USING MICHIGANOLOGY WEBSITE–Finding death certificates from 1944 & 1945

For a very long time I made use of the Seeking Michigan website.  They offered us death record images that were 75 years or older and various other historical documents.

Every year I looked forward to January 1st when the new records would come online.  I would use my Legacy program to figure out which of my Michigan ancestors died in a certain year and look for those records.  I believe we were up to 1942 or 1943 death records, when the Seeking Michigan site was taken down and all records were transferred to Michiganology. 

When this change over first took place it was nearly impossible to find records that were so easy to locate on the Seeking Michigan site.  Many of us with Michigan roots were pretty frustrated.  I offered a LOT of feedback to the new site, as did others.

In the ensuing 4 or so years I have pretty much avoided the website. 

Recently I decided that there really were records I needed and maybe, just maybe there had been some improvements in the search engine on the site.

I’m happy to say that I was well rewarded for my efforts. 

I went in with a list of 1944 and 1945 deaths for which I needed a certificate.  There were 11 people on my list.  In review I had two of the certificates already, shared with me by my cousins Paula & Marion. 

That left 9 death certificates to find.  

How many was I able to locate?  8 of the 9.

I found that the less information I entered the better my chances were of finding a record.  Just a first and last name or even just a last name and year of death. It seemed to me that the website was working better than it had a few years ago.  I still think there is room for improvement.  On the occasion when I didn’t enter a year of death I was given a list of names and the county they died in.  When you get a long list of results with the same name, it would be nice for them to list the year of death to narrow it down a bit.

As you can see below, in entering William Gould, I received 31 hits. This screen shot just shows the first few.  But, if I didn’t know what county I might end up having to look at all 31 records.  Having a death year would improve this. 

(Please click on the image to enlarge it)

Here are the list of names for those death certificates I located

CURRY, Frederick William – 5 Nov 1944, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

ERB, Catherine – 8 Dec 1945, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

GOULD, Helen C – 17 Feb 1945, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

HEAD, Emogine – 19 Nov 1945, Three Oaks, Berrien, Michigan

LINDOW, Charles Herman – 10 Feb 1944, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan 

McTAGGART, Sarah – 10 May 1944, Bad Axe, Huron, Michigan

PRATT, James William – 26 May 1944, Richmond, Macomb, Michigan

SINE, Hattie – 6 Apr 1944, Albion, Calhoun, Michigan

I was not able to access the record for Grace M. Thorpe Stanton, who died May 29, 1945.  It’s possible those images just haven’t been uploaded yet.  I’ll try again later this year.

UPDATE - On March 15, 2021, I went back to the Michiganology website and searched again for Grace Thorpe Stanton's death certificate and found it.  Perhaps I hadn't searched correctly the first time.  Never give up!

Overall, I’m very pleased with being able to locate this many death records.  Wouldn’t it be great if all states had vital records available like this?  I know many do….but not all.

If you have Michigan ancestors and haven’t used the Michiganology website in a while, I’d encourage you to try again. 

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2021   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN ~ Where were your ancestors 80 years ago?

An idea from Randy Seaver’s weekly Saturday Night Fun blog suggestions.

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) Determine where your ancestral families were on 1 April 1940 - 80 years ago when the U.S. census was taken.

2)  List them, their family members, their birth years, and their residence location (as close as possible).  Do you have a photograph of their residence from about that time, and does the residence still exist?

3)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status post.

• My father – Harry Norman Gould, age 27, working as a Statistician at the State Auditors Office, renting a home at 12892 Faust Ave., Detroit, Michigan.  His first wife, Elaine Gertrude Croft, age 21 was living there as well.

(Click on any image to enlarge it)

12892 Faust Ave. Detroit, MI - courtesy of Google Maps ©

 

My mother – Patricia A. Milne, age 15, was living with her parents and older brother at 14156 Strathmore, Detroit, Michigan. My grandfather Joseph A. Milne, age 56 was a salesman, my grandmother Florence Milne nee Bowden, age 52 and my Uncle Robert A. Milne, age 31 working at an automobile factory, were in this household.

