FOLLOW UP FRIDAY ~ Speaking of divorces…what is the earliest one I have on record?

William Walker Frampton - from page 104 of The Frampton Family by J. S. Wrightnour, published about 1916

A week ago on Wedding Wednesday I wrote a post about how many divorces I had found in my tree on my Legacy database.  These are divorces for whom I have actual records and/or dates.  You can read that post here Wedding Wednesday with a Twist - How many divorces have I recorded?

That got me to wondering.  What was the earliest divorce date?  Are most of the 83 divorces I have in my tree, more recent?  Or do they go back before 1900?  If so, how far back?

I again, used the handy and quick Search feature in my Legacy database. Search>Find>Detailed Search and select your search criteria.

In this case I wanted the marriage, marriage status date AND a second condition also.

What I found was a list of 10 individuals (5 couples). 
The earliest recorded, documented divorce I have in my file is for my 1st cousin 5 times removed and the first of his 3 wives.

William Walker Frampton married Mary E. Miller on 21 Apr 1850 in Adams Co., Illinois.  He filed for divorce on 27 Nov 1865, in the State of Kansas, County of Johnson.
 
Reason for the divorce SHE ELOPED WITH ANOTHER MAN!

Here is the transcription of that record.

The State of Kansas, County of Johnson
William W. Frampton, being duly sworn on his oath, ___ that he has commenced a suit in the Dist. Ct. for Johnson County, State of Kansas against Mary E. Frampton, to obtain a divorce from her, and that she eloped with one Thos. C. Johnson; and that she is not a resident of the State of Kansas at this time: affiant further states that he does not know where she now resides.  Further he saith not. 

Sworn before me this 27th day of M. a no 1865 – AB Mynick, Clerk by B. P. Noteman DC


I don’t know about you, but sometimes I say WOW! when I reviewing records for my ancestors.

Here is the published notice for the divorce.  DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?  “The petition will stand for hearing at the next term of said District Court to be held in March, A.D. 1866.”

Why is the date of March 1866 important?  Well…..because according to marriage records, William Frampton married Martha Ann Thomas Johnson (wife of the man his wife ran off with) on 10 Dec 1865 in Johnson, Kansas.  This would have been 13 days after the divorce notice was published, but BEFORE the court had the final hearing the following March.
 
Kansas, County Marriage Records, 1811-1911, page 6 Film No. 001572005.
Name:    Wm W Frampton
Gender:    Male
Marriage Date:    10 Dec 1865
Marriage Place:    Johnson, Kansas, USA
Spouse:    Martha Ann Johnson
Film Number:    001572005

Marriage record - William W. Frampton to Martha Ann Johnson - 10 Dec 1865  

So, did they marry before his divorce was finalized?  I haven’t found any further records regarding the divorce from Mary, so I don’t know.

POST SCRIPT:  Martha Thomas Johnson Frampton was adjudged insane and sent to an asylum in Topeka, Kansas, according to this newspaper article in The Olathe Mirror on 2 Sep 1886.  She died just 6 months later on 8 Mar 1887.  As we know, people were admitted to asylums for reasons such as mental issues, but also for illnesses.

Published in The Olathe Mirror 2 Sep 1886, page 2

William went on to marry one more time, to Ella Eckman 4 Apr 1888.  She was 25 years younger than him.  She filed for his Civil War Pension upon his death in 1912.  This was William's longest marriage - 24 years.

Kansas, County Marriage Records, 1811-1911

Name:    Ella Eckman
Gender:    Female
Age:    33
Birth Date:    abt 1855
Marriage Date:    4 Apr 1888
Marriage Place:    Douglas, Kansas, USA
Spouse:    William W Trampton
Film Number:    001547790

Marriage record - William W. Frampton to Ella Eckman - 4 Apr 1888

William Walker Frampton certainly had no trouble attracting women.  He was never unmarried for very long.

Do you have ancestors who married multiple times?  I’d love to hear about them.

If you are connected to any of the ancestors mentioned in this post, or have any additional information about them, please contact me.
 
OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
TOMBSTONE TUESDAY–Civil War Soldier Headstones (William W. Frampton mentioned here)
FRIDAY FINDS - Newspaper article - David Frampton, Rebel Prisoner - Dec 1861

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY ~ The actual church record for the marriage of Jeremiah Hall & Elizabeth Bailey 22 Dec 1748

First let me start by saying that I better pay attention to what day it is.  I posted a Treasure Chest Thursday, yesterday, which was actually Wednesday.  I’ve now changed the title of that post and you can find it here WEDDING WEDNESDAY – A marriage record, of sorts, for Dr. Jeremiah Hall & Eliabeth Bailey.

To follow up that post today, I’m happy to share the actual, handwritten church record for that marriage.

I didn’t locate it myself, but, again, because of belonging to a Facebook group, I now have the record.  Another Hall family member, from the same group I spoke of yesterday, Hall Families of New England, has shared the image.  Thanks to Cheryl Hall for finding this record in the archival church records of the Congregational Church.
 
Here’s a link to the home page http://www.congregationallibrary.org/

And here’s the link to the actual entry for the marriage of Jeremiah Hall to Elizabeth Bailey

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)


Here are the first two pages from this digital record.

When I source this record, the one thing I won’t know is who made the entries into this record book.  They are all numbered and the volume is separated into meeting notes, admission to full communion, baptisms, births, marriages & deaths.  Most of the writing is the same throughout the record, with occasional differences.  This makes me believe that this is a transcription of various records, placed in the book, in order.

QUESTION? Is this a primary source?  I don’t think so because it appears to be a transcription of other records.  Meaning the person who wrote these records may not have been present at the time of the event.  But, we’re getting closer, and it’s certainly better than just having the entry from the book I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

Maybe this is all I’ll ever find to document this record from 268 years ago.  But, combining this record with other pieces of evidence certainly proves that a marriage took place in Hanover, between Jeremiah Hall & Elizabeth Baily/Bailey.

Stay tuned for more on this family.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

WEDDING WEDNESDAY ~ Elijah Hudson & Margaret Deaver ~ 1828, Pocahontas County, Virginia

ELIJAH HUDSON & MARGARET DEAVER

married on 28 Feb 1828 in Pocahontas Co., Virginia

Elijah and Margaret are my 4th great granduncle and aunt.  He is the son of Richard H. Hudson and Elizabeth Redding/Redden.  She is the daughter of James Deaver and Sally (maiden name unknown) or Catherine Bird.  There is conflicting evidence as to her name.

According to the West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785-1971, they were married in 1828, in Pocahontas County in what would have been Virginia at the time.

NOTE:  West Virginia separated from Virginia and became it’s own state in 1863.

  

West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785-1971 
Name:Margarett Deaver       
Gender:Female       
Spouse's Name:Elijah Hudson       
Spouse Gender:Male       
Marriage Date:1828       
Marriage Place:Pocahontas, West Virginia, United States

Here is the image from the marriage register.



Elijah & Margaret are indicated in red.  I do notice that two other surnames (indicated in green) from our family show up on this page.  McClintick and another Deaver.  I need to find out if they are connected.

Elijah and Margaret had 11 known children: William, Harriet, Laura, Warwick B., Davis, Geo. M.D., Nancy Jane, Isabella Susan, Paul McNeel, John Lechter and Sarah.  I have a LOT more research yet to do on this branch of our family.

I have information (not verified), that Elijah died in 1881 at the age of 79, and Margaret died in 1889 at the age of 82.  They may be buried in the Hudson Cemetery, Green Bank, Pocahontas, West Virginia.  Here are links to the memorials, Elijah #41809590 and Margaret #79239034

One source used for some of this information is the book Historical Sketches of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, by William Thomas Price, published in 1901.

If you think you might be related to anyone mentioned in this blog, please contact me.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

10 YEARS, OVER 150 RECORDS REQUESTED–HOW MANY DID I ACTUALLY RECEIVE?

The big Genealogy Do-Over is in progress.  Many of you have heard about it.  You can read about it here on Thomas MacEntee's website http://www.geneabloggers.com/announcing-genealogy-doover/


That got me thinking.  Without actually participating in the "do-over", perhaps I can review some of my research and tracking methods.
  
