52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #2 - Shirley Bowlby

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Shirley Bowlby

We're getting some freezing rain in Kansas City this weekend so I decided to post another catch up for the 52 Ancestors challenge.  Today I'm hightlighting my husband's maternal grandmother.

Some basic facts:
Name: Shirley Bowlby
Born: 25 January 1924
Parents: Sherry Victor Bowlby and Gertrude Viola (Warren) Bowlby
Spouse: Earl Leslie Nickell
Marriage: Date Unknown
Died: April 1982

Shirley was born 25 January 1924.  She was born to Sherry Victor Bowlby and Gertrude Viola (Warren) Bowlby.  She married Earl Leslie Nickell sometime before 1943.  Earl and Shirley had children but in the interest of privacy I won't list their information.

I suspect Shirley lived most of her life in Kansas.  I believe she was born near Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas because she's listed on the 1930 census with her parents at the age of eight in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas.

Bowlby family listing in the 1930 U.S. Census

And then again at the age of sixteen in Clark County, Kansas.

Bowlby family listing in the 1940 U.S. Census

Shirley died in April 1982.  She's buried next to her husband, Earl, in Resthaven Cemetery in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas.

Shirley A. Bowlby Tombstone
Resthaven Cemetery in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas

I don't have much more information than that on Shirley.  Here's my genealogy list for Shirley:

Have:

• 1930 U.S. Census
• 1940 U.S. Census
• Find-A-Grave Listing

Need:

• Birth Certificate
• Death Certificate
• Marriage Certificate
• Check for appearance in Kansas State Census'

Genealogy Basics: The 1910 Census

Continuing our recent discussion on census records, today we're looking at the 1910 census.  The 1910 census was enumerated beginning 15 April 1910.  Let's look at the actual census record to see what information can be extracted from this census.  Using my great-grandpa Edward's census listing, let's look at what can be discovered about his family:

1910 Census record for Edward Bell Conwell, Sr. and family

Edward B. Conwell, Sr. is listed here with his wife, Zella, and children Edward B., Milford, Mildred and Frank.  Breaking the census listing down into three parts will help us view the information a little easier:

Section #1 of Edward Bell Conwell, Sr. and family 1910 census record

The first two columns are not numbered but they contain information on the abode:

• Street, avenue, road, etc. (name)
• House number (in cities or towns)

Columns #1-#2 contain additional information on the abode:

• Number of dwelling house in order of visitation
• Number of family in order of visitation

I see that Edward and his family are living on Cyprus Avenue (the street name got partially cut off but it does say Cyprus Avenue).  So this is another address that I can go look up to see if the house is still standing.  Add that to my list of genealogy things to do.

Column #3 is the name of each person whose place of abode on April 15, 1910, was in this family (surname first, then first name and middle initial if there is one) and column #4 is the relationship of the person to the head of the family:

• Conwell, Edward B. - head
• Conwell, Zella - wife
• Conwell, Edna M. - daughter
• Conwell, Edward B. - son
• Conwell, Milford R. - son
• Conwell, Mildred A. - daughter
• McCabe, Sarah A. - mother-in-law

Columns #5-#11 are personal description data:

• Sex
• Color or race
• Age at last birthday
• Whether single, married, widowed or divorced
• Number of years of present marriage
• Mother of how many children: Number born
• Mother of how many children: Number now living

This is pretty self-explanatory information, though it does bear mentioning that at this time Edward was 41 (Zella's age on this census is unreadable), married to Zella for 10 years and they had a total of six children, with four still living.  This tells me I need to look for some deceased children prior to 1910.  Using earlier census records will help me narrow down the years I need to check for those children.  Sarah's number of children is also listed so I know she had six but the number still living is unreadable.

Great information to get off this census is the age at last birthday, their marital status and number of years of present marriage, the number of children born and number now living.

Moving on to part #2 of the census record:

Section #2 of Edward Bell Conwell, Sr. and family 1910 census record

 
Columns #12-#14 are nativity information:

• Place of birth of this person
• Place of birth of father of this person
• Place of birth of mother of this person

This is also really great information because, if I didn't already have places of birth for each person and their parents, this census provides it.  Keep in mind this information is only as good as (1) the person giving the information and (2) the person writing the information down.  But it gives you a clue where to look.

This census enumerator has taken the time to list each person's birth location and the birth locations of their parents (as provided by the person providing the census information).  As you can see, everyone was U.S. born and most were born in the Midwest in either Kansas, Missouri, Illinois or Ohio. 

Columns #15-#16 are citizenship information:

• Year of immigration to the United States
• Whether naturalized or alien 

Again, by this time all my family was U.S. born so none of these columns apply.

Column #17 is whether the person is able to speak English or not and if they were not English speaking, the enumerator was asked to list what language they spoke.  The entire family was able to speak English.

Moving on to part #3 of the census record:

Section #3 of Edward Bell Conwell, Sr. and family 1910 census record

 
Columns #18-#22 are occupation information:

• Trade, profession, or particular kind of work done as spinner, salesman, laborer, etc.
• General nature of industry, business, or establishment in which the person works, as cotton mill, dry goods store, farm, etc.
• Whether employer, employee or working on own account
• If an employee: Whether out of work on April 15, 1910
• If an employee: Number of weeks out of work during the year 1909  

From this we can see that Edward Sr. was working but his trade and industry are mostly unreadable.  I'm going to have to see if I can find a better copy somewhere.  Great-great grandma Sarah was working as a laundress for a private family.  They were both working on their own account.  Neither one was out of work as of the enumeration date and neither was out of work during 1909.

