03 April 2025

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR RELATIVES ABOUT RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

I recall that my dad used to advised that, when visiting, to talk about the weather.  What he meant was that controversial subjects were to be avoided.  Politics...  Religion... Perhaps knowing that these subjects will spark debate - or worse, arguments - during a family get together is trouble and, sure, I wouldn't want you to create an uncomfortable situation at a gathering. But then he was of the Silent Generation, and the Silent Generation wasn't talking about a whole lot.  

Things have changed, at least in some places and sometimes.

I can say that it came as a relief to learn that my ancestors were of various Christian denominations, which I wouldn't have suspected based on my upbringing. In my heritage - and I only know this because of genealogy research I have Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Reform Protestants (Calvinists), Lutherans, and also, it seems - some would say this doesn't fit the religion category - a Mason.

And so maybe getting a conversation going with relatives about ancestral religious or spiritual beliefs starts with past rather than the present.

It could be that you can't find what you need in the church records of the assumed Faith because those ancestors were converts or belonged to another religion.  And got buried in a churchyard or Faith based cemetery. 

And it seems like everyone in past generations belonged to some church or temple or organization ...

QUESTIONS

Was John baptized?  Who were his godparents?

Did he take part in rituals such as Communion, Confirmation?

Did John belong to a church as a teenager, as an adult?  

Did he sing in a choir?  

Did he do volunteer work for the church? 

Was he devout?  Or Religious. (Did he consider becoming a priest or minister or monk?)

Did he change religions? If so, why and when?  (Some families simply went to the closest church, wherever they moved to. Perhaps John was in a cult?) 

Did he get married in a church? How was it decided where he would marry?

Did he have children? Were they raised in a religion?  (This might bring up some different responses if the marriage was a "mixed marriage."  For instance, perhaps the children were allowed to join a different church or make up their own minds about spirituality as adults, 

Where is he buried? (Is this a Faith based cemetery?) or was he cremated?  Where are his ashes?



These questions can always spark a departure in the conversation. Back when I took Anthropology 101, it was noted that the definition of religion was "a way of life." Life in America has changed. Regular attendance at church services was normal for many people prior to the changes of the 1960's. Today many have decided that church is not for them.  As genealogists, we are looking for church records in addition to or instead of civil records to find our ancestors.

C 2025 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot

01 April 2025

ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY BLOGSPOT


Our genetic and spiritual ancestors help us with our research quests 
and, while we follow a linear research path, 
amazing dreams and synchronicity abound. 

We explore multicultural ancestry worship 
and the use of genealogy for past-life verification, 
as well as practical ways and means to achieve your research goals.

29 March 2025

BIOGRAPHY and THE WRITING OF YOUR FAMILY HISTORY : HERE'S AN INSPIRING EXAMPLE

I was attracted to this book at the library, England's Mistress - the Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton, by Kate Williams, because of its lovely cover. I've read many biographies and memoirs. This impressive one is about a person born in poverty, the lowest of the low, who managed to make it through the ridged English class system and become the wife of Sir William Hamilton. Born Amy Lyon, this woman went from being an orphan to working as a child laborer, from prostitute to mistress to wife. She also became an actress and singer, and was imitated as a force in fashion back in the day. She became the personal friend of a Queen or two. She was exceptional by beauty but also seized every opportunity to educate and improve herself. I think it's one of the most wonderfully written biographies I've encountered. But why?  Because the research and writing brought forth the realities of life in England - as well as Naples (Italy) - in the late1800's.

I present it here because I want to remind my readers to seek out biographies of their ancestors. They probably do not have whole books written about them hundreds of years after their deaths. However, you may find that a person is included in a local biography, a town book (like a yearbook created by a proud town about their pioneers and citizens), newspaper articles, and such. There are still many books on library shelves that have not been digitalized - not scooped up by the big names in genealogy databases.

But also, in writing your family history, in putting a person in their life timeline, you may want to also explain their times - the history of the place they lived - and what it was perhaps like for your ancestor to live in them. 

You of course quote and attribute the passages you use in your work.

