Research All Names

When a family historian is looking at ancestral documents it is important to give consideration to the other names one finds in the document. Friends, Business Associates, Witnesses - conducting at least minimal research on these individuals is advisable. Not doing so may lead to missing out on some major discoveries.

Examples from my own research:
(Links are to past entries where I discuss these instances in greater detail)

1) Max Wieselman - Selig Feinstein's business partner

My second great grandfather, Selig Feinstein, set up a business with Max Wieselman as horse shoers during the 1890s in St. Louis. (They also filed a patent together.) It wasn't until I conducted some research on Max and his wife that I realized Max was likely born in the same Ukranian town as Selig. This **could** be a coincidence. Coincidences happen. But there could also be a relationship. Unfortunately, the records I need aren't online. Barring localized research in the Ukraine, which may be beyond my abilities, my best shot is to find a descendant of Max and ask them to take a DNA test. If they're related, that wouldn't tell me *how*, but a DNA test should tell me one way or another whether more research is necessary.


2) Michael Flynn, County Clerk for Clifford Cruvant's name correction

The digital copy of Clifford Cruvant's name correction doesn't have a date. (Whoever did the scanning didn't get the whole document.) However, by researching the County Clerk's name, I was able to narrow down the possible years. I could order the document from the current County Clerk, but for now knowing that it was after 1930 is enough information. I haven't been able to find either Clifford or his mother in the 1920 or 1930 census, but I know they were alive, somewhere.


3) Marcus Hast, cantor at the marriage of Sol Newmark and Sarah Nathan

If I hadn't conducted research on Marcus Hast, the cantor who performed the wedding for my great grandfather's brother, Sol Newmark, and his wife Sarah Nathan, I would never have realized he was from Warsaw, Poland, not far from where the Newmark family was living before immigrating to England. I also wouldn't have discovered the scores for the wedding music that he had composed. It's not definite that it is the same music that was played at the Newmark-Nathan wedding, but there is a strong likelihood.


4) Bessie and Iva, friends of Mabel Fulkerson, and fellow heroines

When I discovered the news story about my wife's great grandmother's efforts as a girl of 14 to prevent a train wreck, I was amazed at the presence of mind and the physical effort put forth by her and her two friends. However, if I hadn't researched the names of the other two, I wouldn't have realized they were her nieces. (Due to the age difference between her and her two oldest sisters, she was actually younger than her two nieces.)

A "True Certification of Facts"

A "True Certification of Facts" may not always be certifying what you think.

This is a current Missouri Birth Certification form, with all identifying information removed.
(And in gray scale to prevent it from being used for illegitimate purposes.)

This is actually an amended certificate, but there is no way to tell that, is there?

[I have removed nothing except the names, dates, ages, gender, locations and state file number.]

The individual was born in the spring of 2013. The amending took place in October of 2014. The Date Filed still reflects the original filing date of the original certificate. The date at the bottom of the form is just the date the certified document was requested at the local Vital Records office.

The state registrar signed that this is a "true certification of name and birth facts as recorded...." However, the name of the child, the name and age of the mother, and the name and age of the father are all different from the original certificate.

Legally, I agree with the statement. The Mother and Father on the form are now (as of October 2nd, the date their adoption was legally finalized) the mother and father. The words 'Natural' or 'Birth' are not used to describe "Mother" and "Father" on the form.

Decades from now, if a genealogy researcher obtained this certificate, without any other knowledge, they would likely make that assumption, wouldn't they? They'd be wrong.

In this case, the individual (and his brother) are going to grow up knowing that they are adopted. But if the parents chose not to tell them, the birth certificate would in no way give it away.

Keep this in mind when looking at documents.
Know the difference between what is stated, and what you only assume is stated.

Naturalizations Ordered

Following the guidance at Blood and Frogs, I have been ordering several batches of Naturalization Records from the National Archives (NARA) recently.   The cost is inexpensive at $7.50, and they don't charge for the research, so you only pay if they find something.

Newmark Family
Samuel Newmark (Declaration of Intent only....probably didn't complete citizenship process)
Barnet Newmark (Declaration of Intent, Petition, Certificate of Arrival)

There are a few others I could order.  Barney's brothers Sol, Max and Israel David all went through the citizenship process. I have all three of their Declarations of Intent from the local library's microfilm. However, there are no current mysteries that their petitions are likely to solve.

Dudelsack/Feinstein Family
Selig Dudelsack (changed name to Feinstein) - (NARA unable to locate records, though he is listed as Naturalized in census.)
Julius Dudelsack (changed name to Odelson) - (NARA unable to locate records, though he is listed as Naturalized in census.) -
Aaron Oberman (husband of Toba Dudelsack, sister of Selig and Julius) - (NARA unable to locate records, though Toba is listed as Naturalized in the 1920 census)

This is frustrating.  This is the only paternal branch of mine that I don't know the European city of origin. Selig's brother-in-law, Jacob Perlik, has Szdobirtzen, Russia  and Szdobeitzen, Poland on his petition and certificate respectively -- though no city with those names can be found.  The closest phonetic match I can find is Dobrzyn, though this is a guess.

Cruvant Family
Morris (Moshe Leyb) Cruvant

I was informed by NARA that the naturalization didn't occur in a Federal Court, and was told the records could be retrieved from the Missouri State Archives.  They provided court, volume number, page number, and date.  (I knew about the Missouri State Archives records, but was curious if NARA had anything additional.)  I wasn't charged for this information.

Blatt Family
Morris Blatt

As with Morris Cruvant, NARA informed me they had no records, as this wasn't a Federal naturalization, and provided me with the information necessary to retrieve the records from the Missouri State Archives.

Deutsch Family
Solomon Deutsch - Search Pending

This also isn't a Federal Naturalization, and I have requested the documents from the Cook County Illinois court.

The Genealogical Dark Ages - Yeah, right.

I sense a meme...

• Write as you have never written before at DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog
• The Ancestral Golden Arches of Genealogy at Genea-Musings
• Are We Entering the Genealogical Dark Ages? at Elyse's Genealogy Blog
• The Coming Genealogical Dark Ages Parts 1 2 and 3 at West in New England
• Why there will not be a genealogical Dark Ages at Genealogy's Star
• I'm Changing the Purpose of My Blog at Grace and Glory
• Genealogy Dark Ages Coming? at Genealogy Geek
• Will We Have to Go Dumpster Diving for Our Records at The Ties that Bind (warning: music automatically plays at link)

Are all a response to an article which appeared in The Mormon Times by Michael deGroot called The coming genealogical dark ages.  He was reporting on comments made by Curt B. Witcher, manager of The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Ind.  Witcher's comments were made at Brigham Young University's Conference on Family History and Genealogy.

What do I have to add to the conversation?

There are basically two parts to the article.

1) Disappearing vital records

"I believe we have a crisis in our midst," Witcher said. "We have left the care of our written records largely in the hands of disinterested strangers." He said these records include everything from birth records to tombstones — and more and more they are disappearing.

Libraries are limiting hours and public access to materials. Courthouses are engaging in "radical sampling," where they take a few samples of large collections of old records and destroy the rest. "This is going on now," Witcher said.

In my belief, libraries limiting hours and public access is a factor of the economy.  When the local governments have more money to spend, they will keep the libraries open longer.  The concept of 'radical sampling' I hadn't heard about, and it is disturbing if it is happening.  What I have heard about is courthouses digitizing all their records, and then destroying the originals.  Which may be OK, if the digital counterparts are all backed up, and re-backed up regularly, and are moved to new storage mediums as new storage mediums are invented.  Maintaining digital records takes less space, but is more work than maintaining paper records.

Digital records will be lost.  Most people have probably suffered hard drive crashes where we've lost important documents.  This will happen to some digital records preserved by the government.  Just as some paper documents have been lost to fire.  Every means of storing information has an achilles heal.  We, as a society, need to learn the weaknesses of these new storage systems, and what we need to do to avoid them.

Looking at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and other genealogy websites, I can't look at the phrase "Genealogy Dark Ages" without laughing.  Some records will be lost.  But overall, the technology of computers and the internet is preserving records, and making them more accessible, not destroying them or making them less accessible.

2) The Decline of Letter Writing

Records are also disappearing on a personal level. "Who is writing letters anymore?" Witcher asked. "When was the last time you received a letter?"

But even if letters are a thing of the past, Witcher worries about e-mail. "Do you organize your e-mail well? All those Christmas greetings? All those family stories that have been exchanged through e-mail? How are you doing with that file management? It's a part of living history."

This isn't a new complaint.  I've written twice on this topic.

Decline of Letter Writing (Apr 29, 2008)
Decline of Letter Writing (Feb 27, 2009)
and now it's July 31, 2010

Let me sum up my major points in those two entries:

1) It is not email's fault.  People like to blame email for the decline of letter writing, but the things that I usually get in my email box from friends and family aren't the things I see in letters my ancestors and their kin sent.  Silly jokes, and are you interested in breakfast/lunch/dinner/happy hour?

About the only thing that gets sent via email that got sent via letter, is the enclosed photograph.  (And of course, the technology of the internet is making this easier, so more photographs are being sent -- and likely being preserved -- via email than via post office in the past.)

If laying blame is important, it is most likely the fault of the telephone and free long distance.  Why write a letter to the relative who lives a few states away, or further, when you can pick up the phone and talk to them directly?  

2) Instead of being the cause, email is the cure.  Those letters are now easier to send. As long as the emails are preserved, but that's the way things were with the letters too.  Many letters weren't saved.  Many emails are being deleted.  Those who care about preserving their family history need to learn not to delete those emails, how to print them to pdf documents (and/or print them to their printer),  how to make backup copies.  These are new storage techniques that must be learned, but it's not like it can't be done.

While I may not agree with the "dark age crisis" mentality, I do agree with the suggestions.

To counteract the trend, Witcher encouraged people to write. "Write as you never have written before." This writing can be about memories, describing a family photograph or center on themes such as a family's rituals.

After something is written, Witcher said to share it with others. Otherwise, he said "many of those precious pieces of living history go into landfills."

As I said above, it's always been this way.  If our family history wasn't written about, it got lost.  If it wasn't shared, it got lost.  This isn't a new trend.  What did Joe the Caveman think, feel?  We don't know.  It wasn't written down.  I have boxes of letters my maternal grandparents preserved.  Very few from or to my paternal grandparents.  I doubt they didn't receive the same amount of letters.  They just didn't preserve them as well.

What's new is it's actually now easier to write and share.  So, yes.  Let's do it.

Have you heard about my Amanuensis Monday project?  Combined with the popular "Sentimental Sunday" and "Memory Monday" memes, there is a lot of weekly preservation going on in the geneablogger community.

What Do You Do with Conflicting Evidence

This entry has been percolating in my mind for a few weeks. In the first episode of Who Do You Think They Are viewers were shown that it is possible to find conflicting evidence. That historical documents aren't always correct.

Sarah Jessica Parker's ancestor, John Hodge, is mentioned in an obituary of his son as having died in 1849 enroute to California. But he appears in the 1850 California Census. Further research showed that he died in California in a gold-mining accident. Probably in the years between his death and his son's death "dying in California searching for gold" became "dying enroute to California." It's not unusual for family stories to be less than 100% accurate.

I wonder if some viewers jumped to the conclusion that the census was obviously the correct document, as it was more reliable than an obituary written years later. On the contrary, it was equally possible for the result of the research to be the opposite.

It was possible that the individual listed in the 1850 census and the individual listed in the Ohio obituary were the same, but the obituary was correct that he had died enroute to California.

At first glance this might seem an impossibility; If he died enroute, how could he end up in the census? But if there was someone in California waiting for him to arrive, a business partner perhaps, who didn't know he was dead, they could have mentioned his name to the census taker. Sure, they weren't supposed to do that. But maybe they figured that he was going to show up any day, and he ought to be counted.

