Louis Kessler’s Behold Blog

It’s been a long time since I blogged about the tools I use on my computer to deal with my photos. Looking back, I had these articles:

• Jan 2006: Windows 98 to Windows XP
  On Windows 98, I was using JASC Paint Shop Photo Album 5.  When I got a new computer with Windows XP, JASC had been bought out by Corel. I found that JASC Photo Album continued to work on XP without problem, so I continued to use it.
• April 2009::Picture Management and Editing in Windows Vista
  where I talked about my transfer from Windows XP to Vista. On XP, I had tried Adobe PhotoShop Elements, Google Picasa and Corel Photo Album. On Vista I was expecting to try Windows Live Photo Gallery which included face recognition.

At that point, I did start using Windows Live Photo Gallery and I really liked it.

The last release of Windows Live Photo Gallery was in 2012, and Microsoft stopped supporting it and made it unavailable in 2017. I continued using it on my next computer I purchased in 2014 with Windows 8.1.

• Mar 2020: When Everything Fails at Once
  My computer failed spectacularly, but fortunately the drive with all my photos and videos was fine. For it’s replacement, the Windows 10 computer I am still using today, I decided not to install Windows Live Photo Gallery, but look for something new, thinking that maybe Microsoft Photos which was included with Windows might be okay even if it did not have face recognition at the time.

Tag That Photo

Microsoft Photos just didn’t do it for me. It didn’t work the way I worked. I needed something better that I liked.

Then I ran across a program with a special purpose. It would import the thousands of tags that I added to my pictures in Windows Live Photo Gallery and write them as metadata in Adobe’s XMP format into each picture. This would preserver the thousands of faces and other tags that I had added over the years in photo gallery.

The program is called TagThatPhoto. It also has Face Recognition. After I got it and imported all my Photo Gallery tags, I then spent probably a month going through all my photos with the program’s help, to tag as many more photos as I could. My current count is sitting at over 18,000 faces tagged with another 24,000 being faces of people who are not relevant to me.

However, face tagging was really all TagThatPhoto was good for. It did not really help me at organizing my photos like Windows Live Photo Gallery did. So I was in need of something else.

digiKam

I wanted something that would do all the organization for me. I searched for several months for a program with face recognition that would allow me organize all my files into topics, include the ability to locate my photos on a map, along with tagging, captioning, editing and even a capability to find duplicates. There weren’t too many programs that impressed me.

Then I ran into digKam. Not only did it seem to have everything I needed, but it was Open Source and free as well. I downloaded it and put it through its paces.

You could see the tabs at the left are: Albums, Tags, Labels, Dates, Timeline, Search, Similarity, Map, People – basically all I needed.

But it turns out digiKam for me isn’t the right program. I just don’t like the user interface. I found it slow in rendering the photos and difficult to get around. It really is a Unix program that is ported to work also on Windows and to me it felt like it.

Mylio

So then it came to be time for RootsTech 2023 in Salt Lake City. I’m not attending this year but was looking very forward to its live streamed and pre-recorded sessions.

What I discovered was one of the conference’s sponsors: Mylio Photos. The more I watched their explanatory videos, the more intrigued I became. Here is a full-featured photo organization program that I was very surprised I had never heard of before. Checking out the Mylio website (which is beautiful by the way), I was surprised to see they are up to Version 22.1. So they are not a new company and have been around for a while.

I am very impressed by the program’s advertised capabilities, the user interface of the program, and the company’s videos and presentation of their program.

This is not a free program. They charge $99 a year. But if the capabilities are this good and if I enjoy using it as much as I did Windows Live Photo Gallery, then it will be worth every penny.

Tonight, I will install and try it out.

Evening progress:. I bit the bullet. Purchased a year subscription on their RootsTech special offer ($20 off + 2 bonuses), installed it and started loading my photos.

I’ve got 2 main folders with photos, one in my Pictures directory and another that is mostly trip photos that are in my OneDrive folder on my computer that get synched with OneDrive. My Pictures directory had 30,198 pictures and videos in it. They took about an hour for Mylio to index and then started to generate thumbnails, detect faces and scan for text.

