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Messages - trees241

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As far as I know, Samuel's parents were born in Austria-Hungary. So while "from parents" looks correct, I am not sure how that could work. There is an aspect to the life story amongst my research that could explain this: given that he left his family behind in 1917 (wife, 2 kids; wife in 1925 stated she hasn't heard from him in 8 years), records showing he joined Army in 1917, stated on his 1919 naturalization form he had no family/children (he did), changed his name in 1921 while still in army, (after an initial legal attempt in 1920), shows that if this record is him, he may be falsifying some information. More research pending.

Thanks for the help with the suggestion of "from parents".

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Hi All,

As I look for leads in finding my great-grandfather Samuel, there is a 1925 New York State Census which asks about Citizenship and Naturalization location/date. The field summary reads: "If naturalized, when and where." Being able to decipher this will help me potentially confirm if this Samuel is the one I am looking for. Documents I have seen show Texas to be where his Petition was filed/stamped, etc, in 1918, while a soldier. (He originally lived in NYC and was born in Austria-Hungary).

The order of information seen in the attached examples:

Nativity: Austria
Number of years in the US: 30
Citizen or Alien: (looks like Alien Cit.)
If naturalized, when and where: ???

He was also stationed in Kansas, but there is no evidence he was naturalized there. Other entries in this enumeration for "If naturalized, when and where:" are "First papers", "Brooklyn 1919", "N.Y. City 1912", "NY City 1922".

Thanks for any help, let me know if you need more info.

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World War One / Re: Great Grandfather, WW1 USA, Camp Bragg; Next steps?
« on: Thursday 03 August 23 15:01 BST (UK)  »
Hi All,

Took a bit of a break from research; thanks again for your replies.

Quick update: the National Archives here in the USA was able to find some medical records of Samuel. Most of the other records were destroyed in the St. Louis fire.

The attached is the previously posted clinical record from May 6, 1921, indicating his name change to Samuel R. Lewis. I just noticed the "B." may be an "R." The few records which exist indicating his name change (including the label to this folio) say Samuel B. Lewis, not Samuel R. Lewis, likely from a misreading of the letter.

Going by the attached, would you say the middle initial is "R" and not "B"? When you compare the B in Camp Bragg (near bottom of image) to the middle initial, the letter looks more like the "R" from his Military ID number above. See red marker lines. What do you think?

Samuel "R." Lewis will help me further in my research, but will still be a challenge for sure to find him. Thanks for any input!

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World War One / Re: Great Grandfather, WW1 USA, Camp Bragg; Next steps?
« on: Monday 19 December 22 14:28 GMT (UK)  »
Thank you Andy and manukarik. I will consider looking into those records.

Just trying to help
you say...........
Given his new last name is a common name (changed from Vogelfanger to Lewis) I know it will be more difficult to find him.
There are two records for Lewis.  What was his Christian name?
If you have his actual Date of Birth that would help.
Did he marry?
What year did he enter the USA?
Maggsie


Maggsie, yes, his name was Samuel/Sam Vogelfanger. I have some good information on him from Ancestry and FamilySearch, as well as primary documents (postcards to family members etc before he entered the army). He was originally from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, born 1886. He entered the USA in 1905 (records of which are on Ancestry), he married and had two children by 1916, but "disappeared" in 1917. On my great-grandmother's Naturalization application in 1925 it states: "Have not seen husband in 8 years", which mathematically dates back to 1917, when it would appear he joined the Army (as I found his enlistment card from May 1917). I have a couple other family stories that give a perspective on why this may have happened, but honestly I will never know the true reason. When I found his Naturalization record (dating to 1919) he lists that he does not have a wife or children. Soon after that he attempted to change his name for the first time. Now in 1921, the latest record I have, it shows he still lists no immediate family, and trying to change his name for a second time. He still lists his profession, an essential piece of information, as that ties in to what is known by the family and from previous records on Ancestry.

So I have confidence I have "found him", but am looking for tips on how to continue the research, post-1921, now that he is going by a more common name. He does not appear as a Vogelfanger in the 1930 census, which would be the next available Census, if he was still alive then, so either he is going by Lewis or Vogel (both of which are far more common).