Columns #23-#25 are education information:

• Whether able to read
• Whether able to write
• Attended school any time since September 1, 1909

Edward Sr. and Zella are the only ones listed as being able to read and write.  Their daughter, Edna, is the only one listed as having attended school that year.

Columns #26-#29 are ownership of home information:

• Owned or rented
• Owned free or mortgaged
• Farm or house
• Number of farm schedule

I'm somewhat disappointed that there's no information listed in these columns for Edward and his family.  I have no idea if they rented or owned their home in 1910.

The last three columns are kind of interesting bits of information:

• Column #31: Whether a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy
• Column #32: Whether blind (both eyes)
• Column #33: Whether deaf and dumb

I didn't expect to see any information in these columns for my family honestly.  I know none of the last columns applied to any of them but column #31 (Union/Confederate military survivor) is great information for genealogists since it gives a clue to military service.

The 1910 census can contain some great information for genealogists.  There are several ways to access the census records, from using Ancestry.com (if you don't have a paid subscription to Ancestry, check out your local library or Family History Center for free usage opportunities) for indexed images to using some of the non-indexed sites and paging thru the census record pages one by one.  I prefer the indexed version, however, going through page by page can wield treasures of its own.  Additional family members have been discovered in this manner and it can also give you a picture of who was living around your ancestor.

Next week: the 1900 census!

Genealogy Basics: The 1920 Census

Today we're continuing the discussion on census records and looking at the 1920 census.  The 1920 census was enumerated beginning 1 January 1920.  Let's look at the actual census record to see what information can be extracted from this census.  Using my great-grandpa Edward's census listing, let's look at what can be discovered about his family:

1920 Census record for Edward Bell Conwell, Sr. and family

Edward B. Conwell, Sr. is listed here with his wife, Zella, and children Edward B., Milford, Mildred and Frank.  Breaking the census listing down into three parts will help us view the information a little easier:

Section #1 of Edward Bell Conwell, Sr. and family 1920 census record

Columns #1-#4 contain information on the abode:

• Street of person's abode
• House number or farm
• Number of dwelling house in order of visitation by enumerator
• Number of family in order of visitation by enumerator

I see that Edward and his family are still living on Indiana (the street name got partially cut off but it does say Indiana), the street they were living on in 1930 when the census was taken, but they've changed house numbers.  So this is another address that I can go look up to see if the house is still standing.  Add that to my list of genealogy things to do.

Column #5 is the name of each person whose place of abode on January 1, 1920, was in this family (surname first, then first name and middle initial if there is one) and column #6 is the relationship of the person to the head of the family:

• Conwell, Edward B. - head
• Conwell, Zella - wife
• Conwell, Edward B. - son
• Conwell, Milford - son
• Conwell, Mildred - daughter
• Conwell, Frank - son

Columns #7-#8 are "tenure" data:

• Home owned or rented
• If owned, free or mortgaged

From this we can see that Edward Sr. was renting the home they were in.

Columns #9-#12 are personal description data:

• Sex
• Color or race
• Age at last birthday
• Single, married, widowed or divorced

This is pretty self-explanatory information.  Great information to get off this census is the age at last birthday and their marital status.

Columns #13-#15 are citizenship information:

• Year of immigration to the United States
• Naturalized or alien
• If naturalized, year of naturalization

Again, by this time all my family was U.S. born so none of these columns apply.

Moving on to part #2 of the census record:

Section #2 of Edward B. Conwell, Sr. and family 1920 census record

Columns #16-#18 are education information:

• Attended school since 9/11/1919
• Whether able to read
• Whether able to write

The three youngest children all attended school in 1919.  Grandpa Edward was 15 at the time this census was taken and it seems was not attending school.  I happen to know from verbal history that , like a lot of older children during this time, he was working to help support the family.

Columns #19-#24 are nativity and mother tongue information:

• Place of birth (of person)
• Mother tongue (of person)
• Place of birth (of father)
• Mother tongue (of father)
• Place of birth (of mother)
• Mother tongue (of mother)

This is also really great information because, if I didn't already have places of birth for each person and their parents, this census provides it.  Keep in mind this information is only as good as (1) the person giving the information and (2) the person writing the information down.  But it gives you a clue where to look.

This census enumerator has taken the time to list each person's birth location and the birth locations of their parents (as provided by the person providing the census information).  As you can see, everyone was U.S. born and most were born in the Midwest in either Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois or Ohio.  It seems, though, that the enumerator didn't complete all the boxes for the mother tongue information.  It would be nice if the enumerator was consistent and filled in all the boxes available but that obviously doesn't always happen. 

Column #25 is whether the person is able to speak English or not.  The entire family was able to speak English.

