My Favorite Christmas Gift

I really don't remember the gifts so much as the food! I grew up in Racine, Wisconsin and they have a delectable pastry that they make in the region. It is called Kringle. It is similar to strudel but is lighter and flakier with a sugar topping and fruit fillng. My step dad's relatives still order it and send it to us a Christmas Time. I also remember those ribbon candies and caramels with Christmas trees on them. Yum! My great grandmother made wonderful foods from scratch. My favorite was Swedish Meatballs. I also remember the gift of being able to have the day to play with my myriad of cousins which were all close to my age. The best gift was my large extended family who lived in town and being able to be with them.

Christmas Illness?

The saddest Christmas I can recall was about two years ago. I got the flu for Christmas! I could not go to the family Christmas celebration so I stayed home and was miserable. My son took video greetings from the family to me and took pictures with his digital camera to share with me when he got home. I was so sick I could not enjoy the Christmas goodies they brought home. I could not make my traditional sugar cookies much less eat them.

Another Christmas my son and husband ate too much bratwurst and both felt ill on Christmas Day and they could not eat the ham I had prepared. Both went to sleep and ate the ham alone, not the whole thing of course.

So, I guess having a cold during Christmas is better than the flu, at least you can eat goodies like ham and sugar cookies.

Bartnicki, Luczynski research

I am working on a genealogy project as a gift for my step-brother's family. It is by no means a comprehensive genealogy but a family picture in which each of my step dad's ten siblings are identified. I cooberated by email with two of his remaining living siblings to get the names corrected. I also found the father whose name was Leon Bartnicki in the 1920 Milwaukee census, draft registration cards and immigration records. All of which I located on Ancestry. The family surname is Bartnicki and the family is of Polish descent. My step father's mother's (Josephine) surname was Luczynski and the US WWII Draft Registration card for 1942 for her brother Walter M. Luczynski states that he was from Witowo, Poland. His address was 5203 Racine Avenue, Chicago, Cook, IL. His wife's name was Helen Luczynski. They had a child whose name was Wandz (pronounces "Vash") and she shows up in the 1930 census as Martha (name change per my step aunt). Lastly I located some of my step dad's deceased relatives on the website for the Catholic Archdiosese (Bartnicki)

References are listed below:
Bartnicki:
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Year: 1920;Census Place: Milwaukee Ward 11, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Roll T625_2001; Page: 27B; Enumeration District: 143; Image: 379.

Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
Year: 1912; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_1830; Line: 21;
Original Data:
* Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
* Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; (National Archives Microfilm Publication T715, 8892 rolls); Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm. Registration Location: Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; Roll 1674811; Draft Board: 11.

Ancestry Family History Facts for 1920: Search Bartnicki: map

Ancestry.com. Database: Wisconsin Death Index, 1959-1997

Archdiocese of Milwaukee Catholic Cemeteries
7301 West Nash Street
Milwaukee WI 53216
Telephone
414 438 4420 Fax
414 438 4427
Online Database

Luczynski:
Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls. 1930; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll 437; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 509; Image: 461.0.

www.ancestry.com database: U.S. World Ward II Draft Registration cards, 1942:Detail: roll: 30955_165871; Local Board: Chicago, Illinois

(I am not an employee of Ancestry. I am a subscriber to their basic and world database services)

Family Christmas Performances and games

Extended Family Christmas celebrations have been a tradition since before I was born, probably influenced by my great grandmother’s close knit Dutch ancestors. We were fortunate to have a large extended family located near where we lived in Racine, WI. One of the elements that was always included were our own created games and performances.

One year I remember my mom put a piñata up in the basement and all my cousins took a whack at it. It was filled with wonderful Christmas candies that melted in our mouths. Several of the Dahlbergs were musically inclined so we always had piano, guitar, banjo etc. to dance to on Christmas Eve.

When my mom remarried in 1979, mom and I carried our extended family gatherings with performances with us to California.

Some of the performances we have enjoyed over the years have been: puppetry (my mom, me and Josh) Christmas joke monologs (my brother or step dad) Christmas carol sing along by my step brother who plays Christmas carols on my mom's slightly out of tune piano and we gleefully sing along, sports related made up games (popsicle stick ball with ping pong balls and paper snowball fights) by my son, singing or signing by me, one year we made a clay model out of playdough of a family member and have others guess who it is, we tried to stump each other with word games and Christmas Quizzes: Christmas celebrations around the world. We always offer little prizes too.

This year my game will be: Funny captions for old pictures in honor of my step dad who first thought of it and used clip art, collected captions and put them in a special family book.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have never made a turkey in the oven but have made ham for Thanksgiving. When I was little the kids used to go out and fly kites in the brisk winds on a bluff where my uncle lived overlooking Lake Michigan in Racine, Wisconsin. I still have two kites but my son is not interesting in kite flying. I think I forgot how to make the tail out of cotton fabric scraps. The kites now a days are made of plastic instead of the paper ones we used to have. During the past few years I have been making crafts for Christmas time on Thanksgiving. Last year I made some craft items for our local church woman's ministry fundraiser luncheon. I am having difficulty with creative ideas for crafts this year. I am drawn to embroidery. I found an embroidery encyclopedia from the library but unfortunately it was published in the UK. I have an aunt from the Dahlberg (of Chicago, IL) family who made quilts and other needlework. I tried quilting but the rotary cutter and I did not get along too well. Last year I made fleece lizards for Christmas and embroidered felt pillow ornaments.
I am thankful for my family and especially for my Lord Jesus Christ. I am thankful for good health and that I can do genealogy!

Gates Family clues on Ancestry

I just finished a search of Ancestry for Peter GATES my ancestor. I found an index to the Barbour Collection which lists Peter Gates father as Zebadiah Gates and all of Peter's siblings match my friend's Ancestry list for Peter's siblings. The Georgina Cole library has the Barbour Collection for Connecticut Vital records in microfilm and now I know that I can check the B16-31 (Ga-Gaz)rolls for Gates names and B35-5 for Groton 1704-1853. The library published a Genealogy aid for finding things in the Barbour Collection at: http://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/departments/library/research/Pages/genealogy.aspx , I clicked on user guides and found the Barbour collection user guide. I can't wait to see what else I will find while researching Connecticut.

Disclaimer: I am not an employee of Ancestry or in any way affiliated with the company except as a subscriber.

Who was Peter Gates Father?

Looking for the Father of Peter Gates from Groton, New London, Connecticut. Peter was born 26 Feb 1750. An ancestry tree puts Peter as the son on Zebadiah Gates and Sarah Woodmansey but the Book (found on Google Books) Stephen Gates of Hingham and Landcaster, Massachusetts and his descendants by Charles Otis Gates does not support this. It has a completely different list for children of Zebadiah Gates which does not include children: Mary, John, David (brother of Peter who owned land with him in Leyden (Gate's Hill)), Peter (my direct ancestor), Zebediah, Sarah, Esther, Anna and Mary Gates.

My Peter Gates had a daughter named Lephy (aka Lephe, Lefy) Gates who was born in Leyden.

I have searched through many books on New London, CT but many of them are too early to list Peter's birthdate on 26 Feb 1750.