A Canadian connection

Dumb luck strikes again. I was poking around the FamilySearchLabs website plugging various names in and collecting bits and pieces of information. Some I knew some I didn't, I even found a few names I didn't know about. Most of the info was for my father's side, since I have a lot more surnames to research on his side than on my mother's.

But tonight I decided to try some of my maternal lines just to see what would happen. As previously reported, the FamilySearchLabs site has added millions of records and it can sometimes be a goldmine. Well, tonight, I wouldn't say I hit the 'mother' load yet but I gained a possible clue to my great-great grandfather, Edmund L.C. Robinson.

According to his death certificate, he was born in Canada, and because of a book that his mother had inscribed to him, I have been assuming that he was born in Hamilton, Ontario. I know nothing else about his mother since when she inscribed the book she used only initials 'M.E.' which doesn't help me find her name. His father's name is John, at least according to his death certificate but again I know nothing else about him

So I plugged Edmund L C Robinson into the FS website and one of the first two hits was obvious, his death certificate, which I already have. But the second was interesting. It was for the 1871 Canadian census. It gave the right birth year (1848), his age (23), ethnic origin, religion, and more importantly the census PLACE, that being St. Andrew's, Ward C, Hamilton 24 Ontario. It also gave the page, line, house and family numbers.

I could view the matching image at Ancestry (if the library was open tomorrow) and see if he is living with his parents, which would definitely make it a goldmine. At the moment I've got a request into a genealogy group asking any member that has access to Ancestry if they could send me a link to the image. If that doesn't come through I'll wait till Tuesday (tomorrow being Memorial Day) and look it up myself. What I'm most curious about is whether or not Edmund had any siblings, because if (and I know its a BIG if) but if he did then maybe I can track them to America, since I know Edmund came to Chicago eventually as he married my great-great grandmother in 1881. I might also be able to track his parents back to England, but again, that's only IF he was living with them when the 1871 census was taken. It also depends on when he came to Chicago, if it was after 1880, then I'll never find him in the 1880 census (though I always look for him). I can also try that tact again now that I know for sure he was born in Canada.

Happy Memorial Day!