Christmas Greetings from the past!

Paloutzian family Christmas 1956

Ed and Dorothy, Mary and Ernie, Louise and Frank, Judy, Raymond, Arlene, Nancy, Goohar and Tatevos, at 834 N. Harrison, Fresno, CA.

Steele/Golden family c. 1953

Chickie and Mammy (Andrew and Claire), Betty, Margie, Cathy, Susan, Bill, Mary Ann, Don, Tom and Anne at 1040 Vagedes, Fresno, CA.

One thing leads to another

Anyone who has worked on genealogy puzzles knows how one piece of information can lead to a whole lot more. Earlier this year, my family and I attended the Descendant's Day Picnic at Black Diamond Mines Regional Park. At the celebration, the park staff had several huge white binders full of documents, lists and other information about the families who lived in the mining communities that used to exist in the area. My great-grandfather Andrew Steele was born in Somersville, along with his siblings. While looking through the binders I found an index or list that had church baptisms with Steele (or Still) family members listed. I just recently received copies of these documents. What I have posted are scans of photocopies of pictures taken of the original records of Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Antioch, CA. They are in Latin. There was a Catholic Church in Somersville called St. Patrick's, but I read that it was mainly used for Sunday masses.
John Steele - Rosa (Rossi) Turra marriage record
Joseph V Steele baptism record

Andrew Steele baptism record

Joseph's record lists the names of his Godparents (Latinized, of course): Vincentius Rossi and Cesarina Rossi. I have found Vincent and Cesarina (and family) in the census records, living in Stockton. I think Vincent is Rosa's brother. An interview recorded and transcribed by staff of Black Diamond Mines Park of Richard B. Steele (and family) indicates that Rosa Rossi was brought to the U.S. by her brother, but his name wasn't mentioned.
John and Rosa's wedding record list ALL FOUR PARENTS' NAMES! (All the genealogists gasp). Both John and Rosa's fathers' names were written on their death certificates, but not the mothers' names. John's parents are written as Josephi Steele and Maria Rossi. (His death certificate says his father was John). Rosa's parents are written as Matheii (hard to read) Tura (sic) (her maiden name is Rossi, and Mathew Rossi is listed as her father's name on her death certificate) and what I think says Baptistima ________ (I cannot make sense of the last name). Note John and Rosa's son Richard's middle name was Baptist, and Joseph's middle name was Vincent.
So now I'll be trying to find information that connects Rosa and Vincent as siblings, and also trying to find any more information on both John and Rosa's parents (my great-great-great grandparents!)

Grandma Golden

Jean Elizabeth Golden
Our beloved mother passed away peacefully on Friday, July 31, 2009. She was born April 7, 1921, in Fresno, California to Andrew and Claire Steele. Betty graduated from St.Therese school and from San Francisco College for Women. She married Robert Golden in Fresno in 1944. They established Golden Insurance Agency where Betty worked for 40 years. Betty was a lector and Eucharistic Minister at Our Lady of Victory Parish. She was a member of Third Order of St. Francis, YLI, Serra Club and a volunteer for Catholic Charities. She was preceded in death by Robert, her loving husband, of 54 years; her brother, Br. Andrew (Don) Steele, FSC; and her grandson, James Stone. Betty is survived by her nine children and their families, Mary Ann and Tom Paloutzian, Susan and Don Sturges, Bill and Shirley Golden, Catherine and Jerry Johnson, Margaret Golden, Patti and Tom McMurry, John and Maureen Golden, Janet Golden, and Michael Golden; 26 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren; her siblings, Bernadette Steele and Thomas and Anne Steele; her sister-in-law, Virginia Golden; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Visitation will be held at Whitehurst, Sullivan, Burns & Blair Funeral Home, on Thursday, August 6, 2009, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. followed by Recitation of the Holy Rosary at 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, on Friday, August 7, 2009, at 1:30 p.m. Interment will follow at St. Peter's Cemetery.

Black Diamond Mines Descendent's Picnic

Margie, Mary Ann, Michelle, Liz and John. Family!


Pictured above, staying out of the rain: On the left, Mary Ann Golden Paloutzian and husband Tom in back, Margie Golden in the front. On the right, Liz Steele and father John Steele in the back, Jed Thoma and wife Maggie seated in front.

This weekend a few Steele family members gathered at the Black Diamond Mines Descendent's Picnic. The picnic is held every 2 years for desecendents of the mining communities that used to exist in the area. My great-grandfather, Andrew Steele, was born in Somersville. His father, John Still (later spelled Steele) worked in the coal mines.
John Still(18 Oct 1847-9 Jan 1912) married Rosa Rossi Turra(17 Apr 1860-18 Nov 1939)after her first husband George Turra died (on 15 Aug 1888). She had 2 daughters, Theresa and Georgie Turra, and at least Theresa was born in Stockton. Georgie was born after her father died (1 Jan 1889)and was apparently named after him. John and Rosa were married 12 Nov 1899 in Stockton. They had 6 more children together: Mary (b. 1890), John (b. 1891), Joseph (b.1892), Andrew (aka Chickie, b. 1895), Richard (b.1897) and David (b.1899). I have records showing that at least John through Richard were born in Somersville, CA. (David was born in Tesla, another mining community in Alameda county). Somersville no longer exists, but the site is located within the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve.
The family was living in Fresno at 1207 F St. when they were recorded in the 1900 U.S. census on 5 Jun 1900.

Above: left to right, Margie Golden, Mike Atkins and wife Meg Thoma Atkins, Maggie and Jed Thoma. Meg and Jed are Margie's children.


Above: Margie Golden and sister Mary Ann Golden Paloutzian. Liz Steele and father John Steele.
John Steele is the son of Richard B. Steele, and the grandson of John and Rosa Steele.
Mary Ann and Margie are the daughters of Betty Jean Steele Golden, the granddaughters of Andrew Steele and the great-granddaughters of John and Rosa Steele.

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.

Happy Days

Happy 88th Birthday today to my Grandma, Betty Golden! This is a picture from her 80th birthday party with her sister and brothers. From left to right, Don, Betty, Bernadette and Tom. If you were at the party in Fresno that day, you might remember that it snowed!!
Also, a happy 25th wedding anniversary to John and Maureen Golden, my uncle and aunt. This picture was taken at my parents' house when they were first engaged.

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

Exciting Steele Family Discovery

I am so excited!!
I posted on the San Joaquin Genealogical Society's message board on Ancestry, and after exchanging a few e-mails with Sandra Hoskins, she was able to locate the following information:

George Turra - Rosa Rossi
Married 10-24-1886, Stockton, San Joaquin County, California
Volume 5 Page 195


John Still - Rosa Tura
Married 11-12-1889, Stockton, San Joaquin County, California
Volume 5 Page 533

More to come as I add this information into the family tree!

Recent Random Records

I've started to send for records that aren't available on line. Here are a few I've received recently for people in my mom's family:
This is a death notice for Ewen Davidson (Mammy's father) from the San Francisco Morning Call.

This is Rosa Steele's (Chickie's mother) death certificate. You can click on it to see it up close. It says she was born in Genoa, Italy, and that her father's name was Mathew Rossi.

Here is Ann Doherty's (Mammy's grandmother) death certificate. It doesn't tell us much that we (I) didn't already know, but it verifies her date of death, 14 Oct. 1919, and that she is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, CA).

1898 Great Register of Voters

I sent for and received a copy of the 1898 Great Register of Voters for the Sommersville Precinct of Contra Costa County, CA. Line number 90 reads:
Still, John
occupation: miner
age: 49
height: 5' 4"
complexion: dark
eyes: gray
hair: dark
marks or scars: top little finger right hand off
country of nativity: Austria
residence: Somersville
naturalized: May 23, 1896, Contra Costa County Superior Court

It isn't until the 1910 US census that his name is written as John Steele. John is the father of Andrew Steele (Chickie), and the grandfather of Betty Golden (my grandmother). That makes him my great-great grandfather.

Happy Birthday to my cousin Karen Golden!

I found Bert Church!

Awhile back I wrote about finding the Steele family plot at the cemetery, but not knowing much about Bert and Mary (Steele) Church. Ancestry.com recently posted California voter registrations from 1900-1968 for various cities and counties. I was able to find registrations for Bert and Mary for several years between 1930 and 1944. The records list their addresses (they moved a lot!), and occupations, and were very helpful because they gave me the correct spelling of Bert's name, which led me to finding his death record and census records showing his family, plus a WWI draft registration record. Bert died 29 Oct 1971, 3 days before I was born. I must be missing some key piece of information about Mary, because I can't locate her death record.

Also in the voter registrations I found a record for Yonovera "Mame" Towey in San Francisco in 1935.

Thanksgiving wandering

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I spent some of the weekend working on genealogy on both sides of my family. On Friday, my mom and I went up to the Fresno cemeteries on Belmont Ave. We wandered around for awhile and Mom found the Steele family plot. (We knew it was there somewhere). The plot is in the "old Catholic cemetery", which is Calvary Cemetery. It is located on Belmont Ave. with all the other cemeteries, just west of highway 99. If you are on Belmont Ave. facing south towards the cemeteries, the Calvary section is in the middle of two sections of Mountain View Cemetery. There are a pair of gates that say "Calvary" halfway back from Belmont Ave. to the back fence and the railroad tracks. Just the gates are there, the rest of the area isn't fenced. The Steele plot is southwest of the Calvary gates. So, who is buried there? John Steele (1849-1912) and his wife Rosa (1857-1938) (my great-great grandparents) and their sons, John (1891-1978), David (1899-1938) and Richard B.(1897-1986) and his wife Laura (1899-1991). Andrew and Claire are buried at St. Peter's, and Joseph and Emma are at Holy Cross. Does anyone know where their sister Mary is buried? Her husband was Burt Church, but I don't know if he was a Burton or a Robert or Herbert and I can't find any records on him.