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.

Old Apartments

I did, finally, get a couple hours to check on the old addresses of the Leitners and O'Neils while in NYC this week. I went for a run around Central Park from our Midtown East hotel and stopped along the way at the addresses I had found at the library. I went around counter-clockwise, so I stopped at 2 West 104th Street (the O'Neils residence) first.

It was right on the corner of 104th and Central Park West - a really incredible location! - but I quickly discovered that the area had been through some difficult times. Many of the lots on the block had been demolished! Building #2, where the O'Neils lived, was no longer there. There were a few (quite nice) community gardens along the way, in place of the old vacant lots.

Community garden just beyond 4 West 104th Street.

I knew immediately what this meant. We had just been through a gentrification tour in Lower Manhattan with our students and had stopped at a community garden to explain how they'd been established through a long process of decline, dereliction, and regeneration. Slum lords in New York would do little upkeep on their buildings and eventually they'd become uninhabitable. Many were condemned and demolished. A lot of the properties were abandoned by their landlords, and the lots were squatted on. Then things went in one of two ways: a new wave of investment redeveloped (usually high rent) apartment buildings, driving up rents and driving out working class residents (who had been using the lots as gardens); or ownership couldn't be resolved and the city (reluctantly) took control of the gardens and offered arrangements for community management (ironically this often made the surrounding areas quite appealing to the middle-class, which drove up rents, and drove out all but those few who have been able to hold on to rent controlled properties).

The building on the left is where I believe #2 stood. The second
building is currently #4. And the space to the right of that is one
 of the community gardens.

When I arrived at West 104th Street, there was an elderly lady gardening in one of the lots up the street, so I asked what history she knew of the area. She said it was in the 60s or 80s that many of the buildings had been demolished. I actually have vague recollection of Dampa telling me that he had visited there with Nama (in the 90s?) only find her home had been demolished. But maybe that's just a false memory affirming what I now know to be true.

Later on I went back to the library to find out what I might be able to learn about the properties that used to be there. There are some great resources that I will need to dig into, one of which is an archive of photographs of every NYC lot from 1939. It was apparently a Public Works project after the depression, but a great resource for today! It should have an image of their building, since I know they were there in the 40s. The records are kept at the Municipal Archives (31 Chambers Street).

Another resource is the NY Public Library Map Warper, which has historical maps online, so I can see how things changed over time and, perhaps, find out when the building was demolished. The librarian showed me one map that showed building #2 stood on block 1839, lot 36. A contemporary map shows something different, so the change will likely date back to the demolition. He also said the Municipal Archives should have records like Notices to Build and New Building Applications. The main resource is web guide called "Who Lived in a House Like This?" that gives an overview of all this.

I continued my run round Central Park and just a short way away, I came to West 95th Street. This is where Dampa lived, with his mother, when he came to New York to take up a research post at the Courant Institute. I think he was only there for a brief period. Once he married Nama, they all moved to Queens (188 71st Crescent, Fresh Meadows). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get out there to have a look.

Number 20 was the shabbiest on the street. In his story Dampa described it as
"an awful first apartment"; "so ridiculously modest that you could wash the
dishes while sitting on the toilet".

The street is really nice. I'd love to live there!

Before going out on my run, I had paid a quick visit back to the library to check the post-1951 directories for Lona's address on 72nd Street, where she stayed after Nama and Dampa moved to Michigan. I found that she was at 175 West 72nd and made this my final visit for the day. The neighborhood had a much busier feel to it, as it's on the corner with Broadway. Also a short distance from Central Park. A fantastic spot!!

I can't be certain the building is original - not sure how to read the architecture - but it looks like it could be at least 65 years old, so I think it's the one she lived in. Today it's called "The Verdi".

NYC Residences

While in NYC, I decided that I would also try to identify where Nama and Dampa had lived in the late 1940s. My mom didn't know precisely, so I went to the venerable New York Public Library to check on their city directories. It didn't take long to locate some records.

NYPL Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

According to the stories that Dampa wrote,

Mother worked as a practical baby nurse in wealthy New York homes. At first, in 1947, when I got an interesting research assistant's job at New York University, we lived in a very little apartment on the West Side (not far from where Marteece O'Neil lived ... !)

Elsewhere he said,

My mother and I found an awful "first" apartment on 95th Street near Central Park West...

I found confirmation of this at the library. The November 1948 directory showed Lona living at 20 West 95th Street.

(the directory also shows a Fred Leitner at 82 Avenue C
in the East Village, but I suspect this isn't him given what
he wrote in the stories)

Another thing he wrote about the 95th Street apartment was that,

Its principal advantage was that it was close to the apartment where the O'Neils lived, at Central Park West and 103rd Street

His memory wasn't all that bad 53 years later. Despite his frequent claims of being senile, he'd only mis-remembered by one street! They were at 2 West 104th Street.

Of course he married my grandmother, Marzia / Marteece O'Neil:

The wedding took place Thanksgiving Eve 1948, and the three of us, Marteece, my mother and I, moved into a new apartment development called "Fresh Meadows" in Flushing - a part of Queens, NY.

188-1 71st Crescent, Fresh Meadows still exists!
https://goo.gl/maps/5GBV4JNeMgT2

He went on:

It wasn't easy for my mother, it wasn't easy for Marteece, but we survived. Our Kathy was born in Flushing Hospital, and when she was a year old, us young ones moved to Michigan State in the fall of 1951. I helped my mother move into an apartment in the region of 72nd Street and Broadway, where many other Viennese refugees lived - as I have described before.

I will need to go back to the library to check on Lona's address after 1951, and hopefully I will find an afternoon to visit some of these places.