FRIDAY FINDS ~ Family Search Full Text Search

 

I have always loved to learn new skills, or a new way to do things.

I attended my very first Mayflower Historian meeting this week.  I hope to soon learn what I need to in order to review Mayflower Society applications for the state of Montana. 

In the course of this meeting, we had a speaker. Shellie Karol-Chik.

Her subject was Advanced Searches on Family Search.

As most of you know, I’ve been researching for over 20 years. I’ve attended many a class, webinar, seminar and conference.  There are some things that you feel confident about.  Perhaps you are very good at searching on a particular website or using one of the genealogy software programs.

One of the sites I feel confident on is Family Search. BUT, just when you think “what will I learn today that I don’t already know?”  SURPRISE!!!

I learned about a semi-new area of the website called FULL TEXT AI SEARCH. ("This is an experimental Labs product and not guaranteed to always be available. You may also encounter errors and limited data")

GAME CHANGER

I began using this new skill the very next day and have located many documents I had never seen before.

Once you get to the site they have good explanations for Advanced Search Tips and how to use this new tool.  It would be superfluous for me to repeat those tips here.

What I will tell you is that the “quotations marks” make all the difference.

So, let me share some examples with you.

My thought was, why not enter the name of my biggest and longest brick wall.  My paternal 2^nd great grandfather John C. Gould – whose parents are still unknown to me after 20 years.

I did add the years 1830-1930 but you don't have to.  Play around with it a little and see what works best for you.

This is the result page that came up with my search. 11,983,158 results.  That’s obviously too many to view.  BUT, right away I see promising results in those first two records.  And what is that record in Dodge, Minnesota?  He never lived there?  Did he?  But, that record mentions a wife, Sarah M. Gould (which is the correct and only wife for John).  Of course I will look at the record. 

KEEP IN MIND THAT THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THESE RECORDS IS BEING DONE BY AI AND IT’S IMPERATIVE THAT YOU REVIEW THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT YOURSELF.  NOTE: The names you've entered in your search will be highlighted in yellow.

The first record, although John C. Gould’s name was listed in the brief description of the image, it actually reads John C. Fitzgerald. That isn’t my ancestor. A good example of why you must view the actual record.

Now to the second record St. Clair, Michigan Deeds 1866-1868.  What I see in the description is a mention of Sara M. Gould who IS John’s wife.

St. Clair, Michigan, Deeds 1866-1868

I see there is the sale of land to Lyman C. Hart who happens to be John C. Gould’s brother-in-law.  I will work on transcribing this image at a later date.

Now let’s take a look at that entry for Dodge Deeds 1863-1864 in, of all places, Minnesota.  Not a place I have ever connected with my John C. Gould or his wife Sarah.

Dodge, Minnesota, Deed 1863-1864

This appears to be a sale of land from John C. Gould & his wife Sarah M. Gould to Darwin Keller, in the County of Dodge in the state of Minnesota.

How did my ancestor come to own land in Minnesota?

This is a question I will explore.  I have no record of he or his wife ever being in Minnesota, I have only a handful of ancestors who have a Minnesota location at one time or another, but not from my Gould line.

I’m grateful to have located these bits of information about John C. Gould. Since I have yet to find evidence that proves who his parents were, any new information is welcome.

I’ve run several other ancestor names in this full text search and found a marriage record I didn’t have and other land records…..so far.

I hope many of you will try this feature on Family Search.  It has certainly yielded a few nuggets for me.  Let me know what your finds are. 

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 ©  2010-2024   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

 

MYSTERY MONDAY Repost with Updates - Who's Your Daddy? John C. Gould (1833-1919)

 

If I could ask for just one thing regarding my genealogy research this year, it would be to find out who John C. Gould’s parents were.

This is an update on my original post from 2015.  I have indicated in Red where new information or discoveries have been made

Gould is my maiden name.  Only being able to take that name back to my 2nd great grandfather and no further is my biggest genealogical brick wall.  And, if I don’t uncover this mystery my youngest brother may never consider my research a success.  He listens to my great finds and revealing stories and then asks “but, have you found out who John’s parents were?”

Here is a brief bio:

JOHN C. GOULD – born Jan 1833 in Michigan, married Sarah M. HART on 7 Oct 1858 in Armada, Macomb, Michigan.  Had one son, William Val Gould (probably born as Vivaldo William Gould) in 1859. Had one daughter, Julene E. Gould who lived 2 years 1861-1863.  Wife Sarah died on 11 Nov 1911 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  John died 19 May 1919, age 86, in Nankin Township, Eloise, Wayne, Michigan.  He is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Armada, Macomb, Michigan.

