Thursday, May 21, 2009
Jimmy at Todd
Since the corrected version of this page would not enlarge on the original post I am giving it its own post.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Jimmy at Todd
It seems that Jimmy was at Todd for about three years. He was never clear about it but looking at the captions on pictures it would seem he went to Chicago some time in 1922 and left in 1925. He probably started Todd at the beginning of the school year and left mid-year.
He would occasionally talk of walking to church in the snow and going to the lake.
He was devoted to his grandmother and had little use for his mother. He always spoke highly of "The Aunts", and was nostalgic about his time in Salt Lake City. When we visited SLC he wanted to drive up into Bingham Canyon. That was where he had boarded with a woman he called "Simma". I believe that her name was Mrs. Smith but as he was a very small child he couldn't pronounce it. He kept in contact with Simma until her death sometime in the 1950s.
He would occasionally talk of walking to church in the snow and going to the lake.
He was devoted to his grandmother and had little use for his mother. He always spoke highly of "The Aunts", and was nostalgic about his time in Salt Lake City. When we visited SLC he wanted to drive up into Bingham Canyon. That was where he had boarded with a woman he called "Simma". I believe that her name was Mrs. Smith but as he was a very small child he couldn't pronounce it. He kept in contact with Simma until her death sometime in the 1950s.Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Young Jimmy
I was surprised and pleased to find these photos. It is hard to imagine my father as a little boy. In many of these pictures he reminds me a lot of Eric.
I was very surprised to see the inscription saying that the picture had been taken "when he came east with his mother." He had always insisted that he had almost no contact with Gladys until he left Todd. I keep wondering, he told of having been put on a street car alone by Gram when he was quite young, the driver put him off where instructed and while he stood there alone and crying a woman came up and asked him if he was Jimmy; he said that woman was Gladys and she took him somewhere and there was a man there. Could it be that Gladys put him on a street car in Chicago, Christine picked him up and took him to his father?
We'll never know. As he grew older he forgot a lot and reconstructed a lot. Researchers have found that every time we visit a memory it changes a bit when we re-store it.
I was very surprised to see the inscription saying that the picture had been taken "when he came east with his mother." He had always insisted that he had almost no contact with Gladys until he left Todd. I keep wondering, he told of having been put on a street car alone by Gram when he was quite young, the driver put him off where instructed and while he stood there alone and crying a woman came up and asked him if he was Jimmy; he said that woman was Gladys and she took him somewhere and there was a man there. Could it be that Gladys put him on a street car in Chicago, Christine picked him up and took him to his father?
We'll never know. As he grew older he forgot a lot and reconstructed a lot. Researchers have found that every time we visit a memory it changes a bit when we re-store it.Sunday, April 12, 2009
John Wagner documents
I am way behind in posting to the family history. I have been too busy with my other blog.
I decided to revisit John one more time. Not for a page in the family history book but to preserve some supplementary documents. How, you might ask, can I be sure that this man was the father of James Wagner. (click on the documents to enlarge and make readable)
Well, one of the documents entered into evidence is the divorce decree of John and Gladys. The testimony of his sister-in-law also states that he was married before ( to Gladys) and had a son named James Julius. Evidently he had no contact after the divorce as Salt Lake City is the last place he knew his son to be.
Although hard to read, the petition for naturalization indicates that Julius Rozsa, who asks to have his name changed to John Wagner, is the same man. He has a son named James, he has the birth date wrong but the place of birth is correct. The name of his wife and the residence are the same as the John Wagner who is clearly the father of our James Wagner.
If further evidence is required, look at the picture of Dick Wagner next to the one of John Wagner. Dick is a little younger in this picture taken in 1961 than was John in the picture taken of him and his second wife. The resemblance is striking. Dick said it was like looking in a mirror.