Moving on to part #3 of the record:

Section #3 of Edward Bell Conwell, Sr. and family 1920 census record

Columns #26-#28 are occupation information:

• Trade, profession, or particular kind of work done as spinner, salesman, laborer, etc.
• Industry, business, or establishment which at work, as cotton mill, dry goods store, farm, etc.
• Employer, salary worker, wage worker or working on his own account

From this we can see that Edward Sr. was working as a laborer and Edward Jr. was listed as an office boy in a packing house, but column #28 is somewhat confusing.  According to the census instructions I located here, the codes for this column were either Em for employer, W for a salary or wage worker and OA for a gainful worker that is neither an employer nor a salary or wage worker.  Someone who had no occupation was supposed to have that column left blank.  But the enumerator has listed both Edwards as simply "E".  Knowing that Grandpa Edward was always an employee and never an employer and seeing that both Edwards were listed as currently working, process of elimination dictates that they were both either salary or wage worker (most likely wage workers) and should have been listed with a "W" in that column.

Column #29 is the number of farm schedule, which doesn't apply to this household.

The 1920 census can contain some great information for genealogists.  There are several ways to access the census records, from using Ancestry.com (if you don't have a paid subscription to Ancestry, check out your local library or Family History Center for free usage opportunities) for indexed images to using some of the non-indexed sites and paging thru the census record pages one by one.  I prefer the indexed version, however, going through page by page can wield treasures of its own.  Additional family members have been discovered in this manner and it can also give you a picture of who was living around your ancestor.

Next week: the 1910 census!  And be sure to check back later this week for a very special edition of Around the Town Thursday!  I've got a special treat in store :)

Genealogy Basics: The 1930 Census

A couple of weeks ago we started talking about census records and looked at the 1940 census.  Today we're continuing to look at census records and the focus is on the 1930 census.

The 1930 census was enumerated beginning 1 April 1930.  Let's take a look at an actual census record to see what kind of information can be extracted from this census.  Last post we looked at my Grandpa Edward's census listing.  I haven't located him in the 1930 census yet but I have a listing for my Great-Grandpa Edward (Grandpa Edward's father) to use for our example:

1930 Census record for Edward B. Conwell, Sr. and family

Edward B. Conwell is listed here with his wife, Zella M., and children, Milford R. and Frank R.  As you see, listed below the Conwell family, also living with Grandpa Edward, is his son-in-law John Crouse, daughter and wife of John, Mildred and granddaughter Evelyn J.  Breaking the record down into three parts will help us view the information a little easier:

Section #1 of Edward B. Conwell, Sr. and family 1930 census record

Columns #1-#4 contain information on the abode:

• Street, avenue, road, etc.
• House number (in cities or towns)
• Number of dwelling house in order of visitation
• Number of family in order of visitation

This is great information because I can take the house number and street name and see if that house is still standing to see where my family lived in 1930.

Column #5 is the name of each person whose place of abode on April 1, 1930, was in this family (surname first, then first name and middle initial if there is one) and column #6 is the relationship of the person to the head of the family:

• Conwell, Edward B. - head
• Conwell, Zella M. - wife
• Conwell, Milford R. - son
• Conwell, Frank R. - son
• Crouse, John - son-in-law
• Crouse, Mildred - daughter
• Crouse, Evelyn J. - grand daughter

Columns #7-#10 are home data:

• Home owned or rented
• Value of the home, if owned, or monthly rental, if rented
• Radio set
• Does this family live on a farm?

From this we can see that Edward Sr. owned their home and it was worth $2,000.00.  I can't tell for sure whether they owned a radio or not.  The enumerator marked "R" in the columns next to other families who obviously owned radios, but there is an "X" next to Edward Sr.'s census listing so while I suspect they did own a radio, I can't be certain.  And further up the census listing, the enumerator indicated "No farms in this block".

Columns #11-#15 are personal description data:

• Sex
• Color or race
• Age at last birthday
• Marital condition
• Age at first marriage

This is pretty self-explanatory information.  Great information to get off this census is the age at last birthday because it can help pin down a birth date if you don't already have that and age at first marriage because it can help you pin down a marriage date for the first marriage of the person listed.  Keep in mind that if the spouse listed on the census listing isn't the person's first marriage this could cause a little confusion but it can also clue you in to when the first marriage occurred.  It's somewhat of a double-edged sword.

Columns #16-#17 are education information:

• Attended school or college any time since September 1, 1929
• Whether able to read or write

None of the family attended school that year and all but baby Evelyn were able to read and write, which says a lot about the family since many people still struggled to get a decent education in 1930.  Many people had to stop school and go to work to help support their families, resulting in an incomplete education.

Moving to part #2 of the census record:

Section #2 of Edward B. Conwell, Sr. and family 1930 census record

 
Columns #18-#20 are information on place of birth:

• Person
• Father
• Mother

This is a gold mine of location information.  The enumerator has taken the time to list each person's birth location and the birth locations of their parents (as provided by the person providing the census information).  As you can see, everyone was U.S. born and most were born in the Midwest in either Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois or Nebraska.

Column #21 and #21a-c are questions about the person's native language:

• 21: Language spoken in home before coming to the United States
• a: (Code) State or MLT
• b: (Code) Country
• c: (Code) blank on the form

Columns #22-#23 are citizenship information:

• Year of immigration to the United States
• Naturalized or alien

By this time, this part of my family was all U.S. born so these columns didn't apply.

Column #24 is whether the person is able to speak English or not.  The entire family was able to speak English.

