Elusive Maiden Names

Very shortly after you start researching your family you will discover many gaps in the known information.  This is where the fun begins as we proceed to discover new pieces of the puzzle.  The maternal maiden names are often a challenge that creates brick walls to our search.  In the following article I will discuss steps that can be taken to eliminate these brick walls.

            The most important issue in this search is that most records were created and for men.  Property records were normally created in the man’s name.  Men ran businesses and ran the government.  Women’s names were changed with every marriage and did not provide a good paper trail.  Men were the creators of the paper trail that allow us to follow their lives throughout time.

            The place to start this search is with the women’s name.  Write out as much of the name as you know.  Make sure to include as part of your list all the various spellings of the first, middle and last names.  A simple name like Elizabeth can also be called Mattie, Betty, Liz and Sally.  Individuals did not always go by their birth name.  In my own family my paternal grandmother went by the name Babe for the first five years of her life until her parents decided on the name Cleota.  Ironically many people in the family would continue to call her Babe throughout her adult life.  Many vital record documents would also include the use of the name Babe.  Knowing the variety of name spellings is often key to the maiden name hunt.

            Make a list of the names of all husbands and children.  Be certain to list first, middle and last names.  The use of previous surnames for naming children is a common practice.  Frequently the first son and first daughter are named after the paternal line.  The second son and daughter are named after the maternal side of the family.  With additional husbands and having children involve a new list of names on the paternal side.  Middle names that do not sound like first names, but sound like surnames are often from the maternal side of the family.  This was common with the creation of middle names in the 19^th century.  In my own family a nephew was named Andrew Preston French.  The middle name Preston is a family surname on the maternal side of the family.

            The third step is to create a timeline of your female ancestor’s life.  Start from the birth of the women and work until her death.  Include place of birth, school attended, marriage, children’s birth, employment, children’s marriage, and death.  The timeline should include the local and world events that went on during their lifetime.  I am struck by the events that are going on outside the family unit that effect the decisions of our family members on a scale that we may have never even considered.

            Obtaining a photograph of the person is very valuable and may offer clues to the individual that we are researching.  What are the distinctive features looking back at you from the picture?  Does she have black hair, high cheek bones, tall or short and does she look healthy?  What is the clothing she is wearing?  Are you able to pinpoint in where, when, what and why the picture was taken?  With evaluation of the picture clues can come out that will help with our search.

            Make sure to contact the older females on the side you are researching and ask questions.  Ask them questions that may provide clues to your search.  Do you remember particular habits, recipes and traditions?  During holidays the women were way more likely to be talking about family matters than the men.  Great family nuggets were shared during this period of time.

            Weddings mean marriage records that provide clues on our families.  Records of this type start very early in the history of our country.  Recent records provide the greater amount of information that exists on individuals.    Pay attention to the other names that are listed on the marriage certificate.  Although early certificates do not provide a lot of names pay attention to the people during the same time period who are also getting married by the same person.  This indicates a strong possibility of relationship that needs to be researched to see if they provide clues on your family line.

            Birth records of children will also provide clues to maiden names.  These records date back to the 1630’s, but there are many large gaps.  Town records often listed the maiden name of the women in birth records from an early period.  The majority of birth records do not appear consistently until the latter half of the 19^th century.  This information was not always filed and in many states did not become mandatory until the 1900’s when the states took over collection of the vital records.  Prior to this time submission of this records can be sporadic.  Many church denominations that were strong in baptism kept the records in the church.  Often records in the protestant denominations followed the minister to the various churches, but look for these records in the state denominations holdings.  Catholic baptisms were kept at the parish level, but many have been transferred to the diocese.   Pay attention to the sponsor’s name, because they are often related to the mother by birth.

            Immigration and land records also offer clues to maiden names.  Females gained citizenship by their husband gaining this status or marrying a person with US citizenship.  Reference will be made to the maiden names.  Early land records will mention the spouse and records will be conducted between paternal family members.  Understand the people that your family unit was living next to and who they were doing business with during their lives.  Spouses came from the neighborhood in both rural and urban situations.

            Complete the search by looking through all records that relate to the husband.  Some records to review are probate, military, funeral home, cemetery, obituaries, and social security applications.  Do not leave any stone unturned.  Completing research of sources is critical to resolving this brick wall.

            Finally pay attention to all witnesses on documents.  Women did not travel or conduct business during the early previous to the early 20^th century by themselves.  Eliminating those around them is key.  The solution often lies beyond the primary family and is with those that live around her.

            The key to the search is collect all you know on the person.  With this information evaluate what sources are available that will be key to finding the maiden name.  Only by checking all the records will you find the solution.  Complete search is key to finding the name.  

