Standing from left to right are: possibly Josephine Smith (1875-1962) who was the wife of John Joseph Burke I (1868-1939); Mary (Mamie) Ellen Burke (1870-1957); and John Joseph Burke I (1868-1939). Sitting from left to right are: Mary (May) Margaret Burke (1890-1949) who was the wife of Thomas Patrick Norton I (1891-1968) and daughter of John Joseph Burke; Sarah Jane Carr (1863-1950) who was the wife of Patrick J. Norton (1856-1905); and possibly Helen (Eenie) Marie Maher (1895-1974) or one of her siblings. The photograph is from around 1920 taken at the New Jersey shore.

Sarah Jane Carr (1863-1950) death certificate

Sarah Jane Carr (1863-1950) death certificate

Katherine Carr (1865-1951) and Mary Frances Kennedy (1898-1982) circa 1945 in New York City

From left to right are: Katherine Carr (1865-1951); and Mary Frances Kennedy (1898-1982) aka Mae Kennedy, circa 1945. Image from the collection of Ann Elizabeth O'Malley (1933- ).

James Joseph Kennedy (1870-1926) and Katherine Carr (1872-1951) in the 1920 census

1920 US Census, New Jersey:

• Enumeration District 1482, Sheet 35B, Line 58-63, Image 65/80
• West 160th Street, Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York, USA

Household:

• James J. Kennedy, head, age 50, immigrated 1888, naturalized 1891, plasterer, b. Ireland
• Katherine Kennedy, wife, age 48, immigrated 1890, naturalized 1891, b. Ireland
• Katherine Kennedy, daughter, age 22, telephone operator
• Thomas Kennedy, son, age 19, automobile salesman
• Joseph Kennedy, son, age 15, office work
• James Kennedy, son, age 12, student

Household interpreted:

• James Joseph Kennedy (1870-1926) husband of Katherine Carr, aka Kitty Carr
• Katherine Carr (1872-1951) wife of James Kennedy
• Kathryn Kennedy (1897-1974) child of James Kennedy and Katherine Carr
• Thomas Kennedy (1901-1972) Child of James Kennedy and Katherine Carr
• Joseph Edward Kennedy (1905-1983) child of James Kennedy and Katherine Carr
• James Gerard Kennedy II (1907-1997) child of James Kennedy and Katherine Carr

Note: Daughter Mary Kennedy is married to Walter Hill and living apart from family

Source: US Census, New Jersey, 1920

Rankins and Gelchions in the 1910 US census

1910 US Census, New Jersey:

• New Jersey, Hudson County, Roll 890 Book 3, Page 90b
• Enumeration District 141, Sheet 01B, Line 11-16, Image 2/27
• 64 Rose Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA
• April 15, 1910

Household:

• George S. Rankin, head, age 42, shipping clerk, brass factory
• Maggie Rankin, wife, age, 38, married 5 years, 2 children born with 2 living, immigrated 1872
• Esther Rankin, daughter, age 17, wrapper, licorice factory
• Mary Rankin, daughter, age 15, packer, licorice factory
• Jane E. Gelchion, head, age 36, widowed, 8 children born with 5 living, immigrated 1876
• Matthew Gelchion, son, age 23, railroad checker
• Elizabeth Gelchion, daughter, age 20, shipping clerk, curtain factory
• Winifred Gelchion, daughter, age 18, operator, curtain factory
• Catherine Gelchion, daughter, age 16, operator, curtain factory
• Jennie Gelchion, daughter, age 13

Household Interpreted:

• George S.Rankin (1866-?) widower of Catherine Doyle and husband of Margaret X (1872-?)
• Margaret Hogan (1872-?) second wife of George S. Rankin (1866-?)
• Esther Rankin (1893-?) child of George Rankin and Catherine Doyle
• Mary Rankin (1895-?) child of George Rankin and Catherine Doyle
• Jane E. Hogan (1864-1949) widow of Martin Matthew Gelchion I (1858-1899)
• Matthew Gelchion (1886-?) child of Martin Matthew Gelchion and Jane E. Hogan
• Elizabeth Gelchion (1890-?) child of Martin Matthew Gelchion and Jane E. Hogan
• Winifred Gelchion (1891-?) child of Martin Matthew Gelchion and Jane E. Hogan
• Katherine (Kate) Gelchion (1892-?) child of Martin (Matthew) Matthew Gelchion and Jane E. Hogan
• Jane (Jennie) Gelchion (1895-?) child of Martin (Matthew) Matthew Gelchion and Jane E. Hogan

Notes: George S. Rankin's son William will marry Catherine Agnes McLaughlin on June 24, 1926, Catherine McLaughlin is Jane E. Hogan's 1st cousin once removed. Catherine Agnes McLaughlin is descended from Margaret (Maggie) Agnes Conboy (1866-1951) and Jane E. Hogan is descended from Winifred Conboy (c1833-c1905). Winifred Conboy is the aunt of Margaret Agnes Conboy. The two families must have met by sharing the same house.

Transcription and Interpretation: Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) March 13, 2003

Source: US Census, New Jersey, 1910

Charlotte C. Kahrar (1897-1963) on September 25, 1932

Charlotte C. Kahrar (1897-1963) on September 25, 1932 in her husband's 1932 Chevrolet Confederate Series BA Deluxe Sedan at the farm of Ernestus Skinner (1875-1958) in Port Orange, New York.

Original caption:

"Charlotte Freudenberg by her hubby's car. Now I ask you, isn't she a wow. Net Skinner's farm."

Notes

The caption reads: "Charlotte Freudenberg by her hubby's car. Now I ask you, isn't she a wow. Net Skinner's farm." Photograph from the collection of Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) and Nora Belle Conklin (1902-1963). The car is a 1932 Chevrolet Confederate BA Deluxe Sedan

Source

Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) archive

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

James Gerard Kennedy I (1907-1997) birth certificate

James Gerard Kennedy I (1907-1997) birth certificate

Clara Freudenberg (1889-1959) death certificate

Clara Freudenberg (1889-1959) never married. (b. September 09, 1889, 89 Adam Street, Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey 07030-2401, USA - d. November 02, 1959, Keansburg, Monmouth County, New Jersey, 07734, USA)

Birth:
Clara was the daughter of Maximillian Freudenberg (1857-1921) and Eloise Lindauer (1860-1935).

Siblings:
Max S. Freudenberg II (1881) who died as an infant; Ada Augusta Freudenberg (1885-1957) who married Ralph Kohlman (1885-1957) the printer; Charles Fredrick Freudenberg (1887-1942) who married Julia Mary Buttomer (1883-1973); Jenny Gertrude Freudenberg (1888) who died as an infant; Arthur Oscar Freudenberg I (1891-1968) a real estate broker who married Maria (Mae) Elisabeth Winblad III (1895-1987); Max Freudenberg III (1893-aft1900) who lived till at least 7 years old and appears on the 1900 census; Louis Julius Freudenberg (1894-1918) who was killed in action in the last battle of World War I; Harry Freudenberg (1895-1896) who died as an infant; Richard F. Freudenberg I (1896-1988) a chemical salesman who married Charlotte C. Kahrar (1897-1963); Eloise Freudenberg (1898) who died as an infant; Eugene Freudenberg (1900-1956) aka Gene Freudenberg who was a freight handler that married Florence Catherine Skinner (1901-1986) and died of emphysema from smoking; Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980) a typesetter for the New York Times who married Nora Belle Conklin (1905-1963) and after her death married Lottie Dombrowska (1916-1995); and Grace May Freudenberg (1904-1981) who married George Dewey Sanford I (1898-1965) who worked at a print shop.

Never Married:
Clara never married and she took care of her mother when the family lived in a 2-family house in Jersey City. Clara and her mother lived in the apartment under her brother: Richard F. Freudenberg (1896-1988).

Memories about Clara Freudenberg:
Selma Louise Freudenberg (1920- ) says: "she had a tragic love affair, then never married. She may have had some psychological problems. She went into a decline after losing her job and never recovered. Once Ralph Herman Freudenberg I (1931-1992) made a prank phone call to Clara by disguising his voice and asking her for a date. She got dressed up and of course no one showed up. Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987), the estranged wife of her brother, Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968), took care of Clara for a while, but found her to be too sarcastic and she ended up living in her brother Arthur's house, in Keansburg."

Death:
She died in Keansburg, New Jersey of a heart attack.

Obituary:
Her obituary appeared in the Jersey Journal on Wednesday, November 04, 1959 and reads as follows: "Freudenberg - Clara, on November 2, 1959, of 136 Cottage Street, Jersey City; sister of Arthur, Richard, Ralph, and Mrs. Grace Sanford. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral service at the Otto Mack Funeral Home, Central Avenue and Hutton Street, Jersey City, Thursday, November 5th at 2 p.m. Interment Flower Hill Cemetery, North Bergen."

Burial:
She was buried in the Freudenberg family plot in Flower Hill in North Bergen.

Relationship:
Clara Freudenberg (1889-1959) is the grandaunt of Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ).

Olene Andrea Pedersdatter (1819-1912) circa 1900 in Farsund, Norway

Olene Andrea Pedersdatter (1819-1912) Housewife (b. November 10, 1819, Herad parish, Farsund, Vest-Agder, Norway - d. 1912, Dalen farm, Kvinesdal, Vest-Agder, Norway)

Source:

Original image from the collection of Terje Jostein Skjoldal

Flier says lawyer sent him to Spain

Flier says lawyer sent him to Spain. Schneider names New Yorker as giving him ticket to join loyalist army. Promised $1,500 a month, but he was never paid, so he quit, witness declares - tells story to U.S. officials. Eddie Schneider, 25-year-old aviator, who recently returned to the United States after serving a month in the so-called Yankee Squadron with the Spanish Loyalists, said yesterday that a New York lawyer had negotiated with him for his services abroad. Schneider, who began his career as a flier in 1928, appeared at the Federal Building, where he was questioned by John F. Dailey Jr., Chief Assistant United States Attorney. Mr. Dailey, who last Thursday questioned Bert Acosta and Gordon K. Berry, both of whom served in the same squadron, is conducting an investigation to determine if the service of the Yankee Squadron in Spain was a violation of a federal statute. That statute provides: 'Whoever, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, enlists or enters himself, or hires or retains another person to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered in the service of any foreign prince, state colony, district or people as a soldier or as a marine, or seaman on board of any vessel of war, letter or marquee, or privateer, shall be fined not more than $1,000 and imprisoned not more than 4 years.' According to Schneider, the lawyer told him that he would be paid $1,500 a month for his services in the air force and would receive a bonus of $1,000 for every Rebel plane he shot down. The lawyer, he said, gave him his steamship ticket. Schneider, in an interview with newspapermen, said that he had quit Spain because the Loyalist Government had not carried out its obligations under a contract signed in Valencia. The only money he received, he said, came from the Spanish Embassy in Paris, which paid his fare back to the United States. Colonel Lewis Landes, attorney for Schneider, interrupted to say on behalf of his client that Schneider had really quit Spain because he wished to comply with President Roosevelt's neutrality program. Schneider said that Major Thomas Lamphier was still abroad flying for the Loyalists. He said that he himself had taken part in bombing raids daily for about three weeks. The bombers, he said were remodeled sport planes, and the bombs were dropped through floor openings.

Source: New York Times; January 16, 1937

Person: Eddie August Henry Schneider (1911-1940) was a record holding aviator who fought for the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War and died in a plane crash in 1940. (b. October 20, 1911; 2nd Avenue and 17th Street, Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, USA - d. December 23, 1940; Deep Creek and Flatbush Avenue, Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York City, New York, USA)

Josephine Veronica Burke (1907-1995) birthday on April 5, 1977

From left to right are: Owen John Burke (1915-1984) aka Owney Burke; John Joseph Burke II (1909-1986); Josephine Veronica Burke (1907-1995) aka May Burke; and William Joseph Burke I (1904-1996) on April 5, 1977 for May's 70th birthday celebration. It is also possible that this was her 75th birthday in 1982. More information will be needed. This photograph is from her own collection.

Nortons in Colonia, New Jersey in 1960

From left to right on couch: Stephen H. Prasky (1897-1965); Josephine (May) Veronica Burke (1907-1995) holding stuffed toy; Bertha Marie Burke (1902-1971) holding Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ); and Thomas Patrick Norton I (1891-1968). Sitting on floor from left to right are: Thomas Patrick Norton III (1947- ); Kenneth Stephen Norton (1955- ); Katherine Mary Norton (1949- ); and Judith (Judy) Elizabeth Norton (1951- ). Photograph taken in 1960 in Colonia, New Jersey at the home of Vincent Girard Norton (1923- ). Color corrected version.

Thomas Patrick Norton I (1891-1968) baptismal certificate

Thomas Patrick Norton I (1891-1968) baptismal certificate. he was baptized on February 28, 1891 at Saint Bridget's Church at 372 Montgomery Street in Jersey City, New Jersey. Matthew Norton and Ellen Hogan were the sponsors.

