From Origins to Ontario: Researching the Lives of Oliver Ogle and Margaret Hayes

My last post about the Ogle family was back in 2015, when I wrote Who Was Thomas Ogle? It’s hard to believe nearly a decade has passed since then. Over the years, I’ve continued to research this branch intermittently and have identified additional siblings of my 2nd great-grandfather, Oliver Ogle. However, the story of their parents remains a mystery that I’m still working to unravel.

Breaking through brick walls in genealogy often requires a blend of traditional research, creative thinking, and modern tools. I've decided to revisit the information I "know" and reorganize it to create a more structured research plan, with the goal of breaking through this brick wall in my family tree.

I also want to document my progress here on my blog, hoping that by sharing my process and methods, others can learn from both my successes and setbacks. This will also serve as a record I can reflect on when I finally solve this mystery.

I started by documenting a summary of known facts, along with any assumptions, which I plan to prove or disprove through further research. I then conducted a detailed review of the family group sheet for Oliver and Margaret (Hayes) Ogle and created a chronological timeline of events, from their estimated birth dates to their presumed deaths. I also included their approximate ages at each significant event.

Here is how that summary currently looks, along with any notations for possible further research areas to consider.

Timeline Summary

1825 - Oliver born in England

1829 - Margaret born in Ireland

1842 - Oliver (age 17) and Margaret (age 13) are believed to have married, likely in Haldimand County. Given their young ages, this raises questions about the accuracy of their approximate birth years. Statistically, the average age of marriage during this period was around 26 for males and 20-22 for females. If they were indeed this young at the time of their marriage, it also prompts the question of how they arrived in Canada. Did they travel independently, or were they accompanied by their families or associated groups from their country of origin?

1843 - 1st child, George Henry Ogle born in Haldimand County, Ontario.

1845 - 2nd child, John Ogle born in Haldimand County, Ontario

1848 - 3rd child, Jonathan Ogle born in Haldimand County, Ontario

1850 - 4th child, Ellen or Helen Ogle born in Haldimand County, Ontario

1851 - Oliver and Margaret should be married with three or four children and residing in Haldimand County. However, I have been unable to locate census records of Oliver, his wife, or their children in the 1851 Census for this area.

1851 (August 2) - 5th child, Oliver Ogle born in Seneca Township, Haldimand County, Ontario

1852 - 6th child, Samuel Ogle born in or near Sinclairville, Haldimand County, Ontario

1857 - Oliver is assumed to have died (age 32)

1858 - Margaret is assumed to have died (age 29)

1861 - By the 1861 Census, after the presumed deaths of Oliver and Margaret Ogle, their four youngest children were taken in by two neighboring families. The whereabouts of the two oldest children in 1861 remain unknown. I aim to determine why these specific neighbors took in the younger children and whether these families had any prior connections to Oliver or Margaret.

1862 - Parcel map shows "Estate of Oliver Ogle" - Seneca Township, Conn 3, Lot 8

Here is my current Research Plan Summary

The lives of Oliver Ogle and his wife, Margaret Hayes, are largely undocumented, with most information derived from assumptions and fragmented records associated with their children. This research aims to piece together their story by addressing the following key questions:

1. Immigration and Marriage

• When did Oliver and Margaret arrive in Canada?

• Did they marry in Canada, and are there records to confirm this?

2. Custody of Minor Children

• Were there any official records concerning the custody or guardianship of their minor children following their deaths?

3. Property and Land Ownership

• When did Oliver acquire property in Haldimand County, specifically Lot 8?

• What were the details of the original land purchase?

• How was the property retained after Oliver’s death, ultimately enabling their fifth child, also named Oliver Ogle, to purchase it outright upon reaching adulthood?

4. Death and Burial

• When and where did Oliver and Margaret die?

• Where are they buried?

5. Community and Connections

• Are Oliver and Margaret related to or connected with other families who settled in the same region of Haldimand County?

By exploring these questions, I hope to focus my research more with an aim to construct a clearer picture of Oliver and Margaret’s lives and their place within the larger community.

Wish me luck!

Love & Aloha,

A Duck In Every Pot Tonight

While doing some research on the Huron Milling Company, I came across these two news stories this week that I thought I'd share.

The first one was found in the Yale Expositor, published 20 December 1907 on page 4.

Gotta love that "poor things" ending.

With my interest peaked, I turned to the Harbor Beach Times to see if I could find "the rest of the story" as they like to say.  The following article was published on the same date (20 December 1907), on page 4 in the Harbor Beach Times.

Guess there was a duck in every pot that night.

I wasn't able to find any evidence that the story was carried anywhere else in the nation, but I sure would love to find that original article from the Bad Axe Times some day.  Also, does anyone know why Dr. P.O. Wagener would have been the one answering all the questions?  

If anyone has additional information about this event (or any others they'd like me to research), please email me at cuznamy@gmail.com or add your comments below.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love & Aloha!

CuznAmy

The Search for John Minard (1865 to ??)

John Minard 

(1865 to ???)

Here is what I know currently:

John "Minard" was born about 1865 in Huron County, Michigan.  His mother would have been Sarah Riley.  His father is either Adam Minard (provided Adam died later than 1861) or is unknown.  In the 1870 census, John is listed as John Wilson, age 5 and living with his mother and all nine siblings.  In the 1880 census John is listed as John "Minard", age 15 and is living with his mother and six siblings.  By the 1900 census, John would have been about 25 years old and likely living on his own but I have not been able to find either John Minard or John Wilson listed in Huron County, nor in any later census records. Nor have I found a death record for either name.

So where did John go???

Analysis of evidence gathered so far:

1870
The first I learn of John's existence is in the 1870 US Census,

Sarah (Riley) Minard is a widow is living in Huron City, Huron County, Michigan (New River Post Office) with nine children ... all using the surname Wilson.  According to previous research, Sarah's husband Adam died about 1861, so the father of at least the two youngest has been in question.

The youngest two children in the 1870 census are John "Wilson", age 5 and Sarah "Wilson", age 2. Living next to the family is William Wilson, age 52, farmer, born in Ontario. Further research provided evidence that Sarah Elizabeth Wilson, was born to William Wilson and Sarah Riley.  Additionally, Sarah appears to have used the maiden name Wilson (instead of Minard) throughout her life.  I have not been able to find a birth record for John yet.

1880
In the 1880 US Census, Sarah is living in the township of Huron, Huron County, Michigan with six children, all listed under the surname Minard. Additionally, there is no William Wilson in Huron Township, so where William (the father of Sarah) has gone needs further research (As a side note, there is a Boarder living with the Dwains family in Caseville, but further research would be needed to tie this William to Sarah's father). The youngest two youngest are John "Minard", age 15 and Sarah "Minard", age 12.

1894
Further research in the 1894 State Census of Michigan may shed additional light on the location of the youngest children.

1897-1920
A quick look up of death certificates on Seeking Michigan's website (for the years 1897-1920) for "John Minard" turns up no results, while a search of  "John Wilson" gives me 129 results. But when filtering it down to Huron County, I get no hits.  With a filter of birth year of 1865, I get three hits which at initial view do not show any other connections to Huron county or any of the Minard, McLean or Smith families.

If he died after 1880 and before 1900, why isn't he buried in the New River Cemetery where the family was living and other family members were being buried?

1900
By 1900, Sarah (Riley) Minard is living with her widowed son George in Port Austin, Huron and Georges two living children Maggie and Stanton.  Sarah Elizabeth (Wilson) McLean has married and is living in Winsor, Huron, Michigan with her husband John Angus McLean and their five children.  One of the questions on the 1900 census is how many children born and how many living as of 1900. Unfortunately, this question was not marked for Sarah Minard, so we can only go off the 1870 census showing a total of nine children being born, but unsure how many where living as of 1900.  There is a John Wilson, born 1868 in Michigan, living in Washburn, Bayfield, Wisconsin apparently working as a day laborer with the railroad. His mother was born in Ireland and his father in New York (which is not where William Wilson was born, but may have been were Adam Minard was born), but nothing else seems to be a match at this time to other known facts.

1910
By 1910, Sarah (Riley) Minard is living with her daughter Mary Jane (Minard) Smith, Mary's husband Thomas E Smith and their six children, in Elyria, Lorain, Ohio.

1935
By 1935, according to the obituary for James Harvey Minard, James is survived by two brothers Adam (of Detroit), and Albert (of Alabaster), and two sisters Jane Smith (of Elyria, Ohio) and Sarah McCleon (of Detroit).  There is no mention of John as either living or deceased.

Questions to be answered:

1. Where did her John "Wilson" or John "Minard" go after 1880?
2. Did John go by the name Minard? or Wilson? or another surname?  
3. Did he share the same father (William Wilson) as his youngest sister Sarah Elizabeth?
4. Did John die sometime after 1880 but before 1900? And if so when and where?
5. Why isn't John listed as a sibling in his brother James Harvey Minard's obituary?  Is he listed as a sibling (surviving or otherwise) in the obituaries of any of Sarah Riley Minard's other children?

As always, I am looking to connect with the decendants of Adam Minard and Sarah Riley Minard, so if you are related please contact me so we can share information.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love & Aloha,

Betsy L French Arntz (1882-1948)

Betsy L. Arntz  (nee French)

When Betsy Lurene French was born on May 5, 1882, in Croswell, Michigan, her father, Aaron, was 42 and her mother, Margaret, was 40. 