14156 Strathmore, Detroit, MI - courtesy of Google Maps ©

• My paternal grandfather – Harry W. Gould, age 51, working as an Assignment Clerk for the Common Pleas Court, was living at 14520 Asbury Park in Detroit, Michigan as was my grandmother, Marie Gould nee Lindsay, age 50.  They owned this home and I went there as a child. 

14520 Asbury Park, Detroit, MI - photo taken by me in 2007

• My paternal great grandmother, Mae Eve Gould nee Thorp, age 77, widowed, lived at 5639 Linwood in Detroit, Michigan in a home she owned.  Her son, my great Uncle Ford, age 50 was living with her.  He worked as a Truck Driver for a lumber company.  Also in the home was my widowed great grandaunt, Catherine “Kittie” Thorpe (her maiden name was Thorp and she married a man named Thorpe), age 75.

This house no longer exists 

• My maternal great grandmother – Susan Anne Milne nee Gillespie, widowed, age 79 was living at 5029 Ridgewood, Detroit, Michigan.  She was living with her daughter Irene Roe and Irene’s husband Everett and their daughter, Betty Jane. 

Ridgewood St in Detroit, MI - courtesy of Google maps ©

• My other maternal great grandmother – Florence Bowden Bell nee Hunter, age 70 was living at 4426 Windsor in Kansas City, Missouri, with her 2nd husband, George K. Bell, age 70.

4426 Windsor, Kansas City, MO - courtesy of Google maps ©

My direct line ancestors who were living when the 1940 census was taken were:

My Father – Harry Norman Gould, Sr.

My Mother – Patricia Anne Milne

My 2 paternal grandparents – Harry Gould & Marie Lindsay Gould

My 2 maternal grandparents – Joseph Milne & Florence Bowden Milne

My paternal great grandmother – Mae Eve Thorp Gould

Two of my maternal great grandmothers – Susan Gillespie Milne & Florence Hunter Bowden Bell

That’s a total of 9 ancestors.   All but one of them were living in Detroit, Michigan at the time of the 1940 census.

This was interesting and fun and I thank Randy Seaver of Geneamusings for the post idea.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FOLLOW UP FRIDAY ~ The obituary for Isaac Doten Hart–died 2 Sep 1920 in Bay City, Michigan

Published in Bay City Times, 2 Sep 1920, page 3

 A couple of days ago I wrote about Isaac D. Hart having been injured in an accident in 1905, involving a street car.  I said that I located those articles, about the accident and following court case, while searching for his obituary.

Well, I did find his obituary.  It was published in the Bay City Times on 2 Sep 1920, page 3.  This was 15 years after the street car accident and there’s no indication that his death was related to the accident.  His death certificate lists cause of death as Senility

 

Here is my transcription of his obituary:

Isaac D. Hart aged 86, died Wednesday afternoon at the home of his son, Ellis C. Hart, 230 Lincoln avenue, north, after an illness of several weeks.  Mr. Hart, years ago, was a teacher of music in the Saginaw schools.  Later he moved to North Williams, where he lived for many years and for a number of years past he has made his home with his son in this city.  His wife died a little over a year ago.  He is survived by his son, two brothers, Leonard of Lansing and Simeon of Detroit, a sister, Mrs. Arminda Ingram of Saginaw, five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.  Funeral services will be held at the home at 2:30 Friday afternoon and the remains will be taken to Armada, Mich., for interment Saturday morning.  The family requests that flowers be omitted.

Isaac was predeceased by his wife, Eliza who died in 1915.  Both of them are said to be buried in Armada, Michigan (as stated on their death records).  I have not yet located the cemetery where they are buried.  I looked again this morning, conducting all sorts of searches on FindAGrave and Billion Graves.  I also looked again, for an obituary for Eliza and could not locate one.

