Friday, September 14, 2012

The Davis School Boys

     My maternal grandmother, Eleanor Davis lived with her maternal grandmother in Brooklyn, NY when she was a 12 year old girl according to the 1930 U.S. Federal Census.  I don't know when she moved in with her grandmother but if I had to guess then I would say it was after the death of her 3 year old sister just three years earlier in 1927.  I did not find any of the Davis boys in the 1930 census and they weren't living with their sister in Brooklyn, so maybe they were in Poughkeepsie with their father.
     MaMa graduated St. Leonard's Catholic School in Brooklyn, NY in 8th grade and I'm still looking for her high school.  I think sh attended St Aloysius.  I ordered her St. Leonard's school records from the Diocese in Brooklyn because the school itself is no longer there.  St. Leonard's closed in the early 1970's and was demolished in 2001.
     I contacted the Poughkeepsie city school district which is basically the board of education.  I thought they would be able to tell me which school Uncle Danny and his brother Sammy attended. Was it Poughkeepsie High School?  Was this school in existence in the mid-late 1930's?  I thought so.  The woman I spoke to was unable to assist me and connected me to Poughkeepsie High School.  The woman I spoke to at the high school told me that this school was built in the 1960's and they only have records going back as early as those students who were born in the 1940's.  She said that if the student lived on S. Cherry St. back in the late 1930's and early 1940's then he might have attended a school called Morris.  When I looked up Poughkeepsie High School online it looked like it was much older.  Someone's information is wrong.  The woman at the high school suggested I call the public relations person at the admin building and she gave me the telephone number.  I called the admin building and connected back to the high school.  I spoke to Mary who is in charge of the 12th grade.  Mary told me that I can only get my own school records with photo identification.  Mary sounded like I was bothering her.  She did not want to hear anything abut genealogy research.  I asked her if this was her school's policy.  I am ordering school records for another person who attended school in Brooklyn.  Mary told me that this is the superintendent's rule and they don't give copies of records to anyone other than the actual student.  My grandmother's brothers are Dead so why would it matter?  I didn't let Mary ruffle my feathers.  I'll call the superintendent myself and ask.  So far, it's a dead end regarding school records for Uncle Danny and Uncle Sammy even thought those men are dead.  Well,  Daniel Davis is definitely dead and I'm sure that his brother Samuel is as well.  I have no idea whatever became of Uncle Sammy.  He's a brick wall and probably a dead brick wall.

1 comment:

  1. It just doesn't make sense to me when various places refuse to release information on people that have long passed. Each state is different, there is no general rule. Frustrating, it really dampens our research.

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