World Pasta Day

Macaroni, the Pasta of my Childhood!

Today is World Pasta Day! Did you know that? I didn’t until my visit to the Geneabloggers web site revealed new blogging prompts. Now this is my kind of holiday! Rigatoni happens to be my pasta of choice. It is strong and firm and holds up well with my red pasta gravy. Yummy!

I think back to my childhood days when the word, pasta, didn’t exist. Back in the day, macaroni made its way to our kitchen table at 1625 Lincoln Avenue. To be exact we consumed Creamette’s elbow macaroni or spaghetti.

One dinner from my childhood was Mom’s Quick Spaghetti, her early variation of today’s 
Spaghetti ala Amatricana. Quick and easy was key! She would sauté onion and bacon, add a can of tomato sauce and once the spaghetti was cooked dinner would be just about ready.

I was not a big fan of her quick spaghetti but in our household, we ate what she prepared for us without complaint. Several years ago my husband and I were lucky enough to take a vacation to Italy. I distinctly remember sitting at a small restaurant tucked in the corner of Rome’s oldest market, Campo de’ Fiori, where I ordered Spaghetti ala Amatricana. The first bite of dinner told me I was eating Mom’s Quick Spaghetti with just a slight variation of ingredients. Grazie, Mom!

Linda

Tuesday’s Tip

My simple tip of the day is to begin with what you know! Gather your evidence, cite your sources and keep a research log. This practice will help you develop good research practices that will stand the test of time.

Those Thursday Places: Spruce Street

Real Estate has been on my mind lately and reminds me of a real estate opportunity that offered a genealogical twist. Several years ago I had attended a luncheon where my mother’s best friend offered the comment, “Your Grandmother’s house is for sale.”

Mom’s friend, Grace, lived close to my paternal grandparents’ home. After considering what her comment I realized that I would love to see my Grandma’s house just one more time. I took a drive by Grandma’s Spruce Street home only to discover it wasn’t for sale! Instead, just two doors down, my maternal great grandparent’s home was for sale! I quickly made an appointment for a showing.

Now for a bit of history . . .

William and Julia Danker, married 4 April 1896, were general farmers in the rural community of Riverview just south of O’Hare International Airport. They raised their only child (my grandmother), Henrietta, on their Touhy Avenue farm. Sometime between 1910 and 1920 William and Julia made the move to Spruce Street where they remained for many years. I have yet to check on the Spruce Street property transfers and it is something I definitely must do to understand relationship of the house story and my family story.

William, Henrietta and Julia Danker

Great Grandfather William Danker died 7 September 1939. His death record confirms Des Plaines (formerly Riverview) as his place of residence; which is the location of his Spruce Street home. At the time of the 1940 census Julia lived with Henrietta’s family in Chicago most likely a result of William’s death.

It is unknown exactly where Julia lived during the 1940s and 1950s. Did she remain with her daughter’s family in Chicago? Did she return to her Spruce Street home in Des Plaines? 

Julia’s 1949 death and Henrietta’s husband, William Dollen, 1950 death caused Henrietta and her two children to move back to her parents’ Spruce Street home. Curiosity is killing me. Did Henrietta inherit the Spruce Street house? Probate and property records should answer the question of home ownership. Now there is one more research project for me!

The Dollen Family now lived in the Danker house a mere two doors down from my paternal grandparents and their four handsome sons. Love was in the air on Spruce Street for my Mother swept her front porch clean just long enough to catch my father’s eye.

Mom and Dad were married and had their wedding reception in the Danker/Dollen Spruce Street home. Nine months later I arrived and spent my early months of life in that same Danker/Dollen Spruce Street home.

It was quite a treat to walk through my first childhood home that housed four generations of my Mother’s family all because of the comment, “Your Grandmother’s house is for sale!”

The Living Room

The porch my mother swept clean has been enclosed.

A small alcove that may have been my nursery.

The second floor with original flooring and walls.

Kitchen & Pantry

My very tall and happy real estate broker.

Linda

Wondering where my little blog is going next….

What to do? What directions to go? Just a bit confused about the next step in my blogging journey. My friend, Mo, has a wonderful blog titled Mocadeaux. Mo’s desire is to celebrate life’s gifts. She has a great idea!

Mo has attended blogging workshops and classes. Her work has paid off for Mocadeaux.com is current and perky. Yes, it is full of life!

So my biggest question is how to make my genealogy blog current. Genealogy leans to the past and find myself leaning to the future.

Leaning in,

Linda

Tombstone Tuesday

John O’Donohue

1956-2008

This grave marker belongs to John O’Donohue. Though he has passed on, John is very much alive in the hearts of those who lives are guided by his words. John was a Catholic priest, a poet and an advocate for social justice. He is someone I am just getting to know.

May peace be with you,

Linda

Sunday’s Obituary

These obituaries belong to my Uncle Dick Dollen. I have been working on his life story for several years. I work a little bit here and a little bit there and most recently connected with his naval buddy, Bob Hall. I scanned the above obituaries years ago and let them rest in my iPhotos.

One of my nagging questions has been, “Where did Uncle Dick go to school?” Earlier research led to the discovery of Dick’s high school years. Dick graduated from The Luther Institute of Chicago in 1950. This was good news, but I continued to wonder about his elementary school years.

I went so far as to map his 1940 residence and search for elementary schools within walking distance. That little exercise provided a possibility but I never followed through. Yesterday I was looking through my iPhoto and stopped to read my uncle’s obituaries.

There was the answer to my question! Uncle Dick attended Jehovah Lutheran Grade School and Luther Institute of Chicago. His obituary tells of his short nineteen years of life. I know his story quite well and only glanced at the obituaries. Shame on me! The answer to all my questions was in my hand all along.
 

Lesson learned!

Linda

A Little Volunteerism

I began volunteering at my local library today. My community is lucky enough to have a genealogy room. My day was spent rummaging through books, directories, published genealogies, and the computer databases. Doris Lundberg was a professional genealogist who donated her genealogical collection to my library. Her vast collection contains reference materials and genealogies from client work that spans the Midwest and Southern regions of the U.S.

Today reminds me to go outside my geographical area for research. There is a treasure trove waiting for just the right researcher!

Libraries are a great source of free information and my library is not exception. It provides the library version of ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, Newsbank, Newsstand, Chicago Tribune archives, First Search and much, much more.