Saturday, August 24, 2024

Doxie Tombstone of Mike Szymanski at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California by Mary Cummins genealogist

Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California is known for its amazing tombstones of celebrities and Hollywood icons. One of those tombstones is a six foot wide white marble couch with  eight life size bronze dachshunds aka doxies. The owner of the #doxietombstone is local artist, activist, writer and doxie lover Mike Szymanski

Szymanski a local author is still among the living. He spoke about the inspiration for his couch tombstone in a Facebook cemetery group.

"Hi all, I figured I would finally share my own tombstone at #hollywoodforever known as the #doxietombstone (a hashtag that was created by visitors)! The stories about it are easy to find online, but i wanted to share how I love to see how people enjoy it, have picnics and bring their dogs… I must say that few cemeteries in the world would have approved recreating my home sofa at the cemetery 🙂
I feel I need to add these two links to explain things a bit more:. This podcaster came to me to talk about the positive nature of finding your final resting place
This is an LA Magazine writer who stumbled across my friend and I having a picnic on the tombstone, and tells my sad story.

Szymanski was inspired by a picture called "Couch Weiners" by Jamie Morath which he saw on a doxie website. It was a picture of a woman laying on a couch with all her doxies around her. He had plans made December 2019. The monument was designed by Rick Carl Design, it was hand made in China and was installed around June 2021. 

As most know I'm a big cemetery and tombstone aficionado. My family is in the cemetery biz. I've traveled the world and always visit amazing cemeteries. This tombstone and the story behind it are very touching and dear to my heart as a fellow animal lover. If you go to Hollywood Forever, you really must visit this doxie couch! GPS 34.08973350481573, -118.31737963521489

Below are a few photos I took and a video so you can see the rear of the couch and the lovely view of the lake.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLvCT7ijJGg











Genealogist at Geneanet and Geneastar
https://en.geneanet.org/profil/marycummins
 Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter
https://marycumminsrealestatemarycummins.blogspot.com
 Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser
http://www.marycummins.com
 Mary Cummins
http://www.mary.cc
 Mary Cummins Biography, History in Wikipedia format
http://wikipedia.marycummins.com/
 Mary Cummins on LinkedIn 

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Ancestry owns, sells your content, photos. Ancestry.com sells your photos for money by Mary Cummins




Ancestry, Findagrave just sent out a "privacy" update today, see below. They state "anything you enter into an interactive tool with our Services is Your Content." If you read the fine print, that's not true. The link states sure, it's "your content," but we can possess it, sell it and make money off of it even if you delete your content, tree and account. It's "their" content to use forever. They make over a billion dollars a year selling your content. 

As I've stated before DO NOT POST YOUR PRIVATE PHOTOS, DOCUMENTS ON ANCESTRY! You are giving them your content for free to use, sell, license. Who cares if you own it if they have a license to possess, sell and make billions off of your content. If you do, you will see your private family photos advertised on the internet for sale. It happened to me.

I learned this lesson about private photos the hard way and had to threaten to sue Ancestry. I stupidly added a certain beautiful private one of a kind photo I took of my private document from 1899 in my old Ancestry account for one then private relative. A friend then told me not to do that because Ancestry sells your content for money. I removed the photo of that document. A week later I saw an ad for Ancestry and they were showing my document saying paraphrased "we have these documents on Ancestry. Join for $59 and you can have this beautiful document." 

I sent them a letter saying I removed it and don't allow them to use my copyrighted photo of the 1899 document. They said they removed it. A week later it was still there. I told them to remove it again. It was still there. Then they tried to shake me by putting me in a support loop hoping I'd give up. I searched ancestry.com with a robot and still there. I sent a copyright notice then wrote a copyright lawsuit and sent it to them. It was finally gone. I bet they only blocked me from seeing it. I will sue for copyright if I find it again. I have the only photo on my computer and nowhere else.

This is how you use Ancestry.com safely. Create your tree on your computer using a free ged software. Add the research you do on Ancestry to that tree. You can download your Ancestry tree into your private tree on your computer to start. NEVER add your photos to Ancestry. You're also selling all the research you do on Ancestry for free. If you build your family tree there, another member can just start their tree and it will instantly link to your tree even if your tree is private. They will instantly suck all your years, decades of work into their tree. Nothing is private on Ancestry no matter what they say. It doesn't matter if your tree is set to private or you lie and list your relative as alive. I verified this by building a fake private tree with impossible names, dates. I asked a friend to start a tree with the fake name and sure enough my fake private tree showed up for them with all my fake data. 

