Great Uncle: Charles Blake (2nd Child of Frederick & Annie Blake)

Charles Blake

Born:  November 24, 1901 in East Hartford, CT
Died: November 25, 1901 in East Hartford, CT

I happened upon the infant, Charles, in the 1902 East Hatford city directory listing of births and, unfortunately, deaths.   I was able to confirm his birth on my trip to the East Hartford Town Clerk's office in December of 2014. 

His birth certificate reads:

I certify the following return to be correct from the best information which I can obtain:

Full Name of Child:    Chas Blake
Place of Birth:             Town of East Hartford No. Hartford Ave
Date of Birth:              24 day of Nov 1901 Sex of Child Male
Name of Father:          Fred Blake
Residence of Father:  Town of East Hartford No Hartford Ave
Birthplace of Father:  Ontario State or Country: Canada
Occupation:                Clerk Age 24 Color W
Maiden Name of Mother: Annie Blehl
Birthplace of Mother: New York, NY Color: W
Age of Mother:           21 Number of Child: 2 Number now living: 1

Frederick C. Blake

Under Construction

Birth Certificates for 3 children born between 1901 and 1905:

• Living on Hartford Ave in East Hartford, CT.  Occupation listed as clerk on each certificate.

1904 East Hartford City Directory:

• Blake, Frederick C. clerk, h 52 Hartford av

1906 - Not listed in either the East Hartford nor the New Haven city directories

Ruth Charlotte Blake

Under construction

Ruth Charlotte Blake

Born August 5, 1922 in New Haven, CT

Married:  William Frances Shea on October 25, 1947





Irene Olive Blake

Under Construction

Irene Olive Blake

Born October 20, 1919

Age Infant - 1920 Federal Census - Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.

See married Charles Bree and lived in Maryland.  They had two children, a boy and girl, neither one  married. 

Claire, Myrtle & Irene Blake

(Picture from my cousin, Jean)

Frances Mae Blake

Under Construction

Frances Mae Blake

Born June 8, 1912 in New Haven CT

Roy Blake

Under construction

Roy R Blake

Born April 24, 1911 in CT
Died July 24, 2000 in East Haven, CT

Age 8 - 1920 Federal Census - Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.

Married to Irene and they had two children, a boy and a girl. 

Great Uncle: Earle Stanley Blake (4th Child of Frederick & Annie Blake)

Earle Stanley Blake

Born January 3, 1905 in East Hartford, CT
Died March 8, 1976 in New Haven, CT

Details from his birth certficate from the East Hartford Town Clerk:

I certify the following return to be correct from the best information which I can obtain:

Full Name of Child:   Earle Stanley Blake
Place of Birth:            Town of East Hartford No 32 Hartford Ave
Date of Birth:             3 day of Jan 1905 Sex of Child Male
Name of Father          Frdk C Blake
Residence of Father   Town of East Hartford No 32 Hartford Ave
Birthplace of Father:  Paris State or Country Canada
Occupation:               Clerk Age 27 Color White
Maiden Name of Mother: Annie Blehl
Birthplace of Mother New York, NY Color White
Age of Mother 25 Number of Child 4 Number Now Living 3

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Age 5: 1910 Federal Census:
      Living with family at #1 Frank St, New Haven, CT
Age 15: 1920 Federal Census
      Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.   Occupation: Office boy at a gun factory.
Age 17:  1922 New Haven Directory
     clk  72 Church res inq do (inquire ditto) (72 Church St. Mechanics Bank)
Age 18:  1923 New Haven Directory
     Residence 547 Quinnipiac Ave. Bkkpr Mechanics Bank
Age 21:  1926 New Haven Directory
     Residence 48 Prospect Place.  Emp SNETelCo.
Age 25: 1930 Federal Census - ?
Age 32 & 33:  1937 & 1938 New Haven Directory
      Living at 468 Main, East Haven.  Gen foreman 285 Nicoll
Age 34:  1939 New Haven Directory
     Residence "Inquire Ditto." Gen foreman 285 Nicoll
Age 35: 1940 Federal Census
     Address illegible - Lodger at said address.  Residence in 1935 was the same place.  Occupation:  Clerk at a Factory Office.
Age 36:  1941 New Haven Directory
     Lists Spouse Marion.  Residence at Short Beach.  Gen foreman 50 Mitchell Dr (50 Mitchell Dr is Sig Serv Corp Signs - Rockbestos Products Corp.  Wire Insulators)
Age 37:  1942 Branford Directory
     Blake, Earl (Marion) foreman New Haven h Main bey Beach SB (Short Beach)
Age 46, 47 & 48:   1951, 1952 & 1953 New Haven Directory
     Earle S W Blake (Marion C) asst supt RP Corp Nicoll and Canner h at Short Beach
Age 48:  1953 Branford Directory
     Blake, Earl SW (Marion) mach opr New Haven h Edgewood rd GBRD1
Age 49 - 53:  1954 through 1958 New Haven Directory
     Earle S W Blake (Marion C) asst supt RP Corp Nicoll and Canner h at Short Beach

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Married to Marion and they had two daughters.  The CT Death Index notes that he was divorced at the time of his death. 

