Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
At first I wasn’t sure, “The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum” didn’t sound like my type of book. I had never heard of this women and certainly had no idea about the talented part. But the subtitle “The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss” got me interested.
Then I read the description on Netgalley and it made me give it a try. It starts like this:
Continue reading “Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum, crime in old New York”
This is interesting in several ways. First, there is the name Reidy. OK, that one is probably only of interest to me and a few hundred or maybe a few thousand others.
Also I like stuff about changes in New York City (NYC). Maybe a bigger audience there. And real estate development in NYC has been much in the news lately.
Continue reading “Reidy Restaurant remains and real estate in NYC”
I like Jeffery Deaver’s books. I know I have read several and enjoyed them immensely, especially the Lincoln Rhyme novels. So when I saw an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) of The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver on Netgalley, I immediately requested it. I was reading another book at the time which I planned on finishing and had several others in line to be read but this one jumped to the front of the “to be read” line.
The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver is the latest Lincoln Rhyme novel. I had high expectations and this did not disappoint. Continue reading “The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver”
One of my Christmas presents was City on a Grid: How New York Became New York by Gerard Koeppel. I spend much of the next few days reading and learning about the New York Grid.
One of the first things that strikes a visitor to New York City is the grid pattern of streets in Manhattan. The grid doesn’t include the southern end of Manhattan since the old city was at the southern tip of the island that that just grew organically. The grid doesn’t extend to the far north of the island. But the grid does rule on most of the island. Continue reading “New York Grid”
I guess she was just Mary McKenzie then. She married John Nolan much later but I don’t know when or where. I imagine it was New York City or near there and occurred sometime after 1900 but before her death in 1923.
Why do I think Mary McKenzie became Mary Nolan then? And why am I unsure of where she was born? Continue reading “Mary McKenzie Nolan”
This is about Matthew Greer. But there are 3 people in my family tree named Matthew Greer and so I specified above that he was the son of John Greer.
This Matthew Greer lived at home, first with his parent and then his widowed mother. In the last record I found on him, he was living with his mother in the 1925 New York census. Then the trail went cold. I could not find him in subsequent census records or in any type of record. Continue reading “Matthew Greer, son of John”
Some love New York City or at least find it interesting. Some love to hate it. Some don’t care much one way or another. Unless you are in this last group, you probably will like this book.
I am now reading A History of New York in 101 Objects by Sam Roberts. Continue reading “A History of New York in 101 Objects”
I read a review of the latest addition to the Gaslight series (a mystery in old New York City). It was a favorable review but I have no idea where I saw it. The series involves several murder investigations in old New York City. Yes back in the 1890s when Teddy Roosevelt was a New York City Police Commissioner.
I like some historical fiction and a good mystery so I thought I would give it a try but Murder in Murray Hill which was the new one was 16th in the Gaslight series. So it seemed to me that it was better to start at the beginning.
I did a bit of looking around and learned Continue reading “Gaslight mystery in old New York City: Murder On Astor Place”
I’ve been looking for additional children of Matthew Greer and Ruth Allingham of Glencar, Leitrim and Sligo Town. Yesterday I stumbled across a marriage record on familysearch.org while looking for information on Matthew Greer’s son of the same name.
Frances Greer married Horace Johnston on 24 Dec 1892 in New York City, NY. The parents of both were listed and hers may be those listed above.
I guess I am about 95% sure I have the right family but I need more. Thought I would mention it now in case anyone out the is looking at the same record or thinks they are related. Hope to hear from you soon!
Note added:
I am almost certain this is the correct Frances Greer. See my later post on Frances Greer and Horace Johnston .
The full title is Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York by Ted Steinberg. It is the subtitle that tells what this book is about.
I had written about this book while I was reading it and thought I would review it when finshed.
It is a bit unusual. It is a different perspective on history Continue reading “Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York by Ted Steinberg”
I am reading a wonderful book right now. Since I am still reading, it would not be fair to write a review at this point. So this is more of a Progress Report. Or maybe a note about What I am Reading Now.
A great Introduction got my interest in the opening paragraph where the author takes us on a nature adventure to a “veritable Garden of Eden” Continue reading “A Natural History of Greater New York”
I don’t think anyone ever said that genealogy was fast. Sometimes things happen quickly but, in my experience anyway, that is not very often.
For example, over a year ago I posted something here about the John Greer and Julia Mary Hopkins family of New York City and made note of the fact that their son David John Greer, his wife Anna, and baby daughter Rita Continue reading “David Greer and Giovanna Tesio of NYC”
By the mid to late 1800s major cities had become extremely congested. There were several ideas to help ease that problem. From our vantage point today, we see the subway as a fairly obvious solution. But it wasn’t so obvious then.
This is a history of how we came to see the subway as a solution and some of the interesting personalities involved. Continue reading “The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America’s First Subway by Doug Most”
I’ve been delving into New York City history today. Yesterday I found out I had made a wrong assumption in my genealogy and I figured today I should figure out what really happened.
Early this year I wrote about my great grandfather William Ready. He died of injuries resulting from a case of reckless blasting on Christmas eve 1895. I had just always assumed the blasting had something to do with creating the New York City subway system.
I was wrong. Continue reading “Reckless blasting in New York City history 1895”
Katie Reidy, the daughter of my great grandfather William Ready (or Reidy), was born in New York City on 11 October 1895.
She died on 25 July 1896 of whooping cough in her family’s tenement apartment at 303 E 110th St. Continue reading “Short Life of Katie Reidy”