Genealogical instincts

Tracing ancestors back across the pond is sometimes a lot harder than tracing them as they moved from one city or even one state to another here in the US. But the funny thing about tracing them in countries and eventually cities across the pond is that if you go with your instincts, much like detectives sometimes do, you can actually come out on the other side with more than just a clue.

Here's what I mean. Earlier this year I happened across a listing for an obituary for what I had hoped was my 3rd great grandfather, George Walker. At first I didn't know that much about him or when specifically he died, at least until I found a probate listing for his wife and then the obituary for him. Obituaries can hold crucial clues as to not only who someone was but where they came from. George's did just that. He wasn't referred to as George Walker but rather 'Father' Walker. According to the obituary, he was born in 1805 in SLIDOR, Wittenberg, Germany. I looked that city up and couldn't find ANY listing for it, even though I found Wittenberg (or Wittenburg). He died 18 Sep 1895 at the age of 89 years, 11 months and 11 days, which when calculated makes his date of birth 7 October 1805.

I used the FamilySearchLabs beta site and put George Walker, 1805 and Germany in the search boxes and I wanted an 'exact' match. The closest I came to getting an exact match was a Joann (Johann) Georg WALCKER born 12 October 1805.

Now at first I thought, 'well this can't be him because the place of birth is completely different.' It was Schlaitdorf, Wurttemberg, Germany. But now that I can't find a 'Slidor' in Wittenberg, I'm wondering if perhaps his place of birth actually IS Schlaitdorf and not Slidor. I know what you're thinking 'It can't be the right guy because the birthdate doesn't match.' And yes I thought the same thing but Slidor MIGHT HAVE existed back then and then again, that COULD have been the fault of the person writing up the obituary, after all, the headline reads 'SAW NAPOLEON' and it claims that George when a lad of only seven years saw Napoleon as he passed through the town WHERE HE WAS LIVING. Now that may or may not have been the same town where he was born. More research is needed to see just what towns Napoleon passed through in 1812.

But the big question is, do I put this and all the other information I found through Johann George Walcker in my tree right now? The answer is no, simply because I just don't have enough evidence to say with absolute certainty that Johann George and MY George Walker are one in the same. As much as I hope they are. I have this same problem with George's wife but that's another story for another entry.

Facebook and genealogy

I haven't posted anything in a couple of months, but I thought I would post today about the positive benefits of signing up for a Facebook account. The social networking site isn't just about playing games (like Farm Town or Mafia Wars), it can also benefit genealogists when they are looking for cousins to connect with.

The simplest way to find possible cousins would be to put a surname in the Friend search box and see what comes up. I did that about a year ago and believe it or not had moderate success. I found familiar names that I already had in my tree (when I talked to an aunt, uncle or cousin) and through simple deduction and matching of birthdays (also which I got when talking to family) I sent friend requests. Some accepted right away without asking who I was and others asked who I was, which I didn't mind because it gave me a chance to let them know how we were related. Most I'm happy to report were interested in their own family histories happy to provide information.

Yesterday I took it one step further especially with those that I had just sent friend requests to and also to those that I hadn't introduced myself to. That's exactly what I did and explained that I was the 'resident' family genealogist. I asked for basic information on their spouses, marriage, children and the like. I also let them know that they could e-mail me 'off' Facebook and that I understood if they didn't want to provide any info at all. Two asked about family histories and I plan on tweaking two of those histories and sending them so that they can not only get a better idea of how we are related to one another but also who else they are related to.

Unfortunately, a couple of cousins haven't accepted my friend requests and one even confirmed that I had the right person because she posted a comment to her nephew's page. I wouldn't say I'm sad about that, just disappointed that she could chat with her nephew and not me or even just accept the friend request and have that be it. I'm certainly not looking to have long conversations with every cousin I find on Facebook, heck some aren't actually related to me but they happened to marry a cousin.

So the next time you are on Facebook (which I like more than Twitter by the way), try a cousin's surname that you know about, you never know who might pop up on Facebook. You'd be surprised how many cousins and other relatives are out there playing Farm Town.

:-)

Another generation added

I finally broke down and added the information I found on John Robinson and his family to my genealogy program. I was hesitant about doing this because once you add information it becomes a pain (you know where) to remove it. Even though my instincts were telling me I had the right family, I'm still not sure. I think the hesitation comes from the fact that for John's place of birth all it says for each census record is 'England' which could me just about anywhere in the country. Much like for Edmund 'Canada' for his place of birth could also mean just about anywhere, although I've narrowed it down to Ontario simply because that's where his parents lived in all the Canadian census records I found them in.

The kicker for me anyway is the fact that John's wife is always referred to by initials M.E. except for one census where she's 'Eliza M.' I also solved the mystery of 'St.' George. Upon finding a death record for him in Silver City, Grant County, New Mexico it seems that the 'St.' is actually 'S.T.' initials, which makes more sense than his being a 'saint'. It also seems that each of the children including my great-great grandfather had at least 3 initials not counting their last name, which also fits what I already knew about him. According to Edmund's death certificate he's listed as 'Edmund Lowell C. Robinson'.

I found two more possibles for Mary (Eliza) Robinson's death in Canada, but again I'm not sure about them because the records don't give a whole lot of information. The last one I found is the most promising, May Robinson, died 26 Oct 1880 (which fits the timeline), born in England, married and the informant was John Robinson. Its entirely possible that the 'r' was left out of her name and that's why its listed as 'May' and not Mary, but who knows.

I also found a possible in the 1841 England census for Mary and her maiden name which has yet to be consistent since I've only seen it twice and spelled differently both times. So I'm going to do some digging on that particular family to see if I can gain any other clues about Mary.

Paydirt, but still not sure.

Well, someone from the genealogy group was nice enough to send me the census page and with a little tweaking (and printing, scanning and saving so I could crop it) I now have the 1871 Canadian census that has Edmund L. C. Robinson and his parents and siblings. Its still a little hard to read but I feel very confident that its the right family.

Yesterday I went to the library and used Ancestry Library Edition and found some interesting information. I found John Robinson (Edmund's assumed father) in the 1881 Canadian census as a 'widower', living with three of his children, St. George (that's how he's listed), Herold B., and Hattie A.; his occupation is 'Tinsmith', which is the same as it was for 1871. I then started with the other children, since I already knew about Edmund, being that he's my direct ancestor.

This is where collateral genealogy research comes in, but I have to be honest in that I'm still not COMPLETELY sure I found the right ones, but since I usually listen to my genealogical instincts, I'll go with what my gut says. That doesn't mean that I'll be right but well, if you read this tell me what you think.

I started with 'St.' George since I thought that maybe, just maybe he would be listed just like that more than once. Believe it or not he was. I found a 'St.' George in the 1900 census in New Mexico of all places, but the kicker was who was living with him. His FATHER John. Upon doing this research I was going on the fact that all the children of John and Eliza (or Mary) Robinson were born in Canada and that both John and his wife were born in England. It stands to reason that any hits with that criteria would stand out.

According to the 1900 US Census, John was born July 1819 in England, he was 80 years old, widowed and was a 'retired' Tinsmith. It also said that John came to the US in 1891 and had been there 9 years. This made some sense because I hadn't found him in the 1891 Canadian census, but I had assumed that IF they had come to the US from Canada that they would go to Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota or somewhere just over the border. New Mexico kind of threw me for a loop. Living next door to John and George was Hattie McCullough who was also born in Canada and had a 'niece' living with her Nannie who was born in Illinois. In later census records she was listed has Hattie's daughter.

I traced the second oldest child, William to Iowa and with him I also found his death certificate at the FS site which provided another clue, but again, its ONLY a clue. The death certificate was from the District of Columbia where he died. William Hamilton Robinson, born 13 Jan 1849 in Bethel, Ontario and died 1 May 1928 in DC. He was buried in Iowa. His parents were listed as John Robinson and Mary SHIMPTON. I got excited about this because I had now found her listed with the same two initials that were in the book inscribed to Edmund 'M' and 'E'. Her name could be Mary Eliza or Mary Elizabeth or vice versa. I immediately started trying to find any other references to those two names but didn't.

All in all I traced all the children through the US census records 1900-1920 and even one in 1880. The places ranged from New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa and Michigan and even some Ohio. I also even managed to find a child of one that had lived in Cook County, but haven't done a more thorough search on him. I'm going back to the library tomorrow for more research and have an e-mail contact that had a bit of info and I want to see if he has more or if what he posted on Rootsweb was all he had.

Sometimes your instincts are all you have when it comes to genealogy research, just like famous detectives sometimes you have to go with what your gut says or that hunch you've been thinking about because every once in a while, that hunch could snowball into a lot of information especially for a genealogist.

