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

 

COUSINS ~ What treasures can you find when you visit your cousins?

 

I can never say enough about how wonderful cousins are.  Why?

·       They are often your very first friends outside the family circle.

·       If you are an only child, they may be as close as a sister or brother.

·       Later on you can talk about family stories and share memories and photos with each other.

·       If you meet these cousins later in life via your research or DNA or whatever method, they might provide very valuable information about your ancestors.

·       As bloggers, we often call our blogs “cousin bait.”

Here’s my cousin story for this week.

My cousin Paula lives about 3 hours up the coast from me, here in California.  She and I reconnected in 2003, well into our adulthood.  We had last seen one another in 1966.  Since then we have become very good friends and fellow family researchers.  It’s been an interesting journey, with discoveries on both her side and mine.

Our grandmothers were sisters, which makes me and Paula 2^nd cousins.

It had been a couple of years since I’d been to Paula’s home and I knew we were overdue for a visit.  When I spoke to her, she told me that her sister, Shirley, was coming into town for a couple of weeks.  Most of our family still lives in Michigan, including Shirley.

I knew right away that I should make the drive up there, as I had never been able to spend much time with Shirley. 

We cousins enjoyed one another for 3 days. 

A surprise during the visit was that Paula and Shirley’s grand nephew was in town from Michigan.  We were able to have dinner with him.  I’d not met him before.  What a nice young man.  In the scheme of family relationships, he is my 2^nd cousin, twice removed.

During my stay, Paula brought out an envelope of photos that she had gotten during her last trip to Michigan, from her other sister.

As we looked through these mostly black and white photos, we all found treasures.  For me it was pictures of my own grandmother, Marie Lindsay Gould and my grandfather Harry W. Gould sharing moments with Marie’s sister’s family. Additionally, it was seeing a picture of my granduncle Bill Lindsay’s wife Matilda Vera Ena KIDD for the first time.

(Click on any image to enlarge it)

Matilda Vera Ena Kidd Lindsay

Left to right - Marie Lindsay Gould (my paternal grandmother), Shirley Hockster, Edith Curry Jessop, Elizabeth "Betty" Hockster, Paula Hockster, Mary Ortell Hockster and Bessie Lindsay Hockster (Marie's sister)
Shirley, Betty & Paula are my 2nd cousins and Mary is their mother

Back row - William "Bill" Lindsay, Bessie Lindsay, Everett Hockster, Joyce Lindsay, Robert McConnell, Harry W. Gould - Middle row - Marie Lindsay Gould, Matilda Kidd Lindsay, Ellen Hockster McConnell, May (in her lap is Betty Hockster) - Front row - Patricia McConnell, Shirley Hockster and Ralph Hockster

I’d call those things great finds.  Thanks Paula!

Any photo find is always a bonus.  I’m going to put this out there right now.  If you are LINDSAY descendant, belonging to our particular line, and you have photos, we’d love to see them.  We are willing to share any of our own photos with all the cousins out there.

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