Brick Wall Update 2022

It has been ages since I've done this, so I thought I would revisit the biggest blocks in my family tree.

Here are the branches I'm focusing on at this time: 

• Seneft (also Senft and Senefft) and Hillinger (also Hilinger)
• Kresch and Reich
• Park and Dunlop
• Curran and Blair
• Jones and Griffths
• Roberts and either Griffiths or Pugh

Seneft/Hilinger/Kresch/Reich Lines

I have made some small movement on these lines since delineating them. I now know all of my great-grandparents' siblings, and the names of the places they were born. I've managed to get in touch with a few cousins out there with helped with both, but it still has gotten no further back. As of this time.

As I said in my last post, I now know all my great grandparents' siblings, thanks to two different distant cousins, one in England, and one in Israel. I've also found a small handful of records, and have a long list of questions about both sides.

For the Senefts, I don't know when they left Galicia, where my great-grandfather was born, and came to England. I also discovered, through my grandfather's draft papers, that apparently Alex, his father, was in the military in 1899, during the Boer War. I don't know anything about his service, just the date, and that he obviously survived, or we wouldn't be here today. I also don't know Alex's sisters' Hebrew names, or his younger brother's Hebrew name. Anne, Jennie, and Jack, all I have is their Anglicized name. I also have had no further luck learning who Lewis Greenbaum was beyond either Leon or Mindel's nephew, but I keep looking for him, too.

For the Kresches, I have less info, but also less questions. I don't know what happened to my great-grandmother's brother Chaim/Haim after World War I (though I can guess). I also don't know when her father died. Unfortunately, in both these questions, I have little hope of finding more information, given how "unimportant" any records related to these two things were to the non-Jewish population in those areas, so I have little hope of finding more information. 

In both families, I have no ancestors before my great-great grandparents, or am I certain where any of them were born, though I presume most if not all were born in Galicia. 

If you have any information on any of these families that might answer these questions, I would love to talk to you.

Park/Dunlop/Curran/Blair

This one's seen some great movement, thanks to my cousin Kate, who has been pushing and pushing at the Park branch in particular, and who will be going to Ireland sometime soon. We now know for certain that our mutual ancestors were David Park and Mary Dunlop, whose son married Elizabeth Curran and came to the US and had their children there before returning to Ireland for a time before moving to and settling in Canada.

There is also the more recent version of Ancestry's DNA, which shows both of our ancestry as far more Scottish than either of us suspected. From this, I presume that most of my Irish family actually came from Scottish stock, likely from one of the periods when it was easier to live in Ireland than Scotland. Park, Dunlop, and Blair are all very Scottish surnames, particularly Dunlop, so I presume most of my DNA was inherited from these lines. Curran is a very northern Irish name, so in that case, that's probably where I get my small amount of Irish DNA.

For the Park line, I actually believe we've answered all the questions I had in my last Brick Wall post here. So at the moment, this one is good, because we got at least one more generation back on this line, and until we can firm up some of this information, I actually think this line is good. 

As for Curran and Blair, nothing new has happened, but since all my questions were on the Park line, I think this one is good as well. So for now, I will let my Irish branch lie until I get further back in my bigger Brick Walls.

Jones/Griffiths

Like the Park line, I've had some success on one branch, and almost no more on the other. In this case, I have gotten no further on David and Mary Jones, given their far too common names. The Griffiths line, on the other hand, has grown far back, thanks to work others have done on Ancestry. I haven't entirely proven this branch, but I have so many more names, that I think that one's done for a good long time. So I will focus on Jones on this line for now.

At this moment, I need to know more about David Jones. Particularly where he was born, who his parents were, and what he did for a living. Mary, I have no surname for, so I would love to know who she was born to, and where, and how she met David. I also would like to know why the family came to Merthyr Tydfil. Did they all come there together? Did something happen with David, so only Mary and the two boys I currently have for them come to the town? I presume, from the fact that both Caio and Merthyr Tydfil had connections to mining, that perhaps David was involved in the Welsh mining industry?

Jones is a hard one, because the names are so common that narrowing it all down is still almost completely unhelpful, but I do keep looking.

Roberts

I have made absolutely no movement on this branch at all. All I know is that Hugh and Ellen had two daughters, and not if they had any other children. I still don't know for certain what Ellen's maiden name was, Pugh or Griffiths. At the moment, I have Hugh listed as being born 1819 in Merionethshire, Wales, and Ellen Pugh (how she was listed on my great-grandmother's death record) as being born in 1824, also in Merionethshire.

Currently I have the 1851 census of the family, which lists Hugh, Ellen, and their two daughters, Selina (at four years of age) and Elizabeth (only a year old). It's the only Census I've found for them as of yet, but it tells me several things--one, that they lived in the same area as Selina's husband-to-be, two, that she was their eldest (surviving) child, and three, gives me Hugh and Ellen's general age. Everything else is still very up in the air.

I also have a birth record for Elizabeth in 1850 that lists Hugh as a Driver, and that the family live in Beaumaris. Again, answers no questions, though the addition of a job for Hugh is nice. 

