Mirth at Los Gatos

You just never know what you will find about your family when you start searching newspapers.  The social notices or "society pages" contain great details about the lives of our ancestors.  I found this article in the San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com.  It was published on May 2nd, 1900, 122 years ago.  It details an outing of the Young Men's Institute, which is a Catholic men's fraternal organization founded in San Francisco in 1883. Eight members of my family are listed among those attending the event: Mrs. A Doherty (Ann), my 3rd great grandmother, her son,  J. (John) Thomas Doherty, my 2nd great-grand uncle, his sister Mrs. E (Ewen) Davidson (Eliza), my 2nd great grandmother, and her sister Mrs. L (Louis) Levenberg (Lillie), my 2nd great-grand aunt and the wife of their cousin William McKeon, Mrs. W (William) McKeon (Jeanette), along with the ladies' 3 children, Edna McKeon, age 1, Loretta Levenberg, age 2 and Claire Davidson, my great-grandmother, age 3.

My Irish Family in Early San Francisco

This is my great-great-great grandmother, Ann McLaughlin Doherty (1835-1915), who lived at 35 Elsie St. We believe that is the location of this photo. She is recorded at this address in the 1907 San Francisco City directory. She lived here until her death. Her son John continued to live there through the mid-1930's. Her daughter, Ann Doherty Coxe, lived next door at 33 Elsie with her husband Edgar and son William. She lived here until her death in 1921. In the 1930 census John is listed at 55 Elsie with his nephew William living next door at 53 Elsie. I am wondering if the street was re-numbered. In 1936, at the time of John's death, he was living with his sister Mrs. Elizabeth Levenberg at 55 Elsie.
Ann was born in Ireland, about 1835.  Her sister Kate also came to the United States and lived in San Francisco as well. Ann and her husband Roger Doherty had arrived in New York by 1861, for the birth of their son, William. Daughter Ann was born in New York in 1865.  Ann and Roger had four more children: Mary, Elizabeth, Lillie and John, all born in San Francisco, CA.  From at least 1880 to
after 1890 the family lived at 823 Harrison. Roger died in 1891 and was buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery, which was located between Masonic and Parker, and Geary and Turk.  He was later "removed" to Holy Cross in Colma, (no actual remains were found to re-bury).
Ann and family lived on Harriet St.; I found listings at both 17 and 45 Harriet.  After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the family relocated to the Bernal Heights neighborhood, which is the Elsie St. address shown in the picture above.
Ann's oldest grandchild was my great-grandmother, Claire Davidson Steele, a.k.a. Mammy (1897-1993).
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my Irish family!

John Thomas Doherty

I decided to spend the rainy Sunday doing some genealogy, so I went over to http://www.sfgenealogy.com/ to see what was new.  They are always posting new resources there, and yesterday I was in luck!  I found San Francisco Mortuary Records, scanned images of records from several San Francisco mortuaries, all indexed.  Since I have several family branches in San Francisco, I started plugging in names to see what would turn up.  I found a record for John Thomas Doherty (1876-1936). 

John was the youngest child of Roger and Ann Doherty, my great-great-great grandparents.  I did not have the date of his death, so it was great to find this record.  There is also a lot of information that I already had that is further confirmed by the same information in this record from the funeral home.  His parents' names are confirmed as Roger Doherty and Ann (McLaughlin) Doherty.  The order for the funeral was given by Mrs. Elizabeth Levenberg, John's sister, better know to us as "Peeps".  Their address is given as 55 Elsie St., San Francisco.  This is in the Bernal Heights neighborhood.

I had John's birth date from his WWI draft registration card and it is confirmed here as 18 Jun 1876.  He died at San Francisco Hospital of carcinoma of the esophagus and bronchopneumonia.  I found a record for one other relative, Blanche Davidson Rommel (1881-1949), the younger sister of Peeps' first husband (and my great-great grandfather), Ewen Davidson (1872-1898).  Ewen was Claire's (Mammy) father.  I'll keep looking!

