Restoring Old Photographs

Well…. it’s been a while since my last post here; and although I have other things I want to post about in the near future; those things will require some real time for me to put together my facts and such.  Since I was “out of commission” (major toothache) most of last week; I have lots of research to catch up on; and less time for my blog right now.  So… I will write about something that won’t take any time for me to research; and; therefore; not a lot of time to write a little about.

In my last post, I told about how an old photo had led me to find the Choctaw ancestors of my girlfriend, Kelly.  I have been intrigued by old photos for many years; since I first began researching my own family history.  I spent  a lot of time talking to relatives; some close relatives; others relatives I didn’t even know.  In doing so; over the years, I was able to obtain hundreds of old photographs of my ancestors and their families.  I have many old pictures of grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents; and even some of great-great-great grandparents.  I never get tired of looking at the old pictures.

Over the past several years, I have been able to identify many of the folks in the old pictures; whom I couldn’t previously identify.  I did much of that by comparing pictures.  In many cases, I would notice someone in a picture of a sole person; and compare with people in group pictures that I had of family.  Every now and then, I would realize the person in a picture was the same person found in other pictures.  Since I had names of folks in some of those pictures, I was then able to put a name to other pictures.  Always compare your old pictures; and study them closely.

I have also been able to identify folks in some of the old pictures by showing them to my oldest relatives.  Only recently; a cousin and I went to visit my great-aunt (sister of my grandmother); who has been in a nursing home for a couple of years.  She was able to identify some of the folks in a box of pictures that my cousin had, from her father’s belongings.  It was fun to be able to visit with my great aunt; and to share the pictures with her; bringing back many memories for her.

Although I have often done some very minor things to improve my old photos; I never really knew how to truly restore an old, faded, damaged photo.  I have seen examples of an old photo, which was torn into 4 or 5 pieces; pieced back together; and truly restored, in what appeared to be an absolute miracle.

Since I have so many old photos myself; I decided that I want to “try” to learn how to restore these photos; and really bring them back to life.  I am not talking about the simple things, such as adjusting the brightness, contrast, etc.  I want to learn how to remove the blemishes, scratches, repair tears; and everything else I can; in order to bring the photo back to its’ original beauty and glory.

Early last week, I started “googleing” (Is that a word?).  I found a link to a website that claims to be a “Photo Restoration School”.  Now… I will be the first to admit that this isn’t what most would consider a course study; or anything like that.  However; after looking over the website for a while; and thinking on it overnight; I decided to pony up the small amount of money required to enroll.  For $50 I figured I could surely learn enough to make it worthwhile.

Since I am not associated with this site; and haven’t been able to spend a lot of time on it myself yet; I certainly don’t want to sound like I am endorsing it.  But…. others may want to check it out themselves.  It is at www.photorestorationschool.com .  You can get a free video tutorial by entering your email address in the appropriate spot on their webpage.  The free tutorial is based on a fairly simple fix for faded photos; but is certainly worth checking out.

The website seems to be based mostly on video tutorials; which guide you through the process to fix various things in a photo.  They use free photo software called “Gimp”.  Gimp is similar to Photoshop; but it is a free, open source software.  You can get the software at www.getgimp.com.

The tutorials on the Photo Restoration School’s site, appear to do a pretty good job of walking your through the steps of various photo restoration processes.  I certainly think there is enough on the website for me to get my fifty dollars worth; and I am looking forward to learning all I can about restoring old photographs.

In conclusion, I am going to “attempt” to attach 2 photos to this post (If I can figure out how), to show a photo which I decided to be my first photo restoration project.  The original was some kind of painting done of my GGG Grandparents.  This was likely done around 1850.  The original was very large; and I had to photograph the original to get a copy for myself.  As you can see (hopefully), I have since cropped the image; and also made some adjustments to bring the color out.  Next, I am going to try to get the “blueish” portion (like that right above his shoulder) all above and around him and her.  It appears to me that the background behind them, was originally that color; and age has probably washed away the blue background.  After I get that done, I will begin to work on restoring the bottom portion of the picture, to remove all of the aged stains there.

Before

After

Here’s to hoping I can restore my GGG grandparents; and many more.

If anyone else happens to decide to try this also; please be sure to let me know, so that we can share ideas, and anything else we learn.

Hope everyone has a great day!

