Bricklayers

As promised in my last post – I wrote to the bricklayers. Surprisingly, they responded within two days of my letter being mailed! Unfortunately, their records only go back to 1990, but John Phillips, president of Local 1 in Philadelphia personally called to give me the news AND is forwarding my letter to their international office.

Lewis Hirsch, great-grandfather paternal, and George Tomlin, great-grandfather maternal, were both bricklayers, so shout out to Local 1! Philadelphia Freedom!

Proves that sometimes all you really have to do is ask.

Attn: Death Unit

I wonder what the mailman thought, seeing my letter in the slot yesterday morning? Addressed to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the line “Attn: Death Unit” must have caught his attention. I myself never imagined that I would write the words “Attn: Death Unit” ever in my life.

But those are the instructions and if you want the death certificate of your great-great-grandfather, and harbor some hope that his parent’s names will be listed…you write the words Attn: Death Unit.

I do realize that this entire undertaking is only providing me with a very outside chance of finding my great-great-great-grandparents. Last week I received word back from the Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society (NCHGS) that the search for Lewis Hirsch only turned up the 1896 newspaper wedding announcement. While we already know most of this information, the announcement did say that Lewis was born in South Easton, March 3, 1871 and that he was currently residing in Philadelphia. This in turn verifies that the Lewis Hirsch I found boarding at the Drove Yard Hotel and listed as a “bricklayer” in 1888-89 is probably my Lewis. I already know he followed the work – the 1900 Census lists the young family in Hartford, Conn. – so it makes sense. [A thank you to the NCHGS for getting back to me so quickly!]

NCHGS also suggested that Lewis was probably of the Homestead Hirschs (story coming soon!), but I still doubt that lineage since it places Lewis in San Francisco in the early 1900’s.

Organized in 1865, the bricklayers union of Philadelphia, Local1 PA/DE was the first of its kind and I’m hopeful they have old records of members. I don’t know how finding this out will help me, but at this point I think every little connection counts. The next letter is to the Local1 PA/DE…and I wonder what the mailman will think of that!?

Little clues

While looking for old photos recently, I can across a school project I had done in the fourth grade. Having just moved from Philadelphia to Michigan, we spent a lot of time on the phone with my grandmothers regarding the family tree assignment  – it was my first step into genealogy and I was fascinated.

What is surprising about my construction paper tree are the little clues I had forgotten over the past 30 years. On the tree, the Tomlin side of the family has a reference to the “Lightcap Family.” It is family lore that Clara Tomlin was an orphan child of an Indian woman and it is possible that the Lightcaps were her caretakers? This tiny, little clue sent me on a search and while I didn’t turn up any probable Lightcaps, I did find a Clara Stewart in the 1880 Census, enrolled at the Mercer Soldier’s Orphan School in western Pennsylvania.

There are additional notes on the back and more to look into – good job, little Kirsten from 1980!