If anyone reading this has more information as to the burial location of Isaac & Eliza, I would love to hear from you.  Or, if you are related to this family and perhaps have information to share or want to ask me questions, please get in touch.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks ~ Week #8–Leonard Almanson Hart–My 2nd great granduncle and younger brother of Isaac.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

ANCESTORS IN THE NEWS ~ Isaac D. Hart takes Bay City Traction Co., to court for damages - Michigan 1905

Today I was looking more closely at Isaac Doten Hart, the oldest child of my 3rd great grandparents, Henry Hart and Olive Doten.  It’s through Olive’s line, the Doten’s, that I hope to be accepted into the Mayflower Society.

Isaac Doten Hart is my 2nd great granduncle.  He was born 18 Mar 1834, probably in Canada.  He married Eliza Maria Richards on 20 Apr 1860 in Lapeer, Lapeer Co., Michigan.  They had one child, a son, Ellis.
 
I was searching for an obituary for Isaac when I came across a couple of other interesting tidbits.  I enjoy finding newspaper articles about my ancestors that tell me more about their daily lives.
 
In this case, Isaac D. Hart was struck by a street car and thrown from his rig, while delivery butter & eggs in his “wagon.”  The incident took place on 13 Jul 1905 in Bay City, Michigan while he was crossing Columbus Street.  He was not badly injured, but did sustain bruises.

Article 1 – Isaac Hart Dumped out of His Wagon

Bay City Daily Tribune, 14 Jul 1905, page 5

Article 2 – Says he want $2,000 in damages

Bay City Times, 31 Jul 1905, page 4

Article 3 – The case goes to trial and now the damages are $2,500

Bay City Times, 11 Oct 1905, page 3

Article 4 – The jury decides on $50 - I'm sure, a disappointment to the plaintiff, Isaac

Bay City Times, 13 Oct 1905, page 1

I’m happy that no one was seriously injured in this mishap.  I’ve certainly learned that taking people or companies to court is nothing new.  It’s been happening for centuries and usually makes for interesting reading.

Have you found newspaper articles or other references to your ancestors going to court?  I’d love to hear about them.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

WHAT I NEVER KNEW ABOUT COURTHOUSE RECORDS

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

MILITARY MONDAY ~ Honoring Pfc Robert Dean Thornton–killed in action in World War II - 1945

PLEASE CLICK ON THE TRIANGLE TO PLAY ROBERT'S MEMORIAL VIDEO

Robert Dean Thornton is my 2nd cousin once removed. Meaning we share a common ancestor – my 3rd great grandparents,  Charles Milne (1822-1877) and Margaret Ritchie (1820-1902).

BACKGROUND: Robert was the son of George Thornton (1881-1951) and Goldie Downing (1883-1962) of Muskegon, Michigan.  Robert was their youngest child.  He had older siblings, Lottie Mae, Goldie M., Marjorie and George “Williard.”

According to his headstone and military records, Robert was born 29 Aug 1919 in Michigan. NOTE: There is one record that gives his birthdate as 29 Sep 1919.

I first find Robert as a 4 month old in the 1920 census, in Muskegon, Michigan.  He again appears in the 1930 and 1940 census records with his parents, living in Muskegon, Michigan.
On 16 Oct 1940 Robert reported to the Local Board No. 2 in Muskegon, Michigan to register for the draft.  He is listed as 5’ 7 1/2”, 150 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion.  He was working for Hercules Motor and he was 21 years old.

WORLD WAR II DRAFT REGISTRATION - 1940

On 6 Mar 1941 Robert married Jacklyn M. Ritersdorf, in Definance, Defiance Co., Ohio.

Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993
Name:    Jacklyn M Ritersdorf
Gender:    Female
Age:    21
Birth Date:    abt 1920
Marriage Date:    6 Mar 1941
Marriage Place:    Defiance, Ohio, USA
Father:    William Ritersdorf
Mother:    Mary Edgerly
Spouse:    Robert D Thornton
Film Number:    001977645

Just 9 months after their marriage on 7 Dec 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed. This as we all know, began the U.S. entry into World War II.

On 25 May 1943 Robert D. Thornton enlisted in the Army.  Less than 2 months later he and his wife, Jackie divorced. That means the divorce would have begun prior to his enlistment.  Did the divorce proceedings have anything to do with his enlistment?  I have no way of knowing.
 