Here are some excerpt examples from the book that are excellent.

From page 5, year 1764, in a small village just outside Chester across the Dee River.

Emma's parents were married on June 11, 1764, in Great Neston church. As the wedding was held on a Monday, it is unlikely that any relative...attended.  Like many workingmen, Henry was illiterate and signed the register with an X, Mary also signed with a cross....  First babies were often conceived outside of wedlock; indeed, many communities encouraged it to preclude the disaster or marriage to an infertile wife. .... At twenty-one, Mary was a drudge in a dirty hovel, her day consumed by domestic chores, in a village populated by people who were, in the 1850's according to visitors, "as primitive as their village was secluded."  At four she awoke to fetch water, light the fire, and prepare Henry's breakfast... After he left at five, she began her daily battle against the dirt that silted up the windows and covered every surface with a grimy film. (Coal dust) Outside her window lay a treeless expanse of  scrub scarred by heaps of coal waste, and cheap stone cottages blacked by sooty rain. She knew that soon after she gave birth, she would be expected to work in the mine with the other women.

WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK WAS THE MARRIAGE OF YOUR ANCESTOR HELD? WHAT MONTH? 

Excerpt page 6 : Emma was baptized on May 12. On the register, her name looks like 'Emy" but Emma herself always claimed it was Amy. a common name in the Kidd family. ... One in three children like Emma died within infancy, but she was born in the best season for survival; disease was more virulent from June to September, and babies died of cold from November to February. There was hard work ahead for the infants who lived. Denhall employed most children over nine or ten as cheap labor. All the girls born in Ness were, by the age of ten, pulling baskets to the surface every day, covered in dirt and regularly harassed by the men.  At the end of the day, they returned home to cook and clean for their family or, as was near as likely, since many women died in childbirth, stepmother.

WAS YOUR ANCESTOR EMPLOYED IN COAL MINING?  A CHILD LABORER? 

Excerpts such as these, when appropriate, add color to your family history book, but also give the reader an opportunity for understanding.

C 2025 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot  All Rights including Internet and International Rights claimed.


26 March 2025

23ANDME DNA TESTS and WARNING ABOUT PRIVACY : DELETE YOUR INFORMATION NOW

CLICK ON THE LABEL 23andme to bring up previous posts that include this topic.

 23andMe has gone bankrupt and your personal privacy and that of your children - relatives - is at risk.  This could effect 15 million people. Since the company is up for sale, it's reasonable to think that your DNA is what would make it interesting to a buyer...

NPR ORG : HOW TO DELETE YOUR 23ANDME GENETIC INFORMATION
Steps to delete are at the link above.

Excerpt: Bonta also provided this advice for destroying your test sample and revoking permission for genetic data to be used for research:

  • If you previously opted to have your saliva sample and DNA stored by 23andMe, but want to change that preference, you can do so from your account settings page, under "Preferences."
  • If you previously consented to 23andMe and third-party researchers to use your genetic data and sample for research, you may withdraw consent from the account settings page, under "Research and Product Consents." 


23 March 2025

BOOKS IN ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING ON THE TAB BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!

Over the last fifteen years I've read, posted, excerpted, reviewed and recommended a whole lot of books. To find these books try clicking on the tab BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!

These images are just some of the books!








































21 March 2025

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY : CONCERNS OVER HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE TO

I've got a relative buried at Arlington.... 

NBC WASHINGTON : ARLINGTON REMOVAL OF EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS LEADING TO HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT BURIALS

Excerpt: Historian Kevin Levin said the removed pages were valuable tools for educators across the country...

In a statement to News4, a spokesperson for Arlington National Cemetery said, “We are actively working to update our educational content in compliance with Executive Orders issued by the President and Department of Defense Instruction. We want to clarify that no service members have been permanently removed from the ‘Notable Graves’ section of our website. The individuals from prior categories such as ‘African American History, Hispanic American History, and Women’s History’ can be found in other categories such as ‘Prominent Military Figures’ or ‘Science, Technology & Engineering,’ based on the person’s historical contribution to our nation.”