Genealogy and Historical Societies

Have you attended or joined your local genealogy or historical society?  You are missing out on a valuable resource for your research.

It amazes me as I travel across Ohio and Michigan on the subject of genealogy how few people attend the meeting.  With the creation of TV programs covering the subject and the aggressive marketing of Ancestry in all medias the research of one's family is very popular.  A missing component to your research is collaborating with like minded folks in your community on the subject of genealogy and history.  Many of the members are more than willing to share with others concerning ways to conduct their genealogy and get over many of the brick walls.  The projects of indexing records or taking cemetery censuses is invaluable resource for current genealogist as well as those into the future.  These projects are coordinated at this level.  They need your help in participating.

Another important component is the programming that is offered normally on a monthly basis that will help you learn about genealogy.  Yes, lot's of this can be found on line these days, but the local meetings offer a local flavor.  You also get the immediate gratification of getting your questions answered by a genuine person.

If you are a member of a group make sure they advertise.  The groups I find with the best turnout have sent press releases to the local paper of radio stations.  Please help support these groups you don't know what you are missing.

New England Research

Many of our ancestors in this area trace their migration pattern back to New England.  A excellent book has come out recently published by the New England Historical and Genealogical Society that updates the bible of research titled "Genealogist's Handbook fr New England Research" edited by Michael J. Leclerc.

This book is in it's fifth edition.  The updates include essay introductions for each state, maps of the state and counties, updates to the various repositories and list of parent and daughter towns.  With the large amount of research that I have done in both my personal and clients genealogy I have found it to be a invaluable tool.

The introductions for each state offer a short concise overview of the history of the records within the state and the location and archiving practices of each state.  Locating records is often the biggest trick to breaking down a brick wall.  This book allows you to minimize the difficulty involved with this task.

One of the major issues I have had with my own research in New England has been the location of borders and  the creation of counties.  There is a general assumption that the way it is today is the way it has always been done.  Not so.  Many of the smaller states in this area when it came to probate were not done on a county basis, but were done in districts.  The records were then centralized within the district and not be in the county that you are looking for your ancestors.

Identifying the information available in the various states is key.  With the shear size of documents created in New England since the 1620's knowing where they are stored is key.  The helpful description of key sources in each state was one that I found valuable for research.  Realizing where the records or family papers are located is a outstanding resource.  Understanding the shear size of records available and understanding that not all things are on the internet is key.

While researching in New England towns appear and disappear like popcorn.  The section that helps you in understanding what cities were original and where the new towns came from was excellent.  The dating of the creation of the various counties and towns is critical to knowing if your family was located in the correct place when you are looking for them.  I have fallen into the trap of thinking the towns were always there and find that in fact they were living in a adjacent town or county.  This book helps with improving those happy moments of discovery.

Please check out the new book area of your local library or historical society for this book.  Better yet order a copy for yourself, because it should be a part of your genealogical library when it comes to New England family research.  www.americanancestors.org

Online vs. Offline Genealogical Resources

A interesting question has been bouncing around in my head about Online resources vs offline resources.  Genealogist today are fortunate because of the abundant amount of records and lineages that are online, but it does not come without it's pitfalls.

One of he primary reasons for me getting professional work for clients is that they have reached a brick wall and they are unable to locate the records that they seek online.  For this reason they do not believe the records exist or do not know how to locate them.  Reality is that close to 95% of genealogy is not located online.  The records that you need to resolve your brick walls are still located in libraries, archives, court houses and historical societies.  Realizing this fact is key to doing your research and staying in the world of reality.

We are fortunate that so much is online and continues to be added to the internet, but the vast majority is not available.  This is why a research plan for each family group in your genealogy that includes both online and offline sources is so important.  There is so much information hidden away offline that provides the key to our brick walls.  I am convinced that it is out there we just have not looked in the correct place yet.

The lineage sites that are online can provide many pitfalls to our research.  First most of them are undocumented.  This we know is against Genealogical Proof Standards.  The major websites do not police or verify the accuracy of the genealogies posted on their sites.  We still need to verify everything and be suspicious of everything.  Until you document and meet the criteria of the Genealogical Proof Standard we are making a good book of fiction.  Just because hundreds of people say a lineage is right does not make it correct if they do not sight sources.  Someone who lived their whole life in the 1700's in Virginia does not have parents that share the surname that lived their whole lives in Massachusetts.  Be very careful.  Some websites that you can trace your lineage from you to King John in two hours.  Reality is it takes years.

For the sake of all future genealogist check all your resources both online and off.  You will soon find that the best resources are not online and will not be for a while.  Trust nothing until you locate proof.

Websites Family Search

Family Search provides a constantly updated genealogical database for free.  The site provides four different ways of conducting searches which include records, trees, catalog and books.  All of them prove to be valuable tools in conducting our genealogical search.

When accessing the Family Search page you will see the option of entering a name to conduct a search in the records.  If this is your first time visiting the site it is important to become a registered user.  The icon to click is in the upper right corner.  You will need to select a users name and password.  An email will then be sent to you that you will need to confirm your information.  By registering you will be allowed access to the scanned records like census page and vital records.  There is a big advantage to see the original source for the transcription.

Once you have become registered you will need to go back to the starting page.  You are given several options on this first page.  You have the four selections of records, trees, catalog and books.  Included on this page you can search by location or also look at the many databases that are available. 

The records search allows you to access many of the databases.  They are all location specific.  Providing as much information for the historical search is important so you are able to look at a smaller group of choices.  Records here are census, vital, migration, military, probate and other.  The more specific that you are with the details the smaller your group of people will be, but you can vary your search parameters.  One that I like to do is searching for a surname in a specific location like Lucas County, Ohio.  This gives you a list of people that go by the same last name in a specific location during certain time periods.  I have found this good when looking to search collateral lines.  Information when searching this way helps you in connecting families and to find more things that you would not be able to find in a very specific search.  When you are not certain of the specific location, but know a state for instance you can get a much larger group.  This does not work as well for popular names.  I will talk about various search methods in upcoming articles.

A note on the records search options is that not all the databases are available in the search option.  Example of this would be the Archdiocese records for cemeteries and parishes in the Toledo Ohio area.  This source can be accessed by clicking on the “All records Collection” that is located just below the search function on the first page.  All records are listed by location.  Here you would have to move down to Ohio in the listing and look for the Toledo Archdiocese records.  Descriptions of the databases are included on the databases first page.  This section is by far the most updated and you should look at it regularly.  As I mentioned many records are not included in the Records search database, but are located on the site.

Now go back to the records search and look at what we got with our name search.  The returns for your search will cover all the databases included in the search.  For the sake of discussion we will be looking for a death record in Lucas County Ohio.  We are given the option to look specifically for the death date.  Once you reach the second page which is the results of your search you need to look at the options of the databases searched.  If you conduct a narrow search for the name in the location and the way you have the name spelled the results will be very narrow.  If there is a chance the name could be spelled several different ways in a specific location narrow the search by making it location specific. 

To see what databases have been searched click on the word “Collections” in the filter section along the left side of the page.  Here you will see all the databases that were searched and how many were found.  You should come up with three different databases specific to Ohio which is divided by time period and the SSDI index.  By clicking on one of the four it will narrow the amount of names.  Search each database.  Information can vary.  Once you get to a record that you feel applies click on the name.  Here it will have a transcription if available of the actual record.  You can not look at the scan if you are not registered.  Much more information is included on the actual scan of the document.

The key here is to have a plan for what you are searching for and trying to learn.  Narrow the search by location.  Don’t be afraid to try different methods for searching the databases.

OGS Summer of Learning 2012

June 1- Dr. Deborah Abbott, PHD Presents Genealogy 101:Using Online Resources- 10 am
June 2- Julie Wilson presents "Using Newspapers in your Research"- Find out what else is out there to add to your family history, you'll never know what hems you are missing in old newspapers! 10 am
June 16-22- More than 25 classes with Kimberly Powell, Craig Scott, Elissa Powell, Shirley Hodges, Peggy Lauritzen, Dr. David McDonald, Dr. Deborah Abbott, Robert Keener, Missy Derrenberger, Fee:$265 members, $295 non-members, Register online. Weekling
July 12- Dr. Deborah Abbott, Ph.D. presents "Shaking the dust off the courthouse records" Learn waht records are available and the information found in these records. 10 am
July 20- Chris Staats presents  "Weaving a Web: Using Internet Resources to Create and Effective Research Plan"- Successful online research may not necessarily mean finding information about your ancestors in a database or online image collection. 10 am
August 3- Derek Davey- presents "researching your War of 1812 ancestors". 10 am
August 9- Dr. Deborah Abbott, Ph. D, presents "Researching the Federal Census and Other Overlooked Schedules" with the 1940 Census, learn what information can be found before it is indexed. 10 am
August 10- Derek Davey- presents "using FamilySearch for your free research" learn what FamilySearch has available for records and how to navigate their website. 10am

All programs are held at the Samuel D Isaly Library of the Ohio Genealogical Society 611 SR 97 W, Bellville, OH 44813.  Pre registration is required.  Please call the library at 419-886-1903 or email ogs@ogs.org to register.

