Mind puzzle

Interesting. I just found out (get ready for this!) the husband of my 3rd cousin 3x removed on my paternal great grandfather's side of the family is the great grandson of my 4th great grand aunt (by marriage) on my paternal great grandmother's side of the family. Hope you have better luck keeping that straight than I do!

Thought I had 'wasted' my time

Nothing like spending a couple of hours researching a family only to realize that I'm collecting information on the in-law family who is not related to me. Then discover...oh yes they are related! The father-in-law of mother-in-law of my 5th cousin 1x removed is my 4th cousin 2x removed.

You just never know

I found people in my area of the state with one of the surnames of my husband's family, but could not find a connection to his family.  Today, I found it.  The family out here is his fourth cousin, 4x removed.  I wonder if they knew they were related to the other Bisbees in the area.

Another blue ribbon library

Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I spent the afternoon at the Hutchinson, Kansas public library looking up obituaries and found this to be a great place to research.  A pleasant staff and an awesome microfilm reader awaited me there.  The microfilm reader loaded and unloaded the microfilm.  I think it saved me an hour!  I was allowed to get my own microfilm and I like that.  The library staff offered to load and unload the microfilm along with getting it for me.  I don't mind doing it myself as long as they don't mind me doing it.  I had quite a list to look up.  I don't intend for this blog to turn into a library rating, but I just had to let you know what a great place the Hutch library is for research! 

$20? You have to be kidding!

I have learned to check local libraries to see what information is available.  For example, the post before this one about the Pueblo, Colorado library.   (They deserve a blue ribbon!)

I don't mind paying a fee for an obituary.  In fact, I have one on its way (I hope!) for a fee of $5.  Of course, I like it much better when the fee is a smaller amount or free.  :)

One California library doesn't look up obituaries and I can understand why, to a point.  The library has been kind enough to offer the services of a company who charges $20 per obituary.  Really?  The library has an index to their obituaries, but I cannot access it since I am not a library card holder from their library.  So, I get to pay $20 for a possible wild goose chase.  (I know the person died there, but I don't know if he/she has a published obituary.)  I will wait until I take a trip in the area to look that obituary up!  By then I will probably have a list of ones I would like to read.  This library gets no ribbons of any color from me.

Pueblo County-City Library, Pueblo Colorado

The above mentioned library is WONDERFUL!  I visited there last week and everyone was helpful and kind.  The best part was when the librarian showed me a link on their website for obituaries.  I wish every library would do this! 

They indexed the obituaries for their local paper, Pueblo Chieftain, and made that index available to the public via their website.  They will send you a copy of the obituary from the link on the index!  Free via email! 

Here is a link their website.
http://www.pueblolibrary.org/
(Click on search and at the bottom is the link to the obituary index.)

Here is a link to the obituary search.
http://www.pueblolibrary.org/obituaries-search

Well done, Pueblo Library, well done!

WWI Gassing

I ran across a man (not related) who went into the Pacific Colony in the early 1900s.  He died in 1922 from epilepsy and psychosis.  He was married less than ten years earlier and had a small child when he died.  My heart was breaking for him.  Because he captured my interest, I did a little more research on him.  It turns out he was gassed in WWI.  With what is going on in Syria today, this haunts me even more. 

Insane, really?

I'm looking at a census records for Louisa.  She's an unemployed adult who cannot read nor write.  She is listed as insane.  The choices are deaf and dumb, blind, insane or idiotic.  I wonder what the criteria was for being labeled insane in 1870.

Be creative!

I love the census records, however, they can be pretty #@$#& frustrating when I can't find who I'm looking for in them.  Today I was reminded of being creative with names when looking.  The name alluding me was Jurmann.  I can find the family in the 1910 and 1930 census.  Where are they in the 1920? 

It hit me. 

The last name sounds like German.

I tried German and there they are!  I hope that works for the 1940 census, too!

Joke?

Someone's idea of a joke? Bill and Darlene divorced in 1972. She died in 1983. He died in 1991. Their headstones are separate but in the same cemetery and next to each other. His has the word TOGETHER on it. Hers has AGAIN. Did Bill get the last laugh?

Listen to instincts!

A thought kept creeping into my mind as I posted data to the family tree today regarding Kenneth.  I knew his name is Kenneth Eugene yet I posted a SSDI record with Kenneth middle linitial G.  Why?  Because sometimes the initials are wrong.  It bothered me that the SSDI record had a G instead of an E.

But did that stop me?

No.

Am I sorry?

Yes.

Kenneth G is NOT Kenneth Eugene.  You probably think that is a no brainer but when dealing with the census and records that are taken by hand there are tons of mistakes due to misreading the sometimes horrible handwriting.

The SSDI is not usually wrong.  I ignored the warning in my head.  Now I get to clean up the mess.

What made me finally admit my mistake?  The 1940 census.  I found Kenneth E and Kenneth G in their respective assumable locations.