Here's the official web site : ARLINGTON CEMETERY - EXPLORE GRAVES

12 March 2025

FIMs HISTORICAL INFO : FIRE INSURANCE MAPS

https://fims.historicalinfo.com/Account/Login.aspx  I used this database within a genealogy library.  This link may not take you to the database I used.

I tried this database to look at a town that a grandparent was raised in. 

WHAT CAN YOU GET FROM A FIRE INSURANCE MAP?  Detail.

I discovered the world they lived in in 1908.

I saw the streets that appear on the 1910 census. Streets they mentioned living on and also shopping on. I saw the hotels for immigrants, the brewing company, the Slavonic Church, the school funded by a robber-baron, a skating rink!, foundries, and the ethnic immigrant club, and so very many churches.

Each map starts with a LISTING of STREETS and COMPANIES.

I can imagine a salesperson negotiating insurance with each of these places.

C 2025 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot

08 March 2025

HISTORYGEO.COM GENEALOGY DATABASE REVIEW : THE CHEROKEE ALLOTMENTS IN OKLAHOMA ARE EXCELLENT #2

https://historygeo.com/  The database I used was within a genealogy library. This link may not bring up THE CHEROKEE ALLOTMENT Oklahoma link... If not, do see if your library subscribes to this database!

Ross, Carlisle, Miegs, Newton, Jordon....

Tehee, Rattlingourd, (See Range 22-east)

Walkabout

Bearpaw

Pigeon

Hazelwood

Wood

Star

McClure

(If you know your Cherokee history some of these names will be familiar to you...)

MOST OF THE NAMES ARE ENGLISH - AMERICAN - but that's OK. If you know the surname and you want to check out the Cherokee who were moved to Oklahoma, there is abundant possibility here...

The state map is sectioned into ranges and the land ownership by Cherokee is indicated by parcel size. The boundary is also shown between the Cherokee and the Creek Nation which you will see at Muskogee County  (See Range 19-east)

C 2025 Ancestry Worship Genealogy BlogSpot


05 March 2025

HISTORYGEO.COM GENEALOGY DATABASE REVIEW : INTERESTING HISTORICAL MAP COLLECTION #1

https://historygeo.com/  There is a surname function.

There are many tourist maps on the Internet today and various sources for old maps including National and local archives. But I thought I'd give his database a try while at a genealogy library.

Maps made about the time they lived in a city, town, village, hamlet are the best.

I love to take genealogy writing a bit further, to include some understanding of where our ancestors lived, which is a whole lot about how they lived.

The Landowners Project is ongoing and to be honest, the area I was interested in was not (yet) included.

We can see if our ancestors lived near a river, a school, a cemetery, a church, or a factory - maybe where they worked. We can see if they lived in a single family home (house) or a townhouse or rowhouse, or perhaps a hotel. (The name of the school, cemetery, church or factory can link you to school, cemetery, church, or employment records.)

We can link census with address with a map. We can use landowner maps to also seek out deeds and inheritances, land grants, squatters rights.

Sometimes we can link the old map with the new, or an address with a Google Street View or Google Earth.

I used the HISTORICAL MAPS for an area I grew up in. I looked at 1850, 1862, 1890, and 1898.  All in the distant past, long before I grew up there. But I could see the names of the landowners had become the names of the streets and roads. It was interesting when a property was listed as "so and so's heirs" and when the creek showed up with an actual name. Also listed were stores, parsonages, and then where the railroad came through...

C 2025 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot

01 March 2025

ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY BLOGSPOT


Our genetic and spiritual ancestors help us with our research quests 
and, while we follow a linear research path, 
amazing dreams and synchronicity abound. 

We explore multicultural ancestry worship 
and the use of genealogy for past-life verification, 
as well as practical ways and means to achieve your research goals.

27 February 2025

UNIFIED LABELS FOR FILMS and BOOKS : CLICK ON THE LABELS FOR FILM RECOMMENDATIONS and BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

After fifteen years of blogging here at ANCESTRY WORSHIP - GENEALOGY I decided to go through all the books and films I've posted here and unify the labeling.  I'm using the term RECOMMENDTIONS as I usually wouldn't post if I didn't think the book or film was worth your time.  If you click on the label it will bring up ALL POSTS that have that label.

