Robinson Mystery solved...sort of.

Well I think I may have solved the mystery of the two John Robinsons, believe it or not there were TWO of them. That's right two John Robinsons who both happened to be born in 1819 (although one could possibly have been born in 1811). And two that just happened to marry women named Mary, except one has a maiden name, Shrimpton.

Unfortunately, Mary Shrimpton is NOT my John's wife. After a little more digging and some help from a cousin who has Ancestry (though not the World Deluxe) I found John, Mary (Shrimpton) Robinson and their children, INCLUDING William Hamilton. The key to determining which John was which lies in their occupations. I knew that my John was a 'Tinsmith' by trade and that is how I tracked him to New Mexico. But the other John Robinson was a FARMER and his wife Mary was still ALIVE in the 1881 census when my John's wife wasn't. John #2's occupation also makes sense given what Chuck (the guy who e-mailed me yesterday) had a picture of. He sent me photos of a water pitcher that had 'John Robinson' and '1811' on it. So never one to turn down a mystery, I did some digging on the writing that was on the pitcher. It had two banners one said 'The Farmers Arms' and the other said 'In God Is Our Trust' I found one similar with the same pictures on it but didn't find much else on it except that The Farmers Arms is a poem of some kind for you guess it, farmers.

So, I offered to track John, Mary and their children as far forward as I could, since I didn't know how much research he had done with the exception of William Hamilton who is his ancestor. I figured it was the least I could do since I claimed his William as the brother of my Edmund. It also means I'm going to have to wipe out his William's information from my family tree but I really don't mind. I still have to wait until Tuesday to view the Canadian census records at the library but now that I solved the mystery, I don't mind waiting. At least I don't have to start completely over, I just have to track a different William. I'm also glad that I found Edmund and my John Robinson.

I guess I learned a good lesson that I should've known but didn't take heed to. NEVER assume. In the end at least I get to do some digging whether its my John or Chuck's and that's the fun part of genealogy research.

The Case of the two John Robinsons

Okay, my curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to see if I could find anything on Richard and Frederick Robinsons, two brothers that Charles the one I got the e-mail from, said were William's brothers. And at first I got very excited because I found their birth records, or at least Richard's. I found marriage records for both as well, but then that's when the mystery skewed.

The parents of Richard H. Robinson and Frederick Robinson are John Robinson and Mary Shrimpton. The problem is that both of them were born in Sophiasburgh, Prince Edward, Ontario, Canada and NOT Hamilton like William and my Edmund. Its discouraging to say the least but it gets worse. In an attempt to find them in Canadian census records I came across ANOTHER potential sibling, Mary Eliza, born about 1853, at least according to the 1871 Canadian census.

It would seem that there are TWO John Robinsons and they both married a Mary (with possible Eliza for a middle name). But could both of them be Mary Eliza SHRIMPTON? The only thing I DO know is that my Edmund (L.C.) Robinson IS listed with John and Mary and William in the 1871 census in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I also know that John and Mary Shrimpton are the parents of William Hamilton Robinson because of his death record. So if I could find the birth records or some other record for the other kids (the ones born in Hamilton that is) and prove that Mary Shrimpton is their mother it wouldn't be as frustrating as it is turning out to be. I haven't heard back from Charles yet and I can't use Ancestry till Tuesday (the library is closed Monday for Pulaski Day here in Chicago). Its going to drive me crazy till then but I'm going to keep digging using FamilySearch. I have to find a way to separate the two John and Mary Robinsons.

A lead in the Robinson/Canadian mystery

You would not believe what happened this afternoon. I was watching the UK version of Who Do You Think You Are on YouTube and I went to check my e-mail and I find a message from someone who is the great-grandson of William Hamilton Robinson, my great-great grandfather's BROTHER! I could not believe it, he tracked William much like I did and thought that he had two brothers, Richard and Frederick. He also has a water pitcher with the name John Robinson and 1811 on it but he can't figure out the significance.