She married William Edward Arntz, son of John Henry Arntz and Nancy A Stewart, on September 17, 1900, in Buel, Michigan. They had six children in 15 years.

SOURCE: Harbor Beach Times, dated July 2, 1948, Page 1

She died on June 24, 1948, in Harbor Beach, Michigan, at the age of 66, and was buried in Rock Falls Cemetery.

Find A Grave Memorial page

Family Tree Friday: Who Was Thomas Ogle?

Who Was Thomas Ogle?

I am so excited.  This week I came across a new document that I was not aware existed previously.  And it has given me a new lead to help firm up more on the history of my Ogle family from Canada.  

My 2^nd Great Grandfather was Oliver Ogle (1851 - 1917).  I believe he was born in or near Seneca, Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada in 1851 and he died in Harbor Beach, Huron County, Michigan in 1917.  I also know he had a brother named Samuel Ogle (1853 – 1926), who came to live with him and died in Harbor Beach, Huron County, Michigan as well in 1926.  Both men are buried at Rock Falls Cemetery.

The mystery so far has been who exactly were Oliver and Samuel's parents, what happened to them and if they had any other siblings.  I have seen some public family trees on Ancestry.com that shows a sister named Ellen and a brother named Jonathan, but I have been unable to validate that this is correct.  And before I add this information to my own research, I'm trying to firm up as much evidence to prove of disprove any connections.

Which brings us back to this document.  The Michigan Passenger and Crew Lists (1903-1965) images are located on Ancestry.com's website under immigration.  The following document was found doing a search in the specific database for Samuel Ogle.  What is strange to me is that a general search of Samuel Ogle's name did not produce any results that had this document listed.  Instead I stumbled upon it by doing a search of the surname OGLE only with a residence of Canada, and came across other Ogle family names I recognized, such as Merritt and his wife Ethel when they moved to Canada for a time.

This document has given me several pieces of information that I have not seen before, such as "Place of Birth: Canada, Sinclairville" (where is that exactly).  What does the remark "Farber" mean (or is that a signature of the person filling out the form)? But most importantly, who is the person listed as the nearest relative. "Nephew" "Thos Ogle" "Blenheim, Ont".

I know that Thomas is not a child of Oliver, so this would lead me to believe that there is another brother who apparently stayed in Ontario when Oliver and Samuel moved to Harbor Beach.

So, who was Thomas Ogle?  Guess I will start with trying to locate all the Ogle's listed in the 1911 Census in or around Blenheim, Ontario ... and work my way backward.

Wish me luck!

Aloha,

This Week's Research Project: 1889 Explosion Kills Two Brothers

For the last several weeks, I have been researching the children and grandchildren of Mark P Stewart (Stuart) and Julia Ann (Alexander) Stewart (Stuart), who are my maternal 3rd great grandparents. Yesterday, I decided to work on finding out:

What happened to Henry's twin brother Edward?  

When doing research you always want to move from the "known" to the "unknown" ... So I had to figure out what I knew about Edward first.

1) Edward and Henry were twins, born in December 10, 1871 in Evergreen Township, Montcalm County, Michigan.  Their parents were Mark and Julia, who were born and married in Ohio.

2) The twins are both enumerated with their parents (Mark and Julia) in the 1880 census, in Evergreen.

3) In about 1884, their father Mark dies and so in 1887, Julia applies for a Civil War Widow's Pension and lists three children (Charles, Edward and Henry) living with her that she was their sole support.  

4) In 1900, I found Henry living in Forest County, PA (along with another brother John).  Edward or Charles are not listed in either Montcalm County, Michigan or Forest County, PA in the 1900 census records under Stewart or Stuart.

5) Henry worked in the Shingle and Lumber business in 1893; and lumber was the industry of the region so it was likely that Edward, Charles and John all worked in similar occupations (or farming).

The following is my thought process ...

Knowing that Edward did not appear to follow Henry to Forest County, Pennsylvania and not knowing where Charles may be living in 1900 ... I attempted to see if I could find Edward in a 1900 US Census.  I found a record for a "Edward E Stewart" listed as a "prisoner" in Iowa, that was born in Dec 1871 in Michigan, but his parents are listed as born in NY (my Edward's parents were born in Ohio) so I wasn't sure if this was my person, but I made a notation of the record.

Next not finding an definitive answer for Edward, the next question was ... Did Edward die before the 1900 census.  So I decided to look for a death record (post 1887 but pre 1900).  

My preferred place to start research is in the death certificates at SeekingMichigan.org (1897 to 1922), but I found no Edward Stewart or Edward Stuart that matched my Edward.  Then I narrowed my search period to post 1887 and pre 1897, which puts me in my second favorite place to research ... FamilySearch's Michigan, Deaths, 1867-1897" collection ... which is where I found the following three death records recorded in Montcalm County for 1889.

first image, lines 252 and 253

second image, lines 252 and 253

First thing I noticed was:

Edward Stewart (age 17) and Charles Stewart (age 20) died on the same day March 28, 1889 in Hungerford, Mecosta County, Michigan (not Montcalm Michigan, which is where the death was apparently recorded) On the following image, it listed them as dying in a "boiler explosion" and their parentage information is "not known".

Something else that caught my eye, was that the person above them "William Suet" is the son of "Mark P Suet and Julia Suet" and he was married living in Edmore (which is also a location that my Stewart/Stuart branch was believed to be living in at one time) -- This information I had to file away for looking into another day ... because I was hot on the trail of Edward and Charles now.

Then I reformed my question ...

Was the Edward Stewart and Charles Stewart,
who died in Hungerford, Mecosta, Michigan
on 28 March 1889 the sons of 

Mark P Stewart and Julia Stewart? 

And what caused the boiler explosion? So then I moved on to my next favorite online resource ... historical books and newspaper accounts.

First I did a Google search for "1889" and "Hungerford" and "explosion" and found a couple historical books about factory safety from the early 1890s. Including the following:

Then I found a newspaper article in the Indiana Sentinel from 1889:

Indiana State sentinel, Volume 35, Number 9, 3 April 1889, Page 4
https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=ISST18890403.1.4

Next I went to the Library of Congress's Chronicling America website and found several more news paper articles, from as far away as Los Angeles, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Maysville, KY.

Los Angeles daily herald. (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1884-1890, March 29, 1889, Page 5, Image 5

Sacramento daily record-union. (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, March 29, 1889, Page 4, Image 4

The Salt Lake herald. (Salt Lake City [Utah) 1870-1909, March 29, 1889, Page 5, Image 5

The evening bulletin. (Maysville, Ky.) 1887-1905, March 30, 1889, Image 1

Conclusion:

I still have not proved fully yet that the Edward and Charles killed in the explosion, are the sons of Mark and Julia Stewart but I do know know that they were brothers based on these newspaper stories. Additionally, my Edward would have been approximately 17 or 18 in March 1889; and my Charles would have been approximately 20 or 21 in March 1889 which seems to fit.

The death of these two young men being registered in Montcalm County, Michigan rather than Mecosta County, Michigan where their deaths actually occurred also gives me reason to suspect that they had "familial" ties to Montcalm county, Michigan.  In 1887, Julia was living in Rodney, Mecosta, Michigan but she filed her Widow's Pension Paperwork at the Montcalm County courthouse.

My next research needs to focus on local newspaper accounts and any historical books about the Mecosta or Montcalm county areas.  I will also try to reach out to the local public library and historical societies and see what information they can provide me about the explosion at Morgan's Mill in Hungerford.  I am ultimately hoping to find a newspaper article that says simply "local resident Mrs. Mark Stewart loses two sons Edward and Charles in an explosion in Hungerford this week".  Question is, does that story exist.   Meanwhile, the hunt goes on ...

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and Aloha,
CuznAmy

Joseph Shaw and Alice Kenyon - Marriage March 2, 1874

After seeing that the informant on Thomas Kenyon's death certificate was his sister, Alice Kenyon, I decided to track down any information I could on Alice.  I ordered a copy of her marriage record in 1874 to Joseph Shaw from the GRO in England, which arrived in my mailbox this week.  

This certificate clearly show's her father's name as John Kenyon, I need to see what information I can find that will get me back another generation.  Perhaps a birth record for Alice (from 1853) with a father listed as John.  Wonder how many Alice Kenyon's were born in Wigan in 1852-1854?

Marriage Record for Joseph Shaw and Alic

TRANSCRIPT

CERTIFIED COPY OF AN ENTRY OF MARRIAGE
GIVEN AT THE GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE

Application Number 5608864/1

1874. Marriage solemnized at the Register office in the district of Wigan in the County of Lancaster.

No.
137

When Married.
Second March 1874

Name and Surname.
Joseph Shaw
Alice Kenyon

Age.
22 years
21 years

Condition.
Bachelor
Spinster

Rank or Profession.
coal miner
colliery laborer

Residence at the time of Marriage.
(unable to read) Wigan
(unable to read) Wigan

Father's Name and Surname.
------------------
John Kenyon (deceased)

Rank or Profession of Father.
------------------
Engine tender

Married in the Register office (according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the - struck through) by (unable to read) before me Robert Halliwell Registar Henry Ackerley Supt Registar

This Marriage was solemnized between us, X the mark of Joseph Shaw  Alice Kenyon
in the Presence of us, Thomas Shakelady  X The mark of Beloy Ann Shackelady

CERTIFIED to be a true copy of an entry in the certified copy of a register of Marriages in the Registration District of Wigan. Given at the GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE, under the Seal of the said Office, the 22nd day of April, 2014.

