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.
Continue reading “The 1940 Census – Part 1”Tag: Moore
Mysterious Ancestors
I’ve been so disorganized in the last few weeks. I recognize now that’s why I don’t feel like I’ve gotten anything accomplished. However, I have many hours of television on my DVR to catch up on and a few hours to spare. So I’m taking that time to sit down and look over some of my current mysteries. I’m on a Mays family hiatus, in case you were wondering. That two death certificates thing just through me completely off my game.
George Yohn / George Thorward
Okay, he’s my biggest mystery. I’ve discussed him with myself and others many times since I had my latest breakthrough. Here are the facts about George Thorward.
- He is most definitely George Thorward through my Great-Great Grandfather’s life. I don’t have Lewis’ birth or death records but as our family is most notably Thorward, I’ve got to assume we’re Thorwards.
- In the 1900 and 1910 censuses they ask for year of Immigration. George answered 1865[1. 1910 United States Census; Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey; ED 156; Dwelling: 38, Family: 39;] and 1867[1. 1900 United States Census; Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey; ED 215; Dwelling: 133, Family: 145;].
- There was no George Thorward in 1870 Caldwell, New Jersey.
- There was a George Yohn living next door to Josephine Doremus in 1870. George Thorward’s wife, whom he married in 1871.
- I found a marriage record for George Yohn and Josephine Doremus on the New Jersey Archives website.
- George Thorward was in the tobacco business his whole life. George Yohn is listed as a cigar maker’s apprentice in 1870.[3. 1870 United States Census; Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey; Dwelling: 118, Family: 134;]
The things I’m doing to resolve this problem:
- I sent away for the marriage record between George Yohn and Josephine Doremus to see what it says.
- I’m making a list of the dates of all these Caldwell/Essex County events so that if I get a chance in July, I’ll be ready to go to the local library in New Jersey.
William H Moore
William Moore runs a very close second to George Thorward when it comes to mysteries. Here’s what I know about him:
- He first shows up in 1870 census in Chicago with his wife and oldest three children[4. 1870 United States Census; Chicago Ward 9, Cook, Illinois; Dwelling: 1570, Family 2102;]. My Great-Great Grandfather isn’t born until 1871.
- Through city directories I know that William lived in Chicago from 1866 to 1870. This might explain why Cook County didn’t have a record of Robert’s birth in 1871.
- He immigrated to the United States in either 1858 or 1859[5. 1900 United States Census; Brooklyn Ward 25, Kings, New York; ED 441; Dwelling: 115, Family 252;] [6. 1910 United States Census; Brooklyn Ward 25, Kings, New York; ED 696; Dwelling: 241, Family: 461;]
- In 1920, William and his daughter Mary are living at 7 Myrtle Ave in Caldwell, New Jersey.[7. 1920 United States Census; Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey; ED 22; Dwelling: 366, Family: 382;]
- I found dates of death penciled onto the back of the Brooklyn Cemetery deed. William’s is given as July 28, 1928.
- Caldwell, New Jersey, July 28, 1928 did not return a record when I sent away for it.
- I don’t know if his wife immigrated at the same time as him or if they married after. She died in 1896, before the immigration question on the census.
What I need to do to solve his mysteries?
- I need to fill the gaps between his estimated birth of 1836 and 1870. His daughter Mary was born in 1865 in New York. His next child was born in 1868 in Chicago.
- When I go to look up things in New Jersey, I have to check myself to see if he did in fact die in Caldwell or some other part of Essex County.
- I want to find an obituary for him to see if it mentions anything about his early life.
- I should look in New York and see if there is a marriage record for him and his wife, Mary.
- I should also look and see if there is a naturalization record for him. In 1910, he says he is a naturalized citizen. There should be a record of it somewhere. I just don’t know if his very generic name will be a road block.
Sources
Verification is Wonderful
Ever since I started this journey into genealogy, I’ve learned something new everyday. It’s wonderful to learn so many different things. Whether it be a technique to searching the census or what exactly a Sawyer is. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in genealogy is to verify, verify, verify. I’m still learning all the different types of sources you can use to learn millions of different facts.
Awhile back, I found my William H Moore in a Chicago city directory. In fact, I found him in Chicago directories for the years 1866 through 1870.
Tech Tuesday: Slide Updates
I hope everyone reading this had a very, merry Christmas! I’ve been enjoying a few new gadgets. The first gadget I got was a slide viewer that I mentioned earlier this month. I found a few slides that I really wish I could get prints of. They were of my Aunt Diane and some of their family photos. The problem was, I didn’t know what to do. So I went to Google and it brought me up a few options. One of them didn’t cost me a penny!