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World War One / Great Grandfather, WW1 USA, Camp Bragg; Next steps?
« on: Saturday 17 December 22 03:38 GMT (UK)  »
Hi All,

Been a while since I have posted on Roots Chat. Previously posted in the handwriting forum. I have been researching my great grandfather. Family story goes, around 1917, he went to "work" one day and never came back. I believe I have discovered he joined the army. This was about the time the USA entered WW1. Through my research I have found that after returning from France he spent time in Texas and Kansas. He was originally in the 64th Regiment, a supply company.

Around 1920 he was re-enlisted and stationed at Camp Bragg (now Fort Bragg) in North Carolina. While there he became a Technical Sergeant for the "5th L.M.O.R.S. Ord Dept".

He had made a prior legal attempt to change his name while in Kansas in 1920 before Camp Bragg. After I contacted the County Clerk office where he was stationed they were able to find his record requesting a name change, but because he did not show up for the follow up hearing he was not able to change his name.

Back in Camp Bragg he decided again to change his name and this new name appears on a record from 1921, the most recent chronological record I have of him. In this medical record he is listed, it appears, as being in the Quartermaster Corps. Given his new last name is a common name (changed from Vogelfanger to Lewis) I know it will be more difficult to find him. My thought is to research the locations of where his department/company was stationed after 1921.

So my primary questions are for help on how to understand and research military regiments/companies.

* What is 5th L.M.O.R.S. Ord Dept? What is 5th specifically in this context? Is "Ord" Ordnance?
* Is Quartermaster Corps too generic for me to research further?
* Any tips for further research into military company movements etc?

I have attached a muster roll header from 1920 with 5th L.M.O.R.S. Ord Dept, and a snippet from the medical record in 1921 showing "QMC" for Quartermaster Corps.

Thanks for reading and your help!

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Hi All,

I am researching my great-grandfather. I found a potential lead on a veterans card, VA Form 3-7202a, similar to: https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/48599/how-to-decode-read-us-veterans-bureau-form-7202. Anyone have experience with this type of card?

Since the document I found has a printed date of Jul 1948 in the lower left corner (similar to link above), is it safe to assume the information typed on the card (address, DOB) is accurate to Jul 1948 or is the typed information from a different time and the card is merely a reference to older information? I found a potential death record from March, but this card (apparently from Jul 1948) does not list a death date.

Edit: FamilySearch states: "Each card contains the name of the veteran as well as other personal identifying information such as home address at the time of enlistment" -- so perhaps the address would not be relevant to 1948. Let me know your thoughts, thanks!

Thanks for your help!

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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Re: Maiden name: Weintraub?
« on: Tuesday 13 July 21 02:35 BST (UK)  »
It was written by another person. Part of a Birth Certificate. I have attached a written example from the document of "Austria" to show similarity of the "u". I do not see a "p" or other examples of "b".

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Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Maiden name: Weintraub?
« on: Tuesday 13 July 21 00:57 BST (UK)  »
Hi All,

What do you think? Does the attached look like Weintraub? Ancestry said Weintrant, and FamilySearch on the same record said Weintranb. Additional research on FamilySearch points to many more instances of Weintraub. Ancestry and FamilySearch did not have the image of this record, so I ordered the PDF version. Glad I did!

I have attached examples of "t" elsewhere in the document which helps show that it is more likely Weintraub and not Weintrant.

Thanks!

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Hi Igor, I have not looked at variations of the last name, although he did go by Vogel at times (instead of Vogelfanger) and in fact Vogel is the name which continued on throughout the family. If the Vogelfanger from 1919 signature is the same Vogelfanger, this particular one requested a change in 1920 to a different surname entirely, based on a newspaper clipping I found online. That is where my research will continue once I have closed up some additional leads pre-1920 name change.

Out of interest for additional signature comparison, I have posted here an additional signature from the Naturalization records, this time his V is more closely matching his signature from the 1912 primary document we have on hand. Thoughts? By the way, I thought the style of his lowercase E was "unique", but a witness on his naturalization record had a signature with a similar "backwards 3" lowercase E. Does that negatively impact the likelihood this could be the same Vogelfanger from the primary document (1912)? It would still be unusual I think for there to be two individuals with the same signature style, same birth region, correct age, etc.

Again, thanks for your thoughts and replies!

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