December 2011
29 posts
5 tags
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...
5 tags
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
7 tags
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...
8 tags
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
...
6 tags
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...
10 tags
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...
7 tags
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
...
7 tags
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...