Moving on to part #3 of the census record:

Section #3 of Edward B. Conwell, Sr. and family 1930 census record

Columns #25-#27 are occupation and industry information:

• Occupation (trade, profession, or particular kind of work, as spinner, salesman, riveter, etc.)
• Industry (industry or business, as cottonmill, dry goods store, shipyard, public school, etc.)
• Code
• Class of worker

Most of the family worked as laborers, but Zella was working as an operator for some type of factory, Milford was a sales clerk for a grocery store and Frank was working for a nursery.  I can't tell where John Crouse was a laborer at, it almost looks like he was a laborer for grading.

Columns #28-#29 are questions about employment:

• Yes or no (whether actually at work)
• Line number for unemployed

It seems Edward Sr. was unemployed at some point.  Because he was unemployed, he has an additional line number associated with his census line.  Unfortunately the FAQs about the 1930 Census indicate the unemployment schedules no longer exist, so any information on this schedule has been lost.

Columns #30-#31 are veteran information:

• Yes or no (whether a veteran of the U.S. military or naval forces mobilized for any war or expedition)
• What war or expedition

None of this family served as veterans.

Column #32 is "No. of farm schedule".  The farm schedule was a supplemental set of questions for farms and didn't apply to Edward Sr. and his family.

The 1930 census can contain a wealth of information for genealogists.  There are several ways to access the census records, from using Ancestry.com (if you don't have a paid subscription to Ancestry, check out your local library or Family History Center for free usage opportunities) for indexed images to using some of the non-indexed sites and paging thru the census record pages one by one.  I prefer the indexed version, however, going through page by page can wield treasures of its own.  Additional family members have been discovered in this manner and it can also give you a picture of who was living around your ancestor.

Tombstone Tuesday: Carl August Froemke, Jr.

Welcome to another edition of Tombstone Tuesday.  Today we're spotlighting the husband of my first great-grand-aunt Augusta Christine (Altman) Froemke, Carl August Froemke, Jr.

Tombstone of Carl August Froemke, Jr.
Located in Anselm Lutheran Cemetery

Carl August Froemke, Jr. was the child of Carl August Froemke and Henrietta Elisa (Schwarz) Froemke.  It's unknown how many brothers and sisters he had.

Carl was born 5 February 1866 in Orel, East Prussia, Russia.  Nothing is known of his parents at this time.  He immigrated to the United States in October 1880.  He married Christine Augusta Altman 4 July 1888 in Lisbon, Ransom, North Dakota.  Together they had thirteen children (seven boys and six girls).

Carl August Froemke, Jr. and Christine Augusta (Altman) Froemke

Carl August Froemke, Jr.

Carl Jr. died 23 February 1942 in Lisbon, Ransom, North Dakota.  He is buried in Anselm Lutheran Cemetery in Anselm, Ransom, North Dakota.  The cemetery borders what used to be family farmland.

 

Genealogy Basics: The 1940 Census

Census records.  Every genealogist uses them at one point or another.  They're a great source of information as long as you keep in mind the possibility for errors to be found within the census records.

The United States has taken a federal census every 10 years since 1790.  The first census enumeration contained a limited amount of information.  Each following enumeration asked for a little more information each time.  Today we're going to take a look at some information you can find in the census records.  Since you always want to start with the latest record available we're going to start with the 1940 census and work our way back.

The 1940 census was enumerated in April.  Let's look at a copy of a census record for my family.  I know my grandfather was living in Kansas City, Missouri when the 1940 census was enumerated.  Here's a copy of the record, broken down into two parts so it's readable:

First half of 1940 census listing for Edward Conwell, Jr. and family

Second half of 1940 census listing for Edward Conwell, Jr. and family

Columns #1 and #2 are the location information:

• Street, avenue, road, etc.
• House number (in cities and towns)

The house he's listed at is still standing and I was fortunate to spend summers there growing up as a child.

Columns #3-#6 are household data:

• Number of household in order of visitation
• Home owned or rented
• Value of home, if owned, or monthly rental, if rented
• Whether the household is on a farm

It surprised me to discover that grandpa Edward's house is listed as rented and he was paying $18 per month rental fee.  I was always under the impression that he was purchasing the house.  Add finding out when he purchased the home to my list of things to research.
Column #7 is the name of each person who's residence was in the household at the time of enumeration and column #8 is the relationship of the person to the head of household.  Grandpa Edward is listed with his (first) wife, Ada J., and...SURPRISE!...mother-in-law, Stella (so if I didn't already know Ada's maiden name, I could have gotten it from this census).  Grandpa Edward didn't talk much about his first wife, so I never knew that mother-in-law resided with them.