However, just 18 days after the divorce was final, Robert married Paula Evelyn Johnson on 27 Jul 1943 in Comanche, Stephens, Oklahoma.
 
Oklahoma, County Marriage Records, 1890-1995
Name:    Robert Dean Thornton
Gender: Male
Age:    24
Birth Date: abt 1919
Marriage Date:    27 Jul 1943
Marriage Place: Comanche, Oklahoma, USA
Spouse: Paula Evelyn Johnson
Film Number:    001869740

Robert was a Private First Class in the 378 Infantry Division, 95th Division, Company G.  According to military records Robert was killed in action, at age 25 on 6 Apr 1945 in Germany.  That means that Robert was killed just 32 days prior to the war’s end.  He made it for two years and then sadly, died just a month before he could have come home.

Robert's body was returned home for burial in October 1948, along with others from Muskegon, who had died in the war.  The local high school that Robert attended displayed a bronze tablet honoring those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice.

They also mentioned them and shared photos of them in the 1945 yearbook.

Robert is buried at Mona View Cemetery in Muskegon, Michigan. His headstone memorializes his service to our country.  You may visit his memorial here #46411967.

I am honored to be related to this military hero.  May he rest in peace.

If you are related to anyone mentioned in this post, or have additions or corrections, please contact me.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FINALLY! Proving the father of my 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart (1805-1887–WHAT DID I FIND?

Olive DOTEN is my paternal 3rd great grandmother.  She was born in May 1805 in Vermont.  My search for Olive’s parents began early in my research, I’d say about 2005. What were her parent’s names?  Since she is married in the 1850 census, and the census records prior to that only have head of household (usually the men), I needed to find out some other way.

In 2000, I began keeping a spreadsheet to keep track of records I had ordered by mail or online.  This was back when we didn’t have so many records available online.  Because of my spreadsheet entry I know that I sent for Olive and her husband, Henry’s death certificates on 4 Apr 2005, from Macomb County, Michigan, I received them on 22 Apr 2005 and I paid $10 each for them.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT) 
 

Yes, I received them, but they were transcribed copies and NOT the original records.  Helpful, but not always accurate, as most of us know.

Here’s her death certificate as received.  We are concentrating on parent’s names so let’s see what the certificate says.  Isaac & Sally DOLERI. 

 
That precipitated a long search for the surname DOLERI in Vermont, where Olive was born and in surrounding states.  I looked in every record you can think of and found nothing for Isaac or Sally Doleri.  In fact, back when I was looking, there were very few records for that surname.

I called the Macomb County Clerk’s office and asked if they would please send me a copy of the original record.  I, of course, offered to pay for it.  They said they could not release it, and the transcribed copy would have to suffice.  Darn!

Back in 2011 based on evidence from information about the DOTEN family in Monkton, Vermont and the name of her oldest son being Isaac Doten Hart, I changed the focus of my search to the surname DOTEN. 

In the meantime, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950 came online and later images were added.  OH BOY!!!  DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?  Her parents listed as Isaac & Sally DOTEN.

Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950
Name:    Olive G Hart
[Olive G Doten]
Gender:    Female
Marital Status:    Widowed
Birth Date:    1806
Birth Place:    Vermont
Death Date:    10 Apr 1887
Death Place:    Armada, Macomb, Michigan, USA
Death Age:    81
File Number:    14
Father:    Isaac Doten
Mother:    Sally Doten

And when the image was added online I was finally able to make my own decision as to what was written.  Look closely at the parent’s name in the right column.  Does that say Doleri or Doten?  A transcriber should always look closely at how all the entries were written.  You can see that this person carried the cross mark on his T’s a little to the side on some of the entries.  He does that in several names like the name Walter, Hebblewhite and Milton.  ALWAYS remember to look at other entries on any record you receive. 

IS THIS PROOF THAT ISAAC & SALLY WERE HER PARENTS?  NO, it’s evidence, but not proof.  My search continued.