Remember if you upload to findagrave, geneastar, geneanet or any other Ancestry.com owned site, you are giving your content to Ancestry for free to sell for profits.

Another illegal thing they do is use copyrighted content. Someone will upload a copyrighted photo. Ancestry will sell it "legally" by stating the person who uploaded it stated it was copyright free. They know full well most of their photos, documents are copyrighted by others. This is how they suck up copyrighted content to sell for profits. It's so crazy to think people pay to join Ancestry, add their private content, do hours of research which Ancestry sells for free. It'd be like Facebook charging everyone a monthly fee and continuing to run adds on Facebook content. It's double dipping on profits.

Here's something I learned from Geneanet before Ancestry bought them. Someone asked why you can download your tree with photos and files on Geneanet but not Ancestry. Owner of Geneanet said you can technically do it on Ancestry but Ancestry doesn't allow it because they want to keep you dependent on paying the monthly fee. They make you pay the monthly fee out of fear you'll lose your tree, documents and photos. This is why I don't subscribe to Ancestry anymore. No real genealogist would because all their data came from somewhere else anyway. They're data scrapers, stealers in my book. 


"3. Your Content
Certain Services may allow you to contribute content, including but not limited to: (i) family trees; (ii) family memories such as photos, audio/video recordings, and stories; (iii) record annotations, comments, messages, and input to interactive tools; and (iv) feedback provided to Ancestry about the Services (“Your Content”). Your Content that contains Personal Information will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Statement.

3.1 You Control Your Content
Ancestry does not claim any ownership rights to Your Content, control how you choose to share Your Content within the Services, or limit how you share Your Content outside of Ancestry’s Services. You can delete Your Content either by following instructions provided within the Services or by logging into your Account Settings and deleting your Account. However, if you submit feedback, record annotations, or suggestions about Ancestry or our Services, you acknowledge that it is deemed to be non-confidential and non-proprietary and we may use your feedback, record annotations, or suggestions for any purpose without any obligation or compensation to you.

3.2 Use of Your Content
"By submitting Your Content, you grant Ancestry a non-exclusive, sub-licensable, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, index, copy, publish, distribute, provide access to, create derivative works of, and otherwise use Your Content to provide, promote, or improve the Services, consistent with your privacy and sharing settings. You can terminate Ancestry’s license by deleting Your Content, except to the extent you shared Your Content with others and they have used Your Content. You also agree that Ancestry owns any indexes and compilations that include Your Content and may use them after Your Content is deleted.

3.3 Your Responsibilities for Your Content
You are responsible for the decision to create, upload, post, or share Your Content. By contributing or accessing Your Content you agree:
You have all the necessary legal rights to upload, post, or share Your Content;
Your Content does not violate any applicable laws.
Your Content that you share publicly will not include Personal Information as defined in our Privacy Statement about a living person without their consent. In the case of living minors, you will get consent from their parent or guardian;
All Your Content will comply with the Community Rules;
If you share Your Content publicly, other users may access and use Your Content as part of, or in conjunction with, the Services. We are not required to remove any of Your Content once it has been publicly shared.
You will use other Users’ content only within Ancestry Services and in compliance with these Terms and the other policies incorporated by reference;
Ancestry reserves the right to review Your Content and to screen for illegal content or other violations of these Terms, including the Community Rules, and to remove or disable access to illegal content or Your Content that we believe violates these Terms. We will also remove Your Content in response to a valid court order or as required by applicable law; and
Serious or repeat violations or offenses will subject you to account suspension or termination in accordance with Ancestry’s content moderation policies. Ancestry’s procedure for assessing and removing content is set out here."

Genealogist at Geneanet and Geneastar
https://en.geneanet.org/profil/marycummins
 Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter
https://marycumminsrealestatemarycummins.blogspot.com
 Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser
http://www.marycummins.com
 Mary Cummins
http://www.mary.cc
 Mary Cummins Biography, History in Wikipedia format
http://wikipedia.marycummins.com/
 Mary Cummins on LinkedIn 

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Rosa McCauley Parks Ancestry, Family Tree, Ethnicity, DNA, Heritage by Mary Cummins, Genealogist

rosa parks, rosa mccauley parks, rosa mccauley, mary cummins, genealogist, ancestry, dna, ethnicity, heritage, african american, scottish, native american,indian, family tree

rosa parks, rosa mccauley parks, rosa mccauley, mary cummins, genealogist, ancestry, dna, ethnicity, heritage, african american, scottish, native american,indian, family tree

I researched Rosa McCauley Parks' family tree originally in 2010. I later uploaded it to Geneastar around the same time. Geneastar is a genealogy database of over 18,000 famous and historical people. Recently I was asked to do a presentation for The Rosa Parks Museum and Library with Rose McCauley Hampton who is the first cousin once removed of Rosa Parks. Hampton is generously donating historical items to The Rosa Parks Museum. I've since added to data base. Click any image to see larger.

