Today is a beautiful day, and it’s making me feel very productive. I’m sitting in the living room on my laptop and talking with Grandpa Moore. He’s already cleared up some Thorward things for me that I was unclear on. Today is devoted to the Mays family though. I’ve got to keep moving forward towards my summer goal.
I’m up to Millard Mays in my family file. I know he married Nora Barker. I was looking in the Kentucky Birth Index on Ancestry.com to verify some of her children on the census. I ended up having to go to some more extreme measures to find one of the children, because they just weren’t showing up for some reason. When I did that, I might have found out what happened to Millard’s sister Barbara.
Sometimes I get so engrossed in my current “treasure trove” that I forget small progress is still progress. Sometimes a record that just confirms what you already know is just as great as one filled with new insight. Then sometimes you end up in the middle of those two.
In the case of William R Parkin’s death certificate, that’s what I ended up with. I found a little bit of new information and a little bit of verification. Nothing too spectacular though. The only bad part about this record is it almost got lost in the shuffle because it happened to arrive in the same envelope as the George Yohn/Josephine Doremus marriage record.
Verified Information:
William’s middle name is definitely Richard. I was already almost positive of that since his widow is listed in the city directory as “Richard’s widow” after his death.
New Information:
Stone Cutter being his Primary Disease. I’m sure it’s his occupation which contributed to his death. In 1880 he was listed as working in a Sand Paper factory.
Burial at Rosedale Cemetery. I had no idea where any of the Parkins or Redfords are buried, so this gives me a place to start!
This morning, just as I was about to get started on my daunting tasks with the Mays line of my family tree, a tweet came through. It was like a beacon of light in a sea of darkness, it was a scrap of toast and I was hungry… Okay enough with the dramatization, what it really was, was an excuse to procrastinate. I love procrastinating. The Halifax Public Libraries out of Canada posted a link to Scotland post office directories. They posted a link to this exact address to be precise. That link will take you to the National Library of Scotland website, just so you know.
I’m revisiting an old entry today. That entry is the one from September titled, Menzies News. In that entry I examined a census record that I thought might be William Menzies in 1861. This is important to me because only a few of the Menzies siblings stayed behind in England. William strikes a cord with me because in a letter to his sister he wrote, “I am quite sure I will never stay in England all my life as I am quite tired of it.” I can’t help but wonder if he ever made it.
In the entry, I also mention that I found a marriage record for William Menzies and Ellen Patterson. The only problem was I couldn’t be sure that was my William. The index on familysearch.org only had the name of the groom’s father listed. With such common names like John and William, and no other clues, I couldn’t be sure if this was in fact my William Menzies.
That all changed yesterday. You see on April 19th, Ancestry.com added a huge number of Liverpool, Lancashire, England Church Records. This includes baptisms, christenings, marriages, and burials. I was fortunate enough to find the marriage record that I questioned so many months ago.
The genealogy community is buzzing. There’s only 1 year left before we’ll have access to the 1940 United States Federal Census. Like everyone else, I’m already trying to think about where my ancestors were at the time the census was taken.
First thing first, I have to say a big thank you to Jennifer over at The Erudite Genealogist. She wrote up an awesome entry giving everyone advice on what to take with you on a research trip. In fact, I’m going to be digging into the spare room closet this week and making sure I have an empty scrapbook case on wheels to get started! So again, THANK YOU!
Now that I have some great advice to follow, it’s time to break into the nitty gritty work. That work has been what has kept me from blogging. Those darn Mays ancestors are driving me crazy but I’m slowly getting them entered into my file. I found that I’m not focusing so much on finding any new directions, I’m just trying to verify what I have with the resources I currently have. When I’m not driving myself crazy there, I’m trying to set up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to organize the research I want to do on location.
As I get my information together, I’ll keep you updated on my progress. Most likely I’ll have more questions, so I’ll probably ask those as they come. Right now I’m not sure of the exact dates of this traveling. I just know I’ll be in Upstate New York for the 4th of July weekend. The plan is to leave time after the holiday for heading to New Jersey for a little research. Plans always change though so there might be a separate trip to New Jersey needed.
I’m also going to Ohio to visit family this summer because it’s our turn to make the drive. I want to get out a little and visit the Brown County cemeteries where my Webb ancestors are buried. I’m unsure of where Reuben H Webb from Orange County, VA is buried but I hope to figure it out and visit his grave also. I know his son, my 3rd great grandfather, is buried in Kentucky in an abandoned, derelict graveyard. So I hope the same isn’t true for his father.
Reuben was living with one of his sons in 1850. I believe he died shortly after the census. The family was living in White Oak, Highland County, Ohio at the time of the census. I believe James’ wife was born and raised there. Next door to James and Reuben is Alice Webb-Bell. Alice was foreign to me until I found her son Starling living with another of her brother’s in 1880. Then as I tracked back, I found her and later found a mention of her name associated with Reuben. Acc0rding to Reuben T Webb’s biography, his father was forced to move several times after circumstances caused him to lose his property. My question would be did Reuben die in Highland County or Brown County, where the family was living in 1860? This is something I am going to try and find out before I head to Ohio.