This index noted that he died in New Haven, CT and his last place of residence was Hamden, CT.  However his Social Security record notes that his last place of residence was New York City. 

Photo from Cousin Jean

Great Aunt: V. Edna (Blake) Morseberg (1st Child of Frederick & Annie Blake)

Viola Edna (Blake) Morseberg

Born: May 12, 1900 in New York, NY
Died: March 31, 1976 in Hamden, CT

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Information from New Haven City Directory's and Federal Census:

Age 9:    1910 Federal Census:

• Living with her family at #1 Frank St, New Haven, CT

Age 18:  1918 New Haven City Directory:

• Living at 547 Quinnipiac Ave. Clerk at First National Bank.

Age 19:   1919 New Haven City Directory:

• Living at #547 Quinnipiac Ave. Transit Clerk at First National Bank.

Age 19:  1920 Federal Census:

• Living with her family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.   Occupation: Clerk at a bank.

Age 20:  1920 New Haven City Directory:

• Living at #547 Quinnipiac Ave.  Transit Clerk at First National Bank.

Age 21: 1921 New Haven City Directory:

• Living at #547 Quinnipiac Ave. Transit Clerk at First National Bank.

Age 22:  1922 New Haven City Directory:

• Living at #547 Quinnipiac Ave.  Transit Clerk at First National Bank.

Age 23:  1923 New Haven City Directory:

• #547 Quinnipiac Ave. Transit Clerk at First National Bank.

Age 30:  1930 Federal Census - ?
 
Age 39:  1940 Federal Census -

• Married (Now Viola E. Morseberg) and living at 210 32nd St, North Bergen, NJ.  Has 2 sons and a daughter.  Occupation: Waitress at a luncheonette.

Age 55:  1955 New Haven City Directory:

• Howard E & Edna V Morseberg (Tilecraft Home Modernizing Co) 31 Orange h 79 Howard Ave.

Age 57:  1957 New Haven City Directory:

• Edna B Mrs. The First Nat Bank and Trust Co of NH r 79 Howard Ave.

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She went by Edna - even being listed as such in the 1910 Census. She married Howard Morseburg and had three children.

We were able to find a copy of her obituary - I do not know which newspaper this is from.   Note that, all together, it lists 10 brothers and sisters.   Her sister that was killed in the trolley accident as a child was not listed.   There is one other sister that I have listed in my blog that is not here.  I need to research further to determine if I have an error or if there was another untimely death.  

Great Aunt: Florence N. (Blake) Gartland (6th child of Frederick & Annie Blake)

Florence Nettie (Blake) Gartland

Born November 1, 1909 in New Haven, CT
Died July 20, 2005 in Maryland

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Age - Infant: 1910 Federal Census:
     Living with Family at #1 Frank St, New Haven, CT
Age 11 - 1920 Federal Census:
     Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.
Age 13 - 1922 New Haven City Directory:
     Typist 170 Crown. Res 643 Ferry.
Age 16 - 1926 New Haven City Directory:
     Clk 170 Crown Res 643 Ferry
Age 17 & 18 - 1927 & 1928 New Haven City Directory:
     Clk First Nat Bank & Trust Co h at E. Haven
Age 20 & 21 - 1929 & 1930 New Haven City Directory:
     Clk First Nat Bank & Trust Co r 14 Taylor Av E.H.
Age 21 - 1930 Federal Census:
     Living with family at #14 Taylor Ave, New Haven, CT.  Occupation - Clerk at a Bank
Age 22 & 23 - 1931 & 1932 New Haven City Directory:
     Clk The First Nat Bank & Trust Co r 14 Taylor Av E.H.
Age 24 & 25 - 1933 & 1934 New Haven City Directory:
     Letter File Clk The First Nat. Bank & Trust Co. of New Haven. r 138 Henry
Age 26 & 27 - 1935 & 1936 New Haven City Directory:
     Clk First Nat Bank & Trust Co r 65 Foster
Age 31 - 1940 Federal Census
     Florence Degnan - Living with her husband at #51 Foster St, New Haven, CT.  Occupation - Teller at a Bank.  Notes that she lived at the same address in 1935.

