Orphan train rider Wellington Zanzinger
Replies: 3
Re: Orphan train rider Wellington Zanzinger
 RegNMINiles
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Posted: 27 Oct 2004 8:33AM GMT |
Classification: Query
You could try to find the birth family in the New York State Census of 1915, which is not indexed by name. However, a city directory can often be used as an index, yielding the address.
The New York Public Library has a microfilm collection of city directories. The following citation, from its catalog, includes years of no interest to you which may be of interest to others reading this board.
[New York City directories]. Reel no. A1-A20, 1-57; 1786-1933/34. New York, 1954. 77 reels microfilm. Annual, 1851?-__. Not published 1914/15, 1919/20, 1921/22, 1923/24, 1925/26-1932/33. A microfilm collection of city directories for the city of New York, with series title assigned by the New York Public Library. Some of the volumes filmed are in the collection of the New-York Historical Society. Later years exclude directories for Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond, which were published independently. Partial contents: 1898/99-1913/14, Trow's General Directory of the Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx, City of New York; 1915/16, Trow's New York City Directory, Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx; 1916/17-1920/21, R.L. Polk & Co's Trow's New York City Directory, Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx; 1922/23-1924/25: R.L. Polk & Co's Trow General Directory of New York City, Embracing the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx (varies slightly); 1931, Manhattan and Bronx Residential Directory; 1933/34, Polk's (Trow's) New York City (Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx) (N.Y.) Directory. Full list on p. 105 of National Union Catalog, Pre-1956 Imprints. Lists names and addresses of almost all residents, often with apartment nos., occupations, name of wife, name of widow's husband, etc. Later volumes (if not all) exclude geographical (block-by-block) directories of residents.
You didn't say which of the five boroughs of New York City the birth family lived in. If it was Brooklyn, you'd have to use a different city directory : Upington's General Directory of the Borough of Brooklyn (1910). If and when you obtain the address, ask the New York State Library in Albany, NY to look up the census for you.
I know the New York County Clerk, in Manhattan, has a card index to streets in Manhattan, for the state censuses of 1905, 1915 and 1925. I don't know if the other county clerks have them. If you were doing your own research (instead of the State Library) the object would be to convert the known address to an Assembly District and, thereunder, an Election District. The census should show the family living together, with ages and other information. You could then compare the information to the same family in the federal census of 1920 (indexed by Soundex code) to see if one of the parents is missing. The Spanish Flu killed many people around the time Wellington was born.
Reg Niles
RegNMINiles@cs.com
The New York Public Library has a microfilm collection of city directories. The following citation, from its catalog, includes years of no interest to you which may be of interest to others reading this board.
[New York City directories]. Reel no. A1-A20, 1-57; 1786-1933/34. New York, 1954. 77 reels microfilm. Annual, 1851?-__. Not published 1914/15, 1919/20, 1921/22, 1923/24, 1925/26-1932/33. A microfilm collection of city directories for the city of New York, with series title assigned by the New York Public Library. Some of the volumes filmed are in the collection of the New-York Historical Society. Later years exclude directories for Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond, which were published independently. Partial contents: 1898/99-1913/14, Trow's General Directory of the Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx, City of New York; 1915/16, Trow's New York City Directory, Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx; 1916/17-1920/21, R.L. Polk & Co's Trow's New York City Directory, Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx; 1922/23-1924/25: R.L. Polk & Co's Trow General Directory of New York City, Embracing the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx (varies slightly); 1931, Manhattan and Bronx Residential Directory; 1933/34, Polk's (Trow's) New York City (Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx) (N.Y.) Directory. Full list on p. 105 of National Union Catalog, Pre-1956 Imprints. Lists names and addresses of almost all residents, often with apartment nos., occupations, name of wife, name of widow's husband, etc. Later volumes (if not all) exclude geographical (block-by-block) directories of residents.
You didn't say which of the five boroughs of New York City the birth family lived in. If it was Brooklyn, you'd have to use a different city directory : Upington's General Directory of the Borough of Brooklyn (1910). If and when you obtain the address, ask the New York State Library in Albany, NY to look up the census for you.
I know the New York County Clerk, in Manhattan, has a card index to streets in Manhattan, for the state censuses of 1905, 1915 and 1925. I don't know if the other county clerks have them. If you were doing your own research (instead of the State Library) the object would be to convert the known address to an Assembly District and, thereunder, an Election District. The census should show the family living together, with ages and other information. You could then compare the information to the same family in the federal census of 1920 (indexed by Soundex code) to see if one of the parents is missing. The Spanish Flu killed many people around the time Wellington was born.
Reg Niles
RegNMINiles@cs.com