Genealogy research

[jenlyon60]

I'd be interested to see what the 1900 census says... this particular census year lists the month and year of birth for every individual. This is the only census so far that gives that much information about age, and it's super helpful, because as it's been noted, just giving an age leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Wish the other censuses had those columns.

April 1840 is what the 1900 census says. Which jives with the age given in the 1910 census assuming that the birth month is correct (which implies he was born in the last half of 1840, since the "as of" for the 1900 census was June 1, and the "as of" for the 1910 census was April 15.

Of course, if I found the right individual in the 1880 census, that individual gave an age of 30 to the census takers (implying birth year of 1849-1850).

 

[Susan1]

Something interesting just popped into my head today about the grandfather that I can't find on any of the free genealogy sites - Murphy.

He worked at the Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop here in Dayton when he was a kid, like 12-14. Of course, I forget the details. Neat, huh?

 

[Susan1]

O.k. - so to all you college edumacated (ha) and world travelers, I am totally world-geographically challenged.

Luxembourg is a city in Germany, a city in Belgium and a country?

What the *&^% ????????

(Still popping around to free genealogy sites - and my relatives are from all three? Huh???????)

Can you say "obsessed", anyone?

 

[nerdycool]

I don't know about a city in Germany names Luxembourg, but there IS a province in Belgium named Luxembourg (but no city AFAIK). It's right on the border with the country of Luxembourg. Wikipedia says

The province was separated from the neighbouring Luxembourg by the Third Partition of Luxembourg in 1839, after the Belgian Revolution, and declared to remain a part of Belgium.

For the German connection, I know that it was occupied by Germany a few times during WWI & WWII. Could that be where you could be getting confused? Or going along with the Partitions of Luxembourg, the Second Partition included losing territory to Prussia (modern day Germany) in 1815.

 

[suep1963]

True story--not from my family searching. I was at a genealogy workshop, and the guy who was in charge was talking about how he was complaining to his wife about all the boring farmers he was finding in the family tree--why didn't they have any exciting relatives? Then he discovered that his great-grandmother's brother was Baby Face Nelson--as in the famous Chicago gangster. He said that was enough excitement for one family!

 

[barbk]

Language sometimes separates us, even when it is ostensibly the same language. I went nuts trying to understand how my great-grandmother could possibly have had her first child at age 15 AND been a teacher. After much more digging, I finally figured out that great-grandfather had been married earlier, had a couple of kids, and then his first wife died. Those kids were listed as children of his second wife on virtually every document and obituary I encountered, and even my uncle didn't know of the earlier marriage.

And when language REALLY separates us, it gets worse. My Canadian grandmother's family is documented in the Drouin church (Catholic) records, and names are changed willy-nilly as the priests vary from French to Irish, and the records are further scattered across a number of different parish registers because of itinerant priests who criss-corssed the river and then returned home to put the entry into their own parish register, far from where the baptism, burial, or marriage had taken place. And while I admire greatly the transcription effort involved when the records are written in wildly varying styles of penmanship, those efforts also lead to some incorrect transcriptions. All part of the chase.

 

[Susan1]

This thread got buried on the second page. Just wanted you all to know I am still plugging along. And, boy, was someone right about spelling. My mom's grandfather's name is spelled Louis, Lewis, Lukas and Lukes, depending on what US census you are in. We-ird. Imagine what his name will be when I track him to Germany before 1880.

And I got back to the 9th generation on my mom's dad's side.

Still no clue about the Murphy/Ireland side.

 

[jenlyon60]

This thread got buried on the second page. Just wanted you all to know I am still plugging along. And, boy, was someone right about spelling. My mom's grandfather's name is spelled Louis, Lewis, Lukas and Lukes, depending on what US census you are in. We-ird. Imagine what his name will be when I track him to Germany before 1880.

And I got back to the 9th generation on my mom's dad's side.

Still no clue about the Murphy/Ireland side.

any Germans out there feel free to correct me, but isn't Ludwig a Germanic equivalent to "Louis" or "Lewis"?

 

[smurfy]

I am anxiously waiting for my mail everyday. The town where most of my ancestors were from on all sides in the US has a great library and supposbly has obits going back a long way. I was able to search the database online and got 24 relatives names, including siblings or folks with names that look connected. I submitted the list and the librarian is pulling them for me and will mail. She was super nice on the phone, excited to be helping me. Even asked about some other relatives and said she would do additional search. I asked what the charge was and she said free, but suggested a donation. Hoping to get the info in the next week or so.

