Povilauskas / Hebenstreit

Last week I found Helen Povilauskas in the New York City marriage record index. I just happened to be in NY over the weekend, so I stopped in to the Municipal Archive to search their microfilm records. Since I had the index number, it only took a few minutes.

They keep a copy of the affidavit, the license, and the certificate -- which mostly all have the same information on them. The records didn't show me anything I didn't know already, since I had already identified Helen's parents on the census. I was hoping the marriage record might have their actual names, but unfortunately it still only listed the Anglicized forms - "Constance" and "Leo" - as well as a corrupted version of her mother's maiden name, "Matulinkie". Anyway, it was interesting to see signatures written in their own hands, including Helen's younger sister, who signed as Mildred "Palas".

Affidavit

License

Certificate

NYC Homes

One interesting bit of information is that every building in the five boroughs of New York City was photographed between 1939 and 1940 for property tax assessment purposes. These photos are held in the NYC Municipal Archive and were recently digitized.

Since I noticed that the Povilauskas family was living in Queens on the 1940 census, I decided to have a look. What I found looks pretty similar to what's still there on Google Streetview.

They lived at 109-48 118th Street in Queens ("Block 11598", "Lot 30") http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/s/v9unk2

Konstancija Matulyte?

The goal of digging into records of Helen Palas was to see if I could identify Helen’s mother, the third sibiling of Silvestras and Anna. Helen's death record gave me that information - at least the first bit of it. The parents were "Leon" and "Constance". My guess is that Constance's name was probably actually Konstancija. I have no idea what name would Anglicize to "Leon". (On a related note "Anna" Matulyte / Sviatikiene should actually be "Ona").

Knowing that the family used the name "Palas" rather than the actual Povilauskas, made it easier to find them in the census. So far I've found them in the 1930 and 1940 censuses.

Povilauskas / "Palis" family on 1930 census.

Povilauskas / "Palas" family on 1940 census.

In the 1930 census, they're using the name Palis, with an 'i'. But it's clearly them because both Helen and Mildred are with them. Further to that "Leon" appears as "Louis" (name variation chaos!). The 1930 census also tells me some very interesting things. First, it tells me that Constance was born around 1894. That means she's younger than her sister Anna. Secondly, it gives Constance's immigration date as 1915 - a full 6 years after Anna. Those two bits of information counter the theory that the unmarried Anna might have come to the US with her older married sister. In fact it might have been the opposite! Anna's younger unmarried sister might have come to the US to live with her! This, of course, still leaves the mystery about Anna's arrival. Does it mean that there was other Matulis family in the US before her? Or might it mean that Anna was just ahead of her time and emigrated on her own?

The last two bits of information that the 1930 census tells me is that Constance married at the age of 23 (around 1917) and her first two children were born in New Hampshire (around 1918 and 1922). I should be able to use that information to find their birth certificates. And it should also help me find them on the 1920 census, which should have them in New Hampshire (not NYC, where they are on the 1930 and 1940 censuses).

The 1940 census doesn't tell me much that the 1930 didn't already, except that they had bought a house in Queens.

Helen "Palas"

After my discovery of the Povilauskas / Hebenstreit marriage record last night, I decided to go back to the library this evening and have a look at the actual file. My hope was that this marriage certificate would identify Helen's parents. Helen's mother is the third sibling of Silvestras and Anna Sviatek. All I knew from my grandfather (Vacys) was that this sister had married somebody with the name Povilauskas -- he couldn't even remember her given name.

To my slight disappointment, the record turned out to be just an index. It doesn't have all the details of the record itself. There is a license number though, so it will eventually give get me to the record I'm looking for. In fact, I just happen to be going to New York City this weekend, so I should be able to get the record while I'm there.

Helen Povilauskas
NYC Marriage License #6987, 29 August 1940

In addition to this record though, I was also able to find a grave image and obituary for Helen: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175691496/helen-hebenstreit. She only just recently died in 2017 at the age of 98! Here's what was written in her obituary:

Helen Palas Hebenstreit

Birth: 2 Mar 1918 New Hampshire, USA

Death: 10 Jan 2017 (aged 98)

Burial: South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, Palm Beach County, Florida, USA

Memorial #: 175691496

Bio: Helen Hebenstreit, a North Palm Beach resident and former resident of North Caldwell, NJ, died January 10, 2017 at the age of 98. She was born March 2, 1918 in New Hampshire to the late Constance and Leon Palas. Helen was a past member of the Columbiette’s and volunteered at the Veteran’s Hospital in Florida. She loved children, flowers and animals. She is predeceased by her husband George, whom she was married to for over 70 years. She is survived by her children Debra Connors and her husband Timothy and Carolyn Hebenstreit. Also surviving are her grandchildren; Reece, Connor, Payton, Graham, Brennan, Timmy and Georgia. Helen is predeceased by her sister Mildred Crabtree. Interment Information - South Florida National Cemetery, 6501 S. State Road 7, Lake Worth, Florida.

