Hair: Black & Some Grey, Bushy

Ancestry.com has just added U.S. passport applications to their list of databases. My first query was for my grandfather, Marko Blazic, and lo and behold there he was! The application was made on 21 Oct 1919.

He had just become a naturalized citizen less than a month before, on 26 Sep 1919. He was going back home to find a bride. I am grateful that he was ultimately successful in this.

The "Description of the Applicant" reveals he was 33 years old; 5'7"; medium forehead; grey eyes; medium broad nose; medium mouth; medium chin; dark complexion; smooth face; hair black and some grey, bushy.

The application says he emigrated on the Ultonia from Trieste on about 24 May 1906. The Ultonia was a 8,845 gross ton British steam ship, with a speed of 13 knots, built to transport cattle for the Cunard Steamship Company. She was launched on 4th Jun 1898. The next year, she was fitted with accommodation for passengers. In 1904, she was rebuilt to 10,402 gross tons and began sailing from Trieste to Fiume, Naples and New York. In June 1905, some of the crew mutinied following a dispute over shift length, causing other crew members to be drafted into service as stokers and firemen. While en route from New York to London on 27 Jun 1917, the Ultonia was torpedoed and sunk 190 miles SW of the Coast of Ireland by the German submarine U-53, captained by Hans Rose.

The Ultonia did make an arrival in May 1906, as the application says, but the arrival was on the second of the month, not the 24th. I looked at the passenger manifest, but did not see a single Blazic or similarly spelled name. A month and a half later, on 24 Jun 1906, the Ultonia made another New York arrival. This trip had on board three men from the village of Podbablje. They are recorded on the passenger manifest (available on the Ellis Island web site) as Peter Blazic, age 18; Meate Blazic, age 17; and Marko Milas, age 35. I had known of this manifest and long suspected that "Meate Blazic" was my grandfather, even though the first name and the age did not match. However, with the passport application, I am very confident that "Meate" is Marko.

Important and Interesting

A few years ago, through a Google search, I became aware of a rare book entitled, Important and Interesting Trial of Mortimer J. Smith, on an Indictment for Libel on Miss Emma Williams: in Having Connected Her Name with the Separation of David Groesbeck (the New York Wall Street broker), from his Wife: in the Albany Court of Session, December 16, 1847.

The book was listed in an auction catalogue for law books, with a reserve price of $250, much higher than its original price of 12¢. The auction was long over--great tragedy--but at least I knew the book existed. Later, I learned there were two editions, 1847 and 1870. The 1870 edition included additional material.

The 1847 edition was published out of Albany, New York, by Mortimer J. Smith, reprinting from Smith's short-lived publication, the Castigator. From what I can tell, the Castigator was only published in 1847, and Mr. Groesbeck's adulterous affair with Emma Williams may have been its only focus. Groesbeck accused Smith of defaming the character of Emma Williams and causing the separation of Groesbeck from this first wife, Mary W. Robinson. In the his trial for libel, Smith was found not guilty. To celebrate, Smith produced the 1847 edition of the book.

The book was reprinted in 1870 out of New York, with additional material and an introduction which took pains to point out that "In reproducing this evidence it is not for the gratification of malice, or to cater to a prurient taste, but simply in a philosophic sense to place before the public the facts developed in the trial." The unnamed editor goes on to say, "A quarter of a century ago, the individual whose name figures so frequently in the following pages, gave abundant evidences of that lamentable obliquity of moral vision which has ever prevented him from pursuing the paths of virtue...in this 'green and salad days,' with the hot blood of youth running riot in his veins, he neglected his loving wife to frolic on the barn floor with the fair object of an unlawful passion."

Now, our good friends at the Harvard University Library have made both editions of the book available on-line, not for $250, not for 12¢, but for free. The 1847 edition can be found here. The 1870 edition can be found here.

Groesbeck and Emma Williams were married on 21 Feb 1848, just a few months after the conclusion of the trial.

Harris Brickwall Smashed! (Probably)

For more than 20 years, my father and I have wondered where in Wales our immigrant ancestor, William Harris, came from. Now, thanks to computer indexing and the Internet, we have found out! (Probably.)

We knew for years that our William Harris married Sarah Ann Jones and had two children, Thomas J. and Lewis W., before leaving Wales and coming to Ohio. We had looked at the IGI and seemed to find indication that they came from Monmouthshire, but we had nothing firm. However, not long ago, I used Ancestry.com to check for Thomas Harrises living in Wales who were 1 year old at the time of the 1861 census, and whose parents where named "William" and "Sarah." Amazingly, there was only one hit for these critieria.

The family lived in the parish of Merthyr Tydfil, in the county of Glamorgan. At the time of the census, they were living at 41 George Street, with two children (John, age 3, and Thomas, age 15 months); William's father, Thomas, age 70; and William's brother, Charles, age 40. The census notes that Sarah and the children were born in Merthyr Tydfil, but that husband, grandfather, and brother were born in Abergwili, Carmarthenshire.

But is this our family? The ages listed for William and Sarah were both too young by 1 year when compared to our family records and U.S. census data. Using FreeBMD, I found and ordered the birth registration certificate for their child, Thomas. It listed his mother's maiden name as "Jones." Hurray, a match! But wait, the birth date on the certificate was 13 Jan 1860, and the birth date on Thomas's Akron, Ohio, death certificate was 16 (or possibly 15) Jan 1860, off by 2 or 3 days. Seeing this, and having William and Sarah too young by 1 year, made me lose confidence. But there was another test I could make.

My William and Sarah had one more child who was born in Wales, Lewis W. Once again checking FreeBMD, I found there was only one Lewis Harris birth registered in Glamorgan within the timeframe. I ordered the certificate. It showed that Lewis's mother's maiden name was "Jones," and that he was born at 41 George Street. An exact match on mother's maiden name and linkage to the 1861 census family!

I don't have Lewis's death certificate, but none of the his U.S. census data matches the certificate's birth date of 4 Dec 1861:

• 1870 census - born Jun 1859/May 1860
• 1880 census - born Jun 1860/May 1861
• 1900 census - born Nov 1862
• 1910 census - born Apr 1862/Apr 1863
• 1920 census - born Jan/Dec 1862
• 1930 census - born Apr 1862/Mar 1863

Still, I think that this is him, and that this is my family, despite the discrepancies with birth dates. The names of the childen are right. The names "Thomas" and "Charles" repeat frequently in this family line. The family disappears from Merthyr Tydfil by the time of the 1871 census.

Children of Edwin Charles Henderson

I'm still playing around with the Find a Grave website. Before I add a name, I always check to see what's there. The other night I found someone had already made entries for Edwin Charles Henderson, Sr (1863-1939) and Emma H Wood (1868-1929), as well as their three children (Emline Lavinia, Wilmer Thomas, and Edwin Charles, Jr) and son in law (Ben Bunyar, Sr). I emailed the person who posted the entries, "Phyl," but he said he was not related. Apparently there are a number of people like him who, as a public service, take photographs of gravestones and post them to this site. As Edwin and Emma are my great granduncle and great grandaunt, I was happy to not only find these graves, but see them too. Each of the graves has the same style, which makes me think that there may not have been stones for the older burials until recently. Previously, in March, I wrote a cold contact letter to the person who I believed was the great grandson of Edwin and Emma, but I never received a reply.