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Married Wednesday, May 12, 1937 to Edward Vincent (Bernard) Degnan.  Per the 1940 Census he was born in the Irish Free State and was the owner of a restaurant.   They were not married for very long as, unfortunately, Bernard passed from cancer.  They did not have any children together. 

Florence remarried to James Gartland, Sr.  He was a lawyer and he worked for Thomas Dodd.  They had three children together.  I was able to find some articles in the Hartford Courant that referenced James Gartland:

The 1954 Race for US Representative
July 16, 1954: Democrats See Choice of Gartland - East Haven Chairman Appears Winner in Third District Battle. 
July 22, 1954: West Haven Democrats Give Gartland Support.  Article talks about how they were prepared to give him the nomination.
Aug 21, 1954: McGuire Asks Injunction.  Gartland's opponent asked for an injunction so Gartland's name would not appear on the ballott.
Aug 25, 1954: Hearing on Ballot Fight in Superior Court Today.   Gartland's opponent contested the nomination saying the delegates were chosen illegally.
Aug 31, 1954: Hearing Slated Today on Ballott Injunction.
Sept 1, 1954: Courts Have Right to Try Politics Case.  The Superior Court ruled that the court had the right to judge the actions of political conventions. 
Sep 4, 1954: Ouster Step Under Study by Covello - Action Asks Removal of East Haven Man as Democratic Nominee.
Sept 11, 1954: Injunction Refused in Election Row - Gartland Remains New Haven Nominee After Court Battle
Nov 3, 1954: Dodd, Five Republican Representatives Win Re-Election to Seats in Congress.  Article notes that Gartland lost to his Republican opponent. 
**************************************************
April 11, 1956: East Haven True to Form.  Article notes a group headed by Gartland placed 50 of it's candidates on the 60 member democratic town committee.  It notes that Gartland lost his run for US Representative of the Third District in 1954. 
January 15, 1962: Executive Assistant to Dodd Critically Ill (Washington DC)
January 16, 1962: Gartland Improves (Washington DC).  Notes that James Gartland, Executive Assitant to Thomas J. Dodd was reported in fair condition on Monday in Providence Hospital.  Gartland had undergone surgery for an ulcer condition and was in critical condition on Saturday.
May 14, 1971: Washington Scene.  James Gartland named legistlative aide for the Air Line Pilots Association.  He had served as Dodd's special liason for many years until Dodd's defeat the previous year. 

Picture from Cousin Jean

Wedding Announcement for her marriage to Bernard Dagnan:

 

Wedding picture - marriage to B. Degnan:

 

 

Florence's 2nd husband, James Gartland (also from Jean) 

Here is their wedding announcement (newspaper unknown)

And, her wedding photo for her 2nd marriage:

 

Her obituarty as published in The Washington Post on July 22, 2005:

On Wednesday, July 20, 2005, FLORENCE BLAKE GARTLAND, of Waldorf, MD. Wife of the late Honorable Judge James F. Gartland, Sr; beloved mother of Patricia Gartland Parsons, James F. Gartland, II, and Michael S. Gartland; sister of Irene Bree, Claire Maloney, and Ruth Shea; grandmother of James F. Gartland, III, Kimberly G. Keller, and Rene Gartland; she is also survived by eight great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. Family and friends will be received on Monday at the HUNTT FUNERAL HOME, 3035 Old Washington Rd, Waldorf, MD, from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m., with prayers at 7 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Tuesday, July 26, 2005, at Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church, Waldorf, MD at 10 a.m. Interment Trinity Memorial Gardens, Waldorf, MD. If desired, memorial contributions may be made in her name to the American Heart Association.

.

 

Claire H. Blake

Claire was born January 12, 1915.   She was the 9th of 12 children of Frederick and Annie Blake.  She married Don Maloney on July 5, 1941.  He became the postmaster of New Haven, CT.  They got divorced but when Don got sick they were remarried in 1980.   She lived in East Haven and Hamden, CT for many years. 

In the census records and city directories we see:

Age 5 - 1920 Federal Census - Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.
Age 15 - 1930 Census - Living with her family in East Haven
Age 20 - 1935 (Supp per 1940 Census) - Living with her family in New Haven
Age 25 - 1940 Census - Still living with her family in New Haven
Then in 1941 she married... 