Why did I do it to begin with?  I hate to admit it but I found  family trees with the misinformation.  Usually I do a better job of proving the information before adding it.

Not today.  Argh!

 Another twist of the knife....Kenneth E was easy to find on the SSDI.  Frustrating.

Feeling like a detective...

Abraham Dobbs was giving me fits on the census.  I could not find him anywhere.  So I tried looking for his wife, Jane.  Bingo!  I have records for him on the 1850, 1860 and 1870 census.  He was listed under his first name, his middle name and his initials.  Wonder what is next?

Oh heck, found the family on the 1880 census but Abraham is not with them.  Jane is listed as married so where is he???  No luck with anything I've tried.

I tried to find him in the 1900 census as I think he died in 1902.  No luck again.  Time to try to find him through his sons.

Oh Good! Earlier Census! Chance to get Parents' Names

Charles Wetherhold married into the family.  I have no idea who his parents are so was happy to see a 1910 census record for him.

I was surprised to see no parents listed, however, he is the nephew of Francis and Laura Peter.  Really?  I have a feeling Charles is related to me.  This needs more investigation!

I find Laura's mother was a Wetherhold, but that doesn't help at the moment.  Still investigating.

Well, after checking census records for the aunt and uncle listed with Charles on the 1910 census, I still don't know how he is related.  <big sigh>  I think I'll go eat a snack and try again later.

Sometimes it pays to enter a little extra

I really think I must be related to over 1/2 of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.  The other day I entered information on a Schlosser family.  This is NOT a direct line of mine, but I have several in my database.  Because of having so many, I went ahead and entered parents of the Schlosser...who didn't match any in the database.  I discovered the next generation of parents' names and enter them.  Still no matches.  Found another generation...they were in the database.  Related.  So the Schlosser marrying into the family was/is actually another cousin.  Distant cousin marrying a distant cousin.  I did not check to see if they were distant cousins of each other. There is a possibility of that.

Oh, by the way, your husband's sister-in-law is my cousin, too.

Today's adventure started out with an obituary.  Nothing unusual so far.  As I entered locations of the children I realized the one daughter (my distant cousin) was listed without a husband.  I knew she was married at one point so either they were divorced or he passed away.  I googled him and found his obituary.

As I have pointed out before, I list parents and sometimes siblings from obituaries as I seem to be related to over half of the people in the county.  I double checked his siblings against my database.  There's a possible match.  Richard H.

I check more details.  It is a match.  But why is Richard H. and his wife listed in my database?  He has no parents listed, no children listed.  I click on his wife.  OMG.  His wife is my 5th cousin. 

Maybe I'm related to two-thirds of the county!

(The other brother, Ronald, is not in the database...yet!)

I wonder if they are cousins to each other...

William, a 4th cousin 1x removed, married Ruth.  After I entered Ruth's information I noticed have her name twice in my database.  I check.  Sure enough.  The two Ruth's are the same.  Ruth is my 6th cousin.  Just for fun I ought to check and see what cousins they are to each other since they are in the same branch of my family.

As I check I discover I am related to Ruth twice.

I am pretty sure William and Ruth are cousins. 

Ruth is his 6th cousin.  I wonder if they knew...

What's the Story?

I suppose it's really none of my business, but I still wonder.  Stella and George had a daughter together and then divorced.  The daughter, Cordella, is listed on the 1920 census with her maternal grandfather, mother and step-father.  She is on the census with her mother and step-father in 1930 and 1940.  In 1940 she is listed with her step-father's surname.  Did he adopt her?

I found her obituary and she lists her stepfather as her father.

I found her biological father on the census.  He remarried shortly after 1920 to a woman with the same name as his first wife.  They had two children together.

The half-brother and sister are not listed in Cordella's obituary.  Did she know about them?

HOLY MOLY!  I just discovered Stella's second husband is my 6th cousin.  She is my 4th cousin 1x removed.

I'm so confused.

The website shows Claude with one wife and one son.

The Ohio Divorce Index shows him divorced from a different wife in 1997, married in approximately 1974.  Hmmm, apparently he was married twice.

The son's obituary shows his mother's maiden name as Cox instead of Lee.  His father is listed as a survivor.  There is no mention of a step-mother.  Oh my, he has a SISTER! 

As I enter data, Ancestry is finding possible matches for me.  Now I have a couple of family trees to look at. 

There is a third wife....and another daughter.  Is this wife the mother of the sister mentioned in the obituary?

Claude's obituary lists another wife and says they've been married 37 years.

Something is not right here.

Later.....

Well, I'm still confused.  I've been researching all of them trying to make sense of all of this.  Now I've discovered the one daughter is NOT Claude's (unless the wife's second husband adopted her or she used his name).   The Ohio Birth Index lists the other husband as her father.  She is not listed in Claude's obituary.  Her 'birth' father, Jerry, didn't marry her mother until four years after her birth.

