Friday, April 29, 2016

FRIDAY FINDS ~ I Finally found the 1880 census for my 3rd great grandmother–Emily Gillen 1810-1887


My 3rd great grandmother Emily Gillen, born 8 Aug 1810 in Pennsylvania married 3 times.  First to Rev. Isaac C. Hunter (1798-1842) on 11 Sep 1828 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  They had 5 children: Susan, James, Martha, Isaac C., and John. Second, she married David Pope (about 1810-?) on 1 Oct 1846 in Columbus, Franklin, Ohio.  They had 2 children: George and Emma.  Third, she married Joel Stover (about 1810-after 1870) on 5 Dec 1858 in Lawrence County, Ohio.  There are no known children born from that third marriage.

Here is what I have in my Legacy database for Emily Gillen.

Her family record.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Gillen Emily family

Her pedigree.
 
Gillen Emily pedigree

I noticed when I looked at her Individual screen that I was missing an 1880 and a place of death for her.
 
Gillen Emily Ind screen

I went to my Ancestry.com tree and looked at the hints.  Nothing there gave me any leads.  I decided to look at some of her children, especially the two youngest ones, George and Emma Pope.

Sure enough on Emma Pope’s hints I found an 1880 census.  Why don’t I check that and see if her mother is living near by.  At this point I don’t even know if Emma’s father David Pope is still living, as I don’t have a death date for him.

HERE’S WHAT I FOUND
Name: Emma Seed
[Emma Pope] 
Age: 29
Birth Year: abt 1851
Birthplace: Ohio
Home in 1880: Bellmont, Wabash, Illinois
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Thomas H. Seed
Father's Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Mother's name: Emily Seed
Mother's Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Neighbors: View others on page
Occupation: Housekeeping
Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:
Household Members:
Name Age
Thomas H. Seed 37
Emma Seed 29
Jay Seed 8
Roda Seed 3
Emily Seed 69

Note that there is an Emily Seed listed with this family.  She is listed as a mother-in-law, widowed, age 69.  If she is the mother-in-law, then her name is probably not Seed.  But, that doesn’t bother me because the age fits and the census is from the same city she is buried in.  Also, you’ll notice someone has added an edit for Emma Seed's name Emma Pope.  When I clicked on the name I see that the change was made by my cousin, Amy.  She must have already located this census and concluded that Emily Seed is actually our Emily Gillen and that Emma Seed is her daughter.

Here’s the actual image, although it’s difficult to read.

1880_SEED_Thomas & Emma & children_BellmontWabashIllinois

I do think this is our Emily Gillen living with her daughter, Emma Seed nee Pope, but I always need more proof than just my supposition.

Next, I went to familysearch.org and looked for a marriage record for Thomas Seed and Emma Pope.  BINGO!  They were married on 28 Mar 1871 in Illinois.
 
From the census I see that Thomas and Emma had a son named Jay or Joy and a daughter named Roda.

I located a death record for a Rhoda Seed Barclay in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 28 Sep 1960.  The death certificate lists her parents as Thomas Seed and Emma Pope.  BINGO again!!

Here is that death record.

BARCLAY_Rhoda nee SEED_death cert_28 Sep 1960_PittsburghAlleghenyPennsylvania

CONCLUSION: I feel comfortable that the 1880 census I located for Emily “SEED” is actually my 3rd great grandmother, Emily Gillen.

Our research is very much tied to the evidence we can find to support our theories.  I am never comfortable with just a “maybe this is her.”  I want more corroborating evidence and will usually hunt until I find it.
 
My next step will be to try and locate Emily’s death certificate.  I’ve checked on family search and have had no luck so far.

However, if she was listed as Emily Seed on the 1880 census record, who knows what name is on her death certificate.  I have work to do.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

MYSTERY MONDAY - WHO'S YOUR DADDY? Brick Wall Post #5 - William Gillen 1782-1841 (this is Emily Gillen's father)

A GREAT DISCOVERY - Ask for Help and You May Get It

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

8 comments:

  1. I love those Pennsylvania Death Certificates at Ancestry - worth the subscription for someone like me with so many Allegheny County ancestors (and a few Philadelphia extended family for my husband).

    How satisfying to find this census record!

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    Replies
    1. Elizabeth. I agree. Those PA death records knocked down a portion of a huge brick wall for me when they first came out. Most of my PA ancestors are from the early to mid 1800’s. Still have lots of work to do there. It's always fun to find these records that you've looked and looked for. That's why after 13 years of research, I'm still not bored.
      Thanks for your comment.

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  2. Nice work! Notice it says the father, David Pope, was born in Pennsylvania. I thought he was born in Ohio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks John. Yes, I noticed the different birth locations. I make note of such things and use the compilation of evidence, and consider the sources as I come to my conclusions.
      Thanks for your comment and support big brother.

      Delete
  3. Interesting that Rhoda's birthplace is listed as Cranston, Illinois on her death certificate. I cannot locate this community. Any idea where it might be?

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    Replies
    1. Miriam - Oh my gosh! I looked for Cranston yesterday too and came up empty. Guess what? Took another look this morning and realize it says "Evanston" not Cranston. Glad I'm not the only one. Look at the E in Emma's name and we can see it's similar. Plus, we know there is an Evanston, Illinois. One more reason why we all know we have to look at those records over and over again.
      Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  4. Don't you love it when things all fall into place like that? Great detective work!

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    Replies
    1. I absolutely love it. Thanks for the compliment. We are all detectives, that's for sure.

      Delete

I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any connection to the people mentioned in this blog, please let me know. I write about mine and my husband's ancestors and would welcome new information or meeting a new cousin or two. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.