Winblads, Freudenbergs, and Schneider circa 1917-1918 most likely in Jersey City, New Jersey

Winblads, Freudenbergs, and Schneider circa 1917-1918 most likely in Jersey City, New Jersey.

From left to right are: Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987); who is sitting in the lap of Ralph Freudenberg (1903-1980); Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968) in the black tie; Sigrid Marie Andreassen (1905-1940); and Klara Helene Shultz (1895-1973). Sitting on the steps are: Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940); and his sister, Alice Violetta Schneider (1913-2002). On the right side of the picture are: Ada Augusta Freudenberg; Naida Muriel Freudenberg (1915-1998); Emil Schneider (1884-1955); and his wife Inga Petersen (1885-1928) circa 1917-1918 at an unknown home. There are two unknown women in chairs on the porch, one of them may be Sophia Pedersen, the sister of Inga, who had married a Schultz.

Source: Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) collection in the Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) archive

Katherine Mary Norton (1894-1942) death certificate.

Katherine Mary Norton (1894-1942) death certificate.

Thomas Patrick Norton I (1891-1968) requesting to visit his uncle Andrew Cairns (1858-?) on December 16, 1918

Ambulance Co. 31

Sanitary Train 303

December 16, 1918

From: Pvt. 1st class Thomas Norton

To: Commanding General 78th Division (Thru Channels)

Subject: Leave of Absence.

1. Request permission to visit my Uncle, Mr. Andrew Cairns, 24 Rue Flat, Boulogne Sur Mer, this provision to be for the period of seven days.

2. My Uncle is 60 years of age and this would probably be my last opportunity to see him.

3. I enlisted June 13, 1917 and have served with the American Expeditionary Forces since June 11, 1918.

Thomas Norton (signed)

Notes:

Thomas Patrick Norton I (1891-1968) requesting to visit his uncle Andrew Cairns (1858-?) on December 16, 1918. If Andrew Cairns was an uncle he would be a Norton or a Carr. His mother's siblings would all be named Carr. He wouldn't be an in-law since he didn't marry till he returned from the war.

Thomas Patrick Norton (1891-1968) and Mary Margaret Burke (1890-1949) marriage certificate from September 27, 1919

Thomas Patrick Norton (1891-1968) and Mary Margaret Burke (1890-1949) marriage certificate from September 27, 1919. They were married at Saint John's Roman Catholic Church in Jersey City, New Jersey. The witnesses were Bertha Marie Burke (1902-1971) and James Joseph Norton I (1892-1961).

Emil August Schneider (1886-1955) and Inga Petersen (1885-1928) circa 1915-1920

Emil August Schneider (1886-1955) and Inga Petersen (1885-1928) circa 1915-1920. This is the only known image of them, but others ma exist in other family collections. Image from the Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) archive from the Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) collection. This image is cropped from a larger image.

Fourth of July picnic circa 1920-1930 in the Bronx, New York

A 4th of July picnic, circa 1920-1930.

Caption: "do you know these taken last 4th of July".

Date: circa 1930

Source: Image from the collection of Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987)

From top of photograph clockwise are: Anton Julius Winblad II (1886-1975) holding food to his mouth; Eva Ariel Lattin (1892-1939); unknown; Theodore Roosevelt Lattin (1901-1980); unknown with back to camera; unknown; unknown; and unknown.

Hello Tommy. This is your new Aunt Margie broadcasting from California

From: Marguerite Van Rensselaer Schlayer (1891-1972)

To: Thomas Patrick Norton II (1920- )

Date: circa November-December, 1944

"Hello Tommy. This is your new Aunt Margie broadcasting from California. It doesn't seem like Christmas out here, no snow or cold weather. Sure wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Your Uncle Tony [Anton Julius Winblad] joins me in these wishes. Sure hope this mess will be over soon, and all the boys can come home. The best of luck. Love Uncle Tony & Aunt Margie."

McManus and Skinners circa 1945 in Jersey City, New Jersey

From left to right are: George Francis McManus I (1896-1989); Winifred McManus (1928- ); George Francis McManus II (1921-1989) in Navy uniform; Winifred Skinner (1899-1993); and Edward McManus (1925-1989) circa 1945 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Image from Janice Catherine McManus (1956- ).

Wedding of Francis Joseph Woods (1891-1972) aka Frank Woods; and Margerite Jensen (1892-1986) aka Daisy Jensen in 1918 in Chicago

Wedding of Francis Joseph Woods (1891-1972) aka Frank Woods; and Margerite Jensen (1892-1986) aka Daisy Jensen in 1918 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

Standing from left to right are: Alvin Jensen (1899-1986) who will marry Helen Mae Baldwin (1907-1998) around 1928; Eleanore Margaret Jensen (1897-1987) who will marry Mahlon Edward Shanahan (1900-1993) in 1925; Leonard A. Jensen (1887-1979) who married Gertrude Louise Brock (1892-1944) in 1912; and an unknown woman.

Sitting from left to right are: unknown girl; Francis Joseph Woods (1891-1972) aka Frank Woods, who was the groom; Margerite Jensen (1892-1986) aka Daisy Jensen, who was the bride; and an unknown girl.

Source:

Sandra Elaine Shanahan (1935- ) archive. A high resolution copy is now housed in the Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) archive.

Sophia Weber (1815-1891) Lindauer

Sophia Weber (1815-1891) Lindauer circa 1860. The image was copied in 1891 and used to hand out at her funeral.

Person: Sophia Weber (1815-1891) aka Sophia Webber, Immigrant from Alsace to USA in 1834 (b. circa May 19, 1815, Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine, France/Germany - d. October 09, 1891, Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York, USA)

Source:

Eloise Ensko Higgins (1950- ) archive

Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) and Agnes M. Dimmock (1861-1937) circa 1930-1935 possibly in Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida

Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) and Agnes M. Dimmock (1861-1937) circa 1930-1935 possibly in Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida.

Source: Marion Matie Neumair (1929- ) archive

Long Island Mystery: Arrest of a butcher on suspicion of murder

Long Island Mystery: Arrest of a butcher on suspicion of murder.

