Favorite Photo

This weeks prompt from Amy Johnson Crow: The prompt is "Favorite Photo." Tell the story of the people, place, and event in a favorite photo. Where did the photo come from? Who has the original now? How did you get a copy of it?

This is my favorite photo of my maternal grandparents. To me the pose is one of a very comfortable couple, who love and care for each other. That line that looks like a pipe is really a pen mark. The corner ripped when I took the picture out of one of those disgusting magnet photo albums. 

The picture is in my possession and was given to me by either my father or my Mother's sister Aunt Bea. 

This is the same William Thomas I introduced on Sunday. Who was the first immigrant on this line.

I don't remember what year it was but it was about 1980, I copied the few family photos I had of my ancestors and sent them to my two Aunts, Bea my mother's sister and Emma my Dad's sister. They told me about the pictures and who was who. 

Here is the copy of the page with this picture. The black is my writing the blue is my Aunt Bea's. 

Here is a transcription of what was written,

Who Are These People:

Transcription My additional information is in Italics

Couple on Roof

Who: Grandpa & Grandma Chaplin: William Thomas Chaplin b1884, wife Minnie Elizabeth Spahn b1885.

Where: Borough Park, Brooklyn on the roof of Apt. building we lived.

Year: circa 1919 or 1920

Occasion: Visit by co-worker of Grandpas’ who took the picture.

Anything Else: The building in the background is the Convent of the Precious Blood. Building and grounds ran for a whole block across the street from our house, Believe Uncle Bill gave your Mother a prayer book? From there when she married your Father. My Mother converted to Catholicism when she married my Dad.

Here is a street view of the apartments and the now called Monastery of the Precious Blood.

Bird's Eye View of the apartment and Monastery.

Google Map. 

My Mother died a week before my first birthday so there are very few photos of her. My Dad saved a few, but I have none of her holding me as a baby. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 6 months old. The only stories of know of her and her family were from her brother and sister. 

Wordless Wednesday

William T Chaplin

 

This is a picture my cousin recently sent me of our grandfather. I like it!  Year taken unknown. Place Brooklyn, New York.

Two More New Fun Pages

This is how I did the page for the year my Mother, Edith was born. I printed a scan copy of the youngest picture photo I have of her.  I used colored card stock and added a couple of cute things in the plain corners.  I did a punch design on the top and bottom borders and placed some color paper behind it. 

I like it!

For my parent's wedding day I used  

paper with a design.  Again I printed a copy of a scan photo I had.  I had a hard time deciding what color paper to use.

I did these two pages this way since I didn't want to totally rearrange the completed pages .

Wordless Wednesday

William & Beatrice Chaplin

William & Beatrice Chaplin

These are my Uncle Bill & Aunt Bea my Mother Edith's older sister and brother.  Bea was born in 1909 & Bill in 1911. 

Wordless Wednesday

Beatrice Ann Chaplin

This is my Aunt Bea my Mother Edith's older sister. 
I am not sure if this is an 8th Grade or High School Graduation.  

Wordless Wednesday

William Thomas Chaplin

This was waiting for me in the mail when I came home this evening!  Thanks Cuz. This is my Maternal Grandfather. About 1908, Brooklyn, Kinds, New York.

Did I Really Find the Right Building??



Edith on Roof

 I have a picture of my mother at about age 4 or 5 on the roof of the apartment the family lived in.  Notice the shape of the roof with the lower and two higher sections.   Last night I Googled all the addresses I have of where Edith lived.  Since she was born in December of 1916, and this picture could be about 1920 or 1921.  The address of the 1920 census was 958 54 St, Brooklyn, Kings, New York. 

Same address?

Now check out the roof line on this building.  Do you see something similar?  I do.  It was one of those exciting moment you have while doing Genealogy.  I am sure these buildings have been gutted on the inside and remodeled a few times in the last 92 years.  I do not always trust Google to give me the exact addresses. 



Close up of Edith



Here is a scanned close up of the same picture. 



Back of picture.



Here is what her older brother my uncle wrote about her outfit.  Sounds like an older brother.



Fearless Females: Document with a Narrative

Lisa Alzo is repeating her series for Women's History Month.


March 9 — Take a family document (baptismal certificate, passenger list, naturalization petition, etc.) and write a brief narrative using the information.

This is the marriage certificate of my Maternal Grandmother Minnie Elizabeth to William Thomas Chaplin. I don't know much about her as a person or her married life.  I think the picture below says it all.

Here are my grandparents on a roof in Brooklyn, Kings, New York.  I really like this picture, they look very comfortable together and in love.  She looks more relaxed her than in other pictures.

That is not a pipe in my grandfather's mouth it is a pen mark.

My Family in History

Yesterday my cousins in England and I were looking into the immigration of the Chaplin brothers. William Chaplin one of the brothers was my grandfather, Herbert another brother was the grandfather of one of my cousins in England. Cousin Sue, a fourth cousin found a couple of dates. I did some more searching and found the ships they came in on I took screen shots of the ship's passenger list and sent them back to the cousins.  Sue sent back a message about the name of the ship. As I was looking at the passenger list and the name of the ship yesterday, I thought that sounds familiar. Today Sue reminded me why. It was sunk off the coast of Ireland by a Germany U-Boat and was the action that brought the US into WWI.



The Lusitania in NYC Sept. 13, 1907, Maiden Voyage

Yes, my great uncles sailed on the Lusitania, luckily they didn't sail on the last voyage but on the Maiden Voyage into New York City.   You can see their names below, in the red box.  Lines 3 and 4. Herbert & Bertram Chaplin.  If you look to the far right you will see the name of the nearest relative in England.  Walter T. Chaplin who is our Great Grandfather.

Lusitania Passenger List.



Next page of list

I do not know what passenger class they sailed.  Herbert was coming to visit Bertram who already lived in Brooklyn, Kings, New York.  My grand father immigrated in 1906 to live with his brother Bertram.  I haven't found when Bertram first arrived in New York, that will be one of my next searches.  Herbert did go back to England and marriage a gal there, which is how I have a second cousin in England. 

Actually these brothers are four of ten siblings, so I have a lot of  cousins in England.  I just don't know them all yet.

 

The Unknown Couple

One of my new found cousins in England sent me this picture today. We do not know the couple, my cousin thinks the young man is a Chaplin. We know 3 Chaplin brothers came to the USA and lived in Brooklyn, New York. We know it was taken in Brooklyn New York. I think her dress is more 1890's in style than 1900's but I'm not a fashion whiz. In other words I have no clue what year the dress is from.

This picture evokes strong emotion in me, she almost looks like she is grieving a lost and he is comforting her. It is very tender and caring.



Here is a picture of my grandmother at about age 36, with my aunt Bea & my mother Edith. Do you think there is any resemblance? Part of me thinks there is, or is it just because I want it to be my grandmother and grandfather?

Treasure Thursday

I thought of this post just as I got into bed last night. Knowing me if I had gotten up and completed the post at that time it would be another hour before I went to bed and it was already late. So here I am early this morning.

This handsome couple are my Maternal Grandparents, William Thomas Chaplin and Minnie Elizabeth Spahn Chaplin. The picture was taken in 1919 or 1920. The occasion was a visit from one Grandpa's co-worker who took the picture.

They are on the roof of their apartment building in Borough Park, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. The building in the background is the Convent of the Precious Blood. It ran for a whole block across the street from their home. That is not a pipe in Grandpa's month it is a pen mark.

I like the pose, so different then what we would do today and seems romantic to me.

An interesting tidbit is my grandfather purchased a Catholic prayer book from the convent when my Mother married my Father. She became Catholic to married my Dad.

This information was given to me by my Aunt Bea the oldest of the Chaplin children, my Mother was the youngest.