CELEBRATING FIFTEEN YEARS OF 

ANCESTRY WORSHIP - GENEALOGY BLOGSPOT

22 February 2025

HOW DOES SHE FIND THE NAME OF THE SLAVES WHO MIGHT BE HER ANCESTORS? SHE HAS THE NAME OF THE SLAVE OWNER! (A BIT OF A TUTORIAL!)

Q

Hi AW!  I've got the name of the slave owner. How do I find the names of the slaves he owned, which I think includes a line of my ancestry?

Hannah

I'm impressed Hannah; I'm going to believe you without knowing how you found the name of the slave owner, and for the purposes of this answer, for the sake of other readers of Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot, I'm going to go over some aspects of African-American genealogy research.

First, it's American research. So, do your UNITED STATES CENSUS work as far back as you can. Something I used to do all the time with microfilm, and I think we should still do in databases, is to examine the pages of the census for the surrounding area when we find a family group - just to see if there are others local who might have the same surname or be related. So forward and back, please!

The first United States census in which the freed slaves are named is 1870, which was after the Civil War. Until then people other than the head of household (Be that free or not) were counted as statistics and names were not given. But if you can find the family on the 1870 you probably already have the names of some people who were in slavery in the location. (If by chance any of your ancestors fell into the category of Free, you may be able to go back by comparing the people on the 1870 with those statistics re living in the same area and same head of household as well.)

Do the census work for the SLAVE OWNER if you find one - and any legal documents pertaining to them and their family regarding inheritance.

A caution when using databases. Often I skip the question of race or color as I think this has been subjective. I will note it, but it may not be the same answer for the same person as the decades go by.  (B - Black.  N - Negro.  M - Mulatto (mixed race). W - White.)

Check the FREEDMAN BANK RECORDS just in case. I personally have not had a whole lot of luck with these but I have once or twice had a breakthrough - because the persons had unusual and consistent names. 

********************************************************************************

My photo of part of the exhibit which is a display in a hallway.

YOU MAY WANT TO VISIT THE LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY - CENTRAL "DOWNTOWN" TO SEE A SMALL BUT WELL DONE EXHIBIT ABOUT THE FREEDMAN BANK RECORDS. It was put together by librarians from the Genealogy and Economics departments and is in a hallway.

******************************************************************************

OK so... IF YOU HAVE THE NAME OF THE SLAVE OWNER and the NAME or/and LOCATION of the farm, plantation, or place of residence for the slaves, CHECK THE LOCAL HISTORY to see if there is any mentions. Is there a biography of the slave owner, for instance? A biography might lead you to more information about the slave owner and who his or her relatives are: Wills or Bills of Sale may have more information.

Check to see if there are any genealogy groups local to that area, especially with African-American focus. (At the same time be careful to discern what "oral history" and archival documents or support documents there are.)

Check to see if there are any existing local newspapers and how far back they go, likely news that may apply will mention the slave owner.

But to be more focused on your question THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES brags that it has the largest collection relating to the African- American experience.

Also check SLAVE NARRATIVES. https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/about-this-collection/

Excerpt:  Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves.  These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work Projects Administration (WPA).  At the conclusion of the Slave Narrative project, a set of edited transcripts was assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. In 2000-2001, with major support from the Citigroup Foundation, the Library digitized the narratives from the microfilm edition and scanned from the originals 500 photographs, including more than 200 that had never been microfilmed or made publicly available.  This online collection is a joint presentation of the Manuscript and Prints and Photographs divisions of the Library of Congress. 

I'm going to this link https://guides.loc.gov/manuscripts-illustrated-guide/african-american-history

Excerpt: The Manuscript Division has one of the nation's most valuable collections for the study of African-American history and culture. The Library's holdings include information about slavery and the slave trade as well as other aspects of plantation life. Papers of slaveholders provide one view of slavery, and slave narratives give another. Diaries and journals further illuminate lives spent in slavery and freedom. The manuscripts of black and white abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Salmon P. Chase describe the efforts of those who attempted to alleviate the plight of slaves, and the records of the American Colonization Society detail the saga of African Americans who left the United States and established the West African nation of Liberia in the mid- nineteenth century. Papers relating to black participation and victimization in the Civil War abound, and African-American history during Reconstruction is reflected in collections pertaining to newly elected black officials such as John Mercer Langston, Blanche K. Bruce, Hiram R. Revels, and Francis L. Cardozo.

https://www.loc.gov/item/mm82057687/#:~:text=Correspondence%2C%20speeches%2C%20writings%2C%20court,during%20the%20American%20Civil%20War. This is the link to the Black History Collection.  (I'm aware that Black is a preferred term these days, but for the purposes of our research we search for a collection title as it was when it came into being and we will encounter other terms we may not like as well.)

  • Correspondence, speeches, writings, court records, slave records, slave deeds, emancipation and manumission papers, birth and marriage records, wills, family and genealogical papers, military records, financial records, ships' papers, broadsides, newspaper clippings, printed matter, and other papers pertaining to African Americans from the colonial period through the early twenty-first century. Subjects include the slave trade, slaves, medical care of slaves, fugitive slaves, abolition, emancipation, manumission, freed persons, civil rights, political rights and suffrage, and military service, in particular, during the American Civil War.

    THERE ARE OTHER COLLECTIONS AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES THAT MAY BE OF VALUE, but again, don't forget the more local resources, and that includes the small libraries in small towns and historical society collections!
C 2025 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot
All rights claimed including Internet and International Rights

19 February 2025

UPDATED BLOGGER PROFILE - I'VE BEEN BLOGGING ANCESTRY WORSHIP - GENEALOGY SINCE 2009! FIFTEEN YEARS !!!

Original Photo by Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot

On Blogger since January 2009

About me
GenderFemale
IndustryConsulting
OccupationResearcher - Writer - Genealogist
LocationUnited States
IntroductionBit by bit, I'm working on a book about my adventures in genealogy, a book that's alternatively spiritual! I encourage you to include niche specific history into the genealogy and family book you're writing! I have at least three decades of experience as a genealogy researcher. I started with interviewing my own relatives years ago. I use books, maps, family artifacts and records, microfilms, and specialty databases, at private and governmental archives, museums, libraries and historical societies... And of course there is now the amazingly impactful Internet... I've researched, written, and produced books. I've taught Genealogy on the Internet. I like to help other researchers break through research blocks! Christine
InterestsANCESTRY WORSHIP - a Genealogy BlogSpot was founded in January 2009 and is still going strong! My interest is in conveying professional genealogy standards with a focus on American - United States research. I provide links to useful databases, give advice and experientials, make commentary, and review books. I also touch on some alternative spiritual notions such as reincarnation, ancestral memory, and ancestor worship. (Are you the reincarnation of an ancestor?)
Favorite MoviesI love going to a big theatre and being taken out of my seat - going to another time and place and forgetting that I'm sitting there. I loved binge-watching Boardwalk Empire and also The Crown.
Favorite MusicI do love all sorts of music but what I listen to has much to do with what mood I'm in. I listen to everything from Gregorian Chants to Indian Music to Rock and Roll!
Favorite BooksI seem to always have a book ordered in to one library or another and over the years I've found I love memoirs most of all.

How do you pronounce the 'g' in bologna?

You don't. Where I come from, back in the day when we actually ate this meat, we said BA LONE EEE!

10 February 2025

VISIT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER in LONG BEACH CALIFORNIA


 AACCLB - African American Cultural Center - Long Beach California

Long Beach is far south in Los Angeles County and far from the fires.  I was able to see this exhibit - small but impressive - and suggest YOU might find it as interesting as I did. The AACCLB has changing exhibits and opportunities to explore.