At eight o'clock last night Officer O.H. Smith, of the Fourty-fourth Precinct, arrested George H. Powell, a butcher doing business in Washington Market and residing in Marcy, near Myrtle Avenue, who is charged with being an accomplice in the death of Susannah Lattin, of Farmingdale, Long Island, who decease[d] at the alleged private lying-in asylum of Dr. Grindle, No. 6 Amity Street, New York, has already been noticed in the [Brooklyn] Eagle. It is alleged that a few months since Powell hired some furnished rooms on Myrtle Avenue, near Ryerson Street, to which place it is stated he took Miss Lattin and introduced her as his wife. It is also alleged that after living with her there as his wife, he afterwards took her to No. 6 Amity Street for treatement, and introduced her there also as his wife. It will be remembered that Daune, Dr. Grindle's student, who testified at the inquest commenced by Coroner Rollins on Saturday, recognized Powell as the man who had called on the deceased several times before her death, and from whom at her desire, he obtained the necessary instructions for forwarding a letter to her parents, when Dr. Finell of West Houston Street informed her of the precarious state she was placed in. Powell is 38 years of age a butcher by trade, and is married. He was sent last night to the Fifteenth Precinct Station House in New York to await the action of Coroner Rollins, who will resume the investigation relative to the cause of Miss Lattin's death on Thursday next.

Source: Brooklyn Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, Tuesday, September 01, 1868

Person: Susannah Lattin (1848-1868) died in childbirth at an illegal abortion and adoption clinic in Manhattan run by Henry Dyer Grindle (1826-1902) on August 27, 1868. (b. January 07, 1848, Farmingdale, Nassau County, Long Island, New York, 11735, USA - d. August 27, 1868, 6 Amity Place, New York City, New York, USA)

Schneider Makes Record Flight East

Schneider Makes Record Flight East. Pilot, 18, Cuts Goldsborough's Junior Coast-To-Coast Mark By 1 Hour. Lowers Round-Trip Time. Jersey City High School Boy Arrives From Los Angeles in 27 Hours 19 Minutes, Dodging Storm on Way.

Roosevelt Field, Long Island; August 24, 1930. In his trim little Cessna monoplane Edward Schneider, 18-year-old high school student, roared across the field here this afternoon, descended in a series of tight spiral turns and touched his wheels at 4:03 to establish new junior transcontinental flying records. Despite two setbacks, one over Kansas when his compass refused to function, and another when a storm overtook him over the treacherous Alleghenies on today's non-stop leg from Columbus, Ohio, the youthful pilot set his flying time between Los Angeles and Roosevelt Field at 27 hours and 36 minutes the former mark of 29 hours 55 minutes set by Frank Goldsborough, who was killed recently in a crash in the White Mountains. Schneider was greeted by his father, Emil A. Schneider, of 114 Carleton Avenue, Jersey City, others of the family and 2,500 enthusiastic Sunday visitors to the field here. He started from Los Angeles last Thursday and made three overnight stops en route. On landing, he said that the storm was on its way here, and stood by while mechanics hurried his plane into a hanger. He said that he was too hungry to talk about his trip. Then when his hunger had been partially appeased by a sandwich the young pilot related his experiences on the last leg of his flight. Weather reports had not been too good when he was ready to take off from Columbus. He counted on an even chance to ‘get through,’ however, and pushed on with the knowledge that he was on the air mail route, with its emergency landing fields and better sectional airports at frequent intervals in case he were forced down. As he neared Uniontown, Pennsylvania, he had to leave the course about thirty miles to the south, he said, to avoid a severe storm which was then over Pittsburgh. As he came up over the Alleghenies, approaching Middletown from the west, a strong headwind was encountered which brought with it a strata of low-hanging clouds. He could not see the ground for a while, he said, as he flew above the clouds rather than hitting one of the mountains. With no landmarks to check by and no radio guidance, he headed for New York by compass and got his next land check near Stroudsbourg, Pennsylvania. Keeping the mail route under him, again he headed for New Brunswick and, finding visibility fair beneath him, he continued on over the flats of New Jersey, the Hudson and East rivers and the outlying sections of New York City. He maintained high attitude so he would be able to wheel and run from thickening weather which was approaching. A few moments after he landed here the skies darkened and mechanics and others on the field rushed their planes into hangers or took precautions to prevent them from being damaged in the approaching storm Schneider and his family left the field almost immediately and motored to their home in Jersey City. In addition to lowering Goldsborough’s record for the trip from Los Angeles to New York Schneider also broke the junior records for the east-west trip last week and the record for the round trip journey concluded today. He left Westfield, New Jersey, last week and, with several overnight stops en route, landed at Los Angeles in 29 hours and 55 minutes of flying time, 4 hours and 22 minutes faster than Goldsborough’s time over the same route. His flying time for the round trip was therefore 57 hours and 14 minutes, against his predecessor’s record of 62 hours and 58 minutes.

Source: New York Times, August 25, 1930

Person: Eddie August Henry Schneider (1911-1940) was a record holding aviator who fought for the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War and died in a plane crash in 1940. (b. October 20, 1911; 2nd Avenue and 17th Street, Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, USA - d. December 23, 1940; Deep Creek and Flatbush Avenue, Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York City, New York, USA)

2 die as planes crash at field

2 Die as Planes Crash at Field. Eddie Schneider, Who Flew at 15, is Killed When His Craft and Navy Trainer Collide. Passenger Also Victim. US Ship is Landed Safely at Floyd Bennett Airport Despite Damaged Wings.

