Researching Our Families: Three Case Studies

Speakers: Barbara Wright, Shelley Kellerman Pollero, and Jordan Auslander

For our fourth annual members' presentations, Barbara Wright, Shelley Kellerman Pollero, and Jordan Auslander will each present a case study that demonstrates how they resolved a genealogical question in their family research.

Searching to Find Changed First Names after Moving from Spain to France in the 18^th century – Barbara Wright

My Sephardic family in Spain and Portugal, originally from Braganca, Portugal, were Conversos. When they left and went to France, they adopted Biblical names (Jacob, David, Esther, Rachel, etc.), but previously had their Baptismal names (Juan, Leonor, Gabriela, Michaela, Joseph, etc.). There is a genealogical chart authenticated in 1892 which has their Baptismal names. My story will share the path taken to find the Biblical names and match them with their Baptismal names. 

Searching Elusive Relatives: Discoveries and Surprises – Shelley Kellerman Pollero

Having lost track of a few branches of my family, Shelley Kellerman Pollero discovered that their journeys had taken them to unexpected faraway places. This talk focuses on how Shelley found surprising traces of some cousins in Cuba, Sweden, and Siberia. Through DNA and an unanticipated email message in Russian Cyrillic, she connected with previously unknown living cousins and will share a little about their families and her discoveries.

Personal Brick Wall – Jordan Auslander

One letter discovered several decades ago in a mountain of others prompted Jordan Auslander's search for his mystery great-uncle. Old school manual searches of censuses, vital records, city directories, diaries and a cemetery revealed the truth.

Bios:

Barbara Wright is a native New Yorker.  She has been doing genealogical research since 1983.  She has met and corresponded with people from all over the world who are related.  Her ancestors came to the United States between 1792 and 1880.  All her grandparents and five of her great-grandparents were born in the United States. Barbara has given talks to the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. (JGSNY), on a few occasions and was interviewed by Dorot in the section "Questioning the Experts."  She has also submitted an article more recently for publication in Dorot.

Shelley Kellerman Pollero is a native New Yorker and longtime resident of Severna Park, Maryland. She has been active in genealogical research for over 50 years.  A former president and current board member of her local genealogical society, she presents talks on a variety of topics to local groups and creates research handouts on many topics. A founding member of Gesher Galicia, the special interest group for Jewish research in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, she was its coordinator from 1998 to 2005 and has been an active board member since then. She has co-presented a Galicia Basics talk at several IAJGS conferences, Jewish Genealogical Societies and local organizations. Shelley is also Jewish Records Indexing-Poland’s Zamość Research Area Coordinator. Retired high school world language teacher and department head, Shelley has organized translation services at several IAJGS conferences and has translated Polish and Russian vital records.

Jordan Auslander is a New York-based forensic genealogist, lecturer, and entertainer. He has pursued cases across the United States, Europe, Israel and the Caribbean. His publications include an index to Jewish vital records in the Slovak State Archive system and Genealogical Gazetteer for the Kingdom of Hungary. He is a former member of the Executive Council of the Jewish Genealogical Society of New York.