can make all the difference.
U instead of e.
Hurd instead of Herd.
Found ya! Finally!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, February 8, 2013
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
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.
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.
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