Sorry to get off subject, I do that often. So I have several lists going, one for births, deaths, and marriages. Another for cemeteries. I’m also going to start making an obituary list. Looking at the local newspapers is something I haven’t had the opportunity to do before (Ancestry.com’s collection is severely limited), so I’ll be really excited to get to check those out.
I received my order of records from the New Jersey State Archives on Saturday. The record you see above was too big to fit onto my scanner, so I tested out the app recommended to me for my iPhone. It worked pretty well! Especially under the conditions I was trying. It would have probably worked a bit better in daylight on a flat surface.
Anyway, onto the record. The record I sent for was the marriage record for George Yohn and Josephine Doremus. I’m currently trying to figure out if George Yohn is in fact George Thorward. What I like about the above record is that the marriage date fits with what I know for George and Josephine. I also like that Josephine Doremus is listed. There was another Josephine Doremus in the 1870 census but she was living in Newark and not Caldwell. In 1880 there is no trace of Josephine and George Yohn. Only Josephine and George Thorward. Everything about the above record fits with George Thorward except the Yohn last name. It is a bit disappointing to see the parents names listed as “Not Known” for George. Though it raises another question. Did George lose his parents when he was young? Did that prompt his immigration to America?
I did search the online index for name changes on the State Archives website but I found no trace of any Yohns or Thorwards. I’d love to get my hands on some local history books from the church or even the newspapers. My Grandpa told me that there is some stuff in local books about the Thorwards because they were integral in the Methodist Church of Caldwell.
Included in the envelope with my records was a note from the Archives. They explained to me that they included the entire page as counties were only required to report once a year the births, marriages, and deaths from their county. Individual records weren’t issued by the State until June 1, 1878. So the record they sent me is actualy for the whole period of May 1871 to May 1872. So to me that tells me, if another Josephine Doremus had married George Thorward in November of 1871, it most likely would also be listed on this page.
I’m getting closer and closer to confirming my assumption that there was a name change. Once that happens, I’ll have more questions. Was Thorward the original German name or was Yohn? Did George adapt Yohn when he immigrated and then wanted to change it back? Were the children born under the name Yohn? Will this impede me in finding their birth records?
Okay, so I thought if I took a little time to do some Webb family research, it’d be a break from the frustration of the Mays family. I was wrong. In fact, I was so wrong I might be right. After finding the treasure trove, I wanted to take another look at the information it gave for Reuben H Webb and his wife Ann Thompson. I’m not doubting the biography but there was something that stood out glaringly for me. I don’t know what to do about it. However, it kind of fits in with the fact that Reuben moved around a bit after losing the land he cleared initially.
You see, on FamilySearch.org it has in two separate databases that Reuben Webb married Ann Thompson on 15 Feb 1806. Why my original family file says 1805, I’ll never be able to tell you. That’s how crazy my file is.
I was a little blocked about what to write about next on the blog. Then Ancestry.com released new Civil War documents!
In the Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 database, I found both Reuben Thompson Webb and his sons Reuben Horace and James A! Unfortunately, I’m still finding no proof that Reuben’s brother James ever served in the Civil War. Hopefully this changes soon. The family legend says that he died of injuries and gave his death date as September of 1863. Maybe this just means that I haven’t found him in the records yet. I’m still looking!
I don’t know if my title is explanatory enough. I wanted to call it ‘Planning Trips Tips Welcome’ but that sounded weird. So we’re left with just tips. I’m hoping to make some genealogy trips this summer. One to Ohio and the other to New Jersey. So before I’m in the car on the way there, I want to make a list of the things I’d like to look up.
One of the many things I have to do is update my family file for my Mom’s Ohio side. My Dad’s New Jersey side is as up to date as I can get it. I’m ahead of the game there. I plan on taking my laptop and a written list. However, I recently was able to get a cell phone upgrade. I bit the bullet and got an iPhone. I quickly downloaded the free Ancestry.com app, and I’m pretty sure that if I get my private tree up to date, it will help immensely on a research trip. I don’t know if there will be restrictions, natural or otherwise, that will keep me from having my laptop at my disposal.
Ancestry.com app for iPhone
Having a basic version of the family file available on my phone is a godsend for me.
Okay, onto the hard part. I need to make a basic list of which records I’d most like to get while I’m in each place. Most likely I will make an Excel file and have it in my Gmail account so that I can view it from my phone.
Here is what I plan on doing over the next two months:
Look up the libraries/court houses/archives I plan on visiting and get their address and hours. This way I’ll know exactly where I need to be and when. Hopefully they have a set of rules online that I can also read, so I know what I’m walking into.
Make a list of vital records I want to find and sort them by date, surname, and location.
Make a list of secondary records that I can look for if I’m faced with more then I expected. For example, in Salisbury there are many, many alternative resources for the Taylors. (Court records, Land records, Research Papers, Biographical Histories, etc)
Make a list of cemeteries and who I need to get photographs for.
Make a RootsMagic CD of the family tree for all those interested in having a copy of the current version. There have been sparks of interest over the last year or so.
So I think that’s enough to keep me busy, along with my newfound love of quilting. So hopefully I’ll get enough done to be more prepared for research when I’m there. Luckily enough, most of the things above coincide with my 2011 goals. So I’ll be knocking both lists out.
Feel free to leave some tips or tricks for me about researching on location! I could use all the help I can get!
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