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an "American activist in the civil rights movement, best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement"."

Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter. In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks's great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish, and one of her great-grandmothers was part–Native American. Rosa Parks is African American, Native American, Scottish, Irish and English. 

Paternal

Rosa Parks' father James McCauley from Library of Congress


Rosa Parks' grandfather Anderson McCauley from Library of Congress

Parks father was James McCauley 1886-1962 born in Alabama. "James McCauley was born in Abbeville, Alabama, the eldest son of Anderson and Louisa McCauley. He became a skilled carpenter and stonemason like his father. James met schoolteacher Leona Edwards while visiting his sister Addie in Pine Level, Alabama. They married on April 12, 1912, at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Pine Level."

Paternal grandfather was Anderson McCauley 1850-1917. "Anderson McCauley was born in Georgia, the son of Ghiogee, a Creek Indian, and Charles McCauley, a soldier of Irish and Cherokee descent. Around 1884 he moved to Abbeville, Alabama, and ultimately acquired more than 500 acres. Anderson and his wife Louisa became parents of seventeen children. He worked with his sons building houses across Alabama’s Black Belt region."

Paternal grandmother was Louisa "Lou" Collins 1850-1941. "Louisa Collins was born in Georgia, the daughter of a mixed-race slave. She married Anderson McCauley, another mixed-race Georgian. Ten of their seventeen children survived to adulthood. All ten were literate. The eldest was Addie (b. 1884) and the youngest was George Gaines McCauley (b. 1904). Rosa lived with her grandparents as a toddler."

Maternal

Rosa Parks' mother Leona Edwards from Library of Congress



Parks mother was Leona Edwards 1888-1979 born in Alabama. "Leona Edwards was born in Pine Level, Alabama, the youngest of Sylvester and Rose Edwards’s three daughters. She attended Payne University in Selma but did not earn a degree. Leona became a dedicated rural school teacher, and her meager salary was the main source of the family’s income. She instilled in Rosa the importance of faith, self-respect, and education—values reinforced by her grandparents and the teachers at Miss White’s School, a school that Rosa would attend at age eleven."

Rosa Parks family bible maternal



Maternal grandparents were Sylvestor Edwards 1858-1923 and Rosena Percival 1859-1929. "This Bible register partially charts Rosa’s maternal lineage. Accordingly, her great grandfather James Percival, an indentured servant of Scots-Irish descent, married Mary Jane Nobles, an enslaved African. Their daughter Rose married Sylvester Edwards, the son of white planter John Edwards and his enslaved housekeeper and seamstress. They had three daughters: Fannie, Bessie, and Leona Edwards, Rosa’s mother."

Rosena Percival maternal grandmother

Sylvester Edwards maternal grandfather



Rosa Parks' brother Sylvester James McCauley from Library of Congress



Rosa's brother was Sylvester James McCauley. "Sylvester James McCauley, Rosa’s only sibling, was born on August 20, 1915, in Pine Level, Alabama. When their mother became seriously ill, Sylvester left school to help support the family. During World War II he served in the Army in the European and the Pacific theaters. While on leave he met his wife, Daisy, at a restaurant in South Carolina. After the war they moved to Detroit and reared thirteen children. Sylvester worked for the Chrysler Motor Company and did carpentry jobs on the side."


Genealogy of Rosa McCauley Parks

Rosa Parks has a diverse genealogical ancestry. On her father's side her ancestors came from Scotland, Ireland, Native America and Africa. On her mother's side her ancestors came from Africa and most likely other nations. Sadly the records for those of African ancestry don't exist with any certainty past the fourth or fifth ancestral generations born in America because of slavery. People stolen from Africa and brought to the Americas were given different names. The slave trader gave them one name generally a first name only. The slave buyer/owner then gave them another name sometimes adding the last name of the slave owner. When the slaves were finally freed they sometimes gave themselves a new first and last name. Soon after emancipation many ex-slaves used the last names of Presidents such as Washington, Jefferson even if that wasn't their previous name. This makes it difficult to do genealogical research based on written documents. Native American records don't exist with certainty for the same reasons and more in this case. In this case the ancestors were African and Native American slaves/servants and indentured Scottish/Irish servants. DNA records would be valuable to ascertain a more reliable ancestral lineage for those parts of the family.

