Severine Pedersen (1862-1914) aka Salmina Olsdatter, of Norway. John was the son of Anton Julius Winblad I (1828-1901); and Elsa Maria Elisabeth Näslund (1829-1907) of Ytterlännäs, Sweden. Salmine was the daughter of Ole Mattias Pedersen (1822-1914) and Thea Johanne Torstensdatter (1825-1865) of Farsund, Norway.

Birth:

Maria was born in Greenwich Village in Manhattan on February 16, 1895. The New York City Birth Index incorrectly lists her as "Mary E. Weinblad".

Siblings:

Maria's siblings are: Anton Julius Winblad (1886-1975) aka Anthony Winblad, who married Eva Ariel Lattin (1892-1939) and after her death married Marguerite Van Rensselaer Schuyler (1891-1972) aka Marge Van Rensselaer Schuyler; Theodora Winblad (1888) who died as an infant; Mary Winblad (1889) who died as an infant; Otto Edward Winblad (1892) who died as an infant; John Edward Winblad II (1897-1899) aka Eddie Winblad, who died as a youth from pertussis; and Otto Perry Winblad (1902-1977) who was born in New Jersey and married Helen Louise Hollenbach (1905-1928) and after her death he married Leah Maria Way (1901-1986).

New Jersey:

The family moved out of Manhattan to live in the quiet of New Jersey around 1900. They had a new house built on Wayne Street in Jersey City. Otto Perry Winblad was born in 1902 in Jersey City.

Isle of Pines, Cuba:

In 1910 the family decided that they would move to the Isle of Pines in Cuba. John Winblad had wanted to be a plantation owner, and many other American families moved to the Isle of Pines during this time. Maria spent a year and a half in Cuba, where she rode a horse named "Happy". She said when she arrived in Cuba there was no one there to greet her, and she had to get help to find out how to get to the Isle of Pines from Havana.

Marriage:

She returned from Cuba to Jersey City on March 26, 1912 with her brother Otto. While in Jersey City she met Arthur Oscar Freudenberg I (1891-1968), who was a Sunday School teacher at Waverly Congregation Church. Maria was a very devout Lutheran at Trinity Scandinavian Church in Jersey City. Maria and Arthur married on February 28, 1914 at the Trinity Lutheran Church at 195 Claremont Avenue in Jersey City.

Death of parents:

Maria's father and mother attended her wedding, and then they went to Norway to visit family. Both parents died within a few months of each other in 1914. Otto Winblad was with them in Norway and returned to live with Maria and Arthur in Jersey City on July 6, 1915. On the same day that Otto arrived from Norway, Maria's brother, Anton and his wife Eva returned from Cuba with their two children: Anthony Leroy Winblad and Norman Edward Winblad. They brought with them Eva's two youngest brothers: Theodore Roosevelt Lattin; and Dewey Ernest Lattin. Eva's father and mother stayed in Cuba until 1924 and then settled in Lake Helen in Florida. Otto lived with Maria and Arthur from 1914 until he married in 1927.

Children:

Together Maria and Arthur had the following children: Naida Muriel Freudenberg (1915-1998) who married Burnett Peter Van Deusen (1913-1993) aka Peter Van Deusen; Selma Luise Freudenberg (1921-2009); and Helen Eloise Freudenberg (1928-1989) who had a child with Edward Ganley and later married John Earl Borland I (1924-1986) and later married Albert Brindley.

Abandoned by husband:

Around 1928 Arthur abandoned Maria, although he appears as the head of household in the 1930 census. The oral family tradition has been that Arthur ran off with a burlesque stripper. At the height of the depression, Maria lived on Claremont Avenue in Jersey City and raised her three children earning money by being the superintendent of a four-unit rental property owned by someone else. She took in laundry, scrubbed floors, and prepared meals for other families. She did all that she could to keep the family housed and fed. Arthur never provided any money and lived with his mistress. Maria wore her wedding ring for the rest of her life.

Middle years:

When Maria's children got married she split her time between them, living at their houses. She lived in Paramus for a number of years and also spent time with Pete and Naida at their home.

Broken hip:

In the late 1970s she broke her hip in Paramus and was confined to the Lutheran nursing home in Jersey City.

Death:

She died in 1987 of a heart attack at age 92 at Christ Hospital.

Burial:

She was buried in Bayview Cemetery. In the same plot are the ashes of her daughter, Helen; and her brother who died as an infant, John Edward Winblad II.

Archive:

Many of her letters are extant and archived.

Memories of Maria Elizabeth Winblad:

Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) wrote on February 20, 2011. When my parents moved to Paramus, Maria lived with us for several years. She did the cooking and used to wash me in the kitchen sink. It is one of my earliest memories about her. Everyone called her "Nanny". She could read and speak Norwegian and had a Norwegian bible. She was very religious and would go to church events during the week and never miss a Sunday sermon at the Lutheran church. She was a very good cook and once told me that she cooked professionally at one time. She would make Swedish meatballs in gravy and would never buy ground beef, she would buy whole cuts and grind the meat herself. She also made excellent desserts, apple pies and lemon meringue pies. If I asked her what was going to be for desert she would tease me and say "apple sauce". Another dish she made that I enjoyed was Harvard beets, its beets in a sweet and vinegary sauce. I am not sure of the year she broke her hip but I was there when it happened, she was standing in the doorway to my room and talking to me while I was in bed when she just leaned against the doorway and collapsed, her hip had fractured and could no longer hold her weight. After the hospital she moved into the Lutheran Home in Jersey City and I would visit her. The home was a terrible place, but she was happy there, because she had volunteered there was she was younger and she still would visit other rooms in her wheelchair and share whatever cookies or candies I brought her. The home had a mix of demented patients and the infirmed. Some of the demented patients would be screaming or crying continuously. She had a heart attack in 1987 and was moved to Christ Hospital and I visited her the night she died.

Eulogy:

Her eulogy reads as follows: "Mae Freudenberg was born Saturday, February 16, 1895 in New York City. Her parents were members of the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church in downtown Jersey City. Mae was a member of Trinity for most of her life, and her children were all baptized there also many of her grandchildren. She taught Sunday School and was a member of Glad Tjeneste. On the 95th anniversary of Trinity, Mae received a certificate of recognition for her years of faithful service to the church. For about fifteen years, Mae was a volunteer of services to the Lutheran Home on Nelson Avenue in Jersey City."

Source:

Researched and written by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) for Findagrave starting on June 16, 2003.

Update:

Updated by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) on February 20, 2011 with minor fixes.

Last night before bedtime I discovered a whole new side of the Norton family in Boston, Massachusetts

Last night before bedtime I discovered a whole new side of the Norton family in Boston, Massachusetts.

I was going through Familysearch on Monday, July 18, 2011. Familysearch is the Mormon website, they have lots of data but the absolute worst user interface. For the ten years I had been searching in it, the database would not allow me to search for the junction between two last names. They finally allowed those searches sometime this year. Last night I searched in the database for any Mulligan - Norton children or marriages and the result was James T. Norton (1849-1898) and Catherine A. Norton (1851-1913) Murphy of Boston, Massachusetts. The dates fit perfectly as a sibling of Patrick Norton. Patrick came from Boston and was naturalized in Boston according to a photocopy of a naturalization record that was passed down in the family. The connection to my Michael Norton (c1825-?) and Bridget Mulligan (c1825-?) is still tentative but all the given names exist in my side of the family too. There is no document that ties James T. Norton and Catherine A. Norton (1851-1913) Murphy to my Patrick J. Norton, but I may find a funeral notice that mentions the family in New Jersey. The only evidence so far is the name of the parents. I called the cemetery on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 and the said Catherine A. Norton (1851-1913) Murphy was buried with John Murphy, age 14, who died on March 25, 1895; and Thomas Murphy who died on March 12, 1969 at age 84.

Tombstone of Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) and Nora Belle Conklin (1902-1963)

Tombstone of Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) and Nora Belle Conklin (1902-1963) taken on July 15, 2011 at Hillside Cemetery, Lyndhurst, Bergen County, NJ, USA. Image by Lucy (#47342948) via Findagrave.

