November 2011
38 posts
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...
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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 ...