GOULD RD. SIGN - LOCATED IN ARMADA, MACOMB, MICHIGAN

Here’s what I’ve done during the past dozen or so years to find John’s parents:

• Looked at census records for the years 1840-1920 that could possibly contain his name.  Including tracking the Gould heads of household for the census years 1830 and 1840 in Michigan.
• Located him in the 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900 and 1910 census records in Michigan.
• Located his Civil War Draft Registration card
• Located a purchase and sale of land in Macomb County, Michigan in 1863 and 1871.
• Located him on Agriculture census records in 1850 and 1870.
• Ordered and received his marriage record to Sarah M. Hart
• Located him in Detroit City Directory listings beginning in 1878.  With the final City Directory listing I could locate in 1912.
• Researched his wife, Sarah M. Hart’s entire family, including siblings and their spouses.
• Located the death record and obituary for his wife Sarah in 1911.
• Found out everything I could about his son, William V. Gould and his family.
• I’ve hired two professional researchers back in Michigan to assist me.  They added a little bit of information, but found nothing about his parents.
• I’ve gone back to Michigan and gone to the courthouse in Macomb County and researched probate records for a Gould family I have always strongly believed could be connected.  No mention of John in the records.
• I’ve posted inquiries on RootsWeb beginning in 2006.
• Sent emails to Macomb County genealogy group – no records found
• Gone to the Mt. Clemens Library in Macomb County and looked for records, books etc. – Nothing found
• Talked to people in the Armada Village office, asking about the naming of Gould Rd. in the town of Armada.  They could provide no information.
• Checked all Goulds buried in Michigan on the FindAGrave site.  I have entered a memorial for him (burial unknown) #32438846 and was later able to confirm his burial at Rose Hill Cemetery.
• Checked marriage records for the same time frame that he and Sarah were married, looking for possible siblings for John.
• Sent numerous other emails to people I’ve found on mailing lists or websites.
• Located a possible death certificate on seekingmichigan.org.  This John Gould died in Eloise State Hospital.  Much of the information on this certificate fits, but no parents are listed.  I have contacted people who may have information on Eloise Hospital records or burials and come up empty. UPDATE - After finding the article about his burial I am convinced this death certificate is the correct John Gould. (see image below)
• I’ve also read several books about brick walls, hoping for some spark that might lead me to John’s parents.
• Had my brother, direct descendant of John C. Gould, provide DNA.  There are no other known direct male descendants.  He has done both YDNA and Ancestry autosomal with results uploaded to all the sites.   As of 10 Jan 2019 I have not located a good match.  My brother's Gedmatch number is A567536.

QUESTIONS   

1.  What have I missed?

2.  Where should I look next?

Here is a descendant report that shows John & Sarah’s son, William and his children, which includes my grandfather, Harry Whipple Gould.

 

1-John C. GOULD [56]{FindAGrave #32438846 & #125849145}

born: Jan 1833, , , MI

died: After 1910

+Sarah M. HART [130]{FindAGrave #32439008}

born: Dec 1835, , , , Canada

marr: 7 Oct 1858, Armada, Macomb, MI

died: 11 Nov 1911, Detroit, Wayne, MI

parents: Henry HART [143]{FindAGrave #31946503} and Olive Glasier DOTEN [144]{FindAGrave #31946513}

2-William Val GOULD [7]{FindAGrave # 31868691}

born: 31 Aug 1859, Armada, Macomb, MI

died: 24 Feb 1924, Detroit, Wayne, MI

+Mary "Mae" Eve THORP [8]{FindAGrave # 24216381}

born: 4 Apr 1862, Oswego, Oswego, NY

marr: 1881

died: 3 Nov 1946, Detroit, Wayne, MI

parents: Horace Henry THORP [131]{FindAGrave #32025637} and Catherine C. DORSEY [132]{FindAGrave ~

3-Unknown GOULD [2485]

born:

died:

3-Ford Val GOULD [17]{FindAGrave #61960668}

born: 31 Aug 1884, Detroit, Wayne, MI

died: 17 Jun 1947, Detroit, Wayne, MI

3-Harry Whipple GOULD [5]{FindAGrave #14481532}

born: 10 Feb 1886, Detroit, Wayne, MI

died: 17 Feb 1960, Ft. Lauderdale, Broward, FL, United States

3-Roy V. GOULD [16]{FindAGrave #61961339}

born: 26 May 1888, , , MI

died: 18 Jul 1971, Yucaipa, San Bernardino, CA.

