December 2011
29 posts
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Adopted and Found Biological Family!
My name is Elizabeth Ann now JoAnne Leavitt-Thomas. I was born to Natalie Moccone and Lawrence Raymond Leavitt Sr in 1957. They were not married. My mother gave me up for adoption and I was adopted at age 5 months. My name became JoAnne Scollay from my adopted parents. As I was growing up I always knew that I would one day find my biological family. What better place to start then in my hometown...
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The unknown family of Hannah Stokes and Samuel...
25 November 2011
My grandmother Bess Hall Pearce (1893-1986) was doing genealogy in the 1920’s. She worked mostly on her own lines but was also interested in following her husband’s lines enough to interview her his mother and aunt before they died in 1931. But until recently I didn’t know this. When she died I inherited all her notes and books but, because I had a young family and was...
November 2011
38 posts
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I would have not known any of my Italian...
I have been interested in family genealogy since my teen years. I have spent most of my time researching my maternal family tree where some of my ancestors go back to the 15th century or earlier! Much of the work had already been done by my grandmother but I have enjoyed meeting new “cousins” and confirming information and sources through ancestry.com.
My paternal family history has...
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Cross Relations
I am a big genealogy nut and have been researching for several years. Imagine my surprise when during my research I discovered my ex-husband line and mine are intertwined not only by marriage but through our grandmother’s. His grandmother and my grandmother were 2nd cousins.
I also discovered my current husband’s 2nd cousin is married to my 1st cousin. It is a small world when you...
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Ancestry Anne: An Alternate Way to View Results
If you start on the search page or the home page and do a search, you’ll see results come back as a list of records you might want to look at.
But there is an alternate presentation of results that you can display. Instead of Sorted by relevance choose Sorted by category
And we will present a list of data collections you may want to explore.
Note, that this option is what we...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: How do I Verify a Unsourced...
Question: The only evidence I have for a date of death for my great-grandfather comes from other family trees. When I look at those trees, there are no sources given for the date of death. How do I know which was the first citation and how do I validate the information? Details are: Nathan Shaw: 6 members show his date of death as Apr 14, 1878 in Union Mills, LaPorte County, Indiana. ...
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Ancestry Anne: Finding Local Histories
Local Histories can be full of great information. Information on what the area was like at a specific date and time. Snippets of family trees. You just never know.
My favorite trick to find family trees is to go to the Ancestry.com Card Catalog.
Once there, filter down to Stories, Memories and Histories.
Then type in a city or county name into the keyword box. This will search both...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: These census dates don't match...
Question: In 1910 my father’s family is listed. My Uncles Jessie & Henry McWilliams are the same age, yet in the census before one was born in 1888 and the other in 1894-95. This is so confusing. The names of the family members are the same but they are correct. What am I to believe? What to do? Answer: Just because someone writes it down, doesn’t make it true. And here is a...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: All it takes is a name, date...
Question: Can you find Edwin W. Johnson born around 1871, in Saline Co. Missouri? - Dolly Answer: I picked this particular example, because it helps illustrate an important point, the three most useful pieces of information to find someone are:
Names
Birth Date
Some location
Where do I begin? I go to the 1880 search page because that will be the first U.S Census Edwin will be in. I enter
...
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A Hyphen Becomes a Halpin
My mother always said that my great-grandmother’s name was Lula Mae Captolia “hyphen” Lucinda Ladow. It’s said that the hyphen was added because Great-Grandma was adopted at age three and kept both of her names. But years later, I discovered that it wasn’t a hyphen in her name; it was a different name entirely – Halpin.
I learned this fact by looking at my great-grandmother’s marriage license,...
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How my family met my husband’s family a century...
In an effort to introduce my 4-year-old son to his family’s history, I began researching my husband’s family on Ancestry.com. My husband’s stepmother is Italian, and her maiden name is DiDio. I’m half Italian, and my maiden name is Santagati.
While I was researching my husband’s family, I naturally started looking up my own family’s history as well. As I searched through the...
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Far better than the lottery
My wife’s father died in 1942 at the age of 35. At the time, my wife, Audrey, was only six years old. Ever since we met and married 35 years ago, she has longed for a photo of him – all of the photos and paperwork of him were destroyed in the London Blitz.
Audrey was very ill at the time and I was freshly retired, so I joined Ancestry in November 2010 to see if I could learn more for her. My...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: I can't find them before 1900
Question: I’ve been stumped for a while now on my mother’s side. In the 1910 census, my grandfather Christopher Columbus Wells is living with his father and mother, Joseph and Lizzie Wells, in Franklin County, Texas. In 1900, Joseph and Lizzie are living in Van Zandt County, near a Rohers family.
I’ve found family trees that indicate Joseph is the eldest son of Samuel Garner Wells...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Help! My Great-Grandmother Left...
Dear Anne: I’m completely stumped when it comes to my great-grandmother Ella Crouch Lowell. She left no clues behind, at least none that I can find. Her ethnicity was said to be Black Dutch or French, but on her deathbed (she died in 1931 in Bents or Las Animas County, Colorado) she said she was Apache. According to the census, she was born in Ohio in 1867 or 1868. She married Stephen...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Will a Name Change Make My...
Question: My father’s birth name was James Ralph Walsh, but then he changed it to James Ralph Welsh. Will this make it more difficult to follow him and his family? He was born in Ohio in 1898 and I believe the birth month was February. — Donald T. Welsh
Answer: Actually, the name change might make success even easier for you. Knowing a bit more about changing names could put you...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: What's the best way to connect...
Question: My middle name is Lee for General Lee, a rumored relative of my paternal grandmother. I’m also said to be related to Martha Washington, but I can’t find a connection to either. Which way should I work – forward from the legend to my family or backward until I reach the legend? - Martha Garstang Hill
Answer: The short answer is start with your own family. Family legends are often a...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: I Found a Death Record -- How...
Dear Ancestry Anne:
I’ve been looking for my grandfather’s birth record but no luck. I have his death record, which provided me with the following information:
Name: Henry Clinton Jones Birth: February 9, 1855, Kansas City, Missouri Death: January 24, 1942, Las Vegas, New Mexico Father: John Jones (an aunt confirmed this) Father’s birth: 1819, Mercer County, Kentucky Father’s death: 1863
...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Can You Help Me Find My...
Question: I am trying to find William Foxworth, who was married to Sallie Andrews in Wahee, Marion County, South Carolina. Sallie is listed in the 1880 census in Wahee as a widow with four children, William (or Willie), Annie E., Julius, and Bennie. In the 1880 census, Sallie and her daughter are listed as white, but Sallie’s sons are all mulatto. I am assuming that her husband must have been...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: I've Found My Grandpa but What...
Question: My grandmother, Era Thompson, married my grandfather Arthur R Hobdy, Sr. I have all sorts of records for Arthur but I’m stumped when it comes to finding records about Era. I know she came from a small community north of Nashville, Tennessee called “White House.” Can you help me get started? - Harriette Hobdy Wilson
Answer: We know we’re looking for Arthur R. Hobdy, who was...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: How Do I Find a Confederate...
Question: Can you find William Smith of Rockbridge County, Virginia? He’s the father of Mattie Smith, who married John Wesley Duling. And William was also a Confederate soldier.
-John Deacon
Answer: We have names and locations here but no date. However, if Mattie is the child of a Civil War veteran, I’m guessing that she shows up married to John Duling in the 1900 through 1930...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: How Can I Find Someone Who Was...
Question: “My grandfather’s parents are listed on the 1920 census as being born in Germany. But I’m not sure how to find them overseas. Any suggestions? –Marnie Little
Answer: The first thing you should to do when you start searching for your ancestors in another country is familiarize yourself with what’s available for that country on Ancestry.com. Just as every state in...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: I can't find a birth...
Dear Ancestry Anne: I have my granddad’s birth information: John James Sells, born April 15, 1877, Pennsylvania. But I can’t find official birth details or a certificate for him. I’ve found him in the 1880 census in Philadelphia with his mother, Mary Anne (listed as Ada on the 1880 census), and sister Georgianna. I also have Georgianna’s birth certificate, which was found for me by a...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Why Do I Find Trees with...
Dear Anne: I’ve run across family trees in which someone listed a mother or father who was born after their children or were very young – say 8 years old – when their supposed children were born. Why does this happen?
- Sylvia Valencia
Anne’s Answer: Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone built trees that were 100 percent sourced and had all the appropriate images and explanations...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: What Does That Census Notation...
Question: In the 1850 U.S. Federal Census for Guilford Township, Pennsylvania, is a listing for a Peter and Elizabeth McFerren. On the following page, in sequence, is their son Henry. But the next listing is for a Peter and Lydia McFerren. Next to this Peter’s name is a ditto mark and something that may say “Junior.” Could you take a look at it and tell me whether it is Junior or something...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Who Reported Insanity -- Family...