Claire and Don had two children, a son and a daughter.   Their son lives in CT.  

Their daughter, Donna Maloney, worked at the East Haven town hall.   She was born June 28, 1949 and died on August 28, 2010.   She was married on June 22, 1968 and became Donna McLees.  She had 2 children.

Here are some pictures/memorabilia:

Claire, Myrtle & Irene Blake at the beach

 

 

This is a newspaper clipping from the summer when Claire won the title "Miss Cosey Beach."  Not sure if you can read it but it notes "Miss Claire H. Blake of 65 Foster St, New Haven was adjudged the most pulchritudinous of the aspirants for the title of Miss Cosey Beach."  That same day, her niece won third place in the "baby show."

 

 

Claire (on the right) as a member of the "Rockbestos Products" girls bowling league:

 

 

 

Her engagement announcement:



Here is a picture from Don's retirement dinner:

 

(Pictures are courtesy of Claire's niece, Jean)

Valerie I. Blake

Valerie Innis Blake is my grandmother.   She was born in New Haven, CT and is the daughter of Frederick and Annie Blake and was the 10th of their 12 children:

b. January 18, 1917 New Haven, CT
d. November 5, 1970 Southbury, CT

Age 3 - 1920 Federal Census - Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.

It is our understanding that Valerie developed some kind of illness (fever maybe?) and after that she had reduced functioning.   She was living with the Blake family in East Haven, CT at least through the 1940 census. 

In 1942 she became pregnant.   In 1943 she went to St. Agnes Home for unwed mothers in West Hartford, CT to give birth to her baby girl.   The father remains unknown.  To the best of our knowledge her daughter was put into state care immediately.

St. Agnes Home was founded in 1914 and, per this article in the NY Times, is still helping unwed mothers.   The second link is to St. Agnes' website - this year is their 100th anniversary. 

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20071022monday.html
http://stagneshome.org/

The family has told us that Valerie lived most of her life at Southbury Training School in Southbury, CT.   Per the Wikepedia page:

"Southbury Training School is a large residential facility in the towns of Southbury and Roxbury, Connecticut. It was built in the 1930s as a large state-funded and state-operated residential and habilitative facility for adults with intellectual disabilities. It consists of 125 buildings situated on a campus of 1,600 acres."

The interesting thing is my mother was placed with a foster family in the next town over from Southbury.  She lived with this one family for pretty much as far back as she could remember.  So, although she was unaware, she lived in very close proximity to her mother for many years.   I didn't find the Blake family until the 1990's - which was unfortunately after Valerie had passed.

Valerie, Ruth & Irene Blake

In this undated picture Valerie looks just like my Mom

(Picture from our cousin Jean)

Great Aunt: Arlene Blake (3rd Child of Frederick & Annie Blake)

Arlene Blake

Through my earlier research I had not come across Arlene Blake.  We found these newspaper clippings among my great-aunts scrap books.  I have found out that she was the 3rd born child of  Frederick & Annie Blake (b September 28, 1902 d January 16, 1906).  

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A search of Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906 found this following potential match:

Birth record:  September 28, 1902 in East Hartford, CT.
Father: Fred
Mother:  Annie Blihl

I was able to obtain her birth certificate from the East Hartford Town Clerk's Office:

I certify the following return to be correct from the best information which I can obtain:

Full Name of Child:         Blake
Place of Birth:                  Town of East Hartford No. Hartford Ave Street
Date of Birth:                   28 day of Sept 1902 Sex of Child F
Name of Father:               Fred Blake
Residence of Father:        Town of E. Hartford No Hftd Ave Street
Birthplace of Father:        Canada State or Country
Occupation:                      Clerk Age 25 Color W
Maiden Name of Mother:  Annie Blehl
Birthplace of Mother: New York, NY Color W
Age of Mother: 22 Number of Child 3 Number Now Living 2

******************************************************************************
We found two newspaper clippings - both undated and unknown newspaper.  I lost my copy of the 2nd one so wrote up what I had printed off...  Olean is a typo of her name, Arlene...

********************************************************************
BLAKE C
____________
Injured in Trolley .......   October at............ ove.
____________
Olean (typo) Blake, the ... year old daughter of F.C. Blake of 330 Lighthouse Road, died Wednesday at the West Haven sanitarium. The girl was the deaf mute child who was injured last October by being hit by a trolley car. She has been in serious condition ever since. Jan. 11 she was taken to the West Haven sanitarium and an operation was performed last Saturday.
Funeral will be held Saturday morning at 11 o'clock. Services will be at the home and the internment will be in the East Haven cemetery. Friends of the family ... are especially sympathetic toward the bereaved parents on account of the ... and unfortunate incident.
*********************************************************************

I looked on the East Haven Trolley Museum website and they document a handful of fatal trolley accidents but this one is not listed.   Likely because, based on the first article, it seemed she would have been able to recover from her injuries. 

