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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Wordless Wedding Wednesday: Another J. D. Toloff Photo


Martha Pape Bleidt on her wedding day, May 11, 1921
Photo by Joseph David (J. D.) Toloff (1888-1957), Evanston, Illinois

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Church Record Sunday: Walter Francis Pape Baptism, August 1900

Above are the pages for 1899-1900 from the baptismal registry of St. Philomena Catholic Church in Chicago that have the baptismal record for my paternal great uncle, Walter Francis Pape.  His record is second from the bottom of the page.

Below is an enlargement of Walter's record, with the information from the left page placed above the information from the right page to make it easier to read.

From the left on the top row are:
  • the record number, from the beginning of the registry in August 1893, with the number for that year (1900) in parentheses.  Walter's was the 278th baptism overall and the 26th in 1900.
  • Walter's baptismal name, Francis Walter*
  • Walter's date of birth, August 2, 1900
  • Walter's baptism date, August 12, 1900
  • his father's name, John Pape
and on the second row, from the left:
  • his mother's maiden name, Gertrude Cramer
  • his godfather's name, Francis J. Senge**
  • his godmother's name, Cath[erine] Wahle, and
  • the name of the priest who performed the baptism, Rev. J. P. Schiffer***

*Walter was baptized Francis Walter, probably to honor his godfather, but was always called Walter and used F. as a middle initial.

**Francis "Frank" J. Senge was John Pape's business partner at this time, at nearby 883/885/889 Armitage Avenue in Chicago, in Senge & Pape dry goods merchants.  John briefly (some time between 1899 and 1904) rented out his home at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, and on the 1900 Census (shortly before Walter's birth), the family was renting at 1072 (now 1943) Lawndale Avenue in Chicago, close to the store and to St. Philomena.

***This signature was copied from the previous page in the registry, where it was legible.  According to page 96 of the 1909 Chicago Blue Book of Selected Names of Chicago and Suburban Towns: Containing the Names and Addresses of Prominent Residents, Schiffer was pastor of the parish in that year.

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday's Faces From the Past: Charles Guokas Jr. in Galveston, 1926


Below left is my maternal grandfather, Charles Peter Guokas Jr. (1903-1967).  A note on the back of the picture says it was taken in Galveston, Texas, in 1926.  That was the year my grandparents got married and honeymooned at the Hotel Galvez.  This picture is taken along the Galveston Seawall (built in 1904), and I believe the building you can see in the background is the Hotel Galvez.

In the collage above, the top photo is an enlargement of the building in the photograph of my grandfather, and the bottom photo is an enlargement of the same area from the roof of the Hotel Galvez in the photo below that I took in January 2012.  The photo was taken from the top of the Seawall, across Seawall Boulevard from the hotel.  The angle isn't quite the same (since the photo of my grandfather was taken from the bottom of the Seawall), but I think it's the same building.  My grandmother, Sara Melzina Wolfe Guokas Archibald (1907-1997), might very well have taken this photograph of her newlywed husband during their honeymoon.


© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Wordless Wedding Wednesday: Elizabeth Massmann Pape, September 3, 1924


Photo by Joseph David (J. D.) Toloff (1888-1957), Evanston, Illinois

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Church Record Sunday: Elizabeth Florence Massmann Baptism, January 1903


This is the entry in the baptism register for St. Benedict Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois, for my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Florence Massmann (1902-2000).  At that time, January 4, 1903, St. Benedict was a wooden church at the corner of Irving Park Road and Leavitt Street.  According to the 1901 Chicago city directory, Elizabeth's parents, Frederick Henry Massmann (1875-1948) and Elizabeth Camilla Dienes Massmann (1876-1946) were living just a couple blocks away at what was then 311 (now 2047 W.) Cuyler Avenue.  My great-great uncle George Herman Massmann (1877-1963) was godfather to his niece, who was born December 23, 1902.