I think this program’s a keeper.It does so much. Rather than me try to explain, I’ll leave you with this RootsTech presentation by Rich Harrington from Mylio.

1. It does not write the XMP into the image file.
2. It does create an XMP “sidecar” file with the Mylio information in it.

Not having the XMP info include the face regions and other changes in the file is not a good thing. If the picture is moved without the same-named .xmp file, then the info is lost. And a lot of programs can’t read the sidecar information.

By comparison, digiKam directly writes the face regions as XMP information into the file and makes changes directly to the file as well. Mylio can read this information, which is good. But digiKam does not read Mylio’s sidecar information. It must be a proprietary format.

I do understand the possible logic that Mylio used in not adding the info directly to the file. With the sidecar file, they do not change the file in any way, and all edits and additions can easily be undone – and they state that.

But if portability is needed and you want those faces and edits to be available to any future photo management program you may decide to use, then Mylio might not be the best. It’s a bit of vendor lock-in which isn’t good.

And having thousands of little .xmp files all over my computer is something I don’t want. I’ve also noticed some 256 x 256 pixel copies of pictures appearing in the same directories.

Those look like thumbnail copies of the full size pictures that Mylio might be using. If a program makes thumbnails, it should keep them in a database that doesn’t add files to someone’s pictures folder.

So I’m afraid it might be back to digiKam for me.

I’ve put up more than 1200 blog posts since 2002, but I have never up to now posted a biography about anyone in my family tree. I thought today would be a good day to start.

Zalmon Hertzan was a younger brother of my great grandmother Toba Focsaner. He was born on Jan 10, 1873, so today would have been his 150th birthday. He never married and had no children so he has no direct descendants to remember him. I thought Zalmon was worth of remembrance so here is his story.

Born in Dorohoi, Romania in 1873

Zalmon was born in the Dorohoi, Romania. This is his birth record which is a really beautiful document as every birth record was handwritten and given a page of its own:

Here’s the translation:

(Dorohoi) 13/1873:
Birth Record of Solomon Zalman Hertzanu.
Registration Date: 11 Jan 1873, 3:00 PM

Details:
     Gender: Male
     Religion: Jewish

Birth Details:
     Birth Date: 10 Jan 1873, 11:00 PM
     Address: Dorohoi, parents’ house on 527 Targu Vitelor str.

Parents:|
     Father: Haim Hertzanu, 56, no profession
     Mother: Sura Rifca, 32, no profession

Residence: Dorohoi

Witnesses:
     Declarent: the father who presented the child.
     Witness1: Ita Beila, 70, midwife
     Witness2: Sura Mendel, 40, no profession

I find it very interesting that his birth record lists him as Solomon Zalman. Solomon in Hebrew is Shlomo. Solomon In Yiddish is Zalmon. Yiddish would have been his family’s native language and the language he spoke in the home. I’m sure he learned Romanian as well and once he came to Canada, enough English to get by.

He was usually known as Zalmon throughout his life, although he was sometimes referred to as Shlomo. Solomon is the English translation of both those names. I found Solomon on some Canadian documents, and he may have used that name officially in Canada.

Zalmon’s parents were Haim (pronounced with a gutteral H (as in “Khaim”) and Sura Rivka. Haim’s profession in other records was listed as “merchant”.

Zalmon was the youngest of 8 known siblings, the others being:

• a sister Risel, born 1849
• a brother Aron, born 1853
• a sister Dvoira Servu, born 1856
• a sister Sheiva, born 1863
• a sister Toba, born 1864, my great grandmother
• a brother Shaia born 1868 who died 1874 age 6 before Zalmon was born
• a brother Louis, born 1870

The age of Zalmon’s mother on his birth record is likely wrong. She was listed as 39 years old on Shaia’s birth record, and 42 years old on Louis’ birth record  indicating Sura Rifca was likely born in 1828 so she would have been about 45 when Zalmon was born, not 32. 

Zalmon’s father’s age on his birth record was also likely a bit off, with other records indicating Haim was likely born about 1820, so he would have been 53 when Zalmon was born, not 56.

Life in Dorohoi, Romania

Dorohoi is a city in the Botoșani county in northern Romania currently with about 23,000 people. It had about 6,000 people in 1860 growing to 12,000 by 1900. Jews began to settle there in the 17th century. In 1860, half the population was Jewish. By 1900, more than half were Jewish and there were 20 synagogues in the city.

Zalmon’s birth record says he was born at home which was 527 Targu Vitelor street. There is no such street in Dorohoi today. Targu Vitelor in Romanian means Cattle Fair/Market, so it could have been the street where the market was located at the time.

Zalmon’s father Haim died in 1883 at the age of 63 when Zalmon was 10.

Zalman’s older sister Toba was my great grandmother. Toba married my great grandfather Joseph Focshaner in 1888.

Leaving the Country

Nothing in the history of Dorohoi indicates anything really bad happened to the Jews there in the 1880s and 1890s. But from 1899 to 1903, a series of pogroms  spread from Romania to Bessarabia.

In April 1902, Joseph and Toba and their 5 children aged from 1 to 11 emigrated to Canada. Zalmon who was 29 at the time went with them. They somehow made their way across Europe from Dorohoi, Romania to Hamburg, Germany. Then they sailed to Halifax aboard the SS Bulgaria with almost 1800 other immigrants, of which 150 were bound for their same destination: Qu’Appelle.

From Halifax, they would have travelled 4,000 km (2,400 miles) across Canada by train to Qu’Appelle, which was about 50 km (30 miles) south of where their homestead was to be.

They were part of a second group of Jews from Romania. An earlier group arrived in 1901 and a 3rd group arrived later in 1902. In total, about 350 Jewish immigrants from Romania arrived and settled in this colony in those 2 years.

New Roots in Saskatchewan

Canada was among the many countries that offered a new home to those who sought relief and a new beginning. The Canadian government passed an act seeking to attract settlers to the Territories which allowed them later (in1905) to become the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Any male over 21 years of age, or a female who was the sole support of a family could register for a homestead of a quarter section (160 acres), a section was one square mile. By building a home, occupying the land for three years, and cultivating 30 acres, the title to the land could be obtained for a registration fee of just ten dollars.

Both Joseph and Zalmon obtained a quarter section next to each other in the rural municipality of Tullymet which was just East of the municipality and town of Lipton. The combined area was known as the Lipton Jewish Colony.

Joseph obtained NW 34 23-12-W2
Zalmon obtained SW 34 23-12-W2

The map above shows those residing in 1906 on sections 1 to 36 of 23-12-W2.

After overcoming the shock of a new country, they had to build a home out of logs on their land before the severe prairie winters were upon them. Then they began cultivating the land and acquiring livestock, including horses, cows and chickens.

The 1906 Census lists “Zerlman Hargani” age 27 (actually 33) living with Joseph and “Ioba” and their six children aged 3 to 18.

The 1911 Census lists “Sohrisu Hertsion” age 39 (actually 38) still living with Joseph and Toba and their six children aged 7 to 22.

The 1916 Census lists “Zalaman Hartzan” age 40 (actually 43) still with Joseph, Toba and their six children now aged 11 to 25.

The 1921 Census lists “Zalman Hartson” age 40 (actually 48) with Joseph, Toba and four of their children aged 16 to 25. The two eldest children were now married and living nearby.

Zalmon’s sister Toba died in 1923.

In 1924, Zalmon’s niece (my grandmother) Goldie’s husband died, and she and her 4 children moved back in with Joseph.

The 1926 Census lists “Solomon Hartson” age 45 (actually 53) with “Joe”, Joseph’s three unmarried children aged 21 to 24, Goldie aged 35 and Goldie’s four children aged 1 to 6.

We thus have documented Zalmon and his sister’s family living together, farming their combined 360 acres of land together, and enjoying life together for over 20 years.

Joseph died in 1927. His other children married soon after, and Goldie remarried and they all left the farm.

Photo

I do not have a photograph of Zalmon and don’t know what he looks like. I do hope I find one someday.

Here is a picture of his sister Toba and brother-in-law Joseph, circa 1920:

The Later Years

I don’t know what Zalmon did after the family left. A farm is too much for a single person to handle alone. A family is required. The family had over the years acquired Section 28 which was just southwest of the half-section 34 that they were given in 1902, and at least one of Zalmon’s niece’s was there with their husbands and children. So Zalmon was not alone and likely stayed and helped farm.

The 1930s were not an easy time to be on the farm. There was the depression and the drought years. Many of Joseph and Toba’s children, like other farmers, left the farm and moved to the big city of Winnipeg to start anew. One daughter Dora and her husband Abraham Elfenbaum and his family remained longer.

Zalmon worked as a farm laborer until September 1939. At that point, Zalmon may have moved to the Elfenbaum farm to live with his niece and her family. He died on May 8, 1944 at the Elfenbaum farm.

Zalmon was buried in the Bnay Abraham Cemetery just north of Winnipeg, where many of his nieces and nephews and cousins are buried. I personally visit Zalmon and the rest of the family at least once a year.

Zalmon was known to everyone in the family as Uncle Zalmon. His gravestone is inscribed with “In Loving Memory of our Dear Uncle Zalmon Hertzan”. His gravestone incorrectly says he was 60 years old, but he was born in 1873, so he was actually 71 years old. In Hebrew it says: Zalmon son of Haim Hertzan

I never met Zalmon because he died before I was born. But I hope this little story has brought him back to life a little.

Happy birthday Uncle Zalmon.

Sources

1. Birth record of Solomon Zalman Hertzan, in Dorohoi, Romania, 1873, acquired by Louis Kessler from researcher Sorin Goldenberg in 2017. Translation by Sorin Goldenberg
2. "Canada, Arriving Passengers Lists, 1865-1935," database with images, Ancestry, entry for Saloman Hartmann, 1902; Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1902, April, citing Passenger Lists, 1865–1935. Microfilm Publications T-479 to T-520, T-4689 to T-4874, T-14700 to T-14938, C-4511 to C-4542. Library and Archives Canada, n.d, .
3. Death record of Zalman Hartzan, recorded in the Province of Manitoba, 1944, acquired by Louis Kessler from the Manitoba Department of Vital Statistics.
4. Photo of gravestone of Zalman Hertzan, taken by Louis Kessler
5. Iancu, Carol. 2010, Dorohoi, article from the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Dorohoi 
6. Geni- Jewish Families of Dorohoi, Romania Project, https://www.geni.com/projects/Jewish-Families-of-Dorohoi-Romania/25415
7. Theodore H. Friedgut, 2007, Jewish Pioneers on Canada’s Prairies: The Lipton Jewish Agricultural Colony, 1901 – 1951. Monograph: https://www.jhcwc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Friedgut.pdf.  Full article at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20728556
8. Sol Sinclair, “Memories of Early Jewish Settlement at Lipton, Saskatchewan,” in Marjorie Drever, ed., Trails and Tales of Settlement and Progress, Lipton and District, 1875-1985. (Regina, 1987), 37.

I’ve been a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) for 10 years now, since 2013. I don’t take clients but use my membership to add a bit more credence to my genealogy activities, software development and speaking engagements.

Many professional organizations in a variety of fields require a number of hours of Continuing Education. This is some form of learning in order to keep up-to-date with the new trends in your field, or just to brush up on the information you know but have “forgotten” because it’s been so long since you learned or used it.

Up to now, I do not remember the APG ever enforced a Continuing Education requirement. To my surprise, I received an email a few days ago from them:

They also included a link to the online form to self-report as well to a page with Continuing Education FAQ.

My Hours

So that got me wondering. How many hours did I spend in 2022 on what would be considered Genealogy Continuing Education? Time to total things up:

Webinars - Total 17 hours:

• Jan 9 - 1 hour - Finding Your Jewish Documents in the Ukrainian Archives - Alex Krakovsky
• Feb 27 - 1 hour - Navigating Your Jewish DNA Results - Adina Newman
• Mar 3 - 1 hour - MyHeritage New Releases: Timeline & FamilySearch  Syncing - Daniel Horowitz
• Mar 17 - 1 hour - All About GEDCOM - Lisa Louise Cooke
• Apr 7 - 1 hour - What’s New in Jewish Genealogy 2022 - Ellen Kowitt
• Apr 7 - 1 hour - Confirming Smart Matches and Record Matches at MyHeritage - Moshe Etlis
• May 4 - 1 hour - Quickly Organize Your DNA Matches with the Leeds Method - Dana Leeds
• May 15 - 1 hour - Jewish Genealogy Facebook Groups - A Panel Discussion - MN Jewish Gen Society
• May 22 - 1 hour - 5 Things to Know About Metadata - Maureen Taylor & Permanent.org
• Jun 1 - 1 hour - Tips and Tricks for Navigating JewishGen
• Jul 6 - 1 hour - What’s New at DNAPainter - Jonny Perl
• Jul 12 - 1 hour - Exploring Your Ethnicities on MyHeritage - Gal Zrihen
• Sep 2 - 1 hour - Changing Places, Changing Borders, Overcoming geographic challenges - Dave Obee
• Sep 12 - 1 hour - Family Tree Maker - Mark Olsen
• Sep 15 - 1 hour - Planning and Preserving Your Digital Legacy - Maureen Taylor & Permanent.org
• Dec 9 - 1 hour - Trendy Tech Tools for Your Research Yay or Nay? - Cyndi Ingle
• Dec 14 - 1 hour - DNA and Endogamy: Making Sense When Your Matches Don’t Make Sense - Adina Newman

Courses / Workshops (Online) - Total 6 hours:

• Feb 23 - 1.5 hour - How to Read and Interpret Russian Birth-Marriage-Death Records - JGS Toronto
• Apr 3 - 4.5 hours - Jewish Roots in Ukraine: Context and Connection - NYG&B

Conferences (Online) - Total 15 hours:

1. Mar 3 to 5 - 5 hours - RootsTech 2022
• Family Search GEDCOM 7 (3 talks) - Gordon Clarke
• Visual Phasing (5 talks) - Tanner Blair Tolman
• DNA Painter Part 3: The Inferred Segment Generator - Tanner Blair Tolman
• How to Know if a Matching DNA Segment is Maternal or Paternal - Nichole Dyer
• Piling on the chromosomes - Debbie Kennett
• Best Foot Forward - Family Photos (2 talks) - Nancy Lora Desmond and Maureen Taylor
• What’s New/Coming on FamilySearch.org (3 talks) - Ron Tanner
• What Can I Do With Ancestral DNA (3 talks) - Roberta Estes
• Overview of HAPI-DNA.org - Amy Williams
• Genealogy Youtubers Live Panel
2. Aug 20 - 4 hours - Genetic Genealogy Jamboree - SCGS
• Keynote - Johnny Perl
• Rewriting History with DNA: How DNA Testing Affects Our Identify - Diahan Southard
• When Enough is Enough - Judy G Russell
• The Basics of Unknown Parentage Searches with DNA - Kitty Munson Cooper
3. Nov 5 - 6 hours - WikiTree Day  
• Being a Good Genealogy Partner - Melanie McComb
• Finding Ancestors Without Going in Circles - Amy Johnson Crow
• The Puzzle of Genealogy - AJ Jacobs
• The Future of Genealogy Panel
• Internet Archive - A Genealogist’s Gold Mine - Thomas MacEntee
• Getting Started with Borland Genetics - Kevin Borland

So in summary, during 2022, I watched 17 hours of educational webinars, took a course and workshop totalling 6 hours, and spent 15 hours at 3 online conferences.

That’s 38 hours in total.

So now it’s time for me to self-report my hours.

How much time did you spend in 2022 improving your genealogy knowledge?