Here is one of the newspaper clippings announcing the funeral:

Great Aunt: Adeline (Blake) Sanborn (5th Child of Frederick & Annie Blake)

Adeline (Blake) Sanborn

b. June 6, 1907 in New Haven, CT
d. January 18, 1999 in Orange, CT

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

Age 3: 1910 Federal Census
     Living with family at #1 Frank St, New Haven, CT
Age 13: 1920 Federal Census
     Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT
Age 17: 1924/1925 New Haven City Directory
     Cashier Depot Restaurant Union Depot h at E. Haven
Age 18: 1926/27 East Haven City Directory:
     Emp SNETel Co r 48 Prospect Pl
Age 18: 1926 New Haven City Directory:
     Clk 114 Court h. at E. Haven
Age 23: 1930 Federal Census
     Living with family at #14 Taylor Ave, New Haven, CT. Clerk at Telephone Company 
Age 33: 1940 Federal Census
     Adeline Ackerman - Widow - Living with family at #65 Foster St, New Haven, CT.  Notes in 1935 she was living in East Haven, CT.  Clerk at Telephone Company. 
Age 50: 1957 Bridgeport City Directory
     Sanborn, Walter G (Adeline M) asst supt 43 E Main h at Orange

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Her first marriage was to Chet (J. Chester) Ackerman from Branford.   I can see from newspaper clippings they were married on Jun 20th - but the year is not noted.... He died of some type of poisoning.  Rumor is that it was related to his work at Sergants.  Based on the 1940 census, she had been widowed by 1940. 

She remarried to Walter G. Sanborn.  Again, from undated newspaper clippings the wedding date was December 23rd.  He was the son of Mr & Mrs Jon Sanborn of New York and Boston.   She worked at the phone company and he worked at United Illuminating.  They lived in Orange, CT. 

She had no children from either marriage.

 

(Picture is courtesy of her neice, Jean)

Myrtle A. Blake

My hope is to have a post for each sibling, although they are not in birth order.... 

Myrtle A. Blake
     Born: August 14, 1913 New Haven, CT
     Died: November 15, 1998 Clinton, CT

Age 6 - 1920 Federal Census - Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.

In her childhood she lived in both New Haven and then East Haven, CT.

I believe Myrtle was the 8th of 12 children of Frederick and Annie (Blehl) of East Haven, CT who were both 35 when she was born.  

She was married Douglas W. Bowden July 27, 1932 and lived in East Haven.  They had two children Douglas, Jr and Jean who were born within 14 months of each other.

She divorced Douglas in 1943 and was subsequently remarried to Ernest Wright.   They ran the Clinton Hotel in Clinton, CT until they sold it to the town of Clinton in 1965.

Here are some pictures I have of Myrtle - unfortunately they were not dated:

Ernest & Myrtle Wright
 

Ernest & Myrtle Wright (when they were younger)

 

Blake Family photo - Myrtle all the way on the right. 

 

 

 Here is a great (undated) photo of Myrtle.

 

Here is the 1925 graduating class of Union School, East Haven, CT.  I know Jean told me which one was Myrtle - but the picture didn't come out as clear as I would have liked so I can't tell...  We weren't sure if the school went to 6th or 8th grade.   Most likely 6th - as Myrtle would have been 12 in 1925.  

 

Note that all photos are courtesy of her daughter, Jean

  

A Visit to the East Lawn Cemetery, East Haven, CT

Today I took a trip to visit the East Lawn Cemetery in East Haven, CT.  I had only been there one other time - many years ago when I first found out about my grandmother.   I couldn't recall if any other relatives may have been there.  But I wanted to go to see.   Glad I did - here are my great-grandparents - Frederick C. Blake (b. 1877 Canada, d 1952 East Haven, CT) and Annie Blehl Blake (b. 1878 New York, NY, d. 1971, East Haven, CT).  Now that I have these dates I can do some more digging on their familes and will know I should be working with the correct dates!

I was also able to find my grandmother, Valerie Blake (b Jan 1917 New Haven, CT, d. Nov 1970 Southbury, CT), close by.  