MXG 242680

===

Some additional research questions for me include:

1) Who are Thomas Shackelady and Beloy Ann Shackelady to either Joseph Shaw or Alice Kenyon?
2) Why didn't Joseph Shaw provide information about his father?
3) Why were they married at the Register office and not the local church?
4) What is an "engine tender"?
5) Can anyone else figure out what is written in for their residences?
6) Can anyone else figure out what is written in above Robert Halliwell's signature.  It appears to be related to how they were married?
7) Look for a birth record in 1853 for Alice Kenyon in Wigan, with a father named John Kenyon (makes the assumption that Alice was born in Wigan).
8) Look for a birth record in 1852 for Joseph Shaw in Wigan.  (This may be more difficult without a father's name to start with, as this may be a rather common name.  It also is assumed that Joseph was born in Wigan.)
9) Can you find a Joseph Shaw living in Wigan, age 19 in the 1871 England Census?
10) Can I find an Alice Kenyon living in Wigan, age 18 in the 1871 England Census with a John Kenyon as the head of household?
11) Can I find an Alice Kenyon, living in Wigan, age 8 in the 1861 England Census with a John Kenyon as head of household?
12) Locate the last census record that John Kenyon, with a daughter named Alice Kenyon can be found and then try to obtain a death record.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love & Aloha,
CuznAmy

Another Piece of the Kenyon Puzzle ... Thomas Kenyon (1854-1887)

So excited. :)  Look what showed up in my mail box this week.  It is a certified copy of the death entry for Thomas Kenyon (my husband's great great grandfather).  The informant is listed as "Alice Shaw, Sister" and her address in Low Green is the address where the death occurred.  Though I am not 100% certain yet this is John Kenyon (Sr.) father, I now have a new name (Alice Kenyon, married to a Mr. Shaw) to help further my research.

Certified Copy of Entry of Death, 1887 for Thomas Kenyon

TRANSCRIPTION

CERTIFIED COPY OF AN ENTRY OF DEATH

GIVEN AT THE GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE

Application Number 5553750-1

REGISTRATION DISTRICT WIGAN

1887 DEATH in the Sub-district of Hindley in the County of Lancaster

Columns:- 

No. 366

1 When and where died

Fifth September, 1887

85 Mackey Lane, 

Lowe Green, Hindley, U.S.D.

2 Name and surname

Thomas Kenyon

3 Sex

Male

4 Age

33 Years

5 Occupation

Coal Mine Labourer

6 Cause of death

Inflammation of Liver, Jaundice, 

Certified by Thomas Brayton L.R.C.P.

7 Signature, description and residence of informant                                  

X The mark of Alice Shaw, Sister, present at the death,

85 Mackey Lane, Lowe Green, Hindley

8 When registered

Fifth September, 1887

9 Signature of registrar

John Grime Registrar

CERTIFIED to be a true copy of an entry in the certified copy of a Register of Deaths in the District above mention.

Given at the GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE, under the Seal of the said Office, the 26th day of March 2014.

DYD 670352     See note overleaf

CAUTION:  THERE ARE OFFENCES RELATING TO FALSIFYING OR ALTERING A CERTIFICATE AND USING OR POSSESSING A FALSE CERTIFICATE (C) CROWN COPYRIGHT

WARNING: A CERTIFICATE IS NOT EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY.

DAN (GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE ENGLAND SEAL)

Thanks for stopping by.

Love & Aloha,
Cuzn Amy

52 Ancestors: #5 - The Hunt for James Parker Continues

I'm officially behind in my 52 ancestor posts ... but I knew that would happen. I'm just going to keep plugging away as best as I can, and hopefully I'll catch back up before summer.

Do you have that one elusive ancestor, that makes you want to tear your hair out? Me too!

But I know the answer is out there somewhere ... and every so often I do a quick search in Google for:

"James Parker"+"DeKalb County"+TN+genealogy

just hoping my brickwall ancestor will find a way to contact me from the Great Beyond ... through all the ports and plugs that make up the vast World Wide Web.  Usually, its fruitless but every so often I come across new material ... or a new researcher .... with the same brick wall. ;o) (Misery loves company)

Well, during one these random "while I'm waiting for the microwave to finish" searches I came across some new information in the form of a genealogy report of the Descendants of James Parker which had been uploaded by Deborah Hills Nichols sometime in November of 2012. And her "James Parker" is from ... DeKalb County, TN. 

This could be promising ... 

My "James" first shows up in 1852 in DeKalb County, TN when he marries Catherine Burton.  Since I have no birth date or age at death for him, I've had to make some general assumptions as follows:  

1) His wife, Mary Catherine Burton was born about 1834-1836 ... I figure he had to be near her in age ... so I've estimated that he was likely born between 1830 and 1835.  

