CENSUS SUNDAY~The 1921 Scottish census for the George, Isabell & Euphemia Fitzcharles

 

As promised here is the follow up post regarding the 1921 Scottish census records I talked about in How to Locate New Information on My Scottish Ancestors ~ Using the 1921 census

Let’s begin with 11 yr old Euphemia Anderson FITZCHARLES.

Here is the 1921 Scottish census record for this family

(Please click on any image to enlarge it)

1921 Scottish census for Isabella, Euphemia & George Fitzcharles

In this record we see her mother Isabella, Euphemia and her brother George living in the parish of Arboath & St. Vigeans, in the burgh of Arbroath in the Quoad Sacra Parish of Invenbrothock in the First ward.  They are enumerated on the schedule in the schedule as #69.  The road or street is Lindsay Street and they are at No. 35.  There are 2 rooms in the house with 3 persons.

How interesting that they live on LINDSAY Street.  My paternal grandmother’s surname is Lindsay and this family is part of that line.

Isabella is head of household, age 35 and widowed.  She born in ____ (I cannot make out the location).  Euphemia is 11 yrs. 5 months old and born in Sterling.  Her brother George is 8 yrs. 6 months old and born in Forfar. Isabella’s occupation is abbreviated as H.D.  I wonder if that means Keeping house or household domestic?  There are 2 minor children in this house.

I don’t see anyone else with the same surname or any familiar family names on this census page. 

When we view pages on a website like Ancestry or Family Search, we can scroll to the next or previous page looking for family members who may live close by.  However, since each page view on Scotland’s People website costs me 6 credits, I don’t do that.

This census provides plenty of information to assist me in furthering my research on this family.

·       I have specific birthplaces and not just ages in years, but also months.

·       Isabella is listed as widowed.  If I didn’t already know this, I could then search for her husband’s death record.  However, I do know that her husband and father of her two children, was killed in action in World War I on 27 Mar 1918 in France.  Here is a blog post about him MILITARY MONDAY–Killed in Action–A Tribute to George Briggs Fitzcharles 1886-1918

     ·     In further research for this family it will be helpful to have         the details of their ages and birthplaces.

QUESTIONS:  Isabella is widowed at age 32 with two young children to raise.  How was she supporting herself?  Based on her death record from 1955, she never remarried.  

Of course I had to go looking for more records.  In doing so I may have answered the question about how Isabella was supporting herself and her children.

In Euphemia’s hints on Ancestry there is a link to UK, World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923.  The image can be viewed on Fold3, which I do not currently have a subscription to.

However, I do have a Carlsbad Library card which may give me access to this website.

Sure enough I was able to sign into the library and use my membership number and view the website for Fold3, right here from home.  I found this image of a pension card for Isabella Fitzcharles for her deceased husband’s service in 1^st Royal Scots.  Certainly not as much information as I’d like to have, but this still gives me information about what income Isabella had.  How much was it?  Good question.

Well, I was going to write about the other 1921 Scottish census record I uncovered.  However, this post is already long enough, so I’ll cover that one in a future post.

Do you have Scottish ancestry?  Have you used Scotland’s People to find records?  If so, I’d love to hear your stories. 

If you are related to or connected to anyone in this blog post, please get in touch.  Let’s exchange information.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

 

CENSUS SUNDAY ~ The 1950 census featuring Me and my husband

It’s time I began writing about the 1950 census, which was made public this past April 1^st.

This particular census was a big one for some of us baby boomers.  It would be the first census we are enumerated.  

Ron and I we were fortunate to be born during the first 3 months of 1950 because the census enumerated people in the household on April 1, 1950. 

I was not disappointed and found both of us with our parents, on the very first day the census came out.  While it wasn’t yet indexed, we had all learned ways to find our families by using enumeration indexes and other tricks.  It’s all indexed now and can be searched by name.

To access the 1950 census and find your family, you can go to Ancestry, MyHeritage or Family Search

Here is the 1950 census with me as a baby and my parents.

Click on any image to enlarge it

They are living in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  Both myself and my parents were born in Detroit, as were many other family members.  No surprise that my blog is called Michigan Family Trails.  My Dad is working as a truck driver for Cartage Company.  They are living at 16814 Winston.  In fact I have a picture of them standing in front of that very house prior to my birth.

Here's a scrapbook page I created using that photo.

Here is the 1950 census with my husband Ron and his parents, Gordon & Dorothy.  They are living in San Diego, California at 4339 35^th St.  Gordon is working as a Field Representative at the Pacific Finance Company.  The census correctly states that Gordon was born in California, Dorothy in New York and Ron right there in San Diego.

Of course I have many more family members who appeared in this census and will write about them from time to time.  Especially our grandparents, aunts and uncles.

There were no surprises in this census record in regards to our families.  

• Have you found yourself in this census?  
• How about family members?  
• Were there any surprises for you?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CENSUS SUNDAY ~ Finding 3 ancestor families on one page–GOFF, LUNSFORD, SOWARDS–1870 Missouri

Today I was researching part of my LUNSFORD family.  I got to the 1870 census and got a bonus.  As we know, it should be common practice to look at every name on a census page.  It’s also recommended that you look at the page before and after the record you have found.  I think that’s a great idea, but I don’t always practice it, although I should. In this case I did look at the page before and after and didn’t find any more families I recognized. 

I located 3 ancestor families, with familiar surnames, on one page of an 1870 census for Benton, Polk, Missouri.¹ Actually there is a 4th, working as a laborer in one of the families and his surname, BIRD, is also familiar to me.

I've underlined the family names on this page

(Click on the image to enlarge it)

So, who have I found today?

Line 10-18 - My maternal 3rd great grandaunt, Elizabeth LUNSFORD and her husband James GOFF along with their children John, Sarah A., Dow, Elijah, James M, Reuben and Alice B.  James is a Farmer and Elizabeth is keeping house.  Sarah, Dow, Elijah and James all attend school.  The value of James’ real estate is $1,000 ($19,876 in today’s money) and his personal estate is valued at $393 ($7,812 in today’s money).  James was doing quite well for himself.  Sadly, Elizabeth died just 5 years later in 1875, age 47.

Line 19-25 – My maternal 3rd great granduncle, Reuben LUNSFORD (brother to Elizabeth Lunsford) and his wife Elizabeth B. nee PEYTON and their children Byron, Sarah B, Mary B. and Elizabeth’s mother Mary Lunsford nee HUDSON.  Also in this household is James M. BIRD working as a Farm laborer. The Bird family married into my Hudson family.  Reuben is listed as a farmer, Betsy is keeping house and Byron is a school teacher.  There is no real estate valued for Reuben, but there is a personal estate value of $1150 ($22,862 in today’s money).  I notice that Elizabeth’s mother, Mary does have real estate valued beside her name. I wonder if Reuben is working her land? The value is $1000 ($19,876 in today’s money).

Line 26-30 – My maternal 1st cousin 4 times removed, Archibald SOWARDS and his wife Zippora nee MARKEL.  Their children are Malissa, Maggie and Zula.  The surname is enumerated as Sowers, but the family name is known as Sowards.  Archibald doesn’t have a real estate value listed, but does have personal property valued at $100 ($1,988 in today’s money).  Archibald is the youngest of the 3 men who are farmers in this group.  He is 26 and just starting out, so it makes sense that he doesn’t yet have as much in personal property.

Another item I look at on these census records is the boxes on the right hand side.  In this case, let’s look at who is listed as “cannot read” and “cannot write.”

Cannot Read: James M. Bird, age 18, Zipora Sowards, age 23.

Cannot Write: Dow Goff, age 14, Elijah Goff, age 11, James Bird, age 18 and Zipora Sowards, age 23.

I wonder if those individuals learned to read and write later in their lives?

I also wonder what brought these three families to Missouri?  They were originally from Ohio and Virginia. Did one family go and the rest follow?  Or did they all go at once?  These are questions I always ask, knowing I will probably never find out.

If you are connected to anyone mentioned in this blog post, I’d love to hear from you and exchange information.

Source citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Benton, Polk, Missouri; Roll: M593_800; Page: 13A; Family History Library Film: 552299

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks–Week #10–This week’s theme is Large Family–Let’s look back at John & Mary Lunsford’s 16 children

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CENSUS SUNDAY ~ My 2nd great grandparents Joseph & Susan Gillespie–1900–Detroit, Michigan

That's Susan Burgess Gillespie, Joseph Gillespie and their daughter Susan Milne with her two children, Joseph & baby Irene

I am reviewing information I have for my 2nd great grandparents, Joseph Gillespie and his wife, Susan Burgess.
 
The couple came to the U.S. on 23 Dec 1862 with their two infants.  Their passage was paid for by Susan’s mother, Elizabeth Gaydon Burgess.  I was able to locate this information in a book I purchased called Passage to America 1851-1869: The Records of Richard Elliott, Passenger Agent, Detroit, Michigan by Mary Lou Straith Duncan

 (CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Page 68 showing Joseph & family

I have located Joseph & Susan in the 1870, 1880 and 1900 census records, living in Detroit, Michigan.  The 1900 census would be the last one that Joseph appears in, as he died in 1908 at age 71.  Susan lived another 25 years after his death, never remarrying.  She was 91 when she died.

In this 1900 census the couple is renting a home at 71 Jones St.  Joseph is working as a Machinist, an occupation he took up sometime after 1870.
 
Living in the home with them is their daughter, Susan and her two children, Joseph (my grandfather) and Irene.  Susan became widowed 6 months before the birth of her daughter, Irene.  Her husband Andrew Charles Milne died of consumption 8 Dec 1892.  Little Irene was born 6 months later on 13 Jun 1893.  How sad that Irene never knew her father and that Susan was left widowed.  I also think it’s miraculous that neither Susan nor their young son, Joseph, didn’t contract consumption (tuberculosis) from Andrew. 

Read more about Andrew Charles Milne & Susan Gillespie in these posts WEDDING WEDNESDAY - Andrew Charles Milne & Susan Anne Gillespie – 1880;   TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY ~ The marriage record of my great grandmother, Susan Gillespie and her 2nd husband, Clyde J. Smith – 1904


Here is the cropped portion of my Gillespie family from that 1900 census record.  Note that the Milne surname has been misspelled as Millen.   We all know how many ways our ancestor’s names can be spelled.

The great thing about the 1900 census is the detail it provides (assuming it’s correct) regarding the birth month as well as the year.  We also get the number of years married, how many children born to the woman and how many are still living.  The year of immigration and how many years in the United States and whether alien or naturalized.

This census tells me that Joseph is a naturalized citizen.  One of the types of records I have yet to obtain for any of my ancestors is a naturalization record.  And, there should be quite a few, given that myself and my husband are only a couple of generations removed from our immigrant ancestors on some branches.  Pursuing this naturalization record has moved up on my “to do” list.  Wish me luck.

TIP: In reviewing records we located many years ago, we can almost always learn something new or spot something we missed before.

If you are related to this family (and there must be many of you out there) please contact me.  Surnames associated with this Gillespie family are: ADDICOTT, BAKER, BARROWCLIFF, BECK, BURGESS, CARPENTER, COSWAY, DAVY, GAYDON, MILNE, PATTERSON & ROE.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION