Progress: April 21, 2012

I found a new source of information for genealogical research – city directories. I first happened upon the directories for Plainfield, New Jersey in the Westfield Memorial Library archive. I then stumbled upon the U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta) database, a collection of directories for U.S. cities and counties.

The Plainfield Directories brought up many entries for the Angerbauer family. From 1895 onwards, the head of the household represented the family unit, that is, only adult males were listed. None of the women in the Angerbauer family appeared until 1914. For instance, my great great grandfather, Joseph Angerbauer, appears in the 1913 Plainfield Directory, but a year later, his widow Frances is listed. I was therefore able to determine the approximate date of his passing.

Yet as I pored over the directories, I also noted the addition of the many sons and daughters of working age (generally 20 years old) over the years: George the "moving picture operator" and later, fireman (1915); Marian the stenographer (1916); Mildred the saleslady at only 16 years of age (1927) who moved up to become cashier at S S Kresge a year later. Kresge's was a chain of department stores founded by Sebastian Spering Kresge in 1912.

In 1927, the Plainfield Directory is renamed R. L. POLK & CO.'S. Founded in 1870, the R. L. Polk company was once one of the largest publishers of city directories. A detail of note is that the 1927 edition of the directory includes the wives' names in parentheses beside their husbands' names. In the past, if a woman worked outside the home, she was listed in the directory, but "homemakers" were absent. That is, until 1927.

 

 

The advertisements interspersed on the pages are just as interesting as the family groupings: the commercial activities of that time provides a window onto a bygone era. These directories were probably considered cutting edge in the world of advertising, as much as today’s Google and Facebook ads are revolutionizing ecommerce.

 

R. L. POLK & CO.'S, 1935 (JPG, p. 40)

 

It is through an informal ad in the 1935 edition of R. L. POLK & CO.'S directory that I discovered that my great grandfather’s brother, Joe H. Angerbauer (b. 1872), ran a family business with his son Joseph H. Jr. (b. 1899). Known as J. H. & Son as well as Angerbauer & Son, they sold coffee and tea from 1921 – 1943 in Plainfield, New Jersey. I’ve been unable to find further information on this company, nor do I know if it operated from the family home or from a store front?

It was a surprise to read the name of my great grandfather, John Christopher Angerbauer (b.1867), along with his daughter Muriel (b. 1901) among the Angerbauers. They appear out of nowhere, and are then absent from the 1940 edition of R. L. POLK & CO.'S. The last place I could him and his family is in Winnipeg in 1916, the date of the Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Was he simply visiting family in New Jersey in 1935? His occupation is listed as a clerk at the Oxford Theatre. Was his stay long enough to warrant getting a job? There are two theaters of the same name in close proximity to each other in New Jersey in the 30s. The Oxford Theater on Stevens Avenue in Little Falls, NY opened on February 24, 1928 and was demolished in the 60s.

 

Stevens Avenue, Oxford Theater, Little Falls, NJ, ca. 1937 Description: Postcard containing an image of Stevens Avenue, Little Falls, NJ. The photo shows Stevens Avenue, looking north toward Warren Street. The Oxford theater is visible in the distance. The marquee of the theater reads: "Fred Astaire / Shall We Dance." Numerous cars are visible on either side of the street. On the bottom of the postcard, text reads: "Stevens Ave - Looking North - Little Falls - N.J." Date: ca. 1937 ID Number: NP003.0003 Source: Little Falls Library

 

The Oxford Theatre at 216 West Front Street near Park Ave. in Plainfield started out as Stillman’s Music Hall in 1884, then became the F. F. Proctor’s Theatre in 1908 and finally Read’s Theatre in the twenties before becoming the Oxford. John C Angerbauer most likely worked at the Plainfield Theatre taking into account his address.