There are at least reliable records from the paternal McCauley line. The McCauley lineage hails from Scotland and Ireland. Park's McCauley family first came to the US in the mid 1600's in North Carolina. They ultimately became involved in agriculture and land sales. They had slaves and paid servants. As was sadly common with slave owners some had children with their slaves and servants. This is why most African Americans today are of mixed heritage. 

If you look at the underlying genealogical records you will notice a few things. Names are generally misspelled. This is because the census and record takers wrote them phonetically based on how they sounded to their ear. There is also a wide variance in the census records as to race/color. For instance one person is listed as "black" in one census, "mulatto" in another" and "white" in yet another. There are also differences in places of birth, dates of birth. The census taker generally asked whoever was at home for the information. It could have been a young adult who did not know all of the information. As long as basic name, age, place of birth, family members match, it is the same person. This is why one needs multiple documents to try to confirm identity.

Famous distant relatives

I added Rosa Parks to famous people genealogy website Geneastar as part of my initiative to add African Americans, Mexicans, Latinos, Jewish people, women and others who are vastly underrepresented in the famous family tree database. I went a step further and linked Rosa Park's tree to other famous people in history. Every time I add an important person in history I try to find the route so we can all see our relationship to the person. There are many others in Geneanet working to connect famous people. Special thanks to Timothy Dowling who is one of the best and has helped me tremendously.

King Charles is a 14th cousin of Rosa Louise McCauley via King James V of Scotland.

Link to relationship


President George Washington is a 12th cousin of an ancestor of the 6th generation  (12th cousin 6 times removed) of Rosa Louise McCauley.


President Thomas Jefferson is a 10th cousin of an ancestor of the 8th generation of Rosa Louise McCauley. 


President Abraham Lincoln is a 15th cousin of an ancestor of the 5th generation of Rosa Louise McCauley.


President Barack Obama is a son of a 15th cousin of Rosa Louise McCauley


and not so famous Mary Cummins is a granddaughter of a 18th cousin of Rosa Louise McCauley. 

We are all related. It's just a technical matter of figuring out the route to someone's family tree to determine the degree of relatedness. As Kahlil Gibran stated, "Every man is the descendant of every king and every slave that ever lived."  

References

I made these trees and resources public to further public education about Rosa Parks. They include newspaper articles, photos, census records, birth certificates, death certificates and more. You can use them to figure out your relationship to Rosa Parks.



All data is based on best research practices. Data cannot be guaranteed due to the nature of genealogical records, lack of DNA data and human nature. I'm using Wikipedia and Library of Congress images because they aren't copyrighted.

_____________________

Genealogist at Geneanet and Geneastar
https://en.geneanet.org/profil/marycummins
 Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter
https://marycumminsrealestatemarycummins.blogspot.com
 Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser
http://www.marycummins.com
 Mary Cummins
http://www.mary.cc
 Mary Cummins Biography, History in Wikipedia format
http://wikipedia.marycummins.com/
 Mary Cummins on LinkedIn 

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

My Mexican Family Rivera Baz in Mexico by Maria "Mary" Rivera Cummins

Mary Cummins, Maria Rivera Cummins, Mexico, Mexican, grandmother, family tree, ancestry, dna, heritage, ethnicity, diego rivera, queen elizabeth, george washington, cousin, related
Mary Cummins, Maria Rivera Cummins, Maria Catrina Rivera, Mexico, Mexican, grandmother, family tree, ancestry, dna, heritage, ethnicity, diego rivera, queen elizabeth, george washington, cousin, related

My Mexican grandmother Maria Luisa Rivera Baz raised me since I was a newborn. She was my mother, father, all my grandparents combined. I called her "mami" as a child though I later called her "nana" which is Latin for grandmother. 

Maria Luisa Rivera Baz was born in Mexico in 1899. Her parents were music professor, composer Manuel Severo Rivera and Maria Trinidad Baz. She was 65 years old when I was born. She raised me and my sister Marie Juliette Cummins. I was named after her older sister "Katie" who helped raise her when her mother and father died.

Below are a few well known modern day closer relatives in my family tree from Mexico.

Manuel Rivera Baz (1882-1937)
Musician, Composer
Grand Uncle

Enrique Baz Vazquez (1843-1932)
Senator in Mexico, Business Man
Great Great Grandfather

Dr Gustavo Baz Prada (1893-1987)
Governor, Doctor
1st Cousin 3x removed

Diego Rivera (1886-1957)
Artist
Cousin 

Diego Baz Miranda (1784-1826)
5th Great Grandfather

Gov Juan Jose Baz Palafox (1820-1887)
Governor after Porfirio Diaz
3rd Great Grand Uncle

"Every man is the descendant of every king and every slave that ever lived."  Kahlil Gibran

We are all related in this world. If you are of European descent, you are probably at least a 15th cousin with others descended from Europeans. That means you're probably related to the royal families of England, Spain, Germany, France and more. If you are of European descent and your family has been in the US a few generations, you are probably related to all of the US Presidents. Here are my links to all of the Presidents. This is all about genealogy and finding the genealogical paths to other people. I'm not anyone special. You're probably also related. Genealogy is a great way to explore your roots and expand your tree. 


I got involved in the Geneastar project to add the family trees of famous Mexicans, Spaniards, African Americans, Jewish people and women. Everyone added the trees of famous old white men. The others were not represented at all. Every time I do the family tree of a famous person, I find the route to me and add it to my tree. The purpose is to connect everyone and show we're all related. While George Washington is my second cousin, the recent Queen of England was only my 10th cousin 1x removed. Most of the other famous people in my tree are 10-15th cousins. 

I have added 500 of the most famous people who have existed in modern history to my tree. They are in my tree but not all DNA or cousin related. Some are related by marriage. I first had to research and build their family trees then find the link. Some of the trees were already in Geneastar and I only had to find the link. I'll be posting an article showing that we're all related soon. It took me over two years to do all of the research. It's in Geneastar so others can find the links in their trees. Ancestry has since bought Geneanet and Geneastar.

I've been involved in genealogy over 35 years. My family was also in the cemetery business.


Genealogist at Geneanet and Geneastar
https://en.geneanet.org/profil/marycummins
 Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter
https://marycumminsrealestatemarycummins.blogspot.com
 Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser
http://www.marycummins.com
 Mary Cummins
http://www.mary.cc
 Mary Cummins Biography, History in Wikipedia format
http://wikipedia.marycummins.com/
 Mary Cummins on LinkedIn 

Tradition of the Catrina in Dia de los Muertos by Mary Cummins aka Maria Catrina Rivera Cummins

catrina, day of the dead, dia de los muertos, mexico, diego rivera, mary cummins, jose posada, calavera, garbancera, skull, skeleton, makeup, dress, hat, los angeles, california, catrine, maria rivera, maria catrina rivera

Today Dia de los Muertos aka Day of the Dead has been highly commercialized in Mexico, USA and around the world. Dia de Muertos has been mixed in with Halloween here in the United States. The fancy lady skeleton Catrina costume to some is now just a "spooky" Halloween costume. The real Catrina from Dia de los Muertos is not a scary Halloween costume at all. It has a rich and complex history starting in Mexico.

Artist Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) created the original "calavera catrina" pictured above published 1913 which he named "Calavera Garbancera." "Calavera" means "skull." "Catrina" translates roughly as "dapper" or "fancy." “Garbancera” means "chickpeas" is a nickname for an Indigenous American (who sold chickpeas) who tries to look European and denies their own heritage. "The Catrina hides her Mexican origins by wearing a French style hat and just her bones which make her look whiter." Posada's catrina wore a turn of the century European dress. 

Jose Posada was making fun of indigenous Mexicans who put on European airs. He was also showing us that we are all merely humans who will die and become skeletons. What we look like, what we wear doesn't matter. “Death is democratic. At the end, regardless of whether you are white, dark, rich or poor, we all end up as skeletons.” (Jose Posada)

"In 1947, the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) elaborated on Posada's image and created a full-scale figure that he placed in his fresco "A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park" (now in the Museo Mural Diego Rivera). Whereas Posada's print likely intended to satirize upper class women of the Porfiriato, Rivera, through various iconographic attributes that referenced indigenous cultures, rehabilitated her into a Mexican national symbol." 

The central focus of Diego's mural is the "display of bourgeois complacency and values shortly before the Mexican Revolution of 1910." Diego's catrina was a Mexican woman who wore a fancy European hat, dress and feather boa but the feather boa had the head of a serpent. The catrina is on the arm of Jose Posada. Diego as a child holds her hand as if she is his mother.

"Catrina became central to Mexican identity in part because Posada was made into the "primary artistic ancestor figure" for the generation of the Mexican Muralists. Additionally, for many years, influential Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico City were held at museums that centered on Rivera and Kahlo, where the Linares family made three dimensional versions of Posada's prints out of papier mâché. Consequently, Posada, Rivera, and Kahlo were woven into foundational urban commemorations in Mexico City. Even without the Mesoamerican attributes Rivera provided to Catrina, she still functions as a national emblem associated specifically with Mexico."

Day of the Dead is an even more complex event. Some say the origins are from the Aztec's Lady of Death. Others say it's from the Catholic influence of All Saints and All Souls day from Europe and Spain. Still others say it became popular as Mexican politicians tried to instill Mexican nationalism in its people. An interesting note is that Day of the Dead parades were not that prevalent in major cities in Mexico until after a 2015 James Bond film Spectre included one. Mexico gave the movie $14,000,000 to film in Mexico to promote Mexico. The opening sequence was filmed in Zócalo and the Centro Histórico district in Mexico City. Due to the interest raised by Spectre and the government's desire to promote the pre-Hispanic Mexican culture, the federal and local authorities decided to organise an actual "Día de Muertos" parade through Paseo de la Reforma and Centro Histórico on 29 October 2016 which was attended by 250,000 people. Before they were mainly in smaller towns. Today many Mexican cities have these events to encourage tourism and local business. The Mexican Secretary of Tourism started promoting Dia de Muertos year round in 2016 in Mexico and abroad. They even hired a catrin dressed as a mariachi.

Whatever the case as Dia de los Muertos became more popular and commercialized in Mexico and the US catrinas also became more popular. Today we have catrinas of all types. There are classic traditional catrinas similar to the original who wear a fancy old style European dress and hat while wearing skull face makeup. Some catrinas feature an Aztec lady of death fashion and headdress. Still others are more modern glam interpretations of the catrina with large quinceanera dresses and flower crowns. There are even catrine (masculine) contests at most Dia de los Muertos events. These contests include catrines or male versions of the catrina. The male version can just be a dapper well dressed gentleman or a mariachi. The possibilities are endless today.

Below are some photos I took from some Dia de los Muertos events and catrina contests I've attended in Los Angeles, California the last couple of years. Catrinas, Dia de los Muertos is for everyone to honor and celebrate our dearly departed loved ones. I hope you attend a Dia de los Muertos event and enjoy the festivities! I'll soon be posting my most recent catrina look here. I posted an older one of mine below.

FYI my family is from Mexico. We observed All Soul's day and All Saint's day by going to mass at church. We also tended and cared for the graves of our family. We didn't dress up as catrinas growing up. I only got involved in Dia de los Muertos activities in the last 17 years here in Los Angeles, California where I live. I think my first event was Self-Help graphics in 2006 in East LA. 








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catrina, day of the dead, dia de los muertos, mexico, diego rivera, mary cummins, jose posada, calavera, garbancera, skull, skeleton, makeup, dress, hat, los angeles, california, catrine


catrina, day of the dead, dia de los muertos, mexico, diego rivera, mary cummins, jose posada, calavera, garbancera, skull, skeleton, makeup, dress, hat, los angeles, california, catrine, maria catrina rivera, maria rivera cummins





Genealogist at Geneanet and Geneastar
https://en.geneanet.org/profil/marycummins
 Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter
https://marycumminsrealestatemarycummins.blogspot.com
 Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser
http://www.marycummins.com
 Mary Cummins
http://www.mary.cc
 Mary Cummins Biography, History in Wikipedia format
http://wikipedia.marycummins.com/
 Mary Cummins on LinkedIn 

Saturday, January 28, 2023

Daniel Danny Trejo Family Tree, Ancestry, DNA, Ethnicity, by Mary Cummins Genealogist


Daniel Danny Trejo family tree, ancestry, DNA, ethnicity, heritage by Mary Cummins genealogist. I did this tree 20 years ago in 2003 and left it on Ancestry.com. That means anyone had access to all the data. I translated the old Spanish documents myself word by word. There was no tree for him on Geni, Ancestry, Geneastar, online...before I made it. I'm sure others probably made one in a private website or their computer but there was no tree on the internet when I made this tree. I did add the photos more recently but it's the same tree.

