Heritage Zen:

Niagara Honeymoon - Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-08T11:01:00.000-05:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) My grandparents, Adolf and Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko were married on February 11, 1920 (For wedding pictures see here and here.). After their wedding they took the train to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. The quality of this photo is not the best, and I am not even sure if the people in the photo are my grandparents. The man on the left looks like my grandfather when I zoom in, so it's reasonable to guess the woman on the right is my grandmother. I can't be certain though. My grandmother use to talk about how beautiful Niagara Falls was in February. She said droplets of frozen water from the falls glistened on all the tree branches in the sunlight which made the landscape look like an icy winter wonderland.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Reading the Classifieds - Amanuensis Monday
Fascinating Ladies
Presenter Interview: Colleen Fitzpatrick, Forensic Genealogist
Does Your Library Have a Vertical File? - Tuesday's Tip

2011 Favorites In Review: And The iGene Goes To...

2012-02-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette)

Welcome to the Carnival of Genealogy's 5th Annual iGene Awards hosted by Jasia at the Creative Gene. I am honored to present this year's awards for Heritage Zen in the categories of Best Documentary, Best Picture, Best Comedy, Best Screenplay, and Best Biography!

As you can see I have once again dipped into my costume closet for an appropriate dress for the occasion. For this year's ceremony my wardrobe was inspired by Whoopi Goldberg's turn as Queen Elizabeth I during the 1999 Academy Awards. I'll be the first to admit, Whoopi pulled off the look way better than I do, but given my limited opportunity to wear Renaissance attire I figured I run with it. Now I know you are saying, "Where's the Elizabethan collar?" You caught me during an impromptu moment. The dress does have an E-collar (no, really it does), but I took it off to relax backstage before the show (which is kind of like the Elizabethans' version of letting your hair down, if you know what I'm saying). Enough with the idle fashion chatter. There will be plenty of red carpet photo ops after the show...

First up is the award for Best Documentary. The award goes to...A Comedy of Errors: My Family in the Census (Part 1 of 3) for my series on errors in the census! The United States government makes mistakes?!? No! Say it isn't so! I hate to shatter your illusions but yes, occasionally (or as in my case, often), census takers do make mistakes (Just because you're dead doesn't mean you don't count.). I know enumerating a Polish neighborhood was probably no easy task back in the day and probably left the poor census taker scratching his head all the while mumbling, "I'd like to buy a vowel," but really... Oh, and for you Moonstruck fans, I like to look at the photo of my great-grandfather Antoni, and imagine him wiping his tears like Cher's grandfather at the end of movie saying, "I'm so confused..."

Next up is the award for Best Picture, and the award goes to...it's a tie AND for the second year in a row! The iGene is to be shared between the photo in Send Up a Flare, Mystery Bride Identified! - Mystery Monday and the photo in My Family Tree: A Literal Interpretation! My photo of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Shenkowski and corresponding happy ending post in Send Up a Flare brought tears to the eyes of audiences nationwide. Also, is there a genealogist amongst us who doesn't dream of finding a photo of their ancestors perched in a tree? I don't think so.

The award for Best Comedy goes to...What the Dickens 2, Or More Tales From Hell's Kitchen, my sequel to last year's Best Comedy winner, What the Dickens, Or How to Blow Up a Duck! When was the last time a sequel won a major award?!? It's time to don your gay apparel (and grab a fire extinguisher) and return with me to Christmas Past as I share more heartwarming holiday tales of food preparation gone wrong. If there was an award category for Best Disaster (kind of like the Towering Inferno or Earthquake (In Sensurround), THIS would definitely be it!

The award for Best Screenplay goes to...Girls Just Wanna Have Fun..., my entry for the Swimsuit Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy! Does this not have the potential to be the perfect chick flick? Five twenty-something girls go to the beach for a day of sun and fun! It's kind of like a post-World War I/pre-Roaring Twenties version of Beach Blanket Bingo! Given that this is likely to be an ensemble film, I decided to cast the entire ensemble of superb actresses from the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice with Jennifer Ehle as my grandmother, Antonina. In case you are concerned about the English accents, have no fear. Jennifer is already American, and anyone can learn an accent (After all, how hard is it to master that Boston accent anyway?). Rounding out the cast is a young Colin Firth as Kahuna and a young Johnny Depp as Moondoggie (Candy for the eyes, ladies, candy for the eyes...).

The award for Best Biography goes to... my series Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday! Flu 1918 is a serious entry documenting the effects of the Spanish Flu Pandemic on my family and the citizens of Worcester, MA. A shoo-in dramatic winner for sure.

Now a brief thank you...

I'd like to say thank you to iGene host Jasia at Creative Gene and the entire staff at the Carnival of Genealogy for once again putting together another great show (That production number with the kick line was amazing, wasn't it folks!?!), the Academy (of Genealogists and Family Historians), my friends on the Frustrated Footnote Committee (I know I promised to try try harder last year, but I really mean it this time!), Thomas MacEntee at GeneaBloggers for hosting the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (because frankly where else could I share my stories of food preparation mayhem with a wider audience two years in a row! Thomas, buddy, this one's for you!), my family (especially my (still) long-suffering husband (Love ya honey!), and my son the Lego guru (Don't forget your homework son! Spelling test tomorrow!)), and finally a BIG shout out to the AFC Championship New England Patriots who are headed to the Super Bowl on Sunday! GO PATS!!!

Well this concludes this edition of the iGene Awards. Thank you all. Goodnight.

THE FINE PRINT: In an effort of full disclosure I feel it's my duty to disclose the sad truth that my husband seems to feel I have way too much time on my hands (I'm beginning to suspect he is right...).

Other Posts You Might Like:

And The Award Goes To...
Chopin Rising
The Rope Pull - Wordless Wednesday
Heritage Zen Dives In: NaBloPoMo!

More Than Meets The Eye (Again): A Tuesday's Tip Follow Up!

2012-01-31T08:08:00.000-05:00

Photo C

(Photographs Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) A couple of weeks ago I wrote about zooming in on photos to pick up details that might be missed when viewed at a smaller size. After my initial post, More Than Meets The Eye - Tuesday's Tip, I noticed even more in my photos from Kepno, Poland while looking at them collectively as a group. This seems such a simple thing. I don't know why I didn't do it before. Maybe I did, but it's been a while since I looked at them all together which brings up another point. Look at your photos more than once, AND if you have photos that are related to one another in some way consider them collectively as a group.

In general I am fan of "re-reading" documents--letters, diaries or in this case photos--to gain additional insight into the subject in hand. A letter I read a year or two ago may reveal more information today than it did before, particularly if I've done additional research on the subject in the interim. Context is everything. If I learn more about the subject or the context of the letter from current research, it makes sense that the same letter if read again may reveal new information with a fresh reading. This is also true for photos.

For clarity sake I've identified the photos in this post as Photo C and Photo D, so as not to confuse them with Photo A and Photo B in my previous post. Take a look a Photo C above. As in the previous post Photo C is one of a number of photos I've been able to figure out are from family and acquaintances in Kepno, Poland. You can see another photo of the children without their parents here. Like the photo I posted for my post Christmas in Poland, 1929 and the photograph of the children, the photographer's stamp on the back of Photo C indicates the photo was taken by the same photographer (Zaklad Fotograficzny / Jan Nawrocki / Kepno, Wlkp. Warszawska 23). Different families, but the same photographer. Hmm. Might there be a connection? It could be as simple as there was only one photographer in Kepno during that time period. It also could mean different branches of the same family used the same photographer or they lived near that particular photographer.

Take another look at Photo B in my original post, More Than Meets The Eye. Now look at Photo D below. Obviously it's the same building, but this time the photo shows the building under construction. We know when it was built, because you can see the date on the building at the top. 1933. I mentioned this in my previous post. I also speculated that the building my have been built by someone in the Walkowski family. See the initials J.W.? Now zoom in on the men on the scaffolding in Photo D. When I first looked at this photo I noticed the men in the white construction outfits. I didn't really pay attention to the man who is second on the right. It's the same man who is part of the family in Photo C!

Photo D

When I initially sorted all of these items out from my mother's house I put anything that said Kepno or looked like it was related to Kepno together in the same box. As I was looking at all the Kepno photos after my last post I found the small scrap of paper below. Look at the name and the address on the paper!

Jozef Walkowski / Kepno / Hotel Centralny / ul. Sienkiewicza 11 (or 77) / Polska. Wow! (Note to Self: Do not ignore seemingly insignificant scraps of paper!) I looked for information on Hotel Centralny and ulica (street) Sienkiewicza on the Internet. No luck on Hotel Centralny, but you can see a picture of ul. Sienkiewicza here and here. Could the building shown in Photo D be Hotel Centralny? Hotel Centralny also might be where the Jozef Walkowski family was living while the building in Photo D was being built. Or it could be another property owned by the Walkowski family.

What have we learned? Tomasz Walkowski and Jozef Walkowski might be brothers. Jozef might be the man in Photo D. If you look at Tomasz who appears in my post, Christmas in Poland, 1929 you'll note the resemblance between the men. Am I a 100% sure Jozef is the man in Photo D and that Tomasz and Jozef were brothers? No. Am I maybe 95% sure? Yep. Until I get the supporting documentary evidence I can't be a 100% sure, but still it's not bad for a day's work.

Tuesday's Tip: Review your photographs periodically, and if you have a group of photos or materials that seem to be related in some way make sure you view them together and consider the group as a whole. To quote Aristotle, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

Other Posts You Might Like:

Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
Circus Girls Are "Normal" - Amanuensis Monday
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
A Comedy of Errors: My Family In the Census (Part 1 of 3)

The Jozef Walkowski Children, Kepno, Poland - Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T10:32:00.000-05:00

(Original Image Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Text Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) I believe this is a photo of the children of a Jozef Walkowski of Kepno, Poland. I suspect the photo was taken sometime between 1929 and 1935. The photographer's stamp on the back of the photo offers the following information: Zaklad Fotograficzny / Jan Nawrocki / Kepno, Wlkp. Warszawska 23.

I mentioned the Walkowski family in my previous posts, More Than Meets The Eye and Christmas in Poland, 1929. I've learned a little more about the Walkowskis of Kepno over the last couple of weeks. I will share what I've learned in a soon to be published post. Stay tuned!

Other Posts You Might Like:

Baby It's Cold Outside - Wordless Wednesday
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Send Up a Flare, Mystery Bride Identified! - Mystery Monday
Grandma and Grandpa's Barn - Wordless Wednesday

Holy Cross Church, Warsaw, Poland - Sentimental Sunday

2012-01-15T11:09:00.001-05:00

"Beloved Church in Sunny Morning - J.D."

(Painting of Holy Cross Church privately held by Cynthia Shenette; The 1945 photo of Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, Poland is in the public domain and available from Wikipedia; Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette)

A couple of weeks before Christmas I was sorting through the last couple of cartons left from the close out of my mom's house in 2004. I guess the old adage, "Good things come to those who wait," is true at least in this particular case. Besides finding a copy of the local paper with the headline V-J WAR ENDS and an old car insurance policy from 1945, I also found the painting above and following poem sent to my grandfather, Adolf Szerejko, from his aunt Jadwiga Marjionowa in March of 1960.

The painting looks like it was probably painted in watercolor. I don't know who the artist was, but it could have been painted by a Janina Dyner, the author of the poem, or someone she was acquainted with. It also could have been painted by a street artist or the like and purchased by Janina who added the poem later. The painting and poem were originally sent to my grandfather's aunt, Julia Bielska, in February of 1948.

The notation to the right of the painting says:

To my dear Adolf, I'm sending this keepsake which was left for me after death of aunt Julia. I hope it will remind you of homeland, well known church in Warsaw, aunt and hopefully me.
Jadwiga Marjionowa
Krakow March 26 1960

The words directly below the painting say:

Beloved church in sunny morning - JD

On the back of the painting is a note and poem.

To my dear aunt Julia. In the occasion of 4th name day you spending far away from your beloved Warsaw I'm sending you best wishes and this modest poem.
Janina Dyner

According to a note on the document it was sent from Wlochy, Poland in February of 1948 where Janina was living at the time. My cousin Marek said there are three towns named Wlochy (translation, Italy) in Poland, and at this point I don't know which of the three it was sent from.

What is interesting from a family history point of view is that my grandfather's Aunt Julia was not living in Warsaw at the time this was given to her in 1948. After the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, the surviving Warsaw population was rounded up and evacuated from the city while the Nazis systematically destroyed what was left of the city after the Uprising. After the war the residents of Warsaw ended up in other parts of the country until Warsaw was once again made habitable for those who wished to return.

What I find rather sad about this painting and poem is that it was sent to my grandfather by Jadwiga in March of 1960. My grandfather died in December of 1959, but apparently word had not made it back to everyone in Poland by the following March. I have a letter that was written shortly after this was sent indicating that the family in Poland had finally received word of my grandfather's death.

After I found this painting and note I scanned and sent a copy to my cousin Marek and asked him to translate it. He returned the translation of the poem to me last week. To put the translation in context he said, "This is a translation of the poem. It's may not be perfect, I'm not really good with translations of poems so don't mind if grammar is not correct. I tried to keep the meaning and emotion of this poem as best as I could." I think he did a wonderful job.

Holy Cross Church, Warsaw, Poland 1945

Warsaw my beloved capitol!
Even though enemy turned you into ruins
Satan force did not overcome you,
Because there is a god inside the hearts of your sons.
The ground soaked with blood of your children,
Your population exiled by the enemy
But the star of hope shines for you
Because you are devoted to the benevolent mother.
Days of terror and torture past away
Your people are returning from the exile
And not curses and groans they brings
But they offer heart and effort.
The streets will feel with the crowd
Life will flow broadly.
And again the towers of Holy Cross
Will rise up high into the sky.
And again inside Holy Cross Temple
Faithful people will pray
Please Lord, bless Warsaw the capital
And whole homeland.

If you are interested in reading a little more about my family and Holy Cross Church check out my link, Szerejko - Szymanska Wedding Invitation - Amanuensis Monday. My grandfather's brother Feliks Szerejko married his second wife Leokadia Szymanska at Holy Cross in 1919. Also Steve Danko who writes Steve's Genealogy Blog, wrote a wonderful History of the Holy Cross Church, Warsaw, Poland back in September of 2011. Please check it out.

Special Thanks: To my cousin Marek for his translation of the text and the poem.

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Where They Lived: Every Address Tells a Story
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
Chopin Rising
Memories of the M/S Pilsudski? An Author Wants YOU!

More Than Meets the Eye - Tuesday's Tip

2012-01-10T11:49:00.000-05:00

Photo A

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) I have hundreds of photographs. If you throw slides into the mix I probably have well over a thousand images. While I'm thrilled to have so many photos I also think it's easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of images and miss information or clues some individual photos have to offer. I didn't really look at this one all that closely until a couple of weeks ago when I posted Christmas in Poland, 1929 for Wordless Wednesday.

Look at the street scene in Photo A. It's one of several photos I had randomly grouped together from a family I believe to be related to my grandmother's Bulak or Kowalewski family in Kepno, Poland. I never really looked at the photo that closely before. The actual size of the physical photo is approximately 3 1/2" x 5 1/2", a little bigger than an index card. Small it doesn't look like much, does it? Now zoom in. Before I tell you what I see take a look for yourself.

I was amazed at the details of the lively scene unfolding. Look at the business under the sign "W. Piatkowski." I was able to see several of the words clear enough to translate them: wlosow, szczotki, lalek, perfumy, panow, manikure (hair, brush, dolls, perfume, men, manicure). See the two girls on the steps in their white jackets? It's a beauty shop! Check out the business to the left of the beauty shop. I don't know what it is, but it appears to be at number 30 on the street. The man walking on the sidewalk is carrying a cane, and there is a man leaning on the back of the car. The car has a license plate. There's a lamp in front of the beauty shop. A gas lamp maybe? A toddler with what appears to be a rake is standing just to the right of the lamp.

Look over on the far right side of the photo. What's going on over there? See the restaurant? I can make out a few words: piwo, win, herbata, kawa, zimne, cieple (beer, wine, tea, coffee, cold, warm). Do you see the man in the suit leaning out the window? Look at the business to the immediate left of the restaurant. The owner of the business is A. Mazur. Can you see what's in the window? Hats! Apparently A. Mazur was the owner of a hat shop!

See the business to the left of the hat shop? There's a man holding a baby. He is standing on the stairs under the awning and a woman is standing behind him. What about the store window? The writing on the window says "Sklad Obuwia (Composition Shoes) T. Walkowski," and there is a display of shoes on a shoe tree. Take another look at my post, Christmas in Poland 1929. The man in the photo is Tomasz Walkowski! Now I know what business he is in! Shoes! I also know from family letters Tomasz Walkowski was fairly well off and owned several apartment buildings in Kepno.

Look at Photo B. What do you see? Zoom in...

Photo B

The people on the sidewalk look like one family. Or are they? This photo was also taken in Kepno. Seven children! Wow! At least that's what I thought. The funny thing is that other photos I have of this family only include four children. I asked my cousin Marek, who is from Poland, to take a look at the photo and see what he thought. Not surprisingly he saw something I didn't. Look on the first balcony above the people standing on the street. What I thought were flowers are actually children standing on the balcony! Marek also noticed something else that I didn't. See the white plaque to the right of the door? When you zoom in closer it looks as if the plaque has a Polish eagle on it. Marek told me that plaques like that are used to identify government buildings. He thought the children in the photo might be from a government school or orphanage. Some of the children standing with the family group might not be part of the family!

What else does Photo B tell us? Do you see the words Mleczarnia Kepnie? It's some kind of a dairy shop. See the man and the two women on the balcony above Mleczarnia Kepnie? Now look at the very top of the building with the children. Do you know when the building was built? 1933, and probably by someone with the initials J.W. Could W. stand for Walkowski? Another possible lead to follow up on...

Tuesday's Tip: Look at your photos closely and more than once. Zoom in to see the details. Have someone else look at your photos to see if he or she sees something that you do not, and if you are not familiar with a location ask someone else who might be. Sometimes there's more to a photo than you might initially think. Maybe you will see something today that you didn't see yesterday!

Other Posts You Might Like:

Heritage Zen Dives In: NaBloPoMo!
Circus Girls Are "Normal" - Amanuensis Monday
Got Dissertations? - Tuesday's Tip
The Haircut - Wordless Wednesday

An Interview With My Grandmother

2012-01-01T23:25:00.000-05:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) In December of 1953 my grandmother, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, gave an interview to the local paper in which she talked about her family traditions at Christmas. I remembered seeing the newspaper clipping with the interview years ago, but I didn't know what happened to it. I was sad to think that perhaps it had been lost, but didn't serendipity strike! I found it a couple of weeks ago as I was sorting through the last two boxes of items from my mother's house, and just in time for me to write about the interview for the 113th edition of Carnival of Genealogy! While I can't reprint the exact text of the article for copyright reasons, I can present quotes, information, and one of my grandmother's recipes which was included in the article.

A Gathering of Family

"He's the one that eats me out of house and home."

My mother, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, as well as her sister and her family, and my mom's brother who was in college in Indiana returned home for Christmas. I had to laugh at the quote from my grandmother about her son. My nine-year-old son eats constantly. My husband and I joke that we are both going to have to get part-time jobs when he hits his teen years to make extra money to keep him sufficiently fed. Apparently a hollow leg runs in the family!

Wigilia Supper

"We finally gave it up, because it was too much to do with a big Christmas dinner to fix the next day--too many dishes to wash and the children got restless sitting through all the different courses."

As long as my great-grandfather, Antoni Bulak, was alive my grandmother continued the tradition of Wigilia on Christmas Eve. Wigilia is a feast of seven, nine, or 11 courses. Many Poles celebrate Wigilia today. Dinner involves an uneven number of courses, and there must be an even number of people at the table. An extra chair is set in case a stranger, symbolic of the God Child, appears at the door to join the family for dinner. Christmas Eve day was a fast day. Courses included pike with horseradish sauce, baked sauerkraut with yellow peas, and other fish and vegetable dishes.

Passing the Oblatek

"It means that no matter what corner of the world you are in, the family ties are still strong. On Christmas Eve we pass it around and wish each other a good year to come. If there are any disputes or hard feelings in the family, that's the time they are made up."

The oblatek is similar to a communion wafer and is stamped with holy pictures. My grandfather's family in Warsaw sent the oblatek every year. I will admit to getting a bit teary when I opened a card earlier this year from my grandfather's family in Warsaw who I reconnected with in 2010. Inside the card was an oblatek! Despite all that time and distance, family ties and traditions remain the same.

Polish Mushrooms

My mom use to talk about the delicious mushrooms from Poland that they ate during the holidays. She said they were very expensive so my grandmother would only use a few and then only on special occasions like Christmas and Easter. According to the interview the mushrooms were purchased at a kosher delicatessen, and she said they had a unique flavor "something like steak." She also said that my grandfather Adolf Szerejko, who was originally from Warsaw, used to spend summers with relatives in the country during his childhood in Poland. This information was new to me. Apparently he had fond memories of mushroom hunting in the woods during his summer visits with the family.

Christmas Marzipan

"In Europe they don't have candy on the counters the way we do here, so we made marzipan at home to hang on the Christmas tree. My mother was afraid of using coloring, I remember, except for the juice of carrots or boiled onions--she thought it might be poisonous."

One of the best things about the interview is that it includes a number of my grandmother's recipes. I don't have any of her written recipes so this was a particularly exciting find.

Marzipan (Marcypany)

1 pound almonds, blanched
1 pound powdered sugar,
2 tablespoons rosewater
vegetable coloring

Grind blanched almonds very fine. Combine with sugar and flavoring. Cook until mixture leaves sides of saucepan. Add coloring, if desired. Roll out like piecrust until one-fourth inch thick. Cut in small hearts or other fancy shapes. Decorate with cherries or other glazed fruits. Place in warm place to dry.

These are used instead of candy and hung on the Christmas tree for the children.

I was thrilled to find this clipping. It's almost like my grandmother knew I was looking for it and led me to the right spot to find it just in time for this COG!

While my grandmother was never much of a drinker she loved creme de menthe and did treat herself a couple times a year to a grasshopper. It's my tradition to have one during the holidays, partly because I love grasshoppers and partly because they remind me of her. So here I am with my grasshopper as I finish up my COG post on New Year's Day 2012.

Cheers! Here's to you Gram, and thanks.

Submitted for the 113th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

Other Posts You Might Like:

The Stories My Grandmother Told Me
Photo Story: Grandma and Grandpa Meet -Wordless Wednesday
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
My Family Tree: A Literal Interpretation

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T08:29:00.000-05:00

I'm Counting Down to 2012! Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven...

(Original Image, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Other Posts You Might Like:

Christmas In Poland, 1929 - Wordless Wednesday
The Psychic Next Door (Part 1 of 2)
Where I Grew Up - Wordless Wednesday
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday

Christmas in Poland, 1929 - Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

(Photograph Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Text Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) This is a photo of Tomasz Walkowski and family of Kepno, Poland. The photo was taken in Kepno. I do not believe the Walkowskis are related to my family but are friends of my grandmother's family who did live in Kepno. According to family letters the Walkowskis had a son and a daughter. The children in the photo are dressed very similarly. Can you tell who is the boy and who is the girl? I'm not sure, but I'll hazard a guess. My answer is at the end of this post. I love the detail in the photo--the children's toys, the clothing styles, the decorations on the tree, the rug, the wallpaper. The back of the photo is stamped with a photographer's stamp: Zaklad Fotograficzny / Jan Nawrocki / Kepno, Wlkp. Warszawska 23.

My Answer: The boy is the child on the left on the rocking horse, and the girl is the child on the right holding a doll. What do you think?

Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Me and My Doll
Amanuensis Monday: Where My Doll Came From
Not So Wordless Wednesday: Me, Our Tree, and Another Doll
Baby It's Cold Outside - Wordless Wednesday

What the Dickens 2, Or More Tales from Hell's Kitchen - Advent Calendar, Grab Bag

2011-12-17T09:04:00.000-05:00

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

"Do you know the Poulterer's, in the next street but one, at the corner?" Scrooge inquired.

"I should hope I did," replied the lad.

"An intelligent boy!'' said Scrooge. "A remarkable boy! Do you know whether they've sold the prize Turkey that was hanging up there? Not the little prize Turkey; the big one?"

"What, the one as big as me?" returned the boy.

Bigger isn't always better, especially when it involves a turkey. I learned this the hard way.

Yes, Gentle Reader, It's Holiday Time Again!

Due to the popularity of last year's holiday post, What the Dickens, Or How to Blow Up a Duck, I have decided to return to Christmas Past to share more holiday tales of food preparation gone wrong.

I realize that whenever you do Part 2 of something it never seems to live up to the audience's expectations of Part 1. Even when Part 2 is good it never quite achieves the same level of greatness as Part 1. So, Gentle Reader, with that said it's time to lower your expectations and once again journey with me back in time ~~as I try to shamelessly capitalize on the popularity of the initial post~~ to Christmas Past...

Christmas 1985, Or How to Lose Your Cookies

Several friends and I had a brilliant idea! Let's have a Christmas cookie baking party! I was dating this guy at the time who offered to host the party at his apartment. Each of us brought a cookie ingredient (flour, sugar, eggs) and a recipe for batch of cookies. The plan was to make a huge batch of cookies which we would all share. One friend who was a bartender thought it would be fun to mix up a couple of pitchers of Blue Hawaiians to liven things up a little.

Well it didn't take long for my friends and I to realize that we really hadn't thought through the logistics of our cookie baking activity. A small apartment, multiple batches of cookies, one oven, limited counter space, and a large batch of Blue Hawaiians were not exactly the ingredients for success. We were quickly overwhelmed by dirty dishes, empty cookie sheets, full cookie sheets, cookie dough, and all of the already baked cookies. There were cookies everywhere--cookies on the counters, cookies on the table, cookies on top of the refrigerator! To put it in perspective think Lucy and Ethel in the candy factory with peanut butter blossoms instead of bonbons.

As the evening wore on my friends and I were getting desperate (plus I suspect the Blue Hawaiians were starting to kick in). What to do, what to do? An idea! Why couldn't we rest some of the hot cookies still on cookie sheets on a window sill to cool? They would be out of the way and cool off at the same time. Did I mention my boyfriend's apartment was in a three-decker? Yep, you guessed it. The cookies fell out the window. I don't remember how many flights. Let's just say the cookie incident kind of foreshadowed my relationship with the boyfriend (which was also out the window) a few weeks later.

Christmas 2010, Or You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid

My husband and son LOVE cranberry sauce. So do I, so every year I make home-made cranberry-orange relish. My son is somewhat spoiled and won't eat the stuff from the can which is fine with me. I'm always looking for ways to remove high fructose corn syrup from our diets. I'm happy to make my own which only contains three simple ingredients--cranberries, oranges, and sugar. How can you go wrong with only three ingredients?

I've come to think of kitchen appliances as power tools for the kitchen. A food processor is not for the faint of heart. I hadn't really thought too much about it until last year's mishap. I pulled out my food processor (which I rarely use I might add) put the cranberries in, put the cover on, and turned the power on. Unfortunately I forgot one thing. You know that cap that goes over the little tube you feed stuff into? I forgot to put that on. Oops. The result--a rapid-fire cranberry machine gun shooting cranberries all over the kitchen! My cranberries could have given Ralphie's Red Ryder BB Gun a run for it's money any day.

Thanksgiving 1989, Or More Problems With Poultry

Now, Gentle Reader, I know you are asking, "So what happened with the turkey?" I kind of alluded to what I have come to think of as "the unfortunate flaming turkey incident" at the end of my duck story. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what happened other than the turkey was really big and Mom was using one of those cooking bags again. Clearly we learned nothing from the exploding duck episode. All I know is Mom opened the oven door, and flames shot out! Still being the nervous type, I went for the kitchen fire extinguisher, again. Mom, still not being the nervous type, told me to put away the fire extinguisher, again. She closed the oven door, and the flames went out. After the fire was out Mom said in a calm voice, "Once you cut off the oxygen the fire will go out." Good to know. The turkey was fine, but I wasn't doing so well, again. And yes, we did have that turkey for dinner.

Do you have a Christmas tale of culinary chaos? A souffle that flopped? A fondue that didn't? Do you fear Christmas Dinner Yet to Come? Feel free to leave a comment. After all, misery loves company. Now I'm off to Home Depot to buy safety goggles. I need to make cranberry sauce...

God Bless Us, Everyone

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And the Award Goes To...
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A Charlie Brown Tree, All Grown Up - Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T09:47:00.001-05:00

Cynthia Shenette and Henry Shenette

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) What the heck is going on with that tree? It kind of reminds me of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree except bigger. I look as if I'm about two in the photo. We didn't have any pets at time so I can't blame the mess with the tinsel on a cat or a dog. Hmm. I wonder what got into the tree? Me perhaps? That might explain the grumpy little look on my face. An attitude adjustment definitely seems to be in order.

Clearly I am much happier in this photo. There's nothing like a new set of wheels to put a smile on one's face!

Other Posts You Might Like:

What The Dickens, Or How to Blow Up a Duck - Advent Calendar, Holiday Foods
Advent Calendar: Christmas Cards from Poland and Germany
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Me and My Doll
Not So Wordless Wednesday: Me, Our Tree, and Another Doll

Retail, Restaurants, Food, and More - Follow Friday, December 9, 2011

2011-12-09T12:29:00.000-05:00

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) I love reading all of the Follow Friday posts by my fellow geneabloggers, but I will admit haven't written a Follow Friday post of my own in well over a year. I've come across a number of blogs lately that are interesting, fun, or specific to Massachusetts that I'd like to share. Please check them out!

Shopping Days in Retro Boston is a fun blog. I spent 11 years working at the Jordan Marsh in Worcester where I started out as Christmas help in 1977. I've also done my share of shopping in good old Boston so it's been a fun walk down memory lane. Be sure to check out the photos and advertisements in the post, Christmas in Boston 1956.

Speaking of good old Boston, the blog And This Is Good Old Boston always has something interesting to share. Recent posts include topics such as the old Boston baseball team the Boston Braves, the infamous Coconut Grove fire, and the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Great visuals--photos, Sanborn map images, and more--accompany almost every post.

Fruitcake is the Cake of the Gods? Huh? Check out the Kitchen Retro blog, and decide for yourself. I bet you can guess how I'm coming down on the fruitcake issue. Also, if you are a parent or grandparent of young children you might want to learn why Seven Up soda is good for babies. Read Seven Months? Seven Up! (Whoever came up with this idea should be made to sit in a hermetically sealed room with 20 six-year-olds on a sugary birthday cake and fruit punch high.) I shudder at the thought...

For those of you with Worcester, MA connections, check out the Denholms Blog for another walk down memory lane. Denholms was THE place to shop for decades in Worcester. It was also THE place to go to see Santa and the Easter Bunny. For my "bunny shot" at Denholms see here. I use to make my mother nuts by running around in the revolving door at Denholms. I even got stuck in it once. If you are so inclined, you can see a picture of the revolving door here (second photo down). Let me add that while I might look cute in the bunny photo I was absolutely evil once I hit that door.

Now I know why washing dishes was such a threat back in the old days for folks who couldn't pay their restaurant check after a meal out. Read Washing Up at Restaurant-ing Through History. It's interesting and informative, as is the rest of the blog.

That's about it for this addition of Follow Friday, though I do have one more thing to add on a serious note. If you know a firefighter or are related to a firefighter, say thank you to him or her for doing what they do. Yesterday Worcester lost yet another firefighter who was killed in the line of duty. You can read about it here. Forget about what they say about sports figures and movie stars being heroes. Firefighters are REAL heroes.

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Advent Calendar: Christmas Cards from Poland and Germany
Remembering Pearl Harbor
Reflecting on My American Experience this Thanksgiving
Heritage Zen Dives In: NaBloPoMo!

What the Dickens, Or How to Blow Up a Duck - Advent Calendar, Holiday Foods

2011-12-02T10:27:00.002-05:00

(This is a re post of a piece written for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories in December 2010.)

(Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) "God Bless Us, Everyone." So says Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens' famous tale, A Christmas Carol. A fitting wrap up to a heart-warming story. Feast and food play an important part in the tale--the giant turkey, the plum pudding, the roast goose. I get the tingles just thinking about it. But not in a good way.

I read A Christmas Carol for the first time in eighth grade English class. Oh, that story made such an impression on me. One of the other English classes, not mine of course, actually got to stage a Dickens-style feast, complete with costumes, in our junior high cafeteria. Why couldn't my class do that? No Salisbury steak, instant mashed potatoes, and gray green beans in the cafeteria that day, but a real honest to goodness Dickens-style feast. I was so jealous.

I must have mentioned my disappointment to my mom. She came up with a brilliant idea. Why couldn't we stage our own Dickens feast right at home? She would make a goose and a couple of the other traditional English dishes for our celebration. Sounds good on paper right?

Well off mom went to the grocery store, but apparently back in the mid-1970s goose was hard to come by in Worcester, MA. No luck on the goose front. She did find a duck though. Mom figured that would be acceptable. I agreed. Mr. Dickens would most heartily approve. So home we went with our duck ready and willing to prepare our feast.

Mom, not knowing anything about duck, decided to prepare the duck the way she usually prepared turkey. This was back in the day when those turkey cooking bags were new to the grocery market. Mom was all for making things easier in the kitchen, so in went the duck, into a cooking bag. Mom also had heard that ducks can be kind of greasy, so she decided to put a trivet underneath the duck, inside the cooking bag so the grease could drip off into the bottom of the pan. Mom tied up the bag, and put the entire bag and it's contents into a pan, and faster than you can say Bleak House, the duck was in the oven. Our Dickens of a feast would be on the table in no time.

There was one fatal flaw in this plan. You knew there had to be one, right? Mom forgot to cut holes in the cooking bag to let steam out. Oops. While the duck was cooking away in the oven I was in the kitchen helping mom to prepare the rest of the meal. All of a sudden boom! An explosion! I looked over to the stove. Through the glass oven door I saw the duck, bag, trivet and all, blow up, hit the top of the oven, and plop back down in the pan! Being the nervous type I went for the kitchen fire extinguisher. Mom, not being the nervous type, told me to put away the fire extinguisher. The duck was fine. I wasn't doing so well.

Later on that evening, we did have our feast. Duck and all. Even after it blew up it turned out fine. I know this may come as a surprise, but we never had duck again. Lesson learned. NEVER forget to cut holes in the cooking bag.

Aah, those warm holiday memories of Christmas Past. Now let me tell you about the time my mom set fire to the turkey...

God Bless Us, Everyone.

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Holidays Are Like People...

2011-12-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

Dinner at My House, Thanksgiving 2002

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) When I started thinking about our Carnival of Genealogy topic for December, Thanksgiving traditions, it occurred to me that my Thanksgiving holiday celebrations have changed over the years.

When I was little my family and I always had dinner at my aunt Helen Bulak's house. Auntie Helen and my grandmother shared a duplex house in their later years. Thanksgiving was always on Auntie's side of the house, and Easter was always on my grandmother's side of the house. Thanksgiving dinner included extended family and involved a fancy dinner table set with Auntie's Lenox china. There was turkey, of course, a special Polish poultry dressing made with turkey or chicken livers (which for the longest time I did not like), mashed potatoes, glazed sweet potatoes, broccoli with Polish crumbs, gravy, cranberry sauce from a can, and apple pie with ice cream for dessert. Auntie Helen always made the turkey while my mom and my grandmother supplied everything else.

One of my favorite things was and still is broccoli with Polish crumbs or "garnish Polonaise," as I heard Julia Child call it once. Things always sound better in French, don't they? Polish crum...oops...I mean "garnish Polonaise" is a garnish made from dried bread crumbs which are browned in butter in a pan on the stove top until they take on a toasted flavor and a crunchy texture. Sprinkled over broccoli or most other vegetables they are delicious. It's amazing how something so simple can liven up a dish!

As long as my dad and my grandmother were still with us we continued to celebrate Thanksgiving at home. By 1990 Dad and Gram were both gone, and I was busy with work and graduate school. Rather than cook dinner at home Mom and I decided to start having Thanksgiving dinner out, a tradition which we carried on for a number of years.

After I had a family of my own I cooked dinner at our house. I made the traditional favorites--turkey, gravy, mashed sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry-orange relish, and my personal favorite, stuffing. Mom joined us for Thanksgiving for as long as she was physically able. Mom died three years ago, so now we join my husband's family in upstate New York for the holiday.

Grandmother's House (My Mother-in-Law's Family Homestead, Photo Circa 1900)

I love Thanksgiving with my in-laws. We usually have dinner at my sister-in-law's house. She and her family still live on the old family homestead. My mother-in-law's Ladd ancestors built the house around 1800, and the Ladd family has lived there ever since. Again, we have all the traditional dishes--turkey, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry-orange relish. My mother-in-law is a pie baker of awesome talent. She makes apple pie and butternut squash pie for dessert. This year my son had fun helping Grandma make cranberry-orange relish!

I often think back to the wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations of my childhood. I miss my parents and grandmother profoundly during the holidays. My life has changed, but I enjoy Thanksgiving with my son and my husband and his family. My in-laws are incredibly kind and welcoming. I feel like I'm part of their family now.

Holidays are like people. Time passes, and people change. I've changed. My Thanksgivings now aren't any better or any worse. They are just different.

Submitted for the 112th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

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Reflecting On My American Experience this Thanksgiving
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Photo Story: The End, For Now

2011-11-30T10:43:00.000-05:00

Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko and Cynthia Shenette

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) This is where my story ends, at least for now. It's been an interesting journey, and I've learned a lot. History isn't simple and can't be defined only by the famous. More often than not history is made up of ordinary people doing ordinary things, though sometimes life circumstances result in ordinary people being called upon to do extraordinary things. We are all unique, and thank goodness for that.

You've read my story. What's yours?

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Photo Story: A New Career for Dad

2011-11-29T12:48:00.000-05:00

Henry A. Shenette, 1960 Yearbook Photo

(Stockbridge School of Agriculture Yearbook Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Text Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Dad fought in 11 major battles during World War II and managed to come out unscathed. After all he had been through during the war, ironically he was severely injured in a training accident while teaching at the Naval School in Newport. While working with a new recruit Dad got his hand almost completely torn off in a piece of gun machinery on ship. Thankfully, there was a doctor at the Newport Naval hospital who my mom praised as one of the pioneers of reconstructive surgery. The doctor managed to reattach the torn part of my dad's hand, and despite a infection and long hospitalization Dad recovered use of his hand. Unfortunately, he did not recover enough to be able continue as a gunner with the Navy.

Dad retired from the military in 1957 after six years in the U.S. Army and 15 years in the Navy. Mom said Dad was somewhat at a loss as to do with the rest of his life. While he was in the Navy my mom had encourage him to complete his high school equivalency. Dad decided to continue his education at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture where he majored in floriculture. He graduated in 1960 and became the first person in his family to obtain a college degree. He eventually operated his own successful landscaping business. He was still actively working as a landscaper when he died in 1985 at the age of 69.

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Photo Story: Passages

2011-11-29T12:16:00.001-05:00

My Grandparents, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko and Adolf Szerejko

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) The 1950s was a decade of joy and sorrow in the extreme for my family. My mother and her siblings were married and my grandparents were enjoying their new role as grandparents. My grandfather was soon due to retire at 65. He and my grandmother had purchase a property in 1940 with three acres of land in a still rural part of Worcester. Their intention was to start a plant and flower business for their retirement years. Gardening was one of their joys in life. You can see one of my favorite photos of my grandparents and their flowers here.

Their plans were disrupted and their joy turned to grief with the sudden, tragic death of one of my mother's siblings in 1955. I truly believe it was a loss neither my grandmother nor my mother for that matter, recovered from. Grief also took it's toll on my grandfather. My mother said she always believed the stress of that loss contributed to my grandfather's death at the age of 64 in 1959 just before his retirement. In addition to the losses on my mother's side of the family, my Dad's mother, Marie (Comeau) Shenette LeMay also died in 1959.

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Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
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Photo Story: Mom and Dad Get Married

2011-11-28T11:31:00.001-05:00

Left to Right: Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, Henry Shenette, Marie (Comeau) Shenette

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My parents met through mutual friends while my mom was working for the United States Department of Agriculture in Worcester. The other secretary in the USDA office, Shirley Johnson, was a good friend of my mother, and her husband Wallace was a childhood friend of my dad.

Left to Right: Unidentified, Margaret Chenette, Unidentified, Rosalie (Wagner) Massey, Edward Chenette, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, Henry Shenette, Wallace Johnson?

Mom and Dad were married on June 13, 1953 at Our Lady of Czestochowa in Worcester, MA. A reception followed at the Sterling Inn in Sterling, MA. There was some question as to whether the reception would go on as scheduled, because a massive tornado blew through town four days before my parents wedding, devastating the northern end of the city. Guests managed to find a route around the destruction, and the reception went on as scheduled. After the wedding my parents took a honeymoon to Montreal and visited relatives on their trip home.

Left to Right: Unidentified, Helen Bulak, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, Henry Shenette

My mom moved from Worcester to Newport where Dad was stationed with the Navy. Mom said they were lucky, because they didn't have to move every two years like most Navy families. Dad was an instructor at the Naval School in Newport, so they stayed in Newport until he retired from the Navy in 1957.

Other Posts You Might Like:

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Photo Story: Seeing the World

2011-11-28T07:55:00.000-05:00

USS Charles R. Ware in Port, Rouen, France

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) I am certain my love of travel comes from my parents. I was always fascinated by my dad's stories about his travels with the Navy. He traveled everywhere--Australia, the Far East, Africa, Europe, Cuba, South America. Everywhere. After World War II Dad served on the destroyer, USS Charles R. Ware (DD-865) which traveled to the Arctic circle, Europe, and the Mediterranean. For a photo of my dad on ship in the Arctic, see here.

My mom also loved to travel, though her travels were less exotic than my dad's. Mom would save up her vacation until she accrued a total of three or four weeks time and take a trip somewhere in the United States. One time she traveled by train in a sleeper car to New Orleans with my aunt Helen Bulak, but most of the time she went by bus by herself. She took a bus across country stopping in Chicago and Salt Lake City. Mom slept on the bus which made a rest stop each morning for people to freshen up. Apparently travelers could rent a pillow on the bus to make sleeping more comfortable. From Salt Lake she continued on to California where stayed with friends of my grandparents and visited Yosemite National Park. On the way home she stopped in Arizona at the Grand Canyon. You can see a photo of her riding to the bottom of the canyon with a mule train here.

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Photo Story: Peace and Changes

2011-11-27T11:03:00.000-05:00

My Mother's Cousin Celina (Szerejko) Gzell and Son, Warsaw, Poland, Late 1940s

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) Cynthia Shenette) For the family in Poland post World War II was a time of change and upheaval. My grandfather Adolf's brother Feliks and his wife were civilian casualties of the war. Their children survived however. One son served in the Polish Army and was captured by the Germans. He eventually ended up in a DP camp in Germany after the war and stayed there until he was allowed to immigrate to the United States.

My grandfather's brothers Henryk and Jan survived the war. Jan lost one son to Soviet violence shortly after the war. The Soviets were not friends of the Polish people. A letter from one of my grandfather's relatives said that to remain in Soviet occupied Poland would be "a slow starvation." Given the family letters that I've read I've always felt that post traumatic stress disorder was probably epidemic within the civilian population after World War II and not just a problem for those in the military.

My Dad and his three brothers who served overseas returned to the United States. Their father Frank Shenette died in June of 1945 just before the end of the war. My mom told me that my dad participated in one of the ticker tape parades in New York City. Apparently he was qualified to operate a tank from his training in the Army and was chosen to drive a tank during the parade. After the war Dad reenlisted into the Navy where he served until he retired from the military in 1957.

Mom's job at the Ration Board ended with the conclusion of the war. She found work at the local office of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the Federal Building in downtown Worcester where she worked until she married my dad in 1953.

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Photo Story: The Occupation of Tokyo Bay

2011-11-26T13:37:00.000-05:00

Henry A. Shenette

Certificate Awarded to Third Fleet Landing Force, Task Force 31

(Certificate Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) At the end of World War II my dad was attached to the United States Marines and served with the United States Third Fleet's Task Force 31 which was involved in the occupation of Tokyo Bay. He was part of the Yokosuka landing force which was deployed on August 30, 1945. My dad was a gunnery expert and his role was to dismantle the guns the Japanese had hidden in the caves in and around the Yokosuka Naval Base.

The Indiana was part of the occupation force of Tokyo Bay after the formal Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. The USS Indiana sailed for the States on September 9, 1945. She arrived in San Francisco Bay on September 29, 1945 and was the first ship to return to the States from Tokyo Bay.

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Photo Story: Dad, the Navy, and the USS Indiana

2011-11-25T13:56:00.000-05:00

The USS Indiana Bombarding Kamaishi, Japan, July 14, 1945

Plank Owner's Certificate for the USS Indiana

(Photo of the USS Indiana is available at Wikipedia and is in the public domain. Plank Owner's Certificate Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Dad joined the Navy in February of 1942. He was assigned to the battleship the USS Indiana and served in the Pacific Theatre. It may sound naive to say I knew a battleship was big, but I had no idea how big until I started researching the Indiana to learn more about my dad. Five thousand, six hundred, fifty-three (5, 653) men served on the Indiana. To put it into perspective the total number of sailors on the Indiana was one third the entire population of the town I currently live in. For more information about the USS Indiana check out the USS Indiana BB-58 Homeport website which has wonderful photos and information, including the ship's log, about the ship. You can also see a photo of my dad with other members of the Gunnery Department here.

My dad received the plank owner's certificate above on April 30, 1942 as one of the 2,109 men on board when the ship was put into commission. Plank owners didn't actually "own" a plank of the deck. It was an honorary title and part of a tradition which dates back to the time of wooden sailing vessels. The Homeport website has a list of the plank owners. My dad's name appears here.

My dad participated in 11 major battles in the Pacific Theatre. He spoke very little about the actual battles, but I do remember him talking about a major fire on the ship. When I started researching the Indiana I learned that the fire was caused by a collision between the Indiana and another ship, the USS Washington, which you can read about here.

My dad received two silver stars and two bronze stars for his service. Again, he never talked about what he did to receive his honors. While he was proud of his service he never bragged about what he had done. He didn't "trot out his glory bars" as he use to say. He was just doing his job. I did learn from someone years ago that he received one of his silver stars for throwing a live shell that had misfired off the deck and into the ocean. He was just doing his job.

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Photo Story: Changes and World War II Begins

2011-11-24T13:32:00.001-05:00

Mom's 1940 Yearbook Photo

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) The end of the 1930s and the early 1940s was a time of change for my family. In 1939 my grandfather's brother Feliks was killed in the bombing of Warsaw on the first day of World War II, and my great-grandfather Antoni died during the winter of 1940. Mom graduated from high school in the spring of 1940 and went on to continue her education at a two year business college.

After college Mom worked at the Worcester War Price and Rationing Board for the duration of the war. She enjoyed working at the Ration Board and said it was the best job she ever had. She must have done a pretty good job, because she was eventually put in charge of the food and shoe departments.

Dad returned from the Philippines and was separated from the service in California on November 19, 1941. Pearl Harbor was bombed eighteen days later on December 7, 1941. Dad knew it was a matter of time before he was drafted, so he reenlisted in February of 1942. This time around he chose to serve in the Navy. He figured if he reenlisted he would get to choose which branch of the military to serve in. If he waited for the draft he would be assigned to a branch. He always said if worse came to worse he'd rather go down with the ship than die in a foxhole. He was in the Navy for 15 years and never learned how to swim...

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Remembering Pearl Harbor
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Reflecting on My American Experience this Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:21:00.000-05:00

(This is a re post of a piece written for Thanksgiving 2010. Warm wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers, family, and friends.)

(Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) I've been thinking about how my son's collective ancestry typifies a large part of what I think of as the American experience as defined by many of the major events in history since the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts in 1620. As a genealogist and family historian sometimes I think it's easy to look at individuals rather than our ancestry as a sum of many parts.

While my son's ancestors didn't come to America on the Mayflower, they did arrive in Rhode Island in 1633. They survived cold New England winters, disease, and deprivation. They later fought in the American Revolution and as the old saying goes saw the whites of the Red Coat's eyes at Bunker Hill, and after the colonies won their independence, settled along the Mohawk River Valley in New York where they farmed the land for the next two hundred years. As time progressed they watched Scots Irish immigrants come into the area to help construct the the Erie Canal with mule teams and watched factories spring up in the towns and cities that dotted the length of the Mohawk River.

Other ancestors populated Acadia, or Nova Scotia, during the seventeenth century until they were forcibly removed by the British during the Seven Years War or what Americans call the French and Indian War. Some of the ancestors expelled from Acadia eventually ended up in Louisiana, others managed to find their way back to French speaking Canada to resettle in Quebec. During the mid-nineteenth century some made their way to California to seek their fortune during the Gold Rush. Ancestors fought, were wounded, or died of disease during the Civil War. They participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. After the Civil War ancestors joined the great migration of immigrants from Canada to New England to work in the lumber camps of the Green Mountains and the mills of Massachusetts.

At the end of the nineteenth century another set of ancestors left their homeland in Europe. They left their families--mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters--behind and set off in search of a better life in America. They endured difficult conditions on ship and arrived at Ellis Island with the rest of the "yearning masses" also hoping for a better life in their new land. Immigrant ancestors found their way to the Midwest, to Chicago to work in low wage jobs in the steel industry. When they lost their home due to fire they made their way to Massachusetts to join other family members, also immigrants, in the steel mills. They worked long hours in difficult conditions to pursue the American dream.

During the twentieth century ancestors fought in World War I, World War II, and Korea. When both parents in one family died within two days of one another during the great flu pandemic of 1918, their children were adopted by family to become part of an extended family. Ancestors were affected by the crash of the stock market in 1929 and struggled with varying levels of success through the Great Depression. They participated in the Civilian Conservation Corps and joined the military.

One ancestor served his time in the military in the late 1930s and early 1940s, only to be discharged in November of 1941, eighteen days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He reenlisted in February of 1942, served in the Pacific theatre, and participated in the battles of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, the Marshall Islands, and Okinawa. He survived. Another family member fought with Patton's army in the European theatre. He witnessed the liberation of Buchenwald. After World War II family displaced by the chaos of the war in Europe, lingered in a DP camp for years until they were finally able to make their way to a new life in the United States.

Our ancestors survived war, deprivation, and hardship. They survived childbirth when health care was rudimentary or nonexistent, and during times when mothers knew death from childbirth was an ever-present possibility. They suffered from small pox, rheumatic fever, whooping cough, flu, measles, mumps, and a host of diseases our children, thankfully, will never know. There were bad times, but there were of good times as well. They lived life the best they could given their circumstances. That's four hundred years of history in my son's ancestry. He IS my American experience. That's a lot of weight to carry on those little shoulders.

When you sit down to dinner with your family this Thanksgiving, think about the people that came before you. It doesn't matter if they were French, Irish, Polish, Italian, or African American. It's doesn't matter if they came on the Mayflower or not. They were the ultimate survivors. We are here because of them, and our lives are better because of them. I know I have a lot to be thankful for.

What's your American experience? Take some time to write about it, and then share it with your family over Thanksgiving dinner. Almost four hundred years of history should give you something to talk about. Now, please pass the gravy...

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Heritage Zen Dives In: NaBloPoMo

Photo Story: 1939 World's Fair

2011-11-21T11:16:00.000-05:00

The Trylon and Perisphere

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My mom and her family visited the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Even sixty years later she commented on how amazed they all were by it. Mom said it was the first place she ever saw a television. Can you figure out which day in 1939 my mom and her family visited the fair? There are clues in the images. Leave a comment at the end. Also check out this really cool vintage film footage of the Polish Pavilion. Enjoy the fair!

The Electric Utilities Pavilion

The Italian Pavilion

The Polish Pavilion

Menu from the Polish Restaurant at the Polish Pavilion

Daily Specials: Should I have the calf's brains or the boiled tongue? Decisions, decisions...

Other Posts You Might Like:

Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
Reflecting on My American Experience this Thanksgiving
The Stories My Grandmother Told Me
A Matter of Habit: Solving a Mystery

Photo Story: Auntie Helen's 1937 Trip to Poland

2011-11-20T13:28:00.000-05:00

Left to Right: Feliks Szerejko, Leokadia (Szymanska) Szerejko, and their son Aleksander Szerejko

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My grandmother's sister Helen never married but became a successful business woman. She ran a what began as a millinery shop in 1920 and retired, closing her shop Helen's on Milbury St. in Worcester, some 50 years later.

Even in the 1930s when times were tough Auntie Helen had enough money to take a two and a half month trip to Poland. While she was there she toured the country and visited with my grandfather's family in Warsaw. She kept a travel diary during her visit. Here is an excerpt from her diary. The diary is written in quick note form. I've included slashes to indicate line breaks to make it more readable. The spelling is a direct transcription.

Lazienki Palace

Date July 4, 1937 Sunday
Place Warsaw, Feliks Home

Up at 8 A.M. went to Mass for / 9 with Oles' [Aleksander] home for breakfast / Went to Lazienki Park havent seen anything so beautifull / Park recieved its name from the / Lazienski make them. The Palace / of Zymont 2 Poniatowski who / lived their not very large but / beautifull.

Leokadia and Helen Bulak in front of the Chopin Statue

In the park are beautifull Statues of the great / Music Composer Chopin also /

Helen, Feliks, and Leokadia in front of the Statue of Jan Sobieski

Jan Sobieski fighting Turks / The streets and alleys are something / unusual such tall trees and weeping / willows, blue spruce. The / Palace decorated with white petunias / and red geraniums the colors of / Poland. Took snapshots / Mr. + Mrs Oles and myself. / Orchestra Playing in the Park / surrounded by Garden of Tables / where lunch can be served. /

My grandfather's aunt, Julia Bielska (Abt. 1879-Aft. 1947)

Drove home through Aleje Ujazdowskie / had dinner rested a few minutes / and went visiting to Pani Julia / Bielska. found her a very / pleasant person and very lively / for 58 yrs of age. Had lunch / their after 7. P.M. Mrs. Szerejko came / had lunch also. then we all / talked and made merry until / 9.30 left for home and bed / @ 11.30 P.M.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Chopin Rising
Where They Lived: Every Address Has a Story
Memories of the M/S Pilsudski? An Author Wants You!
Leokadia (Szymanska) and Feliks Szerejko - Wordless Wednesday

Photo Story: Two Years in the Philippines

2011-11-19T09:51:00.000-05:00

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) These two images are from my dad's collection of photos from the Philippines. Dad was stationed in the Philippines for two years in the late 1930s. He didn't seem to be unhappy with his time there, but it didn't sound like a garden spot to me. I can only imagine how difficult it was in camp with the heat, the humidity, and the bugs. He use to talk about having to turn his boots upside down every morning before putting them on to make sure there weren't scorpions or other critters inside them.

Dad said he was on the last ship out of the Philippines before the Japanese invasion at the beginning of World War II. According to his records he separated from the service in California on November 19, 1941. Less than a month later the Japanese invaded the Philippines ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I've always wondered how the other guys that dad served with in the 31st Infantry made out. The 31st was involved in the defense of the Philippines. The end result--the Bataan Death March four months later in April of 1942. I wonder if Dad had one of those, "There but the grace of God go I" moments...

Please check out some of my other links regarding my dad's time in the Philippines below.

Other Post You Might Like:

The Haircut - Wordless Wednesday
The Neatest Private on Guard - Treasure Chest Thursday
Company M, Thirty-First U.S. Infantry - Military Monday
Remembering Pearl Harbor

Photo Story: Dad, He's In the Army Now...

2011-11-18T09:04:00.000-05:00

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Dad spent 21 years in the military and served in the United States Army from 1936 to 1941. He was with Company "H" 66th Infantry (Light Tanks) when this photo was taken in 1937. By the time he parted from the army in 1941 he had achieved the rank of corporal.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Thinking of Dad on Father's Day
Books of Interest: The Life of Billy Yank
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Valley Forge is Back Again
Letters and Photos and Stuff, Oh My!: Sorting Through a Loved One's Estate (Part 1 of 3)

Photo Story: The Great Depression, Dad, and the CCCs

2011-11-17T15:03:00.001-05:00

Henry Shenette (age 18) Left, Unidentified Friend Right, 1934

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My mom's family managed to get by during the Great Depression with my grandfather working three jobs and my grandmother taking in sewing to help support the family. My mom said they never went hungry, because my great-grandfather Antoni Bulak had moved from Worcester to a farm in Oxford, MA. My mom's family always had food from the farm. Life was harder for my dad. He left school as soon as he was legally able and found work to help support his family.

Civilian Conservation Corps Camp, Campton, NH

Dad joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in April of 1934. He enrolled at Fort Devens, MA and was sent to work on a dam project in Campton, NH. These photos are from my dad's scrapbook from his time in the CCCs. The scrapbook contains quite a few photos, many of them probably taken to give to the young men as a remembrance of their time in the CCCs. I was rather surprised to discover very few photos of this particular CCC camp online. I've decided to devote some time, probably in January, to posting photos from my dad's scrapbook for other researchers interested in the camp.

Breaking and Gathering Rocks for the Dam

According to my dad's Certificate of Discharge he served as a laborer with the CCCs from April 17, 1934 until June 25, 1935, and as a cook from June 25, 1935 until September 30, 1935. He was honorably discharged at the end of September in 1935. He didn't have much time off after his discharge. He joined the United States Army in January of 1936.

Construction of the Campton Dam by the Civilian Conservation Corps

Campton Dam, Campton, NH

Other Posts You Might Like:

Reflecting on My American Experience This Thanksgiving
Wordless Wednesday: A Good Catch
Shore Leave - Wordless Wednesday
A Comedy of Errors: My Family in the Census (Part 1 of 3)

Photo Story: Dad and A Mystery Solved

2011-11-16T18:26:00.000-05:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My mom grew up in the Vernon Hill section of Worcester. My dad also grew up in Worcester.

This is the only photo I have of my dad, Henry Albert Shenette (1916-1985), and his siblings as children and young adults. This photo was taken in 1929 and includes six of my dad's seven siblings. Sibling number seven hadn't been born yet when the picture was taken.

While I have hundreds of photos of my mom's family I have very few of my dad's family. Why is this? I believe there are a number of reasons. Money was tight for Dad's family. My grandfather Frank Shenette (1873-1945) is listed in the census and the Worcester city directories as a painter or a house painter. If you compare the economic downturn of today in relation to the Great Depression, painting is something that you can often do without when money is short. My grandmother, Marie Louise (Comeau) Shenette (1890-1959), was busy with the children, giving birth approximately every two to three years between 1907 and 1929. The family moved around a great deal, probably due to work and the cost of rent. From the time my dad was born in 1916, until he left home for the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934, the family lived in eight different places in Worcester. My dad also spent many years traveling in the military. Finally, there were eight children to divide up the existing photos.

I posted this photo back in February of this year. At the time I listed the names of all of the siblings, but I didn't know the identity of the older woman in the group. I remember asking my dad years ago who she was and all he said was that she was an aunt. I speculated that the woman might have been Frank's sister Josephine (1876-1952) who I mention in my post, The Death and Funeral of Charles Senecal - Amanuensis Monday. The woman resembles members of the Chenette family. Josephine lived in Worcester, and would have been about the age of the woman in the photo. I am happy to report that I have discovered the identity of the woman in the photograph. The mysterious "aunt" is Lena (Chenette) Potvin (1882-1961) Frank's youngest sister. I initially discounted Lena as she lived in St. Albans, VT at the time the photo was taken. I had the right side of the family, but the wrong sister. Special thanks goes to my cousin Roger LaFerriere who found my blog online, took the time to contact me, and solved the mystery!

The siblings in the photo are Leo A. (1907-1973), Edward F. (1911-1991), Margaret M. (1913-2004), Richard R. (1922-1980), Dad, Bertha L. (1910-1991), and Raymond F. (1925-1990) sitting in Lena's lap. You may notice that throughout this post I use both the Chenette spelling and the Shenette spelling. The spelling varies between records and even between siblings.

Other Posts You Might Like:

What's In A Name? (An Ongoing Series): Chenette
Tombstone Tuesday: Francois Chenette, Civil War Soldier
Wordless Wednesday: Dad, Somewhere Cold
Postcards From the Edge: Genealogy Road Trippin'

Photo Story: Joy and Sadness

2011-11-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Who's the little baldy? My mom, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette (1921-2008). Apparently people often mistook Mom for a boy when she was a baby. Mom told me that my grandmother would dress her in ruffles and ribbons to try to make her look more girly. My grandmother would get so mad when people would say, "Oh what a cute little boy!" Mom was born at home, not at a hospital, in the heat of July. I can only imagine how difficult that was for my grandmother. Mom was my grandparents oldest child. Two more children soon followed.

While the 1920s was a decade of great joy for my grandparents, it was also a time of sadness. My great-grandmother Ewa died at the relatively young age of 51 from cancer. My grandmother took care of Ewa throughout her illness. I remember how she use to talk about the difficulties of tending to her dying mother at home while taking care of two babies under the age of three.

Back in Poland my grandfather's mother Jozefa also died. She too was a relatively young woman, only 53. Jozefa never saw my grandfather Adolf or his brother Aleksander again after sending them to America in 1913.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Ewa (Kowalewska) Bulak - Wordless Wednesday
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
The Stories My Grandmother Told Me
Meditation: Family History

Photo Story: Grandma and Grandpa Get Married

2011-11-13T21:51:00.001-05:00

Adolf Szerejko and Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My grandparents were married on February 11, 1920 at Our Lady of Czestochowa, in Worcester, Massachusetts. My grandmother and her mother Ewa (Kowalewska) Bulak, both seamstresses, made the dress. Her flowers are freesias--one of my grandmother's favorite flowers. After the wedding the couple took a train trip to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Wordless Wednesday: Warsaw Wedding
Always a Bridesmaid - Mystery Monday
Send Up A Flare, Mystery Bride Identified! - Mystery Monday
The Mystery Brides Are Back, A New Season Begins - Mystery Monday

Photo Story: Helping the Red Cross During World War I

2011-11-12T10:46:00.000-05:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) While the men were off to the war in Europe the women helped out at home. This is a photo of my grandmother's cousin Sophie (Kowalewski) Konopka (1898-1987). For another photo of Red Cross volunteers check out my post (Almost) Wordless Wednesday: WWI Red Cross Volunteers. According to the Red Cross website there were 107 local chapters of the Red Cross in 1914 but that number grew to 3,864 by 1918.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
My Family Tree: A Literal Interpretation
(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: The Kowalewski Family

Photo Story: The Life of a Doughboy, 1918 - Veterans Day

2011-11-11T18:56:00.002-05:00

(This post was originally written for Veteran's Day 2010. Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette. Keep the Home Fires Burning, by Lena Gilbert Ford, Available Under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.)

These photos were sent from my grandfather Adolf Szerejko to his then girlfriend, my grandmother Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko. My grandfather served in France during World War I.

On the back of the photo: "Augusta, GA 7-2-18"

Written on the train: "Going to GET the Kaiser, Scranton, Pa, US Aviation Section Regulars, Going to Germany to Berlin via France"

On the back of the photo: "Taken at Rocky Mountain South Carolina Adolf"

"Camp Greene Charlotte, NC."

On the back of the photo: "Those are my friends, front row from left to right J. Coyle (best) J. Erns. Percons. Szerejko At the back Anctile. Moore. Sanders. Four Irish, one French and the last man I don't know his nationality Adolf" The spelling may be off as the handwriting is very difficult to read.

" I'm next."

"Camp Greene, Charlotte N.C."

"Kolacja na "hike" (Dinner on the "hike")"

Written on the back: "What we got ourselves into"

"Camp Greene, Charlotte, NC."

Keep the Home Fires Burning ('Til the Boys Come Home)

Keep the home fires burning,
While your hearts are yearning.
Though your lads are far away,
They dream of home.
There’s a silver lining,
Through the dark cloud shining,
Turn the dark clouds inside out
Till the boys come home.

Thank you veterans for your service. Happy Veteran's Day!

Special Thanks To: Marek for his translation of the Polish into English.

Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: WWI Red Cross Volunteers
Tombstone Tuesday: Francois Chenette, Civil War Soldier
Wordless Wednesday: Dad, Somewhere Cold
Tuesday's Tip: "Ask a Librarian" Service at Your Public Library

Photo Story: Uncle Sam Calls

2011-11-10T09:10:00.000-05:00

Gram is right there with him.

Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: WWI Red Cross Volunteers
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
Going Home: Our Lady of Czestochowa, Worcester, MA

Photo Story: Three Brothers Stay in Poland (Part 3 of 3) - Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T21:05:00.001-05:00

Jan Alojzy Szerejko (1902-1974)

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Jan Szerejko

Have you ever had a breakthrough that was so amazing that you can't believe it when it happens? Back in 2004 I posted a message on a genealogy discussion board looking for information about my grandfather's family. For years I wondered what happened to the family in Poland. Imagine my surprise when I received an answer to my discussion board query in 2010, six years after I posted my initial message. To say I was surprised to be contacted by a grandchild of my grandfather's brother is an understatement. It was also interesting to learn that while we in the States were wondering what happened to the family in Poland, they were wondering what happened to us.

Jan Szerejko was the youngest of the six brothers and was only 11 when my grandfather Adolf and his brother Aleksander immigrated to the United States. I learned that Jan remained in the greater Warsaw area where he married, raised a family, and operated a grocery store.

It's amazing to think that it's been almost a hundred years since my grandfather left Poland and our families are still in touch. My cousin tells me that his parents and family read my blog. For a genealogist it just doesn't get better than that.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Memories of the M/S Pilsudski? An Author Wants YOU!
Chopin Rising
Reflecting on My American Experience This Thanksgiving
My Family Tree: A Literal Interpretation

Photo Story: Three Brothers Stay in Poland (Part 2 of 3)

2011-11-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Henryk Szerejko

Years ago, before I started doing genealogy, I came across this photo in a big box of photos at my mom's house. I was intrigued by this young man, a boy really, in a military uniform. I had no idea who he was. The only clue to his identification was "Henick" or "Heniek" written on the back of the photo. I eventually discovered Henick was my grandfather's brother Henryk Szerejko (1898-1968). Henryk was only fifteen when my grandfather Adolf and his brother Aleksander were sent to America. Henryk and Adolf must have remained close despite the distance between them. They wrote letters to one another on a fairly regular basis for almost fifty years, and their wives continued to correspond even after the deaths of the men. The last letter I have from Henryk's wife Rozalia to my grandmother was written in 1980. The two family's stayed in touch for almost 70 years. It's amazing when you think about it...

Other Posts you Might Like:

Post World War II "Care" Packages - Amanuensis Monday
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Me and My Doll
Amanuensis Monday: Where My Doll Came From
Treasure Chest Thursday: Travel Diary, Poland 1937

Photo Story: Three Brothers Stay in Poland (Part 1 of 3)

2011-11-07T09:09:00.000-05:00

Leokadia, Celina, Aleksander, and Feliks in 1924 (Warsaw, Poland)

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Feliks Szerejko

My grandfather's older brother Feliks lived his life in Warsaw. He is pictured above with his second wife, Leokadia (Szymanska), his daughter Celina (Gzell), and his son Aleksander. My grandmother's sister Helen Bulak stayed with Feliks and his family during the summer of 1937 on her trip to Poland. Celina and Aleksander survived World War II. Feliks and Leokadia did not.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Wordless Wednesday: Warsaw Wedding
Szerejko - Szymanska Wedding Invitation - Amanuensis Monday
Leokadia (Szymanska) and Feliks Szerejko - Wordless Wednesday
Where They Lived: Every Address Tells a Story

Photo Story: Two Brothers Are Sent to America

2011-11-06T10:50:00.000-05:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) After Wincenty was conscripted into the Russian army, Jozefa and Leonard made arrangements to send my grandfather Adolf and his older brother Aleksander (1892-1962) to America. The brothers didn't know anything about their parents' plans to send them to America until the day they were to leave.

My mother said her father use to tell my mother and her siblings about how he and his brother escaped from what was then Russian or Congress Poland. Adolf and Aleksander crossed the border between Poland and Germany. Apparently there were ditches dug along the border. My grandfather fell in a ditch in the dark and managed to get a bloody nose. The brothers eventually made their way to the Netherlands. My mother said her father always talked about how kind the people in Holland were to them and how beautiful the Dutch countryside was during tulip time.

Adolf and Aleksander boarded a ship in Rotterdam and arrived at Ellis Island on April 3, 1913. From there they traveled to Webster, MA to stay with Victoria (Szerejko) Radziewicz and her daughter Marianna and son-in-law Dominik Piascik. Eventually my grandfather settled in Worcester, MA. Aleksander settled in Buffalo, NY.

Other Posts You Might Like:

What's In a Name? (An Ongoing Series): Radziewicz
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Polka Time!
Presenter Interview: Colleen Fitzpatrick, Forensic Genealogist
Going Home: Our Lady of Czestochowa, Worcester, MA

Photo Story: One Brother Disappeared...

2011-11-05T08:25:00.000-04:00

Wincenty Szerejko

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My grandfather was one of six brothers. I had the photo below in my collection for the longest time, and I thought that it was one of my grandfather's brothers because of the strong family resemblance. When my cousin Marek and I first got acquainted he identified the man in the photo as my grandfather's brother Wincenty Szerejko. For years I had heard family stories about how my grandfather Adolf and his brother Aleksander were sent to America because their older brother was conscripted into the Russian army and never seen or heard from again. Wincenty was that brother.

Wincenty Szerejko, 1931

What's interesting is the writing on the back of my photo says, " for keepsake to Adolf and Antosia Wicek April 16th 1931." Antosia is short for Antonina, and Wicek is short for Wincenty. Interesting, eh? So clearly my grandparents were in contact with Wincenty as late as 1931. I think I have one letter from him that dates from the early 1930s. After that, nothing. What happened to Wincenty?

We do have one clue that Marek picked up on that I did not. Look at the pins on Wincenty's lapel in the 1931 photo. Is one of those pins a hammer and sickle? What about the other pin? If anyone out there can positively identify either of those pins I'd love to hear from you. A Polish researcher that I spoke with at NERGC suggested I write to the military museum in Warsaw to ask about the pins.

After Wincenty was conscripted into the Russian army did he remain in Russia, perhaps after marrying a Russian girl? Clearly he survived World War I, but what happened to him after 1931? Was he killed in World War II or did he die before? None of the other brothers mention him in later letters. Another mystery for sure...

Special Thanks: To my cousin Marek for providing me with the ID photo of Wincenty and for his translation of my 1931 photo.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Reflecting on NERGC One Week Later
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
The Stories My Grandmother Told Me
Treasure Chest Thursday: Travel Diary, Poland 1937

Photo Story: My Grandfather's Parents

2011-11-04T09:26:00.000-04:00

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Here are photos of my grandfather's parents, Jozefa (Bielska) Szerejko (1867-1920) and Leonard Edward Szerejko (1856-Aft. 1930). At least I believe they are photos of my grandfather's parents. Unfortunately there isn't any writing on the back of the photos.

The photos are a matching set and were taken by the same photographer in Warsaw, Poland. They are small, 2 3/4" x 4 1/4," just large enough to carry in a coat pocket. My guess is my grandfather brought them to America for him to remember his parents by. Another clue as to the photos being Jozefa and Leonard is that the photo of Jozefa resembles the photos I have of her sisters Jadwiga and Julia. I scanned and sent these photos to my cousin Marek for him to send to his dad who is still living in Poland. Marek's dad's family lost many family photos during World War II, and his dad was happy to see photos of his grandparents again.

I learned Jozefa is buried in Zerzen Cemetery in Zerzen from Marek. For the longest time Marek and I thought that Leonard died before Jozefa, but I recently discovered a listing in a Warsaw directory that indicates he may have been living with my grandfather's brother Feliks as late as 1930. Yet another lead to follow and another mystery to solve...

Other Posts You Might Like:

Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
Where They Lived: Every Address Tells a Story
What's in a Name (An Ongoing Series): Radziewicz
Chopin Rising

Photo Story: New in America

2011-11-03T07:52:00.000-04:00

Left to Right: Antoni, Antonina, Ewa, Helena

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My grandmother was the daughter of Antoni Bulak (1868-1940) and Ewa (Kowalewska) Bulak (1873-1924). Ewa and Antoni met while working at the Palac w Szczawinie in Szczawin, Poland. Antoni immigrated to the United States first, and Ewa and their two daughters, Helena (1894-1985) and Antonina (1896-1990), followed in 1897. The family first settled in Joliet, IL but moved to Worcester, MA in 1900. This photo, taken in 1899, is the earliest photo I have of my grandmother Antonina, her sister, and her parents.

Other Posts You Might Like:

The Stories My Grandmother Told Me
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
Books of Interest - Landowners in Poland 1918-1939
Ewa (Kowalewska) Bulak - Wordless Wednesday

Photo Story: Grandma and Grandpa Meet - Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T20:13:00.002-04:00

Adolf Szerejko and Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) According to my mother, my grandfather and my grandmother were the perfect couple. Mom said they were totally devoted to one another. My grandmother told me she liked my grandfather because he was "...educated and didn't hang around the pool hall like the other boys."

Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: My Grandmother in Costume
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: A Couple of Swells
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women

Heritage Zen Dives In: NaBloPoMo!

2011-11-02T09:53:00.002-04:00

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) This is usually one of the busiest times of year for me, so I can't believe I'm signing on for this, but NaBloPoMo here I come. I've already started out well haven't I? According to the NaBloPoMo rules I should post every day for the month of November. I've already missed November 1. That's kind of like the rest of my life, a day late an a dollar short as my dad use to say. Well, I'll try to make up for it by posting twice today.

I'm going to take NaBloPoMo and put a slightly different twist on it. I'm going to tell my entire family history, starting with my great-grandparents, with photographs over the month of November. I've been thinking about this for a while, but I never seem to get around to actually doing it. I don't really have time for it right now, but I'm going to live on the edge and step out of my comfort zone. (This is as close to the edge of anything as I am likely to get, by the way. I'm sure you know people like me--the mom who checks out the safety equipment before letting her kid join the chess club and has hand sanitizer stuffed in every pocket. Yep, that's me.)

I have hundreds, perhaps thousands of great photos and slides, and could probably post a photo a day and not run out of images to post for several years. What's the old saying, a picture tells a thousand words? Well, that's a good thing, because the text in my posts will be minimal. Think of it as 30 consecutive days of Wordless Wednesdays in story form.

So here we go. I'm going to give NaBloPoMo a shot, and barring any unforeseen circumstances (like a call from my son's school saying my kid is throwing up and to come and collect him) will post a family photo each day for November. I'm throwing caution to the wind! Next year who knows, maybe I'll push the envelope even further and try bungee jumping or sky diving! Why the possibilities are endless!

Other Posts You Might Like:

A Slice of Life: Confessions of a Lunch Box Trader
A Comedy of Errors: My Family in the Census (Part 1 of 3)
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Circus Girls are "Normal" - Amanuensis Monday

The Psychic Next Door (Part 2 of 2)

2011-10-31T08:31:00.000-04:00

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) What made a psychic a psychic in turn-of-the-century Worcester? More specifically, was there a typical profile common to members of Worcester's clairvoyant community. My inquiring mind wanted to know, so I did a bit of research on Ancestry.com. I searched some of the names I found in the city directories in the U.S. Census. I also did a general search using "clairvoyant" under keyword and "Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts" under location which pulled up quite a lot. I also did a general search in GenealogyBank, but unfortunately the more widely circulated Worcester newspapers are not indexed on GenealogyBank. Not surprisingly, I did find lots of articles on clairvoyants in newspapers from across the country. In general it seems when they weren't busy assisting in missing persons cases, they were in trouble with the law for one reason or other.

As far as Worcester's psychics go, I noticed a number of the women were older, often widows or divorced. Many lived alone or in boarding houses. I think it might be easy to be judgmental, and assume all psychics were con artists trying to make a quick buck at the expense of their customers. While I'm sure that may be so for some my guess is many of the women, perhaps women with no education or limited financial resources, were trying to make a living as best they knew how. A certain percentage probably believed they had a true gift. Others may have had a flare for the dramatic. One woman lived with her adult son and his young family. The son's profession is listed in the census as "actor." And yes, I do know I found the correct people in the census, because for most of the people listed their profession is actually given as clairvoyant or spiritual medium.

Many, though not all, of Worcester's clairvoyants lived or had their business establishments in the downtown area with easy access by public transportation. I love this business listing I found in the Worcester city directory for 1905.

MRS. DR. L. B. SMITH
Electric and Botanic Physician and
Medical Clairvoyant.
656 Pleasant St. Worcester, Mass.
Office Hours: 10 A.M. to 12P.M. and
1.30 to 4.30 and 7 to 8 P.M.
Wednesday and Friday Evenings reserved
'Phone call 2825-2
Diagnosis of Diseases by lock of hair $1.00.
Name, age and location of the person required.
The June and Tatnuck Electric
Cars pass the door every 7 to 10 minutes.
Take the cars at the corner of Main
and Pleasant Streets.

Mrs. Dr. Smith worked nights and weekends, AND was on a trolley line. I'm fascinated by the "Diagnosis of Diseases by lock of hair..." thing. I will admit to being more than a bit curious as to her education and the source of her credentialing agency or institution. One of the non-Worcester related articles I read on GenealogyBank was about a court case concerning a particular psychic and her use of the word "physician". Apparently an MD took exception to her rather liberal interpretation of the word. Also what's interesting, I noticed that earlier city directory listings for physicians include a wide variety of clairvoyants and their various sub specialties. The 1872 volume of the Worcester city directory includes the following specialists--eclectic physician, pulmonist, analytical, Thomsonian, movement cure, botanical, Indian, electrician, cancer and tumor. Aren't you just curious for more details on each one of those specialties. I can't help but think God help the poor souls who sought the advice of a "clairvoyant physician" for guidance regarding their cancer treatment.

While I lean towards the skeptical side of things regarding psychics I did have a really interesting "psychic" experience once. The experience was strange enough to keep my mind open to the possibility that true psychics do exist. Many, many years ago my mom and I went in to Boston shopping on a cold winter's day. We took the bus into the city. At the end of our shopping trip we were waiting in the old, dingy bus station which use to be on Essex St. trying to get warm before our bus came. This older woman, who looked like what we use to call a bag lady in less enlightened times, sat in the seat next to us and started talking to us. It was like she knew all about us. She knew I was an only child. She knew my dad was in the Navy. The conversation, which was mostly one-sided on her part, was filled with accurate information about our lives. Coincidence? Maybe, but let's just say the experience was strange enough for me to still recall it thirty years later.

Obviously this post is not an in depth study of spiritualism or even the spiritualists/clairvoyants in my own home town. I am simply interested in learning about people and social patterns, and find this subject absolutely fascinating and thought I'd share a little bit of my own experience and what I learned researching the psychics in my town. Is there a psychic in your family tree? Were there psychics in your town? Have you or a family member had an interesting experience with a psychic. I'd love to know.

I see a blog comment in your future...

The Psychic Next Door (Part 1 of 2) - Halloween

Other Posts You Might Like:

Amanuensis Monday: Clairvoyants and Distractions
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Madness Monday: The Stuff We Throw Away, and...
The Volcano of Wrath (Part 1 of 2) - Amanuensis Monday

The Psychic Next Door (Part 1 of 2)

2011-10-30T22:13:00.003-04:00

The Psychic Is In...

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Was Your Granny A Medium?

Last winter I was reviewing some microfilm at the library and came across several ads in the classified section of the newspaper that caught my attention. The ads were listed under the "Clairvoyants" section heading of the classifieds. Here's one of them:

*****

THE TRUTH OR NOTHING
I do not paint a picture of roses and sunshine for you when trouble and darkness is really about you. I do not gladden your ear for the sake of gold--for gold is not my God.
One dollar may seem to you a great outlay, but when you stop and consider it will protect you against weakness and nervousness, troubles and worriment perhaps all the rest of your life.
It will insure success to every hope, ambition and business venture. It will bring about such conditions of happiness and contentment such as you may have never know before, and you will have confidence in yourself to have power over friends and foes, to make them do your bidding, which will be simply MARVELOUS. It is truly a wonderful secret power.

AMERICA'S GREATEST SPIRITUALIST
168 Pleasant St.

CAN BE CONSULTED ON ALL MATTERS OF INTEREST, BUSINESS, LAW, LOVE OR MARRIAGE. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.

Special Offer Coupon to Ladies
Cut this out and bring it to 168 Pleasant Street, Worcester, and receive a $3 reading for $1. This coupon is good any time. Save this for future reference. Hours, 10 to 8 p.m.

Readings Will Be $3 and $5 After This Month

*****

Wow, AMERICA'S GREATEST SPIRITUALIST and a coupon! AND all right here in Worcester! If you're like me, there's nothing better than a serious deal with a coupon to draw you in. Let's just say that if I was in the market for psychic services all the other clairvoyants' ads would pale in comparison once I spotted that coupon.

On another visit to the to the library I noticed a business subject heading for "Clairvoyants" in a Worcester city directory. I never knew clairvoyants had their own business listing in the city directory! Not only that, there were a bunch of people listed. I started to wonder, who the heck are all of these people?

I will admit, my fascination with the whole clairvoyant thing predates my more recent discoveries in old classifieds and city directories. My husband refers to it as my "fascination with the strange, the mysterious, and the hard to believe." How can you not love that stuff? Frankly I thought, "Psychics! What a great topic for a blog post for October!" It's kind of like peanut butter and jelly or Mom and apple pie. Halloween and psychics--they just go together! Plus you just can't go wrong with a good psychic story.

So back to my original question, who are these people? I reviewed the "Clairvoyants" section of the Worcester city directories from 1900 through 1920 (Clearly I don't have enough to do with my time...). Over a twenty year time period a total of 38 people, mostly women, are listed. Not surprisingly, there are more clairvoyants listed in the earlier directories. By 1920 there are only four clairvoyants still practicing the "craft." What's interesting is many of these people were not fly-by-nighters ready to cash in on a quick buck and then move on. Worcester's psychics were rooted in the community and sometimes lived in the city for years.

Here is a list of people who appear in the "Clairvoyants" section of the Worcester city directories business listings from 1900 to 1920. Their years as active psychics (meaning the range of years for which they were listed in the directory) appear in parentheses. I'm not including their business or home addresses, because not surprisingly, many of them moved around quite a bit.

Mrs. Sarah E. Ashton (1900-1916)
E.W. Bond (1902-1905)
Mrs. Katherine Brochwitz (1917-1919)
Mrs. M. Jennie Brown (1904-1909)
Mrs. Fannie Bruce (1904)
Freda Davis (1917)
Mrs. Sarah E. Deforest (1909-1910)
Mrs. Jennie Devoe (1900-1901)
Richard L. Drexel (1912)
Mrs. Reba Eames (1901-1914)
Dulsie B. Everton (1905)
Lucinda Gamage (1903)
Mrs. Gena F. Grant (1904-1905)
Herbert L. Harwood (1905)
Mrs. L.T. Jeffries (1905-1916)
Mrs. Helen W. Kenney (1912)
Mrs. Rose Laraney (1900-1901)
Madame G. LaRoche (1919-1920)
Maybelle Lefort (1908-1919)
Mrs. F.F. Linwood (1900-1905, 1916-1920)
Lillis Nichols (1913-1916)
Mrs. Annie M. Manning (1900-1913)
Mary Zinn Masia (1917)
Mrs. Alice A. Middlemas (1916-1920)
Mrs. Lillie O'Connor (1917-1918)
Annie M. Pentlaw (1903-1908)
S. Henry Prentiss (1900-1911)
Mrs. Christabel Rich (1905, 1908-1909)
Mrs. L.B. Smith (1903-1913)
Mrs. Julia A Spaulding (1900-1902)
Mrs. G.M. Spring (1901)
Mrs. Willard Stewart (1908-1920)
John B. Strand (1900)
Mrs. F. Washburn (1903-1904)
Mrs. Mary Ella Whitney (1900-1910)
Mrs. Mary A. Wilkins (1902-1903)
Clarence L. Willis (1916-1917)
Mrs. Lillie M. Zade (1918)

The Psychic Next Door (Part 2 of 2)

Other Posts You Might Like:

Amanuensis Monday: Clairvoyants and Distractions
COG 97: Researching "The Coldbrook Tragedy" (Part 1 of 4)
A Comedy of Errors: My Family in the Census (Part 1 of 3)
Reading the Classifieds - Amanuensis Monday

October is Polish-American Heritage Month! - Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T10:52:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) This is a photo of my grandfather's brother, Alexander Szarejko (11 Nov 1892-21 Jul 1962), and his wife, Klara (Kruzicki) Szarejko (08 Aug 1898-29 Jan 1991). I believe the photo was taken in April of 1926.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Presenter Interview: Colleen Fitzpatrick, Forensic Genealogist
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Polka Time!
Not So Wordless Wednesday: It's Costume Month at Heritage Zen!
Treasure Chest Thursday: Travel Diary, Poland 1937

Choronzak - Tombstone Tuesday

2011-10-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

Joseph (1873-1918) and Antonina (1882-1918) Choronzak, Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester, MA

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Joseph Choronzak 1873-1918 his wife Antonina 1882-1918

The Choronzaks are the couple I wrote about in my three part series, Flu 1918. Joseph and his wife Antonina died on the same day of the flu, and according to a newspaper account left seven children orphaned. I found and photographed their grave which is located in an old section of Notre Dame Cemetery in Worcester. I was also contacted by yet another grandchild of Joseph and Antonina who kindly sent me a photo of their grave as well. Interestingly, many of the other graves in the immediate area appear to be the graves of victims of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. I plan to post more about some of the other flu victims in the near future, so check back for additional posts. If you are interested in reading a little bit more about one of Joseph and Antonina's grandchildren check out the two Mystery Monday links listed below.

Other Posts You Might Like:

Mystery Monday: Yet Another Polish Wedding...
Send Up A Flare, Mystery Bride Identified! - Mystery Monday
Going Home: Our Lady of Czestochowa, Worcester, MA
The Stories My Grandmother Told Me

Maine in October - Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T13:18:00.000-04:00

Dock Square, Kennebunkport, ME

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) We had the most amazing weather for our Columbus Day weekend away in Maine. The high temperature was 83 degrees! We had dinner outside in Freeport after shopping at L.L. Bean on Saturday night and spent some time Monday afternoon at the beach. This is October? What a beautiful weekend!

Kennebunkport, ME

Wells Harbor, Wells, ME

Other Posts You Might Like:

Wordless Wednesday: Fall Weekends in New England
Not So Wordless Wednesday: It's Costume Month at Heritage Zen!
COG 97: Researching "The Coldbrook Tragedy" (Part 1 of 4)
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Polka Time!

Catechists, Our Lady of Czestochowa - Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T11:24:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My son began a new year of CCD a couple of weeks ago. Things have certainly changed over the last ninety plus years. I'm not positive, but I believe this may be a photo of the children in the religious education program at Our Lady of Czestochowa (also known as St. Mary's) in Worcester, MA. The photo was probably taken in the late 1910s. My grandmother, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, is the young teacher in the white blouse holding a book. Her sister, Helen Bulak, is the third person to her left wearing a dark, round-brim hat. Father Boleslaw Bojanowski, the longest serving pastor at St. Mary's, is to the left of my aunt.

Take a close look at the photo. Observe the serious look on the children's faces. In the front row, near the sidewalk to the left, there is an unhappy looking little boy with two black eyes. I wonder how that happened. In the middle of the photo, in the first row of children standing, there is a child with a shaved head. Lice? Illness?

Times were tough. My grandmother use to say, "There was nothing good about the good old days." I think some of the children in this photo might agree...

Other Posts You Might Like:

Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Going Home: Our Lady of Czestochowa, Worcester, MA
A Matter of Habit: Solving a Mystery
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: WWI Red Cross Volunteers

Harvey Ball and World Smile Day - Tombstone Tuesday

2011-10-04T07:39:00.000-04:00

Harvey Ross Ball (10 July 1921-12 Apr 2001), Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester, MA

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) I decided to post a photo of Harvey Ross Ball's gravestone in honor of World Smile Day which is on October 7, 2011. Worcester native Harvey Ball was a commercial artist and the original designer of the smiley face. If you think Mr. Ball made a huge profit off of the smiley we all know and love, you are wrong. Mr. Ball never copyrighted or trademarked his smiley and was paid the princely sum of $45 in 1963 for his work. By all accounts Mr. Ball never regretted his decision, and was a goodwill ambassador embodying the true spirit of his iconic symbol. Smile!

Other Posts You Might Like:

Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA
Worcester Tornado Memorial - Tombstone Tuesday
Fascinating Ladies
Tuesday's Tip: A Tale of Two Indexers

My Family Tree: A Literal Interpretation

2011-10-01T19:32:00.006-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Okay, so there's Auntie Sophie at the top of the tree. Grandma is in the middle, and Auntie Helen is standing on the ground at the bottom...

I posted this photo a while back for Wordless Wednesday. Had I known our Carnival of Genealogy topic for October was going to be "Your Family History If A Tree" I would have saved it for COG, but I didn't so oh, well...c'est la vie.   I figured I'd pull it out again, because it seems to be such a perfect interpretation of this month's theme. Unfortunately, given that the photo appears to have been taken during the colder months and this is New England, I don't know exactly what kind of tree my "family tree" is.

What kind of tree might it be, and what kind of tree would best represent my family? I really don't know. The tree in my photo isn't tall enough or grand enough to be an oak. It's clearly not a willow. It doesn't display a willow's cascade of branches. I don't think it's a McIntosh or another type of New England apple. Maybe it's best that I can't figure out what my tree really is.  The mystery behind the photo makes the photo all the more intriguing.

I love this photo. It so perfectly offers insight into my grandmother's personality--her sense of fun, her close relationship with her sister Helen and her cousin Sophie, and of course her snappy sense of style.  My grandmother was never one to leave the house without her "beads and earrings" and in this case her hat. Don't you just love the hats?

If you suddenly came upon an old family portrait or photo, going as far back as your family tree goes, which of your ancestors would you like to see perched in a tree? An immigrant? A cowboy? A Puritan perhaps? What would he or she be wearing? Would it be a fun photo or a serious portrait? I think by nature it would have to be lighthearted, but maybe not.  What type of tree would it be? A willow? An oak? A nut? Or would your tree be like mine, a mystery for the ages...

Submitted for the 110th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

Other Posts You Might Like:

The Stories My Grandmother Told Me
A Comedy of Errors: My Family in the Census (Part 1 of 3)
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
COG 97: Researching "The Coldbrook Tragedy" (Part 1 of 4)

It's Cheaper Than Therapy, Or My Garden 2011 - Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T11:03:00.000-04:00

My Annual and Veggie Garden

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) One of the reasons I didn't blog much over the summer was that I was busy pulling weeds. Does anyone have a really good recipe for salsa using cherry tomatoes and jalapeno peppers, by the way?

Zinnias

More Zinnias

Marigolds, and Too Many Cherry/Grape Tomatoes...

Morning Glory

Dahlias

My Veggie and Annual Garden (Again)

Hydrangeas and Marguerites

Hydrangeas

Peonies

Peonies, Iris, and Hosta

Mock Orange

Other Posts You Might Like:

Wordless Wednesday: Glorious Gladioli
Wordless Wednesday: Fuller Gardens, Circa 1966
Flower Girls - Wordless Wednesday
A Little Slice of Heaven

The Mystery Brides Are Back, A New Season Begins - Mystery Monday

2011-09-19T11:57:00.001-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) After taking a bit of a hiatus over the summer I am returning to my regularly scheduled programming of posting photos of mystery brides from my collection for the Geneabloggers theme of Mystery Monday. It's a new season, and I have a whole new batch of brides in store.

To recap last season (I feel like I'm doing reality TV here, by the way.) I presented a group of ten mystery brides between June 2010 and June 2011. The photos are so lovely I hate for them to be buried in a box at the bottom of my collection somewhere. I'd hoped someone would by chance be able to identify one or more of the brides on my blog. Well it finally happened! The grand-daughter of one of my couples contacted me to identify her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter (Sophie) Shenkowski. The excitement in finally identifying one of my brides was tremendous! A geneablogger's version of "sweeps week" in television!

I invite you to review Season One (This is kind of like watching reruns, but it will help new followers/readers catch up with what has happened thus far.):

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Here Come the (Mystery) Brides
Mystery Monday: Here Come the (Mystery) Brides, Again
Mystery Monday: Another Polish Wedding
Mystery Monday: Yet Another Polish Wedding...
The Mystery Brides Return - Mystery Monday
Mystery Wedding #9 - Mystery Monday
Send Up A Flare, Mystery Bride Identified! - Mystery Monday
Always a Bridesmaid - Mystery Monday

This week I present another photo from my collection. What do I know about this photo? My best guess is the bride and groom, as well as their attendants, were members of the Polish community in Worcester, MA. The wedding probably took place at Our Lady of Czestochowa (also known as St. Mary's), also in Worcester, MA. I don't know for certain, but my guess is the wedding took place sometime in the late 1910s or 1920s, given the style of the ladies' dresses. The embossed imprint on the card that the photo is mounted on identifies the photographer as DeDuke, 411 Main St., Worcester, Mass. The next time I get down to the Worcester Public Library I'll look through the city directories to see when DeDuke photographers was in business at that location and report back.

If you are able to identify this couple or any of the brides/wedding couples in my collection I'd love to hear from you. At the very least, stay tuned for another exciting season of - The Mystery Brides! Become a follower! Tell your friends! I promise you a season filled with lovely couples, refined taste, and classic beauty! And (thank goodness) not a bridezilla in sight!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Other Posts You Might Like:

Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
First Communion - Mystery Monday
The Rope Pull - Wordless Wednesday

Memories of the M/S Pilsudski? An Author Wants YOU!

2011-09-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

Helen Bulak, M/S Pilsudski, 1937

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Last spring I was contacted by Gzregorz Rogowski from Poland who is doing research on the M/S Pilsudski and her sister ship the M/S Batory. He is writing a history of the two ships which is scheduled to be published by a major publisher in Poland in 2013. Greg asked if he might use the images and memorabilia I have posted on my blog, as well as additional material in my collection from my aunt Helen Bulak's 1937 trip to Poland.

The Pilsudski and the Batory were owned by the Gdynia-America Line and traveled back and forth on a regular schedule between Gdynia, Poland and New York City between their launch in 1935 and the beginning of World War II. On November 26, 1939 the M/S Pilsudski was sunk by a German U-Boat off the coast of Yorkshire, England after it was commandeered by the British for military use. The Batory survived the war and again served as a passenger liner after the war.

Greg is looking to interview anyone who has stories about traveling or working on the Pilsudski or the Batory or has or had family or friends who traveled or worked on either of the ships. Over the last few months I have had a couple of people contact me to either tell me about their ancestor's experiences on one of the ships or to ask for Greg's e-mail address. Unfortunately both Greg and I have been away for the summer which has led to a delay in my posting his contact information. I also wanted to get his permission before I posted his e-mail address on my blog. I apologize for the delay to those who have been waiting to hear from me regarding his e-mail address.

If you are interesting in talking to Greg about your family's experiences on the Pilsudski or the Batory, please contact him at rogas86 at wp.pl (I have not used the @ symbol in an attempt to avoid spam bots). I am sure he would be happy to hear from you. Greg has agreed to let me interview him about his project and post the interview on my blog sometime in the next month or two, so stay tuned!

Other Posts You Might Like:

Treasure Chest Thursday: Travel Diary, Poland 1937
Grandma in a Tree - Wordless Wednesday
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Does Your Public Library Have a Vertical File? - Tuesday's Tip

Making Hay - Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-07T07:50:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) Cynthia Shenette) This photo of my grandmother, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, was probably taken sometime in the late 1910s.

Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: The Play, Elizabeth
Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Madness Monday: The Stuff We Throw Away, and...

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T11:12:00.000-04:00

My grandfather, Adolf Szerejko, at work sometime in the 1950s.

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Happy Labor Day everyone! Enjoy your day off, and get some rest!

Other Posts You Might Like:

Veteran's Day: The Life of a Dough Boy, 1918
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: A Couple of Swells
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Polka Time!
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women

Going Home: Our Lady of Czestochowa, Worcester, MA

2011-09-01T22:05:00.001-04:00

Our Lady of Czestochowa, Worcester, MA

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette; Image of Our Lady of Czestochowa is in the public domain.)

My family has maintained a connection to Our Lady of Czestochowa parish, in Worcester, MA for over 100 years . My grandmother was four years old when she and her sister and her parents moved to Worcester in 1900. When my grandmother's family arrived in Worcester there was no Polish church for people of Polish descent to be baptized in or married in. By 1901 there were approximately 150 Polish families in Worcester who attended church at other Catholic churches in the city. The closest Polish church was in the south county town of Webster which was a long way for a family to travel to hear a sermon said in their native language. For a time Poles and Lithuanians shared space at St. Casimir's Church in Worcester where Mass was said in Polish at 9:00 and in Lithuanian at 10:00 on Sunday mornings. Despite these accommodations turn-of-the-twentieth-century Worcester Poles longed to have a church of their own.

Plans were made, and a fundraising campaign for a Polish church began in 1900. The campaign involved raising money by canvassing house to house, fairs, picnics, and amateur theatricals. On May 8, 1902 church founders met at the Hotel Vernon in Worcester to sign papers and elect officers for what was to become Our Lady of Czestochowa, also known as St. Mary's. Land on Richland St. in Worcester was purchased in 1901, and the Polish community's first resident priest, the Rev. Jan Z. Moneta arrived in 1903. Construction began on the church and rectory in 1905 and was completed in 1906. Parishioners joined their new pastor in celebrating the Polish community's first Mass in their new home on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, 1906.