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Friday's Faces from the Past: Mom and Siblings on a Horse,1937

My mother, Geraldine Guokas Pape, her brother Charles Peter Guokas III (1927-1999), and sister Jo Ann (Sister Jean Marie) Guokas on a horse belonging to their aunt Agnes Verna Guokas Payne (1905-1974), at a family gathering in 1937.  According to my mother, Aunt Aggie, her husband Milton Clyde "Jack" Payne (1904-1991), and their daughter Laura Lee Payne had a piece of property out near Alief, Texas (then way outside Houston), which had one building on it (in the background in other family photos) that may have included shelter for this horse.

Posts will be a bit infrequent for the next three weeks - a lot going on at home and at work!

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Wordless Wedding Wednesday: Martha Pape Bleidt, May 11, 1921


 Photo by Joseph David (J. D.) Toloff (1888-1957), Evanston, Illinois.

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Follow Friday: Favorite Finds This Week

There are a few blogs or blog posts I'll be mentioning in my presentation on Saturday to the International Society for Educational Biography, so I thought I'd give a shout-out to some of them today.  I've started following many of these blogs recently, and their owners have also been kind enough to comment on my blog. In no particular order:

Ethel's Scrapbook: A Young Reporter at Rice University (1939-1940) - an example of a diary-type blog, Smadar Belkind Gerson is sharing her grandmother's scrapbook online.

On her Genealogy Lady blog, Deborah Sweeney is sharing a letter a day over the next few years from those her grandparents wrote to each other (at least 500 letters, spanning the period from May 1942 through 1946) during World War II - another example of a diary-type blog.

SaveEveryStep's “Writing Home, WWII” letters series - Helen Spencer is transcribing letters from her Royal Air Force uncle from 1943 to 1947.

Leaves for Trees - example of a family history blogger (Heather Kuhn Roelker) who does a good job citing her sources on her biographical sketches. 

A Patient Genealogist - some "typical" individual family history blog posts such as transcriptions of family documents and tombstones, but also provides tips on heritage scrapbooking (blog author Devon Lee is an expert on this) and photographing memorabilia.

SaveEveryStep's “Life’s a Journey” family stories series - Helen Spencer's weekly blog prompts for writing about your own memories.

And of course, there are the wonderful weekly series prompts from my friend Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy, as well as from seasonal and daily prompts from others promoted by Thomas MacEntee through Geneabloggers. I included a link to the Pinterest board for one of those daily prompts below.



© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Treasure Chest Thursday: My Connection with a Governor (part 3)

 Today is my birthday, and a good time to finish the story of how I am connected with Texas Governor Miriam A. "Ma" Ferguson (1875-1961).  As discussed in Part 1 of this story, my maternal grandfather, Charles Guokas Jr. (1903-1967), served as her appointments secretary from June 1933 to January 1935, when her second term ended.  In Part 2, I explained that when my mother, Geraldine Guokas Pape, attended the University of Texas at Austin (1945-1949), she roomed with Ma Ferguson in her home at 1500 Windsor Road.

What I haven't explained yet is that the Governor's middle name is Amanda, and that's where my parents got the idea for my name.  Shortly after I was born, they received this card:

The card is signed on the inside, "Love, Mrs. Ferguson (over)."


And here is what is written on the back of the card:


Transcription:  "Your Daddy [referring to my maternal grandfather] called and told me about the baby.  Charlie seemed so excited about the baby.  I hope you [referring to my mother] and Amanda Leigh are getting along fine.  When you get well and find time please write me and tell me all about the baby. M.A.F."

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: Pape Children, ABT 1894-1895


The four oldest children of John Pape (1851-1945) and Gertrude Kramer Pape (1859-1919) are identified at the bottom of the photograph.  From left:   Rhea Maria Pape (1892-1977), Clara M. Pape (1889-1975) holding Leo John "Lee" Pape (1893-1979), and Martha Elisabeth Pape Bleidt (1890-1981).  A note on the back of the photo says "1894-1895," so Clara would have been about age 5, Martha 4, Rhea 2, and Lee age 1.