In an attempt to verify what proofs I have, I just discovered one more generation back. Because of this birth record, I know when Elizabeth was born, so I looked to see if there was anything else for her, only to discover a record of a 1861 Census showing her with her grandmother, Catherine Roberts. So I now believe that Hugh's mother was Catherine. The location is right, and the info for Elizabeth matches her exactly. So I just managed to find one step further back in my tree on this branch. In going through information on Ancestry, I can't prove more, but if what I've found is right, her husband may be Richard, though I have not yet settled on that, as I have a lot to go through before I decide that is correct, since the information doesn't give me enough to match precisely. So there you go, folks. Always remember to check through the records you have to see if anything new crops up. Ancestry and other sites are always updating their information. You never know what you might find.

But that said, a single name for Hugh's mother isn't enough to call this unblocked. I still don't entirely know his family. I need to find something that connects him to a Richard or another father to firm this up. I also want to know if he had any siblings, and whether he and Ellen had any other children. I did see one person on Ancestry had parents for Ellen, but no record proofs, so I don't know where those parents came from, so I have not assumed they are correct at this time, which means I need her parents still.

I'd love to talk to anyone who shares this branch of their family tree with me. Any help digging further back would be greatly welcome.

52 Ancestors - Favorite Find - Jack Seneft

 As soon as I saw this prompt, I immediately thought of one of my favorite ancestors. My grandfather's uncle Jack. He's one of the side-relatives that I'm utterly fascinated by, even though I have few truly solid pieces of info about him. I don't know the order of Jack and his siblings for certain, I don't know when they moved from what is now Poland to England, or how old he was at that time. I don't even know his birth name, as he was Jewish, and Jack is most definitely an anglicization of another name. My presumption is that his name was Jacob, but I've found nothing that proves that for certain. Even his surname's spelling varies depending on time and record. The two I've seen most often are Seneft and Senefft, though at least this I can attribute to immigration and Hebrew spelling.

So if I know so little about him, why is he my favorite ancestor? Because we share a birthday. Jack was born September 13, 1891, 78 years before I was born. And despite how little I know about him, that makes me very happy.

Jack Seneft was born in what is now southeast Poland in a town called Shendeshov (also known as Sedziszow Makopolski). He was the second youngest of five siblings. I believe he and all his siblings were born in that town, which means the family likely emigrated to England sometime between 1892 and 1899, as the first is the birth year of his youngest sister, and the last is the date that my great-grandfather, one of his elder brothers, apparently served in the English military, according to my grandfather's draft registration paperwork. My great-grandfather was eight years older than his younger brother Jack. I have no information on the siblings' relationship to each other. I don't know that my grandfather even met his uncle Jack.

Which leads me to a story that I cannot prove, but have assumed for a little while now. When my grandfather's family came here from France, one of his uncles was supposed to come to Ellis Island to speak up for them so they could enter the country. He never showed up. Luckily, another family they knew from Germany saw them and stood for them so they were allowed to enter. I have no proof aside from the fact that he lived in New York, but I believe that Jack was that uncle. There were others who were in the country, but none of them were blood relations, and I don't think they lived near the harbor, so Jack would have been the closest, and makes the most sense. I do find it sad that the only story I can attribute to Jack is this story, where he may have forgotten to help my grandfather and his family. 

So what do I know about Jack? Well, his birthdate and location, which come from his naturalization record. I know he was one of five children, as one of the few Census records I have for his parents lists her only having five children. I also know that he worked for his eldest brother, Isaac Senefft in England as a tailor, which was a very common trade for Jewish immigrants. I know that he came to America, boarding the Lusitania (yes, that Lusitania) in Liverpool, England in 1911, and arrived in March of that year in New York. I know he wasn't the first in his family to come to America. His elder sister, Anne, had married and moved to America with her husband, settling in Memphis, Tennessee, so she was how he was able to enter the country. I know she came before him as her husband is listed on Jack's entry of his passenger list as his contact. And while I'm not entirely certain, I am fairly sure he lived in greater New York City until his death in 1948.

He's a fun find. Before I found his death record in New York, I had only a name. Not even a birth date or location. I like to imagine a young man, alone in New York and loving it, away from the structure of family keeping him in a box. From what I have been able to determine, he never married. Single and loving it. He was definitely a New Yorker at heart. And I'm very glad I found him.

If anyone has photos of him, I'd love to finally see his face. And if you have any information on this man, I'd love to know more about him.

The Truths I Know

My family was very lucky. My grandfather was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1922. He was his parents' third child of six; two boys, four girls. They were Jewish. For so many people he knew, that story ended badly. Twenty years or even less after his birth, friends and family members died at the hands of people who hated them, or worse, ignored them and their suffering at the hands of the Nazi party, thinking them unimportant and beneath their notice. Worse, some allowed the Nazi lies to lull them into believing nothing was wrong.