Bad Words! Bad Words!

I entered family information fast and furiously for a week and then went out of town.  I discovered a family website with connections to my family.   I thought I would enter the data and then go back and document it.

I posted earlier about the back up problem, well, that was minor in some ways. 

I discovered the program has been storing my file on my c hard drive.  I always use the external drive and assumed the program was opening the file on the external drive.  WRONG! 

At this point I'm confused.  I don't think I can explain what all I've done to cause the confusion, but I've done a great job of it.

After I discovered the 'main' files on the c drive I backed up the two I determined to be the most recent and tried a merge.  I fell asleep during the merge and the computer also went to sleep.  Big mistake.

Today I tried the merge again and as soon as I spent an hour and a half going through flagged entries the Windows shut the program down.  I have to assume the files are damaged.

I restored the backups and re-backed them up.  I'm trying the merge again.  If it doesn't work this time I may want to consider re-entering the data for a third time.

The first time was on one file and had no sources other than the family tree.

I could not find the file with the week's worth of data entry.  (Damn, I wish I would have realized at THIS point about the c hard drive!)  So, the second time was on a different file and entered with sources but I didn't finish entering the data as it took longer since I documented as I entered.

The third time?  Well, I'm hoping there is no third time.  Please merge work!

Same name problems

When googling a distant cousin, I found articles that horrified me.  More investigation taught me my cousin shares a name with someone else in the area.  I feel for the cousin as we had problems in our small town with someone with the same name as my husband.  We had to get an attorney to straighten some of it out.

Not only do I feel for my cousin who probably has to constantly explain he is not the same person as the one who committed the awful crimes, my heart breaks for the child involved.

Wow, this was a stretch!

I'm working on the same family as I worked on last week because somehow, someway, I lost the data.  I backed it up before I went out of town, but the back-up doesn't have all of the new data.  While it is very frustrating, I've discovered information this time that I didn't last time because I'm slowly adding the family back to the tree.  Last time I entered as fast as I could with the intention of going back and seeing what I could find to add at a later date.  I'm also doing lots of backups which I should have done before.  I'm probably being excessive, but it's also frustrating to work on a family and know that you found more information on them and can't recreate it.

I've posted before about connecting distant cousins.  It always amazes me, and this time is no different. 

My 6th cousin, Floyd, married Hattie.  I found their three boys and a little bit about the boys.  I turned my attention to Floyd and Hattie as I only had possible birth dates for them from census records.  I found Floyd on the SSDI.  Where's Hattie?

I found a tree submitted on Ancestry with her parents listed.  I looked in my database to see if I had those names.  No, but I enter the parents name and look for a census record to verify the names.  I find one. 

The mother's maiden name is not a direct line name for me, but it is one I run across fairly often in this part of the country so, just for fun, I check to see her parents are.  I check to see if I have the parents...and oh my gosh!  I do!  Her mother is my third cousin, 3 times removed.    That makes Hattie my 5th cousin 1x removed.

Back Up

I'm still shaking my head and I'm very thankful nothing happened.  I always take a back-up of my genealogy with me when I go out of town.  Wednesday I backed up the file to take with me.  I was thrilled I found a jump drive with enough room to store it so that I didn't have to take the bigger external hard drive. 

Today I realized I NEVER put the file on the jump drive.  It's on my camera card..which did NOT go with me on the trip.  <big sigh>  All is well, but I need to pay more attention to what I'm doing!

Lewis and Mildred

Who are you Lewis and Mildred?  Lewis, you show up on  the 1920 census with my 5th cousin once removed and his wife as adopted.  Mildred, you are also on the 1920 and appear again on the 1930 as adopted.  Two different last names, three if you count my cousin's.  The two of you do not appear on any family trees I can find.  You apparently were a part of my cousin's life, why is there no record of you other than the census?

I found a Lewis that may be you.  He has a half-sister named Mildred.  Could this be you?

I'm using the parents' names listed in the obituary to see if I can back-track and find out what happened....if this is the same Lewis. 

Must Be Time To Quit (for the day)

Allentown's Morning Call has obituaries online going back to 1984.  Tonight I spent several minutes looking for a cousin's obit.  I tried using his mother's maiden name, his sibling's name, his daughter's name, his wife's name...all trying to flush out the obituary.

Finally my over-active imagination kicks in and wonders if there's something secretive about his death and all articles about it have been pulled.  I can't find ANYTHING about him.  There must be some sort of cover-up!

Then I realize he died in 1982.  Oops.  Must be time to quit and get some rest.

It's no wonder I'm confused!

Ruth's mother, Sophia, married Elmer when she was about 1.  They are all together on the 1920 census.

Now I'm trying to find more about Ruth.  I found a possibility on the 1930 census.  Name matches.  Approximate date of birth the same.  How Cow!  The mother's name is the same but it can't be her!  She's married to Elmer! 

Either Ruth's father is dead or her parents divorced.  I don't think they divorced and remarried.   I must not have the right Ruth on the 1930 census.  Yep.  There's Ruth on the 1930 census with her mother and step-father and she's using her step-father's name.

This is like putting a puzzle together and someone makes the pieces very close to the same with one small difference.  Pay attention or it won't all fit in the end.

Phooey!

I wanted to post something stronger for the post title, but I thought I better behave since this is public.

I just discovered a problem.  I have Elmer married to Mabel.  No problem there.  BUT, who are his parents?  I have two different sets of in-laws for Mabel.  (One set is enough, don't you agree?) 

Going to have to do some digging to figure this out.  Darn it all.  But first I have to go to the store to get a few groceries before we have to dig out of snow.  Ha!  No matter what, I'm digging!



Much later....
I am the cause of my own problem.  Had I looked closely I would have realized that my Elmer's had different last names.   German and Handwerk.  Both names I've worked with a lot in the last few days.  I couldn't see the problem until I created a grid of important information for both people and the last names stuck out.  Now, I hope I didn't just confuse myself even more.

More double cousins

Verna, my 5th cousin, married Raymond. 

I always check to see spouses' parents in Pennsylvania because I think I'm related to everyone.  Well, that is an exaggeration, but it's darn close!

I didn't have to check in this case as I see Verna listed twice in the index and Raymond is twice, too.  Upon further investigation I find Raymond is my 5th cousin 1x removed. 

Wait! What? How can you be related?

This 5th cousin's family has a really sad tale connected to it.  Ralph's wife, Abrosia, died in 1934 at the age of 35.  According to her next youngest son's obit, there are ten children.  I can only account for eight at the moment.  Anyway, the four youngest went to live in an orphanage in Philadelphia.  It just breaks my heart to find this out.

Today's task is looking for information on the eight/ten children.  I googled one of the kid's name to see what I might discover.

Up pops an obituary I didn't expect.  The obituary is for a lady who lists Ralph's kids as her half-siblings.  Her parents are neither Ralph or his wife Ambrosia.  So.....how does she fit in?  So far she is not listed in any of her alleged half-siblings obituaries. 

Later...

I just found three of the kids in the 1940 census as 'boarders' with a family in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  Still haven't located the father on the census yet.  So far 4 of the kids in the orphanage in 1940 and then the three just located with a 'strange' family in another county.

What do you mean no immediate survivors?

Roy died in 2009 and his obituary says no immediate survivors.  Really?  He has 6 siblings that I know of still alive and several nieces and nephews.  I don't understand.  It's not like he moved across the country away from the family.  He's in the same town/county as the ones still alive.  Wonder why his obit claims no immediate survivors.

We Share Cousins!

I think I have found other branches of the family where my husband shares cousins with me, but this will be the first documented in this blog.

Harry Walter is the son of Catherine Mohr and John Walter.  Catherine is a 1st cousin 6x removed for my husband.  Harry married Elizabeth Peter who is the daughter of Daniel Peter and Mary Burkhalter.  Daniel is my 1st cousin 4x removed.

Harry and Elizabeth had two children, Calvin who died as a toddler, and Ida who married Samuel Paul. 

Pretty cool.

John D. Cook

Why is it I cannot find information on John D. Cook's family?  I found him on the 1850 and 1860 census in Perry, Ohio.  I found him on the 1870 and 1880 Cincinnati, Ohio censuses.  They tell me he was born about 1826 in Pennsylvania.  His wife was Elizabeth A.  Other people's research indicate her last name is Clark, but I haven't found a source for that yet.  Ellen or Ella is the only child with more information discovered.  I have her husband (William J. Saffin) and her children.  She remained in the Cincinnati area.

Where are her siblings?  James (1852), Daniel (1856), Sarah (1859), John (1861), Amanda/Mary (1863) and William/Willie (1867) show up on the various census records mentioned above and then nothing. 

The last census with Elizabeth is the 1900 and she is listed with daughter Ellen/Ella.  Elizabeth is a widow. 

Where are you?!?

The Ottawa Kansas library was my destination today.  As I've said before, every library is different.  Here I was allowed to get microfilm out of the unlocked drawers to my heart's content.  When asking about what to do with the rolls when done (most libraries don't want you putting it up) and I was told to just put it back.  Okay.  Works for me. 

Today's search was frustrating.  It was nice to have a small town newspaper to look in as it doesn't have as much verbiage to scan, but, I only found one of four obituaries I wanted.  Where are the rest of you, darn it?

The newspapers were interesting even though they didn't contain the information I wanted.  One had a picture of a war bride from Germany or maybe England (my CRS is kicking in) with her young son in New York City.  Her husband was presumably in Reno working on a divorce according to the caption.  The wife hoped having their son with her would help a reconciliation.  I wonder how it worked for her.  It was surprising to find a picture/caption like this in a small town Kansas paper, even more surprising to find out it didn't involve a local person.  Why was this in the local paper?  

The library's genealogical section was small, but I found a lot of area books on cemeteries and histories.  I found some for counties not so close such as Finney and Ford.  The book on Ford County was new to me so I enjoyed some time perusing it.

Before heading out to the cemetery I stopped at Keim Bakery for lunch.  Nice place.  I would recommend it.

I found a map of the Mount Calvary Cemetery and an index of people buried there.  I quickly jotted the map down and I knew that would help shorten my time in the cemetery.  The cemetery didn't lend itself to the map very well, in my opinion, but I did find the graves I wanted to find in spite of the cold blustery Kansas wind and faulty map.

One obituary and three hours later

It's amazing how much time one obituary can consume.  I have new information which allows me to search for more people and before you know it, three hours are gone.  I now have the maiden name of my cousin's wife, the name of her first husband, and more information on her children from the first marriage.

Oh, remember the movie The Fockers.  Well, I found one of my families on the census as the Fockerts.  That is not the real family name.  It's amusing. 

It was an adventure

Each library is an adventure.  An added adventure today was driving to the Kansas City Kansas Public Library.  I loved seeing the KC skyline and bridges, but I'm a small town girl and driving by myself makes me nervous.

The KCK library has the microfilm locked up and four at a time are 'checked out' to you.  The printer on the reader didn't like any of my dimes so the librarian 'keyed' it to print and I just paid at the desk.  I thought that was very friendly of her.  Ten cents a copy.  More than reasonable!

I don't know if the microfilm was really that different or if my hurting neck (woke up with a crick in my neck) made it seem different.  Usually when I get microfilm the first date is the first paper on the film.  This film had the last date on the film first.  The joke is on me as I was excited when the librarian handed me the rolls to see that I needed either the first or second date on the all of the microfilmed checked out.  But that was not the case, I had to 'fast forward' to close to the end of the roll.  Oh well.

The library had some cemetery books, phone books, directories and some other genealogy books.  I found a piece of data in a cemetery book and then I needed to go as I parked in a two-hour parking spot.

I don't know where I was at in Kansas City as I don't know the area very well.  Isn't that a comforting thought?

On my way back I exited the interstate on the wrong exit and ended up at the railroad tracks. It made me nervous to drive under the interstate on a single lane with a train track in the middle of the lane!  I had to take a 'sharp right' to get back on the interstate and find a spot to get off and turn around so I could take the 'real' exit.

I'm glad I found the 'sharp right' road as otherwise I would have been going up the down ramp to get on the interstate hoping a highway patrolman wasn't around to see me!

Wonder if they knew

Thelma married Norman.  Her father was Alfred, grandfather was Alfred and great-grandfather was Joseph.  Hmm, might as well put her maternal grandmother on there too, Rosa. Rosa's father was Daniel.  (another one of those double cousin lines)

Rachel married Llewellyn.  Her mother was Gerda, Her grandfather was Calfenus and her great grandfather was Joseph.

Thelma and Rachel are both 4th cousins once removed to me.  They are second cousins to each other.  I wonder, were they aware they were second cousins?  I went to the same high school as second cousins once removed and didn't know one of them was related to me.

What makes this story more interesting than just simply were they aware of each other....they married brothers.  Yep, Norman and Llewellyn are brothers.  Small world.

Think outside of the box

Beatrice has been driving me crazy.  Her dad and mom apparently divorced when she was less than ten.  I can find her dad with his second wife and his second child on the census records for 1910, but no Beatrice.  I find Beatrice and her mother on the 1920 and 1930 census, but not for the 1910.  I really want to find this as I'm concerned I could have two wives connected to her daddy in error.  I need more information to confirm my suspicions her daddy married twice. 

It finally hit me.  Beatrice's mother would be in her 20s and probably moved back home with her young daughter.  Try them under the mother's maiden name.  Tada!  There they are!  This was the only census Beatrice's mother told the truth about her marital status even though she is listed with her maiden name.  She lists herself as 'widowed' on the 1920 and 1930 census. 

6th cousin, meet 6th cousin

My 6th cousin, Althea, married another 6th cousin of mine, Willard.  They both descend from my 5th great grandfather and grandmother.  I wonder if they knew they were distant cousins.

Sorting it all out

I don't have much information for Stella L.  I have birth month/year/state from the 1900 census and I know her siblings/parents.  Well, I guess I know more than I though.  :) 

I'm trying to find her marriage information and any children she may have.  As I'm unable to find an obituary for her, I decided to check other trees online to get information to verify.

I found three husbands for her.  Russell, Elmer and Adam.  I found her on the 1920 and 1930 census with Elmer and one child.  I found the child's obit.  His only survivors are nieces and nephews.  That means he must have a deceased sibling, or more.

I determined Adam was married to a different Stella as I found Adam's daughter's obituary.  Her mother is Stella L but a different maiden name. 

I found Russell and Stella in 1940's city directories, but no census records of them together.