Fast forward to 2019.  Last weekend while attending SCGS Jamboree, I had some spare time. You can read about my experience here SCGS JAMBOREE 2019 ~ It was a fun time with friends and lots of learning.

I decided to look on Ancestry for Vermont probate records and look for Isaac DOTEN.  I’d done plenty of background research and had plenty of “possible” Isaac Dotens in my Legacy database.   Had I searched for probate records before?  Yes, but it’s been a few years.
 
I went directly to Vermont, Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999 and entered Isaac Doten with a death date of 1855 plus or minus 5 yrs.  This was based on my research of the Doten family in Vermont.  No records found.  I tried all sorts of combinations of names.  First name only, last name only, no death year.  You get the idea.  NOTHING!

Now I went into the “general” search “all collections” and tried again. Look at what I entered in the search box d?tin.  We have to try everything.

FINALLY, after many tries I’ve come up with some possibles, in the right place, Vermont, with a matching first name of Isaac.

 
I clicked on the link for Vermont, Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999 (yes, I had just searched that very database and come up empty). Never give up.  This is what I saw.  LOOK!  This Isaac is in Addison, Vermont, which is the exact county where I’ve located so many Isaac Doten’s.

I began going through the pages of this 26 page will packet and OH MY GOSH!!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

On page 5 of the record is the list of Isaac Doten’s daughters AND THESE MUST ALL BE THEIR MARRIED NAMES!!!  I had no idea if Olive had siblings or who they might be.  I immediately recognized the name Hannah Burrell.  I’d found a Hannah Burrell, age 69 living with Henry & Olive Hart & their children in the 1860 census in Michigan.  I’d never been able to figure out her connection to the family (if there was one)……..until now.

Here they are, Olive and her sisters:
HANNAH BURRELL, LYDIA CREED, OLIVE HART & BETSY SUMNER

Here's a close up of that section in this probate record that nearly made me jump up and down at the conference last weekend.

 
Are you doing the happy dance with me?  I was pretty excited. I have now OFFICIALLY proven that my Olive Hart was the daughter of Isaac Doten. This record along with other evidence is my proof.  Additionally, I’ve taken my family back another generation AND I have Olive’s sisters to research.  What will I find?  By the way, there was a brother, also named Isaac.  He was the oldest and was the administrator of the will for his father.

How I am connected to Isaac Doten, Sr.

Isaac Doten, Sr. & Sally Follett – my 4th great grandparents

Olive G. Doten & Henry Hart – my 3rd great grandparents

Sarah M. Hart & John C. Gould – my 2nd great grandparents

William V. Gould & Mae E. Thorp – my great grandparents

Harry W. Gould & Marie W. Lindsay – my grandparents

Harry N. Gould & Patricia A. Milne – my parents

Stay tuned for more posts about my Doten line.

If you are related to the Doten family or anyone else named in this post, please contact me.  I need to find more cousins from these lines.  I am on Gedmatch A918842.  If you match, let me know.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FINDING A LETTER FROM MY GRANDMOTHER–Florence Bowden Milne 1888-1986

As genealogists, there are many things that make us go WOW!  But, for sure one of the biggest ones for me is finding correspondence from one of my beloved grandparents.  In fact, the ONLY correspondence that I have in my possession happens to come from my maternal grandmother, Florence.  I do remember that she and I wrote back and forth quite often in the 1970’s and early 1980’s.  I sure wish I’d have saved every letter.

Here’s a screenshot from my Legacy tree.  You can see that I have a HUGE problem on my grandmother’s paternal side.  I used to ask her questions about her family.  Trouble is, I didn’t write everything down.  One of her responses to my question about her father, Robert Bowden’s parents was that she didn’t know their names.

 (CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

However, my grandmother, Florence, was our family historian and left me a LOT of ancestor information.

Anyway, while cleaning out boxes in our garage yesterday I did come across a letter from my grandmother to me.  The other letter I have from her is dated 1978, this one is 14 Sep 1980.  AND, it’s in an envelope!!  Future DNA testing may be possible from the envelope so I’m thrilled with that find.