 

Old Photos led us on a path to Choctaw Family

A few years ago, my other half (Kelly, received a call from her father.  His brother had informed him that he was getting ready to have their mother’s old house (Kelly’s grandmother) demolished.  He grandmother was Anna Vivian Horr; whose husband was Kinsey Lee Stewart.  Kelly’s grandfather, Kinsey was born 1905, in Texas.  He died in Delaware Co., IN in 1979.  Vivian was born in Delaware Co., IN in 1910.  She died in Delaware Co., IN in 1996.

When Grandma Anna died, her oldest son, John was living in the house with her.  He remained in the house until he died several years ago.  The house had been sitting empty; and was getting run down by the time John passed on.

Before having the house torn down, Kelly’s uncle, Arthur called Kelly’s father, Edwin, and told him to contact Kelly and her sister to let them know the house was going to be torn down; and to give them the opportunity to go through the house to see if there was anything left in the house that either of them might want.  Long story short, I found a very old suitcase in a small bedroom closet.  The old suitcase was nearly rotted.  In fact; when I grabbed the handle to lift the suitcase, the handle broke off of the suitcase.  After I finally removed the suitcase from the closet; I laid it out on the old bed in the room; and opened it up.  To our astonishment; this old suitcase was nearly full of old photographs and documents!  What a treasure we had found.

It took many days to go through all of the old photos in the suitcase; and longer to identify many of the folks in those old pictures.  However; when we were done, we had found many great pictures, which included some of Kelly’s great and great-great grandparents.  Among them, we found pictures of Stella Lorena Butler; who was the mother of Kinsey Stewart.  Stella was born 14 Jan. 1877, in LaSalle Co., TX.  She died in Delaware Co., IN in 1960.  We also found pictures of Stella’s mother; who was Stella Virginia Plummer.

The Plummer line had grabbed our attention; so I began doing some real digging into this family.  Stella Virginia Plummer was born 11 Mar., 1857 in Arkansas.  She married John H. Butler about 1874, in Texas.  Census and other records led me to Stella’s father; who was Joseph R. Plummer.  Joseph was born 1 June 1833 in Mississippi; although I did not know exactly where in Mississippi that he was born, at that time.

At some point, I had found a couple of Stella Virginia’s siblings in Olkahoma; sometime around 1900.  I don’t recall now, what it was; but, something I had found had given me the indication that they were of Native American blood.  I decided then that I should search the Dawes Applications.

A Little About the Dawes Applications

In 1893, the United States Congress established a Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes
(commonly called the Dawes Commission) to exchange Indian tribal lands in the Southeastern
United States for individual land allotments to members of the Indian tribes. More than 250,000
people applied to the commission for enrollment and land, but only a little over 100,000 were
approved.

Those claiming American Indian blood went through an application process in an attempt to receive their fair share of land from the Government.  These applications are full of information; and often offer many details about the ancestors of those who applied.

Back to Joseph R. Plummer

Joseph’s wife, Mary S. Plummer; made application in 1902.  ”A few” of the questions and answers on her application were as follows:

Q. What is your name?  A. Mary S. Plummer.

Q.  How old are you?  A. Sixty-five.

Q. What is the name of your Choctaw Husband through who you claim these rights?  A. Joseph R. Plummer.

Q. When and where were you married to Joseph R. Plummer?  A. ’54, 10th of October, ’54.

Finding a Dawes application on one of our ancestors; almost always leads to applications made by other family members.  In a Dawes application made by Susan Burton, Kelly’s GGG Grandfather gave a deposition which provided a ton of family history; and tells of his childhood.  Some of the questions and answers in his application were as follows:

Q.  Do you make any claim to Choctaw blood?  A. Yes Sir, I am a citizen of the Choctaw Nation.

Q.  From whom do you derive Choctaw blood?  A. Susanna Graham my grandmother.

Q.  Are you the son of a daughter or a son of Susanna Graham?  A. A daughter.

Q.  What was your mother’s name?  A.  Annie V. Stewart.

Q.  Was Susanna Graham, your grandmother, married twice?  A.  Yes Sir.

Q.  What was her first married name?  A.  Stewart.

Q.  What was her husband’s name?  A. Stewart.  She married my grandfather Stewart.

Q.  What was his given name?  A.  I don’t recollect.

Q.  Who did she marry the second time?  A. A white man by the name of Graham.

Q.  Where were you born, Mr. Plummer?  A.  Holmes County, Mississippi.

Q.  Did you know your grandmother Susanna Graham?  A. Yes Sir.

Q.  Where did you know her?  A.  Why she reared me from my childhood in Mississippi.

Q.  How long did you live with your grandmother?  A.  Why she reared me from my infancy.  She died in 1850.

Q.  Were you living with her at the time of her death?  A. Yes Sir.

Q.  Were you acquainted with all of Susanna Graham’s children?  A. Yes Sir.

Among other things, Joseph goes on to name each of Susanna’s children; including his mother, Annie V. Stewart.  He also names his father; who was also Joseph R. Plummer.  He tells that he knew all of the children of his grandmother; except for his mother, Annie; who died when he was an infant.  Joseph also states that he was born in 1833; and that his grandmother took charge of him when he was 2 months old.

I another application made by one of Joseph’s son; more is learned.  He states that his father’s (Joseph’s) mother was Annie V. Lewellyn.  Lewelly was the name of her first husband; before having married Joseph R. Plummer, Sr.  Frank also tells that his grandmother, Annie V., was half Choctaw.

Frank’s father, Joseph R. Plummer (Kelly’s GGG grandfather), also gave a deposition in the case of his son, Frank Plummer.  In it, he states that his father, Joseph R. Plummer (I’ll refer to him as “Sr.”) was a white man; and that his mother, Annie V. Stewart was a Choctaw.  He refers to his father as a “Yankee, born in Massachusetts.”   We also learn in his deposition that his grandmother, Susanna, was full blood Choctaw; and her maiden name was Brashears.

Joseph continues to answer many questions in his deposition on behalf of his son, Frank.  He tells us that his grandmother, Susanna, died on the 5th day of May 1850, and was about 60-65 years of age.  Thus we learn that Susanna was born about 1775.  When asked if his grandmother spoke the Choctaw language; Joseph answers by saying “Very well; spoke the Choctaw language as well as she spoke the English Language.”.  He goes on to describe his grandmother as having black eyes and straight black hair.

In further questioning about how he knew that these (Susanna and Annie V.) are the same persons as his relatives and ancestors; Joseph answers the with the following:

“Why grandmother raised me from an infant and taught me things about my mother and father and I grew up under that for seventeen years; I was seventeen years of age when she died in 1850 lacking a few days of it, and she taught me all the good I know — reared me from my child hood — and that she was my grandmother, and that my mother died when I was an infant, two months old — Ann V. Lewellyn.”

All of which I have written about today, reflects only a tiny portion of all of the things that we learned about Kelly’s Choctaw ancestors.  Not only did we learn all of this new information; such as Joseph’s parent’s names; and his grandmother’s name.  But; we also learned much about the family.  We learned that Joseph was raised by his grandmother; and did not know his mother at all; she having died when he was but 2 months old.  Joseph seemed to have been very proud of his ancestors; having stated that his grandmother “taught me all the good I know”.  Although not written about here; we had also learned of all of Joseph’s mother’s siblings; and their spouses; many of whom also had applied under the Dawes applications.

Indeed; those old photos took us on a journey that we will never forget.  A journey that led us to Kelly’s full blooded Choctaw, 5th Great Grandmother; Susanna Brashears.

 

Great time visiting and sharing pictures with cousin

Today, my first cousin, Sherri, (once removed) drove up to my house and spent part of the morning; and most of the afternoon.  She brought a box of old photos that we had so much fun going through.  These were old photos that had belonged to her father; who was a brother to my grandmother.  Although I have quite a few old pictures from that side of my family; she had several that I had never seen.  I was able to tell her who several of the folks in the pictures were; and; working together; we were able to make some educated guesses as to some of the others.  It was awesome seeing photos of my great grandmother; which I had not seen before.  I mean… I have several pictures of my great grandmother.  But, these were pictures of her I had not previously seen.  She also had some pictures of my GG grandparents which I had not seen before; and I shared some pictures with her; of those same folks; which she had not seen.

It was such a great day visiting with Sherri; reminiscing about our parents, grandparents, etc.; and sharing old photos and documents.  Now… we have made plans to go visit her aunt (my great aunt); who has been in a nursing home for a couple of years now.  We suspect that this aunt will be able to shed some light as to who some of the folks we could not identify in these pictures were.

So…. Sherri and I are both looking forward to taking a little trip later this week to visit Aunt Maxine.  I’m sure Aunt Maxine will have a blast going through the old pictures; and, hopefully, some of them will jog her memory a little; and we will be able to identify a few more of the folks in the old pictures.

 

Great Things Found in Civil War Pension

About 3 years ago, I did some research for Carol Yenne (one of the followers of my blog). Her ancestor, David Vance; was a bit of a mystery. We were having a difficult time following David; and finding out about his family.