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Question: I found a person who was listed in the 1850 census as “deranged” and then in the 1860 and 1870 census as “insane.” In all three cases, the person was living at home, not in an institution. What modern condition would this correspond with – could the person have epilepsy or would this indicate a condition like Alzheimer’s or another such...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Are Duplicate Census Entries...
Question: My great-great-great-grandfather, John H. Hipkins (1825-1903) seems to be listed in the 1870 census four times. On June 2 he was in Denison, Iowa, listed as shoemaker; on June 30, he is listed as soldier in Fort Leavenworth Reservation, Kansas; on 11 July he is in Smoky, Trego, Kansas, listed as teamster; and on July 28, he is a shoemaker again in DesMoines, Polk, Iowa, as a...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: When I should start recording a...
Question: At what point in my family tree do I change from a woman’s maiden name to her married name? It’s nice to have her maiden name to continue searching but the later censuses have her married name and so does her death certificate. It also looks like she’s never been married down the tree when you’re attaching children.
—Karen Bopp
Answer: Usually in...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Was my great-great-grandfather...
First published: 13 September 2010
Question: I am trying to trace (and document) my great-great grandfather James Joseph Hester (5 April 1853 – 24 June 1940) and his parents, William Hester and Elizabeth Black (or Blackwell). My problem is this; according to my grandmother’s memories and writings, her grandfather J.J. Hester was born in England and came to the states as a young child with...
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Your Civil War Story: More Gems from a Pension...
Today, we finish the tale of Robert Bryant and his Civil War service. Even though it seemed highly unlikely that a sixty-plus-year-old man would join the cavalry, the evidence tells us that he did. It took a bit of digging, but his widow’s pension record gives us the evidence that we needed to seal the deal. In our last column we started looking through the evidence that was in the pension ...
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Your Civil War Story: Exploring a Civil War...
So we’ve been working on Robert Bryant, and trying to determine if he served in the Civil War. He would have been approximately 60 some years old when he enlisted, which led me to think this wasn’t that probable, but you don’t know until you investigate. Let’s recap what we’ve done.
We know that our Robert Bryant lived in Nicholas County, Kentucky in 1860 with his wife Maria, and five ...
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Your Civil War Story: Sorting Out Your Soldier’s...
For those of you who have been following along, this is the latest in write a series of “Weekly Discovery” columns to help you uncover the stories of the Civil War that are hidden in your family tree. (If you’re just joining us or missed an article or two, see the end of this column for links to other articles.)
In previous articles, we determined who in our family served in the Civil War....
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Your Civil War Story: It’s All in the Details
In my previous post I introduced you to Robert Bryant of Kentucky. He was born about 1802 in Virginia, and in 1860 he was in Nicholas County, Kentucky. We were trying to determine if this Robert Bryant is the same Robert Bryant who served in the 7th Kentucky Cavalry for the Union.
Before we go too much further let me correct a couple of errors I made. On the compiled service record cards...
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Your Civil War Story: Is He or Isn’t He?
One of the challenges we face when researching Civil War ancestors is determining whether a person who shares your ancestor’s name in a record, is actually your ancestor. Today we’re going to begin a case study that will address that particular challenge.
A friend of mine has a family that lived in Nicholas County, Kentucky in 1860. The man was Robert Bryant and he had five sons-William,...
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Cloris Leachman
We met Cloris Leachman at the GBK Emmy Gift Lounge in September and got her started building her family tree. The first record we found? Her, as a 3 year old little girl in the 1930 census with her parents and her sister, Mary.
She was very excited! “That’s me. I exist!”
Have you shared a 1930 census entry with an older, living relative? You might be surprised to find...
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Your Civil War Story: Billy Yank or Johnny Reb
In my previous column we discussed how to look at your tree and determine who might have served in the Civil War. And some of you wisely pointed out that while 1816–1846 as a birth year may be a good rule of thumb for choosing candidates who may have served, it is by no means definitive. Younger and older ancestors may have served, but this is a good starting point.
So now that we have a...
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Your Civil War Story: Identifying Those Who Fought
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Where did your family fit in? Did any of your ancestors fight? How did the war affect the people in your tree who lived through it?
What was their Civil War story? This was one of most tumultuous periods in American history. What happened to your ancestors during the Civil War affected them for generations to follow.
I am...