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!

Genealogy spring cleaning

Genealogy can take on many forms and have a variety of effects on different people. It can be exciting when you find an ancestor you've been search years to find. It can also be frustrating when you know your ancestor is in the census records but they claim different.

Even if you don't think you have that many relatives, say your family was small, don't think that you won't find anything interesting. Even a family that had one or two children can lead to ancestors that had 10 or 12 who had children and well you know how it goes from there. That's the other reason collateral genealogy is so important, because you never know what you'll find out about great-grandpa if you don't dig into information about his siblings, aunts and uncles.

Yesterday, I wanted to find a photo to put on Facebook. Its of my brother (13 years my senior) holding me a few days after I was born. It was taken in front of the Christmas tree and its always been a favorite. I cleaned out the closet in the room I use for an 'office' but haven't found it yet. The room itself has its own history in that it was once my brother's bedroom, before I came along anyway. Then it was my room, once he moved to the room upstairs. Then it was my mother's room for a while. After she passed away and I finally broke down and went through her things, I decided to turn it into an office.

Its been an office where I keep my computer, my genealogy information and for at least a part of it, my Nancy Drew and series book collection. It has my computer desk, a desk my paternal grandfather refinished that holds office supplies, a day bed (that my cat loves to sleep on and under), a bookcase that holds some genealogy and some series books along with a stereo and a 5-shelf bookcase that has most of my paperback series book collection. But the closet, at least until yesterday, had mostly junk in it. It is just right for a genealogist who is accumulating a LOT of paper and let's face it, even though you do most of your research using a computer (or at least I do) and put what you find in a computer program, you are STILL going to collect information on paper, especially when you print things out.

I know you're thinking, what's your point? My point is that even if your family is small now, it probably wasn't this small 100 or even 200 years ago and if you have been thinking about starting to research your family, be prepared to collect lots of information. Even if you don't think you will, BELIEVE ME you will. You can start out using part of a room but if you have the space, like an extra room in your house, take advantage of it and make that your genealogy room. Granted I have split my office between genealogy and Nancy Drew but don't think the teenage sleuth takes up more room than my ancestors, she doesn't.

You may start out with just your four grandparents but remember that they EACH had two parents. One other thing, have FUN doing the research I think that's the most important thing you can gain from starting, even if you only do it on weekends or when the kids are asleep. Remember, you can always search online in your PJs at 3 am. :-)

FamilySearchLabs does it again

FamilySearchLabs has been on a major updating roll as of late. They recently completed their 'beta' site and have introduced within the last few days dozens of newly indexed records to the site. The majority of the indexes some of which include actual images, have been birth/baptism, marriage and death/burial indexes for various states as well as one for the entire US. This is a plus for researchers because much like I did the other day with Elizabeth (Wear) Hahn's first husband Jacob, they can find bits of information on ancestors and/or relatives where they have some info but need that one missing piece to confirm that they really did find the right person. In other words, take my finding Jacob Hahn. I used the daughter he had with Elizabeth, Lillie because I wanted to find whether or not she did die after the 1880 census. At the same time I was able to find her father's first name.

Just today the site released another database/index that I was pleasantly surprised to see. They have had indexes for both Cook County, Illinois (specifically Chicago) birth and marriage records complete with images and now they have added the third vital record, death certificates. Granted it is only for the years 1878-1922, but much like the other two it is one database that I had been secretly hoping they would index and one day release to the site. As far as this researcher is concerned, FamilySearchLabs is on the right track and if they complete the birth and marriage record databases for Cook County I'll be doing a LOT more research for my maternal lines in the coming days and weeks.

As a matter of fact, when I got my daily digest of messages from the Cook County, IL message board announcing this latest addition to the site I immediately went there and started a search for my great-great grandmother's first husband and the actual father of my great-grandfather, Albert John Ring. His father's name, at least according to his brother's birth record, was Martin Olsen. Dozens came up but I had a bit of an idea when he died. And I actually thought I'd found him but the date is off. This Martin Olsen died in 1887, which is six years or so after Julia, his widow married Fred Ring. The one clue that made me think at first that it was him was where he is buried, Mt. Olive. That happens to be the name of the cemetery where Julia is buried (though she had no headstone). So I am going to continue to look for him and perhaps I can find some other relatives from my mother's side of the family since most if not all lived in and around Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.