What We Knew When We Started

When I began this research for Carol; we knew her ancestor, Amos Vance; was the son of David Vance and Sarah Smith. David and Sarah had married in Randolph Co., IN, in 1833. David was found in Randolph Co. on the 1840 and 1850 census records. In 1860, he was found nearby, in Mercer Co., OH.

It was a struggle finding David after 1860. However; once we learned that he had served during the Civil War; I recommended to Carol that we obtain his pension file. I’m sure neither of us were expecting a 299 page pension file! And…. I know that neither of us expected to learn so much about David, through his pension file.

David had enlisted for service, in 1861; in Grant Co., IN. After that; things were very fuzzy. However; his pension file revealed much!  The widow of David; per his pension file, was Rachel. David and Rachel had married in Mercer Co., OH; in 1878. However; David had appeared on the 1870 census; in Madison Co., IA; with a wife, Mary; and 2 small children. Interesting; since David’s first wife did not die until 9 Feb. 1876. Mary; was referred to as “Dena” or “Sardina” in most records.

The depositions given by some of David’s daughters, revealed a lot about David. In October of 1904; David’s daughter, Margaret Vance Rhoads; gave a deposition for the pesnion of David’s widow, Rachel. Margaret states “I am the oldest daughter of David Vance and Sarah Vance. My father David Vance was not married after the death of my mother, which occurred Feb. 9, 1876, until he married Rachel Crawmer. I was present when my mother Sarah Vance died, but was not present when my father died. They were never divorced, although father and mother did not live together for a number of years.”

So…. according to David’s oldest daughter; David and Sardina (Mary on the 1870 census) were not married. Yet; they have children per the 1870 census.

The deposition of another daughter of David’s; Martha Vance Harris; given in Jan. of 1906; reveals much more information about David’s initial disappearance. She states… “I am a daughter of David Vance” etc. etc…” My mother was Sarah Smith when she married him and she was his first wife as I always understood. He was only seventeen years old when they were married and she was twenty three.” “They did not live together after I was eighteen years of age.” (This would have been about 1863). “He had been home from the Army some three or four years when they separated. We were then living in Jalepia (?) Ind.” (Grant County). “I remember the circumstances w ll when he left home. They had had no quarrel at all and were getting along all right. My father played the fiddle and I remember he picked it up and said to my mother that he was going to Ashland to rent a house and she advised him not to take his fiddle but he did so and he never came back. We did not know where he went to and my mother never heard from him as long as she lived. My mother died at Coon Rapids, Ia.” etc. etc. “There was a girl, a country girl in the neighborhood named Sardina Connor who turned up missing at the same time my father disappeared and it was supposed that they had eloped together. That suspicion arose because just a few days before they disappeared he was seen with his arm around her. This woman was a soldier’s widow and she was only seventeen years old. I can’t remember the name of her husband, Connor, but he died in the war. Her maiden name was Cox before she married Connor. I was well acquainted with her. I knew her and Connor in Salina, Mercer Co., O. before they were married and we used to go to school together. After she became a widow she followed us out to Jalapia, Ind. where we had moved and she staid there with her sister, Mrs. Tame (John) Marks.” etc. etc. “My sister, Margaret Rhoads, has been in correspondence with this claimant (Rachel; widow of David) for some years and she has written Margaret that she has heard where father was during the time he was gone after leaving my mother, saying that he was living with Sardene Cox or Connor, and that they had three children, two girls and a boy, and these children were some place in Michigan. I do not know where. I never saw those children, and I never saw Sardene after she was supposed to have gone away with my father. I have an uncle, George Vance, at Blue Vail, Neb. and he wrote me once some seven or eight years ago that my father had been there with a woman who was rather young and he wrote and asked me if she was his wife and I wrote and told him I did not know whether she was or not. As I understood it my father lived there at Blue Vail with this woman some six or seven years. My mother was not dead at that time. If my uncle is alive he still lives there; if not alive his boy, William, still lives there. My father never wrote to me at any time and I never kept in touch with him at all. Sometime after he married, or is supposed to have married this last woman, Rachel, he came to Oakfield to see me and staid two or three days. He did not bring her with him; she had not come from Indiana yet, and he was staying with my sister Margaret at Coon Rapids at the time. They lived there for a while after the claimant came there, a few years and then moved back to Indiana where they lived till he died. Those are the only three woman my father ever had that I know anything about and I don’t know as he was married to any of them except my mother. I know one thing, he was never married lawfully to the first one” (referring to Sardene) “or mother would have received notice of his bill if he had secured a divorce, and I know she never heard anything about him getting a divorce, and I know my mother never applied for a divorce from him.