War of 1812

The War of 1812 is referred to by many as our Second War for Independence. For the genealogist it provides another source for family history information during a period of time in our country’s early history that generally lacks good data.

As the western edge of civilization at this time, Ohio was the site of many important battles. Recent settlers defended their land against both Native American and British forces. Survival skills gained by early settlers—fighting a harsh environment and wielding a gun—played an important role in minimizing the duration of the war.

Northeast Ohio and the area around Cincinnati were important areas for recruitment for militia. Soldiers were organized by the U.S. government from local units originally created to defend against the local native population. Service tended to be short term and men had several short stints of service. They were called up when a threat was apparent or a campaign was being organized. Men were also organized into federal units that primarily occupied the forts that were created during this period.

A series of trails and forts were created in the state to help defend the frontier. The trails would become important routes of migration and trade in later years. For example, a trail ran from Cleveland down through Fremont and then to Perrysburg, where Ft. Meigs was located. This was a very big fort for its day and played an important part in the war. From here you could go further west down the Maumee River to Ft. Wayne or directly north along the western half of Lake Erie to Detroit. The route between Cleveland and Perrysburg would become Route 20 in Ohio and the northern route followed closely I-75 up to Detroit from Toledo.

From Cincinnati a trail was made that reached all the way to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, a major trading post at the time. All along this trail, a series of blockhouses were built that would provide protection for troops during potential Native American attacks. The locations of many of these outposts would later become towns.

In northwest Ohio, the Black Swamp acted as a barrier from the east and the south. Troop movement in this area was difficult. There was really no good time of the year to travel through this area. In the rainy season you had to travel through several feet of water along with large swarms of mosquitoes. In the winter, a solid sheet of ice ran for miles. This was a major reason for the direction of the trails created during this time. The Black Swamp also created a need for very hardy soldiers.

Finding Your Solider

How can you determine whether your ancestor served in the War of 1812? This war tended to accept a much larger age group for service. Check for those who lived in the area that were between the age of 18 and 50. Remember men were in short supply in the frontier so everyone was needed.

The Ohio Historical Society has a searchable War of 1812 Roster of Ohio Soldiers , which lists all soldiers who fought in this war. Ohio furnished 1,759 Officers and 24,521 enlisted men for this war, representing 10% of Ohio’s total population. The Roster can be searched by first and last name. Members and officers of a unit are identified. If it’s known what part of the state the unit was from, it is identified.

A microfilmed index to service records for soldiers and sailors can be found at the National Archives Records Administration (NARA) (M-602, 234 rolls). This listing is for volunteers. Actual service records are currently in the process of being filmed. The records for the Regular army are in “Registers of Enlistment in the US Army 1798-1914” (NARA M223, 81 rolls). In the index, you will find name, rank, organization of unit, dates he was mustered in and out and the state from which he served. Editor’s note: Some muster rolls and other records of Ohio military activity are available in Ohio repositories. See related article, “Selected War of 1812 Resources in Ohio.”

Pension records can be found in two places:

·         The “Old Wars” series covers death and disability claims (covered under special Congressional acts) for service during the entire period. The records are organized alphabetically and there is an index (NARA, T-316, 7 rolls). Included is the name, rank, military or naval unit and period of service. If the person applied for a pension, it will include age or date of birth, residence and sometimes place of birth. When a widow applied for a pension it shows her age, place of marriage to the veteran and maiden name. If the veteran left orphans, the names of the children, ages, and place of their residence will be listed.

·         The “The War of 1812 series” (NARA, M-602, 234 rolls) resulted from Congressional acts passed in 1871 and 1878. Due to the late passage of these benefits, most the people affected had passed on. Included in these records is a subseries that includes death and disability claims as well as bounty land warrants. This makes this source a valuable item due to the increased amount of soldiers covered and closeness to the actual war. The soldier’s information included in this file shows name, age, place of residence, if married, maiden name of wife, place and date of marriage, rank, military or naval unit, date and place of entering the service and date and place of discharge. The widow’s declaration includes name, age and place of residence of the widow, date and place of marriage, name of official conducting the ceremony, date and place of the veteran’s death, his rank, his military or naval unit, the date and place of his entering the service, and the date and place of discharge. This series is indexed on Ancestry .

Bounty land records are the final piece of War of 1812 documentation. For those who may have had family that relocated to the territories of Missouri or Illinois where the bounty land was given, this information is very important. The normal amount was 160 acres. Unlike other wars, land grants awarded from War of 1812 service could not be sold. This will help in understanding the migration pattern and hopefully will move you on to your next step in your genealogical research.

Find War of 1812 Military Bounty Land Warrants, 1815-1858 (NARA M-848, 14 rolls) indexed on Ancestry.