I decided to revisit John one more time. Not for a page in the family history book but to preserve some supplementary documents. How, you might ask, can I be sure that this man was the father of James Wagner. (click on the documents to enlarge and make readable)
Well, one of the documents entered into evidence is the divorce decree of John and Gladys. The testimony of his sister-in-law also states that he was married before ( to Gladys) and had a son named James Julius. Evidently he had no contact after the divorce as Salt Lake City is the last place he knew his son to be.
Although hard to read, the petition for naturalization indicates that Julius Rozsa, who asks to have his name changed to John Wagner, is the same man. He has a son named James, he has the birth date wrong but the place of birth is correct. The name of his wife and the residence are the same as the John Wagner who is clearly the father of our James Wagner.
If further evidence is required, look at the picture of Dick Wagner next to the one of John Wagner. Dick is a little younger in this picture taken in 1961 than was John in the picture taken of him and his second wife. The resemblance is striking. Dick said it was like looking in a mirror.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
John Wagner part II
I think it is time to work on the family history again. A few more pages about John Wagner and then we will leave him. He wasn't in the picture very long and I'm amazed how much I was able to learn about him.
The woman who gave me the pictures was the daughter of the couple below left. Her father was the executor of John's estate and I was able to track her down because her parents had never moved from the house they lived in in 1942. I sent a letter to that address but unfortunately her mother had recently died but mail was still being forwarded to the daughter.
We met her when we were in Chicago and she tried to be helpful. She found a few things that her father had kept which she was glad to give me. Entries I found in an old telephone directory suggested that John and Gladys may have lived apart for a time after the death of the first child.
The woman who gave me the pictures was the daughter of the couple below left. Her father was the executor of John's estate and I was able to track her down because her parents had never moved from the house they lived in in 1942. I sent a letter to that address but unfortunately her mother had recently died but mail was still being forwarded to the daughter.
We met her when we were in Chicago and she tried to be helpful. She found a few things that her father had kept which she was glad to give me. Entries I found in an old telephone directory suggested that John and Gladys may have lived apart for a time after the death of the first child.Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wagner-Rozsa
Now it is time to bring Jimmy's father into the picture. The text below is laying over the ships manifest from http://www.ellisisland.org/ You can go to the site and search on Rozsa and find the entry.
There is, I know, at least one typo in the above (serching instead of searching. I fix it I will have to remake the page so it will take a little time. I now know how to do it so I can edit text later.
The picture of Julius Rozsa, Sr and the woman I presume to be his wife came from Elizabeth Braddy, the niece of John Wagner (Julius Rozsa, Jr.) The other two photos came from the daughter of John's friend and executor.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Happy birthday Grandma, we miss you
This post isn't about her, but she would have been 93 today.
I am trying to work ahead on my posts so that I can look at them with fresh eyes before I post. This one needed so much work in the text that I had to start fresh so it may have errors. I try.
I included these pages from the James Sykes family bible for reference. I don't plan to use them on a page but may put them in an appendix. The children's names are interesting. The first child was named Mary Caroline. Mary was the name of James' mother and Caroline Holman was the aunt with which Sarah lived after her mother died. Carlton was the maiden name of Sarah's mother. Was Winnie meant to be a nickname for Winnifred or was it for Wingate, Mary Sykes middle name? I don't know who the others were named for, if anyone, but there was another Mabel Sykes in Chicago perhaps a little younger than our Mabel. She was a photographer and you can find reference to some of her photos on the web.
I am trying to work ahead on my posts so that I can look at them with fresh eyes before I post. This one needed so much work in the text that I had to start fresh so it may have errors. I try.
I included these pages from the James Sykes family bible for reference. I don't plan to use them on a page but may put them in an appendix. The children's names are interesting. The first child was named Mary Caroline. Mary was the name of James' mother and Caroline Holman was the aunt with which Sarah lived after her mother died. Carlton was the maiden name of Sarah's mother. Was Winnie meant to be a nickname for Winnifred or was it for Wingate, Mary Sykes middle name? I don't know who the others were named for, if anyone, but there was another Mabel Sykes in Chicago perhaps a little younger than our Mabel. She was a photographer and you can find reference to some of her photos on the web.
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