In another deposition given by David’s daughter, Elizabeth; she states “I have no way of tracing up his history between the time he left my mother and the time he married this claimant (Rachel). I never heard from him and don’t know who would know anything about. He had completely dropped out of site during those years. Well, I had heard talk to the effect that he went off with another woman when he left my mother but I know nothing about that. I believe I heard he went off with a woman named Dene Cox but I never saw her and know nothing about her, who she was beyond that, or who her relatives are, and I do not know what became of her, or where she is now.

What We Learned from the Pension File

David’s pension files also give many details about his various illnesses; and there were many. I won’t try to go into those. But; this pension file provided so much information about David; revealing 3 children whom he had had with a young Sardena Cox; whom he had apparently left his wife and children for, soon after he returned from the war.

David’s pension file also provided us with some great clues as to his early life; and clues as to where to search for his parents. His pension file provided us with information that he had been born in PA and had apparently come to Preble Co., OH, when he was small. We also learned of a brother, George; as well as another brother; whose name was William. We also learned about the circumstances surrounding his disappearance from his wife and children, shortly after the war.

I decided to write about the above in order to point out the importance of Civil War pension files. If you have an ancestor who served; and received a pension; you certainly should obtain a complete copy of his pension. The information provided in these pension files often provides much more than just details about their time in the war; and their illnesses. They often provide tons of family information; with depositions often times, by close friends and family members.

I do hope everyone has enjoyed reading this little bit about David Vance.

 

Census Records Provide More Great Clues

A few days after I created this blog; just about 3 weeks ago; I wrote about a great find I had made; all because of clues from a census record. This morning; I made another great find; that started all because of a clue in an 1880 census record.

The subject here was a woman by the name of Minerva Lichty (also found as Lighty). We knew that she was the mother of Roscoe Spotts; who was born in Wayne Co., IN, in 1887. Roscoe was found in the household of his father, Charles Spotts/Spatz, on the 1900 census of Wayne Co., IN. Charles was a widower by that time. Charles’s mother, Adeline; and a couple of sisters of Charles, were living with him. There is little doubt that Adeline and the sisters of Charles must have played a very large part in raising Roscoe.

Charles “Spatz” had married Minerva Lichty, in Wayne County, IN; 14 Dec. 1886. Since Roscoe was born in 1887, he was no doubt the first child. Roscoe was 12 years old at the time of the 1900 census; and was the only child in the household. So… one must wonder if Minerva had died soon after the birth of Roscoe; he apparently having been the only child.

In attempting to locate the parents of Minerva; I first searched the 1880 Wayne County census. Minerva Lichty was found in the household of Ephraim and Eliza Wolfgang. She was 15 years old; and was listed as a “niece”. This was the first clue. Because she was listed as a niece of Ephraim; I knew that either Ephraim was a brother to Minerva’s mother; or; his wife Eliza, was a sister of Minerva’s father.

Since I now knew that Minerva must have been born about 1865; I moved on to the 1870 census; expecting to find Minerva with her parents; and knowing she would be about 5 years old. The search was not going well. I could not find a Minerva Lichty/Lighty on the 1870 census of Wayne County. After spending some time, trying various spellings; trying all of the tricks I know; and still unable to find her; I finally decided to try searching for her only by her first name and her approximate birth year. So…. I put “Manerva” in the first name field; and nothing in the field for the last name. I put “1865″ in for the birth; with a plus or minus of 5 years. None of those results matched. I then tried again, using “Minerva”. Again; I did not put a last name. I did put the birth year of 1865 (plus or minus 5 years) and “Wayne County, Indiana” in the place field. To my surprise, I found a Minerva in the household of Ephraim Wolfgang. She was 6 years old. Apparently, the census taker must have assumed Minerva’s last name was also Wolfgang. Of course I already knew that was not the case. But…. I had found her.

I knew this family had lived in near or in the town of Cambridge City, IN (Wayne County); and also knew that worldvitalrecords.com (A subscription based site) had some old Cambridge City newspapers on their website. Since I knew there wouldn’t be many Wolfgang’s listed; I decided to search those Cambridge City newspapers for Wolfgang. I found the obituary of “Susan” Wolfgang; who was the wife of Ephraim. Of course the 1880 census gave her name as Eliza. But…. that wasn’t really an issue. Eliza may have been her middle name. At any rate, the obituary of Susan Wolfgang; stated that she was the wife of Ephraim Wolfgang. But… it did a lot more than that. It also provided me with her maiden name; which was “Lighty”; and gave her parents names.