I cannot find her on the 1940 census, nor can I find her son.  Frustration.

I found Russell on the 1940 census (if it is the same Russell - in the right area) and he is single and living with the OTHER Stella!  She is listed as married but the husband is not listed on the census.

Now I'm thinking my Stella did not marry three times.  The OTHER Stella married twice.

Stella has several siblings.  I hope to gather more information when I obtain their obituaries.  How many more children did she have?  Where are they?

Eleven E's

Names.

Eleven Children:
Eva
Elmer
Ernest
Edwin
Erma
Esther
Ethel
Evelyn
Elsie
Emory
Eleanor


And the parents:
Elwood and Emma

:)

How Much Tragedy Can One Mother Take?

An obituary from 1926 led me to update the branch of a family in Pennsylvania.  The obituary all by itself causes my heart to ache for the family of the young man.  He was 23, married, father of one, and died from burns on his body from an accident at work.

The mother of the young man, Ellen, lost her first son when he was six years old for reasons unknown to me.  Her second child, a daughter, lived to be an adult and the mother of two children.  Her third child, a daughter, died at the age of three months.  Her fourth child is the above mentioned young man who died at the age of 23 in the horrific accident.  
Child five lived to the ripe old age of 78.  Ellen lost four babies at birth.  I know one was the youngest of the brood, but I don't have years for the other three. 

To sum it all up, Ellen was the mother of nine children.  She lost six of them before they reached the age of seven.  Then the 23 year old son....

Four years after losing her son, Ellen lost her husband. 

I can only imagine the pain in her life.

Genealogy and Technology

As I sort through my stacks of genealogy materials (why did I feel the need to print EVERYTHING) to convert them to digital and selectively shred, I am reminded of all the different ways I've stored my data. 

When I first started, I worked for a company with a word processing machine.  My boss allowed me to learn how to use the machine (it wasn't a part of my job duties) and on my lunch hour I would enter my family information.  I created a number system.  I have been reminded of that number system as the old documents have the number(s) written on them.

This was cumbersome and not handy at all as I only had access to the machine during lunch hour at work and only if the person assigned to the machine was not working over her lunch hour.

The Commodore64 came out and we bought one.  I bought a genealogy program for it.  I don't remember the name, but I remember not being that happy with it.  I re-entered all the data into the program.  Something happened and I lost it all and got to do it again.  I learned a big lesson about backing up. The program was not as effective as I would have liked, but it was better than doing it by hand.

At work I was learning to use a relational database called RBase.  I loved that database.  I purchased RBase for use at home.  I used it to store my genealogy and once again, I re-entered all my data.  My very most favorite thing about using the database was I could create whatever report I wanted and make it look exactly the way I wanted. 

That worked until new technology came out and RBase was no longer supported.  By this time I had thousands of names and was not thrilled about moving the data again.  And I hated the idea of losing my control over reports.

I decided to use Family Tree Maker for my next venture into storing and sorting data.  I've stuck with it although at times it frustrates me too.  Even though at times I'm tempted to move to a different program, I am sticking with FTM.  I get tired of the updates and haven't been thrilled with their 'improvements' as I still can't create reports the way I did before although I'm getting better at understanding the program and can get close to what I want.  There are a few things I've not figured out yet, but I really don't need those particular features either...at the moment...so I'm letting it go.  I do like the capability of storing digital copies of documents and photos and linking them to people.

Now that we are deep into the digital age, I look back at how long it took me to get information versus how fast I can get the information and have a copy of the document stored and linked to the person. 

Attaching Documents

I scanned all of the obits from the last couple research trips.  I like to type the source on the jpg file.  My photo editing software has some great features, but it's not very user friendly.  Adding text is frustrating.  I figure it out and then don't use it for a long time and back to square one. 

My solution to that is to pull the jpg files (I scan the files as jpg because I like them as jpgs.) into PowerPoint.   I used that program all the time with my students for picture editing. I crop and add a text box with the source information and save the PowerPoint as a jpeg file.

I then pull it into the expensive program and do a final crop.  I could make the file fit the PowerPoint page and not do the last step, but it doesn't take that long to crop in the other program. 

Now I'm ready to attach the jpg files to the genealogy program.  Next is to figure out how to get the pictures to automatically print in the reports.

Ummm, today I want to be called....

I have never understood the desire to change a name.  My childhood best friends decided we should change our names and they picked out new names.  I couldn't think of something else I wanted to be called and it wasn't because I was so in love with my given name, I just didn't have any desire to change it.  I think I frustrated them.

All of the name changing frustrates me.  My latest example is Thad.  Thad was William on the 1920 census, Thaddeus in 1930, and Houston on the 1940.   Yes, William, Thaddeus and Houston are the same person as I have other documents tying the names to one person, thankfully.  (Except for William...that name never shows up again.  The 'child' is a junior and I've never found the name William associated with the father either.)