Edward Conwell listed with wife, Ada J., and mother-in-law, Stella Correll

Columns #9-#12 are the personal description fields:

• Sex
• Color or race
• Age at last birthday
• Marital status

Grandpa Edward and Ada were 35 and 36, white and married, while mother-in-law, Stella, was 58, white and widowed.
Columns #13 and #14 are questions regarding education:

• Attended school or college since March 1, 1940
• Highest grade of school completed

While Grandpa Edward completed high school, Ada completed seventh grade and Stella completed fourth grade.  None attended school during the year.
Column #15 is the person's place of birth and column #16 is whether the person is a U.S. citizen or foreign born.  The whole family was born in Missouri and they were all U.S. citizens.  Columns #17-#20 are questions regarding the residence:

• The city, town or village having 2,500 or more inhabitants or "R" for all other places
• County
• State or territory/foreign country
• Whether the residence was a farm

I can't say these columns were very informative since they were either left blank or filled in with the words "Same Place".
Columns #21-#34 are all questions about employment status (for persons 14 years old and over):

• Was this person at work for pay or profit in private or non-emergency government work during the week of March 24-30?
• If not, was this person at work on, or assigned to, public emergency work (WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.) during the week of March 24-30?
• If not at work or assigned to public emergency work were they seeking work?
• If not at work or assigned to public emergency work did they have a job, business, etc.?
• If the person answered no to any of the previous questions, indicate if they were engaged in housework, school, unable to work or other
• If at private or non-emergency government work (from column #21), number of hours worked during the week of March 24-30, 1940
• If seeking work or assigned to public emergency work (from column #22 or #23), duration of unemployment up to March 30, 1940 - in weeks

That last section is pretty large.  Sometimes the columns are fully completed, sometimes they're not.  In this case, the columns are mostly filled in and I learned that Grandpa Edward was working for pay and Ada was keeping house.  Yet another surprise, Stella is listed as working for pay as well.  As we move down the census form we discover that Stella is working as a seamstress in the wholesale clothing industry and Grandpa Edward is working as a plumber in (of course) the plumbing industry.  Both Stella and Edward are listed as "PW" under class of worker, which meant they were a wage/salary worker in private work (a chart of symbols/explanatory notes for the 1940 census can be found here).  

The final columns are questions regarding income:

• Amount of money wages or salary received (including commissions)
• Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary?
• Number of farm schedule

It's interesting to see that Grandpa Edward was making just over $1300 per year in 1939.  Stella wasn't doing too bad as a seamstress at just over $575 per year.  They were not included on a farm schedule.

The 1940 census contains a wealth of information for genealogists.  There are several ways to access the census records, from using Ancestry.com (if you don't have a paid subscription to Ancestry, check out your local library or Family History Center for free usage opportunities) for indexed images to using some of the non-indexed sites and paging thru the census record pages one by one.  I prefer the indexed version, however, going through page by page can wield treasures of its own.  Additional family members have been discovered in this manner and it can also give you a picture of who was living around your ancestor.  

Have you made any surprising discoveries about your ancestors from the 1940 census?  What piece of information are you glad the government included on this census?

Next up, what's on the 1930 census?

Follow Friday: Ancestral Breezes

Welcome to another edition of Follow Friday!  Today we're looking at the blog Ancestral Breezes.  Jen's blog focuses on telling the stories of her past, her family and throwing in some education for good measure.  And she does a good job at all of it.

Her post on My first look at the Digital Public Library of America is very informative and provides some good insight on how to search on DPLA, a great resource.

Currently, Jen has a series of posts on fraternal organizations, a subject near and dear to my heart.  Beginning with her post on Curiosity is Allowed to Take Over, she's exploring the importance of fraternal organizations in genealogy.  She remains objective in her posts about fraternal organizations, not learning one way or another in her opinion (though she does mention her great-grandfather belonged to one) and presenting useful and pertinent information when discussing fraternal organizations.  In her second post on these organizations, Jen defines the organizations and in her third post, she talks about organization terminology.

Jen's posts are well written and are written about interesting subjects.  Take a few minutes to drop by Ancestral Breezes and read one (or more!) of Jen's posts.

Genealogy Basics: Divorce Records

The last three weeks we've talked about birth, marriage and death records.  These three types of vital records are the records most genealogists think about when you say the words "vital records".  But there's a fourth type of vital record that isn't immediately thought of: divorce records.  Obviously divorce records aren't going to exist for every person and prior to the 1900s they'll be virtually non-existent since divorce was rare.  In some places it was even illegal.

So what kind of information can you find in divorce records?

• Husband's name
• Wife's name
• Marriage date
• Divorce date
• Current residence of husband
• Current residence of wife
• Property of husband and wife
• Name(s) of child(ren)
• Birth date(s) of child(ren)
• Reasons for divorce

The information provided in the divorce records may vary from location to location and all the information in the above list may not be included in the records you find.

Divorces are handled by the court system so the location to contact to obtain these records will vary by location.  They may not be indexed so some searching may be required.

If you have some family information or situation in your genealogy that just doesn't add up, consider the possibility that there may have been a divorce in your family.  

My family had that situation with my second great-grandma Sarah (McKee) McCabe and second great-grandpa Chester Eaton McCabe.  After some digging my mother stumbled across another branch of the family we had no idea existed!  Initially we suspected Chester had run off and simply re-married.  We eventually discovered Chester and Sarah divorced, Chester met another woman and married her while Sarah came to Kansas City to be with her children in this area.  It was a fun mystery to solve and couldn't have been solved without the help of some cousins and a Civil War pension file.  We don't have the divorce documents yet but that's definitely on my list of things to get.