3-Gladys Lillian GOULD [19]{FindAGrave#88657246}

born: 11 Jul 1890, Detroit, Wayne, MI

died: 8 Oct 1966, Detroit, Wayne, MI

3-May Adele GOULD [18]{FindAGrave #91531460}

born: 25 Feb 1898, , , MI

died: 28 Sep 1984, , San Bernardino, CA

3-Helen C. GOULD [21]{FindAGrave #32439516}

born: 12 Mar 1901, Detroit, Wayne, MI

died: 17 Feb 1945, Detroit, Wayne, MI

2-Julene E. GOULD [221]{FindAGrave #132128928}

born: 1861, Armada, Macomb, MI

died: 27 Sep 1863, Armada, Macomb, MI

Documents associated with John C. Gould    (Click on any image to enlarge it)

Marriage record - John C. Gould & Sarah Hart 1858	Land Purchase in Macomb Co., Michigan 1863	Civil War Draft Registration for John C. Gould 1863
Sale of land in Macomb Co., Michigan 1871	Death certificate for Mrs. Sara Gould 1911	Death notice for Sarah Gould 1911
	Death certificate for John Gould - 19 May 1919

Newspaper article about John's remains being moved
from Detroit to Rose Hill Cemetery in Armada - 23 May 1919

And here are his direct line male descendants with their relationship to him:

Son - William V. Gould 1859-1924

Grandson - Harry W. Gould 1886-1960

Great grandson - Harry N. Gould 1912-1991

2nd great grandson - H. N. Gould II

3rd great grandson - Joshua J. Gould

There you have him.  My biggest genealogical mystery & brick wall to date. 
  
If you have any ideas, suggestions or strategies to knock down this wall, please contact me. 
 
OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

Breaking Down A Brick Wall - Finding Elizabeth Fitzcharles Parents
Setting Goals, Focusing, Organizing - How Do We Handle These Issues?
 
Happy hunting,

Copyright ©  2010-2023   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FINALLY~I have figured out the calendar dates in this photo! A great way to end the year

 

This is the original photo as it looked after I scanned it years ago.  This would have been at my great grandmother, Mae Gould's home in Detroit, Michigan

What are the dates on these two calendars?

For many years I have had this photo of my Dad, Harry Norman Gould and his grandma, Mae Eve Thorp Gould, holding calendars.

I have tried to see the month and year on these calendars, but been unable to clear them up enough to do so.  I used my Photo Shop Elements as well as My Heritage photo enhancement, but the month and year were still not clear.

Then today, it suddenly dawned on me.  Why don’t I use the calendar feature in my Legacy program and try to match the calendar configurations with those in the photo? 

My suspicion has always been that these calendars had something to do with 1924, which was the year my great grandfather, William V. Gould (1859-1924) died.  He was the husband of the woman in the photo.  My Dad would have been 11-12 yrs old at the time, depending on the dates.  Based on other photos I have of him, this picture would be about that same time.

Lo and behold, I went to the Legacy calendar feature and started going through 1924, month by month and seeing which one matched either of the calendars.  I use the Legacy calendar feature very often, probably at least once a week. It is quite useful in my research.

FINALLY, I located it – DECEMBER 1924.  Then I looked at JANUARY 1925 and it matches the other calendar perfectly.

December 1924 on the left and January 1925 on the right - they match up perfectly with the images in the photo

So, there it is.  My great grandmother, Mae is holding the December 1924 calendar and my Dad is holding the January 1925 calendar.  Now that I've figured it out, you can zoom in and see the word at the top of my Dad's calendar looks like January. Perhaps they were saying goodbye to 1924, a sad year for the family, and welcoming the new year?  Another thought.  My Dad's 12th birthday would have been December 31, 1924.  Were they commemorating that? 

Happy dance here.

TIP – Never give up on solving photo mysteries.  I cannot tell you how many times I’ve gone back to a photo I’ve looked at over and over again, and finally figured out who was in it.  Or, in this case, what the dates were in the image. 

Do you have mystery photos?  I’d love to see them.

And, Happy Birthday to my Dad who was born 110 years ago tomorrow.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION