Grandmother was a Taper

 Life and Times, Maternal Ancestors, Pennsylvania, Surname: Pohl  No Responses »
Apr 242012
 
Ida (Pohl) Stewart

Ida (Pohl) Stewart, about 1909

The 1910 Federal Census lists the occupation of my grandmother Adelheid T. (Pohl) Stewart as a Taper at the Electric Works.  She was 19 then, just prior to her marriage with John Galbreath Stewart later that year.

I’ve been curious for some time.  What was a Taper?  No doubt the “Electric Works” was Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  It was a short distance from Turtle Creek, where my grandmother lived.

Through the wonders of the Internet I happened upon a short video clip produced in 1904 that explains a lot.

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Circuitous Yet Fortuitous

 Life and Times, Maternal Ancestors, Research Methodology, Surname: Pohl  No Responses »
Sep 212011
 
Pohl Homestead

Albert and Mary Pohl Homestead

This is a case of genealogical serendipity.  I set out to determine the precise location of the house where my maternal great-grandparents, Albert and Mary Pohl, lived.  In this picture taken about 1909, the Pohl family posed in front of their house.1

From something unexpected, I uncovered a trail of bread crumbs that led me to their doorstep.

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Footnotes
  1. The original is in the possession of Mike Voisin (mounted on cardboard, 5-15/16 by 6-15/16 inches). [↩]

To Grandmother’s House We Go

 Hungary, Maternal Ancestors, Surname: Pohl  1 Response »
Aug 152011
 
Adelheid (Pohl) Stewart

Adelheid "Ida" (Pohl) Stewart

I recently noticed FamilySearch.org added more Hungarian records.  I quickly found a new lead in the search for the birthplace of my grandmother, Adelheid “Ida” (Pohl) Stewart.  She immigrated to America in 1893 when she was but 2 years old along with her mother and two older siblings.  They departed from Hamburg, Germany, where the ship’s manifest listed them as living in Fünfkirchen, Hungary.

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