Follow Friday: Ascending the Stairs

TGIF!  I hope you're as excited about the weekend as I am.  Friday means another edition of Follow Friday and today we're looking at the blog Ascending the Stairs.  Rachelle's blog chronicling her genealogy research is an interesting read and her post Just another clue, that will lead you to another clue and to another one made me smile, nod my head and giggle just a little because what she writes about the tiny morsels of data that genealogists find is true.  Those tiny morsels do keep one "engaged in the hunt, but never satisfies the immense hunger."

And I completely understand finding information that isn't cited.  My maternal grandfather, bless his heart, was a fantastic genealogist.  Careful with his work and tireless in his research efforts, he provided our family with some great information.  Unfortunately none of it is cited and not all the supporting documents were collected so those of us working on this genealogy now are retracing Grandpa's work.

Back to Rachelle's blog, I found her posts to be well written, with very little rambling (genealogists don't ramble, do they? LOL) and interesting post subjects.  I especially like how she periodically posts about her Genealogical Resolutions.  And having never been on a genealogical research trip, Rachelle's posts about Texas on a Wing and a Prayer and Genealogy Trip Planning - Success! really helped to open my eyes about planning versus execution of a research trip.

Take a few minutes today and go check out Rachelle's blog.  It's well worth your time.

Pay It Forward

I've mentioned before that I like to frequent estate sales.  There are always interesting items to be found and as I wander through the sales I often wonder what the person who owned the items being sold was like.  I've brought D1 and most-wonderful-mother-in-law to "the dark side" with me and they have begun going to the estate sales as well, sometimes with me and sometimes on their own.  More often than not we leave the estate sales with nothing.  Occasionally we'll find things we can use and sometimes, just sometimes, we discover a little bit of treasure.  D1 has gotten very good at helping me look for treasure to use in my genealogy or on my blog.  My second post for the blog was a treasure discovered at a sale and I'm currently working on researching another discovered not long ago.  I hadn't brought most-wonderful-mother-in-law in on the game of find-the-genealogy/blog-treasure.  It just hadn't occurred to me since she and D1 always went together and D1 knew to look for items I could use.  But she has proven to be good at discovering treasures for me without even trying.

About a week ago we stopped in at a special sale one of our favorites had advertised.  It was being held in an old assisted living facility and I'd been told it contained a hodge-podge of items belonging to the facility and possibly belonging to the former residents of the facility.  The sale was huge.  There were rooms upon rooms of...stuff.  Medical beds sat next to tables of books which sat next to boxes of records and on and on throughout most of the first floor of the facility.  D1 told me the day before the sale had been even bigger.  I was shocked with how much stuff was for sale.  Most of it was nothing useful in my world.  We spent a couple of hours there each of us finding a little bit of something.  I'd decided to purchase an interesting homemade scrapbook (which I plan to post about at a later date) and was considering a very interesting CPT Pilot Rating Book.  The rating book belonged to a Robert Price Hays.  I have to admit I wish it belonged to one of my ancestors.  What a great piece of history.  It showed his progression through his pilot's training, complete with comments about him and his performance and signatures of his instructors and Mr. Hays himself.

 

 

 
While I was taking time to consider whether to purchase the book or not I was looking through a box lid of pictures and other paper items and we were talking about genealogy, my blog, "lost" pictures and genealogy items like the ones we were looking at and how sad it was that those items might never be reunited with interested parties.  This wasn't the first time I'd gone through that box and I kept coming back to a couple of newspapers that were in there.  I was looking at one of the papers when most-wonderful-mother-in-law discovered a nice little treasure.  In between a couple of pictures she discovered a souvenir marriage certificate.

It was when she found that marriage certificate that something clicked and I realized there were some connections within this box...and also to that CPT Pilot Rating Book.  The newspapers I'd been reading were from the area the bride and groom were from...

There are articles in this paper circled with a
notation in the upper left corner about Mr. Hays
being mentioned in the paper.

This paper had the obituary for Mr. Hays' father,
who was a widely-respected doctor for his community.

...and the groom was the same person who had owned the rating book.  And while I was intrigued, what cinched my decision to buy the group of items was the date listed on the marriage certificate.  The couple on the certificate had gotten married the exact same day D1 and I had gotten married...67 years earlier.  I couldn't leave it there after making that discovery.  I knew I just had to buy the items I could identify as having belonged to Mr. Hays.  I grabbed up the two newspapers, the marriage certificate and the rating book and began looking at the pictures in earnest, hoping to find a picture to go with the treasures I had so far.  Alas, many of the pictures were unmarked and there were so many I couldn't justify purchasing them all.  None of the photos could be identified as Mr. Hays or anyone related so we left the sale with our treasures.

So what to do next?  I had these items that didn't belong to me.  I knew people had been reunited with items of genealogical interest by others but I'd never thought to do it myself.  I had plans to go to the Midwest Genealogy Center the next weekend so when I went I took the information with me and sat down to see if I could locate someone who might be interested in the items I'd discovered.  But where to look?  I decided to check out Ancestry.com to see what I could find on there.  I hoped to locate a post on one of the message boards or a family tree which I could use to contact someone but for all I knew it would be a longshot.  I hadn't had much luck finding information on Mr. Hays himself.  I'd tried Find A Grave with no luck for him or his wife.  But one of the newspapers had an obituary for his father and that's where I decided to look.  I entered my search terms and Ancestry spit a number of hits back at me.  Among them were over 5,000 family tree hits.  WOW!  I opened up the search results and was completely overwhelmed.  How did I know which one would be the right choice to contact?  I began clicking through the trees to see if I could find a direct descendant of Mr. Hays' father when one tree in particular stood out to me.  The tree owner wasn't the direct descendant but was close enough that I felt comfortable contacting the owner to see if they were interested in the pieces I'd purchased.  I posted a message to Mr. Hays' father's entry on the tree and hoped for a response.