But my great-grandfather recognized the signs. He had been through something similar before. His family, who had escaped Eastern Europe for "friendlier" climes moved to London when he was still young. He lived there until the Great War broke out, when anyone in England who was "German," that is to say anyone who was from the Austrio-Hungarian empire, became an enemy. They were not only considered foreigners, regardless of how long they had lived in England, but a dangerous foreigner at that. Of course, being German, and worse, Jewish, meant that his family were not seen as possible candidates for citizenship. So he was sent to a camp, where he was sub-divided from the main group due to his religion. The Jews in the camp were kept separate from the Gentiles who felt they were beneath them, and dangerous to be near. After the war, England ejected him from the country, sending him back to Germany. He made his way to Frankfurt, where he met and married my great-grandmother. At the time, this was no great shock. Many Jews made their way to Frankfurt at the time. It was a good place to be Jewish. Many Jews came there from all over the Empire and built a great, strong (or at least what they believed was strong) community, with schools, businesses, synagogues and neighborhoods centered around their faith. They had such power in the city that they were even able to elect a Jew as the mayor of Frankfurt during this time. Unfortunately for him, his time as mayor ended with the Nazis hounding him from office, and hunting him into hiding, where he ultimately died.

So when violence against Jews began to rise in their city, my great-grandfather recognized the signs. He had no way of knowing how bad it would get, but he wasn't about to be separated from his family once again, and the anger against Jews in England was nothing to the anger he saw growing in Nazi Germany. Because of him, my family escaped. First to Paris for a year, and then to America, where the family has lived ever since, except for his youngest, who moved to Israel in her elder years. Aside from the war, we have been safe and protected because of the choice he made. I thank him for it constantly, ever since I finally understood the choice he made for his family, and in a larger sense, for all of us.

I am my family historian. I have been gathering the stories, the threads, the people, since my other grandfather's death in 1991. 28 years of looking for information on my family. 28 years of looking through lists of the dead, both hoping and dreading to find a link to my grandfather's side of my family tree, knowing that in that list were likely relations of mine; people whose names I did not know and could never meet because of other people's hatred, greed, and violence. It is only in the last ten years that I have really begun to understand more about this branch of my family. My grandfather never talked about it. For obvious reasons. Yes, they had escaped, but it had not been a pleasant time they'd lived through before that. It was not something he liked to speak of. He rarely even spoke German around the family. I think he didn't like sharing any of that with us, and probably did all he could to repress the memories. His language skills did stand him in good stead, especially after the war, when knowing French and German was in high demand for the Allies as they tried to deal with the consequences of what had happened. He worked as a translator in Europe well after the surrender, and because of it, met my grandmother, who was also there, helping with the cleanup after the war. But after they returned to America, it was a skill he rarely used.

Because of all that, and because he and my grandmother moved away from their families, we grew up with very little knowledge of our family history on his side of the family. We knew we were of German Jewish descent, and where they had lived, but little beyond that. Added to this was the fact that the experience had detached him from the beliefs he had grown up in. His sisters remained in the faith, but he had seen too much to believe religion held much value. At least, for him. So my father and his siblings grew up without religion in their family traditions. As did I. It was not even a part of my consciousness until I was an adult. I now know, thanks to a DNA kit, that I got larger than my natural share of Jewish ancestry. As I have only one Jewish grandparent, by all rights, I should have 25% or less Jewish DNA. Instead, I have discovered that a minimum of 30% of my genetic makeup is Jewish. But it is something I have never practiced or allowed to influence me in any major way. I am Jewish in heritage, but my grandfather's people would not consider me one of them, as my mother is not Jewish, nor was I raised in the religion. Aside from a passing acquaintance with some of the traditions of the faith thanks to my nanny's family when I was young, I know very little about the Jewish faith. This has left me struggling for many years now, trying to decide what my ancestry means, how I can honor it, and what I should take from it for myself.

I have struggled with my family history, from those early searches and even now after learning so much more. Finally, I know the names of both of my great-grandparents' siblings. I know that my great-grandfather's family either stayed in England (how, I still have yet to determine), or left for America rather than going back to Germany. I know that my great-grandmother's eldest brother and two of her three sisters and one of her younger brothers survived. The other brother was lost shortly after the first World War. Her sister is the only one on both sides of the family who was lost because of the Nazis. All of my family on that side made it out aside from her. It's so much less than I expected to hear, knowing they were right in the middle of Poland; right in the middle of the target area. I wish it were none. I wish she'd survived. We don't know what happened to her, only that she failed to escape with her husband and their children. And that there is no record of her after that. I have guesses, but I doubt we will ever know for certain what they did to her. It is a horrible thing, not to know, but in some ways it is a blessing. As much of a blessing as knowing she was the only one lost.