The only one of these four that I haven't written much about in the past is Clara, so I will tell what I know here.  She was born August 12, 1889, in Evanston, Illinois, and baptized three days later at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Evanston.  She was named and baptized Clara Martha (hence the middle initial M.), but apparently rarely used her middle name, perhaps to avoid confusion with her younger sister Martha.  She was also confirmed at St. Nicholas on October 28, 1906.

Clara never married and lived with her family of origin through at least 1910.  On that U.S. Census, she is living at the family home at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, and is a stenographer for an insurance office.

By 1912, though, Clara is in Sioux City, Iowa, according to that city directory.  She is a stenographer at S C Brew Co., and boards at 1218 Douglas.  In 1914, Clara appears in the Mason City, Iowa, city directory, rooming at 314 Swasey with her younger sister Rhea.  Both are stenographers.  In 1915, the city directory shows Clara back in Sioux City, a stenographer for Davidson Bros. Co., boarding at 115 12th.

The 1920 and 1930 U.S. Censuses show Clara still in Sioux City, and city directories for intervening years as well as 1931 and 1932 place her there too, still working as a stenographer (and, by 1931, as a secretary) for Davidson Brothers department store, but living at various addresses.
Clara Pape and her nephew Jack Bleidt,
"San Francisco - Roof of 2905 Van Ness", February 11, 1956

In 1933, however, Clara can be found in the Des Moines, Iowa, city directory, listed as a private secretary to the State Auditor, and later (1940-1944) as a statistician in his office.  Clara continued to live in Des Moines through at least 1946.  Through 1941, she lived at 1338 Capitol Avenue, Apt. 6; from 1943 through 1946, she was sharing her home with niece Pat Pape. Clara may have left Des Moines after that, as she does not appear in the 1947 or 1949 Des Moines directories.  It will be interesting to see where she was when the 1950 U.S. Census is made available in April 2022.

Clara next appears in San Francisco, California, in its 1955 city directory, living at 2905 VanNess Avenue, Apt. 302.  She's also at this address in 1959 and is listed in the city directory as an employee at the Presidio.  By 1968, sister Rhea had joined her in San Francisco, after Rhea's only daughter Pat Pape Parks died in an automobile accident.  Clara appears again in the 1970 and 1974 San Francisco city directories, living at 935 Geary.

At age 85, though, Clara apparently went home to Illinois, and moved in with her younger widower brother Lee at his home in Wilmette.  She died there on November 25, 1975.

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Tuesday's (Tech) Tip: Using Pinterest as a Storyboard



I'm preparing to be on a panel presentation on "Blogging Our Lives: The Intersection of Social Media and Family History" for the International Society for Educational Biography (ISEB) conference in San Antonio, Texas, this Saturday, April 6.  I created a board on Pinterest for this presentation and am pinning links to blog posts and other websites that I'll use in my presentation.  I can also give the attendees the link to this board, and then they will have links to all the sites I use in my presentation.

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Motivation Monday: Speaking at ISEB April 6!

On April 6, I will be presenting at the International Society for Educational Biography (ISEB) conference in San Antonio, Texas!  I was invited to be on a panel with Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason, Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and Associate Professor of Communication Studies, at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas.  Here's a description of our presentation:

Blogging our lives: The intersection of social media and family history
Blogs exists as a means to share information. There are many family history blogs that dive into the shared world of genealogy and personal family history. Such blogs house a variety of content related to narrative inquiry, collective biographies and history. Genealogy and blogging have formed a tight bond as the need to both share and find information work together with the benefit of social mediated communication. Family history blog entries may include “how to” stories about searching historically for family information. Often, such blogs also serve as a receptacle for personal family stories, pictures, and memories. Multiple family members may share the exploration and research work. They can collaborate and share stories, adding richness and detail to the memories of loved ones.
This panel explores the intersection of digital storytelling, collective biographies, and blogging. Example blogs will be shown and a resource list will be shared about blogging family histories.


Wish us luck!

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.