Siegmund Freudenberg (1828-1908)

Siegmund Freudenberg (1828-1908) aka Sigmund Freudenberg was a worker at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York and Philadelphia. (b. 1828, possibly Berlin, Germany - March 23, 1908, Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, New York, USA)

Birth:

He was born in 1828 in Berlin where his children were born. He listed "Prussia" in the 1870 census as his place of birth.

Religion:

Sigmund Freudenberg was Jewish.

First marriage:

Sigmund married Clara Horwitz (1835-c1861) on January 3, 1856 in Eisleben, Germany. Eisleben was the hometown of Martin Luther. The wedding was Jewish and Sigmund and Clara were listed as Jewish. Clara was transcribed as "Anna". Sigmund Freudenberg was working as a "kaufmann", or tradesman. The full text in German is as follows: "1857. Laut Verhandlung vom 22. Dezember 1856, (Vol I, fol. 258, den Akten der Beglaubigungen der Heiraten unter den Juden betreffend) haben der Kaufmann Siegmund Freudenberg zu Berlin und die Jungfrau Clara Harwitz, Tochter des verstorbenen Kaufmanns Aronn Harwitz, zu Eisleben geboren, am vierten März 1832, welche zu der jüdischen Glaubensgemeinschaft zugehören, erklärt, daß sie fortan als ehelich miteinander verbunden betrachten wollen. Eisleben, am dritten Januar eintausend achthundert siebenundfünfzig. Schnorbusch Protokollführer." Translated into English it reads: "1857. According to law of December 22, 1856, (Volume I, folio 258, the files of the legalization of marriages among Jews) have the merchant Siegmund Freudenberg of Berlin and the virgin Clara Horwitz, daughter of the late businessman Aronne Horwitz of Eisleben, born on the March 4, 1832, which belong to the Jewish community, declared that henceforth it will consider as legitimate linked. Eisleben, January 3, 1857. Schnorbusch, secretary."

Berlin:

By 1858 he was living in Berlin where his children were born. The first clue that the family was from Berlin came from the World War I draft registration of Richard F. Freudenberg (1896-1988) in 1918. Richard was his grandson.

Children:

Maximillian S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921) who was born in Berlin, Germany; Alfred Freudenberg (1859–?); and Gertrude Freudenberg (1867–1940) who married Martin Schoenwald (1861-1941). All the children were born in Berlin. That information comes from the 1870 census.

Death of first wife:

Clara most likely died in childbirth in Germany or when she arrived in the US between 1861 and 1863.

Emigration:

Sigmund and his children came to the United States around 1863-1865 and they appear in the 1870 US census.

Second marriage:

He married Augusta Hermann (1835-1904) between 1865 and 1868. Augusta was from Walldorf, Saxon, Germany according to the 1870 census.

Children:

Kate Freudenberg (1869–bef1880); Carry Hildise Freudenberg (1871–bef1880); Harriette Freudenberg (1871–bef1880); and Jennie Freudenberg (1872–1943) who married an Eidelman. All were born in Manhattan.

Manhattan and Philadelphia:

In 1870 he was living in Manhattan, New York City, New York and was listed as "Siegmund Freudenberg". He was an agent for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. He resided in Ward 15, District 12 in Manhattan. In 1880 he was living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at age 51. Siegmund resided at 935 North 6th Street. His occupation was listed as "life insurance". In 1905 he was living in Manhattan, New York City, New York and was listed as the retired father-in-law of Joseph Eidelman.

Death:

He died on March 23, 1908 at 2 East 116th Street in Harlem in Manhattan. His death certificate was number "9795" and he died of asthma with chronic bronchitis.

Burial:

Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Relationship:

Sigmund Freudenberg (1828-1908) was the second great-grandfather of Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ).

Source:

Researched and written by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) for Findagrave starting on September 10, 2003.

