In
my last post I described how I had found members of August Henry Becker’s first
family in Florida. My client (Eileen) was even more interested now in learning
about her half-siblings and cousins.
Robert
Becker, August’s youngest son from his first marriage, had shown up in several
lists on Ancestry. Besides the censuses, his name appeared on a US Petition for
Naturalization form which gave his birth date, birthplace and then current address.
He was also on the Florida Death Index, the US Social Security Death Index, US
Public Records (city and area directories and telephone directories) and several
military records pertaining to his service in the US Army during World War II,
all of which gave additional addresses for him.
There
were similar public records, mainly local area directories and the death
records for Robert’s wife, Mary Agnes, his mother, Nellie, and his sister,
Emily and her family who, as I mentioned before, also lived in Florida.
I
did specific searches for Robert’s and Emily’s children, whose names I had from
the censuses and found marriage records and directory listings for them with
relatively up-to-date addresses. On a general Google search I found a remarkable
site called Florida Memory, which
had a photograph of “Sisters Judy and Susan Becker with their dog – Miami Beach,
Florida” (see below). That discovery was a real surprise. The photos were contributed to Florida Memory by Susan. The website is associated with
the Division of Library and Information Services, part of the Florida
Department of State, and has a great collection of photos, videos, audio
recordings and other material pertaining to the region’s history.
 |
Susan, Judy and Scat. Photofrom print collections of the State Archives
of Florida, Florida Memory, contributed by Susan Campbell. Reference: http://floridamemory.com/items/show/13091
I
joined a discussion list for the FLMiama-Dade group,
hosted by Google Groups,
with the hope of making contact with other family historians who might help in the
search for the Becker families. I posted a request for information indicating
what I knew about the individuals. A participant responded with a copy of an
obituary for Robert Becker, from the Orlando
Sentinel, that mentioned several members of his family, including their
addresses, and the funeral home which handled his interment. That same
discussion list-participant found and sent me a 2006 roof-repair permit, of all
things, from the City of Miami records, for the home of one of Robert’s
daughters. The address matched what I had from the directory lists so I
believed I was really on the right track.
I
emailed the funeral home that had handled the services for both Robert and Mary
Agnes and they indicated they would forward my query to one of Robert’s
daughters. I also looked up the daughters on White Pages to confirm present-day
addresses and then sent them letters by post introducing myself and Eileen,
their long-lost half-aunt. We were soon in contact with each other and
exchanging information about the two families of August Henry Becker.
Of
great interest was the number of family photographs and important documents of
which Judy and Susan were able to give us copies. They included Nellie’s birth
and death records as well as the marriage license and divorce papers for her
and August. Eileen had never known the details of the breakup of her father’s first
marriage so this information really added to his story and filled in many
blanks.
Eileen
has stayed in touch with both Judy and Susan the last few years. This past
summer Judy made a trip to Alberta to visit Eileen and meet her family and, of
course, to take in the festivities of the Calgary Stampede. Both Judy and
Eileen have expressed to me their pleasure in being able to meet and to learn
so much more about their common family members. It is one of those real success
stories – to tie together family history events and help forge ties with
relatives who might never had had the opportunity to meet.