Spouse: George A Hebenstreit 1917-2010

From www.findagrave.com

There's a lot of information there, and it should be helpful in finding more records. The main things that stand out are that Povilauskas was shortened to "Palas". Sara had actually told me yesterday that her aunt Jayne remembered them being called "Palace", phonetically the same. Knowing that they used "Palas" will definitely help me find them. The other thing is that her parents used the names Leon and Constance - that's them! Those are the two I'm looking for!! Constance is the sister of Anna and Silvestras. I'm quite sure those are both Anglicised - Leon and Constance aren't Lithuanian names - but "Leon and Constance Palas" might turn up on a census record. Finding those will be the next step.

Anna Matulyte / Sviatekiene

** If you're confused about why I change up the endings of surnames, read this. **

Though I've not added anything to this blog in quite a long time, it's proven useful, on more than one occasion, for reconnecting with distant family links. Just recently, I was contacted by a couple third-cousins from the Sviatek family line who had come across something I'd written. Until now, I hadn't had any contact with the Sviatek (Sviatikis) group. Now hopefully I can fill in some details about that branch. Sara, one of the two who found me, was able to help fill in a mystery almost right away -- who's pictured in this photo:

The photo came from the album of my great-uncle Juozas Matulis in Pasvalys, Lithuania. He knew it was from the US, but he couldn't recall who was pictured. Phyllis Ouellet suspected it was "Annie" Sviatek, and she was correct. According to Sara, standing next to the car is her grandmother's mother, Anna. Anna is the blood relation between us. Our common ancestor was Anna's father, Mykolas Matulis. Anna's maiden name was Matulyte. She was the aunt of my grandfather (and possibly the person who sponsored my grandparents' emigration to the US!). Driving the car is Josephine Sviatek / Stillings. And an aunt (must be the daughter of Josephine) is in the back. Sara even knew where the photo was taken - Barrington, Rhode Island.

Sara sent me some photos of her branch of the tree.

Victoria and Ann
(daughters of Anna Matulyte / Sviatekiene)

Ann, Anna, and Albert
(daughter on the left, son on the right)

Anna, Josephine (holding son, Robert Stillings), and Joseph Sviatek

The Sviatikis Branch
Anna is the sister of my great-grandfather Silvestras.

I decided to send some back and dug up some scans. And I discovered some of the Sviateks among them!

Sviatikis and Matulis

After seeing Sara's photos, I recognised Joseph and Anna in this photo right away. They're with my grandparents (Vacys and Marija), my uncle Charlie / Gediminas, and my dad (John), but I didn't know who the other two were until now. Judging by my dad's age, it should be around 1950, just after they arrived (unless it's actually my dad and younger uncle Mike, in which case it's a few years later). The Sviateks have a funny habit of posing for photos in cars, but I guess owning a car was a big deal in those days.

Since making contact, I've become really curious about Anna Matulyte/Sviatikiene. When did she arrive in the US, why, and with whom? Anna and Joseph were part of the "first wave" of Lithuanian immigrants -- that is, immigrants who came during the tail end of Tsarist Empire primarily (I think) for economic opportunity as serfdom was ending in Russian territory (which included Lithuania). But as I posted before Anna married Joseph in the US in 1912, not in Lithuania before leaving. Does that mean she met Joseph in the US? It would have been unusual for an unmarried women to emigrate on her own in those days. Was that actually the case? If not, who did she emigrate with? So far as I know, her mother and father (Mykolas and Katrina) remained in Lithuania. What were the circumstances of her arrival?

I looked back at copies of the 1920 and 1930 census that I downloaded previously, and discovered something I hadn't noticed before. Both censuses say that Anna arrived in 1909 and Joseph arrived in 1910! She did, indeed, arrive first.

1920 Census showing dates of immigration

1930 Census showing dates of immigration

This is significant because it could mean there were other Matulis relatives in the US that I don't know about. Or possibly even more interesting for the period, she emigrated alone as an unmarried woman of 18 years age. Since she arrived in 1909, she should appear on the 1910 census.

I went to the library earlier this evening to use their Ancestry subscription and did my damnedest to find her using all the variations of her maiden name I could think of. No luck! New immigrants often don't respond to the census, so there's a chance she's just not there, which would be unfortunate.

Thinking back on what my grandfather once told me, his other aunt (Povilauskiene) might have emigrated too. Perhaps she was older, perhaps she was married, perhaps Anna emigrated with them. The key to tracking down Anna might be tracking down her sister.

I conveyed all this to Sara, and she got some really helpful information from her aunt. She had attended Anna's sister's funeral (probably in the late 1960s) in New Jersey. Anna's sister had been living with her daughter Helen (would have been Helen Povilauskaite) and Helen's husband George Hebenstreit (they might have had a daughter named Debbie). The combination of "Hebenstreit" and "Povilauskas" is a genealogist's dream -- you can be pretty sure you've got the right people when you find records that match.

A bit of searching and, bingo!

I can't access the record until I go back to the library, but I'm hoping this will help lead me not just to Anna, but also Anna's sister -- two more of the Matulis group, right here in the US. All this has revived some of the momentum to pick up this genealogy stuff again.

There's been several other things I've wanted to add to this blog over the last couple years too, but have really just neglected it. Maybe I'll try to post some other updates too.