Incorrect information on the census isn't uncommon. And it's not always the fault of the census taker. Lots of people lie. And others don't know the truth. I came across one census that listed children who had been dead for a decade. I have no clue who answered the door and provided this misinformation, or why. (But since the only census these two children should have appeared on was the 1890 census, which was destroyed, it is kind of nice, albeit morbid, that they appeared on the 1900 census too.)

Vital Records, even though they are usually considered "Primary Records," also have errors on them. The birth certificate of my great uncle, Allen Deutsch, gives his name as 'Adolph' - and no certificate of correction was ever filed. Family agrees his birth name wasn't "Allen," but say it was Abraham, after his grandfather. While there was certainly reason for the 'family story' to change post-1939, he was born in 1914, and there is no record of the name 'Adolph' being used in the early years. Abraham appears on the 1920 census, and Albert appears on the 1930 census, suggesting the migration to "Allen" had begun.


There are other errors on the document. It says Allen was the 7th child, but he was the 8th, as one had died in Europe. The document says both parents were born in Varmezo. This matches his father's military documents. However, it's known his mother came from the village of Margitta.

Birth Affidavits (filled out when birth certificates were unavailable) also can be unreliable for obvious reasons. Either the individual didn't know the truth, or intentionally provided incorrect information. While I would like to find evidence to support the former, with respect to my maternal grandmother's Birth Affidavit, I have difficulty believing she and her sister forgot what year she was born. Every census my grandmother appears in, including the 1945 Florida State Census, her age is correct. However, in October of 1945, she declared she was born five years later, and her older sister acted as witness. My best guess is my grandmother thought she might have to look for a job, and felt it would be easier if she were 40, rather than 45.

When conflicting evidence is discovered, there's no quick and easy Rock-Paper-Scissors (or even a Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock) method to figuring out which document is correct. Vital records don't always beat census reports, which don't always beat family lore. The only solution is further research, with the hope of uncovering more documentation that clarifies the situation.

May I ask you for a date?

Looking over the notes a cousin had made in her research on a 19th century date of death, I saw a Hebrew date (Adar 18) and civil date (Feb 18). It is very unusual that the calendars are in sync like that.

So I went to a calendar converter and discovered that Adar 18 that year was March 1. February 18 was Adar 6. Either way, one of the two dates recorded was off by 12 days.

My cousin doesn't usually make mistakes like this, and she was quoting the Lithuanian Archives as her source. I looked at the archival database on JewishGen, and the records matched. So maybe someone else made the mistake in the transcription, and my cousin hadn't checked the dates like I had.

Further research indicated I was the one in error -- as I was using the wrong calendar converter.

The Gregorian Calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII, was decreed in 1582 by the Catholic Church, and since then has become so widely used by Catholic and non-Catholic countries alike, many people probably think it is universal. Or at least, while one might be aware of other calendars like the Hebrew, Islamic, or Mayan calendars -- if one sees a date that looks Gregorian, we assume it is Gregorian. This can be a mistake.

The civil calendar in use in Lithuania has changed over time. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was an early adopter of the Gregorian Calendar in 1586. However, in 1800, when Lithuania was annexed by Russia, there was a return to the Julian calendar. The Russian revolution of 1917 reinstated the Gregorian Calendar. [Source (linked above): Wikipedia entry on Lithuanian Calendar]

A side effect of this history is that dates on Lithuanian documents, such as vital records, between 1800 and 1917 are likely on the Julian calendar.

Once you know what calendar you're dealing with, converting from Julian to Gregorian is easy. Depending upon what century the date occurs in, you add a specific number of days.

16th and 17th centuries - 10 days
18th century - 11 days
19th century - 12 days
20th and 21st century - 13 days

For those who like mathematical formulas:
For the Nth century, add [[3*N/4]] - 2 days (where [[ X ]] truncates the integer.)

The question I don't have the answer to is how to record it in my database. I lean towards using the Gregorian date, since other dates in the database are Gregorian; Indicating in the notes that the Julian date is what appeared on the document. I am already converting Hebrew dates I find on tombstones to the Gregorian date for my records, and this is really no different.

Accuracy of Census Information

It bears repeating - the information on the census isn't always correct. One common source for inaccuracies is when the census taker didn't find the family at home, and not wanting to have to come back on a different day, asked a neighbor for the information.

But even when the census taker found an adult member of the household, that individual could still provide inaccurate information. One strange example:

Below is a screen snapshot of the 1900 census record for my great grandfather, Melvin (M.E) Van Every, and his family. (Caldwell County, Texas, Justice Precinct 1, District 116, page 23)

Even those who don't know the family are likely to question whether Abigail is really a son. It's not too uncommon, however, for individuals to undergo a gender change on the census. That's not what this is about.

Reading the 1900 census: Melvin and Margaret had seven children ranging in age from 15 to 3 months: Minnie, Samuel, Abigail, Willa, Delbert, Eva and Myrtle.

Here's the list of children from the Van Every Family Record (which I believe came from the family Bible).

Abigail lived for two weeks in 1888, and Delbert was either stillborn, or died within 24 hours in 1890.

When the census taker asked my great grandmother or great grandfather to name their children...why would they name Abigail and Delbert as well? (They didn't name their son, Melvin Theodore, who had died in 1899.)

My first thought was that it had to have been one of them, as no neighbor would have known the months and years of birth for the children - which all match the Family Record perfectly. Then I realized -- if a child (or anyone else) answered the door, they could have retrieved the Bible for the information. Even assuming it was one of the older children, it's still a little strange that they would have given the census taker the information for two out of three of their deceased siblings.

[It should be noted that I am not relying completely on the Family Record, as Melvin did not list either Abigail or Delbert as children in his testimony in front of the Dawes Commission in November of 1900, five months after the census.]

Amanuensis Monday: A marriage in 90 lines

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

My maternal grandmother was married three times. The first in 1919 lasted briefly, and I know little about the husband beyond his first name. The second lasted about ten days shy of three months in 1927. I know a lot of details about those three months - from 90 lines in the divorce complaint filed by her husband.

The short of it is my grandmother wasn't ready for marriage yet, and it didn't take her long to figure that out. (She kept a copy of the complaint in a box with other mementos - I would never have known to check California court records for any marriages or divorces.)