So, when I first met Thad in 1920, I thought he was William.  I never dreamed he was a junior. 

Knowing what I know about Thad, it makes me wonder about some of his siblings such as Ellen.  She shows up on the 1915 Kansas census with a birth year of 1888 between brothers Frank and Chester.  Why isn't she listed on the 1900 or 1910 census or the Kansas 1905 census?  Is she the E in Margaret E?  Margaret E was born in 1896.  She is listed on the 1900, 1905, 1910 and 1920 censuses.  Margaret is between brothers Frank and Chester.  Makes sense doesn't it?  Seems like Ellen must be Margaret Ellen with the age off in the census which isn't all that unusual.

Hold on.

Walter is between Frank and Chester, too.  He was born in 1891.  He is on the 1900, 1905, 1910 and 1920 census.  Where was he in 1915?

I made a graphic to help me keep all of this straight.

Better get back to searching.

Marvin and Mervin

My imagination is working overtime.  Marvin and Mervin are twins.  Mervin died in California and is buried there according to every source I can find.  However, his gravestone has Marvin on it.

Marvin died several years after Mervin in another state.

Why does Mervin's headstone say Marvin?  Is just a simple mistake or did Marvin die in California and Mervin take over his identity? 

And when do you think the child will have a name?

It's the eighth of October in 1850.  Your baby was born in July of 1849.  The census said he is unnamed.  Really?  ( I have found babies a month or maybe four months old without names, but never one this old.  I wonder why he went so long without a name.)

Is she or isn't she?

I drove to Garden City, Kansas today to do find some obituaries I needed to confirm some family members and dates.  I also hoped the obits might give me some leads on locations for siblings and such.  I did NOT expect any of the obituaries to make me scratch my head and say "I don't get it" while searching through the database to see if I can make sense of the obit.

Maybe if I 'talk' my way through it here I will figure it out.  I don't hold out a lot of hope, but here goes.

This person, Ella, is not a direct relative of mine or my husband.  She is the child of my husband's great-grandmother's second husband.  I like gathering a little information on the step portion of families as you just never know when it might come in handy.  I think I'm sorry I picked up her obit.  (Just had to throw in that little whine.)

Ella is not married as far as I know.  Her obit has her maiden name on it, however, it refers to her as Mrs.  That could be a mistake on the newspaper's part.  All of the information in the obit agrees with what I already have for her until I get to survivors.  Now I have a problem.

According to all my research, let me list what I have, oh....wait...I think I may have just solved my problem.  I should have checked my sources before getting too carried away here.  I have her flagged as a POSSIBLE family member.  The obit was to confirm or deny her connection to the family.  I think I just confirmed she is NOT a member of the family.  <big sigh>  I wish I would have noted my question on the obit list today.  It would have saved me a lot of time and aggravation.   So, I'm done whining and I'm glad I picked up the obit. 

One Little Letter

can make all the difference.

U instead of e.

Hurd instead of Herd.

Found ya!  Finally!

Let me introduce my cousin who is also my half sibling who might be a step sibling too....

Well, the step-sibling part is exaggerating a bit, but it makes for an interesting heading!
 
I'm working on one of my husband's branches and I think this particular group is making my hair grayer by the minute. 

I'm struggling to find most of them on the census records.  The ones I can find are making life difficult.  Ida, a great aunt, was married twice.  She had three children by her first husband and, sadly, he died before 1915.  I cannot find them in the 1910 census.  The oldest daughter is in the 1920 census with her grandparents, Ida's parents.  The other two children are listed with their mother, Ida, and their step-father aka their uncle, James.  They are NOT listed with their birth names on the census, they have their uncle's last name.  I just spent the last hour figuring that one out after I connected those two kids to other parents for various reasons.  I have now disconnected them and placed them with the proper parents with the proper names with the help of a few other documents.  Whew!

Wait, there's more.

Ida has a sister Bertha.  Bertha is James' first wife.   They have eight children together.  The youngest was born in 1913.  Remember Ida's husband died before 1915?  Well, something was going on between Ida and James...some consoling?  Anyway, Ida and James have a son together around 1915 and also marry.

Bertha remarries before 1920, but is divorced before 1930.  She does not have any more children that I know of.  Her second husband was married before her and has three children.  He marries again after Bertha.

I have to go make an appointment to get the gray covered.

Names

I just love names. 

Today I found Lake Leone LeVerne ____.  What an interesting name!

Persistence

Today I was gathering information on a 4th cousin 1x removed in the state of Washington.  I noticed his death record had a different name for a wife.  It was just a first name, but a clue that he may have been married twice.  If he was married twice, the first wife could very well be married twice.  So I looked at the SSDI with her birthdate.  No luck.  I took out the last name and searched just for her birthdate and first name.  Several choices came up for the area she lived in.  I had to look and look some more and I found a Viola with the same birthdate and in the same area.  However, the last name was not one I was familiar with for her.  A little more digging through marriage records and I found her second husband.  Then I found family trees from her second husband's family.  Now I have her date of death and place and feel comfortable that I have the correct information.  However, I will look up her obituary the next time I am in the area.

Her first husband, my actual cousin, well, I'm still working on finding out who is second wife is as I have not been able to locate them in the marriage records.  I may have to settle for listing his name on my obituary search for the next time I am in the area.

Free Searching

I get asked all the time about free search sites.  I love findagrave.com, familysearch.org,  and http://www.cyndislist.com/.  

I love finding states with access to records.  I usually stick them in my favorites, but when my computer crashed I lost my sites.  So then I started sticking them in Delicious, an online bookmarking site, but I have to log in and I get tired of that.  (Can you spell l.a.z.y??)  Now, well, now I think I'll start adding them to this blog.  I've given some thought as to how to organize them and haven't decided how I want to do it just yet.  So, for now, I'll just add them to the blog and label them.  If you run across a link that doesn't work, let me know.

Why? Now What?

Today I'm updating a family using information from two obituaries I found when at the library the other day.  I won't use names because the family is local and several members are still alive.

After I enter information from an obituary I check to see what I can find on Ancestry.com and the internet.  Well, today's search leaves me frustrated.  One of the children has an incorrect death date and place on Ancestry.com family trees.  I know that it is wrong as I have sources showing the 'child' is still alive.  I don't know who attached that death date and information to their family tree first, but two others have copied the information and posted it online.  Argh!  I wonder how many more times the misinformation will be copied in the future?

I'm sure the people posting the information believe they have the correct information because it comes from US Veterans Gravesites on Ancestry.com and the SSDI.   The person on the Gravesites data and SSDI has the same birthdate as the family member...well...it's a year off.  That's not necessarily unusual.  The middle initial is wrong...that's not unusual either, however, it does not match the middle name.  If I didn't have the information I have showing that this person CANNOT be the same, I would see this as possible information for my cousin.

This is not the first time I have found misinformation in family trees posted online.  Sometimes I think dates have been intentionally entered wrong on online family trees and wonder if the owner did that because of all of the copying without researching or giving credit.

Now, what do I do about it?  I'm not going to do anything about it.  Right or wrong, that's my decision.  I am not going to take the time to contact all of the owners of the incorrect family trees.  If I can find the information online to prove the person is still alive, so can the others.

Not Exactly What I Wanted

I spent some time this weekend at the library looking to prove Arnold Cook is the son of Levi and Sarah (Poole) Cook.  Levi is a Mayflower descendant.  I hoped to find books on descendants, specifically, Francis Cooke.

Arnold fits right in the Levi/Sarah family.  His birth year is approximately 1800.  Could Randall (b Nov 10, 1800) be Randall Arnold?  Could Arnold's date of birth be 1881 which puts him between Randall and Thomas?

Unless someone knows something I don't, I have come to the conclusion Arnold is NOT the son of Levi and Sarah.  First, there is nothing on the internet that I can find that leads me to believe I could be wrong.  Second, I can find the other children listed in the Abington (Massachusetts)Vital Records, but not Arnold.  (I also cannot find Thomas Jefferson Cook, born about 1802 in Abington, but have found him listed in The History of Edward Poole of Weymouth, Mass (1635) and his descendants by Murray Edward Poole written in 1893.)

Randall is not the same as Arnold...different wife, different children.

So that leads me to ask, who are the parents of Arnold Cook?  He was born in either 1800 in Massachusetts or Rhode Island; 1801 in Massachusetts or New York or Rhode Island.  I know from the census he was a farmer and lived in Rensselaer County, New York.  He is buried in Cook Cemetery located in Petersburg, Rensselaer, New York.

Documenting Instead of Cleaning

My musings for today...

I have a huge list of things to do around here.  Instead of completing anything on the list, I am documenting information on George Bush's line.  Why?  Because supposedly he is a distant cousin to my husband and I don't want to work on the list of things to do.

I always get very interested in a family line that appears in a location where I have found a concentration of other family lines.  I just know I will find someone who will connect one or more lines...and I have in the past.  This time the family line is traveling through Columbus, Ohio.  Hmmm...we'll see what I find!

Aren't names interesting?  Silence.  Why would you name a child Silence?

Oh heck, I just discovered I have Samuel Kinsley and Mary Washburn twice.  The second Samuel is the son of the first Samuel and is also married to Mary Washburn.  I think I've made a mistake.

I have found servants listed with families on the census before, but today, well, today I found them listed in their roles.  Butler, laundress, kitchen main, cook, ladies maid, chauffeur....wow.

I will use data someone else has posted as clues and then work to document it.  I just discovered a line going back to the 1300s in England that is a direct line for my husband.  I'm logging it and thinking about a trip to England to prove it.  It goes back to his 18th great grandfather.  This is exciting, but I will get more excited when I find proof of some kind.