I love Henry Louis Gates Jr. and PBS' "Finding Your Roots." Great show. That said all of the family trees that he has shown on his show were done by other people many years earlier. He doesn't do them from scratch. I'm sure he probably worked to verify that the data was accurate but he saved years of work by using the existing data. He basically verifies trees, data then weaves it into a nice and compelling presentation. It's a TV show, entertainment.

Danny Trejo acted on the show like this is the first time this information was known. I realize he's an actor trying to put on a good show to promote himself. Still, this data has been publicly available to anyone on the internet since at least 2003. His mother's family was never unknown. Neither was his father's family. Since I made my tree for him I see many other people have linked to it and used the data for their trees. 

I've done over 1,500 trees for famous people and celebrities. Many of them are on Geneastar.org which was bought by Ancestry.com last year. I started making them public for all without a pay wall few years back. I was a little upset that Ancestry sells all my work, my data, my documents to other people for $35/month. Even if your tree is private everyone can see, use all of the data and your photos. They just can't see your name or living people in your tree. If you want your tree, family photos to be private, never put it on Ancestry, Geni, My Heritage, My Family or any other place even if they say it's private. You are giving them the right to sell your photos and data. This is why I don't put any of my photos on Ancestry. Once a relative of mine put one of my photos in his Ancestry account and Ancestry advertised it as one of their photos. It was my photo. I had to send a cease and desist to get them to remove it. They tried so hard to shake me so they could keep it and sell it but they finally removed it. Now I don't even let my relatives have family photos for this reason.

My specialty is Mexican, Spanish, Jewish and African American genealogy research. I like to do the not so famous people, Mexicans, Jewish and African Americans because no one was doing their trees and we need this information out there. I've been working on this project for many years. The main theme is that we are all related. In fact I've also been connecting all of the famous people to my tree. I connected all of the US Presidents, US VPs, English/Spanish/French... royalty, 500 most famous people ever... in my tree. Everyone in the US with one European ancestor is at least a 15th cousin to everyone else with a European ancestor. You just need to know the path.

I generally write a full article on each person in the tree with their biography, history, obituary but you can just read the articles online about the PBS show. It's not as detailed as my articles but I don't feel like doing all that work as other people just take my articles, data and sell it with ads or as a subscription service like Ancestry. I have no ads on this blog. 


Genealogist at Geneanet and Geneastar
https://en.geneanet.org/profil/marycummins
 Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter
https://marycumminsrealestatemarycummins.blogspot.com
 Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser
http://www.marycummins.com
 Mary Cummins
http://www.mary.cc
 Mary Cummins Biography, History in Wikipedia format
http://wikipedia.marycummins.com/
 Mary Cummins on LinkedIn 

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Governor Greg Abbott's wife Cecilia Phalen Abbott family tree, Mexican Ancestors by Mary Cummins

Governor Greg Abbott,Gregory Wayne Abbott, wife, spouse, Cecilia Phalen, Cecilia Therese Phalen, family,ancestry,heritage, dna, ethnicity, mexican, mexico, immigrant, mary cummins, genealogist, family tree, pedigree, mother, father, siblings, children, hispanic, first lady, segura, rodriguez, calnan
Governor Greg Abbott,Gregory Wayne Abbott, wife, spouse, Cecilia Phalen, Cecilia Therese Phalen, family,ancestry,heritage, dna, ethnicity, mexican, mexico, immigrant, mary cummins, genealogist, family tree, pedigree, mother, father, siblings, children, hispanic, first lady, segura, rodriguez, calnan

Cecilia T Phalen Abbott is the wife of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Gregory Wayne Abbott. I did his family tree for Geneastar years ago. Governor Greg Abbott's ancestors are immigrants just like Cecilia Phalen's ancestors. Always amazing when descendants of immigrants hate other immigrants. They want to deny them the rights which they themselves had and used to come to this country to flee oppression and have a better life. It's more upsetting in this case as Cecilia's mother speaks in Spanish in a political ad telling Latinos that Abbott is a "family man" and a "man of faith" who cares about "our values" when that is not the case.

* This article does not include full birth dates of living people. Only the year is included in order to differentiate among people with similar names. All photos are copyright free and used for education. 

Cecilia was born in 1959 in Texas. Her parents were teachers William Joseph Phalen born 1933 in Michigan and Maria de la Luz "Mary Lucy" Segura born 1934 in Texas and died November 7, 2020. Cecilia's paternal side is from England, Ireland and Maternal is from Mexico. Mary Lucy Segura Phalen's obituary is below.