I didn't have to wait long.  The next day I had a message in my inbox from a very excited genealogist.  I'm happy to report that I've made arrangements to send the tree's owner the documentation I purchased from the estate sale.  I can't help but wonder what Mr. Hays might say about this situation.  I like to think he'd be happy to have his personal items reunited with his descendants.  Everyone wants to leave a legacy after all; everyone wants to be remembered.  It's a good feeling to be able to reunite these documents with the family they belong to and I'm now on the lookout for my next genealogical find.

Pay it forward baby!

Tombstone Tuesday: Julius Ferdinand Altman

It's time for Tombstone Tuesday again.  We aren't straying far from last week's spotlight.  Today we're looking at my second great-grandfather, Julius Ferdinand Altman.

Tombstone of Julius Ferdinand Altman
Located in Anselm Lutheran Cemetery

Julius was the fifth of ten children of Christian Gottlieb Altman and Maria Elizabeth (Neubauer) Altman.  He had seven brothers (three older and four younger) and two sisters (one older and one younger).

Julius was born 11 May 1826 in Neulewin, Markisch-Oderland, Brandenburg, Prussia, Germany.  He immigrated to the United States in either 1854 or 1855 and married Marie Louise Henrietta (Froemke) Altman on 5 April 1863 in Waumandee, Buffalo, Wisconsin.  Together they had 13 children.  Julius died 3 November 1919 of pneumonia at his son, Ludwig's home.
 

Julius Ferdinand Altman

 

Genealogy Basics: Birth Certificates

Last week we talked a little bit about genealogy basics and how to get started.  In that post I touched on some different records available for genealogical use.  The next few posts are going to discuss what those records are and what information can be extracted from them.

The first records we talked about were vital records.  Vital records consist of birth, marriage, divorce and death records and are referred to as primary sources.  The definition of a primary genealogy source is a document or source that was created at or near the time an event occurred.

Early vital records were mostly recorded in church or civil registers.  As the United States matured as a nation the need for better record keeping developed.  Prior to the 1900s vital records were mostly incomplete.  Once states began developing their own registration processes and laws the majority of life events began to be recorded.

These days everyone most likely has a copy of their birth certificate or can get a copy of their birth certificate so let's look at those first.  Since different states entered the union at different times their laws and bureaucratic processes developed at different speeds.  This means that some states have very early birth records while other states won't have birth records until much later.  The ProGenealogist website has a chart here showing when each state put into law the requirement for registering births and deaths and also when that state reached a 90% registration rate which was required for entry into the U.S. Registration. It also contains a great state-by-state synopsis following the chart.

Here's a list of some of the information you might find on a birth certificate:

• Child's full name (very helpful if the child happened to use a nickname)
• Child's gender
• Child's date of birth
• Child's place of birth
• Child's race
• Child's birth order
• Names of both parents
• Maiden name of the mother
• Parents' approximate birth date and ages
• Parents' places of birth
• Parents' occupations
• Family's religious affiliation
• Family's home address
• Hospital where the birth occurred or the name of a medical attendant present at the birth

As you can see birth certificates are a wealth of information.  Typically, they can only be obtained from the state where the birth occurred and all states charge a fee.  The fee covers the search time by state employees and one copy of the certificate.  For more recent birth certificates only direct relations can get copies of the certificate.  States usually are more lenient when it comes to much older certificates and allow for genealogy-based requests.

Things to remember:

• When states first began registering births anyone who hadn't already been registered could go and file for a delayed certificate of birth.  To do this, the person filing for the delayed birth certificate had to go to the state office with some type of proof of their birth (a document or person who would swear to the truth of the statements and birth facts) and make their application for a birth certificate.  The certificate was issued and filed with other certificates from that time, it was not filed with the certificates from the person's actual date of birth.
• When a birth certificate had or has an error an amended birth record can be filed.  It will show the corrected information and will be filed with the original certificate.

Birth certificates do look different from state to state.  These days the information is pretty standard across the states.  Before standardization occurred the information could vary widely from state to state.  Have you found anything interesting on birth certificates of your ancestors?

Tune in next week for information on marriage certificates!

This Ain't Your Grandparents' Genealogy

Growing up I can remember my grandparents spending hours sitting in front of the microfilm or microfiche readers at the Family History Center in Independence.  I would watch them scroll from page to page.  Occasionally they would even write something down.  For the longest time I wondered what they were doing sitting in front of those machines and I even ended up interested enough to ask one day.  That's when I got the explanation of genealogy.  I think I was around eight years old at the time.  Eventually, I joined in on the game of genealogy cat and mouse.