I think that the date could possibly be 1819. I wrote him back and gave him what information I had on the siblings and Edmund. I'm guessing because his last name is still Robinson that he's linked through William's son Charles (Charles Arthur). I didn't trace any of them forward past the 1920 census. I also forgot to tell him that I found the death certificate of Alfred's son Edward Leo Robinson. I can't find the census records I printed out or the book that Edmund's mother gave him which was the only clue I had to work with. I am hoping that Charles takes a picture of the water pitcher so that I can look at the date. But just to see it would be really neat.

More later.

A long journey that has a long way to go

Would you believe that I've been researching my family history for 20 years? Its true, I started in 1991 but of course, I didn't have a computer then, unless you count the Apple IIc my brother gave me and the Internet was something no one had ever heard of, unless you were using the really early form of it.

Twenty years is a long time and with genealogy, its not something that's going to have a forgone conclusion like when you read a book and you realize you're getting to the end. Genealogy is something that doesn't have an ending, at least not your standard one like a book or a television show. I didn't really start getting into the research part of it until about 1998, when FamilySearch first launched their fledging website that crashed within the first few hours. But it was that website where I discovered that my paternal grandfather, who had started researching his family when I was a little girl, had been wrong and yet had held the key to the family tree but never realized it.

A page on Facebook recently posed a question, if you could walk in one of your ancestor's shoes who would you pick? I picked a great-grandfather on my mother's side because he was raised by his mother and step-father and I would like to know what happened to his natural father. But I don't think anyone could pick just one ancestor, at least I can't. I'd also like to walk in my paternal grandfather's shoes because maybe I could see just why he followed the direction of his research that he did and understand his theory for thinking his great-grandparents were of foreign birth. Then again, I may never find out just why except that he picked a name out of a book that allegedly was about every 'Fry' in the world.

So here's my tip as we start a new month. Never think that a brick wall is the end of the line. And never think that once you get to the most recent generation of any branch that that's the end of the line either, because it isn't. If you can't go forward, try going backwards or even sideways. And if you can't go those directions try going forward because you never know what you'll come across when it comes to genealogy research.

Who Do You Think You Are?

I have really enjoyed the show 'Who Do You Think You Are?' and was happy to learn that it has been picked up for a THIRD season.

But what I am really sick and tired of hearing about is the comments that say 'why can't they do an episode with 'normal people' for once.' I don't think people realize what really goes into producing the show that airs each week. The producers just don't pick names of celebrities out of a hat and say 'okay, these are the ones were doing this season.' Much like if the show were based on 'normal' people's family histories, they have to find ones that have INTERESTING stories that can be turned into a program that people will WANT to watch.

Now, I have to admit, one episode with an 'ordinary' person might be interesting, IF their story was, but for how much work it takes to put a SINGLE episode together with a celebrity as its focus, I don't think it would be a good decision. What I do think is last week's episode with Rosie O'Donnell is what led to the renewal for a 3rd season. She didn't just let the experts do the research for her, SHE did some of it herself. One of the first things she said was 'It won't be as easy as it looks on TV.' and truer words could've never been spoken by anyone else. Because its NOT as easy as it is made to look on TV, and she proved that with her episode.

I admire Lisa Kudrow for creating a US version of this show that became popular in the UK and hope that the episodes come out on DVD. I was happy to also find a connection to Sarah Jessica Parker, but it took viewing her episode more than once to make sure I heard the surname correctly and then it took a little more digging to find that connection.

I look forward to the rest of this season and hope that the 3rd season comes out sooner than later. Perhaps they could do the stories in anticipation of the upcoming season and that way have them done and ready to roll whenever.

Missing records still missing

Well, my family and I made it through the blizzard of 2011. And with the small exception of the snowblower dying and one shovel handle breaking in two, it really wasn't that bad. Just two weeks after the 3rd largest snowstorm in Chicago history, we are having a heat wave of sorts. Believe it or not, by Thursday it will be close to 60 degrees. Most of the two feet of snow that was dumped on the city is melting away and it almost feels like spring, something Chicago doesn't get to see very often.

Last week, I finally order some additional memory for my computer and it came (via UPS) today. My brother installed it and so far, its running much faster and smoother than it did a few hours ago. I can even play some Facebook games that I couldn't before because they were very slow to load.

I was going through my files, try to decide if I should rearrange my binders and perhaps divide them up into collateral lines and direct lines. At this point I have lines that I don't even research taking up space in binders and ones that could be in binders in smaller 3-prong folders, which don't hold that much.

Remember when I thought I had found Fred A. Ring's parents because I matched his birthdate EXACTLY to a Frederik Alexander Gotje Ring? And then those records mysteriously disappeared? Well, they are still missing, except his two sisters are there, just not him or his brother. I just don't understand how they could disappear, but I'm glad I wrote them down. Now the question I'm pondering is whether or not I should put this information into my family tree file on my computer. And there's also the matter of Fred's death certificate which says his father's name is Hans, another name for John. How confident am I that even though the record itself has somehow disappeared from the website, that it is reasonable because of the dates of birth being EXACTLY the same its probably the same person? I am but I'm not, after all death certificates are only as reliable as the person that provided the information. In Fred's case it was his daughter, Carrie. And that's another thing, IF the parents I found ARE the right ones, its not just because of the matching birthdates, but the fact that Carl's (or Carel) wife's name is Anne CAROLINE and Frederik's middle name is ALEXANDER, two names that belong to two of his children.

I guess for now, I can keep the information in my binders until such a time (if any) that the records mysteriously reappear or I find some other evidence to corroborate the missing ones. My genealogy instincts have been pretty good, but this one is a tough call. But then again that's just part of the research experience I guess. You have to learn as you go along and as you learn you develop those instincts and feelings and have to decide whether or not to agree with them. Don't count them out.

February Already!

Its February first and where I live (Chicago) we are about to get hit with what meteorologists keep proclaiming will be the 'biggest' snowstorm since 1967. Unfortunately, I wasn't here for that one but vaguely recall the snowstorm we had in 1979 because in order to get to school (and yes we DID have school) we had to walk in the street because there was so much snow on the sidewalks. My brother (who is 13 years older than me) was only 8 in 1967 and according to my dad went outside jumped off the brick banister from our front porch and promptly disappeared into the snow.

So if you are living in the path of this latest snowstorm that is going to start sometime this afternoon and last till tomorrow afternoon or evening, here's a suggestion from a genealogist.

Stock up on food, water and candles. Make sure your laptop or iPad batteries are charged and in case you get a power outage. Warm up your printer and have your genealogy websites at the ready. A winter storm is probably the best time to do some research or even get started on your family history if you haven't already. Let's face it, you have to keep busy doing something if we're getting 1 to 2 feet of snow right? Tell your kids (or grandkids) stories about when you (or your parents) were younger and what they did when there was a snowstorm. Heck tell them stories about the blizzard of 1967, 1979 or earlier ones (like 1930 for Chicago). Tell them what it was like to see cars, and buses abandoned in the streets because of all the snow. Or what it was like to try and get to work downtown, like my dad tried but didn't quite make it.

Then once the snow has stopped falling and the winds have died down enough you can go outside, dig out as a family, since the kids probably won't be in school till Friday. Build a snowman (or snow family) or a fort in the backyard. Have a snowball fight, I think the most important thing is to do something fun as a family with your family. You could also help out your neighbors by shovel, snowblowing or plowing their sidewalks or driveways, especially the older neighbors that can't get out and do it themselves or if they live alone.

Genealogy isn't always about just doing research but exploring family history and getting to know the family you have around you right now. Make genealogy fun and make the time pass faster especially during a blizzard.

Stay safe, stay warm and see you on the other side of the blizzard of 2011.