Updates:

"Siegmund Freudenberg" (1830-1908) who died on March 23, 1908 in Manhattan was a suspect for being our Sigmund but there was no evidence. The family oral tradition was the Max came alone as crew on a ship and stayed on in the US illegally by "jumping ship". Sigmund never appeared in the 1880 or 1900 census with other family members and he was not buried with the other family members in Cypress Hill Cemetery in Brooklyn; or in Flower Hill Cemetery in North Bergen, New Jersey. On June 6, 2011, Kevin Borland discovered more information on Sigmund Freudenberg from the 1870 census that contained both Max and Sigmund together. The information was improperly transcribed at Ancestry.com but was correctly transcribed at Familysearch.com. This let him connect the Sigmund that died in 1908 to our Sigmund. He wrote: "I also found Sigmund Freudenburg's second wife Augusta, after Clara died. Sigmund had a [daughter] Gertrude, and a [daughter] Jennie, hence the origin of the name Jenny Gertrude. We'll have to search Philadelphia records to prove it's the same family, but I think it is, because Max is in the household in 1870 when they lived in New York, before Sigmund shows up in Philadelphia 1880. Sigmund sold life insurance. His office was across the street from the US Mint. Siegmund Freudenberg died March 23, 1908 in Manhattan. Up until then, he was living with his daughter Jennie (Freudenberg) Eidelman." Kevin then found him in the 1880 census and the 1905 census and found the names of the children from his second wife. On June 8, 2011, I found the marriage online and found that Max and Clara were married in a Jewish ceremony. I also found the death date for his second wife, Augusta. The information makes sense since Max ended up working at the same company as Sigmund, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The name Sigmund Freudenberg is very rare so that the odds of two of them born around the the same time being confused is remote.

Augusta Hermann (1835-1904) Freudenberg

Augusta Hermann (1835-1904) Freudenberg (b. 1835; Walldorf, Saxon, Germany - d. November 22, 1904; Manhattan, New York, USA)

Parents:
Simon Hermann and Golda Hermann according to her death certificate.

Birth:
She was born in Walldorf, Saxon, Germany. The information came from the 1870 US census for Manhattan.

Religion:
Augusta Hermann was Jewish.

Hoboken, New Jersey:
There is an Augusta Hermann in the 1860 census in Hoboken, New Jersey who may be our Augusta.

Marriage:
She married Siegmund Freudenberg around 1868.

Children:
Kate Freudenberg (1869–before 1880); Carry Hildise Freudenberg (1871–before 1880); Harriette Freudenberg (1871–before 1880); and Jennie Freudenberg (1872–1943) Eidelman.

Death:
She died on November 22, 1904 at age 69 in Manhattan. Her death certificate number was "38196". She died under the name "Augusta Freudenberg". She had been hospitalized from September 6, 1904 to November 22, 1904. The cause of death was "carcinoma of stomach" with "mitral regurgitation".

Burial:
Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. It is a Jewish cemetery.

Schoenwalds in Washington Cemetery

Schoenwalds in Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York

Martin Schoenwald (1868-1941), died on July 23, 1941

Gertrude Freudenberg (1868-1940) Schoenwald , died on July 27, 1940

Joseph Schoenwald, August 29, 1936

Philip Schoenwald, August 15, 1907

Rosa Schoenwald, no information

Frieda Schoenwald, August 11, 1941

Harry Schoenwald, April 13, 1906

Stephen Schoenwald, August 12, 1917, age 3

Yosemite

I went to Yosemite National Park on Monday, June 20, 2011. I left from Sacramento around 9:00 am and arrived in Groveland, California to eat around 11:30. We then went into the park and visited Bridalveil Fall. You can walk up close to the base of the waterfall and get soaked. As you approach the air gets very cool from the evaporating water absorbing all the surrounding heat. The wind also picks up and is forceful enough to make people unsteady on their feet. Next was a visit to Lower Yosemite Falls then a hike to Mirror lake.

Image: Behind me is El Capitan and a seasonal waterfall that comes from the melting ice pack.

Sigmund Freudenberg (1828-1908) marriage in Eisleben, Germany

Sigmund Freudenberg (1828-1908) aka Siegmund Freudenberg, and Clara Horwitz (1835-c1861) married on January 3, 1856 in Eisleben, Germany.