 

Front Street Plainfield, N.J. Plainfield Streets and Avenues Downtown, view looking down the street from above, showing businesses such as the Oxford Theatre and Tepper's Department Store. Postcard ID: C-1400 Publisher: Manhattan Card Pub. Co. Collection: Chase © Plainfield Public Library

 

I was able to get a glimpse of Plainsfield in the early 1900s by perusing through the Plainfield Postcard Collection. The Plainfield Public Library's searchable catalog was also a valuable archive with over 110,000 black & white images.

 

Oxford Theater with Pickford Showing, Paul Collier Theater with marquee advertising Pickford Photo ID: C40607 Collection: Collier © Plainfield Public Library

 

The Oxford was demolished in the early 21st century, but the Library of Congress' Prints & Photographs Online Catalog boasts an architectural drawing of the theater façade, c. 1925.

 

Read's Theatre (Proctor's Theatre), W. Front St. near Park Ave., Plainfield, New Jersey. Ink drawing by Anthony F. Dumas, c. 1925. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-135124]

 

I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I was able to advance in my research — three generations of Angerbauers — through a series of city directories.

Plainfield, New Jersey Directories (1895 - 1943)

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1895 (JPG, p. 12)
Angerbauer Adam, clerk, h 318 E Third St 
Angerbauer David G, blacksmith, h 127 Park ave
Angerbauer Joseph, laborer, h 318 E Third St 

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1897 (JPG, p. 3)
Angerbauer Adam, clerk, h 318 E Third St
Angerbauer Christopher J, clerk, N.Y., h 508 E Second st 
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 522 W Third st
Angerbauer Henry, clerk, N.Y., h 412 E Fourth st 
Angerbauer Joseph, laborer, h 318 E Third st
Angerbauer Joseph H, clerk, N.Y., h 412 E Fourth st

WAND’S PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1904 (JPG, p. 40)
Angelbauer David, bartender, h 410 Liberty
Angerbauer Adam, clerk, h 462 W 6th
Angerbauer Henry J, clerk, h 320 E 3d 
Angerbauer Joseph, laborer, h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer Joseph H, salesman, h 343 E 3d

BARTON-WAND PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1907 (JPG, p. 51)
Angerbauer Adam, clerk, h 410 E 4th
Angelbauer David G, bartender, h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer Joseph, laborer, h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer Joseph H, collector, h 343 E 3d

WAND’S PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1909 (JPG, p. 51)
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 351 E 3d
Angerbauer Joseph, laborer, h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer Joseph H, h 416 E 2d

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1912 (JPG, p. 58)
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 833 Webster pl
Angerbauer Joseph, lab., h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer Joseph H, colltr, h 416 E 2d

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1913 (JPG, p. 50)
Angerbauer Adam, clerk, h 410 E 4th
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 833 Webster pl
Angerbauer Joseph, lab., h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer Joseph H, colltr, h 416 E 2d

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1914 (JPG, p. 52)
Angerbauer Adam, clk, h 423 Orchard pl
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 833 Webster pl
Angerbauer Frances, wid Joseph, h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer Joseph H, collector, (N.Y.), h 416 E 2d

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1915 (JPG, p. 48)
Angerbauer Adam, clk, h 423 Orchard pl
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 833 Webster pl
Angerbauer Frances, wid Joseph, h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer George, moving picture opr, h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Joseph H, collector, (N.Y.), h 416 E 2d

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1916 (JPG, p. 53)
Angerbauer Adam, machinist, h 423 Orchard pl
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 833 Webster pl
Angerbauer Frances, wid Joseph, h 318 E 3d
Angerbauer George, fireman, h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Joseph H, collector, (N.Y.), h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Marian, stengr, h 833 Webster pl

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1917 (JPG, p. 52)
Angerbauer Adam, machinist, h 423 Orchard pl
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 833 Webster pl
Angerbauer George, fireman, h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Joseph H, collector, (N.Y.), h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Marian, stengr, h 822 Webster pl

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1918 (JPG, p. 59)
Angerbauer Adam, machinist, h 429 E 5th
Angerbauer David G, bartender, h 833 Webster pl
Angerbauer George, fireman (U.S.A.), h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Joseph H, collector, (NY), h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Marian, stengr, h 822 Webster pl