NOTE:  Still having trouble inserting images as Open Live Writer is not working properly and using Blogger directly is less than satisfactory.  So forgive any misaligned images etc.


Here’s the letter itself.

Here’s my transcription of this treasured letter.  I explained a couple of things, which I’ve highlighted in red.

hands shaking and writing awful (my grandmother wrote this at the top of the page)
                                                                                Sept. 14, 80
Dear Diane: – You must think I am a very neglectful grandmother but it just seems like so many things come up and people coming in. So, if you can forgive me I will try to do bettr.  Joan (she is my Aunt, Florence’s daughter) is slowly recovering then just as we are having a breathing spell she over does and she gets the shaking inside again.  You know that the last bad time in hospital she stopped breathing and in their efforts to revive her they broke 3 ribs. So that complicated everything but it is all coming out well.  We have a very nice apt. in a big complex, quiet and beautiful grounds.
I don’t know if I shall ever get rested but the Lord provides the strength we need.  I used to knit bed socks for Red Cross in Houston but Red Cross (she means in Livonia or Detroit) has no such thing so when the most of the confusion etc. died down I didn’t have a project on hand but Joan’s church has a lady has 3 homes orphans and others she supplies with bed socks, but told church members she needed knitters.  She supplies the money for yarn!  So I am in business again.  I finally got toenails & eye glasses fixed but need to have lower plate repaired.  Joan can drive now so my gson does not have to do my needs.  I finally got a letter from Pat (Pat is my mother, Florence’s youngest daughter). I was worried about them and in the letter very little news but – Bless you my dear for writing.  Love for you and Norman
Grandma

I tried to leave the transcription exactly as the words on the page are written.

My Aunt Joan died 5 years later on 2 Dec 1985.  I don’t have her cause of death and need to ask my cousin if he has a copy of her death certificate.

The letter has a return address of 31189 Morlock Apt 519, Livonia, Michigan.  I looked on Google Earth and found that the apartment complex still exists, at least according to Google Earth’s view.
 

3119 Morlock, Livonia, MI - courtesy of Google Earth

The ancestor surnames associated with my grandmother Florence’s family are: BARROWCLIFF, BOGGS, BOWDEN, BOWEN, BURGESS, CRITCHFIELD, DEAVER, DENSLER, FRAMPTON, GAYDON, GILLEN, GILLESPIE, HUDSON, HUNTER, LUNSFORD, MARTIN, MILNE, RITCHIE, RUMMELSPACHER, WUNDERLICH

To see more items from my grandmother Florence, you can click on this tab on the top of my blog My Grandmother's Journal.

PLEASE CONTACT ME AGAIN IF YOU HAVE ANY CONNECTIONS TO THE SURNAMES I’VE MENTIONED.  
Let’s see if we’re cousins.

Happy hunting, 
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ Roy Jerome Hart (1883-1946) Perry, Shiawassee, Michigan

Published in the Lansing State Journal 16 Sep 1946, page 2

Roy Jerome Hart is a descendant of my 3rd great grandfather, Henry Hart and his first wife, Sarah Sumner.  This makes Roy my half 2nd cousin twice removed.

Transcription of Obituary:

 

