My Family History - Gilkes, my mother's side.

My grandfather, William Archibald Bruce Gilkes (sometimes called Archie) came to the US from Barbados, British West Indies in 1913. I hadn't thought much about Barbados until recently but I have begun to read about its history. I also read a wonderful memoir about Barbados called Sugar in the Blood. My grandmother, Emma Wenzel was born in New York City in 1897 of German immigrant parents. My grandfather worked for the Post Office and was a chiropractor and my grandmother worked as a seamstress. A tour of the Tenement Museum in NYC gives a feel for how people like my grandmother lived and worked 100 years ago. My grandfather was married and had a family when he met my grandmother. His first wife was Vera Solomon and she was from Jamaica. Their children were Doris, 1917, Kathleen, 1919 and Beresford, 1922. Vera died soon after my grandfather and grandmother got together, perhaps of a broken heart. Muriel, my mother, was born in 1925, Ronald in 1933, Daniel in 1935, Howard in 1937 and Russell in 1938. This page has more on my grandfather William's history and this one has more on my grandmother Emma's side.