Ann Scrobel, Jackie and Binsky

This is a picture of 2 of my relatives from Gary, Indiana and a family friend. On the left is Joe Slavinski, who was also known as Binsky. (Why, I don't know.) Joe was a friend of my grandfather Anton Skrobul (aka Antanas Skrabulis.) Next to Joe is Ann (Waxner) Scrobel, the wife of Anton's brother William. Standing in front of Ann is her granddaughter Jackie Buyse.

The Scrobels and Waxners were "double cousins." Ann Waxner's brother Walter married William Scrobel's sister Antanina. So their children were cousins on both their mother's side and their father's side.

The Whelan and O'Malley Families of Chicago

While researching my Whelan family, I collected the following Whelan baptisms. The spellings of names were copied as they were written in the baptism register. These entries are from Holy Name Cathedral (Chicago, IL) Baptisms 1891-1904 (FHL 1578585, item 8.)

Baptized 18 Dec 1892, John Thomas Whalen, son of Timothy Whalen and Elizabeth O'Malley. Born 5 Dec 1892. Sponsors Martin O'Malley and Mary O'Malley. Page 23.

Baptized 27-Jul 1894, Michael Whalen (conditional), son of Michael Whalen and Marg Whalen. Born 27 July 1894. Sposors Mary Melvin. Page 51.

Baptized 21-Oct 1894, Ann Whalen, daughter of Timothy Whalen and Eliz Omalley. Born 7 Oct 1894. Sponsors James Ohara and Miss Grass. Page 55.

Baptized 20-Jun 1896, William Anthony Whalen, son of Timothy Whalen and Eliza Omalley. Born 13 Jun 1896. Sponsors Patrick Omalley and Ann Omalley. Page 82.

Baptized 27-Jun 1897. Joseph George Whalen, son of William Whalen and Lizzie Gleason. Born 19 May 1897. Sponsor Mary McConnell. Page 99.

Baptized 24-Apr 1898. Mary Evaline Whalen, daughter of Timothy Whalen and Eliz Omalley. Born 8 Apr 1898. Sponsors William Omalley and Blanche Omalley. Page 111.

Baptized 2-Jul 1899. Timothy Whelan, son of Timothy Whelan and Eliz Omalley. Born 15 Jun 1899. Sponsors Patrick Walsh and Nellie Whelan. Page 127.

Baptized 29-Sep 1901. Agnes Bernice Whalen, daughter of Timothy Whalen and Eliz Omalley. Born 11-Sep-01. Sponsors Peter Omalley and Margaret Omalley. Page 157. Married Thomas Schreiber 5-5-62 Our Lady of Grace.

Baptized 25-Oct 1903. Francis Aloysius Whalen, son of Timothy Whalen and Eliz Omalley. Born 9-Oct-03. Sponsors Nicholas Ratty and Mary Omalley. Page 185. Married Irene Rossdahl Jan 28,1953 St. Philomen.

These entries are not my immediate family of interest. However, I believe that the Timothy and Elizabeth (O'Malley) Whelan family above may be related to me. My great-grandfather Timothy Whelan, who died in 1894, and his family attended Holy Name Cathedral. He had some possible siblings in the Chicago area, and I have wondered if this Timothy above could be the nephew of my Timothy. One new piece of information from the entries above supports a relationship between these 2 Timothys--Nicholas Ratty, sponsor of Timothy and Elizabeth's son Francis, was a relative of my Timothy's wife Catherine. I hope that in the future I'll find documentation that will prove or disprove a relationship between these 2 Timothys.

The Skrobuls and Friends

This is a picture of some of my Skrobul relatives from Beckemeyer, Illinois and their friends. I believe the photo was taken in the early 1940s.

In the back row: Grandpa Anton Skrobul (aka Antanas Skrabulis), a friend named Tony McCloskey, my uncle Stan Skrobul.

In the front row: my uncle Anthony Skrobul, an unidentified friend.

If you know the name of the unidentified friend, I'd like to hear from you.

Who are you Baby Raymond?

The theme for the 9th Edition of Smile For The Camera is Who Are You - I Really Want To Know? For me, I come back once again to Baby Raymond.

I have blogged about Baby Raymond before (here) including a copy of this photo. Well, as I continued organizing my old photos, I came across this second copy of the photo. On the back of this one is written "Baby Raymond from N. Dakota." So, we have another bit of information about Raymond, who was treated at Shriners Hospital in Chicago in the 1940s--apparently he was from North Dakota.

I hope someday I'll learn more about Baby Raymond, and be able to pass on some baby photos of him to his descendents.

Mom and Friends

Here is a photo of my mom, Ann Skrobul, with her friends on another snowy day in Chicago. Mom is the one on the right. I believe that Stella Gordon is second from the left (based on comparisons to labeled photos of Stella.) The others are unidentified. If you recognize anyone in the photo, I'd like to hear from you.

The 99+ Genealogy Things Meme

I found this genealogy meme at Kinexxions. Here are the instructions:

If you wish to participate in the meme, simply copy the text below and paste it into your blog (or into a note on facebook if you don't have a blog) and annotate the list accordingly. We're on the 'honor system' here, no one is going to check up on you! Participation is up to you, no tagging of other bloggers required. A link back to this post would be nice but is not mandatory ;-)

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (color optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

Here are my answers:

1. Belong to a genealogical society.
2. Researched records onsite at a court house.
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents) .
6. Joined Facebook.
7. Helped to clean up a run-down cemetery.
8. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook.
9. Attended a genealogy conference.
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference.
11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.
12. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.
13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery.
16. Talked to dead ancestors.
17. Researched outside the state in which I live.
18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.
19. Cold called a distant relative.
20. Posted messages on a surname message board.
21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
22. Googled my name.
23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
29. Responded to messages on a message board or forum.
30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
31. Participated in a genealogy meme.
32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
33. Performed a record lookup for someone else.
34. Went on a genealogy seminar cruise.
35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space. 36. Found a disturbing family secret.
37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.
38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
39. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons).
41. Taught someone else how to find their roots.
42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure.
43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
45. Disproved a family myth through research.
46. Got a family member to let you copy photos.
47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
48. Translated a record from a foreign language.
49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
51. Used microfiche.
52. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
53. Visited more than one LDS Family History Center.
54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
55. Taught a class in genealogy.
56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
58. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.
59. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
60. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.
61. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.
62. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.
65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
66. Visited the Library of Congress.
67. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower.
68. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.
69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
70. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
71. Can read a church record in Latin.
72. Have an ancestor who changed their name.
73. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
74. Created a family website.
75. Have more than one "genealogy" blog.
76. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.
77. Have broken through at least one brick wall.
78. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.
79. Borrowed a microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
80. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.
81. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
82. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the "Psychic Roots" variety.
83. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War.
84. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War.
85. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors.
86. Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.
87. Use maps in my genealogy research.
88. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
89. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors.
90. Visited the National Archives in Kew.
91. Visited St. Catherine's House in London to find family records.
92. Found a cousin in Australia (or other foreign country). LITHUANIA!
93. Consistently cite my sources.
94. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don't live in) in search of ancestors. IRELAND!
95. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes.
96. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
97. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
98. Organized a family reunion.
99. Published a family history book (on one of my families).
100. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
101. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
102. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance.
103. Offended a family member with my research.
104. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.

That's enough about me. What about you?

Gertrude loved her hats!

Gertrude Brady Blanchet seems to have loved her hats. Most of the photos that I have of her show her wearing an interesting hat. In this one, we can see her husband Paul is apparently adjusting her hat for her. Or perhaps he is just keeping it from blowing away.