08 February 2025

ATLAS OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE : ANCESTRY WORSHIP BOOK RECOMMENDATION

This big, impressive hardback book is quite the accomplishment for the authors. Eltis is the a the Robert W. Woodruff Professor History and Principal Investigator for the electronic Slave Trade Database Project, at Emory University.  RIchardson is the director of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation, and professor of economic history, University of Hull, England and also is on the advisory board for the Slave Trade database 

The book contains old art that depicted slavery (as the artist imagined it), maps of the slave trade word of the Atlantic including routes and numbers of slaves transported from place to place (or region to region),  quotes from journals of slavers, and discussion of the roles various ethnicity-nationals played in the trade; the Portuguese - who dominated Africa to South American, the Spanish who moved slaves from Central and West-Central Africa to the Caribbean,  the Dutch who moved slaves from Dutch owned Africa to Dutch owned plantations of Spanish America - and from there, British slave trafficking and how it changed over the years ... and an overall history with details and specifics.

Consider that fewer slaves died on the way to Brazil as the length of the voyage was shorter but there were also other factors such as, possibly, that the slaves taken started out in better health, or - perhaps - this is my notion - that the slavers became more careful to take those who were healthier as they had more money to gain with an alive shipload of humans than not.

So, you may be wondering how this book might benefit you and your ancestral research into genealogy.

Many people who know or suspect they have African slave heritage go with DNA testing to get information about the ethnic group or groups they have lineage with.  But maybe the testing could lead to a discovery that is more unusual.

According to Henry Louis Gates, Jr. this book is a "gold mine" of information.

For instance on page 216  (Map 143 New England, 166-1802) it says:

Relatively few slaves (some 10,000) reached New England directly from Africa.  Most came from areas west of modern Nigeria.  Ninety percent arrived in Boston - and Newport owned vessels.  More African captives reached New England through inter-colonial trafficking or as the residual of a larger group of slaves sold from New England Transatlantic vessels in the West Indies.

EMORY SLAVE INDEXES

Excerpt:  The Slave Voyages site now provides resources detailing more than 36,000 Slave trading Voyages between Africa and the New World, another 11,400 intra-American Voyages from one part of the Americas to another, and data on some 92,000 Africans forced to make those journeys. 

C 2025 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights.


05 February 2025

SLAVE VOYAGES ORG - TWO DATBASES : TRANS-ATLANTIC and INTRA-AMERICAN

SLAVE VOYAGES ORG  TRANSATLANTIC - era 1514-1866  - INTRA-AMERICAN

year -name of vessel - where captives were purchased - where ship landed - numbers of slaves alive on ship at arrival - name of captain.

**************************************************


Slavery As It Exists In America.
Slavery As It Exists in England
source: Library of Congress -Washington DC -Prints and Photographs Division

01 February 2025

ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY BLOGSPOT


Our genetic and spiritual ancestors help us with our research quests 
and, while we follow a linear research path, 
amazing dreams and synchronicity abound. 

We explore multicultural ancestry worship 
and the use of genealogy for past-life verification, 
as well as practical ways and means to achieve your research goals.

27 January 2025

THE LAST SECRET OF THE ANNEX by JOOP VAN WEJK-VOSKUIJL and JEROEN DE BRUYN

My copy's front cover stated "A Fascinating attempt to unlock this mystery and a case study in how Holocaust trauma can ripple through the generations." - The Wall Street Journal.

This is a book about a mystery that those familiar with the now classic book, The Diary of Anne Frank, has wondered about: Who revealed that that Anne Frank, her sister, her parents, family friends and son Peter, and another - a dentist she shared her little bedroom area with, were hiding in the annex?  It is also a book about some things that were not quite a secret but the readership did not know - that there were others including the author Joop Van Wijk-Voskuijl's mother, Bep Voskuijl, who collaborated to hide these Jewish people. These were employees of Otto Frank. Bep chose not to be revealed when Anne's diary was edited. Central to the story is that quite possibly a family member was the person to testify to the authorities of their location, resulting in a raid, but also possible leniency for Bep, and that might've been her sister Nelly. 