"1857. Laut Verhandlung vom 22. Dezember 1856, (Vol I, fol. 258, den Akten der Beglaubigungen der Heiraten unter den Juden betreffend) haben der Kaufmann Siegmund Freudenberg zu Berlin und die Jungfrau Clara Harwitz, Tochter des verstorbenen Kaufmanns Aronn Harwitz, zu Eisleben geboren, am vierten März 1832, welche zu der jüdischen Glaubensgemeinschaft zugehören, erklärt, daß sie fortan als ehelich miteinander verbunden betrachten wollen. Eisleben, am dritten Januar eintausend achthundert siebenundfünfzig. Schnorbusch Protokollführer."

German to English:
1857. According to law of December 22, 1856, (Volume I, folio 258, the files of the legalization of marriages among Jews) have the merchant Siegmund Freudenberg of Berlin and the virgin Clara Horwitz, daughter of the late businessman Aronne Horwitz of Eisleben, born on the March 4, 1832, which belong to the Jewish community, declared that henceforth it will consider as legitimate linked. Eisleben, January 3, 1857. Schnorbusch, secretary.

Kevin Borland on Sigmund Freudenberg (1828-1908)

Kevin Borland wrote on June 7, 2011: "If you're up, do you have a copy of where we got Max Freudenberg's birth date. I see there are two different birth years on the Internet. Also, I think I found Clara Horwitz' paternal grandparents, Abraham Horwitz and Pauline Froelich. I also found Sigmund Freudenburg's second wife Augusta, after Clara died. Sigmund had a full-sister Gertrude, and a half-sister Jennie, hence the origin of the name Jenny Gertrude. We'll have to search Philadelphia records to prove it's the same family, but I think it is, because Max is in the household in 1870 when they lived in New York, before Sigmund shows up in Philadelphia 1880. Sigmund sold life insurance. His office was across the street from the US Mint. Siegmund Freudenberg died March 23, 1908 in Manhattan. Up until then, he was living with his daughter Jennie (Freudenberg) Eidelman."

Vegetarianism

My son, Daniel told me today that he decided to not eat chicken or fish anymore and to make his vegetarianism stricter. Today is May 22, 2011 and we were driving back from seeing the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. He had stopped eating beef on April 16, 2000. It was his sister, Sara's, 9th birthday. Sara wanted steak which was her favorite food and she asked me let her help prepare it. When she saw the bloody piece of meat she said she could not eat it. Bother Daniel and Sara said they would not eat meat from mammals anymore. I asked him what made him decide to become stricter and he said it was reading about vegetarianism on the Internet.

The missing Freudenberg child that died on May 1, 1879

A second Freudenberg mystery solved today thanks to the revamped Familysearch.org. All this information was probably there in their database for a decade but was inaccessible because of their terrible user interface that restricted even the simplest searches. I always knew my grandfather was 1 of 15 children, my mom told me that and it was confirmed in the census. Of the 15 only 9 lived to adulthood and only 5 went on to have grandchildren. Today I found the death of the missing, 15th child, it was their first and he died, un-named on May 1, 1879.

Familysearch.org

The Church of the Latter Day Saints finally upgraded their website after about 15 years. The old site was so frustrating. It would not you do a standard Boolean search by adding what data you want into the fields. It always demanded that certain fields be filled in and other not filled in. The result was I could never search for say "Freudenberg" and "Lindauer". It always demanded that I had to put in a first name, or could only search on one name. The error message would read: "If you enter a last name without a first name, you must not fill in any other field except a country."

Since the new search has been in place I have been able to find dozens of birth and deaths that were in the database but were inaccessible because of the odd search restrictions.

Maximillian S. Freudenberg III (1893-1900)

A minor family mystery was solved today. I found the death of Maximillian S. Freudenberg III (1893-1900). I always thought he died as an infant then a years ago I found him still alive in the 1900 US census in Hoboken. He didn't live much longer past the census and died at age 7. The name was a curse, his younger brother, Maximillian S. Freudenberg II (1881) only lived for 11 days. I just hope he wasn't buried in Hoboken Cemetery. They are notorious for reselling the graves of children if there was no tombstone.

Mrs. James Clarkson, Mrs. Murray Goldstein, Mrs. Paul Russell, Mrs. Frederick Sortine, Mrs. Thomas Norton and Mrs. George Hollister

What the well dressed women of Paramus will wear is shown by members of the Ridge Ranch Social Club last Tuesday night at their fashion show in the multi-purpose room of the school. Pictured in their casual attire for the show are Mrs. James Clarkson, Mrs. Murray Goldstein, Mrs. Paul Russell, Mrs. Frederick Sortine, Mrs. Thomas Norton and Mrs. George Hollister.