And, right next to her, is her sister, my great-aunt, Myrtle Blake Wright (b 1913 New Haven, CT, d 1998 Clinton, CT) and her husband.  

We looked in the area but couldn't easily find any more family members.   Not sure if they would have been lucky enough to have been close together - it seems like a very "busy" part of the cemetery.     


 The other brothers and sisters (my great-aunts and uncles) I currently have listed in the family tree are:

Viola (Edna) Morseburg
Earl Blake
Adeline Sanborn
Florence Gartland
Ray Blake
Frances Blake
Claire Maloney
Irene Blake
Ruth Shea

I recently became aware of one other sister that, tragically, died as a child due to a trolley accident.  So that puts all the brothers and sisters at 12 - 2 boys and 10 girls.   So I had started exploring Annie Blehl's family members.  But I think I'll take a step back and try to see what I can find out about each of the Blake children first - let's try to keep this somewhat organized....  Shall we?

In the Beginning....

So I went to a genealogy conference and a woman, more knowledgeable then myself, gave some great advice about setting up a pretty "family tree" blog for your family.  Since I had lots and lots of information on my Dad's father's family I did just that.   A cousin had done a lot of research on that particular family.  I spent a lot of time putting the data on-line and felt it was just names on a family tree - so the blog is helping me put some life into all those names....

But on my mother's side - well, why start a genealogy/family tree blog when I have so little information that I'm working with.   But the other night when I stayed up until midnight working on just one person in that small family tree it hit me.   I'm spending a lot of time and worry trying to find out information about Mary Blehl.   And, if I do find this information out, I'll then enter her name on the on-line genealogical site and no one but me will know why I spent so much time that night trying to track down her story.  If I do all this work and don't share it with anyone then what's the benefit - just to myself?  Hmm....  So I think it might make sense to keep track of the story of trying to find out more about my Mom's family.   Maybe I'll find a lot, maybe I'll spend hours on just one person.  Who really knows.   But if nothing else at some point my kids can read this and know some more about their family history...  And the work it took to gather it....

So, in the beginning.   I spent my childhood thinking my mom was adopted by the "grandparents" we would rarely visit.   Made sense - never questioned it.   Then suddenly in my late 20's out of nowhere - it hit me - if she was adopted why did she have a different last name then them?  My sister and I were adopted by my Mom's second husband and we got new birth certificates and had to legally change our names - same thing would have happened to her, right?   So, no, it seemed to me she must not have been adopted.   So, without talking to my Mom, I joined the state geneaology society and sent a letter to the state asking for a copy of her birth certicate.   Based on my birth certificate I provided her name, date of birth and city of birth.   I waited and I waited to hear back from the state.  I'd say it had to be like 6 months before I heard back from them.   When I got it - it was quite interesting - date of birth was off by one day.  City of birth was different - because her place of birth was actually a home for unwed mothers on the other side of the state.   And, as odd as it sounds, her mothers name was her exact name.   Well this was quite unexpected.   It also had her mom's address on it - East Haven, CT.  (And many kudos to the unknown employee at the state who must have had to do quite a bit of work to track this birth certificate down...)

So, since I had a job with a lot of vacation and I did not yet have any kids, I had a lot of free time on my hands.  Off I went to the State Library to use this great resource called the "City Directory."   Back in the 1930's/1940's and I think even through the 1950's the directory would list all folks living on a street by their address.  So, you could look up 123 Main St and find who lived there.  And if someone moved in a particular year it would tell  you where they moved to.  So, you could continue to follow them from address to address.   So, I started following the Blake family of East Haven CT through many years worth of city directories.   Ends up my grandmother had to be one of at least 10-12 kids - mostly girls.  They would get married and move to neighboring towns and I would keep following them through the city directories.    Then they'd have kids and I'd follow them too....   When I came to the end of the City Directory era I figured I'd take a chance and look to see if any of these people still lived in the same houses today by just looking them up in the phone book.   Well don't you know....

I sent a couple of letters off - you know "Hi, you don't know me, but I think we are related...."  And, as luck would have it, I struck gold.   I found one of my Mom's first cousins who lived in the town next to me.   That seems so long ago now.   My mom was beyond excited that she had "real" family - her foster parents were not the nicest of folks.   Unfortunately her Mom had passed away years before, but she was still happy to find her cousins and a connection she didn't have before.   And I have since developed a great relationship with this cousin and I see her often as we now live in the same town.

So many years have gone by and I renewed my genealogy membership again and I am now trying to fill in the Blake family tree.   More on how far I've gotten next time.....