Since I now knew that the “Eliza” Wolfgang whom Minerva was living with in 1870 and 1880 was a apparently a sister of Minerva’s mother; and then knew to look at the household of Susan (Eliza’s) father in earlier census records. I was then able to easily find Susan’s parents on the 1850 Wayne County census. Long story short; this census shows that Susan had 5 brothers. They were John, Daniel, Henry, James and George.

So…. this puzzle isn’t completely solved. However; I now know that George Lichty/Lighty (mother of Susan and the boys I just mentioned) was the grandfather of Minerva; and that one of his son’s was apparently the father of Minerva. So… the search for Minerva’s parents has certainly been narrowed down. And… all because I found her listed as a “niece” on that 1880 census; in the household of Ephraim and Eliza Wolfgang.

I cannot emphasize how important it is to carefully read and analyze all of the information on those census records. They often times hold great clues. It’s not just the names and dates were want to look at.

 

Be Creative When Searching Ancestry.com

It’s been a few days since my last post; so I thought I would try to take a little time today. I received a phone call this morning; from a new client. While speaking with her; I had brought up the subject of using an asterisk (*) when searching ancestry.com. This was something she was indeed familiar with. However; I frequently mention this to folks that are not aware of the power of the asterisk. So…. for the benefit of those who are not familiar with the use of the asterisk when searching ancestry; and the many benefits of it; let me try to explain a little.

When doing any search in ancestry; ancestry only requires you to enter the first three letters of a name (first and/or last). Following the first three letters with an asterisk, will return all results that begin with those first three letters. I use this all of the time when searching ancestry; especially in census records. Allow me to use an example; and then I will explain why I search with an asterisk.

Let’s say that I am trying to locate my 5th great grandfather, Barnbabus Branham, in the 1830 census. I have seen his first name as Barnaby, Barnabus, Barney, as others. His last name is often found as Brannum, Branum, Branham, Branom; as well as others. However; there are parts of his name that are pretty consistent with all spellings. His first name always begins “Barn”. His last name always begins “Bran”. Instead of having to search using each of the possible spellings of his name, Ancestry only requires that I use the first three letters; followed by an asterisk; which will return results of all names that begin with those same letters. So….. I enter “Bar*” into the first name field. I then enter “Bran*” into the last name field. I then enter any other information I choose; such as the state and/or county I wish to search. This will find any first name beginning “Bar”; and any last name beginning “Bran”. Doing the search this way, makes it so much simpler to find my Barnabus Branham.

This is an especially great tool for finding those people whose last names were often spelled different ways. Additionally; many of the names in the ancestry records, were indexed incorrectly. The name may be spelled correctly on the original document on ancestry. But; they were often times transcribed incorrectly. If they are transcribed incorrectly. Using the magic of the asterisk; you can often times find those folks whose name may have been transcribed incorrectly.

By using the asterisk; there is no need to try to search for our ancestors using various spellings of the name. Just enter in the first three (or more) letters; followed by the asterisk. You may just find someone that you had previously been able to find on one of those census records; or some other record on Ancestry.

There are other good search tips as well. But, the asterisk is something I use everyday, when searching Ancestry. Give it a try.

I genuinely hope someone finds this tip useful. Happy searching.

 

Please let others know about my new blog

I hope everyone will let others know about my new blog here. I am excited that there have already been over 200 hits on the page, since I started it; just a few days ago. There are also 20 followers already! I love it! So… please let your genealogy friends know about the blog; and ask them to enter their email address on the page to receive email notifications of new posts. Share it via email to your genealogy friends. Share the link on facebook. Share it however you can. The more followers I have, the more ambitious I will be to keep adding new posts and keep this new blog active.

Thanks to those of you who have read my blog and/or become followers. Feel free to comment on any of the posts.

 

Very Creative Census Search

I was thinking yesterday about a recent find I made in the census records, when researching a couple of months ago for a client. So…. thought I would write a little about it. Make no mistake about it. I would have never found this fellow in the 1880 census; without some very creative searching.

This fellows name was Richard Guest or Guess. I had him and his family on the 1860 and 1870 census. I also had his widow living with a son and a couple of daughters in 1900. I knew, based on the 1900 census, that Richard had not died until sometime after 1890,; when the youngest daughter was born. In 1860, 1870 and 1900, the family was always found in Nashville, Davidson Co., TN.

I had tried everything in order to find this family in the 1880 census. I knew they should have been there in Davidson Co.; but just could not find them. I tried searching the children’s names. Tried searching the Wife’s name. Tried the various spelling of the last name. I probably spent 2 or 3 hours trying to locate the family in 1880. I was getting very frustrated!

