Registration Card
Serial Number 582
Order Number 2249
First Name Alfonzo Middle Name [blank] Last Name Gerner
Permanent Home Address (City or Town) Baldwin (State) Pa.
Age in Years 44
Date of Birth July 25, 1874
Race White ✓
U. S. Citizen Native Born ✓
Present Occupation Oil Driller
Employer's Name Waldo & Bucklin
Place of Employment or Business (City) Ponca City (County) Kay (State) Okla
Nearest Relative Name Geta Gerner (wife) Address Baldwin, Pa.
Signature Alfonzo Gerner
35-3-20-C
Description of Registrant
Height Medium ✓
Build Medium ✓
Color of Eyes Brown
Color of Hair Brown
Signature of Registrar R. Martin
Date of Registration Sept 12 1918
A True Copy
Local Board Kay County Newkirk, Okla.
Yesterday I was checking my tree on FamilySearch to see which children of direct ancestors still needed to be added. I was stopped with the first family. I found that four of Fred and Elvira (Bartley) Gerner's 16 children were missing -- all sons. Alfonzo and his twin Alonzo, their oldest children, were missing. I added Alfonzo and then noticed a problem with the wife's information which didn't match the information I have. It's created enough uncertainty that I need to search deeper to see if I can sort out the wife problem.
Sometimes records leave such unlikely messes: names confused, mis-recorded, not recorded, typos or print errors, etc. Of course the individuals may have left messes, too. I hope records can help me sort out Alfonzo's wives (but this record adds to the confusion rather than clarifying).
Thanks if you can read Alfonzo's wife's name and leave a comment.
--Nancy.
Copyright © 2009-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
Looks like Geta to me. It is listed as a girl's name on baby name websites. It has Polish, German, and Slavic origins which seems consistent with your family, right?
ReplyDeleteI agree about records -- you go to them for "the truth" and find a mess. I have a death record in which the person filling out the form didn't follow directions and gave the wife's married name, not her maiden name as required. Another gave the maiden name, all right, but just the surname, no first name.
Thanks, Wendy. Yes, German origins for my family, but this Geta/Meta's not related by blood, so her ancestry could be German, Polish, Slavic, or any other number of backgrounds.
DeleteIt seems like the death records are the worst. I have a certificate in which the woman named her own mother's first and last names when asked for the deceased mother's first and maiden names. I have some other strange ones, too. I just assume that grief is preventing them from thinking clearly sometimes. It could be a fun post to share all the strange results we find on death certificates.
Thanks for taking a look at the name and sharing what you think. I appreciate it, Wendy.
If I would have to decide I would choose Meta. It looks to me as if he tried to overwrite the G, what he had written first and make it into a M instead.
ReplyDeleteHi, Karen. I wondered about whether the person writing overwrote the letter to change it (and left it less clear). Thanks for weighing in on what you saw. I appreciate it.
DeleteIt looks like a G to me, Geta.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anna, for responding with what you see. I appreciate it.
DeleteI think it's Geta too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrea. So far, most think it's Geta. I guess it's a start for another search. I appreciate your taking the time to respond.
Delete