While doing research on the Ferares side of my family. I came to learn that a whole branch of my family was killed during the Holocaust. I had no real proof before this that my family was even Jewish. I was able to locate this picture of 15 year old Sara Ferares who died in the Holocaust. She certainly looks like a Ferares.
I grew up hearing stories about the Millard family. They are quiet people, not very affectionate, hard workers, and always willing to give a helping hand.
Last year at our family reunion, I had family members share stories about some of the Millards who were loved.
I especially enjoyed hearing stories about my great grandfather, Charles H. Millard Jr. No one seems to know what the H. stands for. Maybe one day, that mystery will be revealed. He married my great grandmother Viola Mae Irish in 1915. He enlisted into the war in 1917 and was honorably discharged in 1919.
He was very handy and tried to make a living in Essex NY but it was hard to make a living there. They rented a small house and it was believed that they may not have had an oven just a stove. Viola Mae Irish apparently was not a good cook because she boiled all the food. Maybe it wasn’t that she wasn’t a good cook, but just poor. Charles wanted to make people happy. He would make stilts for the kids to play with. He made Skis for the kids in winter. (Winters were very cold and snowy) He made a row boat. It must have been nice going out onto Lake Champlain in the row boat on a warm summer day. He built a style for the neighborhood kids would have a short cut to get to school so they could safely get over the fence.
Charles had a wooden leg. He lost his leg when he fell off the roof of a barn.
Charles Millard when he moved from Essex, NY to Queens, NY to make a better life for his family and make a living was a super in an apartment building. He lived with his wife, Viola and his children Elsie (my grandmother) and Ralph. In the winter in the middle of the night he had to wake to put coal in the furnish.
Maybe I will learn more about Charles at the next reunion, next year!
This week, I was very excited to receive the death certificate for my great grandfather. It is one of the documents that I needed to get for the DAR to show that I am related to Charles Millard’s sister, Elsie C. Millard Forster. I still need to obtain his birth certificate. I tried to order it from Vital Check, but the date he was born 1891 was not available. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I need to look into how to obtain this now.
I went to the Nassau Knolls Cemetery today to visit with my grandparents. I was happy to see that the family that put up a tree last year, did it again this year. It really made me happy that there was a beautifully decorated tree close by. I wish it wasn’t raining all day, but it was nice a warm for a December day.
I recently got the death certificate for Lloyd Zidel (my great grandfather). The only new information I was able to find out is Llyod’s fathers name. His name was John. It is going to be difficult to learn more about John as he was living in Poland.
I had already known that Lloyd Zidel was buried at Long Island National Cemetery. I am thinking that I should take out a ride out there. It’s probably not going to give me any new information but you never know.
It must be about a year now that I have been really actively researching my family. I used to go to cemeteries to visit my boyfriend’s ancestors who lived in New York that he was researching. Before Christmas time last year, I decided I wanted to visit my family too. One cold December day (It might have even been Christmas Eve) I went to the cemetery where my grandparents on my mother’s side were buried. Growing up I was very lucky because they lived across the street from my house. I went home for school at lunch and had lunch with them. If I didn’t like the food my mom was making for dinner, I ate with them. Grandma helped me with homework after school. We were very close. It had been years since I had been to the cemetery and it felt good to go there. I was upset walking around when I noticed that so many of the graves had a wreath and a bow and my grandparents did not. I went to the office and inquired about how to get a wreath. They had me fill out a form and write a check. They also took down my contact information so that they could send me an order form for the years to follow. I asked if I could take the wreath and lay it down because I wanted to see it. They said that was not possible and they laid out the wreaths. Feeling very disappointed because I didn’t know when it would be done or if I would be able to see it. I was ready to leave when a man who worked there had overheard the conversation and told me to meet him at the grave and he would do it for me right away. I was so happy that he offered to do that for me. We took pictures of the graves with the wreath and I felt like I was celebrating with my grandparents once again.
Yesterday, I went through my mail and I had the order form from the cemetery. They do something for Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Memorial Day. I emailed my family to be sure that they would be included in the decision of which holidays to do. So far it looks like Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I look forward to visiting my grandparents again soon. I miss them every day!
While I visiting Glens Falls, New York this summer I also saw the grave of Stephen Shippey, my fourth great grandfather. Stephen married Paulina Green and they are the parents of Augusta Shippey. Augusta married Hiram Millard.