Those Places Thursday: Park Avenue House
One of the places that I often think about is the house on Park Avenue. Anytime we have a family get together, this house always comes up. Everyone on my dad’s side of the family has memories of this house. Whether it be the layout of the house, the renovations done, or the way the porch was screened in during the winter. Unfortunately, I don’t have any memories of the house. So I soak up any information that people give to me about the house. Now I just have to remember to type it all up and keep it in my files for later.
Treasure Chest Thursday: 44 Years of Kodak
Note: I don’t mean to show a bias towards Kodak. It is strictly coincidence that I found this after my Tech Tuesday post. Except I don’t believe in coincidences, so it’s really one of those crazy freaky things that follows me around. Again, I am not being compensated by Kodak for this post.
I had photos on the brain yesterday. I was actually sorting through some of my scanned photos trying to decide if I was going to rescan the last batch at a higher DPI. That’s when I remembered this box in the spare room. It’s there with a suitcase full of sympathy cards that were sent to Llewellyn after William’s death.
Continue reading “Treasure Chest Thursday: 44 Years of Kodak”Things I’ve Learned
I am halfway through a 7 day free trial with Footnote.com. I’m trying to make the most of the collections that aren’t free since I can’t afford right now to have a second subscription website. These are the things I’ve learned so far:
City Directories aka The reason I get up early every morning this week.
- William Wallace Love was not still living in Newark at the time of his wife’s death in 1890. They had to have moved to Roseland at the time.
- I have listings for William W Love, grocer, for 1875 through 1884.
- Some years there is a listing for Love Bros grocery. There was never an ad, but that would have been interesting!
- William H Moore was not listed in Brooklyn in 1865. His daughter is born in New York in 1865, so they must have lived in another borough before their move to Chicago.
- William H Moore has always been very consistent with the use of his middle initial. This is made funnier because I know how insistent my Dad is on using his. They wouldn’t have to do that if they’d stop naming their boys William! 🙂
- William H Moore lived at 56 Foster for the majority of his time in Chicago, which was from 1866 to 1870.
- I couldn’t find a listing for him in 1871 Chicago. This could be why Cook County couldn’t find a birth record for Robert James Moore in 1871. Maybe they moved out of the city? I’m going to try lining up his location with the Chicago fire and see if he would have been effected, though now I see he might have already left Chicago.
Oh well, We all get them
I knew I was tempting fate. Did that stop me? Of course not. It was so simple the first time, surely the second time would prove just as simple, right?
I know where I went wrong. I didn’t find this record in any index before sending away for it. I was hoping a scribbled date on the back of a cemetery deed was enough. I assumed he died in Brooklyn since he lived there for over 30 years. That’s where assuming things get you! I’ll just file this one in my paper records right next to the one from Chicago. That one let me know they didn’t have a record of his birth in Cook County for Robert. They checked 1870-1872 and found nothing. These are the breaks, I’ll keep looking! If he didn’t die in Brooklyn, he must have died in New Jersey. I’ll have to check directories and other things to see if there is any record of him in Caldwell between 1920 and 1925.
Mystery Monday: The Return
Things I know about this picture
- My Grandfather is the young child front and center. The older girl is holding him up.
Things I want to know about this picture
- Who are the other children?
- If they are related, which side of the family are they from? William’s? Llewellyn’s?
- If it is through Llewellyn, then is it through the Thorwards or the Loves?
- It could be a collection of children from different families, a family reunion maybe?
Mystery Monday is an ongoing series I’m doing to showcase the photos I am having problems identifying. I hope one day someone will land on the site and recognize a relative!
Don’t Forget to Document your Information!
One thing I forgot to do when I started my family tree many moons ago was document what my immediate family was doing and when. I don’t know why I didn’t think it was important. How many times to I get frustrated that someone just up and moved to a whole new state? Well, I should be ashamed of myself for feeling that way! My brother moved to Miami, Florida shortly after he graduated high school and I never made note of it. Don’t worry I’ve corrected that mistake!
My new mission is seeking out the dates of where and what my family was doing. We moved around quite a bit compared to previous generations. I want to at least make notes of it. I used to have all my Mom’s family homes marked in Google Earth but I didn’t know at the time how to back those up and lost them in a computer crash. I hope she doesn’t mind going over it again.
One of the valuable pieces of documentation given to me was my Dad’s Marine Corps DD-214. It’s basically a discharge paper you get when you are exiting the military. That’s his boot camp graduation photo up top, and I made sure to log that into my family file too. In my scanned image I didn’t crop out the graduation date and officers that are listed along the bottom of the photo, I’m sure I’ll want those later in case of file corruption.
Now all I have to do is figure out which one is my 17 year old father.