 

[barbk]

Librarians are the best. I've gotten tremendous assistance from librarians all over the country, which is particularly helpful when the material is not online. A small donation helps a lot -- even photocopying and mailing costs are a challenge given tight budgets. (And thanks as well to the many volunteers that help our local history branch do genealogical lookups for folks from out of the area.)

(And Ireland is the the worst. They made a decision to not share much information on-line -- you either have to go in-person or pay a professional researcher at one of the sanctioned research sites. Blech.)

 

[Cycliste]

any Germans out there feel free to correct me, but isn't Ludwig a Germanic equivalent to "Louis" or "Lewis"?

My German 2nd great grandfather is listed as Ludwig on his US naturalization record, then as Louis on later censuses. Actually in 1870 his name is spelled "Loueza", while his son is listed as Louis Jr. Go figure. Louis Jr became Lewis on later records.

 

[milanessa]

And I got back to the 9th generation on my mom's dad's side.

Wow, that was quick. You must've found the mother lode of all records. I have so little info (names, dates etc) about my family I doubt I could go back 4 generations with any accuracy.

 

[barbk]

I got back a bit further than that in about a week thanks to a really devoted genealogist on a long-lost wing of the family. She had her own webpage up, and every single source I was able to independently check matched up perfectly. I spent the week confirming and cross-checking, and when everything panned out, I declared that good enough for me on that particular wing. I tried to convince her that she ought to have an interest in one of my other grandparents (to whom she is not related) but she didn't bite. Too bad. I can really admire the folks who go on treks through Canada and France searching out original source records and then putting photocopies of them up on the web.

 

[Susan1]

any Germans out there feel free to correct me, but isn't Ludwig a Germanic equivalent to "Louis" or "Lewis"?

You're a genius. Thanks for putting that thought in my head. I found my great grandmother's cemetery (an "old German Catholic" cemetery in Cincinnati) record and guess who is listed as sharing her plot - hubby Ludwig, AKA - Louis/Lewis/ Lukas/Lukes!!! With the right approximate date of death. Woo-hoo. And I know he came from Germany in 1880 when he was 18. It doesn't look like his parents came here. Here's a puzzling thing - he didn't marry my great grandmother till 1899 when he was 37. Wonder what he was up to for 19 years in the U.S. before that! Could be another family somewhere?????? Sheesh! My cousin lives in Cincinnati. I'm trying to get her to do some legwork there.

 

[Susan1]

Wow, that was quick. You must've found the mother lode of all records. I have so little info (names, dates etc) about my family I doubt I could go back 4 generations with any accuracy.

Yeah, a very complete professional looking genealogy website. Am I allowed to post the link?
http://lucius.us/getperson.php?personID=I587&tree=Lucius
If not, and you want to see something really cool, just do a search on "Louis Lucius" (Yeah really, that was my great great grandfather's name). Pictures and everything.

However, I was looking at cemetery sites and the person (not the cemetery) who put it together had "my" Catherine from the Lucius website as "wife of" a different brother, with "my" Catherine's birth and death dates. Who's right? There's a picture of a headstone, but I can't tell what it says. I emailed the owner of the cemetery website. Haven't heard anything back.

 

[Susan1]

Librarians are the best. I've gotten tremendous assistance from librarians all over the country, which is particularly helpful when the material is not online. A small donation helps a lot -- even photocopying and mailing costs are a challenge given tight budgets. (And thanks as well to the many volunteers that help our local history branch do genealogical lookups for folks from out of the area.)

(And Ireland is the the worst. They made a decision to not share much information on-line -- you either have to go in-person or pay a professional researcher at one of the sanctioned research sites. Blech.)

I emailed the Dayton Montgomery County reference library asking about William J. Murphy. They forwarded it to the genealogy desk!!!!!! I just asked them if they could help me get started since I can't find ANYTHING online. Not even an obituary in 1958. And, geez, all these cemetery sites I've been going to, with lists and pictures? He's buried right here in Miamisburg in our church's private cemetery, and "they got nothin". I'm sure if I call the office (the cemetery doesn't have one, you have to call the church), they'll say they don't have the records anymore or something.

I've got some good trails to follow on my dad's mom's side though. I remembered my dad mentioning some of his Aunts from when I was a kid.

My brain is tired!