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1919 (PDF, p. 67)
Angerbauer Adam, machinist, h 423 Orchard pi
Angerbauer David G., bartender, h 822 Webster pi
Angerbauer George, fire dept, h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Joseph H., collector, (NY), h 416 E 2d  
Angerbauer Joseph H., jr., elk, h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Marian, stengr, h 822 Webster pi

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1920 (PDF, p. 67)
Angerbauer Adam, mach, h 423 Orchard pi
Angerbauer David G., (Angerbauer & Freed), h 822 Webster pi
Angerbauer Geo., fire dept, h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Jos. H., collector, (NY), h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer Jos. H., jr., elk, h 416 E 2d
Angerbauer & Freed, (David G. Angerbauer & Jos. J. Freed), cigars, 107 North av

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1921 (PDF, p. 81)
Angerbauer David G., (Angerbauer & Freed), h 822 Webster pi
" Geo., fire dept, h 416 E 2d
" Jos. H., teas, h 416 E 2d
" Jos. H., jr., elk, h 416 E 2d
" & Freed, (David G. Angerbauer & Jos. J. Freed), cigars, 107 North av

BUSINESS DIRECTORY, 1922  (PDF, p. 724)
Tea and Coffee
(See also Grocers)
Angerbauer J. H. & Son, 26 Randolph rd

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1922 (PDF, p. 76)
Angerbauer Adam, mach, h 221 New
" David G., (Angerbauer & Freed), h 822 Webster pl
" Geo., fire dept, h 115 Church
" J. H. & Son, (Jos. & Jos., jr.), teas and coffee, 26 Randolph rd
" Jos. H., jr., (Angerbauer & Son), h 26 Randolph rd
" Jos. H., (Angerbauer & Son), h 26 Randolph rd
" & Freed, (David G. Angerbauer & Jos. J. Freed), cigars, 107 North av

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1924 (PDF, p. 70)
Angerbauer George, fire dept, h 115 Church
" J. H. & Son, (Joseph & Joseph, jr.), teas & coffee, 26 Randolph rd
" Joseph H., (Angerbauer & Son), h 26 Randolph rd
" Jos. H., jr., (Angerbauer & Son), h 26 Randolph rd

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1925 (PDF, p. 64)
Angerbauer Adam, machinist, h 221 New
" Charles, lineman, h 26 Randolph rd
" David G., h 822 Webster pi
" George, fire dept, h 118 Church 
" J. H. & Son, (Joseph & Joseph, jr.), teas & coffee, 26 Randolph rd
" Joseph H., (Angerbauer & Son), h 26 Randolph rd

R. L. POLK & CO.'S, 1927 (PDF, p. 62) 
Angerbauer Adam (Anna) mach h434 W 5th
Angerbauer David G (Christiana) special police h.822 Webster pl
Angerbauer Geo C (Dorothy) fire dept hll8 Roosevelt Av
Angerbauer Jos H (Selma) tea and coffee 26 Randolph rd h do
Angerbauer Mildred F slsldy r434 W 5th
Angerbauer S E phone opr r840 E 2d 

PLAINFIELD DIRECTORY, 1928 (PDF, p. 57)
Angerbauer Adam (Anna) mach h434 W 5th
Angerbauer David G (Christine) spl police h822 Webster pl
Angerbauer Geo C (Dorothy) Fire Dept hll8 Roosevelt av
Angerbauer Jos H (Selma) tea and coffee 26 Randolph rd h do
Angerbauer Mildred F cashr S S Kresge Co r434 W 5th

R. L. POLK & CO.'S, 1930 (JPG, p. 60)
Angerbauer David (Christine) steward Eagle Club h822 Webster pl
Angerbauer Geo C (Dorothy) city firemn h648 E 2d
Angerbauer Jos H (Selma N) coffee and tea 26 Randolph rd h do
Angerbauer Mildred F clk r434 W 5th

R. L. POLK & CO.'S, 1935 (JPG, p. 40)
Angerbauer Anna (wid Adam) h434 W 5th
Angerbauer Christina (wid David G) h822 Webster pl 
Angerbauer F Mildred cash S S Kresge Co r434 W 5th
Angerbauer Geo C (Dorothy) city firemn h547 E 2d 
Angerbauer John clk Oxford Theatre r26 Randolph rd
Angerbauer John A slsmn r26 Randolph rd

Angerbauer Joseph H (Selma M), Coffee, Teas, Vanilla and Cocoa, My Own Special Blend of Coffee for Over 15 Years, I Have Carried Only One Grade—the Best; Why Not Try a Pound and Be Convinced? 26 Randolph rd, Tel 6-3135, h do

Angerbauer Mildred F slswn S S Kresge Co r434 W 5th
Angerbauer Muriel dom r1144 Evergreen av

R. L. POLK & CO.'S, 1940 (JPG, p. 42)
Angerbauer
-- Jos H (Selma N) coffee 26 Randolph rd h do
-- Mildred F bkpr r 114 Watchung av NP

R. L. POLK & CO.'S, 1943 (JPG, p. 40)
Angerbauer Ann (wid Adam) h114 Watchung av (NP)
-- Geo C (Dorothy) city firemn h10 Randolph rd
-- John A (Harriet S) firema NP Fire Dept h24 Grandview av (NP)
-- Jos H (Selma N) coffee 26 Randolph rd h do
-- Jos M USN r10 Randolph rd

 

Process: Artistic fieldwork

As my work is process-based and research-based, with projects often stretched over years, I would situate my art practice as “a kind of artistic fieldwork”, a term coined by Rachel Wetzler in an article in Rhizome (1) about artists Ellie Ga, Sara Jordenö and Simon Fujiwara: “rather than conceiving of their work as a physical entity, with a particular, fixed form, it is instead versatile and open-ended.”

It is the Web itself that is my main material for artistic exploration.

“Dans son oeuvre numérique Web Tapis à langues, inspiré du sladdakavring, une sorte de courtepointe suédoise formée de langues feutrées qui se chevauchent, elle tisse des icônes virtuels. Il peut s’agir de mots ou de lieux géographiques. L’ordinateur devient en quelque sorte une nouvelle matrice comme le métier à tisser à l’origine.(2)”

Jean De Julio-Paquin understood how the computer, or rather the network, is the matrix of my “Tongue Rug” project. The virtual sladdakavring (Swedish for Tongue Rug) is made up of the network of associations and communications between software, social media tools, platforms, languages, etc. Conceptually speaking, it is these very networks that act as the threads that link the multiple tongues in the larger tongue rug.

As it is time-based, I’ve worked on the Tongue Rug project over the last decade. I cycled to a number of geographical and genealogical waypoints throughout Québec and documented various lakes, rivers and streams, which were then archived in YouTube and Google Maps. The tongue rug itself was effectively parcelled off into the Web. Each tongue of the Tongue Rug corresponded to a specific geographical waypoint (body of water), a genealogical name (toponymy), a blog tag, and a Twitter #hashtag, which directed the conversation thread that was displayed in real-time on my website.

I invited the public (in French and in English) to contribute to the sladdakavring by way of a blog, Twitter and Pinterest. The use of social media to gather information was an experiment in crowdsourcing along the lines of “cultural participation” as defined by Jennifer L. Novak-Leonard (3).

The tongue rug then becomes like a latent, virtual entity dependent on the participation of the public (4). I asked people to write a tweet about a body of water, or a longer story through an on-line form. These micro-texts would merge with my own blog postings and tweets to make a larger metanarrative on landscape, place and memory.

 

 

The first experiment took place at the Maison de Culture Marie-Uguay; my “Tongue Rug” project was part of the group show Reflets V. This provided me with the opportunity to meet with the public and talk about my project in person. Gathering with people around the computer created a sort of open workshop: I could navigate with the user online and provide contextual information. At the same time, I could demystify social media tools. I ended up collecting a smattering of stories. With 15 contributions, it could not really be called crowdsourcing. Still it was the start of something as I realized that the face-to-face encounter is a vital part of the project.

