TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY ~ The 1906 church record of the marriage of my grandparents, Joseph A. Milne (1883-1957) & Florence L. Bowden (1888-1986)

Today I’m featuring the church marriage certificate for my maternal grandparents, Joseph Albert Milne & Florence Lenora Bowden.

This certificate was rolled up in a box of papers & other items I retrieved from the home of my  maternal first cousin, during a visit, several years ago.

TIP - I did not put this old, delicate document in a scanner.  Instead, I took a photograph of it.

This certificate offers many good genealogical clues as follows:

• Date of marriage
• Where the couple have their residence
• Place of marriage
• The denomination and name of the church to which the officiant belonged
• Name of the person who married the couple
• Names & signatures of both witnesses to the marriage

It’s been a while since I’ve looked at this document and in reading it again I see that I will be entering new information into my Legacy database.

Here is a transcription of the certificate

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost…Amen

This certifies that Mr. Joseph Albert Milne of Detroit, Michigan and Miss Florence Lenora Bowden of the same place were united by in Holy Matrimony on Wednesday the Eleventh day of April A.D. nineteen hundred and six at the residence of the bride’s mother 187 Townsend Ave. in the diocese of Michigan according to the Rites of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Unites States of America, in accordance with the laws of the State of Michigan.

Dated Detroit this Eleventh day of April A.D. 1906

The witnesses are Fred Henry Gillespie, 1st cousin to the groom and Edna Mabel Bowden, sister of the bride

Here is a photo of my grandmother, Florence, in her travel outfit upon leaving for their honeymoon.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

My grandmother, Florence was the genealogist in the family before me.  I have written several blog posts from the notebook/journal she left.  Here is a link to those posts: My Grandmother's Journal

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY ~ The 1911 census for Robert & Ellen Gillespie & their children–Cardiff, Wales

1911 census for Robert & Ellen Gillespie

My favorite thing about the census records from England & Wales is that you get a pretty accurate birth location.  Not just “Wales” or “England,” but an exact location.  That can be very helpful in your research.

This is a record I located yesterday while doing research on the 10 children born to my 3rd great grandparents, Thomas Gillespie & Susannah Barrowcliff.  They had 9 boys and 1 girl between 1817 and 1837.  I descend directly from their youngest son, Joseph Gillespie (1837-1908).  This census is for Joseph’s nephew, Robert Gillespie.  He is my 1st cousin 3 times removed.

Robert and his wife Ellen Eliza Potter were married in 1892 in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales.
 
It seems that Robert followed in his grandfather, Thomas’ footsteps and fathered a lot of children, 13, according to this census record.  By the time this census was taken, only 9 of the children were living.  That’s another excellent piece of information on this record (similar to the 1900 U.S. census).  Learning how many children have been born to a woman and how many are living can help us find records.

Robert is 44 years old and works as a Boiler Man in the Cardiff Infirmary.  He was born in Bridgwater, Somerset, England and his parents are of British descent. All of that matches what I know about him.

Ellen is 43 years old, mother of 13 children of whom 9 are living.  She was born in Cardiff, Glamorgan and is British by parentage.

Their are 9 children enumerated in this record:

• Frank Gillespie, age 17, single, Sea Faring an ordinary seaman, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
• Robert Stanley, age 15, single, a Leather Rounder at a Belting Works company, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
• James Aldwin, age 13, single, a student, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
• Albert John, age 12, a student, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
• Richard Norman, age 10, a student, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
• Lilian Maud, age 7, a student, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
• Ellen E., age 5, a student, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
• Kate, age 3, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
• Edith May, age 6 months, born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales

There’s a signature at the bottom of the page, but I don’t know for sure if it’s Robert’s.  It looks to be written in the same hand as the rest of the information.  And, it seems funny he would have signed his name “Frank” and had to scratch it out.  Is it possible that the oldest son, Frank, was the one who gave the enumerator this information?  Was it Frank who filled out the form, thus the mistake in the signature?

Who were the other 4 children?  They aren’t listed in the 1901 census either.

You can usually tell where children who aren’t listed, may have been born, based on the spacing of births.  This couple was married in the 4th quarter of 1892 (that would mean Oct, Nov or Dec).  Their son Frank was born in the 1st quarter of 1894 (meaning Jan, Feb or Mar)The timing is right for him to have been the first born.

The children come along at about a 2 year interval (very common). 1894, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1903, 1906, 1908, 1911. I have located birth or baptismal records for about half of the children. I see room between 1903 & 1906 and 1908 &1911 for another child or two to have been born.  I will need to continue looking for baptismal records that could tell me more.

One more thing about this 1911 census that wasn’t available on the 1901 census are the middle names for each child.  That’s a very big help when trying to locate other records, such as marriage, death or burial.

Have you located any records from the United Kingdom?  Have you found them helpful?

I have more work to do on the many Gillespie ancestors in my maternal line.  I’ll be writing more about them.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week #2 - Thomas Gillespie - My 3rd great grandfather 1794-1868

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY ~ BIRTH RECORDS (twins) and others on one register page

What is one thing we always tell others and remind ourselves?  Be sure to look at other entries on any record you find.  Whether it’s a birth, death or marriage register or census records.  You never know what else you will find.

Today I was working on my Lunsford line.  It’s an extensive line on my maternal side with LOTS of children born to many of the couples.

I noted that I had found a birth record for a set of twins born to Basil Lunsford and Mahala Taylor Lunsford.  In fact, these twin girls appear to be the first of 11 children born to this couple.  In 2011 I have recorded the index record of the birth, but no image.  I wondered if that image had since been put online. I returned to familysearch.org to look for it.

Sure enough, it had.  And not only are the twins on this page, but another Lunsford cousin is listed as well.

I’ve marked Ada & Ida in red and circled the word “twins.”  And, marked Charles in green.



For any of my fellow genealogist in Lawrence County, Ohio, there are quite a few Massie & Vermillion births on this register as well.  None of those particular Massie or Vermillion’s link to my family, but they may link to yours.

Here is the family of Basil & Mahala Lunsford as they appear in my Legacy database.

(You can click on the image to enlarge it)



This is what I like to see when I look at a family view in my database.  A robust family with lots of names and dates and other critical information like causes of death.

I know that Ida Lunsford went on to marry Dr. Charles E. Stewart and have four known children; Hobart (murdered in 1936-see link below), Charles, Mark & Thelma. She died on 15 Nov 1958.  I am not able to ascertain yet, if Ada married and to whom.  The names Ada & Ida are mixed up and cross referenced on many of the records.  I’m still working on Ada.

Do you know of any twins in you family?  If so, did they live to adulthood?  I’d love to hear about them.

If you think you have additional information about the ancestors mentioned in this post, please contact me.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

THRILLER THURSDAY - Hobart Stewart Murdered in 1936

FOLLOW UP ON HOBART B. STEWART - Murder Victim

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
Copyright ©  2010-2017 Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION