Cheryl Morrison sent us the following from the Poughkeepsie Journal of December 30, 2002:
| PENN YAN, N.Y. - Edna M. Finger, 80, of Penn Yan, N.Y., died Sunday, Dec. 29, 2002 at Soldiers and Sailors Hospital in Penn Yan, N.Y. Mrs. Finger was employed at IBM Poughkeepsie for 22 years until her retirement. She was a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, and had many warm and loving friends. Born in National Park, N.J. on Sept. 7, 1922, she was the daughter of the late Sutherland P. and Elizabeth Riley Davidson. She is survived by her husband, Robert Finger, at home; a daughter, Ms. Donna Pilzer of Wappingers Falls; one sister, Eleanor Vinson of Ruskin, Fla.; and two grandchildren, Lori Baxter and Gill Sammon, both of Wappingers Falls. She was predeceased by two brothers and a sister. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 10:30 a.m. at Weldon Funeral Home, 102 E. Main St., Penn Yan, N.Y., with the Rev. Elizabeth Boesen officiating. Burial will be in Bitely Cemetery in Branchport, N.Y. |
December 27, 2002
We heard from Gail Fingar Veruto today, who sent this:
What a shock! [I] put my father's name in for a search, Gordon R. Fingar......and this site popped up! I am very excited.....want to add my name.....Gail E. Fingar...(now Veruto). If I search some old things in the house ( I really don't know where they are) maybe I can come up with some information to help you out! Thanks in advance...I can't wait to hear from you.....!!!!I let her know we always enjoy hearing from newfound relatives and we are willing to accept anything she'd like to send. Thanks, Gail!
October 21, 2002
This arrived from Bill Ennist:
Lillian Pearl Cure was my g grandfather's sister. In fact, my grandmother was named Lillian Pearl Cure after her aunt, who died 4 years before my grandmother was born.Lily was married to Henry Finger. If anyone can help, let us know and we'll pass it along to Bill.
I'm wondering if it's possible to have more detailed information about Henry and Lily's family. I know that their daughters moved to Saugerties, NY, to live with their father's relatives after their father died, but don't know much beyond that. I would love to get in touch with one of their relatives to share info about Lily's two other sisters, Mabel and Etola, and their brother, Obed, who is my g grandfather.
PS - Lily's parents were Frasier Cure (1862-1954) and Catherine Etta Law (1862-1934).
September 30, 2002
Here is a part of a message we received today:
Hello to a newly found relative! My name is Carolyn Lucille Finger, an aunt of Steven Finger from whom I received an email aprisng me of your website. I logged on and found it to be very exciting. I am the youngest child of Clyde Miller Finger Sr. and Yorke Race Finger... I can add more info on the rest of the family if you are interested???I let her know we are always interested in adding to our site!
Regards, Carole
September 23, 2002
The site has been updated.
Stephen Finger, who currently lives in Maryland, sent some corrections and updates to his branch of the family. Also, he asked if we know how the name Vinger became Finger. My guess is that, like many other names, it was changed to an "Americanized" spelling. If anyone has another answer, please let us know.
Lynn Brewster sent some additional information and has offered to send some pictures of her part of the family. Lynn is the granddaughter of Swan E. Brewster and Essie Lillian Finger, who married about 1900.
September 14, 2002
I am keeping quite busy with my web work, but I have located and downloaded a good number of census images. I will try to get these uploaded as time permits.
This message came today from Joan Richards:
I think I may be a member of the Finger family.I will try to find a way to prove that this is the same person. If anyone has anything that would help, please get in touch.
Here's the story:
Johannes Finger married Catharine Hess. Their 11th child was Annatchen (Anna) Finger who married Jacob Blass. Anna and Jacob had a son Johannes who was baptized on 7 April 1771. My gr gr gr grandfather, Johannes (John) Blass was born on 23 Mar 1771 in Columbia County just 2 weeks before Jacob and Anna had their son Johannes baptized.