---

1 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, IN AND FOR
2 THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
3
4 DALE B. RIDGELY,
5 Plaintiff
6 VS.
7 MYRTLE E. RIDGELY,
8 Defendant )
9
10 Plaintiff complains of defendant and for cause of action
11 alleges:

12 I

13 That plaintiff and defendant were intermarried at
14 Oakland, California, on the 30th day of April, 1927.

15 II

16 That plaintiff has been a resident of the State of
17 California for more than one year and of the City and County of
18 San Francisco, in said state, for more than three months next
19 preceding the commencement of this action.

20 III

21 That plaintiff and defendant separated on or about the
22 19th day of July, 1927; that the length of time from marriage
23 to separation was about two months and twenty days.

24 IV

25 That there are no minor children the issue of said mar-
26 riage; that there is no community property belonging to plaintiff
27 and defendant.

28 V

29 That since the said marriage and prior to the commence
30 ment of this action, defendant has treated plaintiff in a most

Page 2

1 cruel and inhuman manner, and more particularly as follows, to
2 wit:

3 That on or about the first day of July, 1927, while
4 Plaintiff and defendant were at their home in San Francisco,
5 California, and entertaining company, the defendant, without
6 cause or provocation on the part of plaintiff or any other per-
7 son, became angry, left plaintiff and their company, retired
8 to her room and went to bed, without bidding their said com-
9 pany good night.

10 That during the month of May, 1927, defendant
11 left plaintiff and stated that she was going to Kansas City
12 to visit her brother who, she claimed, was sick at that time,
13 and was gone for the period of about one month, that for more
14 than three weeks of said time she did not write to plaintiff but
15 once, and not until after he had telegraphed to her to ascertain
16 the cause of her silence.

17 That after defendant returned to their said home in San
18 Francisco, defendant assumed an entirely different attitude
19 toward plaintiff, their home and affairs, and seemingly took
20 no interest in plaintiff or their said home whatever, and on
21 many and various occasions expressed, by words and deeds, her
22 dissatisfaction with plaintiff and her married life in general,
23 continually alluding to what she would or would not have her
24 next husband do, ridiculing plaintiff in everything he did, and
25 continually threatening to leave plaintiff.

26 That on or about the 8th day of June 1927, while
27 plaintiff and defendant were visiting mutual friends in San
28 Francisco, their hostess absented herself from the room for a
29 short period of time, and while she was gone, defendant insisted
30 on putting on her coat to start home, without waiting for the

Page 3

1 return of her hostess.

2 That on or about the 19th day of July, 1927, upon plain-
3 tiff's return to their said home, plaintiff found a note written
4 by defendant, stating that while she was in Kansas City she did
5 not want to return, but was prevailed upon to do so by her broth-
6 er, and stating that she was going to leave, and that she knew he
7 felt something lacking in her, that she was not cut out for
8 married life, and that she was gong to go to El Paso, Texas.

9 That the following day and on or about the 20th of July,
10 1927, plaintiff received another letter written by defendant,
11 stating that it seemed to her a force stronger than herself com-
12 pelled her on, and that she did not know why she could not be
13 like other people.

14 That all the acts and things herein complained of have
15 and do cause plaintiff great and grievous mental suffering,
16 and humiliation.

17 WHEREFORE, plaintiff prays judgment that the bonds of
18 matrimony heretofore and now existing between plaintiff and de-
19 fendant be forever dissolved.

20 JAMES E. COLSTON
21 Attorney for Plaintiff
22 STATE OT CALIFORNIA)
CITY AND COUNTY OF : SS.
23 SAN FRANCISCO )

24 DALE B. RIDGELY, being duly sworn, deposes and says: That
25 he is the plaintiff in the above entitled action; that he has
26 read the foregoing complaint and knows the contents thereof, and
27 that the same is true of his own knowledge, except as to matters
28 herein stated upon information and belief, and that as to those
29 matters he believes it to he true.

DALE B. RIDGELY

30 Subscribed and sworn to before me
this 12th day of August, 1927.

L.A. MURASKY, Court Commissioner
of the City and County of San Francisco,
State of California.

---

Some of the legalese is interesting, such as the term 'intermarried'. Marriage is usually 'between' people, so it seems a bit redundant.

Naturally, I am somewhat happy about the marriage not lasting, as it allowed my grandmother to return to St. Louis and meet my grandfather several years later.

---

If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, feel free to add a link to your post below, or in the comments.

Birth Announcements

I have found several creative birth announcements in my grandparents' collections, and below is one of my favorites, with the identifying information carefully edited out to protect the innocent.



The final pun-ch line elicits a serious groan every time I read it.

Edited information

On the front of the index card announcement there was the child's name. (The name within the quotes was the same as the middle name, indicating the parents from day one intended to call the child by their middle name. A Google search indicates that their wishes held, and the child still uses their middle name.) At the bottom were the names of both parents - using the mother's maiden name.

On the back of the announcement the name appeared again, with the birth date. Both child and mother were new records in my database, so the announcement proved helpful in addition to providing some laughter.

The political references narrow down the time period, but I decided to remove the exact year as an additional precaution, as this individual is still relatively young.

Rate of Exchange

A year ago I wrote a summary of what I had spent retrieving documents.

One section was devoted to the UK General Register Office, from whom I had obtained several birth certificates and a marriage certificate. Each certificate cost 7 pounds, and last year the rate of exchange was 2 dollars = 1 pound, so that was $14 apiece.

The rate of exchange is back down to $1.50 per pound. Most of this drop has occurred within the past 90 days.

So now could be a good time to make purchases from the GRO and UK National Archives.

Texas Death Records at Family Search Redux

Two months ago I wrote about finding a few Texas death records at FamilySearch's new record search. In particular, Everett Van Every's, a first cousin to my mother who died at age 17. I had begun to question the family story that my grandmother's brother had had a child, but it turned out his marriage had been brief, and the child had remained with the mother, which is why Uncle Sam was single on all the censuses.

The death records at FamilySearch didn't have the images associated with them. I emailed FamilySearch and their response was a reminder they were in pilot stage, they would enter beta testing later in the year, and then even later fully release the project. I wasn't upset by the response, and completely understood. (I expected them to direct me to the LDS microfilm available at FamilyHistory sites, actually, which they didn't, though I suspect most if not all of the records they are scanning in and indexing are available that way.)

Realizing I could be waiting awhile for the images, I searched for other sources. I found someone at RAOGK willing to look up and copy Everett's death certificate, as well as one for my great Aunt Minnie. I paid them a minimal copying fee. (I asked them to look for the death certificate for another great-aunt, Willa, who died in 1916, but they were unable to find her in the state archives.)

I noticed a couple weeks ago that the Texas death records at FamilySearch now have images. If it had taken 6 months I'd have been fine with my impatience, but 6 weeks I feel a little silly. Still, I didn't spend much.

Everett did drown, as family records had indicated, and the death certificate names the creek (Barton Creek near Austin, which appears to be a popular local swimming area.)

I have a lot of relatives in the FamilySearch database, and have spent some time looking at various certificates I wouldn't likely have actively pursued.

George William Foster was the son of Sarah Ann Hartley and George Foster. Sarah was my second great grandmother, through her prior marriage to Ebenezer Denyer. The informant on George William's death certificate was Sarah Ann McCarty. I knew from some Rootsweb forum posts he had a sister named Sarah Ann, so I suspected this was her. I found Sarah Ann McCarty's death certificate easily, and it says she was born in 1887 to George Foster and Sallie Unknown.

I then wondered if the informant didn't know Sarah McCarty was named after her mother, and got the name wrong, or whether my great great grandmother had died and this was a new wife for George.

I'm pretty certain it's the former. It would mean that Sarah Hartley, who according to the 1860-1880 censuses was born about 1836, would have been 51 years old when her last child was born. However, while unusual, that's not impossible. My Aunt Minnie wrote about her grandmother Sarah as someone she remembered, and Minnie was born in 1884. Sarah had to have lived at least until the early 1890s for Minnie to have her recollections.

My only complaint with the database is a complaint I have with Texas history. They apparently started requiring death certificates in 1903, which is actually seven years earlier than Missouri, but they weren't completely successful at enforcing this until the 1930s. I'm not sure if the index at FamilySearch is 'complete', but they indicate that most deaths between 1890-1903 were not recorded, as well as many deaths between 1903 and 1930.

The death certificate for Aunt Willa who died in 1916 might not exist. However, I and my mother have recently made contact via letters and email with some of her cousins in Texas and California, and I am sure they will have more information on Aunt Willa, cousin Everett, and perhaps they may even know when and where Sarah Hartley died.

Ancestry's Newspaper Archives

The Genealogue mentions that Ancestry has doubled the size of its Newspaper Archives. (and access to the newspapers is free until June 19th)

I checked it out and found this article in The Galveston Daily News, November 29, 1914



Is M.E. Vanevery, Melvin Elijah Van Every, my great grandfather? Berclair, Texas is only about 100 miles south of San Marcos, and 160 miles south of Caldwell, where I know Melvin and his family had farms between 1900-1920. Beekeeper (aka Apiarist) was his primary profession. I don't know how long it lasted, but I think he had a creamery as well. (The business didn't last more than five years, as I know the family was in El Paso by 1920, which is 650 miles from Berclair. All distances computed by Google Maps)

Several of the images I tried to access in the database are broken; I suspect this is only temporary. I had particular lack of success viewing any of the ones from the El Paso Herald-Post, for the Benold surname. There are several, including what I expect is my Aunt Minnie's obituary, and I'm curious to see if it matches the one I retrieved through RAOGK a month or so ago.

My search on my own surname in Missouri didn't turn up much - though I did find an article in a Jefferson City, MO newspaper about (I think) a first-cousin of my father's who was active in McCarthy's presidential campaign in 1968. When I searched in Illinois, though, I did find several articles on a first cousin of my grandfather, who lived in Chester, Illinois. Including an obituary for his wife's mother, and an engagement announcement for his daughter. (I also found some articles on a Ben Newmark who was involved in the Al Capone trial. I have no idea if I'm related to him.)

Since newspaper archives aren't indexed, per se, but the searches are based on OCR (Optical Character Recognition) I usually have difficulty searching on my surname alone, because I get a lot of articles about athletes setting a "new mark." About half the hits are surnames, and the other half sports articles. It is impossible for me to search on the surname Denyer, because anything of interest is buried in stories about Denver, CO. There's not much that can be done about either of these because if the software requires an exact match, with the low-quality of some of the scans of fading newspapers, lots of articles will be missed.

Good Intentions

Declarations of Intent to become a citizen are a good source of genealogical information, if your ancestor went through the process after Sept 26, 1906.

Before that date, the Declaration of Intent looked something like this, and contained the following information: Name, age, country of origin, date of declaration, and signature.

The St. Louis Genealogical Society has a database for the pre-1906 naturalizations conducted in St. Louis, providing one with the court, volume and page number, along with several locations the naturalizations can be found.

Most of my ancestors went through the process prior to 1906. The two exceptions were the Newmarks and the Deutsches.

The Deutsches would have gone through the process in Chicago courts. I already have my grandfather's copy of his Application for Citizenship, which contains even more information, as well as his birth certificate from Varalmas, Hungary, so there isn't much information I would find on his or his father's Declaration of Intent I don't already know. The one exception would be his father's birthplace, which could have been a different town than his children's.

The Newmarks went through the process in St. Louis courts, so their declarations are easier for me to obtain, being on microfilm at my local library. I'm kind of surprised I waited this long to retrieve them since I've been to the library so often, but I've been busy with other records.

The St. Louis County Library website has the post-1906 naturalizations in St. Louis indexed by volume number. If you don't know the year to look in, you can search the entire site using the search box at the top of the page. The index provides the specific court, declaration number, volume, page, and both the library's and LDS microfilm number.

This is what the post--1906 naturalizations look like. (Click to enlarge) It is my second great-grandfather's Samuel Newmark. It contains:

Name, Age, profession, physical description (eyes, hair, complexion, height, weight), place of birth (city, country), birthdate, last foreign residence,
current address, port of departure and arrival for immigration, name of vessel, date of arrival, and signature. (Or a mark, and the signature of whoever witnessed the mark. In the case of my great-great-grandfather, one of his sons.)

This is much more useful to the genealogist than the pre-1906 forms. After 1916, two more pieces of information were added: Name of wife, and the country where the wife was born.

New information for me included his date of birth (Oct 2, 1863). His tombstone had said 1862, with no month or day. His town of birth was also new information: Wurka, Poland. A search at JewishGen led me to Warka, which is part of the Warsaw province. Most of his children put down Warsaw for their birthplace, and that is what had been passed down, though I suspected they hadn't actually been from the city, but one of the rural towns nearby.

My great grandfather's declaration of intent was also fun to look at. As I've mentioned before, Barney claimed to be from Dublin and to have been born on March 17th. This made a lot of business sense in a town filled with Irish immigrants, and he could explain his accent by mentioning he spent 14 years in England. The suggestion one commenter made awhile back that my great-grandfather may have gotten the idea for his 'born in Dublin, Ireland' fib from Deblin, Poland is getting more interesting. If you look at the map on the first link in this paragraph, you will see Warka, Poland is half way between Warsaw and Deblin.

His 'born on March 17th' fib is also looking less like a fib. Barney definitely did say April 14th for his draft registration, and that's the date that his wife gave for the death certificate. However, his family celebrated his birthday on March 17th, and on his declaration of intent in 1910 he said he was born on March 25th. 8 days after March 17th. This could be significant since in Jewish tradition, 8 days after birth is when a young boy is welcomed into the Covenant with G-d.

Perhaps there was some confusion at some point - maybe due to the need to convert from the Hebrew calendar to the Gregorian - and Barney's birthday was computed using the wrong Hebrew date. And later this was discovered. This explanation might not be extremely likely, but still a possible defense of his claim. Still, the earliest document now found puts his date of birth in March, not April.

Another interesting discovery is that Samuel's youngest son, Israel David, declared his intent in 1922, at age 19. But I don't know why he needed to. Minor children automatically naturalize with their parents, and Israel would have been 7 years old in 1910 when Samuel began the process. I don't know the date Samuel actually became a citizen, but the process wouldn't have taken long enough.

For access to Naturalization records from other courts, if you can't find the records locally, FOIA requests can be filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

With Apologies to Uncle Sam

Sam was the brother of my grandmother, Myrtle Van Every Deutsch. We (me, my mother, and her sister) didn't know too much about him. Family notes passed down said he was an optometrist who married a woman named Esther Dahlin, had a son named Everett who drowned at age 17, and Sam died in Kansas City, MO from a flu epidemic.

That was the extent of knowledge with no documentation to back it up when I began my research a year ago.

I found him in the census records easily enough. In 1910, he was living in a lodging house, a streetcar conductor in San Francisco. No dependents. In 1920 he was a Route Agent for a newspaper, still a single lodger with no dependents, but now living in Oakland. No question it was him, as the middle initial matched, and the birth place for himself (Texas) and his parents (Texas and Michigan) were correct. In 1930 he was finally an optometrist in Kansas City with a wife named Myrtle. The census said she was his first wife, and they were married in 1927. With my grandmother's given name, I was suspicious, but the birthplaces of this Myrtle, and her parents, did not match my grandmother's data.

Samuel's 1933 death certificate, with my grandmother as the informant (certificate listed her St. Louis address), lists him as a widower. The cause of death: cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcoholism. I could find no record of death for Sam's mysterious wife named Myrtle, and all the Missouri death certificates up through 1957 are online. (Kansas City is on the border, and it is conceivable she could have died in Kansas.)

My suspicion then, and still is, that the Myrtle on the census was made up. The census taker asked Sam if he was married, and he decided to say Yes, and gave him the name of his sister, along with some random states for place of birth for her and her parents. Maybe he'd been drinking when he answered the door.

However, once I believed that he made up a story on the 1930 census, I began asking myself about the other censuses. He was supposed to have had a son who died at age 17. You can't get married, have a child, and have that child live 17 years, within the span of a decade. On the 1910 and 1920 censuses he was single, no dependents. (In the 1900 census he was still living with his parents in Texas.)

The rest of his family (except my grandmother) remained in Texas, and later, his father moved to New Mexico. His father states in a letter to my grandmother, that the letters from Samuel were few and far between. Did the rest of the family know about his wife Esther and son Everett through his letters? While the tragic loss of a son could understandably propel someone to alcohol problems, I began to question the existence of his wife and child.

Searches on the name Esther Dahlin brought up some possibilities, but no marriage records. Searches on Esther Van Every brought up nothing. There were two Everett Van Everys on Ancestry, but with different parents.

The absence of records isn't proof that the records don't exist, and I knew that my searches so far didn't meet the definition of reasonably exhaustive that professional genealogists use. GeneaBlogie mentioned today that there were some new Texas Death Records at FamilySearch Labs. With so many of my maternal grandmother's family spending the past 100 years in Texas, I had to see if they had anything I hadn't found yet elsewhere. (On my father's side there are also some distant Cruvant cousins who moved to Texas from St. Louis, but I wasn't thinking of them when I went to FamilySearch.) I found about a dozen Van Everys and Denyers, including:

Name : Everett Van Every
Death date : 01 Apr 1924
Death place : Austin, Travis, Texas
Birth date : 01 Aug 1908 ¹
Birth place : Texas
Age at death : 17 years
Gender : Male
Marital status : Single
Race or color : White
Spouse name :
Father name : S. Van Every
Mother name : Esther Daklin
Digital GS number : 4167165
Image number : 238
Collection : Texas Deaths, 1890-1976

Of course, this raised some more questions. What was Samuel doing in San Francisco and Oakland in 1910 and 1920? He also shows up for the first time in the St. Louis city directories in 1922, two years prior to Everett's death in Austin.

Some research turned up the Dahlin family living in Austin, Travis TX in 1910. Parents Andrew and Lonie,² a daughter named Alma, another daughter named "Van Every" (no first name, but it's probably Esther). And young Everet Varleny. (Darn indexer.) I should have seen this record before, but there are enough Van Everys that I don't look at the record of each I find in a search. I'm usually looking for specific given names. I haven't found Esther and Everett in 1920 yet. But it appears shortly after Everett was born, something happened in the relationship between Esther and Samuel, and Esther kept the child. I'm going to try to find young Everett's obituary.

And I apologize to Uncle Sam for thinking his wife and child could be fictional.

Notes
1) I've written down that Everett was born in 1906. Sixes that look like eights aren't uncommon, and Aug 1908 - Apr 1924 is only 15 years.
2) The actual spelling of Esther's parents names seem to be Andrew and Lovisa. There's a very nice paragraph on Andrew and Lovisa from a 1918 book entitled "Swedes in Texas", along with a photograph.

New Mexico Death Certificates Redux

The microfilm I ordered from the Family History Library, which was supposed to contain the death certificate for my great grandfather, Melvin Van Every, came in at the library, so I looked through it. There were no death certificates from Dona Ana County. The film was labeled "Bernalillo - Grant Counties 1929." Dona Ana could have been misplaced in one of the other two rolls for 1929, but at $6/roll I didn't like the prospect of ordering the two other rolls and possibly discovering they completely failed to film Dona Ana for that year.

However, GeneaBlogie recently had a post on various states and their openness of records. And he stated that despite the New Mexico State website, the state has a statute that says records may be made available 50 years after death. (Which makes sense...since the Family History Library obviously got access to them.)

So I did some more searching and found myself back at the NMGenWeb website. I'm not sure how I missed it last time I was there, but the volunteers at the Death Index offer to obtain photocopies of any death certificate listed in their index (which currently spans 1899-1949). $1 for the first certificate, 50 cents for each additional, profits going towards expanding the index.

They're actually going to get $2 from me, as I will order the certificate for William Thetford, who I believe was the father of Melvin's second wife, Josie Thetford. There's also a "Jessie Thetford" who died in 1938, which I don't think is Josie, since if the 1930 census is correct, the age is about 8 years off, but we could have transcription or other errors either in the census or the death index, so it's certainly worth 50 cents.

New at Ancestry

There were a few items new at Ancestry this week for the state of Missouri that caught my attention.

Missouri Still Birth and Miscellaneous Records.

This database contains various miscellaneous records from Missouri from 1805-2002. These records were mixed in with birth, marriage, and death records located on microfilm from the Missouri State Archives. Examples of types of miscellaneous records presented here include: still birth records, school censuses, board of education minute books, receipts, and probate records.

It's organized only by county name, and unindexed, so when I feel bored I can browse through the 72,000 pages for St. Louis. (not likely)

Missouri Death Records (1834-1931)

These records come from the Missouri State Archives, but there are some pre-1910 records here that aren't at the state's Missouri Digital Heritage site. I suspect everything from 1910-1931 in this database can be found in the state's death certificate database.

Missouri Marriage Records 1805-2002

I was all prepared to discover that like the Missouri Birth Records they uploaded a few weeks ago, there were less than a dozen entries in the last thirty years or so of this database. But I was wrongly prepared. This is a conglomeration of marriage license applications, marriage licenses, and marriage indexes.

While some counties have the actual licenses, with the date the marriage was solemnized, it seems St. Louis has only the applications, through 1959. The Ancestry index lists the application date as the date of marriage, which of course is wrong. There's no evidence the marriage happened, just that it was planned, and it almost certainly happened on a different date.

After 1959 some marriages are indexed, but the only information you get is names, date, and the book and volume number, or certificate number. Of course, this could be more than you already knew, and you can use this information to order the certificate from the county clerk. I don't know what fraction of the marriage indexes they have scanned, but it's certainly not complete, for example there were only 24 marriages indexed for all of 1960 in St. Louis.

I did find the applications for several family marriages, and one or two licenses for family members who were living in neighboring counties. Only one surprise. There is a marriage license (without a date of marriage) for a distant Cruvand cousin who prior research indicated never married. Of course, he might not have. This application also happens to have a parental consent signature for a minor female. So there could be a story there.

New Mexico Death Certificates

For awhile I assumed my great-grandfather, Melvin Van Every, died in Texas. Then I was reading something his daughter, Minnie, wrote, and realized he had moved to New Mexico after my great grandmother died, and he remarried.

I found him at the New Mexico Death Index project (1899-1949) (Note: this is a USGenWeb project currently hosted on Rootsweb. It could move due to recent consolidation of the Ancestry and Rootsweb domains.)

So then I went to the New Mexico government site to look up how to retrieve death certificates.

New Mexico Vital Records are restricted access records and are only issued to immediate family members or individuals who demonstrate tangible legal interest.

They define immediate family as: "mother, father, maternal grandparent, paternal grandparent (if father listed on record), sibling, child or current spouse." None of these are still alive. If they had included grandchild, I would have had my mother submit the request, which she would have gladly done. I wasn't very happy with the New Mexico government.

Now I am only unhappy with whoever is responsible for their web page. It would be really nice if they mentioned that some death certificates from 1889-1945 are available on microfilm from the Family History Library. Which I can order at the local library I frequent.

Jackson County Marriages

Jackson County Missouri Marriage Index/Certificates

Jackson County is home to Kansas City, MO. This marriage index is completely up-to-date. (I have found marriages dated March 1, 2008 in it). You can also download a PDF or Tiff - your choice - of even the most recent certificates. (I downloaded one from May of 2006)

Texas Vital Records on Footnote

Since I have a 3-day free trial, my goal was to find everything I could possibly find on Footnote, and then cancel my subscription before they start charging. They are adding databases constantly, though at the moment I don't see enough hits for my surnames to warrant continuing my subscription. They also offer individual image download, though if there are more than four images, it's worth buying a month's subscription.

The two databases that show the most promise for me are in the process of being entered.