2) I've also made the assumption that James likely met Catherine Burton through neighbors or church affiliations (meaning they likely lived near each other and perhaps attended the same church in 1851-52).  So if the Burton family lived in Liberty District, DeKalb County, TN during the 1850 census ... perhaps James is related to another "Parker" family living nearby.  

3) It is also entirely possible that my "James Parker" was an outlaw with a made up name, who showed up one day looking for work at the Burton family farm ... and ended up with a shotgun wedding a few months later ... if so, then all bets are off.  

But if not .... He has to be out there in some record .... somewhere .... Right?? (just nod please)

Let's just brainstorm a little using the Parker family list created by Deborah Nichols.  Her report provided information on over eight generations of Parker descendants who could all claim her "James Parker" from DeKalb County, TN as their common ancestor.  Of course, my James Parker was not listed among them (why couldn't it be just that easy?) ... but it did get me thinking about additional ways to research this brickwall ancestor that I had not tried yet.  Namely, which Parker families can I trace from the area ... 

Since I have not been able to to find my "James Parker" listed in the 1850 Census of the DeKalb County, TN area. Nor have I found a "James Parker" in one of the nine counties surrounding DeKalb County, TN that might be a possibility ... I need to refocus my "Parker" research into what I can figure out ...

UNDERSTANDING WHY GEOGRAPHY
& HISTORY ARE IMPORTANT

First I needed a better understanding of the geography that I was working in.  Having never been to this area ... I really needed to use as many maps and historical information that I could find.  

I know my Burton branch intersected with my Parker branch at some point on a farm in Liberty, DeKalb County, TN sometime before 1852.  So when did DeKalb County, TN become an official county? And what County did "Liberty" fit into before DeKalb County was formed.  To answer some of my questions, I visited the Newberry Library - Atlas of Historical County Boundaries website and generated the following three images.  

I've determined that Liberty Township falls approximately at the "E" in the word DeKalb  in these images.

Overlay of DeKalb County, TN Borders 1800

According to the Atlas, in 1800 the Liberty Township area was part of Wilson County, TN.  Now, I don't know how early my "Parker" branch came to DeKalb County, but Deborah Nichols family branch for her James starts in the late 1760s in Smith County, TN which bumps up to Wilson County at the "K" in DeKalb.  So it is possible that our branches may be related as far back as the early 1800s.

Overlay of DeKalb County, TN Borders 1830

Since my "James" was likely born in the early 1830s, I need to make sure I'm looking in the correct location for possible birth records.  The Liberty area appears to actually be located in Smith County, TN during the 1830s.  And I hadn't looked for a birth record for "James" in Smith County, TN yet.  So there's another possible resource to check out.

Overlay of DeKalb County, TN Borders 1840

And by 1840, DeKalb county was officially formed and looked closer to what it looks like today.

Deborah Nichol's information goes on to mention that a few early births were in a location called "Dismal Creek".  A Google search turned up several suggestions, including a map and a book.  The map pinpoints to an area called "Dismal Road" which is north of Liberty by about 2 or 3 miles and runs along the Smith Fork River.  There is also a cemetery marked on the Google map called "Tubb Cemetery", which gives me even another possible resource for tracking down more "Parker" family information.  Which would be very helpful, especially if I can find a connection between my James and Deborah's James.

Google also gave me a link to the text of a book by Will T Hale, called the The History of DeKalb County, TN, published in 1915.  Again, this was a new resource I hadn't found before.  To my joy, the text is searchable and appears to have information on several "Parker" families who were pioneers in the area. Now, it appears that it is computer generated text from a scanned book, so it's not formatted like a book with pages, so it may take me some time to fully digest and analyse.

But again, it's more information than I had this morning. And that is a good thing.

Bottomline ... I've got some new resources to pursue on this branch once again.  I'm still pushing forward with my plans to do a DNA test this summer, but there are no guarantees that I will connect to anyone with a better documented Parker branch going back to Adam ... at least not right away ... and with my luck lately, it's more likely that if we do connect ... they are stuck with the same brickwall as me.

Meanwhile ... the hunt for James Parker continues ...

Love & Aloha,
CuznAmy

52 Ancestors: #4 - George Clark (1857-1923)

This week I’d like to introduce you to another one of my 2nd great grandfathers, George Clark.

When I first started this blog post, I realized that I had very limited materials for the Clark family, and even less in the way of source citations.  A research notation in my software for George Clark, leads me to assume that most of my current information came from pedigree charts submitted to the LDS church Pedigree Resource File (but I have no idea who was the original submitter), and apparently I had not yet gathered the usual copies of any research documents or photographs (birth/death/marriage records, censuses, obituaries, headstones, etc.).

