65 Roberts Street

I found my great-grandfather Bernard Shapiro in several Pittsburgh city directories from 1907-1914. His identity may possibly be mixed up at one point with a Benjamin Shapiro, but it appears that he is correctly identified for the most part as being a teacher living at 65 Roberts Street. Pretty amazing. More amazing still is the piece of information (see image above) in the 1930 edition of the city directory. It is a wonderful bit of evidence speaking to my great-grandparents' presence in that town. The notation (wid Bernard) is a beautiful touch. As Bernard had died a decade before, I find it wonderful that Fannie would still be so identified (in what was basically the phone book of that day) as a widow.

At some point after the family left 65 Roberts Street, they moved into 534 Herron Avenue. I don't think my grandfather Jake Shapiro was still living with them, but Fannie was living there with my Aunt Rose and Uncle Philip. Rose was apparently not yet married to Jerome "Jerry" Cohen, but she was working as a bookkeeper. There is no occupation listed for Philip because, I believe, he was already very ill with tuberculosis and would not live much longer, dying in 1933.

(Thanks to Eve and Don Krieger of Pittsburgh, PA for their efforts in making these directories available online.)

Style Points

I'm still working on my style and formatting for this blog, so I apologize for the sometimes uneven work.

The important thing is to get the information and images out there and available through search engines.

Feel free to leave any comments or questions.

17 June 1880: Enumerating Sam and Mollie

In the 1880 Fed. Census of Williamson Co., TX (Precinct No. 4) are enumerated my maternal grandmother's maternal grandparents, Samuel Parker Jackson and Mary Frances "Mollie" (Chapman) Jackson. Listed with them is their one year-old daughter (my Great-Grandmother) "Lula L. Jackson" as well as a young girl named Virginia B. Green, an 11 year-old native Texan and an "orphan." I wish I knew who this little girl was and how my ggreat-grandparents came into the responsibility of caring for her. Maybe somewhere in a letter I have is the answer, but it isn't known to me now. No birthplace is given for either of her parents.

"Sam'l" and "Mary F." are listed as 24 and 18, respectively. He's a farmer and she "keeps house." They and Lula are native Texans. Both give their mothers' birthplace as Mississippi, but only Sam states Tennessee as his dad's birthplace. Mollie's dad is not given one, although we know that William M. Chapman was, in fact, a native Tennessean.

21 January 1920: Enumerating My Great-Grandparents Henry and Amilie Petzold

Apparent now in an image of the page on which my Great-Grandparents Henry and Amilie Augusta (RACKOW) PETZOLD were enumerated in the 1920 Fed. Census of Bosque Co., TX (Justice Precinct No. 5) is some significant information I have never noticed before: although the words are crossed out and maybe misspelled, this document indicates that both of Henry's parents were from "Mecklenburg, Germany" and that Amilie and her parents were from "Posen, Germany." This census also ridiculously gives Henry's birthplace as Texas, but that is beside the point; what matters here is the amazingly specific designations of Mecklenburg and Posen. This is independent confirmation of some very important facts.

Henry appears as "Petzolt, O.H." and Amilie as "Emilie." They are renters on a farm and their seven children ---all boys--- live with them: Otto, Fred (instead of Fritz!), Walter, William, Herbert, Theodore (not "Tado" to the census-taker!), and Edwin. Henry and Amilie are listed as 50 and 47, respectively, which is completely off. Amilie declares that she is a "naturalized" citizen, although it simply says "un" where the year of her immigration should be. And, again, because Henry claims to be a native Texan, no marks are made in those same categories where Amilie's are. Everybody in the family can read and write, it says, although we know that probably wasn't so. They did all speak English, though. Bill, Herbert, PaPa, and Sam had all attended school in the past year. Amilie's "native tongue" is given as "Germany" [sic], but that space is blank for Henry, the big fibber. Henry is a "general farmer" working on his "own account," but his eldest boys, Ott and Fritz, are "wage worker" farmers. Neither Amilie nor the younger boys are credited with any occupation.

The moral of the story is to always go back to the original documents (or reproductions) and really give them the once-over twice. Never trust transcriptions if you don't have to. To find such specificity in a census record may not be rare, but it is pretty amazing. Pay attention to what is crossed out and to the context. Great stuff.

19 February 1891: Bertie Canon to Lula Louvenia Jackson

Here's another page from my Great-Grandmother Lula Louvenia Jackson's autograph book. The inscription is from her teacher Bertie Canon (or is that Carson?), dated 19 Feb 1891 at Buffalo Gap, Taylor Co., TX.

Walling Bend School, 1916-17

This is a photograph of the Walling Bend School class of 1916-17.

Walling Bend was a community in Bosque Co., TX. The site of the school seen in this photograph is, as best I can tell, now somewhere under the waters of Lake Whitney.

The little blonde-haired boy holding the edge of the sign on your left is my paternal Grandfather, Thedore Gustav "Tado" Petzold, whom I knew as PaPa (Paw-Paw). He did not get much past the third grade, I've been told, and this is probably the only school he ever knew.

Over PaPa's right shoulder and behind the little fellow with his hands in his jacket is my Uncle Herbert Petzold. He's the rather German-looking blonde-haired boy with the overalls. And standing behind and above him to his left is our Uncle Bill Petzold.

These are some of the very earliest images I have of these men, and I thank my Aunt Shirley with all my heart for sharing them with me ---and all of you.

My Great-Grandmother as a Little Girl

This is a tintype of some kind of my Great-Grandmother Lula Louvenia Jackson. I believe she is probably about three years old here, putting the date at about 1882. It was almost certainly taken in or around Williamson Co., TX.

Lula was a very pretty lady and you can see that in her little girl's face. My Aunt Opal once described her own daddy (and Lula's) as having "china blue" eyes. I think that's what we have here, too.