PERRY, Sept. 16 - Funeral services for Roy J. Hart, 63, will be held Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock from the Church of the Nazarene, Rev. John Smith, pastor, officiating.  Burial will be in Oak Plains Cemetery, Shaftsburg.
The body is at Oakes funeral home where it will remain until one hour previous to the services at the church.
Mr. Hart died suddenly about noon Sunday while attending church.  He had just taken up the collection and sat down in his pew when he dropped over dead.  Death was caused from a heart attack.  He had been ill about three months.
He was born March 14, 1883, at Plainfield, the son of Seth and Nettie Hart.  He was married twice, the first wife being Olive Hart who died September 9, 1931, at Shaftsburg.  He was married the second time October 29, 1932, to Mrs. Rose Martin at Shaftsburg.
He had been the manager of the Laingsburg pickle station for 15 years and had resided in Shaftsburg until he came to Perry 11 years ago.
Surviving are the widow; three daughters, Mrs. Lizzie Woodbury of Pontiac, Mrs. Lucille Martin of Rochester and Mrs. Lenna Nanasy of Morrice; three sons, LeRoy Hart of Williamston, Leo Hart of Lansing and Lawrence Hart of Perry; five brothers, Ned Hart, Eugene Hart, Hartley Hart, all of Laingsburg, Robert Hart of Haslett and Harry Hart of Shaftsburg; two sisters, Mrs. Lizzie Southwell of Shaftsburg and Mrs. Mable Richard of Lake City; four stepchildren; 31 grandchildren; 1 great grandchild; 13 step grandchildren and 6 step-great grandchildren.

I imagine having someone die in the middle of a church service must have been a shock to all the members.

While I’ve always been interested in my Hart line, that interest was recently peaked when I connected with a 4th cousin via DNA.  She is directly connected to Roy Jerome Hart who is her 2nd great grandfather.

Roy married Olive Venina Hunter on 14 Mar 1901 in Carunna, Shiawassee, Michigan.  They had 7 children together: Lelah May, Vivian “Lizzie”, Leroy Andrew, Lawrence B., Leo George, Lucille V. and Lennah Louise.

Here's Roy & Olive with 5 of their children.  Photo courtesy of Peter Young.

After Olive died, according to Roy’s obituary, he married again to a Mrs. Rose Martin.  Until finding this obituary I had no record of a second wife.

NOTE:  This particular obituary is full of genealogical information, from marriage and death dates and places to names of a lot of family members.  We don’t always get this lucky when it comes to obituaries.  I’d like to thank whoever wrote this one. 

I have located Roy in census records with his parents, Seth Andrew Hart and Nettie Wright and with his wife Olive.  After his marriage to Olive in 1901 he worked as a Farmer, according to the 1910, 1920 and 1930 census records.  I see from the obituary that he managed a pickle station for 15 years. What in the world is a pickle station?

Since Google is our friend, let’s find out.  According to what I learned Shiawassee County, Michigan was a center for the growing and processing of cucumbers into pickles.  Who knew?  I have no evidence at this point that our Roy Jerome Hart was growing cucumbers in his farming endeavors.  However, he is listed in the Shiawassee Farm Journal (published in 1917)  on page 22.

I checked the front of the book to learn what all the abbreviations in the entries stood for and from that I can translate Roy’s entry as follows:

Hart, R. J. (Olive) 5 children, Owns 80 acres with 2 horses and 7 cattle, address of Rural Route No. 1, Shaftsburg Wdhl 48, Ind tel ( I suspect the tel stands for telephone).  I did not find a translation of Wdhl or Ind in the journal.

Roy was only 63 when he died.  He and Olive are buried at Oak Plain Cemetery in Shaftsburg, Michigan.  You can visit their memorials here; Roy #40017951 and Olive #40017952.  There are 39 Hart memorials in the Oak Plain Cemetery.

Update - After finishing this blog post I discovered another child born to Roy & Olive.  A little girl named Edith Pauline, born 29 Jul 1903 and died at age 4 on new year's day 1908.  Her death was a result of peritonitis from an intestinal obstruction.  How sad. I have not found her burial location.

If you are related to any of the people mentioned in this post and want to exchange information, I’d love to hear from you.  Leave me a comment or use the “contact me” tab on the blog.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

HOW I FOLLOW A TRAIL OF RECORDS & ANALYZE WHAT I FIND–HENRY HART FAMILY–PART 3 (from here you can read Part 1 & 2)

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARYS ~ Henry Croft & Sarah McTaggart Croft–1930 and 1944, Michigan

 

Today I’m featuring Henry & Sarah Croft.  They are the 2nd great grandparents of my two half nieces.  The Croft’s are direct ancestors of my father’s first wife, Elaine Croft, whom he married in 1936.  My Dad & Elaine had two daughters together (my half sisters, Norlaine & Virginia).

I took another look at the Croft family this week after being contacted by a DNA match to my half niece.  This match believed he was connected via the Croft/Sinclair line and I wanted to help out.

Elaine Croft was the daughter of Alexander Croft and his wife Rachel Sinclair.  Up to this point, I had never gone back further on the Croft line.

I was able to connect Alexander Croft to his parents Henry Croft and Sarah McTaggart.  I was able to locate their marriage record, obituaries, census records and take them back one more generation.

Henry was born 16 Jun 1857 in Ontario, Canada to Peter Croft and Whilemina Young.  He came to the U.S. from Canada, as a young man and his family settled in Michigan.

 

Sarah McTaggart was born 7 Aug 1856¹ in Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland.  She came to the area when she was 6 yrs. old.  She married Henry Croft 21 Dec 1882² in Cass, Tuscola, Michigan.

Henry and his family were pioneers in Sheridan Township, Michigan.  Henry was a farmer.

Those towns are located in what is called the thumb of the state of Michigan. 

Henry & Sarah are both buried in the McTaggart Cemetery in Bad Axe, Huron, Michigan.  You may visit their memorials here, Henry #3612367 and Sarah #36123371.

This post is dedicated to my two half sisters, Norlaine Gould Rankhorn (1942-2001) and Virginia Gould Corbett (1945-2005).  I didn’t meet them til I was in my 30’s and wish we’d had more time together.

Sources: 1. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950; 2. Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TUESDAY’S TIP–Didn’t find that record in the newspaper? Here’s how to look a little deeper...

This morning I was looking for an obituary on my 2nd great grandaunt’s husband, John R. Tibbits.  He died 3 Oct 1903 in Port Huron, St. Clair, Michigan.

I went to the newspapers.com website and entered his name “John Tibbits” and the year 1903 along with the state, Michigan.

The only two records that showed up were an estate hearing notice and a list of those who had died.  No obituary.

Here’s the results of my first search. 
(Click on any image to enlarge it)


Here’s the hearing notice.


This is good information, but I wanted more.

Was there an obituary published?  If so, why isn’t it coming up in my search?

We all know that broad searches result in more hits.  I could narrow it down to the exact month and year.  But, I decided to look for this obituary by going directly to the newspaper itself.  I happen to know that this was then a small newspaper, not like a big city paper with dozens of pages.

I brought up the image that took me directly to the page with the notice of his estate hearing.  The green arrows indicate the entry for John Tibbits.  The red arrow shows you the name of the newspaper, date and page number.



The next thing I did was click on the name of the newspaper, to take me directly to that publication.
 


Since I had information that John Tibbits died on 3 Oct 1903, I didn’t want that exact date.  Obituaries are usually published a day or several days later.  In this case, there was no option for 4 Oct 1903 (perhaps that day of the publication hasn’t been scanned yet). 
So, I selected 5 Oct 1903.  LOOK!  Only 6 pages!



Such a small newspaper, so let’s begin with page 1.  Although, I generally wouldn’t expect obituaries to appear on the first page.
  
ALWAYS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!

Right there on page 1, about half way down, in column 5 is a section titled OBITUARY



Would I find John Tibbits’ obituary in that article?  Yes!



Here’s a readable close up of John’s obituary.



Now we have a little more information than we got from the death notice, which only gave his name and age.  Or, the estate hearing notice, which only gave his name and the date of the hearing in 1903.

I know that John’s wife, Olive Parmelia Hart Tibbits did outlive him (she died in 1915).  And I know that he is buried in Armada, Macomb, Michigan at Rose Hill Cemetery, FindAGrave #32188509.  I’ve been to that cemetery and taken photos of headstones, including his.

REMEMBER – Just because you don’t find what you’re looking for on your first or second or tenth try, doesn’t mean it’s not there.  Try to think of others ways you can search. 

I hope this tip has been helpful.  I’d love to hear how you may have located a record by thinking outside the box.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

THOSE PLACED THURSDAY - Armada, Michigan & Rose Hill Cemetery

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION