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.

Charles Frederick Lindauer I (1836-1921) of Lindauer & Co., tobacconist

Charles Frederick Lindauer I (1836-1921) of Lindauer & Co., tobacconist. Charles and his brother Louis Julius Lindauer (1838-1915) operated tobacco stores in Hoboken, Jersey City and Manhattan, that made and sold cigars. They also used the stores for their numbers racket. In 1894 he was outed by the Lexow Commission as a minor player in the numbers racket and he used the opportunity to retire and he moved to a mansion in Rye, New York.

"Jersey City, June 1, 1889. August Mueller, who was the collector in this city for Lindauer & Co., tobacconist, was sent to jail this morning for contempt of court. His employers were dissatisfied with his returns and had a receiver appointed to examine his accounts. Mueller refused to surrender his books and his arrest followed."

Source: Newark Sunday Call; June 2, 1889

Ben & Jack's Steakhouse for a surreal dinner

I ate at Ben & Jack's Steakhouse tonight in what was the most surreal dinner I have attended in my life. It was a medical seminar attended by Manhattan physicians and scientists. They seemed like they were in a scripted TV situation comedy, only this was a seminar with a distinguished speaker. ... The side dishes were served family style. A Korean physician to my left, Dr. Lee, wouldn't give up her used salad plate when the waiter came, despite him trying to take it twice. She wore bright blue eye shadow, the way women wore makeup in the 1970s. I soon found out why she needed it, she piled all the food onto her plates from the dishes of potato and spinach that were circulating. Since she was on my left, no food was coming from that direction, and her plate was now overflowing with the delicious pan fried potatoes with sautéed onions. And in the middle of the seminar during the discussion of extrapyramidal symptoms caused by neuroleptics, she screamed at an attendee across from her for asking a question of the speaker: "You do this all the time with the questions, why can't you just be quiet. You are so impatient, always with the questions." The speaker said that she welcomed questions, and the reason she was there was to answer any questions we had. Lee again said in a bellowing voice that brought an instant hush to the room: "Why does she have to ask questions, why can't she wait till the end." This time the speaker took a long sip from her wine glass, looked around the room, let out an audible sigh.

Since no side dishes were coming from my left, I concentrated on my right. The situation wasn't much better, a mother-daughter pair of Russian physicians were there. The older one took her steak and put in a plastic bag she brought and stuffed it into her pocket book. My steak came and was served a special way. They tilt the plate so the fat and juices run to the edge and then move the meat to your plate. The Russian woman to my right shouted out: "Why does he get such service, who is he ... Tsar?" Again this is mid seminar on a serious topic for continuing education credits.The speaker was about half a meter away, we were at the end of the table and the projection screen was less than a meter away. Then she stuck her fork into my meat on my plate and said: "Let me try Tsar's food" and she absconded with a chunk of my sirloin. About 5 minutes later she shouted as loud as she could to no one in particular, but hoping a waiter would hear her: "We need potatoes, no more potatoes here. Everyone else have potatoes but we have none." The speaker stopped and looked for her wine glass but it was already empty. She stared straight ahead at the wall, and was biting her lip. She started to talk again but was silenced by the apparatchik on my right: "I need potato, everyone else have potato. I want potato." This time it was directed at the waiter in charge of drinks, he gave her the finger to the lips, the universal sign to be quiet, and she stopped shouting.

I looked to my left and that woman, Dr. Lee, as the man to her left called her, was taking the bottle of steak sauce and putting it into her pocketbook. She was also moving all the food she had hoarded into a takeout container they had given her.

At least there was dessert to look forward to since I wasn't getting any creamed spinach or potatoes. Only dessert was a worse nightmare. Like a nightmare inside a nightmare, only there was no Leonardo DiCaprio to shock me out of it like in the movie Inception. Dr. Lee was taking the entire plate of family style desserts and loading them into a second takeout container, two pieces of chocolate cheesecake and a piece of apple strudel and a piece of regular cheesecake and a wad of whipped cream designed for eight people to share. To my right my only hope was that the Russians would feel pity for me. They took the chocolate cheesecakes and all the whipped cream. All of it. That left the strudel for me, but no whipped cream. They also had a strategy for seconds, they said they didn't get any dessert to the waiter, who looked down at their used dessert plates and just said "uh-huh". As I was leaving he was bringing them one more helping to share.

As I was leaving I went up to the speaker and apologized. She had gotten her glass of wine refilled. I said: "That was the rudest audience I have every seen, you were amazingly patient." All she could say was "No shit!"

Jimbo Wales and Lucy Nolan and Wikipedia

It looks like I made Jimbo Wales, the creator of Wikipedia, mad today. I have always respected him, and I am a top contributor to Wikipedia. But I noticed the Jimbo Wales was nominating the article on Lucy Nolan, the TV reporter, in Wikipedia for deletion. In 2008 he was involved in edits in the article of a woman he was dating, Rachel Marsden, of Fox TV. He announced the end of their relationship on his Wikipedia page. In retaliation, she put his t-shirt and sweater he had left at her place up for sale on eBay. I wrote on the discussion page for the Lucy Nolan article: "Does this presage more underwear on Ebay? Just wondering." Giving it some thought, I deleted it. Wales noticed anyway and he emailed me: "That's disgusting. For the record, I do not know Lucy Nolan and have had no contact or communication with her about this issue. You should be ashamed of yourself, really."

Marion Lattin Dilthey and Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) and Aaron Stern in the St. Petersburg Times on April 15, 1977

Julia Marion Poole Dilthey (1910-2005) and Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) and Aaron Stern (1876-?) in the St. Petersburg Times on April 15, 1977

Last Sunday’s story about Stern’s pickle works in Farmingdale, NY, is of particular interest to Mrs. Marion Dilthey of Pinellas Park. She was born in Farmingdale, and lived there many years, and her grandfather,Jarvis Lattin was a partner of Aaron Stern, who built the pickle works in the late 1800s. The plant in-fact, is on land which was owned by Jarvis Lattin.

Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) in the Daytona Beach Morning Journal on December 4, 1936

Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) in the Daytona Beach Morning Journal on December 4, 1936

Lattin Trial Later. Jarvis Lattin who was arrested yesterday on a charge of assault against his wife in their Lake Helen home Monday afternoon will not tried until his health has improved considerably, ... Lattin was removed from the county jail this afternoon to the DeLand Memorial hospital on recommendation of his physician, Dr. Hugh West. The 84-year-old retired banker is reported to be suffering from acute alcoholism.

September 11, 2001 remembrances on 9th anniversary

September 11, 2001 remembrances on 9th anniversary.

For September 11, 2001 I was in Baltimore, Maryland at the Society for Bimolecular Screening (SBS) trade show. 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 ...

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 short time later I went to Ground Zero with a woman I knew from the Internet, Judy Lanza (1959- ) and I took photos and collected some ash that I now keep in an amber jar.