 

[suep1963]

- he didn't marry my great grandmother till 1899 when he was 37. Wonder what he was up to for 19 years in the U.S. before that! Could be another family somewhere?????? Sheesh! My cousin lives in Cincinnati. I'm trying to get her to do some legwork there.

Sometimes the men married when they were older because they waited until they had a certain amount of money before marriage. One set of my Mom's grandparents were engaged for something like 10 years because they waited until he had enough money to buy a farm before they got married.

 

[jenlyon60]

Sometimes the men married when they were older because they waited until they had a certain amount of money before marriage. One set of my Mom's grandparents were engaged for something like 10 years because they waited until he had enough money to buy a farm before they got married.

Of course then there's the family group within one of my lines. They got married AFTER having something like 7 or 8 kids. Basically lived together for all those years. It appears that they got married soon after she "found religion" based on part of the text of her obit.

 

[Moto Guzzi]

My sister is the genealogist of our family. We are lucky that extensive records are available on certain ancestors. We can trace a direct line to an ancestor who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror. With my maternal grandfather, though, we can trace only to his parents in Ireland. The earlier records of his branch of the family were destroyed in a church fire in the 1880s.

My paternal grandmother gave us a newspaper clipping with the headline "Tragic Death" that described a great great uncle's death after "accidentally" drinking a bottle of carbolic acid. According to my grandmother, he had a drinking problem and his wife refused to let him have alcohol in the house. He would pour it into various types of bottles and hide it in the house or the outbuildings. One night after polishing off the contents of one of his bottles, he pulled out a bottle of carbolic acid, thinking it was another part of his hidden alcohol stash. Unfortunately for him, it really was carbolic acid and that was the end of him.

 

[TOADS]

Genealogies are fascinating.

Both my Father and Grandfather did a lot of digging. My Grandfather published the complete genealogy of our family beginning with my ancestiors landing in Salem, MA aboard the Arbella in 1630.

My Dad has spent years going back to our ancestry in the UK and France. Turns out the French branch was kicked out by the Catholics since they were Hugenots. The rest of the family tree comes from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Right now he is back as far as 1380 from the Scotch branch. He has come to a temporary deadend with the Irish branch since records become psarce durng the plagues when burials were done so quickly that records were incomplete.

Cromwell didn't help any since he ordered the buring of many church records during his reign.

The most fascinating fact which I discovered after I moved to Lexington, MA is that I am directline descendent of one of the militia who fought on the Lexington Green on April 19th.

I had fun a few years ago when I went up to the renactor who played by descendent and said, "Hi, I am your great great great great great great great great grandson."

 

[Susan1]

Sometimes the men married when they were older because they waited until they had a certain amount of money before marriage. One set of my Mom's grandparents were engaged for something like 10 years because they waited until he had enough money to buy a farm before they got married.

Yeah, coming from Germany when he was 18, I'm sure he wasn't rich. The census occupation says "Axlemaker Iron" whatever that was. I guess in a factory in Cincinnati?

Funny, both of my grandfathers (mom's and dad's fathers) worked at Frigidaire (the old major refrigerator factory here).

So, the reference librarian used the same familysearch website I've been looking at! Duh. But it was a lot of work for someone who is not even a member of the family. And she did find an obituary from the paper in 1958, but it didn't have any information about his parents or birth date or anything.

And my dad's mom's side (Houser and Mills) all seems to have come from Ohio and Indiana as far back as I can get. Maybe I'm part American Indian. Or a pilgrim descendant. ha ha ha ha

 

[nerdycool]

And my dad's mom's side (Houser and Mills) all seems to have come from Ohio and Indiana as far back as I can get. Maybe I'm part American Indian. Or a pilgrim descendant. ha ha ha ha

If your family lived in that area prior to Ohio and Indiana gaining statehood, you could try looking for records in the Northwest Territory (no, not the Canadian province).

 

[jenlyon60]

If your family lived in that area prior to Ohio and Indiana gaining statehood, you could try looking for records in the Northwest Territory (no, not the Canadian province).

Depending on what part of Ohio, a lot of families moved to Ohio from either PA or VA. Also a chunk of early settlers in NE Ohio moved there from upstate New York.

 

[Susan1]

Depending on what part of Ohio, a lot of families moved to Ohio from either PA or VA. Also a chunk of early settlers in NE Ohio moved there from upstate New York.