This year, I have made a challenge for myself. To look into the books and movies made about my grandfather's people. I know it will hurt. I've read and seen enough to know. I grew up with Fiddler on the Roof. And even as I worked on my genealogy, I was certain that that was not my family's story. My grandfather was born in Frankfurt, after all. They were from a city. I was wrong. The two towns his parents were born in were exactly like Annatevka. Poor, and surrounded by Gentiles easily riled against them. So much so that I have learned of a pogram against one of those towns, where my great-grandmother's family was still living at the time. And I have a reasonable amount of certainty that her father was wounded or died in that attack. And I grew up knowing Anne Frank's story, too. Of the girl who was just like me. Who wanted nothing but to be free. Who was killed by the Nazis for the crime of being born into the wrong family. I watched a few movies last year towards the end of the year, and realize how many more there are to watch. And I wondered why I was doing this, because each hurts in a whole new and unique way.

Then I started reading Night this morning, and I learned. This isn't about being comfortable. This can't be about being comfortable. This is about knowing. About understanding. About standing witness. Because those who survived are dying. There are few left now who experienced it. And they need to be remembered. Their stories need to be remembered. I thank Elie Wiesel for that. I had always admired him, and the way he spoke out and reminded people of what the Nazis had done. Then 2016 happened. There were so many blows that year. And among them was Elie's death. And then that man came to power, and Elie wasn't here to speak about it. And since that man has been in office, since he has started running even for election, I have worried. I worry more every single day. The phrase "It can't happen here" no longer holds meaning. We have to remember. We have to stand up and we have to stop this. Now. Before it becomes like then. If it hasn't already.

So for my part, I plan to read, and watch, and understand, though the words and the knowledge cut me to the quick. So that when the time comes that I am faced with someone who doesn't understand, or doesn't believe, I will have words to give them. Because I can't let my great-grandfather's choice be in vain.

Mika Karin (Hillinger) Bartroff, 1/24/2019

Brick Wall Update 2018

I haven't posted one of these in I don't even know how long. The problem is, I've really not made any further movement back, no matter how hard I try, though I have managed to fill out some of the tree around the people I am looking for, mostly with children, but the occasional other ancestor thrown in for good measure.

The lines I want to focus on are still nearly the same ones I've been looking for since the very beginning:
Seneft (also Senft and Senefft) and Hillinger (also Hilinger)
Kresch and Reich
Park and Dunlop
Curran and Blair
Jones and Griffths
Roberts and either Griffiths or Pugh

Oline Hansen's line has gotten a little further, though I'd still love to get further back, but I think that one's less of a priority now. As is the Gabriel/Howells Line. While I'd love to trace the family back to our Huguenot ancestor, we've actually got quite a bit along this main line. Looking through the Brick Wall People posts I did, I actually went back far enough that I was having trouble figuring out who the people were initially, so I definitely don't need to trace some of those, either, though I do recommend it as a good exercise.

So with no further ado, my brick walls, all six of them:
The Seneft/Hillingers–

Leon and Mindel were my great-great grandparents. Their children were Isaac, Alex, Annie, Jack, and Jennie. Isaac is a new discovery from this past year. Before that, I knew he existed, but didn't know his name, nor the names of any of his children but one. They came from an Eastern European country called Galicia, then came to London to escape the danger and hardships there. Their descendants now live in the US, Israel, England and Canada.

While I have made a lot of discoveries in this family since my first Brick Wall post back in 2010, I've gotten no further back along this branch.

Looking back at previous posts, I now know exactly where Alex's family were from: Sedziszow, now known as Sędziszów Małopolski, now located in Southern Poland.

Leon I have found listed alternately as Lewis and Leib. His birthdate I still haven't managed to pin down exactly, but he was born somewhere between 1849 and 1854. He died almost ten years later than I'd had listed, in 1931. I have been told he was a Rabbi, and the Census record I found listed him as a greengrocer/hawker, meaning he had a cart he sold fruits and vegetables from. The same census also gives a general marriage year of 1871 between he and Mindel.

Mindel I have seen listed as Mena, Minnie and Millie (though the last could be a misunderstanding due to accent). I found a cemetery record for her that gave me a general birthdate of about 1851. According to the tombstone, she died in 1913. According to the 1911 census I found the information about Leon, by that point, she was blind. I'm not sure if this was a condition that came from before their arrival, or something that developed after, though I suspect it could be because of diabetes, which does run in the family.

The same census record also listed a nephew, though I'm unsure which side he comes from. His name was Lewis Greenbaum, and he was a tailor. If I could learn whose child he was, I might be able to get further back in this branch of my tree.

I've found a few more bits of information on my great grandfather, Alex, that help me pin down his timeline a little more. According to my grandfather's citizenship papers, his father served in the English military during the Boer war. I don't know that he served in the war itself, but he definitely served during that time. I also discovered that he visited the US before he brought his family in the thirties. I'm not sure when he came, but I believe it may have been between his expulsion from England, and his arrival in Frankfurt.

My questions now:
• Who Leon and Mindel's parents were.
• Who Lewis Greenbaum was in relation to Leon and Mindel.
• When the Seneft family came to England.
• Where Leon and Mindel were born.

The Kresches –

Benzion and Feige were my great-great grandparents. Their children were Mendel, Dora, Minna, Haim, Esther, and Aharon. I have learned nothing new about them this year, but I have firmed up some of the information I learned from my cousin in Israel a few years ago.