Nelly was not exactly a Nazi but was associated, something some young Dutch women did, which was have German soldiers as boyfriends. It was an ordeal to hide Jewish people and Bep was showing that wear. Such a person (called The Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust database in Israel)  could face arrest, deportation to camps, or being murdered on the spot.  An individual helping hid Jews could also bring disaster to their family. It is not certain that this was the case as there were other possible candidates when it comes to who squealed. There is good reason why... 

To pause a bit before I begin more of a book review here, I wish to let you know that The Diary of Anne Frank was required reading when I was in the fifth grade.  I recall focusing on the budding romance between Anne and Peter, and that I simply could not understand why people would be so horrible to people. Anne was a hopeful person but there must have been some class discussion of a depressing nature. Torture and systematic murder, war and genocide, had not effected my young life and so there I was, ten years or so, and not quite understanding. I don't recall the diary so well, but I will say that The Last Secret of the Secret Annex, provided me information I had not come across before in all the years since, and I think that this is valuable information.

This book is also excellent in explaining the conditions that the people of the Netherlands experienced when the Nazi's came into power there, the deprivations, especially hunger and cold.

"Thousands of Jews were now hiding all across Holland.  The Franks knew that there were bounties on their heads - initially 2.5 guilders for every Jew found, but the Nazi's kept raising the price as their hunt intensified until it reached 40 guiders." (page 38 of the paperback.)

First, I had not known that "The Annex" was a room within a pectin and spice factory that Otto Frank owned, called Opekta, and that he actually owned the whole building, which he had purchased in 1940. The Franks were well off. I imagined it as an attic in a house somewhere and not owned by the Franks.  In fact the annex was planned, refurbished to some extent, and furnished and supplied in advance of the need to flee. Later the bookcase hiding the entrance stairway was built and installed by another employee who had to know.  And as such,  Bep, and eventually at least yet another employee there, the warehouse manager, actually knew that the Franks were there.  However, also new to me, is that the kind of silence I imagined - the family sitting still all day until nightfall and being active at night, isn't correct.  Apparently sounds they made were heard during the day. Therefor it might have been that all the employees knew or suspected. 

"From the moment the Annex was occupied, the helpers fretted over its security.  Sounds rattled through the walls and pipes of the old canal-side building.  The rule inside the Annex was that the inhabitants had to whisper during the workday, and they had to wear slippers instead of shoes to muffle the sound of their footsteps.  yet despite such measures, arguments and even loud shouting would sometimes break out and echo loudly."...  (page 53)

Their benefactors were sneaky, of course, but I was surprised to learn that Bep spent hours socializing with the Franks in the annex.  

I imagined food being scrounged up for those hiding, barely this and that, but apparently requests were made that their benefactors go shopping for things they needed or wanted.

I think of the Franks and the others as far more vulnerable to being found out than I had before.

Besides Nelly, it was suspected that a new warehouse manager named Willem van Maarent may have been there person who told the Nazi's where to find the Jews. He was known to go snooping around the office and suspected someone was coming into the warehouse after dark and even suspected the bookcase hid a door.

Perhaps more personal to Bep was that she was both in love with a much older colleague at the factory and probably had an affair with him while also seemingly destined to marry a nice younger man who wasn't as interesting to her during those years she was relied upon.  Implied is that, seeing that Bep was under severe stress, one of these men might have thought they were saving her by ending her need to hide the Jews in the annex.  Anne wrote about the young man that Bep told her about in her diary.

Last but not least, I learned that Anne was quite ambitious about being a writer, especially for a thirteen year old!  She asked Bep to help her get published, as she wrote autobiographical stories as well as fantasy fiction!

If you're interested in the Holocaust - World War II era, European history, and that of the Jewish people, you'll find this book will add to your understanding, for the focus has not so much been on the Netherlands.

C 2025 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot

25 January 2025

FREE PRINT OUT GENEALOGY RESEARCH FORMS - CHARTS and RESEARCH LOGS ? IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED!

I've posted a number of pretty charts that may inspire you when you have completed your research and are ready to calligraphy or print neatly. 

This may surprise you but I don't like ANY of the free research charts that are offered by big genealogy databases or genealogy clubs that I've found. I mean the ones you use while you're doing your research. 