 

 

While the potential of participation is inherent to the piece, I need to engage with the public in a physical situation in order to stimulate the best exchanges. I’ve applied to a few festivals to do a few more experiments with the Tongue Rug project. This time I envision the meeting with the public in an installation setting; one that compells people to sit down for a bit and talk.

 

Notes

1. The Art of Fieldwork, Rachel Wetzler, Rhizome, February 2, 2012
2. Jean De Julio-Paquin, text in the catalogue for Reflets V, Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay, april 2011
3. American researcher Jennifer L. Novak-Leonard works for the firm WolfBrown who conducted the study Getting In On The Act: How Arts Groups are Creating Opportunities for Active Participation. « Engagez-vous... dans l'art: Une étude recense différents degrés de la participation culturelle », Le Devoir, November 1, 2011
4. « Œuvre en processus pour public en développement, Stéphanie Lagueux et Julie Lapalme » (2003). Marie-Christiane Mathieu, Espace Sculpture, Montréal, Spring 2003, p. 49-50.

Process: Pinning tongues

Been experimenting with Pinterest (Pin + interest) as it is in the spirit of the tongue rug. A bulletin board with disparate pins as a sort of sladdakavring: a way of rapidly gathering links, images and videos and sharing these collections with other users.

  

Though it is being used for emarketing, promoting brands and products, more personal archives are being developed. The latter intrigues me: what do people judge worthwhile enough to pin? Over time, what will this interface reveal to us about what society deemed important?

  

Progress: February 5, 2012

I recently learned an important lesson about diversifying my genealogical research. Databases all have their own particular quirks and transcriptions of microfilms can vary widely. For instance, errors made while transcribing documents, as well as the widespread practice of misspelling the foreign sounding names of newly arrived immigrants in North America have resulted in variations in the spelling of certain family names. My great grandfather's name varied from census to census: Angerbauer (1880, USA), Angarbanr (1900, USA) and Angerbaur (1916, Canada).

I had been using Ancestry.com for the last couple of months and felt like I had reached a standstill. I decided to try FamilySearch, which is affiliated to the Mormon Church. Unlike Ancestry.com, which requires a paid subscription, the FamilySearch site gives free access to transcriptions of the many Canadian records on microfilm.

Surprisingly enough, when I queried their database, it was able to make the phonetic link between Angerbauer and Angesbower, bringing up a birth record in 1897 for a “child Angesbower” in New Jersey. As the date matched that of Frances, the eldest of his daughters, I knew it was a positive match. As censuses only list the head of the household’s family name, I had not previously known the maiden name of my great grandmother. All I knew was that she was born in Canada in 1871, and that she was of Scotch descent. Giving recourse to another genealogy portal proved to be a sound decision. One phonetic association provided me with a vital piece in the puzzle. Mary Angerbauer was born as Mary I. McKay.

 

McKay - Scottish and northern Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha ‘son of Aodh’, an ancient personal name meaning ‘fire’. Etymologically, this is the same name as McCoy. (Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press) — Ancestry.com

I had previously wondered why Mary Angerbauer had moved to Kincardine from New Jersey without her husband, before settling with him in Winnipeg, Manitoba five years later according to the 1916 Canada Census? Her maiden name partly explained why she was listed in the 1911 Fifth Census of Canada for the Bruce North along with her five daughters: Francis, Ruth, Muriel, Catherine and Keneena. It could be that her parents, who were born in Scotland, were one of the McKay families of the Lewis settlement in Bruce County, Ontario. Whole populations of the Scottish Highlands were expulsed from their lands in the 18th and 19th centuries in what was known as the Highland Clearances. (Wikipedia).

