>From: Christi Timm <ctimm@teisprint.com>
>Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 22:00:18 -0500 (EST)
>Subject:
>To: <reborner@charter.net>, <dasaborner@aol.com>
>Importance: Normal
>X-Mailer: SquirrelMail (version 1.2.11)
>
>
>Russ and Dick,
>
>I just had a two hour conversation with my grandmother on family history.
>It's hard because she hasn't thought of the stuff for so long it's kind of
>jumbled. But the best part is that in going over it so slowly, she'll
>suddenly remember things here and there. I'm including herein some of the
>highlights for discussing.
>
>1. Russ, you asked once when the Walder family moved from NY to Danville.
>Gram said she was about 8 years old, so around 1920. Something I never
>knew before--she lived in NJ for a few months around that time, though she
>can't remember whether or not she went right to Danville from there or
>back to NY for a time. It was in NJ that she took piano and sewing lessons
>from Tante Julia.
>
>2. Gram says the church that the family attended in Neuchatel was (she
>believes) an Evangelical one. When Ma and aunt Marge went to Switzerland
>in 1960, the pastor of that church knew who they were because of the name.
>I guess he must have known of the family. She said he may still be alive
>somewhere because he was a very young man at the time. Wouldn't that be a
>kick? Getting in touch with someone in Switzerland who knew of our
>people??
>
>3. Gram almost could tell me what cause the death of Anna. She remembers
>Anna well. Russ--when did Anna die, do you remember? How about where she
>was buried. We MUST see about retrieving her death certificate from the
>reams of information on the New York deceased.
>
>4. The mysterious "other" Challandes child was a girl who lived long
>enough to be named but not long enough for Gram to classify her as a
>"child" rather than an "infant." She was born after Alice and before Paul.
>Alice Challandes worked for the Reader's Digest for a number of years and
>had gone quite far in the company. René worked for the Naturalization
>Committee (Department?) in Florida because he fluent in other languages
>(and in fact was a "linguist"). Of course I'm sure Russ knows all about
>these aforementioned facts, but I'm just jotting down the relevent points
>of our conversation.
>
>5. Ed Challandes was born on 2 Jun 1912. She remembers that distinctly
>because she was born 2 Apr 1912. Paul was born 18 Sept 1910 (how on earth
>does she remember birth dates of long-lost cousins after 80 years???).
>
>6. There was a Schild's (sp?) Bakery (not necessarily the name) in
>Brooklyn. The proprietor of this business was a 1st (?) cousin. Gram says
>Ma worked for him for a number of years.
>
>7. There was extreme anti-German sentiment in the early 1900s. Gram
>believes this could explain the confusion between Schild/Shields/Childs.
>As you can see, the former is DISTINCTLY German while the latter two could
>easiy be said to be English. She said that this was the reason her middle
>name is Lina and not Lena, as was the woman's after whom she was named
>(her paternal grandmother). As a side note, it could also explain my
>surname being spelled as it is--one would likely not guess first that it
>is of German derivation.
>
>8. So perhaps we should indeed abandon the search for Melchior Schild and
>pick it up at Michel (or Michael) Shields.
>
>9. Gram said that aunt Marge and Ma were told when they went to
>Switzerland that Arnold was an alcoholic. That is one of those infamous
>allegations that is extremely hard to prove or disprove, due to the
>variety of interpretations and definitions.
>
>10. Jeanne Borner (Sam's wife) was a secretary in New York.
>
>11. Paul Walder graduated from the University of Geneva, Pratt Institute
>in NY, and NYU. All electrical engineering. Gram said he worked with
>Edison. I assumed she meant the company Edison, but as she went on--pardon
>the pun, I can't help myself--a light bulb clicked on and I said "You mean
>the man Edison?" Of course that was exactly whom she meant--Thomas Alva
>himself. How 'bout that? And Paul designed and built the clock that rests
>in the Metropolitan Life Insurance building in NYC.
>
>
>
>
>---
>Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
>Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
>Version: 6.0.487 / Virus Database: 286 - Release Date: 6/1/2003
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.487 / Virus Database: 286 - Release Date: 6/1/2003