Looking back at my old entries, I see that I mentioned a cousin Selma. I learned after posting that she was from the South American branch, so she is likely related to the Kresches, as my great-grandmother's brother and his wife and daughter and her family escaped the war by immigrating there. I also now know that Dora and her siblings were born in a small village called Czudec in what is now Southern Poland.

While I have firmed up names and location, I still have very little else on this branch of the family.

My questions now:
• Who Benzion and Feige's parents were.
• Exactly how does cousin Selma connect to this family?
• Where were Benzion and Feige born?
• What happened to Haim, who vanished after World War I?
• When did Benzion die?

The Parks –

Robert James Park was born to John Park and a Miss Dunlop. I don't know her first name, though I suspect it may have been Mary, as that was the name of my great-grandmother, Robert's daughter. Robert is the only child I know of John and his wife, and I know nothing about them beyond their names.

I did find a record this year that listed his birthplace as Ballymena, which is definitely new information. It hasn't gotten me any further, though. And really, that's all I have. A short one, but there just isn't much on this part of the family tree.

My questions now:
• What is Miss Dunlop's first name?
• Where were she and John Park from?
• When were they born?
• Did Robert have any other siblings?

The Currans –

Thomas Curran and Jean (Jennie) Blair were my third-great grandparents. According to the records I found for them, they had eight children: Elizabeth, Anna, Sarah, John, Thomas, Sarah Jane, Joseph, and Rhoda. They lived in Antrim, Ireland, which is the county in Northern Ireland where Belfast is located. What I do know is that Thomas and Jennie were married in 1860. Thomas's father was Francis, and Jennie's father was John.

I haven't made any progress on this branch this year, though I have done a little looking for them. The problem is, Irish records are hard to find.

My questions now:
• Where exactly Thomas and Jennie were born.
• What their mothers' names were.
• Where their parents were born.
• How many siblings they had.

The Joneses –

Benjamin Jones and Hannah Griffiths are my great-great grandparents. According to my records, they had seven children: David, Joseph, John, Daniel, William, Mary, and Sarah. They lived in a town on the eastern border of Wales with England called Merthyr Tydfil. According to family stories, they ran the post office there, though I don't have any records to show it.

I have complete birth information for both of them, but no names to go with it. I don't know if they had siblings or not. Benjamin was born in 1837 in Caio, Wales, and Hannah was born in 1849 in Newcastle Emlyn, Wales. I'm not sure how they met, or how they ended up in Merthyr Tydfil. I do have one possible census record for Benjamin's family that lists a mother and brother for him, but I haven't been able to verify that information yet, so I can't be sure it's correct.

My questions now:
• Who were their parents?
• Where were their parents from?
• What was the name of their post office, and was it the only one?

The Robertses –

The final branch, and one I haven't talked about quite as much here.

Hugh and Ellen Roberts were my third-great grandparents. At this time, I only have two children listed for them: Selina and Elizabeth. Hugh was born about 1819 in Northern Wales, and Ellen was born about 1824 in the same area.

I was lucky enough to find a census record for them that listed the four of them in 1851. At the time, Selina was five, and Elizabeth just a year old. I've not been able to find more, so I don't know if there were further children. I do know that Hugh and Ellen got to meet my grandmother, as we have a picture of her with them sometime shortly after her birth.

Ellen is a bit of a mystery for me, though I think it's more to do with getting this information from my grandmother through word of mouth. When I first began to put together my family tree, I quizzed my family for as much info as I could get. Some branches were easy. There were family trees that already existed that I was able to pull from. But some branches, like the Roberts side, I had to put together by hand, hoping I got all the information correct. Ellen and Hugh's were one of these lines. My grandmother gave me her name as Ellen Griffiths. This was interesting, as another line had the same surname. But Griffiths is not at all uncommon in Wales, so it didn't raise a red flag. Not until I found their daughter Selina's death record did I realize that the name might not be right. According to that record, her mother's name was Ellen Pugh. Unfortunately, I've never found records with either name for my ancestor, so until I do, I'll just have to keep looking for both.

I really know little else about this branch.

My questions now:
• What is Ellen's true maiden name?
• How many children did they have?
• What were the names of Ellen and Hugh's parents?

And that's all I have for now. If you have anything on any of these people, I would love to talk to you. Especially if you have knowledge that would get me another generation back.

Previous Brick Wall Posts:
• Brick Wall Ancestors (March 2010)
• Brick Wall Update – the Seneft/Hillingers (May 2010)
• Brickwall Update #2 (September 2010)
• Brick Wall Update (September 2010)
• Brick Walls – A Different Listing (October 2010)
• Brick Wall Update (August 2011)
• Brick Wall Update 2012 (February 2012)
• Brick Wall People Posts (2013):
  o Leon Seneft (Seneft/Hillinger branch, Jewish eastern European)
  o Mindel Hilinger (Seneft/Hillinger branch, Jewish eastern European)
  o Benzion Kresch (Seneft/Hillinger branch, Jewish eastern European)
  o Feige Golda Reich (Seneft/Hillinger branch, Jewish eastern European)
  o Benjamin Jones (Jones/Howells branch, South Wales)
  o Hannah Griffiths (Jones/Howells branch, South Wales)
  o Hans Nielsen (Oline Hansen branch, Sealand, Denmark)
  o Maren Rasmussen (Oline Hansen branch, Sealand, Denmark)
  o Ole Larsen (Oline Hansen branch, Sealand, Denmark)
  o John Park (Park/Curran branch, Northern Ireland)
  o Miss Dunlop (Park/Curran branch, Northern Ireland)
  o Ellen Pugh (or possibly Griffiths) (Howells/Gabriel branch, Northern Wales)
  o Hugh Roberts (Howells/Gabriel branch, Northern Wales)
  o Lars Andersen (Hansen/Larsen family, Jutland, Denmark)
  o Anne Sørensdatter (Oline Hansen branch, Sealand, Denmark)
  o Francis Curran (Park/Curran branch, Northern Ireland)
  o Hans Henrich Bordevick (Bordewich/Bordewick family, Norway & Germany)
  o Kresten Christensen (Hansen/Larsen family, Jutland, Denmark)
  o Else Katrine Ivarsdatter (Hansen/Larsen family, Jutland, Denmark)
  o Henrich Christian Schrøder (Oline Hansen branch, Sealand, Denmark)
  o Henrick Hansen (Bordewich/Bordewick family, Norway)
  o Susanne Pedersdatter (Bordewich/Bordewick family, Norway)
  o John Blair (Park/Curran branch, Northern Ireland)

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My Family in 16 May 1865

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:

1)  Determine where your ancestral families were on 16 May 1865 - 150 years ago.

2)  List your ancestors, their family members, their birth and death years, and their residence location (as close as possible).  Do you have a photograph of their residence from about that time, and does the residence still exist?

3)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google+ Stream post.

My family on May 17, 1865:

This would have been my great-great grandparents and their parents in most cases. I've detailed as much as I know. Feel free to fill in details if you have them and would like to contribute.

Leon Seneft may have been born or not, but given that his wife was born about 1851, it seems likely he was. However, I know nothing about his childhood, his parents, or even where he was born. I suspect he may have been born in Galicia, as that is where his children were born.

Mindel Hilinger was born about 1851, so she would have been 14 or thereabouts. But like Leon, I have no information before her children were born, so I don't even know where she was born, let alone how many siblings she had or the names of her parents. We'll just call these two "Eastern Europe" for now, and leave it at that.

Like the Senefts, I have little on Benzion Kresch aside from a location and general date of death. His wife was born in about 1870, so it is possible he wasn't even alive yet. If he was, I'd venture to say he lived somewhere in Northern Galicia, possibly in or around Resezow.

Jens Christian Hansen was born in 1858 in Vejle, Denmark, which would have made him about 7 years old. His parents, Hans Knudsen (born 1824) and Christine Jensdatter (born 1834) would have been 41 and 31 respectively. I believe they had a farm in Vejle, and lived there with their children. At the time, there would have been three: Jens, Ane Marie (born 1860), and Karen (born April 1865). His paternal grandparents Knud Knudsen (born 1794, died 1866) and Ane Marie Hansdatter (born 1797, died 1876) and his maternal grandparents Jens Christian Pedersen (born 1798, died 1876) and Mette Matisdatter (born 1804, died 1898) were also still alive at that time. Knud would have been 73 and Ane Marie 70. Jens would have been 69, and Mette would have been 61. Both sets of grandparents also lived in Vejle. I believe all of the rest of the previous generation were gone by that point, though I could be wrong, as I do not have all the death dates for that generation.

Else Larsen was not alive yet, as she was born in October of that year, but her parents, Jorgen Larsen (born 1837) and Ivare Kirstine Christiensen (born 1845) had just married two years before in 1863. In 1865, Jorgen would have been 28, and Kirstine 20. They also lived in Vejle, Denmark. At this time, I do not have death dates for Jorgen's parents, so they may or may not have been alive at the time. Lars Andersen was born in 1794, which would have made him 73, and Birthe Marie Sorensen was born in 1798, which would have made her 69. If alive, they would also have been living in Vejle. Kirstine's parents, Kresten Hansen (born 1809, died 1890) and Else Katrine Ivarsdatter (born 1815, died 1893) were definitely alive at that time. Kresten would have been 56, and Else only 50. I do not have a complete listing of their children, but it seems the other daughter I do have listed for them, Katrine, was born about this time. And even if I am wrong, it is likely their younger children would still have been living at home. The Hansens also lived in Vejle. I only have one death date for the previous generation, which is well before 1865, so I will assume most or all of the ones I have names for were gone.