After thinking on this for a while; a thought came to me. In 1860 and 1870, Richard’s occupation was listed as that of a “Fisherman”. I thought….. How many fisherman could there be in Davidson County in 1880? Surely there could not be more than a few. So… back to the 1880 ancestry census records I went. I go to the 1880 census search. I put absolutely nothing in for first of last name. I enter “Davidson County, Tennessee” into the “Lived In” field of the search page. Then; I put “fisherman” in the “occupation” field of the search page. There were 33 matches that came up.

I browsed through those 33 matches, and found 2 of these men whose first name was Richard. There was a Richard Copeland; and a Richard Johnson. I looked at both families. The wife and children of Richard Johnson did not match that of my client’s Richard Guest. However; Richard Copeland’s wife and children were a perfect match!

I was sure I had found the right man. I began searching some Davidson County marriage and death records; trying to locate records of the children of Richard. Interestingly enough; I found the death certificate of his son, Albert. His death certificate listed his name as Albert “Copeland” Guest! Although Copeland had been entered on the death certificate, where the middle name was meant to be; it still confirmed that the Richard Copeland and family; which I had found on that 1880 census; was the right family.

Later; I found a couple of marriage records of the daughters of Richard. Although the widow of Richard; and his children, were listed with the last name of “Guess” on the 1900 census; a couple of those daughter who married right before and right after 1900; had married under the last name of Copeland.

Ironically; in spending so much time to finally answer the question of where Richard and family were in 1880; I had also created a new question; that I am not sure will ever be answered. Why was Richard’s last name Copeland in 1880. The 1860, 1870 and 1900 census records all list the family as Guess/Guest. However; the 1880 census lists the last name as Copeland. The death certificate of a son, listed his name as Albert Copeland Guest. Also; I had found marriage records of a couple of the daughters; which listed their maiden name as Copeland.

Looks like I answered one question; and created some new questions by doing so!

 

Great Things Found in Deed Records

Good stuff!  Yep.  I found some really good information in 1792 deed record today.  Many genealogists don’t realize just how valuable deed records can be.  They are probably one of the most overlooked sources of genealogy data.  Yet; I probably rely more on deed records, than anything.

A find I had a couple of days ago is a great example.  So… I thought I would talk about it a little.  First; allow me to back track a little with this story.

A couple of weeks ago, I began some research for a client; in an attempt to break down one of her brick walls.  Her ancestor; Michael H. Martin; was known to have resided in Washington Co., TN.  In fact, he married there, in 1823.  In order to get to the point about the value of deeds; I will skip ahead a bit, and shorten this portion of the story.  So…. long story short; I was able to find Michael H. Martin, named in his father’s will; in Washington Co., TN.  His father was Joseph Martin.

Joseph’s will was dated in April of 1823.  Since there is not an 1820 census for Washington County, I really don’t have an estimate as to when he was born.  However; I did know that his son, Michael, was born about 1790, per his census records.

Since Joseph never appears on any census records; I had to rely on other records in order to learn more about him.  So… I started digging into the Washington Co. deed abstracts, which have been transcribed and published.  I found Joseph had several land transactions that were witnessed by other Martin’s; and some in which he had purchased or sold land to/from another Martin.  These are always good clues; since land was frequently bought and sold between family.

During the search of these deed records; I had seen a couple which referenced me to Greene and Sullivan Counties; which both border Washington County.  So…. of course; I knew I also needed to check records in Sullivan and Greene Counties.  In Green County deed records, I found the following deed abstract:

A deed of conveyance from Ann Martin, Thomas Martin, Sarah Martin, James Martin, Eleanor Martin, Ephraim Chidester, Isabella Chidester, James Moore, Thomas Boyd, Ann Boyd, John Galbreath and Mary Galbreath to Joseph Martin.  Dated 20th of March 1792 for 68 acres and allowance & 32 & allowance.

This deed provides lots of great clues into the family of Joseph.  This type of deed was very typical.  I find them often.  These folks were all likely selling land that they had inherited, to Joseph.  The Martin’s named in this deed, would most likely have been siblings of Joseph.  One of the Martin women named, may have been the mother.  In the case of Ephraim and Isabella Chidester; Thomas and Ann Boyd; and John and Mary Galbreath; these wive’s would have been Martin’s; and would have been heirs of the father of this family.  The husbands are named because these daughters are married.  In other words; although the females in these cases would have been the heirs; their husbands would have been party to this sale of land also.

I must admit that I am a little stumped as to the James Moore mention in the deed.  No wife is mentioned for him; so it does not appear that his wife was an heir.  He is also not a Martin; so he would not have been a sibling to Joseph and the others.  It “could” be that he was a grandchild of the deceased Martin; whose parents have already died; thus he would have received that parent’s share.

Bottom line…. Because of this deed, I now have several siblings of Joseph; as well as husbands names for 3 sisters.  Because Ann Martin is named first in this deed; she may have been the mother.  So… I also have the name of a possible mother of Joseph.  I also have all these other names now, that I can search for; in order to help me find Joseph Martin’s father.

I usually have to look at microfilmed deed indexes; and then search for deeds of the surname of interest.  Those indexes give me a grantor and grantee’s name; along with a deed book number and page number.  AT that point, I am able to obtain the necessary microfilm which contains that deed book.  I am then able to locate the original deed; and analyze the data in it; in hopes of obtaining some information about the family I am after.  In this case, I was fortunate to have books of transcribed deed abstracts.  That made it easier in this case.

A great tip.  When searching deeds to try to find siblings and/or parents of an ancestor; look for “et al” in the deed indexes.  ”et al” stands for “and others”.  If a father owned land at the time of his death; that land was normally inherited by his wife (if she was still alive) and children.  Most of the time, those children would all sell their share of the land; wither to a sole sibling, who wanted the land; or to another person altogether; that may not have been related to the family.  Although the siblings are “collectively” selling their portions of the land; and this is all done in a single deed record; only one of those siblings’ names would appear in the index.  As an example; you might find the grantor (seller) listed as Joseph Martin et al”; and the grantee (purchaser) listed as John Doe.  Because the “et al” is there; I know that Joseph Martin “and others” are selling this land.  the “and others” are very often siblings.  These are often cases such as I have mentioned, where siblings are selling land in which they have inherited.  These types of deeds will give us names of the siblings; and will normally give us married names (and husbands names) of the daughters.  They will also often refer to the name of the person the land was inherited from; thus giving us the name of the father.

Be sure to think about deeds when you are researching your ancestors.  You don’t have to know a father’s name in order to find a father’s name in the deed records.

 

Time for me to blog

Well…..  although I have had my own web domain (www.digginbones.com) for about 10 years now; I have never really done a blog.  That is, until now.  I decided it was time for me to start blogging about some of my genealogy adventures.

A little about me.  I began my personal genealogy journey about 15 years ago.  It didn’t take me to long to find out that I lived only about 2 hours from the world’s second largest genealogy library; the Allen County Library, in Fort Wayne, IN.  I started making frequent trips there; leaving my house early in the morning, so that I was there before they opened the doors at 9 am. Often times, I remained there until closing time; at 9 pm, on weeknights.

At the time, I made my living as a karaoke host; running karaoke several nights a week.  Of course this left my daytime hours free for genealogy.  I spent many hours, every day, researching my ancestors; and developed a huge passion for it.

I was very fortunate to be able to make several trips to the States and Counties which my ancestors had come from.  I traveled to many Court Houses, Libraries, Graveyards, State Archives, etc.  I have always loved standing on ground that my ancestors had once stood; or, being able to stand at the grave of a great-great grandparent.

Most of my ancestors had immigrated to Maryland in the 1600′s.  They eventually made their way to North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky; and eventually to Indiana.

About 10 years ago, I moved to my present home, in Redkey, IN.  This put me much nearer to the Allen County Library; and afforded me even more opportunities to visit the library there.  Being only about 50 miles from the library; I decided that I wanted to try my hand at genealogy as a profession; and began doing so, on a part time basis.

As I got very tired of hosting karaoke; I decided, about 6 years ago; that it was time for me to take a leap of faith, and made genealogy my full time occupation.  I was a little nervous in the beginning, since I would no longer have my regular karaoke jobs to support me.  However; I was also pretty confident in my own abilities as a genealogist.  I never looked back!  The past few years have been very good to me.  Although I know that I won’t likely make a lot of money as a professional genealogist; I am able to make a living at it; and love my job!  I have had the great pleasure of helping hundreds of people over the years; and have broken down many brick walls.

Most of the research I do for clients, is “brick wall” research.  All of us run into one of those walls in our genealogy research; and I love being able to help folks gets past those points.  I have had many interesting cases over the past 10 years; and never get tired of it.  This blog will give me a chance to share some of those interesting stories that I come across in my research.  I also hope to be able to share some genealogy research tips here as well.

Until next time…..