Stephen and Paulina are ancestors who connect me to the Daughters of the American Revolution.
After I had returned home, I requested court documents from the county clerks office. One of the documents showed Stephen was suing someone who shot his hound dog. I found this to be a very interesting document. I do need to go back to transcribe the entire document because it was difficult to read. This is what I got from the document: Stephen had one witness saying that Stephen’s hound dog was one of the finest hound dogs that ever was. The man who was being sued said that he did not shoot the dog, but if he did it was because the dog ate his meat. Stephen was asking for $35 for the dog, but in the end was given $15 and later had to return the $15. What did I learn? Stephen Shippey owned one of the finest hound dogs that ever lived! Oh, and that Stephen was a hunter and his dog helped him hunt. I did not find out the name of the hound dog.
In the above picture is Catherine and George Pollock. Aren’t they a beautiful couple? Obviously, the person I had emailed was so very kind enough to share with me pictures of Catherine as well as other family photos. He had also shared memories with me as well. So Catherine and George had left New York to find work. This is why I was not able to find a death certificate for her. Catherine is buried in Michigan with her husband, George. I was also told that Catherine enjoyed walking to the bus stop, playing bingo and kept candy in her night stand. I feel a closer connection to her already. I am so grateful that someone was so willing to share pictures and memories. I hope to be able to do the same for someone one day soon.
Two years ago my uncle Bill passed away. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much money to bury him. My mother remembered that there were plots in a cemetery in Maspeth, New York which were left for anyone who would need them. We found out that the person who purchased the plot was Catherine Pollock. It took awhile to research to figure out that Catherine Pollock was my great-grandfathers sister. It was difficult to find information about her. I was able to find her marriage certificate, but that didn’t lead me to much new information, but it did confirm that Catherine Ferares married George Pollock. I figured they must have moved out of the New York area since I was not able to find a death certificate.
When we went to the cemetery we saw the plot which lead us to more questions. Jacob Ferares and Annie Ferares (my second great-grandparents) were buried there, but so was Charles Bastian and no one seemed to know who he was. We later learned that Charles Bastian was Annie (Bastian) Ferares’ sister. Others who are part of the plot are my great grandparents, William A. Ferares and Marion (Cable or Kieble) Ferares, My great uncle Julian Ferares and my uncle, William M. Ferares.
Even though, I was able to figure out who Catherine Pollock and Charles Bastian were, I still felt like I had more questions that I didn’t know the answers to. I don’t know anything about Catherine. I didn’t know where she moved to, why she moved, or where or when she died. I still felt like there was more to learn.
Today, I got an email on Ancestry.com from a Pollock giving me information about the Pollock family. I emailed him some questions in hopes of learning more about Catherine. I would love to see a picture too. I am hoping that he will be able to share some information about Catherine.
My fourth great-grandfather is Nelms Millard. I have been trying to find more information about him but they all seem to lead me to a dead end. I think he might be related to the Rhode Island Millards. I think his grandfather might be Nelms Millard and grandmother Isabel Brand, but I can not find any information to link them. I am unable to find any information that helps me to figure out the father of my Nelms Millard.
I took a trip to Glens Falls, New York in hopes of finding more information. I went to the cemetery where he is buried and I found the Millard Plot. He is buried with his family. All it said on the headstone was, Nelms MIllard Aged 90. On the top it did say, We will miss thee. I tried to find out more information but there was none. I did learn that the Plot was purchased by Hiram Millard, who is Nelms Millard’s son.
I did find out that he was arrested through the common pleas court in Queensbury in 1815 and at the same time Stephen Millard was also arrested. I ordered the documents (which I need to transcribe because they were all handwritten and it is hard to read all the pages) in hopes of finding out if Stephen Millard is related to Nelms Millard, possibly his father, but the documents did not show any of that information. All I know is that Stephen and Nelms owed money. They must be related but I can’t figure it out. There isn’t any documentation with this information.
I am going to have to go back to Glens Falls and go to Crandall Library and look through old newspaper articles which may shed a little light on the mystery of Nelms Millard. I also found out the county clerks office has a Goodspeed collection. Apparently a researcher was looking up information of family members from the area and collected stories and newspaper clippings. There is a Millard box there which may hold the answer to my questions, I know probably not. Although, there are other boxes of maiden names of my ancestors such as Garvey, Wright, Camp, and Moorehouse. There must be something neat in one of those boxes.
Still trying to find “My” Nelms Millard…