Rasmus Hansen was born in Soro, Denmark in 1845, which would have made him 20. He had a farm there he inherited from his parents, which I am certain he was living on at the time. I do not believe he had inherited it yet, however. His parents, Hans Nielsen and Maren Rasmusdatter would also have been living on the farm at the time. Hans was born in 1816, and so would have been only 49. Maren was born in 1817, so she would have been 48. Of the children I have listed for them, two were older than Rasmus, but I do not have records for either of them after 1860, so I am uncertain if they were alive at the time. I also have records for three younger children, but again, nothing after 1860, so I am uncertain if any were alive or not. Hans' parents were both gone more than ten years by this time. I have no record of Maren's parents at all.

Maren Sofie Olsen was born 1855 in Soro, Denmark. She would have been almost 10 years old in May of 1865. Her father Ole Larsen was born in 1812, which would have made him 53 or so. According to the family story, Ole left Denmark around the time Maren was born and came to America, settling in Minnesota with his brother Oscar. If that is true, at this time, he would have been living in Minnesota, though I do not have evidence yet to back this up beyond the family stories I have gathered. His wife, Birthe Marie Schroder (born 1819) would have been 46. He left her behind and never sent for her, so she and her daughter (or daughters—she had two from a previous marriage, though I am uncertain if they were alive at this time) remained in Denmark, struggling to make ends meet. I have no information on his parents, and no death date for her father, but her mother had been dead for more than thirty years by this time.

Henrik Bergithon Bordewich was born 1862 in Nordland, Norway, so he would have just turned 3 in February of that year. He was his parent's second child, and one of two living children at that time. His parents, Hans Henrik Bordewich (born 1834) and Karen Dorothea Angell (born 1835) would have been 31 and 30 respectively. Hans's father, Johan Petter Bordewich (born 1802) was still alive at that time, and would have been 63, living with his second wife, Henrikke (who we will get to in a bit here…). His first wife had died almost 20 years before. Karen's father had also been dead about 20 years, but her mother, Rechardina Hendricha Klaeboe (born 1795) was still alive, and would have been 71.

Leonharde Marie Bordewich was born in 1861, also in Nordland, Norway, so she would have been 4. Her father was Johan Petter (the same as Henrik's grandfather), her mother was his second wife, Pauline Henrikke Roness (born 1828). She would have been 37 years old. Three of their four children would still have been living in the household with them: Ida Amalie Bernhardine (born 1858), Leonharde, and Anna Magdalena (born 1862). Their youngest was not born for another two years. The whole Bordewich family lived in the Lofoten Islands in Norway. Johan's parents were both gone by this time, and I do not have dates of death for Henrikke's parents. Henrik Hansen was born in 1793, which would have made him 73, and Susanne Pedersdatter was born in 1787, which would have made her 79. I believe they lived in So-Trondelag, Norway, or would have if they were still alive.

Robert James Park was born in 1851 in Antrum, Ireland. He would have been almost 14 in 1865. I have almost no information on his family, but it's likely one or both of his parents, John Park and a Miss Dunlop (I still suspect her name was Mary) were alive at that time. I do not know when they were born, or where, or when or where they died. Nor do I know how many other children they had.

Elizabeth Curran was born in Antrum, Ireland in mid 1862, so she would not have even been 3 at that time. She was the eldest of her siblings, and was about to become a big sister in fall of that year. Her parents, Thomas Curran (born 1840) and Jennie Blair (born 1838) were 25 and 27 respectively. From the few records I have been able to gather, Thomas's father, Francis Curran (born 1814) was also still alive at that time, and living in Antrum as well. He would have been 51. I have no information on his wife, or their other children at this time. And I do not have enough information on Jennie's father, John Blair, to determine if he was alive or his age at that time, and absolutely no information on the rest of her family at all. All of the family seems to have been born or lived in Antrim.

Benjamin Jones was born about 1837 in Southern Wales. He would have been about 28. The earliest record I have found for him is a 1871 Welsh Census with his brother Joseph, who was 13 years younger than him, and their mother, Mary, who was 58 in that Census, and therefore would have been 52 in 1865. I am uncertain where they would have been living in 1865 aside from saying Southern Wales.

Hannah Griffiths was born in 1849 in Southern Wales. She would have been 16 or so in 1865. I have absolutely no information on her parents or siblings.

Gabriel Howells was born in 1849 in Northern Wales, so he would have been almost 16 at that time. His parents, Howell Gabriel (born 1822) and Catherine Jones (born 1825) would have been 43 and 40 respectively. They had six or seven children at the time: Gabriel, Evan (born 1854), Edward (born 1856), Lewis (born 1859), Catherine (born 1862), and Hugh (born 1864). Howell (listed as born 1865) may also have been born at this time, and one more was born after as well. The family lived in a farm in Dolgelly Wales, that was later inherited by Edward, I believe. For Gabriel's grandparents, I have only spotty information. His grandfathers are both listed as deceased by this time, but I have no birth death dates for either Gwen Evan, or Catherine Evans, so they might have been alive.

Selina Roberts was born in 1846 in Northern Wales, so she would have been just shy of 19. Her parents' names were Hugh Roberts and Ellen Pugh (or possibly Griffiths) I have no information on her parents' birth or death dates, but I do know they survived long enough to meet at least one of her children, as I have a shot of them with one, so they were likely alive at this time as well.