Do you think that my gr gr gr grandfather Johannes could be the son of Anna Finger? It looks like it to me, but I don't know how to get the proof.
I could add a GREAT many Finger descendents to your website if Anna Finger is indeed my gr gr gr gr grandmother.
August 27, 2002
I have updated the site once again. With this update I have added a good number of census records, which can be viewed via links from the person they pertain to. Much good information can be discovered from the census records. For example we find that Horace Fingar and his wife and kids were living with his parents in 1870.
Also I was able to connect Elias Finger to his parents.
From Jean James came a couple of additions to the Shields family. Jane Shields married Henry R. Austin. The Austin family relates to the Finger family through Lydia Austin, who married Ellis Finger in 1884.
August 10, 2002
The site has been updated today. I have been spending much time lately searching through online census images. Beginning with this update, I will be including links to these images as they relate various persons. For an example, look at Peter Finger and scroll down to the notes area. There is the link to the census image where he is listed. I'll be adding to these as time permits.
With this upload there are quite a few more Travers listed. Lorraine Travers was kind enough to send us quite a number of additions to this line. Jacob Finger married Christina Traver, about 1810.
June 29, 2002
I have added a page from the 1864 book Enrollment - Persons Liable To Military Duty that shows four Fingar family members listed. Thanks to Dave Fingar who made this book available, I was able to photograph it during my recent visit to Connecticut.
June 10, 2002
John Vanko has some information that might relate to Adam Finger (below):
I have two brothers Emanuel and Hartman Finger coming to America in 1860 and 1866 from Bottendorf and settling in Greenfield, Wisconsin, "½ hour distant from Milwaukee" according to an 1880 report in Bottendorf about families that emigrated to the US. Emanuel shows up in the 1880 US Census.I contacted Adam and passed this along to him.
Their father was Heinrich Finger of Bottendorf who, as far as I know, never left Bottendorf.
'Adam' is a very common name in Bottendorf, but that doesn't prove anything of course. Could Adam's 'Armin' really be 'Hartmann'?
May 19, 2002
Adam Finger sent along this information:
Hi. I am a member of the Finger family from Milwaukee Wisconsin and I am trying to find info about my ancestry and my ancestral hometown in Germany. My father was Frederick, (Fritz), and my grandfather was Armin Finger. The first descendant to emigrate was Adam Finger (my namesake) who started an insurance company in the mid 1800's. My uncle, William, is still alive in Milwaukee. I have heard form one of my family members that the family came from a town called Pozen in Germany. Any ideas?I let him know I'd pass along any information we might receive.
May 7, 2002
Helen Freeman would like to know if anyone has further information about her grandfather...
My grandfather Maurice Fingar came over from Lithuania in about 1910 with his brother Michael and swiftly changed his name to Freeman (he changed his name because he was 'embarrassed' about it. Why I'm not sure). They settled in London and went into the grocery trade at the same time as Tescos, Sainsburys, M&S were setting up in the East End.I'll be happy to pass along any information that I receive.
Married Ethel Foreman and had two sons, one Harold Freeman settled in Canada in the late 50s.
Is this a branch of the Fingar family? I'd love to know!
May 4, 2002
I added a picture of the tombstone of Catharine (Finger) Clark, which I must admit, I've had for quite some time.
Dave Fingar proposed a Finger / Fingar family reunion, but we soon found that there was not enough interest to consider a reunion this year. We may look into it for next year.
April 29, 2002
Today we have an interesting treat! Dave Fingar sent us a picture of a poster from Livingston in 1868, Association For The Detection Of Horse Thieves. On this poster we can see the name of member Adam Fingar, and that German Fingar is the secretary of the association. A big thanks to Dave!
April 28, 2002
Today a message came to us from Sarah's (see 4/27) brother Eoin Finger:
My name is Eoin Kevin Finger (Sarah's Brother) in Ireland! [Sarah tells me it's pronounced Owen]
Fascinated I am, to find your web-site...
Now, not quite sure about the Berlin connection, grandfather Gunter Finger, chef, was enlisted as a paratrooper, left his home land in Princepstatt, which is now in Poland, and was captured in Belgium. English P.O.W. camp, escaped, fled to Ireland with the help of the I.R.B. (predecessor to the I.R.A.). The poor man died of lung cancer at 55, never smoked. As far as I know his immediate relatives were killed in bombings...
Eoin (my friends call me Figs)
April 27, 2002
We can add another country to the list of countries where we know Fingers are located. Recently we heard from Ireland! Here is part of what Sarah Finger sends us:
Sarah Finger here from Ireland!She adds that she doesn't know if our line doesn't relate to hers, but we still enjoy hearing from any Fingers anywhere in the world. And it may be helpful to someone who's related to her.
I was just wondering if there was any chance of a relation of mine on this site??!! I never really knew much about my family history past my grandfather who came from Berlin, Germany!! My Great Grandfather, Heinz Finger, who was a watch maker by trade, was originally called Heinz Fingerhut. The Family came from east Berlin in Germany. But after World War II my granddad moved to England. He had an adopted sister called Edith who died of leukemia but besides that he had no other siblings. I never met my grandad and have no idea about any of my father's relatives!
Last week I took a trip to Connecticut and was able to meet some 'new' 7th cousins. There is a picture of me with Dave Fingar and Lee Fingar at Lee's home in Darien. Lee was kind enough to invite Dave, his wife, my wife and me for lunch, and he gave me a printout of his Fingar family research. Over time, I will incorporate much of it into our database.
In addition, Lee sent a picture of his dad and his dad's brothers taken in 1922.
Dave gave me a picture of Jacob Finger's tombstone, which dates back to 1807! Dave also had some old record books with many Fingers and Fingars listed, some of which I hope to post in coming weeks.
I have made a couple of changes to make the database more 'standardized'. The help file in the Mormon Church's program, Personal Ancestral File recommends that state's names be spelled out, such as Darien, Connecticut, rather than using Conn or CT. Also it says that it is a good practice to use commas to separate cities, counties, and the state, and to leave them in even if the county name is not known. For example, New Haven, , Connecticut. In coming weeks I will try to fill in unknown counties.
April 8, 2002
Today I was able to update the database. A good number of changes were uploaded.
March 20, 2002
We always appreciate hearing from newfound relatives, this came in today from Jim Finger in Massachusetts:
Boy, was I shocked to actually find a Finger Family web site loaded with genealogical data. I found myself listed and therefore my parents. I am married and have children, my father died 10 years ago, my sister has a daughter, etc. How can we update the web site with new info?I let him know we always appreciate contributions and updates. If anyone can help him find some living relatives, let me know and we'll pass along any information.
I've also been investigating my roots as my father and his father were only children, so any relatives are quite distant. Several years ago I scoured National Archive's Census records in Waltham, MA, and entered info into FamilyTreeMaker. It was a wonderful surprise to actually find some of my ancestors. I have been unable to find any living relations, perhaps you could help me find them?
March 18, 2002
This message arrived today, and again we're reminded of the international nature of our name:
G'day,I asked Kelvin to let us know if he uncovers any further information on the Finger line in Melbourne.
I... decided to type my name (Kelvin Finger) into a search engine and see what it came up with. I found your site so I thought I'd let you know that there is a fair few 'Fingers' in Melbourne, Australia. I am only 17 so I don't really know much about my family history but I do know that I am not really a blood relative of the Finger family line as my grandpa was adopted...
Regards, Kelvin Finger
p.s. my grandpa had 2 brothers (they were 'real' Fingers)
March 7, 2002
Today I removed the the names of persons from the home page who had been listed under the heading Finger Family Homepage Contributors and Researchers. It was becoming difficult to manage such a list. I was not able to keep up with many who have contributed, and it is my hope that I did not offend anyone by omitting his name. Contributors' names, however, are listed in the source references of the data they contributed. In addition, their names appear on the Newspage as I receive and add information to the site.