My main reasons are:

NOT ENOUGH ROOM : Lines or boxes too close together. To handprint or type in these you may have to read with a magnifying glass. 

PRESUMPTONS ABOUT HOW MANY CHILDREN BORN IN A FAMILY.  Some family group forms are limited to two pages. There isn't even an option to list more than seven children such as a third or fourth page.

BAPTISMAL DATES MORE IMPORTANT THAN BIRTH DATES. One of my big issues is that the what is more important to genealogy is the birth date.  When every child in the village seems to have been baptized within days of its birth, OK, maybe that's not too far off, but I've found the baptismals that took place months after the birth too. In the databases the baptismal date is being used instead. This means you have to read the originals and go back and forth a few months at least. Some of these forms are overly religious to me.

THE SOLUTION?  Just type it out, neatly, and KEEP CONSISTANT TO YOUR OWN FORMAT.

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18 January 2025

HOW TO DECIDE WHICH OF TWO CANDIDATES FOR MARIA IS HER ANCESTOR? : QUESTIONS FOR ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY

Q : I have gone like gang-busters on all my lines but one, my dad's mother's mother. The name is common and I found two candidates. How do I decide which one to go with?  I'll explain.

I found her parents marriage (my great-grandparents) which had the ages of the bride and groom in a Roman Catholic church record in Slovakia. The bride, Maria, is listed as age 20 in 1888.  That would make about 1868 the date of Maria's birth.

Maria #1 is recorded born and baptized in the same church record as her descendants. (Her husband was born elsewhere but in the same general area - just a different church.) However, the only Maria candidate in that church record was not born in 1868 but in 1869.  As her groom is listed as age 24, and his birth/baptism is correct as proven by his birth/baptismal, it doesn't seem to me that she might be a bride who wished to appear younger than her groom or anything like that. The wedding was in mid November and her birthday was in September.

Maria #2 is not in the same church record as her descendants. But again is the same general area, just a different church. Again I found that this Maria is not born in 1868.  In this case she is born and baptized in 1867...  I went back and found her parent's marriage and that was when I realized that her mother was very pregnant with her when they married. She was born about a month later. Therefore I can imagine that by claiming to be older than she was, she might have been hiding the fact that her parents "had to get married."

I used FamilySearch database for my research and other candidates are not coming up.

Help!

Lisa

A: I see the dilemma Lisa. It is compelling to think that Maria #2 gave a wrong age at marriage because she wanted to hide her parent's need to get married when pregnant with her. However, it is also compelling to find the birth/baptism of the bride in the same church record, though it's possible the groom met his bride elsewhere. In either case we are speculating when creating a story about what happened. I do it all the time as I'm interested in the story - the culture - the society - which includes religion and expectations upon women. And sometimes that speculation - a hunch - a synchronicity - leads us to the documents we want. 

As a side I once read that an infertile wife was so unwanted that a first pregnancy without marriage was actually desirable by some.

I looked at the records you referred me to and I think that the first Maria is your best candidate. However, in writing my book I would provide the genealogy for both Maria's with an explanation for why you did that. Remember that we write our books in a way that our reader can follow us and so can another person who may go further with that information if and when more documents are available. State it as a fact that you have two candidates and why.

This is also a case where maybe the answer is in DNA as it's always possible that the man who married the pregnant bride was not the father of her child. I always say that we would still want to do the genealogy anyway because if there is a "match" with DNA an the relationship is given, you still want to figure out who is who. (As these are a set of your great-grandparents, it's not as easy as finding out who a birth parent is where a parent, sibling, or half sibling could be revealed.)

Because there are some church books that have not been indexed by FamilySearch, and some handwriting is sloppy enough for a transcriber to make errors however, and the deaths and marriages are not Indexed for Slovakia which was Hungary in 1888, I would, to have peace of mind, also look for a possible Mary in the church where the groom's birth/baptism was located and around at other parishes in the area. Last but not least, do also consider the names of villages and house numbers as well as the godparents when making the decision.

Love your research!

Christine

Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot  2025