As you can see, my family was pretty spread out at this time. Ireland, Wales, Denmark, Norway, Eastern Europe, and even America. Of my great-great grandparents that I know exist, all but one were born by this time, which makes 15 ancestors alive.  Of the parents I know for those ancestors, I have record of another 21 living. And a possible 15 more the generation before that. For a total of 51 known ancestors living at that time.

Brick Wall People – Part 1 – Leon Seneft

Name: Leon Seneft

Birth: before 1868, likely in Germany or Galicia

Death: between 1919 and 1922, probably in London, England

Marriage: before 1883, probably in Galicia

Location(s): Galicia; London, England

Relation to me: Leon Seneft is my paternal grandfather's paternal grandfather, which makes him 5^th generation before me.

Alias(es): Surname may have also been spelled Senft.

As for Leon, it seems quite unusual for a Jew, so I am uncertain if he had another Hebrew name.

Seneft also seems unusual for a Jewish family, though I know that at some point, German Jews were forced to take German names, so the name, which is distinctly German (it means "mustard seller") may come from this period, which would have been Leon's father or grandfather's time, I believe. Which also means that he may have another, more Jewish surname. I believe they used a Patrnonymic system, but I do not know enough about it or about his family at the time to guess what that other surname may have been.

Parents: unknown

Spouse(s): Mindel(aka Minnie) Hilinger

Children: Alex, Jennie, Annie, Jack, ?

Other Family: No other direct family known.

Details: Leon Seneft was a Rabbi when the family was living in London, and possibly before. I believe he and his wife had at least five children before leaving Galicia and taking their family to settle in London. I have an address that puts him living in London's south-east side, south of the Thames, though I am uncertain how long he lived there. He and his family lived there until the war, when Alex was sent to Camp Douglas, and many of his children left the country, which saw them as enemies at the time because they were German. Leon and at least one of his sons (the unnamed one) stayed in England after the war, and one of his daughters did return as well after her husband died, but the others left England and never returned.

Proof:

1)      Leon has always been part of my family tree that was given to me by my grandfather. Though he never met the man, he knew of him, and had a few pictures of him while growing up.

2)      My second piece of proof on Leon came from a letter my grandfather wrote to someone of the name Hillinger in Belgium, who was hoping our lines might be somehow connected. It only briefly mentions him, but reinforces the information I have from the family tree I got from him. In it, he mentions that he never met the man, as Leon died before he was born, which was in 1922, giving me the outside edge of his possible death date.

3)      The next is the Hillinger family book. With my grandmother's death, I received the Hillinger Family book my grandfather got from Germany to confirm his birth date for the US government, which contained information on all of his family, including both Alex and Dora's parents. Again, he is not one of the entries in the book, but it refers to him tangentially as Alex's father, though the information is minimal as the German government did not recognize his marriage to Mindel because it was a Jewish ceremony.

4)      We also have a copy of Alex and Dora's wedding invitation from the Hillinger family book, which does mention Leon, and makes it clear that he was still alive in 1919 when they married in Frankfurt. Because he's listed on the invitation, I assume he was also in attendance at the wedding, though that is only speculation at this time.

5)      The last piece of information I have on Alex is an Ellis Island record for Jennie Seneft, one of his daughters. It lists him as her next of kin back in England, and gives his address at the time.

Needed:

I have no BMD information for Leon at all. I imagine if those records exist, they're likely in Hebrew, if they weren't destroyed during the war. I also don't know when he emigrated to England from Galicia, though I imagine those records must be somewhere, in England if nowhere else. I don't know if he was ever naturalized in England (was that even possible at the time?), but if he was, that may be a good place to look.

Complicating things is the information on his name above. I need to determine if he only ever went by Leon Seneft, or if he might have had other names he used while young or while in Galicia.

I know he was a Rabbi from family stories, but have absolutely no idea where even to start looking for that kind of record, particularly something that might tell me when and where he was trained, and if he was a Rabbi his whole life, or if he did something else for a living as well. I also don't know what synagogue he might have worked at (is that even the right phrasing?) or if there were more than one.

I do know that his wife died many years before him, as I believe I have found her gravestone, though it lists only her name and her daughter's, so I am not 100% sure. It does lead me to wonder why his name is not on the stone, and where he might be buried as well.

The last piece of information I am currently missing is about Camp Douglas. I know that Alex was sent there, but I am uncertain if he was the only one, if perhaps one or both of his brothers were sent with him, or if Leon or even the whole family were sent as well. I believe there was some sort of arrangement where so long as one member of the family went, the others could stay where they were, but it is possible that meant all the male members of the family had to go. I will need to write to the Red Cross to get this information. Hopefully they will have a bit more than just names for me when I do.

And that is all I have on Leon Seneft. Again, if you've any information on this man not listed here, or if you can answer one of the questions I've listed, please contact me. I'd love to get further on this branch of the family.