 

Kincardine was once known as Penetangore from the serpentine river of the same name. Robertson explains that it stems from the Indian name Na-Benem-fan-gaugh, which means ‘the river with the sand on one side”. (p. 429)

 

A. R. MacKinnon explains how there was a strong concentration of Gaelic speakers from the Isle of Tiree (Scotland’s Inner Hebrides) in Kincardine, but that the largest group of Gaelic speakers was the Lewis Settlement in the neighbouring township of Huron ("Gaelic in the Bruce", 1967). This settlement consisted of families that were evicted from their crofts on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland in the mid 19th century and who immigrated to Canada because they were offered free passage in return for their land. Two shiploads left Stornoway on May 30, 1851 and arrived in Montreal in August 1851. A year later, 109 families settled in the township of Huron in Bruce County according to the Bruce County Genealogical Society.

 

 

In The history of the county of Bruce and of the minor municipalities therein (1906), Norman Robertson paints a picture of the hardships that the settlers were confronted with in a new country as Gaelic speakers:

As is elsewhere pointed out, the settlers who first peopled the county of Bruce were, as a whole, of numerous and varied vocations, and in regard to nationality they were pretty thoroughly mixed up. This heterogeneity served a good purpose in the making of the county.  Huron Township received at one time, in the fall of 1852, a large group of settlers, sufficient if so allocated to have taken up every lot on three concessions, who differed in every respect from the fore- going. This was the Lewis settlement. It consisted of one hundred and nine families who took up land in the centre of the township. These were all from the Island of Lewis, and had been evicted from their croftings by their landlord, Sir James Matheson. Laboring under the disadvantage of being able to speak English but imperfectly Gaelic being their mother tongue, many, indeed, could speak no other and whose calling was that of sailors or fishermen, they were utterly ignorant of how to set to work to clear up a bush farm, and lacked also the necessary experience how to work it after it had been cleared. In addition to this, being settled close together they had consequently no opportunity to study the object lesson which a native Canadian backwoodsman in his daily task of chopping, logging and ploughing would have set before them. Is it any wonder, then, when all these circumstances are considered, that the progress of the Lewis settlement was at the first slow.

Robertson includes the McKay family name in a list of early Lewis settlers: Angus McKay and  John McKay settled on the 5th concessions, while Malcolm McKay, John McKay, Norman McKay, John MacKay, Angus McKay and Murdoch McKay settled on the 6th concessions. He also mentions a McKay along with other Highland Scotch settlers in the chapter on the Kinkardine township, but he does not go into detail safe to mention a Hector McKay who entered the ministry in the Presbyterian Church. So far, my research has brought up hundreds of Mary McKay’s in Canada alone, which has made the search for her exact birthplace quite difficult.

“There the fact is revealed that of all the townships in the county, Kincardine alone had a smaller population in 1901 than it had in 1861, and 1,651 less than in 1881. “Where has the population gone?” is but a natural question. Ask the Western States and our own Western Provinces. There, in numerous prominent positions, as well as on ranches, farms and mines, are to be found the “Old Boys” of Kincardine Township, with a warm, warm place in their hearts for the place of their birth.” (p.438)

This passage stood out for me thinking back of the westward migrations in my own family history.

 

Process: Lapalme Tongues

Tongue PA-1: Tweet your story
Lake Panache / Lac Panache
YouTube  l  Flash  l   Panaroma

 

Tongue LA-6: Tweet your story
Lapalme Stream / Ruisseau Lapalme
YouTube  l  Flash  l   Panaroma

 

Tongue LA-4: Tweet your story
Lapalme Lake / Lac Lapalme
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue LA-5: Tweet your story
Lac-à-l'Épaule [substitute]
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue LA-3: Tweet your story
Lapalme Waterway / Cours d'eau Lapalme
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Process: Legault Tongues

Tongue LE-3: Tweet your story
Legault Lake / Lac Legault
YouTube  l  Flash  l   Panaroma

 

Tongue LE-9: Tweet your story
Legault Stream / Ruisseau Legault
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue LE-1: Tweet your story
Legault Waterway / Course d'eau Legault
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue LE-8: Tweet your story
Legaults Peninsula / Presqu'Île des Legaults
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue LE-10: Tweet your story
Legault Stream / Ruisseau Legault
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue LE-6: Tweet your story
Legault point / Pointe à Legault
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Process: Angerbauer Tongues