Genealogists today are much more fortunate than the genealogists of yesterday.  While my grandparents had to hunt for the names they were looking for page by page in the microfilms of the census records, I have the option of running to the library and using Ancestry.com.  And it's not just computers and digitizing that have made things easier but with the advent of iGadgets and Android devices genealogists now have oodles of accessibility and tools designed to make our lives better and data easier to save, access and share.  I appreciate being able to access my genealogy over my lunch hour at work without lugging around a big, heavy binder full of paper.  But even electronic files can end up being a mess if you don't organize your electronic items.  I'm not talking just your family data, but also downloaded files, saved emails and other pertinent items.  I'm not an expert in organization (just ask D1, he'd love to give you a witty or humorous reference about my hoarding tendencies) but I wanted to share a few items I use regularly in my genealogy research:

1. Computer database: Right now I'm looking at potentially switching databases.  I'm currently using Family Tree Maker.  I loved FTM when I first started doing computerized genealogy and I still like it (for the most part) but I'm also checking out RootsMagic to see if I like that program any better.  There are TONS of genealogy computer databases out there, each person has to decide what works best for their own genealogy.  The best advice I ever heard was that whatever software you choose, make sure you learn about it and commit to it fully before deciding whether or not you're happy with it.

2. Websites: There are waaaaayyyyy too many to name but the sites I frequent are Find a Grave, Cyndi's List, Ancestry, HeritageQuest, NARA and FamilySearch.  There are so many more good sites out there that I just can't name them all in one blog post but those are just a few I use.

3. iGadets: I'm by no means a power user on any of these items but I cannot live without my iPhone and iPad.  I use both for genealogy, those I mostly refer to my iPad when I can, simply because the screen is larger and I like that option better.  In a pinch the iPhone does the same thing and I typically have internet connection on that no matter where I am, which is convenient.  Some of the iGadget apps I use for my genealogy are:

• GedView: I did a review of GedView here.  GedView is my workhorse, go-to iPhone app.  I keep it up to date by either inputting new data right away manually or periodically replacing the GEDCOM file I've imported into it.
• MobileFamilyTree: I also did a review of MobileFamilyTree here.  MFT is my fancy-pants go-to iPad app.  I keep it up to date by either inputting my new data right away manually or periodically replacing the GEDCOM file I've imported into it.
• Evernote: Oh I absolutely LOVE me some Evernote!  I can't imagine how i got by without this app.  I don't use it just for genealogy (although that's why I started using it).  I also use it for saving emails, software registration information, class notes for courses I'm taking (genealogy and non-genealogy courses), recipes and many other items.  In Evernote I can combine multiple emails on one subject if I want, then save it to the appropriate notebook, tag it and search for it later!  I'm still learning the best way to use this program/app but I can't help but love it more everyday.
• KustomNote: I haven't used this a great deal yet but it definitely looks promising.  This allows you build templates and forms or use templates and forms others have built and submitted for note taking.  I've already downloaded a research log form and a couple of other forms I'm looking forward to using.  You don't use this so much as a stand-alone app, you use it in conjunction with Evernote.
• Quickoffice: This is a paid iGadget app.  It's not cheap but it functions almost exactly like the Microsoft Office suite.  Since purchasing this CloudOn has entered the picture (I have that app as well) which allows the user to access their Microsoft files via cloud storage and edit and create just like if you were actually in the Microsoft programs.  Both are fantastic apps.
• Cloud storage: I love my cloud storage as well.  I have an account with several different storage entities.  Dropbox, Google Drive and Box are the entities I'm currently signed up with.  I use each one for different purposes.  Dropbox is pretty much my primary go-to for sharing documents with family and also my general items that I access all the time.  BrotherDear prefers Google Drive so I typically will share all my pictures there.  Box is used for my business life.  Keeping business and work separate is very important for me so having separate cloud storage was very important in my mind.
• Feedly: I love following interesting blogs.  And I love the fact that there is an app to deliver the new posts of those feeds to my phone everyday.  To keep that information centralized and easily readable I use Feedly.  I used Google Reader combined with Byline but both these items were clunky in my opinion.  Feedly has been the best discovery I've ever made.  Feedly also interacts with IFTTT and Evernote!
• Pocket: Another fantastic discovery.  I regularly add blogs to my Feedly list.  I don't always have time to read every single post but I don't want to just skip over them since they may contain interesting or useful information.  That's where Pocket comes in.  Pocket lets me save the articles I want to read until a time that I have time to sit and read them in their entirety. 

Just because all of these items are electronic in nature doesn't mean I've abandoned paper.  I have, by no means, gotten rid of my paper.  I still use binders, pedigree and family charts, printouts of record copies and sheet protectors.  I wouldn't recommend anyone ever go completely digital.  Yes, paper takes up more space but should you ever have a problem with your computer, jump drive, cloud storage, etc. the paper files will be there.  And on the other end of that coin, if your paper files ever get destroyed you will still have electronic copies (and, if you do things correctly, backups of your electronic files).  I also don't only rely on my iGadget for photography.  I still use my DSLR camera as often as possible to take pictures of items like tombstones.  Though, in a pinch, the iGadget will do almost as well.

I'm sure as I begin to get into mobile genealogy a little bit more I'll discover new and interesting tools and uses for older tools that I didn't know about but for now those are some of the things I use regularly.

I can only imagine what my grandparents would think if they saw how we were doing genealogy today.  The ease with which we can obtain information is astounding!  This definitely ain't your grandparents' genealogy, that's for sure!