In fact the only electronic images I have currently for George Clark or his kin, were downloaded from the Find-A-Grave memorial pages created in 2008 by a volunteer named Betty Joan Cogan.  I am not sure if or how Betty and I are related (yet), but I am very thankful for her sharing the historical images she had access to.  The following image of George Clark and his wife Elizabeth (Dove) Clark, was cropped from the 1900s photograph of the whole Clark family found on Elizabeth Dove Clark’s Find-A-Grave Memorial.

George Clark [Jr.]  was born on January 29, 1857 in Worth Township, Sanilac County, Michigan.  His parents, George Clark [Sr.] (1825-1896) and Elizabeth Blaine (1827-1895) were Irish Immigrants, and George was the fifth child of thirteen (ten boys and three girls) born to this couple.  I have not found any references that either George used the designation of Jr. or Sr. during their lifetime, so I will not use this designation for the remainder of this post, except references made to George’s father will contain the [Sr.] designation only to reduce confusion.

George Clark married a Elizabeth Dove, on October 27, 1885 in Croswell, Sanilac County, Michigan and to this union two children were born: Moses Dave Clark and Jennie Violet Clark (my great grandmother).  George Clark died July 3, 1923 in Croswell, Michigan, at the age of 66 and is buried at the Croswell cemetery along with his wife.

This week, I have spent time tracking down additional research materials that I could find online for George Clark, his wife and/or their children.  I visited FamilySearch.org, SeekingMichigan.org and Find-A-Grave.com and below is a list of information and/or materials I was able to compile over a couple hours ... and best of all it was FREE.

Find-A-Grave

I was able to gather vital statistic information on several family members as well as download images of various cemetery signs, headstones and several individual and family portraits as contributed by Betty Joan Cogan, Gordon Golchert, Shirley Hoard and other Find-A-Grave volunteers.  Even though the majority of information on Find-A-Grave is not cited, it is a wonderful starting place to gather “clues” that will lead you to primary source records that validate the information.  And occasionally you will find a copy of an obituary or funeral program added to memorial page.

The Find-A-Grave memorial for Charles Clark can be found at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26231145  The data provided for George Clark indicates that he was one of twelve children (but I have 13 listed in my database). As my current data comes from compiled records done by other researchers, I still need to validate information for the 13 children I have listed for George Clark [Sr].

FamilySearch

Death Record - FamilySearch does not have an actual copy of the certificate, but they do have an index entry in their collection of "Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952”.  The entry for Geo[rge] Clark can be found at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KF7G-3MK.

Marriage Record – FamilySearch does have copies of the actual marriage records from 1868-1925, and I was able to obtain a copy of the marriage record for George Clark and Elizabeth Dove.  Please note that the index incorrectly identifies Elizabeth’s surname as “DAVE” instead of Dove.

I love the way FamilySearch records provide you with a source citation on the bottom of each record page, and all you need to do is copy and paste the information into your program or research log.

Example:

"Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQ35-3YN : accessed 20 Jan 2014), George Clark and Elizabeth Dave, 27 Oct 1885.

Birth Record – I was not able to find a birth record on FamilySearch (yet).  There was no listing found using the search parameters for a “Geo Clark” or “George Clark” born “1856-1857” in “Sanilac County, Michigan” in the "Michigan, Births and Christenings, 1775-1995," index, FamilySearch collection, and he would not be listed in the Michigan, Births, 1867-1902 collection.  This doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means that either the record is present but index in a way I have not searched yet (like by initials), or perhaps this record is in a collection that has not been digitized yet.  I may need to contact the courthouse directly to get a copy.

Census Records - I was able to locate George Clark in the census listings on Family Search; though copies of the actual images were not available on FamilySearch.or except for the 1900 and 1870 census.   However, a quick visit to my local LDS Family History Center or my public library would provide me with FREE access to Ancestry.com to download the additional images of the census records that I couldn’t access from my home computer.

• 1920 US Census– Census listing as found on FamilySearch; image not available on FamilySearch but available on Ancestry.com
• 1910 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch; image not available on FamilySearch but available on Ancestry.com
• 1900 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch.org; copy of the census image was also downloaded
• 1880 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch; image not available on FamilySearch but available on Ancestry.com
• 1870 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch; copy of the census image was also downloaded
• 1860 US Census – Census listing as found on FamilySearch; image not available on FamilySearch but available on Fold3.com

SeekingMichigan.org

Normally, I find a lot of good information in the “Death Records, 1897-1920” collection on the SeekingMichigan.org website, so I usually start with this webpage when researching my Michigan branches; however in this case there were no records specific to George Clark and Elizabeth Dove Clark (or their children) as they all died after the online collection stops (1920) … and George [Sr.] and Elizabeth Blaine Clark died before the online collection starts (1897).  I did find copies of death certificates for other extended Clark and Dove family members, and I plan to download those and add any additional information to my software program as I work on these branches more.

I'm sorry that this was rather a dry post, in that I didn't share any stories or images.  It was more focused on doing online research and the types of information you can gather.  It is my hope that you at least learned some new information that you didn't already know, and feel more confident in your own research capabilities.

Join me next week as my 52 Ancestor Challenge post turns back to my old nemisis and brickwall ancestor, James Parker.  If you want a get a feeling for my pain and suffering thus far, be sure to read these 2012 posts about this frustrating ancestor:

• January 28, 2012 - James Parker and Catherine Burton 04 January 1852
• January 27, 2012 - Where's James Parker?

As always, if you have any questions or need some personal assistance, please feel free to leave a comment below. I wish you success in your own family history research projects this coming week.

Thanks for stopping by. See ya next time.

Love & Aloha,
CuznAmy

Genealogy 101 – Using Family Group Sheets

Family Group Sheets, also known as Family Group Records, are the next form that you will want to become familiar with.

Once you have put together your four or five generation Pedigree Chart, the next step is to complete a Family Group Sheet for each couple on your chart.  You will need to complete eight Family Group Sheet forms, for a 4 generation pedigree chart.

1 – Person 1 (and spouse)
2 – Person 2 and 3 – your parents and your siblings
3 – Person 4 and 5 – your father’s parents and his siblings
4 – Person 6 and 7 – your mother’s parents and her siblings
5 – Person 8 and 9 – your paternal grandfather’s parents and his siblings
6 – Person 10 and 11 – your paternal grandmother’s parents and her siblings
7 – Person 12 and 13 – your maternal grandfather’s parents and his siblings
8 – Person 14 and 15 – your maternal grandmother’s parents and her siblings

Most family group sheets will record the names of the husband, wife and children in a family unit.  They also record the birth, marriage and death information, as well as additional spouses (if any) of the parents and in some cases the spouses for each of the children.  A well-documented family group sheet will also cite the sources of the information, usually in the footnotes area at the bottom or on the last page.  Some have additional blanks for information such as: cause of death, cemetery information, religious affiliations, military service, occupations, etc.

Online Forms

There are several good resources online to find FREE Family Group Forms.  I prefer to use the forms that are printed in Landscape, because they usually can get several children on one page but the spaces can be small for writing if you write big.  Some of the portrait style forms have larger blanks, but usually only get 3 children on the first page and you need to print continuation pages for the rest of family.

This is the one I use when I am helping someone get started with their research:
Ancestry.com – Family Group Record http://c.mfcreative.com/pdf/trees/charts/famgrec.pdf

But this is also a good form - portrait style with online fill in the blanks in PDF form from the Ancestors tv series on KBYU:

Page 1 http://www.byub.org/ancestors/charts/pdf/familygroup1.pdf
Page 2 (for continuation pages) http://www.byub.org/ancestors/charts/pdf/familygroup2.pdf

And if you are LDS, then you may want to use the LDS version located on FamilySearch:
https://familysearch.org/sites/all/themes/frankie/documents/Step-2-Family-Group-Record.pdf

Staying Organized

In order to stay organized at this point, I suggest getting a 2 inch binder, and putting the Pedigree Chart in the front and then each Family Group Sheet behind it by generation.  So you, then your parents, then your father’s parents, your mother’s parents, etc.  As you gather documents and photos in your research, you can put them into archival sleeves and store the materials behind each respective family group sheet.

What Next

Similar to how a Pedigree Chart gives you an overview of your direct ancestors, a family group sheet helps you get a more detailed overview of the lives of your ancestors and their immediate family.  I use completed Family Group Sheets when I’m creating a “timeline” for an ancestor I am researching, by seeing the important dates in their family along with historical events. Such as the date parents died, and children were married, and census locations and occupations at various times along with dates of wars, or presidential elections, etc.  I get a better picture of the life my ancestor had.

Family Group Sheets provide spaces for you to record information about the parents and children in one family.  They have spaces for names, dates and locations and help you get a more detailed image about the lives of your ancestors in relationship to the various events (births, marriages and deaths) of each family member.

Use the details on your completed family group sheet to get additional ideas about where to search next for more information on the family.  For example: analyzing when a couple’s first child was born (perhaps based off an age and birth place location on a census record) may give you a clue where and when to focus your search for their marriage record. Or analyze when and where they moved from and to based on the dates and locations of the births of each child, and maybe be able to narrow in on a time the family may have immigrated.

Let me know if you have any questions, otherwise I'll see you back here next week for a look at reviewing types of documents you may want to use in your research.

Love & Aloha,
~Cuzn Amy