Eddie Schneider, who started flying when he was 15 years old and set a junior transcontinental record in 1930 at the age of 18, was killed with a student passenger yesterday when their light training plane was in collision with a Naval Reserve plane, also on a training flight, just west of Floyd Bennett Field. The Naval Reserve plane landed safely at the field but Schneider's plane went into a spin, tore off a wing, and crashed into Deep Creek, a few hundred feet across Flatbush Avenue from the city airport in Brooklyn. Both Schneider and his passenger, George W. Herzog, 37, a contractor living at 535 North Second Street, New Hyde Park, Long Island, were dead when their bodies were pulled from the submerged wreckage. At the Naval Reserve base at Floyd Bennett Field it was said the Navy biplane, a Stearman trainer, had been piloted by Ensign Kenneth A, Kuehner, 25, of Minister, Ohio, with Second Class Seaman Frank Newcomer, of Rochester, Ohio, as a passenger. The right lower wing of the naval plane, the left upper wing and the propeller were damaged. The third accident, in two weeks in which a Naval Reserve plane based at Floyd Bennett Field was involved, it brought the comment from Dock Commissioner John McKenzie that it was the sort of thing to be expected “where there are training: flights at an airport.” “That is the point that Mayor La Guardia has been making". Mr. McKenzie said, "in his efforts to keep training away from commercial fields" Police said the witnesses to the accident were agreed that the Naval Reserve plane was crossing above the plane piloted by Schneider, a high-wing Piper Tandem Cub monoplane, as the two approached the field for a landing 600 feet above Deep Creek, Schneider's plane went into a tight spin as the two planes disengaged after colliding, the witnesses said, appeared to straighten out and then plummeted into the water as its left wing tore loose. Many would-be rescuers were on the scene within, a few moments, including police, Coast Guardsmen and fliers from Floyd Bennett Field. The bodies of the two men were pulled quickly from the wreckage and onto a half-submerged barge near which the plane fell, but it appeared both had been killed when the plane hit the water. Joseph Hanley, first assistant district attorney of Kings County, opened an investigation at the scene and a naval board of inquiry, headed by Commander H. R. Bowes, was ordered convened by the Navy Department in Washington. Schneider lived at 32-50 Seventy-third Street, Jackson Heights, Queens. He leaves a widow. Herzog leaves a widow and two children. He had been flying some time, holding a limited commercial pilot's license, but had enrolled for a refresher course with the Archie Baxter Flying Service, Inc., owner of the plane. Schneider was an instructor at the school. The bodies of the two men were taken to Floyd Bennett Field pending funeral arrangements. Schneider first gained public attention as a flier in the Summer of 1930 when he announced plans for an attempt to break the junior transcontinental east-west record of 34 hours 57 minutes set the year before by 15-year-old Frank Goldsborough, who was later killed. Taking off from Westfield, New Jersey, August 14, he landed at Los Angeles four days later with a new elapsed time mark of 29 hours 55 minutes. He then flew the west-east passage in 27 hours 19 minutes to better Goldsborough's time for that flight and also for the round trip. He continued active in aviation, competing in National Air Tours, races, and as an instructor. He went to Spain in 1936 to fly for the Loyalists, but returned the next year without having collected the $1,500-a-month pay that was promised him. He and other American fliers were looked on with suspicion by many of the Loyalists, he said, because they were not Communists. Schneider had a narrow escape from death May 15, 1935, when the engine of his training plane failed and it fell into Newark Bay with him and a student passenger shortly after they had taken off from Jersey City Airport, of which he then was manager. Schneider's father, Emil, a Jersey City banker, financed his son's transcontinental flight after having first opposed his efforts to become a flier. The boy had quit school at 15 and worked as a mechanic at Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island, and at the Westfield airport to secure money for flying lessons. He was the youngest licensed flier in the country when he received a limited commercial license shortly after his eighteenth birthday in 1929.

Note:
Transcribed by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) on February 10, 2005

Source:
New York Times, New York, December 24, 1940

Person:
Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940) was a record holding aviator who fought for the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War and died in a plane crash (b. October 20, 1911, 2nd Avenue and 17th Street, Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, USA - d. December 23, 1940, Deep Creek and Flatbush Avenue, Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York City, New York, USA)

Carl Frederick Tandberg (1910-1988) circa 1950

Carl Frederick Tandberg (1910-1988) circa 1950

Alfred Naess (1877–1955) circa 1900-1910

Alfred Naess (1877–1955) circa 1900-1910. Image from the collection of Sharon Cangelosi.

Leif Jensen (1885-1955) circa 1915-1920 in Chicago, Illinois

Leif Jensen (1885-1955) circa 1915-1920 in Chicago, Illinois. He was a stockbroker at Paul H. Davis Brokerage (aka Hornblower and Weeks). Image from the Muriel Elaine Jensen (1928- ) collection.

Children of Andrew Havig Jensen (1861-1930) and Lena Elaine Olsen (1860-1938) circa 1950-1955

Children of Andrew Havig Jensen (1861-1930) and Lena Elaine Olsen (1860-1938) aka Hannah Eline Olsdatter circa 1950-1955. From left to right are: Alvin Jensen (1900-1986) aka Ab Jensen; Mahlon Edward Shanahan (1900-1993); Eleanore Margaret Jensen (1897-1987); Helen Mae Baldwin (1907-1998); William Holm (1891-1983) aka Bill Holm; Goldie Jensen (1891-1965); Francis Joseph Woods (1891-1972) aka Frank Woods; Marguerite Jensen (1891-1986) aka Daisy Jensen; Mary Jensen (1883-1969) aka Marie Jensen; Leonard Jensen (1887-1979); Agnes Hansen (1890-1965) who was married to Leif; and Leif Jensen (1885-1955). The role of Santa Claus was played by John Mahlon Shanahan (1927-1994).

Image from the collection of Sandra Elaine Shanahan (1935- ) aka Sandy Shanahan.

Vincent Gerard Norton (1923-2005) and Thomas Patrick Norton II (1920- ) circa 1943

Brothers in Service. P.F.C. Vincent and Radio M2/c Thomas Norton, sons of Mrs. Thomas Norton Norton, Sr., 603 Garfield Avenue. Vincent entered service in May, 1943, Thomas, husband of the former Selma Freudenberg, enlisted in June, 1942. He was in the Sicilian invasion and is now on convoy duty. Vincent is somewhere overseas.

Source: Most likely the Jersey Journal, circa 1943-1944

Google Base deleting information

Even Google who I always expected to be good at archiving information deletes info as their scope changes. I expect it of Yahoo, but not Google. There was Google Base, and experimental database where you could add all sorts of information including things for sale. The scope has changed and it is now a commerce site. It is now Google Merchant and it appears that all 1,000 biographies I added are gone. The best strategy to manage your digital footprint is store information at a minimum of three sites. I thought Flickr was good but it appears that once you stop your yearly payment the organization of your images are no longer seen by others in sets and organized in chronological order.

Kodak Zi6 video camera problems wit5h camera freezing after a few minutes

I have a Kodak Zi6 video camera that is just awful. Since they updated the firmware to accept memory cards >1 GB the camera freezes and you have to remove the batteries to reboot it. It just records a few minutes then the screen freezes. I can see over a dozen complaints about it online but Kodak hasn't issued a fix for it yet, and doesn't seem as they are going to. I used the Kodak chat help line and they weren't aware of the problem despite there being multiple mentions of it in their complaint forum. They told me I had to format the disks in the camera and I did. That had no effect. The last record time was eleven minutes before the camera froze.