1) Texas Birth Certificates (1903-1910, 1926-1929)

I'm not sure why the years between 1910 and 1926 aren't part of the database. They are 47% finished. However, I have already found a few certificates for relatives of Myrtle Van Every, my maternal grandmother, who was born in Texas in 1900.

Her oldest sister, Minnie Van Every Benold, had two children between 1903-1910 (Shirley and Margaret). I found Shirley's certificate, as well as the certificate for Corinne Griffith, Shirley's daughter, born in 1927. I also found the certificate for Melvin Edwin Denyer Jr, who would have been Ebenezer's great-grandson. His father was Myrtle's first cousin.

2) Texas Death Certificates (1890-1976)

This is only 4% entered, but there are going to be a lot of certificates from this database that I know I will download. At least five of my grandmother's siblings, and both of her parents, for starters. And then there are nieces and nephews. I'll just wait until they're all there, and then buy a month. Though if there's a delay, there is one or two I might spend $2 to download individually.

I already have Myrtle's mother's death certificate. I ordered it because I knew she died in her fifties, and I wanted to know what from. I don't have her father's though.

There's also a very good chance that Margaret's mother, Ebenezer Denyer's wife, Sarah Hartley Denyer Foster will be in this database. It is she who I mentioned in November that declared she was 1/8 Native American. After Ebenezer died in 1872, she remarried in 1874, but alas, chose a husband with a very common surname. I was able to find Sarah and George Foster in the 1880 census, but not conclusively in the 1900 census. (There's a Sarah Ann Foster listed as a widow who might possibly be her, but there's no way to know for certain from the census alone.)

Myrtle's oldest sister, Minnie, was born in 1884, and she wrote a brief description of Sarah, and her recollection of the home Sarah and George lived in. She didn't write down years, or her own age, but I suspect she was older than 6 when Sarah died.

Of course, how much information is on the certificate, and whether it will be identifiable as my great-great-grandmother will depend upon the informant.

Year in Review - Documents

The month of December is one of reflection and as part of the final days, and as an extension of my thoughts back in October, I have considered what I have spent on documents over the past 9 months, and what I have learned. (I started my research back in April)

UK General Register Office
1 Marriage Certificate
4 Birth Certificates
Total: $72 (The cost is 7 pounds with a small shipping charge. If the rate of exchange improves from the current 2-1 the $US cost will decrease.)

The certificates give a snapshot of where the Newmark family was on each date, and the earlier certificates show my great-great-grandfather’s progression from Journeyman Tailor to Master Tailor. I learned the dates of birth for the youngest three of my great-grandfather’s siblings – the ones not born in Poland. There was a sibling, who went by the name Max, who could have been born in either location. The given name, Morris, on the fourth certificate was pretty close, so I had to order it to see the parents’ names. I now have a certificate for a likely non-relative, but if it had turned out to be Max, it would have been worth it. The most important thing I learned from the birth certificates was my great-great-grandmother’s maiden name, or at least I now have a fair sense of how it was likely pronounced, even if I don’t know its proper spelling. Since we had her in our records as Rose Garten, with no supporting documents, and now she is Rose Cantkert, with some supporting documentation, I consider that major progress. I also like what I learned about London’s Great Synagogue as a result of the research I did from the marriage certificate. The couple had four children in London between 1902 and 1909, but neither parents nor children are direct ancestors, so I am going to see if I can convince some of my cousins to order the certificates.

UK National Archives
1 will - $7 (3.5 pounds)

The will was for a William Denyer of Hampshire - d. 1732. I have traced my ancestry back to a William Denyer of Hampshire born in 1770. How the two connect, if the two connect is unknown.

State of Missouri

Thanks to Missouri scanning in death certificates, I downloaded about a dozen for free, learning dates, addresses, burial locations, and more.

St. Louis City, Missouri
1 marriage license & application for license - $3

So far this is the only certificate I had to get up off my posterior to get. (Without counting the activity it takes to mail a letter.) I could have paid the county clerk to do the research, but walking into the courthouse and just paying the cost of the copy made more sense. The one inconvenience is that the office hours are 8-5 Monday to Friday. So I actually took a vacation day to do this. I had hoped to find two marriage certificates, and several birth certificates. However, I learned the birth records are all in Jefferson City, and one set of paternal great-grandparents, Barney Newmark and Bertha Cruvant, were married elsewhere. Probably in St. Louis County or St. Clair, IL. (St. Louis City is a separate county from the neighboring St. Louis County, and East St. Louis, IL, is in St. Clair County, which can confuse some researchers.) I retrieved the marriage certificate of my great-grandparents Herman Feinstein and Annie Blatt. The most interesting thing perhaps learned was the name of the Rabbi who married them, and thus possibly the congregation to which at least one of them belonged. Unfortunately, the congregation disbanded in the 1940s, and its records have been lost.

State of Texas
1 Death Certificate - $20

I learned the date, burial location, and cause of death for Margaret Denyer Van Every, my maternal great-grandmother. I later discovered an aunt had taken photographs of two Margaret Van Every tombstones on a trip she made to visit relatives in Texas several years ago. She hadn’t been sure who was who, but I was able to match up the dates. The other was a step-mother-in-law. (my most prolific ancestor's third wife)

Gonzales County Texas
1 Marriage Certificate - $1

I learned the date of marriage (May 14, 1854) for great-great grandparents Ebenezer Denyer and Sarah Ann Hartley. (The date of marriage is actually online at the Gonzales County website, so I didn’t really learn it from the certificate, but I have the documentation to back it up, and it was only $1.) It’s not a great photocopy. I’d be willing to pay more for a better reproduction, but it’s not exactly common that county records go that far back, so that I have anything is a miracle.

US Govt
1 SS-5 - $27

I learned a little about my great-grandfather, Herman Feinstein. However, I was hoping to find out where he was born. Both of his parents had died by 1936 when Social Security began, and all he knew was that he was born in Russia.

Total: $130 spent over a nine-month period. I feel it is worth the information I learned. I suspect the number of documents will ultimately go down, as there is a finite number of individuals I am currently interested in documenting, but the cost may go up if I start looking for the Polish and Russian records.