Class of 1925, Part 8

And here is another section of the class photo of DePaul University Academy's Class of 1925.

Top Row: C. T. Jans, C. W. Clines, C. A. Thoma
Bottom Row: D. F. Reardon, E. P. Seiwert, A. J. Lendino

Second Quarter Results

Well, it is a couple of weeks past the end of the second quarter, but things have been a bit busy. So, even though it is a little late, I am taking another look at how I'm doing on my New Year's Resolutions. Here goes:

1. I will share more photos and documents, both online and with my cousins. I’ve received alot of photos from older relatives, and I want to share the wealth. I've continued to do pretty well with the online piece of this. I've posted alot of photos and documents to my blog, and I will continue to do so. I did make copies of some photos and sent them to a cousin. But I've got lots of photos and lots of cousins, so I can definitely do more.

2. I will catch up with my filing and data entry. I know if I do this it will help me with my research. I’m sure I have some fascinating discoveries in those piles! Ha ha! It still sounds like a good idea, but I have very little progress to report.

3. I will write more. I will continue to write for my blog and for local genealogical society quarterlies. I will also submit writing to other genealogy publications. I enjoy writing and I will do more of it in 2009. I've fallen off alot on the writing in the last quarter. Day jobs do take time away from blogging. But the day job is a good thing too. So, I'll need to use my free time better in the next few months in order to fit in writing, which is something I really enjoy.

And here are a few more of my resolutions, by surname:

4. Bestick. For 2009, I will focus on my collateral lines, including John and Robert Bestick, who were possible siblings of my ancestor Timothy. I will also focus on discovering which Bestick played baseball in Brooklyn in 1872. I still haven't done much on this resolution. I hope to focus on the Besticks more during the next few months.

5. Whelan. I will concentrate on the Chicago Whelans, both mine and unrelated ones. I will continue to analyze, summarize and publish the data that I have collected. I hope to eventually document the Irish origins of the Whelans who settled in Chicago in the 1800s. I've continued to do well on this resolution! I have continued posting transcripts of documents from the Whelan pension file. But I have other Whelan info, and so I hope to fit some of the other documents in during the next few months. I still have additional work to do on my Whelans and the other Chicago Whelans.

6. Skrabulis. I will share more of the bits of information that I've collected on my Skrabulis ancestors and related lines. I hope to make more connections and keep in touch with cousins that I have. I've posted a few more photos of my ancestors and relatives on the Skrabulis side. I definitely hope to do more in the next few months.

So, overall, I've made some progress on my resolutions during the last 3 months. I hope I can continue to make progress during the rest of 2009.

Class of 1925, Part 7

Here is another section of the class photo of the DePaul University Academy, Class of 1925.

Top Row: T. J. O'Neil, S. E. Hosler, T. J. McCaffrey, H. J. Ball
Bottom Row: D. Austin, N. Bertrand, F. J. Klein, C. J. Denes

Ann and Stella at the Beach

Time for some beach pictures! Here are mom's friend Stella Gordon and mom, Ann Skrobul. I believe the photo was taken in Chicago in the early 1940s.

Class of 1925, Part 6

Here is another section of the DePaul University Academy, Class of 1925. I will continue posting pictures of groups of graduates over the next few weeks.

In the section above, the top row, from left to right, includes R. I. Prindiville, H. N. Spahn, J. T. Nangle, and J. F. Wulff. The bottom row includes T. Reid, J. D. Z. Lock, M. F. Nangle, and G. Ludes.

Class of 1925, Part 5

This is another part of the DePaul University Academy, Class of 1925. I will continue posting pictures of groups of graduates over the next few weeks.

In the section above, from left to right, are E. Gannon, W. F. Tangney, R. C. Murphy, and F. J. Bogner. In the second row are J. Quinlan, V. Cholewcynski, V.d. Goonan, and W. B. Murphy.

Looking Beyond the Indexes

Have you ever looked at an index and thought, "Well, the name looks close but that can't be my ancestor because the (fill in religion, race, sex, etc.) is wrong"? I used to think that too. But I have found errors in indexes on several occasions. So I've learned that it is always a good idea to look beyond the indexes and view the documents themselves. The document above is my latest example of this lesson.

Ancestry.com has posted and indexed the World War II draft registration cards for Illinois. These are the cards from the fourth registration of World War II, known as the "old man's draft." Those required to register were men between the ages of 45 and 64. I searched for grandpa under the most common spelling of his name and found him indexed as follows:

Name Anton W Skrobul
Birthdate 18 Mar 1884
Birth Place Sany, Lithuania
Residence Beckemeyer, Illinois
Race Negro (Black)

Now if grandpa had a common name and lived in a big city, I might have thought, "This can't be grandpa, he wasn't "Negro"." But, let's face it, how many Anton Skrobuls do you know? So I was pretty sure this was him. And in looking at the image, everything else looked correct.



Page 2 of the document contains more information, including 7 categories to indicate race, such as light, dark, freckled and black. (Note to self: See if any of my Irish relatives were freckled.) The page 2 associated with Anton W. Skrobul indicated he was dark, not black. But apparently an indexer made a mistake and decided "dark" meant "black" which was indexed as Negro. I doubt that Anton identified himself as black, and he looks rather fair-skinned in his photos. So if his skin looked dark the day he registered, it may have been due to coal dust from working in the mine, and not his ethnic heritage.


Here is a photo of Anton with his two sons. From left to right, Anthony, Anton and Stan Skrobul.