Addendum:

I wrote to Kodak and about three weeks later I received a reply and a new Kodak 2 GB SDHC memory chip in the mail. That solved the problem. It appears that you need to use Kodak formatted memory. Previously I had used a Sandisk 8 GB SDHC memory card, then the online help forum told me I had to reformat it in the camera. That had no effect. I would have preferred Kodak send me an 8 GB memory card, but I am glad that the problem is resolved. Kodak sells their 8 GB cards for $47.56 and I just paid $40 for a pair of 8 GB cards at Costco. So the camera is not a good value if I have to use Kodak branded memory cards. I paid about $200 for the camera and I will have to overpay by $30 anytime I buy new memory cards to use for extended shoots. I bought this camera over the new Zip just because it had removable memory cards. By the way, I bought the Flip Video Mino while I was waiting to resolve the Kodak problem and I am satisfied with it. It has 8 GB of internal memory. I now have three solid state video cameras. The original Flip, the Kodak Zi6 and now the Flip Video Mino. I keep the original Flip in the trunk of my car with the batteries out as my backup.

The Bain News Service photograph collection at the Library of Congress

The Bain News Service photograph collection at the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress has been scanning images from the Bain News Service that are on glass negatives and posting them to Flickr Commons to use crowd sourcing to figure out who the people are that are named in the images. They post the images to Flickr Commons each Friday.

I just did a quick calculation. There are 40,000 Bain negatives according to the Library of Congress website. If they are releasing them at a rate of 40 per week it will take 1,000 weeks to complete the project. With 52 weeks in the year it will take 19.2 years to complete the project. We can round that up to 20 years since most weeks there are less than 40, and for several weeks none were posted.

The LOC also has a newspaper scanning project that is equally slow paced. Google Books started in 2004 and has already scanned 10 millions books by the end of 2009.

Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera Camcorder freezes

I have a Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera Camcorder that freezes when recording after a minute or so. You have to remove the batteries to get it to reboot, and then it freezes again. I tried changing the batteries and changing the memory card but it still happens after a few minutes.

It seems to have started when I updated the firmware to version 1.1.1. The update was supposed to allow me to to use a memory card higher than the 1 Gbyte provided.

I can't recommend anyone buying a Kodak video camera including the Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera Camcorder. Despite multiple complaints about the camera, Kodak has not issued a fix.

Geek Squad at BestBuy appears to have stopped carrying the Zi6 and Zi8 and instead they recommend the Flip camera.

I have the first generation Flip camera and it is easy to use and the only trade-off is there is no removable memory. When the memory fills up you have download it to a computer.

Addendum:

I wrote to Kodak and about three weeks later I received a reply and a new Kodak 2 GB SDHC memory chip in the mail. That solved the problem. It appears that you need to use Kodak formatted memory. Previously I had used a Sandisk 8 GB SDHC memory card, then the online help forum told me I had to reformat it in the camera. That had no effect. I would have preferred Kodak send me an 8 GB memory card, but I am glad that the problem is resolved. Kodak sells their 8 GB cards for $47.56 and I just paid $40 for a pair of 8 GB cards at Costco. So the camera is not a good value if I have to use Kodak branded memory cards. I paid about $200 for the camera and I will have to overpay by $30 anytime I buy new memory cards to use for extended shoots. I bought this camera over the new Zip just because it had removable memory cards.

Johan Israel Näslund (1822-1906) Swedish biography

29. Johan Israel Næslund (1871-1906), f. 26 maj 1822 i Vemdalen, Hede pastorat, son af komm. i Torsåker v. pastor Israel Næslund och Johanna Gustava Ruuth. Stud. i Ups. vt. 1842, prästv. 16 juli 1845till komm. adj. i Ytterlännäs, förestod under jan. 1847 och maj 1848 någraveckor sacellanien i Högsjö;. past. adj. i Sollefteå 20 juni 1849, sköttepastoralvården därst. under khdens deltagande i riksdagen 1853-54. Så-som sökande till kapellansysslan på Hemsön uppfördes han ej på konsist.-förslaget, men klagade hos K. Maj:t, erhöll 3. rummet och vid valet de flestarösterna samt utn. till kapellpred. å Hemsön 14 nov. 1853, tilltr. 1 maj1885. Afl. past. examen 31 mars 1859. Med begärdt afsked från kapellpr.tjänsten utn. till högmässopredikant och t. f. pastor i Hsand 13 juli 1859,khde i Näs pastorat 9 dec. 1864, tilltr. 1 maj 1866; folkskoleinspektörunder åren 1870 och 71. Utn. khde i Ragunda 6 nov. 1871; tilltr. 1 dec.Första året efter tillträdet måste han ensam sköta 3 af pastoratets kyrkor.L. N. O. 1 dec. 1887. Den vördnadsvärde, präktige församlingsherden af-led 10 nov. 1906 och begrofs d. 22 i samma månad af kontr. prosten Ol.Löfvenmark, som i ett sedan tryckt tal sympatiskt skildrat den aflidnesminne, hans Gudi hängifna sinne, hans stora osjälfviskhet hans rika kär-lek, mognad och luttrad i en lång trons och lidandets skola. Betecknandeför khde Næslunds sinnelag och hans ömhet för ortens fattiga är i syn-nerhet en af minnestecknaren omtalad episod, då han en gång efter atthafva uppburit 6,900 kronor i skogsmedel för flera år, några dagar se-nare med strålande ansikte utbrast: "Nu har jag bara 900 kronor kvar"!Det hade blifvit hans andra natur att utan ringaste anspråk på tack ochlön göra godt och glömma sig själf för andra. Under hans pastorstid bi-föll Kgl. Maj:t 21 juli 1876 en ansökan från Köttsjö byamän i Ragundas:n att få anlägga egen begrafningsplats för sina döda.G. 1) 26/8 1849 m. Emma Maria Falk, f. i Råda (Värml.) 23/5 1817, dotteraf Herman Adolf Falk, öfver- och hofjägmästare, och Brita Kristina Geijer;d. i Hsand 22/9 1860;2) 1862 m. Charlotta Sofia Berg, f. i Göteborg 17/4 1825, dotter af spegel-fabrikören därst. Johan Martin Berg och Johanna Charlotta Jonsson; sjuklig,d. 10/11 1895.Barn i förra giftet: Johan Theodor, d. 26/9 1860, 3 år 9 m. 27 d.; Carl HermanIsrael, f. 13/5 1852 i Sollefteå, agent; Johan Emanuel, f. 13/5 1852 tvill., d. 1853;i senare g.: Johan Gustaf, f. 1863, d. s. å.; Carl Johan, f. 5/4 1864 i Hsand. stud.1882, landtbruksinspektor.Tr.:Predikan på 22. sönd. eft. Tref. (i: Predikningar af Hernösands stiftsprester 2. 1884).

My neighbor and his territorial behaviour

More neighbor problems today. We have a fence that separates us, that they installed. But they insist on killing any plants that are growing on the fence. They cut parts of the kiwi vine that was touching the fence, killing most of the plant. The wife said that she did it, and said she will continue to do it. They are definitely not pleasant people to us. My solution is to add a trellis on my side of the fence and visit City Hall tomorrow and have the township explain the rules to me about having a fence on the property line and what the rules of behavior are for one. When I went over to talk to them, they complained that I was purposefully turning the corner of my yard into a swamp. The corner of my yard does turn into a swamp when it rains because their rain water runs onto my property. Last year they had a PVC pipe running from their downspout onto the edge of their property so all the water would come onto my property. When I asked them to remove it they did. Last year I caught the old man, the grandfather, throwing trash into my yard. When I confronted him he said: "It probably came from your yard anyway." I said: "Is that behavior that you want to teach your grandchildren?" My solution to the water coming onto my yard is to build a berm of dirt so the water is directed out to the street instead of into my yard. I am heading to Home Depot now to get some pressure treated trellis for the grapes and kiwis to grow onto. I am hoping that will solve the problem amicably.

Flickr will delete your images "If your free account is inactive for 90 consecutive days"

What is it with Yahoo and Flickr? Here is what they have posted at their website: "Note: If your free account is inactive for 90 consecutive days, it will be deleted." It seems that Yahoo is holding your images hostage, pay up or your life's work will be deleted. I have had a paid account for two years, but I was wondering today what is going to happen when I die, what will happen to my images? Yahoo doesn't have a good history of being a good steward for the digital age. They deleted all the images at Yahoo Photos. They deleted all the images and personal information in their first iteration of Yahoo Profiles when they ... See Moreforced people to migrate to Yahoo 360. Yahoo 360 was to be more like Facebook, and that closed and the information deleted. They also deleted all the images and information stored in Geocities when they bought that and later closed it. You can buy a terabyte of magnetic storage for less than $50. If Yahoo can't get a return on their investment, maybe it is better that they just wither up and die as an Internet company.

Secular religions

I watch an interview with Alice Waters, the slow food proponent, last night on the Bill Maher show. Both of them have made the concept of local fresh food a new secular religion. I love fresh local food, but it doesn't have any magical properties. Food is texture and taste for the mouth; and fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals for the belly. Eating fresh and local and organic is not magically going to make you thinner or healthier.

These secular religions are replacing the traditional religions. People who think its silly to believe in talking snakes and walking on water, are eager to embrace new magical beliefs like organic food having magical properties.

These tree onions I found in Piscataway, New Jersey last year when I was attending the Greek Festival. A woman had them in her back yard growing wild. She told me her mother, Olga Faco (1924-2009), brought them from Zahirja, in the Ukraine when she emigrated here. I planted them near the fence in my back yard and they doubled this year. I use the green tops as scallions and leave the bulb in the ground. I thought I had written the story in my blog already but I can't find it. I will visit her again and find out more about her mother and what village she came from and what year she brought them to the United States.

What happend to Yahoo profiles?

Before there was MySpace and Facebook there was Yahoo Profiles, the first large scale personal directory on the Internet. Yahoo deleted all the photos in the profiles when they bought Flickr. Then they deleted all the old text in the Yahoo profiles in favor of their new Yahoo 360 which had more social networking features. Yahoo 360 was killed in 2009. No one wanted to add text and photos to any yahoo media since Yahoo had no track record of maintaining what they had in the past. Now Yahoo Profiles are back and are still empty of text and photos, who would bother to add material that was deleted by the company entrusted with it the first time?

Lesson:

All it takes is a few bad decisions to go from number one to not being a player at all. If customers don't see their material archived, they won't bother to contribute content.

My Yakuza dream

My Yakuza dream.

Today is November 24, 2009. I just woke up from a nap. I started at about 6:00 pm and woke up about 7 minutes ago at 9:00 pm. I had a dream about the Yakuza. The dream was instigated by hearing Jake Adelstein talk about his book Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan. I was listening to a podcast of the interview on National Public Radio's show Fresh Air.

In my dream I was walking along the beach with Japanese friends, and one told the other in Japanese: "remember I was telling you about the perfect beach, this is one of those beaches." I assumed they were talking about a place of solitude and quiet, or for finding oysters for eating. we wer at a place where the surf ended at low tide under a highway overpass. We were among the pillars. I saw something shiny in the low water and sand, and fished out a small badge with the symbol for police on it. It wasnt the size of a real police badge and didnt have the proper weight, it was a replica that you would buy in a store or a security guard might wear. My friends walked ahead and I stuck my hand deeper into the sand and this time pulled out a tag that a dog might wear on a collar with a number written on it, it was the number 1,112 in Japanese.

I remembered that my friend had once gone to another beach at night, we took three cars. They said they were going to dig for oysters and I should stay in the car and not leave. With a glimpse I saw something suspicious, but never thought about it again. From the lead car I could barely make out that they were pulling a large burlap bag out of the back. My friend came over and started to talk to me and my attention was diverted away.

I went back to that beach at night with a flashlight and a metal detector. It took me hours but when I got the signal from the metal detector, I reached down in the wet sand of the surf and again I found the toy police badge. I took my shovel and tried digging deeper to see if I would find a second badge, or find another dog tag. I reached and dug with my hand, deeper till my arm was up to my elbow in muck. I found something with my hand, it was amorphous and I pulled and I tugged. The sand eventually gave way and I fell back onto my ass in the surf. When I looked down I was holding a severed human arm. I let out a scream and someone heard it. Now flashlights were heading my way running. I got up and started to run too, I dropped the hand and ran back to where I parked the car. That's when I realized I no longer had my keys, they had fallen into the sand.

The last part of my dream, where I woke up. I was in my office in Japan putting together the pieces of what I had uncovered. I had found a Yakuza burial ground where they bury the dead and the limbs that are amputed from members that have disgraced the family. And the limbs of people who borrowed money that they cannot pay back.

The police badges were used to get the victim into a state of compliance. They were told the police wanted to question them, they were handcuffed and taken to what appeared to be an ordinary car with the windows with dark glass. How they were killed, I don't know. The tag with the number was to keep track of the victim, the matching one was sent to the family. The police badges were buried in the surf with the bodies.

I then became very paranoid and bought a gun on the back market. Guns are rare in Japan, and I used most of my savings to buy it. As I investigated more I became more and more paranoid. I was in my office alone late at night and heard a noise. Was I just being paranoid again? Again I heard a noise, whispering in Japanese and the sound of my mail slot door opening and closing. I noticed that the basket just under my mail slot had something in it that wasn't there before. I reached in and saw that it was my car keys, and attached to them was a dog tag. As I made the realization a hand reached through the mail slot and grabbed my hand and was pulling it out through the mail slot. I could hear yelling in Japanese and whatever was pulling my hand through the slot was winning. My eyes were level with the slot I was now on my butt and I could see two people outside and the second person was bring a knife to my hand ...

... and that is where I woke up.

Gelchion family history and I reconnected with them

As I am reconnecting to the Gelchions through Facebook I am reminded of how I first reconnected the family. I wrote this a few years ago:

Most of the Gelchion information comes from the Saint Paul's Roman Catholic Church marriage and baptismal records, and from Holy Name Cemetery burial records, both these sources have been microfilmed. These two sources have not been fully exploited and a second reading may provide more information. The relationship of the Gelchions to the Carrs and Conboys of Ireland was first made on April 6, 2001 when I interviewed Christopher Aloysius Enright II (1927- ) in his home at 27 Eaglecrest Place, Oakland, New Jersey. He gave me some information on the Conboys and let me make copies of an autograph book that belonged to Margaret Agnes Conboy (1866-1951). The book listed her siblings and had short messages from Ann Hogan and B. Conboy, that were signed "your cousin". He told me that there was a Gelchion woman (I was spelling it phonetically as "Gelchin") that was related to Sarah Jane Carr (1863-1950), my great-grandmother. This Gelchion woman had three children: The first child was Jane Gelchion who married Patrick Cryan and they lived in Rutherford, New Jersey. The Cryans had two children, Tommy and Jane, and Tommy played football. The second child was Kitty Gelchion and she married a Morgan and they moved to Beacon, New York and had lots of kids. The third child was Winifred Gelchion and she was married to Joe Fuerey (or Fuehry). He thought Joe may have died around 1925 and he remembered that she bought a house on Danforth Avenue in Jersey City that she rented to Irish immigrants that were working in the Bayonne refinery. On September 11, 2002, the one year anniversary of the World Trade Center attack, I was taking a break from work and tried looking up the Gelchions again using my spelling of "Gelchin", and again nothing turned up. All week I was thinking of how this side of the family was a brick-wall and I should give up. I looked at my notes again, then I searched for every "Winifred" as a first name in Jersey City and then I tried searching for Patrick Cryan in the 1930 census. The census had been online only about a month and the New Jersey portion was online for a week or so. I didn't even know the time frame for him, so it was just out of desperation that I searched in the 1930 census. Only one name came up and it was in Rutherford, New Jersey. When I looked at the census image I was amazed to see "Jane Gelchion, mother-in-law" living in the same house. I searched under the correct spelling of "Gelchion" at ancestry.com and found one entry from Deirdre Robinson and it had Matthew Gelchion marrying Jane E. Hogan at Saint Paul's in Jersey City, the same place where Patrick Norton married Sarah Carr. Jane E. Hogan's father was John Hogan and he had married Winifred Conboy in Ireland. I searched for Gelchion in the online phone book and called "M. Gelchion in Bayonne". She said her father-in-law sent her a genealogy and that the other New Jersey Gelchions were related to her husband. She didn't know any Hogans or any Gelchions in Rutherford. I gave her my number and she called her father in Florida. She called me back in 5 minutes and said her father wanted to talk to me.

Meet Brett Weinbender, my third cousin once removed

Today I said hello to my cousin, Brett Weinbender for the first time on Facebook. I wrote him: "Hey there, I am your third cousin once removed." He wrote back: "Dude ur like 50. You know its actually quite insulting that u would try some bullshit like this on me. Fuck off ........... Prick". His sister wrote me back after I said that he was "rude and ignorant", and she said: "my brother is a teenage boy, I don't expect him to necessarily communicate with someone he doesn't know in a friendly manner." At least she keeps her expectations low for him. That way she will never be disappointed, just pleasantly surprised, when he doesn't pee in the sink when he visits her.

College Days

My daughter is off to college this month in Washington, DC so I have been thinking about my first day at undergraduate and at graduate school. Undergraduate I went to Montclair, and for orientation in the physics and chemistry labs I met Glen Erdman. He had a dual pouch Frisbee bag with him that had a strap that went over his shoulder. Later that day I was sitting on the floor of the student lounge and Glen saw me. He did multiple somersaults across the length of the lounge until he reached me. We were friends from that moment on.

For graduate school I went to Rutgers, I wasn't sure if I was going to commute or get a room down there. It was my first day, it was getting dark early, and I was at the bookstore on French Street and bought "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". I was alone, I didn't know anyone, but the book made me smile, as I read it in the McDonalds adjacent to the bookstore. The following week I found a room to rent and Robert Lag was my landlord.

Daniel Thomas Norton #2 winner at the 2009 Late Spring Junior Ladder Championship at Nassau Tennis in Hillsborough, New Jersey

2009 Late Spring Junior Ladder Champs at the Nassau Tennis in Hillsborough, New Jersey. From left to right are Zach Anderson #1 Racquet Winner, Seth Miller, the Director, and Dan Norton #2 winner.

Edward Ganley (1919-1987)

Today, May 11, 2009, Kevin Borland found the person previously known as "Eddie Ganlan". He was looking at the census data from 1930 for Eugene Freudenberg (1900-1956) and he noticed there was an Edward Ganley (1919-1987) listed living next to the Freudenbergs and his father was a fruit vendor. The family story from Selma Louise Freudenberg (1921-2009) was that he was "the butcher's son".

Selma Norton (1921-2009)

I just learned today that my mom died on Good Friday of this year. My brother had moved her down to Florida and I didn't find out she had left New Jersey until I went to visit her in the nursing home where she was recovering from a blood clot, and they told me she was not there anymore and that they couldn't tell me where she was since I wasn't her health care proxy anymore.

I learned of her death on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 11:45 when I called Pat Freudenberg to try and find out how to get in touch with my mother. She told me she had died on Good Friday and that she had talked to her before she died and she was very week, Pat Freudenberg said she died of cancer.

My brother had only told my mother's friend June Schmidt from Paramus that she was dead. My brother never called or emailed me. I really have no relationship with my brother, when I was a kid he was in jail, then he moved to Staten Island and was in jail again. Then he moved to Florida. He is nine years older.

She was cremated.

Selma was born on July 17, 1921 and passed away on Friday, April 10, 2009. Selma was last known to be living in Seminole, Florida.