I'm going to the library today. The reference librarian said they have a free subscription to ancestry.com. But geez, how do you research Henry and Mame AND Henry and Minnie (both in Indiana and have the same birth years) who both have daughters Hattie, Edith and Mary OR Matie. (I know it's Mary, my grandmother) Mame and/or Minnie's parents are either both from New Jersey or from New Jersey and Louisiana. Henry's parents are from a combination of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, depending which census you look at. And like I keep saying - if I knew which one was right, I wouldn't have to be going to these sites in the first place. So aggravating.

 

[nerdycool]

For my birthday gift, my husband is getting me a 6-month subscription to Ancestry just in time for the 1940 census release! Just thought I'd share.

 

[victorskid]

Be aware, nerdycool, that the 1940 census is not yet indexed (by name). As I understand it, you will need to have pretty exact addresses to be able to find those for whom you are searching.

 

[nerdycool]

Yep, I know. A pain in the butt, but exciting at the same time.

 

[smurfy]

I got a nice fat package from the library with about 20+ obits that I mentioned on an earlier thread. Lots of info, pretty overwhelming.
The one question I wanted answer of course was not resolved. I know my great grand mothers parents names, and found folks with those names in a cemetery, but not sure if right people. Still have some digging to do there.
But on other relatives I got some info, more relating to siblings, but as I get more info, it will help confirm others. Plus on ancestry, I was given a few hints after I entered the data.

The lady at the library went above and beyond, pulling additional obits that she thought were connected. Some were, some were not. But she even went to ancestry.com and did solve where my great grandmother was in 1910. I had her in the 1900 with her husband, and then 1920 widowed. The census is correct, but in ancestry, electronically another last name got connected, so I never saw it. Somehow the librarian figured it out. But once I looked at the actual census, realized it had to be them (8 kids including my grandmother, all about the right age, birth order and location of their births (3 different states for the 8 kids)).
The information was great, but now I have even more questions, have to circle back to some places and keep digging.

Question for those that have done this for awhile. How are you organizing? I have a 4+yr old pc, and plan to buy a mac when it dies, so do not want to buy any software until I have the mac(within a year or so i would guess). everythng is entered in ancestry.com, but I have a bunch of papers (copies of obits, ssn data, cemetery data, birth cert etc), plus want to print out stuff from ancestry. Any recommendations for organizing would be appreciated. Right now I have folders by last names. Thanks.

 

[nerdycool]

I guess I deal with paper as little as possible, so I can't help you too much. Usually when I have access to a scanner, I'll scan in everything I have so that everything is electronic. I'll keep the official stuff, but other info that's just printed off the internet, I'll toss. All my e-files are on the hard drive of my computer, as well as backed up on my external hard drive. These files are contained within folders named by the surname, and if there are a lot of files for one particular person, I'll make a sub-folder for that person. Otherwise I just make sure that I label each file with obvious ID. All my paper documents are stored together in general order... but I don't have that much, so it's easy to keep track of.

Using paper exclusively, I imagine it'd be a little more involved, but you could have a "family" section divider, and folders for specific people within that section.

 

[jenlyon60]

Question for those that have done this for awhile. How are you organizing? I have a 4+yr old pc, and plan to buy a mac when it dies, so do not want to buy any software until I have the mac(within a year or so i would guess). everythng is entered in ancestry.com, but I have a bunch of papers (copies of obits, ssn data, cemetery data, birth cert etc), plus want to print out stuff from ancestry. Any recommendations for organizing would be appreciated. Right now I have folders by last names. Thanks.

I use RootsMagic, which I happen to prefer over FTM. A lot of people like FTM and they're basically the "10-ton gorilla" of the genealogy business these days. A lot of people also store their info on Ancestry.com's trees, but if you do that, be careful how you set it up, in terms of information sharing. I personally have chosen to not put my research on Ancestry.com for personal reasons dating back to when FTM (which is now part of the Ancestry.com empire) started publishing their "World Family Tree" CDs.

Also, wrt the public trees on Ancestry.com, I would strongly suggest that if you find anything on public trees, that you double-check/validate it independently. There is a lot of minimally researched data out there (Ancestry.com and other places). Years ago, the LDS's Ancestral File had very little in the way of validation and a lot of less than accurate (or not verifiable) info got into their files and has never come out. That info has since been carried into many family trees that are searchable on Ancestry.com and Rootsweb and other resources.

Just my 5-cents worth...