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,

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,

1940 US Census - Who I am looking for ...



Photo courtesy the NARA website.

I have been busy the last week getting ready for the release of the 1940 US Census.  Here is the list of direct ancestors that I plan to look for starting April 2, 2012.

Lucky for me, the majority of my family was living in Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan ... a small city with a population of just under 2200 within the city limits in 1940.

My maternal grandparents, Fred Aaron Arntz and Elsie Marie (Roberts) Arntz were married with one child and I believe living on Bartlett Street in Harbor Beach.  Living nearby Fred and Elsie were Fred's parents, William Edward Arntz (1882-1943) and Betsy Lurene (French) Arntz (1882-1948), as well as Elsie's parents Alfred C Roberts (1881-1946) and Mabel Ellen (Ogle) Roberts (1884-1958).

My paternal grandparents, Emerson Harley Wood and Ruth M (Volz) Wood were married with one child and I believe living on First or Second Avenue in Harbor Beach.  Living nearby Emerson and Ruth were Em's parents Robert Harold Wood (1893-1961) and Lottie Belle (Minard) Wood (1893-1977). 

Ruth's family came from the Village of Minden, in Sanilac County, Michigan ... which was an even smaller community.  Ruth's parents were William Charles Volz (1881-1966) and Jennie Violet (Clark) Volz (1886-1948).  The Volz family still runs a dairy farm just outside of Minden, and at one time I believe the owned the IGA grocery store in town.

But I think the most fun relatives to search for will be my two oldest living family members.  I had two great great grandmothers still living on April 1, 1940, Elizabeth (Binder) Volz who was born in 1853 and Caroline Elizabeth (Sterling) Wood who was born in 1868.

And of course I can't forget to look for my "bonus" (aka step) grandfather, B. Blake Soule (1915-1995).  Blake and Elsie were married in 1973, and I was fortunate to spend time at their home in Ubly during several summer vacation trips to Michigan when I was young.  In 1940 Blake was married to Olive Pearl Stoken and living somewhere in either Sanilac or Huron county.  I don't believe I ever met her or her children but I know they had a couple children, so this part of their story will be new to me.  :) B. Blake Soule was a retired Huron County Magistrate and I remember he liked to listen to the police scanner.  I thought that was really cool. :)

If you are interested in finding out how to access the 1940 US Census for your family, be sure to visit Stephen Morse's One Step website at http://stevemorse.org/census/quiz.php.  Don't let the word "quiz" confuse you, the website functions more like a tutorial helping you narrow down which "tool" to use to find the enumeration district your family is likely to be found in.

If you are researching Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan you will want to start from this One Step page ... http://bit.ly/HyXIyG

If you are researching in the Village of Minden City, Sanilac, Michigan you can start from this One Step page ... http://bit.ly/H4EXX0

I can't believe we are down to three days. :)  I'm ready, are you???

Love & Aloha,
~Cuzn Amy

Seeking Joseph - Find-A-Grave Information

Before I get started with my new research ... I would like to apologize to everyone who has tried to post a comment to this blog.  I did not realize I had the setting set to only let "registered" followers post comments.  I have now updated my settings for all future posts, and even previous posts should now allow comments (if you are so inclined).  Thanks. :o)


New Information:

According to the Find-A-Grave website the following six individuals with the surname ROBERTS are buried at Rock Falls Cemetery in Harbor Beach, Huron, Michigan, USA. 

Roberts, Anna Gohill                      b: April 1871 d: ??? 7, 1912 (65707624)

Roberts, Cecelia Gillem                  b: June 20, 1845 d: September 22, 1910 (65191848)

Roberts, Elizabeth E                        b: ??? 22, 1875 d: July 3, 1915 (65707566)

Roberts, Hiram                                b: January 27, 1940 d: December 26, 1909 (65707544)

Roberts, Joseph                               b: July 9, 1946 d: April 28, 1911 (65191720)

Roberts, Martha Anna                     b: July 10, 1865 d: March 1, 1916 (65707595)

It’s important to remember that the information on Find-A-Grave.com is provided by volunteers (like myself), so I you can never be sure how complete or accurate the data is (though we try to do our best).  So, it is possible that there are more ROBERTS family members buried in this cemetery who have not been submitted to the Find-A-Grave’s database yet.  But please don’t let that deter you from using this wonderful FREE resource in your own research process.

Questions and Analysis:

How are these six people related to each other?

We know that Joseph and Cecelia are married to each other.

Joseph and Cecelia had two daughters – Elizabeth and Sarah (whom I believe were twins).  Elizabeth was married at the time of her death, so I would expect that she is buried elsewhere under her married name – and so their daughter Elizabeth is not likely the same Elizabeth E Roberts buried at Rock Falls Cemetery. 

Both Anna and Martha Anna, were born about the same time as Joseph and Cecelia’s children.  But they could not be daughters-in-laws either as my notes reflect, George married a Hannah; William married a Mary; Charles married a Lillie; and Alfred married Mabel Ellen Ogle.  Robert James Roberts never married to my knowledge.

Anna’s maiden name is Gohill, so she was married to a Roberts but it would be unlikely that she was married to Hiram (as the age difference is over 30 years), and none of Joseph and Cecelia’s son’s were married to an Anna or Martha Anna.  Additionally, the Find-A-Grave memorials for both Elizabeth and Martha Anna do not reflect any maiden names, so it is possible they were spinster daughters, though they were both old enough to have been married

Since Hiram is a few years older than Joseph, it is possible that Hiram is Joseph’s older brother or perhaps a cousin. 

NEXT STEPS:

I guess I will see if I can find any death certificates for these people on the SeekingMichigan.org website (Death Records 1897-1920).  Their death certificates should provide the names of their parents, and spouses.  So if Hiram’s father is the same as Joseph’s I will know they are brothers.

Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by.

Love & Aloha,

~Cuzn Amy