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.

Beckemeyer Kids, 1930s

This is a photo of children in Beckemeyer, Illinois. It was taken in the early 1930s. According to my information, the O is above Henry Koch. The X is by my uncle Anthony (aka Putt) Skrobul. The boy at the top right later became Father Feldman. I don't know who the others were, especially the one in the middle in the animal costume.

Miners Deaths on FamilySearch

Records of the death and burial of 5 of the miners who died in the Centralia mine disaster were recorded in the register of the Catholic church which they attended. The funerals of John Placek, Joseph Koch Sr., Antanas Skrabulis, and Roy Alvarez were held on March 31, 1947. John Mazeka's funeral was held on April 1, 1947. The church records include the names and ages of the men, their spouses' names and the cemetery in which they were buried.

Images of these records are posted on the FamilySearch pilot site as part of the collection of Illinois, Diocese of Belleville Catholic Parish Records 1729-1956. The records are for the St. Anthony of Padua Church in Beckemeyer, Clinton County, Illinois, image 45 of 61.

Miners Headstones

These are the headstones of some of the miners who died in the Centralia mining disaster on March 25, 1947.










These headstones are located in St. Anthony's Cemetery, Beckemeyer, Illinois. The photos were taken by me in September, 2004.

Another Picture of Mom

This is a picture of my mom, Ann Skrobul, dressed up in her Sunday best. I believe it was taken at the time of her confirmation.

Some images of records from St. Anthony's church (my mom's parish) in Beckemeyer, IL are on the FamilySearch pilot site. Who'd of thought? The images include listings for my mom and some of her siblings and cousins. I found alot of familiar names as I was browsing these records. A link to these records is here. (That's mom on image 32, line 14.) I am looking forward to seeing this entire record group posted online someday.

Ann Skrobul Brady 1914 - 2000

This is a photo of my mom Ann Skrobul Brady. She was born in Beckemeyer, IL on December 9, 1914. After finishing school, Ann moved to Chicago. She worked for some years for Shriners Hospital as a nursing assistant. Starting in about 1943, Mom worked at the Veterans Administration offices in Chicago, which is where she and Dad met.

My mom loved flowers. She planted rose bushes in front of the apartment building where we lived. Since her birthday was in December, I always bought her a pointsetta plant for her birthday, and flowers for other occasions too.

She loved to listen to music, although our tastes eventually diverged--she enjoyed the Lawrence Welk Show!

Mom was a big sports fan, following all of Chicago's sports teams. Her favorite team was the Chicago Cubs followed closely by the Bulls.

My mom enjoyed nature, especially going for walks along the lakefront.

Family was very important to my mom. She enjoyed talking to her sisters and brothers by phone, and writing letters to them too. She was also very proud of her Lithuanian heritage. (Mom and my Aunt Jo used to practice their Lithuanian language skills when they didn't want me to know what they were talking about.) Mom was thrilled when we made contact with cousins in Lithuania, since we had lost contact with that part of the family after World War II.

And, as shown in some of the photos I've posted of her, she liked interesting hats.

I learned alot from my mom--everything from planting flowers to baking cookies to how to ride the Ravenswood 'L'.

Happy Birthday Mom!

The Skrobul Sisters

This is a photograph of the Skrobul Sisters: Veronica (on lap), Juliana (in rocking chair), Estelle (sitting on the ground), Josephine (standing, the oldest) and Ann (my mom, standing, with the big bow in her hair).

The picture was taken around 1921, probably near their home in Beckemeyer, Clinton County, Illinois. Not pictured are the younger siblings, Stanley, Anthony and Maria, who were born after 1921. Their parents, Antanas Skrabulis and Antanina Norvaisaite, were Lithuanian immigrants who married in Gary, Indiana in 1910. Antanas worked as a coal miner for many years.


This picture was unidentified until I brought it with me to a family get-together. Now I treasure it as a rare picture of my mom and her sisters as children.