We've had a couple of messages from Linda Sue Finger, here is a summary:
We descend from Jacob Finger of Lithuania... who came over ALONE at age 13(!!!) and went through Ellis Island. Jacob was Jewish, though he converted, and even became a Methodist minister. He came from a large family, some of whom later followed.Linda promised to look for some more information to share with us. I would like to add her line to our Known Lines page.
We've never been sure if FINGER was the original name, an abbreviated form, or a translation of the actual name... I noticed there was a Jacob in your pile, so maybe there was a Jewish link, in there somewhere. We have virtually NO info on old country links, since [Jacob] converted very young, and his family considered him dead from then on. Do you know if you have any Lithuanian ties?
February 26, 2002
This message arrived today:
S.E. Brewster Jr. III was my father and Dr. (Rev.) S.E. Brewster my grandfather. I know that Essie Finger is my grandmother who died when my father was just a boy. I am living in NYC and have started researching a little of my lineage especially the connections to upstate NY. -- I recently found and visited my grandmother's grave in Saugerties and I am interested in finding out more.
Would love to hear from someone.
Many thanks,
Lynn Beth Brewster
February 25, 2002
We have received some messages from Lee Fingar. He sent a couple of corrections for some dates that were wrong and included the following:
Regarding our change of the name from Finger. I believe this first occurred in Germantown. Loescher was being "Americanized" to Lasher and I suggest that Conrad and his two sons Elias and Jacob C. thought it was a pretty good idea. (After all, who wants to be thought of as German. They were American.) But in 1808 they were still Fingers. However, Elias's oldest son Thomas was clearly a Fingar as Germantown records document that he was Town Clerk in 1828 and 1829 as Thomas Fingar.
Apparently, also, one of Michael's line changed to Fingar. Michael's youngest son Friedrich had children that ended up in Gallatin, New York. One of his sons, William Henry b. Nov. 18, 1818 ... ended up as one of the two Justices of the Peace in 1845 according to Gallatin Town Records as William Fingar. Also, a William Fingar, Jr., ... was Gallatin Town Clerk in 1867 and 1868 as well as Justice of the Peace in 1874. Are there relatives from Gallatin who can unravel this situation?
We all are interested in finding out more about the Finger / Fingar story, so if you have further information or even a theory, let us know.
February 4, 2002
The following message came today from Steven Finger, just in case anyone has wondered what's going on with his site, Finger Family Files:
Dreamwater deleted my account for some reason... I can not get to the bottom of... and our website is currently offline until I rebuild it elsewhere or restore the site with Dreamwater... in either case it will be about a week or two until it is back up...
January 9, 2002
This message arrived today from Rick Finger of St. Louis:
I was wondering if you or one of your web-visitors could help me find information on a Theobald Zachariah Finger who lived in Perryville, Missouri around 1900 to 1920 and died in nearby St. Louis, MO in 1926. He also had 3 sisters: Sophia Huffer, Cora Mae Scott, and Ida Rebecca Cashion who were around Perry County, MO also for a time.If anyone can help, I'll pass the information on to Rick.
I was told their father's name is Benjamin Franklin Finger and know nothing about him. Their relationship to me is unknown, but I'm interested because they are from my home county.
Thank you.
January 4, 2002
You might like to know that we got an average of 13,000 hits a month during 2001. Look at our Stats page.
We are now entering our fifth year on the web, and completing over one year since we started using our own domain name. Again thanks to all who have contacted me and/or sent in items of interest and corrections.
The only new item so far this year is this message from Claudia Halberstadt:
By chance I found your homepage, which looks very interesting to me. My maiden name is Claudia Finger. I was born in 1955 in Mövchnegladbach, Germany. As we are a little interested in genealogy further contact might be interesting. From my mother's and my father's family tree the oldest traces go back to the 17th century. On my father's side there are some French people ( 18th or 19th century ), one of them was an archbishop of Paris. Perhaps we could help each other to find further traces.
Best regards, Claudia Halberstadt ( Finger ) Dortmund/Germany