Msgr. Boleslaw Bojanowski

By 1914 the church's fourth and longest serving pastor, Msgr. Boleslaw Bojanowski established an organized program of religious education and began a fund drive for what was to become St. Mary's School. The school opened in September of 1915, and the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth were engaged to instruct the students. St. Mary's School expanded in 1919 with an enrollment of about 1,400 students. In September of 1936 the high school division began, with the first class graduating in 1940.

Sunday Church Picnic, late 1910s

While St. Mary's was the center of the Polish community's religious life, it was also the center of their social, musical, dramatic, cultural and political life. My family participated in a variety of social activities, service projects and amateur theatricals. During World War I my grandmother and her sister participated in a service effort by the Red Cross. Both my grandparents were involved in amateur theatricals, and my grandmother was a member and well regarded soloist with the St. Cecilia Choir. Our Lady of Czestochowa was and still is a vital community. Masses are still celebrated in English and Polish every Sunday.

My Grandparents on Their Wedding Day

The last time I was at St. Mary's was for my mother's funeral in 2008, and I haven't been able to bring myself back there since. I figure I just need some time. My grandparents were married there. My mother and her siblings were baptized, received communion, and were confirmed there. My parents were married there. And even though my family moved out of the largely Polish Vernon Hill neighborhood two decades before I was born, I was still baptized there. It was important for the family to stay connected with the church community that was so meaningful to them for so many years. I know I will visit St. Mary's again, and when I do it will probably be with my son. I want him to know where he came from. It will kind of be like going home. For both of us.

Submitted for the 109th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

References:

~ "Church Plans First Sermon in English." Worcester Telegram. 3 Jan 1954.
~ "City Parish Observes 75th Anniversary." Worcester Gazette. 13 Oct 1978.
~ McGrail, Rev. Richard. "Sketches Sketches." Catholic Free Press. 4 March 1983.
~ Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish (Worcester, Mass.). Our Lady of Czestochowa, Worcester, Massachusetts. So. Hackensack, N.J.: Cutombook, 1979.
~ "Polish Parish Has A Big Week" Worcester Sunday Telegram. 22 Oct 1978.
~ Proko, Barbara et al. The Polish Community of Worcester. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2003.
~ "St. Mary's Notes Golden Anniversary. Worcester Telegram. 8 Nov 1953.

Other Posts You Might Like:

A Matter of Habit: Solving a Mystery
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: WWI Red Cross Volunteers
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
First Communion - Mystery Monday

Flower Girls - Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-31T07:55:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My great-aunt Helen Bulak (left) and my grandmother Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko (right).

Other Posts You Might Like:

Wordless Wednesday: Fuller Gardens, Circa 1966
Wordless Wednesday: Glorious Gladioli
Tuesday's Tip: A Tale of Two Indexers
A Comedy of Errors: My Family in the Census (Part 1 of 3)

Grandma in a Tree - Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-17T07:43:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) I have no idea what the heck is going on here. Do any of you have photos of your grandmother in a tree? My grandmother, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, is the young woman in the middle sitting in the crook of the tree. Her sister, Helen Bulak, is the young woman standing on the ground. I'm not sure exactly, but I think my grandmother's cousin, Sophie (Kowalewski) Konopka, is the girl standing in the tree at the top of the picture. I'd love to know the back-story on this picture...

Other Posts You Might Like:

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
First Communion - Mystery Monday
A Comedy of Errors: My Family in the Census (Part 1 of 3)
Mom, At the Ballet - Wordless Wednesday

Chopin Rising

2011-08-15T08:28:00.001-04:00

Leokadia (Szymanska) Szerejko and Helen Bulak

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette; Photograph of the Chopin Statue is in the public domain.) My grandmother's sister, Helen Bulak, visited Poland during the summer of 1937, two short years before the beginning of World War II. While she was there she spent several weeks in Warsaw visiting with my grandfather's brother Feliks Szerejko and his family.

The photo above was taken on Sunday July 4, 1937 in front of the statue of composer Frédéric Chopin in Lazienki Park. The art nouveau style statue was designed by Wacław Szymanowski and occupies a prominent spot in the largest park in Warsaw. Like much of current day Warsaw the statue in the contemporary photograph below is a replica.

The original statue was destroyed on May 31, 1940, blown up by the occupying German forces. The Germans salvaged the resulting scrap and transported it to a German steel mill to be melted and used for the war effort. After the war a new statue was cast from the original mold and placed at the same site in Lazienki Park.

Like the statue of Chopin, Feliks and his wife Leokadia, were casualties of World War II. When I look at this photograph I can't help but think to myself, what if? What if life was different for Feliks and Leokadia and for the millions of other people just like them?

While a statue doesn't live or breath, it can serve as symbol for what was and is no more. Bronze can be recast. Chopin's statue was given a second chance at life, and like the phoenix it rises from the ashes to begin life anew.

* Special thanks to Denise Levenick for posting a link to this post from her blog, the Family Curator, for the "Past is Present: Genealogy Photo Challenge for World Photography Day."

Other Posts You Might Like:

Where They Lived: Every Address Tells a Story
Szerejko - Szymanska Wedding Invitation - Amanuensis Monday
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
Leokadia (Szymanska) and Feliks Szerejko - Wordless Wednesday

The Rope Pull - Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T08:19:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My guess is this was taken at a church picnic in the late 1910s. My grandmother, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, is the girl in the middle on the right side. Her sister, Helen Bulak, is the girl to the far left on the left-hand side. I wonder who won...

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Feeding the Chickens

2011-08-03T14:51:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) This photo of my grandmother, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, was probably taken in the late 1910s. I love the dichotomy between my grandmother's outfit and the task at hand. I know I always wear my white dress, white shoes, and pearls when I go out to feed the chickens. Don't you?

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A Little Slice of Heaven

2011-07-31T15:30:00.001-04:00

A Recent Effort: Strawberry Pie

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) My mother-in-law can whip up a homemade pie crust in less time than it takes me to get a frozen one out of the box. As someone who's had more than my share of unfortunate crust mishaps, I can't tell you how much I admire her skill. Burnt edges, tough crusts, and soggy bottoms are my lot. My mother-in-law's crusts are tender and flaky. Perfect every time. Whenever we visit there is almost always a pie of some sort cooling on the counter to be offered for dessert during our stay.  Strawberry rhubarb, cherry, apple, squash, and my favorite, blueberry. Yum!

I love blueberry pie. No, I mean I REALLY love blueberry pie. I've even been known to go blueberry picking at my in-laws' in the hope that my mother-in-law will make a blueberry pie upon my return. Shameless? Maybe. Effective? Definitely. Not that I haven't made my share of blueberry pies. Do you know the best part of making blueberry pie? Blueberry picking with my son. The funny thing is he doesn't like pie. He doesn't even like blueberries. I think he'll come around though. After all the love of pie is part of his genetic make up, kind of like his being Polish, Ukrainian, or French-Canadian. It's deep inside the DNA.

My mom made the world's best apple pie. She used just the right amount of cinnamon and brushed the crust with a little bit of milk before popping it in the oven. Is there anything that smells better than an apple pie baking in the oven on a cool fall day? When Mom took the apple pie out of the oven, it was perfectly browned and slightly sparkly from the sugar she sprinkled on the top before baking. Despite my best efforts, I've never been able to get a pie to turn out the same way as my mother's.

While I love to eat pie at home I also love to try regional specialties when we travel.  A couple of years ago my family and I visited Lexington, KY, and I was pleasantly surprised by the delicious bourbon pecan pie offered on the hotel lunch buffet. I was amused on the first day when the buffet server offered me hush puppies with my lunch. I made the mistake of asking, "What's that?" His response, "Where might y'all be visiting us from?" Needless to say we bonded for the duration, especially when I kept coming back day after day for more hush puppies and yet another piece of that pecan pie.

While the bourbon pecan pie was yummy, I will say nothing can compare to my search for the best Key Lime pie in Key West. I was on a mission. I tried Key Lime pie everywhere. Sometimes twice a day. Frankly it was embarrassing. I tried it all--the good, the bad, the so so.  The best was amazing. A traditional tart Key Lime custard inside a chocolate cookie crust, with a thin layer of chocolate ganache on top, whipped cream and lime slice on the side. I dream about that pie.

Once my husband and I were driving through the Arizona desert, giant cacti and desert as far as the eye could see.  The legendary, "middle of nowhere." When we did return to small town civilization, we noticed what appeared to be a restaurant off to one side of the road and decided to stop for lunch. When we walked in I was an awe.  Pie everywhere! Chocolate, coconut cream, lemon meringue. Cream pies, fruit pies. There was a dessert-go-round thing filled with pies and a refrigerated counter case with pies.  Glass-covered cake stands lined the lunch counter. It was like a pie oasis in the vast Sonoran Desert.  Over the years I've tried to find information on that pie place on the Internet, and every time without luck.  Neither my husband nor I remember the name of the place, and we don't remember exactly where it was located. I've found a couple of places that seem like they might be the right one, but I'm just not sure.  Sometimes I wonder if it was all a lemon meringue mirage.

While I love fruit pies, cream pies, and custard pies, I love savory pies as well. I love French-Canadian meat pie, tourtiere, during the Christmas season.  I love chicken pie, turkey pie, and Guinness pie from the Irish restaurant nearby.  On a slightly related note, can you guess my favorite Broadway musical? Yep, Sweeney Todd. How can you not love a tale of meat pie gone disturbingly wrong.  Maybe I am just a wee bit obsessed.

What's your favorite kind of pie?  Blueberries, raspberries, and peaches are in season.  Make a pie today. You know you want to. And when you do, don't forget to invite me over. I'll just have a small piece, a sliver really. Ice cream? Sure. Do I mind if you have a second piece? No, not at all. Go ahead. You know you want to. And while you're at it, could you cut another small piece for me? Just a sliver, really...

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Happy Birthday Mom - Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T16:01:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) This was the first birthday cake I made for my mom. As you can see I had a little, uh, issue with the frosting. Luckily my cake decorating skills have improved over the years. My mom would have been 90 today. There isn't a day since she died that I don't think of her or miss her. Happy Birthday, Mom. Love you.

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A Little Ladd - Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T09:39:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) This is another cabinet card from my mother-in-law's collection. She descends from the the Ladd family that settled in RI in 1633. Her branch of the family eventually left Rhode Island to settle in the Mohawk River Valley in upstate New York in the late 1700s. My husband's family still lives on the same property and in the original farmhouse built by Elisha Ladd in the late 1700s or the early 1800s. As I mentioned in last week's Wordless Wednesday post, my mother-in-law found four albums with a couple hundred photos in them in a closet in the old farmhouse. This is one of the photos from that collection.

According to the back of the card the baby boy in the photo is "Little Ashley D. Ladd 4 months old." I did a bit of research and discovered Ashley was born in March of 1883 and his parents were Olney B. Ladd and Lovinia Jane Darling. Might Olney be the man in the photograph with baby Ashley? I thought I'd post the photo in case someone researching the Ladd family might want a photograph of their ancestors.

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President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland - Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-06T12:01:00.000-04:00

(Images no longer under copyright. Text copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) To answer the obvious question, no, the Clevelands and I are not related. I found the President and the second Mrs. Cleveland, the former Frances Folsom, in an photo album full of cabinet cards, Carte de Visite, and tintypes dating from around the 1880s at my in-law's house. My mother-in-law found the album, along with three other albums of family photos, in the back of a closet in the old family farmhouse. I spent the holiday weekend busily scanning as much as I could. There are probably at least a couple hundred photos of one sort or another between the four albums. My scanner and I ran out of time before the visit was up, but we'll be back...

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Always A Bridesmaid - Mystery Monday

2011-06-27T14:17:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) What would "Wedding Month" be without an appearance by one of our mystery brides. I know my great-aunt Helen Bulak is the bridesmaid standing to the right behind the happy couple. My Aunt Helen never married but served as a bridesmaid to numerous brides.

I don't know who the other people in the wedding party are. My guess is the couple, as well as the young man in the photo, were probably members of Worcester's Polish community. Given the clothing style the photo was probably taken in the late 1910s, and the wedding probably took place in Worcester, MA at Our Lady of Czestochowa.

If you recognize the happy couple or the young man who appears to be the best man, leave a comment at the end of this post. I'd love to hear from you.

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Leokadia (Szymanska) and Feliks Szerejko - Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T14:34:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Leokadia (Szymanska) Szerejko and Feliks Szerejko sent this photo to my grandparents, Adolf Szerejko and Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, from Warsaw, Poland in 1928. Feliks was my grandfather's brother. Both Leokadia and Feliks perished during World War II.

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Szerejko - Szymanska Wedding Invitation - Amanuensis Monday

2011-06-20T13:24:00.000-04:00

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Thanks to John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch for providing the idea for Amanuensis Monday.

This is an invitation to the wedding of my grandfather's brother, Feliks Szerejko and his soon to be wife Leokadia Szymanska.

NINIEJSZYM MAMY ZASZCZYT
ZAWIADOMIC W. P. O SLUBIE
NASZYM ODBYC SIE MAJACYM
W KOSCIELE SWIETEGO KRZY-
ZA DNIA 7 WRZESNIA ROKU
BIEZACEGO O GODZINIE 6 WIE-
CZOREM.

NARZECZENI:

LEOKADJA SZYMANSKA
FELIKS SZEREJKO

WARSZAWA ROK 1919.

I'd like to thank my cousin Marek for his translation:

We are pleased to announce, Ladies and Gentlemen, our wedding which is going to take place in the Church of Holy Cross on September 7th this year at six o'clock in the evening.

Engaged couple:

Leokadja Szymanksa
Feliks Szerejko

Warszaw year of 1919.

Feliks and Leokadia were the father and step-mother of Celina (Szerejko) Gzell, who I mention in my posts here and here. Almost 20 years to the day of their wedding, Feliks was killed in the bombing of Warsaw at the beginning of World War II. My mother told me he was killed when the Germans bombed the railroad lines. Apparently Feliks work for or near the railroad. Leokadia was killed later in the war when the Germans shot everyone in their apartment building. Unfortunately this is a wedding story with a very sad ending.

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