"Mary Lucy Phalen (nee Maria de la Luz Segura) went to meet our Heavenly Father on November 7, 2020 after a brief illness. She passed peacefully surrounded by family who prayed and sang at her bedside.

She was the youngest daughter of Agustin and Leonor Segura who emigrated from Mexico to Texas at the turn of the 20th century. She was raised with strong Catholic values that emphasized faith, family and a generosity of spirit. She attended St. Henry's elementary and high school and graduated Salutatorian. She earned her Bachelor's degree from Our Lady of the Lake College.

She became a teacher, which was truly a vocation for her. She taught at various Catholic schools including St. Martin's Hall, St. Paul's and St. Anthony's. She also taught in the SAISD for 30 years at schools, including Horace Mann and Longfellow. She loved teaching and always referred to her students as "my children".

After she retired, she tutored neighborhood children who could not attend school due to illness or who needed extra help. This was her joy! She also volunteered her teaching services at Our Lady of the Atonement when they were in transition and were in desperate need of good teachers.

Her most fateful teaching assignment was when she was asked to fill in at St. Henry's in 1956 after the sudden and tragic death of one of their nuns. There, Mary Lucy met Bill Phalen, a fellow teacher who shared her same strong Catholic values. They married on December 28, 1957 and had four children: Joseph, Cecilia, Norbert and Letitia. She was very proud of her children and because of her ongoing emphasis on education, her children went on to earn college degrees, including post-graduate degrees.

She adored her son-in-law and daughters-in-law as if they were her own children and would do anything for them. She became somewhat of a celebrity when she starred in the "Madrina" commercials during the gubernatorial campaign for her son-in-law, Greg Abbott. This commercial ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epeGzWXUYgE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqONQ7ErAsY English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouPDw4pWOBA ) proved to be effective with gaining the Hispanic vote. She was so proud that her daughter, Cecilia, became the first Hispanic First Lady of Texas. Sadly, during this victorious time, she lost her son, Norbert, to cancer.

She loved music. She had a beautiful singing voice and played both the piano and organ. She shared her gift of song at various weddings and funerals. Anyone planning these important family events always knew they could count on both Lucy and Bill to organize the music.

Her house was always your house! The Phalen home became a hub for many celebrations, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions, to name a few. Extended family and friends knew they were always welcome!

She was an excellent cook and she had some iconic items like her famous fruit salad that could not be replicated. Music was always a big part of the Phalen experience so everyone was encouraged to sing Christmas Carols in harmony.

If anyone needed a place to stay for the holidays or if they were in between places in life, her door was open and they were treated as family. If anyone needed help and approached her, they would not be left out in the cold. This included stray animals. Mary Lucy exemplified her name, Maria de la Luz, meaning Mary of the light!

She is survived by her husband of nearly 63 years, William (Bill) Phalen, her son and daughter-in-law, Joseph and Yvette Phalen, daughter, First Lady Cecilia and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, daughter-in-law, Rosie Torres Phalen (the late Norbert Phalen) and daughter, Letitia Phalen MD. She is also survived by her grandchildren James and Natalie Phalen (Joseph and Yvette), Joshua Rocha, Clarissa, Erica, Olivia and Samuel Phalen (the late Norbert Phalen and Rosie Torres Phalen) and Audrey Abbott (Cecilia and Greg Abbott). Surviving great-grandchildren including Roman and Monique Rocha, as well as Charizma and Sebastian Boone.

She was preceded in death by her beloved son, Norbert Phalen, as well as her parents, Agustin and Leonor Segura, siblings, Agustin and Jose Segura and Nina Barner."

Maternal Family

Cecilia's great grandfather was Jose Augustino Segura born in Mexico 1900 and died 1955 in Texas. He was a janitor.  Her great grandmother was Leonor Rodriguez born in Mexico 1902 and died 1997 in Texas. All older ancestors on maternal side born in Mexico.

Paternal Family

Cecilia's paternal family is from England, Ireland, France and Scotland. 

Genealogist at Geneanet and Geneastar
https://en.geneanet.org/profil/marycummins
 Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter
https://marycumminsrealestatemarycummins.blogspot.com
 Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser
http://www.marycummins.com
 Mary Cummins
http://www.mary.cc
 Mary Cummins Biography, History in Wikipedia format
http://wikipedia.marycummins.com/
 Mary Cummins on LinkedIn