Roger Doherty

This obituary was published in the San Francisco Morning Call newspaper on 27 July 1891. Roger Doherty was my great-great-great grandfather. He and his wife Ann(e) had 6 children; William, Ann, Mary Jane, Elizabeth, Lily and John. Mary Jane died sometime between 1880 and 1900. She was listed at age 14 in the 1880 census record. William and John seemingly did not marry or have children. William might have been married for a short time as he is listed as a widower in one census.
Ann married Edgar Coxe and had one son, William. He also did not marry. Ann and her family lived next door to her mother on Elsie St. in San Francisco.
Elizabeth (Peeps) was married to Ewen Davidson and had, Claire (Mammy). Ewen died, and she later married Louis Levenberg (Pop), after his wife, Elizabeth's sister Lily, also died. Lily and Louis had 2 daughters, Mildred and Loretta. Peeps had 3 more children, Joseph (Bud), Elizabeth (Beth) and Louis (Lou).
Interesting to note in the obituary: Roger was a native of the Parish of Mohul(sic) in County Leitrim, Ireland; Leadville, Colorado papers are asked to copy - was there a relative there?; Roger would be buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery, one of the cemeteries that was later moved to Colma, CA.

Aunt Ida

Ida T. Levenberg Sept. 10, 1914-April 27, 2009 The family of Ida T. Levenberg announces her passing into the hands of Christ on April 27, 2009, at the age of 94. Ida is survived by daughter Lynne, grandchildren Scott, Tracy, Marci, Ann, Larry and Tom and grandchildren Kristen, Eric, Lucas and Joey. Ida was preceded in death by her beloved husband Bud Levenberg and son Kerry Levenberg. Ida was born in Fresno, CA to Lawrence and Angela (Breda) Pedroncelli. After her marriage to Bud they relocated to Campbell, CA in 1936. She was involved with a local theater group called the Highlighters. She owned and operated one of the first child care facilities in Campbell, known as Tot-Lot, for over 40 years. Ida and Bud were past presidents of the Holy Family Retreat Association and very involved with the Catholic church. She received a commendation by the County of Santa Clara for over 50 years of volunteer service for register of voters. Ida was an expert seamstress and became a horticultural advisor through a Millpond Community newsletter. Ida was truly a talented lady who took interest in her community and devoted time to her faith. She will sincerely be missed by all who were fortunate enough to have known her. A memorial service will be held at St. Christopher's Catholic Church, 1576 Curtner Avenue, San Jose Ca 95124 on Thursday, May 7th at 11:00 a.m.

Are you done yet?

Friends and family who know that genealogy is one of my hobbies frequently ask if I am done, if I have finished my family tree. The answer is that I will never be done. The tree extends back in time as far as records can take me, and the family keeps expanding every day. I know of at least 4 people in my tree expecting babies this year. I also still have dead ends, places in the tree where I am stuck for lack of information. We also say goodbye each year to people we love. This week we lost my Aunt Ida Pedroncelli Levenberg (10 Sep 1914-27 Apr 2009). She was married to Joseph Francis Levenberg, Uncle Bud, who was the younger brother of my great-grandma, Claire Davidson Steele, known as Mammy to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I have wanted to post the family tree here on my blog, but haven't been able to find a format which allows it to be easily read and understood. It is too big! Also, since it is always changing, it can only be a snapshot of any point in time.
So, for anyone in my tree who would like to have it, I will e-mail you either a Simple Register Report or an Ahnentafel Report. The Simple Register Report uses a descendant-ordered format starting with an ancestor and moving forward in time to that individual's descendants. The Ahnentafel Report uses and ancestor-ordered format starting with one individual and moving backward in time to that individual's ancestors.
I can also do various chart formats; just let me know what you would like to see.

Happy Easter!

This is a picture of my mother, Mary Ann, with her great grandmother, who was called Peeps.
Peeps was born Elizabeth Agnes Doherty on July 9, 1870 in San Francisco, CA to Ann McLoughlin and Rogerty Doherty.
She was married to Ewen Davidson, and had a daughter, Claire (Mammy to her grandchildren and great grandchildren). Ewen died, and she later married Louis Levenberg (Pop), after his wife, her sister Lily, also died. (Lily and Louis had 2 daughters, Mildred and Loretta). Peeps had 3 more children, Joseph (Bud), Elizabeth (Beth) and Louis (Lou).
Peeps died July 21 1949 in Fresno, CA. She is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, CA.

Aunt Beth

From the Fresno Bee Republican
15 May 1935

Elizabeth Terese ParsonsApril 24, 1911 - December 15, 2008 (97). Wife of the late Charles Andrus Parsons; mother of Charles "Cap"/"Shali" Parsons (deceased) and Lois Parsons Fragomeni; Grandmother of Justin Parsons, Angela Fragomeni, and Annette Fragomeni; sister of Claire Steele, Mildred Lloyd, Loretta Noel, Louis Levenberg, Francis "Bud" Levenberg all entered eternity before their sister; many nieces and nephews and extended family. Beth was a member of St. Emydius Church her entire life, St. Vincent de Paul, Legion of Mary and the San Franciscans. Beth was a native San Franciscan who ventured to China in 1935 to marry her sweetheart. She lived overseas until 1938 traveling between China, Hong Kong, Korea and the Philippines. She had to pack up a household 5 times to go cross country after her naval officer husband was reassigned. Beth's love for traveling didn't stop there, she traveled the globe into her mid 80's. Beth loved to play bridge and was a master player competing in tournaments here and in Hawaii. Although her hobbies and love for travel took her all over the world, she loved San Francisco best. Friends are invited to attend the Vigil: Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 5 pm at St. Emydius Church and the Funeral Mass: Friday, December 19, 2008 at 10 am at St. Emydius Church with burial at the San Francisco National Cemetery, Presidio SF, CA In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Cancer Society West Bay Region 235 Montgomery St. SF, CA 94104

Levenberg Obituary

The Library of Congress has a collection of historical newspapers which are available to view on-line. I found this:

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1901.

LEVENBERG—In this city, December 25,
1901. Lillie, dearly beloved wife of Lewis
Levenberg, mother of Loretta and Mildred
Levenberg, daughter of Anne Doherty, and
sister of William and Thomas Doherty, Mrs.
E. L. Coxe and Mrs. E. Davidson, a native
of San Francisco, aged 27 years 1 month and
6 days.
Friends and acquaintances are respectfully
invited to attend the funeral to-day
(Friday), at 1 o'clock, from her late residence,
45 Harriet Street, thence to St. Patrick's
Church for services at 1:30 o'clock.
Internment Holy Cross Cemetery.

OFFICERS and members of Minerva Parlor
No. 2, N. D. G. W.—You are notified to attend
the funeral of our late sister, Lillie
Levenberg:, to-day (Friday), from her late
residence, 45 Harriet Street.
MARY CREIGH. President.
ANNIE L. DONALDSON. Secretary.---------------------------------------
N.D.G.W. is the Native Daughters of the Golden West
You can view the actual newspaper page here.
You can do your own searches at http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/home.html

Missing information - do you know?

A few of the many pieces of information I don't have:

wedding anniverary dates for:

1. Peeps and Pop Levenberg
2. Ernie and Mary Paloutzian (11 Sep 1932)
3. Frank and Louise Paloutzian
4. Roy and Violet Paloutzian
5. Vern and Zabel Paloutzian
6. Jack and Julia Golden, 29 Jun 1931 (Thanks, Fr. Paul!)

dates of death for:

1. Miriam Keshishian (d. 18 July 1925)
2. Peter Thompson (brother of Manoug Paloutzian) (d. 24 Oct 1936)
3. Harold (Paloutzian) Paulson, b. 1903 (d. 14 Sept 1999)
4. Ann Doherty (mother of Peeps, Elizabeth Levenberg) (d. 14 Oct 1999)
5. John Thomas Doherty (brother of Peeps) (d. 5 Dec. 1936)
6. William P. Doherty (brother of Peeps)

updated 11 Nov 2010