Back in 2005, I began a spreadsheet to keep track of records I had requested.  Prior to that I was keeping track on a copy of the request I placed in a binder.  I also track records by adding notes to each person's file in Legacy.
 
Here’s my spreadsheet.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)


NOTE:  Instead of creating a copy of the record request and placing it in a binder, I now scan and save it in Evernote.  I can annotate it in Evernote and it’s working very well.  My goal is to have only vital records I receive by mail, saved in my binders.  I am slowly purging all other copies, such as census records, WW I draft records etc.

Today, I was entering a date for something I received and I began scrolling back through the spreadsheet of records I had requested.
 
There are 151 names/requested items on my spreadsheet.
  Here are the questions that began to run through my mind:

• How many records do I still not have?
• Which records were located and not recorded? 
• Should I try sending for any of them again? 
• Are those records now online?

As you can see from the image of the spreadsheet, the records are easily tracked.  Records I receive are highlighted in GREEN.  The records I don’t receive, for whatever reason, are indicated by RED font.  I’ve made notes, on most of the entries, of why the record wasn’t received. I also keep track of the money I’ve spent.  I build a genealogy expense into our budget.  Sometimes I stick to it, sometimes I don’t.

This list goes back 10 years.  A lot has changed in that time.  I am going to review each of these requests and see if I can obtain the records by some means.  Or…there is that chance that I have obtained the record and haven’t recorded it.  Maybe I found it online and just entered it into my Legacy database and never checked this list?  There are 31 records I did not receive.  Out of 151 records that’s a failure rate of about 20.5%.  Or a success rate of  79.5%

RESULTS OF MY REVIEW

31 total records reviewed

9 records are in my database and just weren’t recorded
3 were duplicate requests to different locations
2 have now been found to have a different last name

That leaves me with 17 records still outstanding. Which improves my percentage to a success rate of  88.8%.

This has been a worthwhile exercise and I’ve discovered that I need to do a few things differently.

1.  Remember to look on this list frequently to keep track of records that I don’t have, or record them if I’ve located them by a different method.

2.  I’ve found that it would be beneficial to record the relationship of who this person is to me, and the date of occurrence of the record I’m requesting.  I am going to add those columns to my spreadsheet.

Do you have a list like this? 
Are there records you can go back and check for again?  Have you?

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
VITAL RECORDS - HOW TO REQUEST THEM & KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS

BIRTH RECORDS WITH INCORRECT NAMES - What would you think?

MICHIGAN DEATH RECORDS ONLINE - Where can you find them?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

IS THAT INDEX CORRECT? HERE’S WHY WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT

HERE IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT AND READ DOCUMENTS AND NOT JUST DEPEND ON THE INDEXED TRANSCRIPTION

Yesterday I was doing a bit of research on a 3rd great granduncle and his second wife.
 
I knew that Isaac F. Gillen 1823-1907 had married Amy “Emma” Kimball 1830-1886 on 28 Mar 1852 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  Here they are in my Legacy program.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)



Emma died in 1886.  I had information from the 1900 census that he had remarried to a lady named Martha E. born about 1867 in Ohio.  I had no further information about Martha.

My next step was to look on the Family Search site for a marriage record for Isaac & Martha.

Here is what I found in the index:

Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997
Name:     Isaac F. Gillen
Event Type:     Marriage
Event Date:     20 Sep 1889
Event Place:     Lawrence, Ohio, United States
Age:     21
Birth Year (Estimated):     1868
Spouse's Name:     Martha E. Snyder
Spouse's Age:     19
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated):     1870
Reference ID: Vol. 15, p 216, no 2
GS Film Number: 317721
Digital Folder Number: 004016335
Image Number: 00152

NOTE that Isaac’s age is listed as 21.

Isaac was born in 1823 and this marriage took place in 1889.  That would make my Isaac about 66 years old when this marriage took place, NOT 21.  Martha would have been about 22 years old at the time of the marriage, if she was born about 1867.  Her age isn’t that far off, but Isaac’s is another story.

Fortunately, there was an image of the marriage record for me to look at.  Here is the image.