Tongue A-3: Tweet your story
Mount Bauerman / Mont Bauerman
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue A-9: Tweet your story
Angers Bridge / Pont Angers
YouTube  l  Flash  l   Panaroma

 

Tongue A-11: Tweet your story
Angers River / Rivière Angers
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue A-13: Tweet your story
Angers River South / Rivière Angers Sud
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue A-10: Tweet your story
Angers Bridge / Pont Angers
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Tongue A-2: Tweet your story
Bauerman Creek / Crique Bauerman
YouTube  l  Flash  l  Panaroma

 

Progress: January 21, 2012

 

My great-grandfather was born in the former Kingdom of Württemberg in 1840, what is known today as the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Joseph Angerbauer's naturalization record indicates that he became a United States citizen on May 31, 1870 and settled in Westchester Co, New York. Census records state his occupation as a labourer.

As I have not yet been able to find his name in ship passenger lists, I wonder if he immigrated to the States illegally? Though he could have emigrated to escape religious persecution, it is perhaps more likely, considering the year, that he left his country to avoid military service because Germany practiced compulsory military conscription at that time. The Franco-Prussian war broke out on July 19, 1870 and ended on May 10, 1871, the result of a conflict between the Second French Empire under Napoleon III and the Kingdom of Prussia. The South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria joined together with the North German Confederation to aid Prussia. (Wikipedia)

In fact, his name does not surface in the Württemberg Emigration Index, a database compiled by Trudy Schenk, which contains the names of approximately 60,000 persons who applied to leave Germany from Württemberg from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

Yet, surprisingly, I found the Angerbauer surname in the Consolidated Jewish Surname Index on the Avotaynu website; it is included in Lars Menk’s Dictionary of German-Jewish Surnames (Bergenfield, 2005). This dictionary identifies more than 13,000 German-Jewish surnames from pre-World War I Germany, including Baden-Württemberg.

Though I could not find the meaning of the Angerbauer surname, "Anger" is defined by the Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford University Press) as follows:

South German: a topographic name from Middle High German anger ‘meadow’, ‘village green’.
French and English (of Norman origin): variant of the personal name Angier.
French: variant of the habitational name Angers. (Ancestry.com)

“Bauer’ is defined as German and Jewish (Ashkenazic). It’s said to be a

“status name for a peasant or nickname meaning ‘neighbor’, ‘fellow citizen’, from Middle High German (ge)bur, Middle Low German bur, denoting an occupant of a bur, a small dwelling or building. Compare Old English bur, modern English bower. This word later fell together with Middle High German buwære, an agent noun from Old High German buan ‘to cultivate’, later also (at first in Low German dialects) ‘to build’. The German surname thus has two possible senses: ‘peasant’ and ‘neighbor’, ‘fellow citizen’. The precise meaning of the Jewish surname, which is of later formation, is unclear. AB” (Ancestry.com)

I’ll need to get my hands on the Dictionary of German-Jewish Surnames to further my research.

 

Progress: December 11, 2011

 

I’ve been looking for information on my great grandfather for several years now, using free information found online for the most part. I had reached a real standstill. However, when I recently found out in the 1916 Census of the Prairie Provinces that John Angerbaur had emigrated from the United States, I finally decided to subscribe to Ancestry.com.

 

 

It was worth it to be able to examine the census sheets for the 1910 United States Federal Census and finally put together the missing pieces. I came across some good leads. For instance, I had been searching for a “John” when I should have been looking for a “Christopher” (John C Angerbauer): there was a discrepancy between 1900 & 1910. Another interesting find: Mary Angerbauer was not only listed in the 1910 Census, she was also listed in the 1900 United States Federal Census though her name had been misspelled as “Angarbanr”. Her husband’s name was also indecipherable: Chris* Angarbanr. The census indicates that he worked as a “Checker & Wrapper” in the retail clothing industry. (In the 1916 Census, John Angerbauer is listed as a Floorwalker —a Floor manager— for a Department store in Winnipeg).

 

 

This discrepancy between the two names eventually led me to his father Joseph Angerbauer, a labourer originally from Wurtemburg, Germany. He had settled in North Plainfield, Somerset, New Jersey. His wife Francis was also German (Baden). Her occupation was listed as “keeping house”; they had seven children. Christopher Angerbauer (b. about 1866) and John C Angerbauer (b. about 1867) were both residents of Plainfield, New Jersey. Am I correct in thinking that they are the same person?

 

1880	1900	1910	1911	1916
Christopher Angerbauer (14 years, abt. 1866)	Chri* Angarbanr (b. 1867)	John C Angerbauer (b. 1867)		John Angerbaur (50 years)
	Mary B Angarbanr (b. 1870)	Mary B Angerbauer (b. 1871)	Mary Angerbauer (b. Oct. 1871)	Mary Angerbaur (49 years)
	Francis Angarbanr (8 years)	Frances M Angerbauer (b. 1892)	Francis Angerbauer (b. Oct. 1891)	Frances Angerbaur (24 years)
	Ruth I Angarbanr (3 years)	Ruth I Angerbauer (b. 1897)	Ruth Angerbauer (b. March 1898)	Ruth Angerbaur (18 years)
		Muriel C Angerbauer (b. 1902)	Muriel Angerbauer (b. Dec. 1903)	Muriel Angerbaur (14 years)
		Catherine L Angerbauer (b. 1905)	Cathernene Angerbauer (b. Sept. 1904)	Catherine Angerbaur (11 years)
		Keenena M Angerbauer (b. abt 1910)	Kenennena Angerbauer (b. Nov. 1910)	Kerrena [Kenena] Angerbaur (6 years)
				Lloyd George Angerbaur (1 year)

 

I was able to follow the Angerbauer family through a series of censuses: three in the States, and two in Canada. These census sheets were sometimes testament to how simple human error in transcribing information can complicate matters, as the records were rife with spelling mistakes and omissions. A whole other narrative between the lines.

 

 

The question remains: Did John Christopher Angerbauer emigrate to Canada in 1911?

 

Story: Beaver Lake / Lac aux castors

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Lac aux castors, Mont-Royal: 45.5N -73.583333W

Jane Affleck via e-mail
Halifax - October 31, 2011

Sometimes it’s hard to give “Lake of the Beavers” its due. Knowing it was man-made, the lake was almost never the focus of a hike or bike to the top of the hill; instead, the lookout point on the south side was the destination. And the way the gravel path from the park’s access point on Chemin de la Côtes-des-Neiges curves through the trees to the right, away from the lake—it’s as though the route was designed to discourage visitors from stopping at the lake, leading them onward and upward to the chalet at the lookout point and the tangle of paths around the southwest peak. And yet, if the lake weren’t there, the space would be just another patch of grass, used by pic-nickers, ultimate Frisbee players, and pale, sunbathing hipsters. Towards the end of my eight years in Montreal, I might have started to realize there were parts of the city I hadn’t fully appreciated. One late afternoon in early summer, probably a Sunday, I walked up Peel Street, cut through the little switchback at the base of the mountain, and made my way around the east side to the lake. With a pink and lilac dusk tinting the sky beyond the trees and reflecting off the still surface of the lake, I sat on a bench and watched the other visitors. That time of day, most visitors had already packed up and started down the paths toward their homes. But a few small families and young couples, many of them first generation Canadians/Quebecers, lingered by the lake, speaking to each other in the languages of the countries they’d left not so long ago. They seemed at peace, laughing at each other’s jokes, playing with their children. Did they come often to the lake? Had it come to represent something to them about the new lives they’d chosen to lead? I myself was soon to pack and move away from Montreal, try to fit myself into a new city. Would I find such a place, as these new Canadians had found? And would I appreciate it once I found it?

 

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