The image is circa 1955-1960 in Paramus, New Jersey. Shown is Selma Louise Norton (1921-2009).

Louis Julius Lindauer (1838-1915) in the 1905 New York census

Louis Julius Lindauer (1838-1915) in the 1905 New York census living at 201 88th Street in Manhattan.

• Louis Julius Lindauer (1838-1915)
• Grace Lindauer (1873-?) Massey, who lived till at least 1930
• Jennie Lindauer (1874-?) who lived till at least 1905
• Ada Lindauer (1882-?) who lived till at least 1930

Postcard from Sopie Marie Olsdatter (1852-1924) Nilsen to Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) Freudenberg on January 15, 1910

Postcard from Sopie Marie Olsdatter (1852-1924) Nilsen to Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) Freudenberg on January 15, 1910. The text has been translated from Norwegian to English: "Miss Maria Winblad, New York. Dear niece Maria, Aunt Sofie [ Sofie Olesdatter of Farsund, Norway] would now like to send you her and grandfather's [Ole Matthais Pedersen] New Year's greetings and everything good in this year is wished to you; greetings to Tony [Anton Julius Winblad II]."

Ralph Bozarth I (1917-2002) and Naida Muriel Freudenberg (1915-1998), and Burnett Van Deusen (1913-1993) at the 1980 Winter Olympics

Ralph Milton Bozarth I (1917-2002) with his hand raised, and Naida Muriel Freudenberg (1915-1998), and Burnett Peter Van Deusen (1913-1993) at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York. Ralph Milton Bozarth was living at Lake Placid at the time. Image from the collection of Tracey DePaola.

1914 as the annus horribilis with three deaths in the family in Farsund, Norway

1914 as the annus horribilis with three deaths in the family in Farsund, Norway. The first to die was Ole Mathias Pedersen (1822-1914) on August 24, 1914. His daughter came when he was dying or for the funeral. I haven't found her arriving in Norway on a ship manifest yet to know the exact date. John Edward Winblad I (1856-1914) died of cancer on September 24, 1914, just 31 days after the death of Ole. Salmine Sophia Severine Olesdatter Pedersen (1862-1914) died on December 18, 1914 of a heart attack, just 79 days after her husband (2 months, 18 days). All three deaths are recorded on the same page of the Farsund churchbook.

Eugene Freudenberg II (1925-1945) tombstone

Eugene Freudenberg II (1925-1945) was a private in the US Army, and was killed in action in World War II (b. June 29, 1925, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA - d. January 24, 1945, Luzon, Philippines) Military Service Number 42014477.

Eugene enlisted as a private in the US Army on September 17, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey. He had dropped out of high school after one year and wasn't employed. He was killed in the Battle of Luzon on January 24, 1945 just 15 days into the US invasion. Eugene was buried at the Santa Barbara Number 1 Cemetery in the Philippines and was disinterred on August 30, 1948. His skeletal remains were reinterred at Beverly National Cemetery in New Jersey on February 11, 1949. They initially used a Star of David on his plot because they thought the name Freudenberg was Jewish. His mother, Florence, went to visit the cemetery on October 24, 1949 and told the cemetery officials that he was Lutheran and they replaced the Star of David with a Latin Cross in the photo.

Image by Michael X. Bell on January 14, 2011.

Note to self: Don't eat any nuts

I just remembered that I cant seem to digest any nuts at all. On January 4, 2010 I bought a fruitcake filled with walnuts, and pecans, and maraschino cherries, and devoured about 25% of it over two days. Last night I was up all night with cramps and woke up to diarrhea and all the nuts were undigested. The same thing happened when I ate a whole bag of granola last year. My grandmother died in 1987 but she used to take off the nuts from anything she was eating, and she told me she couldn't digest them. Back then I had no idea what she was taking about. Now I understand with great clarity. Here is the fruitcake I bought from Costco. It has just as many nuts and fruit on the inside.