OK, the names are there – Isaac F. Gillen and Martha E. Snyder.  The date of marriage was 20 Sep 1889 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.

But those ages listed after their names.  What’s up with that?
 
Here is that portion of the document highlighted.  Read those words in the red boxes carefully.

“Isaac F. Gillen, who being first duly sworn, saith that he is MORE THAN 21 YEARS OF AGE, that he has no wife living, that he is not nearer of kin to Martha E. Snyder than second Cousins, that she is MORE THAN 18 YEARS OF AGE, that she has no husband living……………”

There you have it.  The indexer has listed their ages as 21 and 19.  Not sure where  the 19 came from, since the document has an 18 on it.  Maybe misread?

Isaac was certainly MORE THAN 21 years of age in 1889, wasn’t he?

It’s just invaluable for us, as researchers, to view the actual documents and not depend on transcriptions, indexes etc.  How many times I’ve received a “typed” copy of a record, only to later look at the original and find several errors.  I try to always ask for a photo copy of any original record I send for.

Having access to these original documents online is invaluable to us.  But, if we don’t have access online, then we must not just take the indexes and transcriptions as the final word.

Have you run across similar issues when you’ve viewed the original record vs what was indexed?  I’d love to hear about it.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
VITAL RECORDS–HOW TO REQUEST THEM AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS
EASY DOCUMENT EDITING TIPS

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION 

HOW TO FIND A MAIDEN NAME

FINDING A MAIDEN NAME - UPDATE

Back on November 20, 2012,  I wrote to you about how to find a maiden name & locating a marriage record.  I specifically referenced Charles E. LUNSFORD & his wife, Myrtle.

I located a marriage index on The Lawrence Register that fit the timeline and the names were C. E. LUNSFORD & Myrtle WISEMAN. 

Next, I asked a contact that I have back in Lawrence County if they would mind looking for a marriage record next time they went to The Briggs Library in Ironton.  She agreed and said she would be visiting in the next few days.  The Briggs Library has a genealogy room, called the Hamner Room, that is loaded with records, books, maps & family histories from Lawrence County & the surrounding area.  I visited the library last July when I was in Ohio.  Great place!

A few days later, the marriage record came in the mail.  Waiting for a record to come in the mail is always exciting .... well, at least for me it is.   Did I get the information/confirmation I needed from this record?  Is Myrtle's maiden name really WISEMAN?  Here is the marriage record. You decide.

Marriage record of Charles E. Lunsford & Myrtle Wiseman

In examining this record I look for evidence that this is the correct Charles Lunsford & his wife Myrtle, who's last name may be Wiseman.  After seeing that this is indeed the marriage record of Charles E. LUNSFORD & Myrtle WISEMAN, the next thing I looked for were parents names for the bride and groom.

BINGO!  There they were. 

• Charles' parents names are listed as Basil LUNSFORD & Mahala TAYLOR.  Those are the names I have for his parents, based on census records and his birth record.  His age is listed as 25 years, another match to his birth record. 
• Myrtle's parents names are listed as Henry J. WISEMAN & Sabrina STEWART.  This is the first time I've seen reference to her parent's names, so that will require further research.  Her age on the marriage record is 22 years which is a close match to what is listed on the census records for her and Charles.
1. Can I now locate Myrtle's birth record?  Answer - Not yet.
2. Am I able to connect her with these two people by finding her in census records with them?  Answer - YES!  I have found her living with her parents, Henry & Sabrina WISEMAN in the 1900 & 1910 census records in Lawrence County, Ohio.

1900 census showing Myrtle living with her parents & siblings

1910 census showing Myrtle living with her parents & siblings

CONCLUSION - Based on these pieces of evidence, I do believe that I have located Myrtle's maiden name & her family.  One piece of evidence is ok, two is better and three is more to the standard we are seeking.  There are more records that I may eventually locate with further evidence of Myrtle's maiden name - such as her birth record and her death record.  But, for now, I'm satisfied.

I hope this helps you in finding those elusive maiden names.  There are more tricks up my sleeve and these aren't the only ways we have to find maiden names.  This method worked for this particular person. 

Happy Hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2013   Diane Gould Hall