SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN ~ Are you ready for the 1950 census?

 

Randy Seaver, blogger extraordinaire, does a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post each week.  It’s always fun to play along. Here is this week’s post.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to:

 

1)   The 1950 United States Census will be available to search on 1 April 2022 - less than three weeks away. How have you prepared yourself to search it? Have you found 1950 addresses of your family members and persons of interest? Have you identified the State, County, Town and Enumeration District? Have you made a table of your findings so you can systematically find everyone on your list? What will you do with the information you gather?

2) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post. Be sure to leave a link with your answers in a comment.

I am excited about the release of the 1950 census for a few reasons.  First of all, it’s the first release of a census that  should have both myself and my husband included.  Albeit, only by a few days.

Secondly, who doesn’t want another census in which to find our ancestors?

And finally, what knew information can I learn from the census?

Here’s how I’ve prepared.

I use Legacy Family Tree software.  They have a feature called “Census List.”  This is located in the Search tab.

My created list give me 1854 individuals who may appear on the 1950 census.

WOW!  That’s great. I guess I won’t lack for something to do in the coming weeks.

My primary focus will be myself and my husband, our parents, grandparents and great grandparents.  And, of course siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles.

We will have to depend on the index created by Family Search volunteers. It may take several months for the indexing to be complete.

In the meantime, as with the 1940 census release, 10 years ago, we have other options.

You can use the Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub Enumeration District (ED) Finder.  Here’s a link to their website Enumeration District Maps in One Step

When I entered my primary search focus, which is Detroit, Wayne, Michigan I got the following list of Enumeration Districts. While all those links appear to have the same ED number, when you click on each one, they go to a different map.

Since Detroit is a big city it might be a bit of a search to find the correct ED. However, if you practice by using the 1940 census it may make it easier for you.

However you prepare for this big event, I wish you lots of luck in your searches. 

I’d love to hear what your going to do, either in a comment or on your own blog.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CORA'S SCRAPBOOK~Deed of Lot for Greenridge Cemetery Saratoga Springs NY - Apr 1897

This is the story of my journey through Cora’s scrapbook.  Cora Emma Brown is my husband's paternal great grandmother.  She was born 3 Aug 1854 in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York.  She married Thomas Hall (1845-1897) on 5 Feb 1877 in Saratoga Springs, Saratoga, New York. They had one son, Charles Schuyler Hall (1878-1953). 

If you'd like to read all my posts about Cora, I will give a link at the beginning of each new post.  Here’s that link My posts about Cora's Scrapbook

Today I’m continuing the story of Cora’s scrapbook and featuring the Deed of Lot in Greenridge Cemetery dated 6 Apr 1897.

Cora’s husband, Thomas Cornelius Hall had died in Jan 1897. To read more about Thomas you can click here. Civil War Pension File.  Thomas was 52 years old at the time of his death. He had worked as a Railroad Baggage Handler. He and Cora had one child, a son, Charles Schuyler Hall (my husband’s grandfather).

This deed is dated 6 Apr 1897 and is for Plot K, Lot No. 9. The amount paid was $193 to Ellen M. Ames. Cora’s signature is on this page (I have seen her signature on other items and I recognize it). 

Recorded on Association Book, Record of Deeds, No. 4, Page 183.

Elizabeth M. Hyde, Recorder of Deeds, G.C.A.

What does this cemetery deed look like? 

Do you have any cemetery deeds from your own family?

Here is the one page deed.

Here is my transcription.

Know all men by thse presents, that Ellen C. Ames, Executrix of the Town of Saratoga Springs in the County of Saratoga and State of New York of the first part, in consideration of the sum of One hundred ninety three Dollars, to her in hand paid by Cora E. Hall of the second part, at or before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof hereby acknowledged, has granted and conveyed and by these presents does grant and convey, unto the said party of the second part, her heirs and assigns the certain burial Lot or Plot known as Plot K Lot No 9 on a map or plan of the land of said Association, made by George L. Ames, Superintendent of grounds, and filed in the office of the Clerk of Saratoga County, described as follow: The N.E. Angle is situated S 17’-30’ W distant 127”-3’ from monument No 8 thence N 89° 30° W 25’-7’ thence S. 42° E. 26’-10’ thence S. 89°-30’ E. 7’-50” thence N. 0°-30 E. 20’-0”. Containing 386 Sq. ft. of land @ 50¢ per square foot $193.00 together with all the rights of the said party of the first part, under or by virtue of a certain deed made by the Greenridge Cemetery Association to George L. Ames  

Greenridge Cemetery is located at 17 Greenridge Place, Saratoga Springs, New York.

Here is a record of Thomas’ burial, from the cemetery website. Cora is not listed in the burials.  Possibly because she died in 1933 in San Diego, California and her ashes were transported back to Greenridge.

He and Cora are buried in the Old Cemetery Section. Here is where that is located.

I had located Thomas & Cora’s burial place on FindAGrave some time ago. But, having this additional piece of information adds to the evidence and gives us more information.

Imagine paying $193 for a burial plot.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FRIDAY FINDS ~ Michigan Death Certificates from 1946 - HART, LINDSAY & GROUT

Every 75 years the State of Michigan releases death certificates to public domain. There is a website dedicated to presenting these certificates, it’s called Michiganology.  Many of you may remember the former site we used, it was called Seeking Michigan.

I use my Legacy database to determine which of my ancestors died in a particular year in a certain place.  The list this year was a short one with only five people on it.  One of those 5 was my great grandmother, Mae Thorp Gould.  I had ordered her death certificate years ago.

The others on the list were:

John Murray HART, my half 1^st cousin 3 times removed

Roy Jerome HART, my half 2^nd cousin twice removed

Robert “Bobby” LINDSAY, Jr., my 2^nd cousin once removed

Nellie E. Tibbits GROUT, my 1^st cousin 3 times removed

I was able to go to the Michiganology website and conduct the searches to find all 4 of the death certificates. In one case I had to get creative with my search, but eventually located the correct certificate.

Why is it important to locate the actual vital records for our ancestors?

·       To obtain unknown information

·       To verify information we may already have

·       Because it helps us complete the picture of that persons life

·       Because as genealogists we cannot have enough evidence to prove the “facts” we have listed for our ancestors

Here are the four death certificates I downloaded and saved.

They have been added to my Legacy database and each one was sourced and information gleaned from them.

Click on any image to enlarge it

You can see that these certificates contain a wealth of information.  Do they add to already known facts or events? Does it give me new information to verify? Let the fun begin.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - John Gillen, my maternal 3rd Great Granduncle (1804-1880)

 

Today I’m writing about my maternal 3^rd great granduncle John Gillen.  John was born 17 Oct 1804 in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

He was the oldest son of William Gillen & Rachel Frampton who are my 4^th great grandparents. John was the eldest child of 8 known children born to this couple. I’ve written about this family before and you can find a couple of the posts here:

·                WHEN CONTACT FROM A DNA COUSIN LEADS TO GREAT NEW INFORMATION

·                SURNAME SATURDAY ~ GILLEN–my maternal 3rd great grandaunt, Sarah Gillen (1808-1878)

John was a Farmer according to the 1850 and 1860 census records. In the 1880 census, not long before his death he worked as a Liveryman (an owner or employee at a stable).

Here is my transcription of the obituary.

  Obituary - Mr. John Gillen, a resident of this city since 1856, died quite suddenly of paralysis at his residence on Fifth street last Monday afternoon, at four o'clock. The disease first manifested itself last Thursday night. Mr. Gillen was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1804, removed to Lawrence county, Ohio in 1829, March 22, 1832, he married Miss Nancy Miller. In 1856, Mr. Gillen removed to this city with his family and has since resided here; most of his children growing up under his fatherly care. Mr. Gillen has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years. His wife, five sons and three daughters survive him; one son was killed serving his county at the battle of Stone River in 1862. The funeral occurs from the First M.E. church this afternoon, Rev. E. D. Wilkin officiating. Mr. Gillen was a good citizen, kind husband and indulgent parent, and his death is universally regretted by a large circle of friends.

With up to 9 children in the house, I expect things were quite busy for the Gillen family. He and his wife, Nancy had moved from Lawrence County, Ohio to Champaign Co., Illinois in 1856. It appears that all 9 children went with them.  Although there is one daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1835, for whom I have no details, other than her name and year of birth. 

Five years later, the Civil War (also known as the War of Rebellion) breaks out. John’s 2^nd and 3^rd sons, John and Isaac both joined the Union Army. 

Young John was the first to join on 1 Jun 1861. He was just 20 yrs. old. Sadly, he was killed at the Battle of Stones River in Tennessee on 31 Dec 1862.  According to his Civil War pension file he was shot in the right lung. You can read about this young man, age 21 at the time of his death here: MILTARY MONDAY ~ Civil War Pension File–Private John Gillen–Killed in Action 31 Dec 1862 at the Battle of Stones River

It was 3 yrs later when John’s son Isaac joined and fought in the Civil War. Happily, he did come home.

You have to think it was a very stressful time for the family.  As it was for all the families living during this time of unrest in our country.

John died of paralysis on 29 Nov 1880 and is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery and Mausoleum in Urbana, Champaign, Illinois. He and Nancy had been married 48 yrs. when he died. She continued on without him for 33 yrs. and died at age 97 in 1913.  They are buried together and you can visit their FindAGrave memorial here: John - 61697100 and Nancy - 61697397

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

A WONDERFUL WAY TO BEGIN 2022 ~ A morsel of new information on my brick wall, John C. Gould

 

All of us have them.  Brick walls.  Genealogical mysteries that we are unable to solve……yet.

In my case I’ve written blog posts about my brick walls and you can read those posts here Mystery Monday - Who's Your Daddy - My Brick Walls

The number ONE most frustrating genealogical brick wall for me, is not knowing my paternal 2nd great grandfather’s parents or siblings.  Who were they? Where did they live?

People don’t just drop out of the sky via the stork, so the answers are out there someplace.  But WHERE????? So, John C. Gould, who is your family?

New information to shed light on this mystery has not been easy to come by. In fact, based on my notes in Legacy, which I date, the last little tid bit was about John Gould being mentioned on a deed for Rose Hill Cemetery in Armada, Michigan.

Here is my note

2/27/16 - Located a website for Armada Township today http://www.armadatwp.org/CommunityInformation/Cemeteries.aspx
The site had cemetery information.  Rose Hill, Hadley and Willow Grove Cemeteries were listed.  I contacted the sexton for Rose Hill, Marv Wolak 586-784-5537 and left a message. He called me back and said that he found no actual burials in either Hadley or Rose Hill for John C. Gould or Sarah Gould.  However, he did find a John Gould mentioned on a deed along with Warren Tibbits (1798-1861) at Rose Hill Cemetery.  Warren Tibbits is buried there.  No record of a burial for John is indicated.

Fast forward to December 2021.  Met a nice woman in a Facebook group.  Her name happens to be Melinda Gould. We began communicating trying to figure out if we are related.  Of course, that meant I had to mention that I had no idea of my Gould line beyond my 2nd great grandfather, John C. Gould. She said she would love to help me figure out who his parents were AND that she knows a lot of great researchers in Michigan.

On New Year’s Eve she posted a request “calling all genealogy researchers, especially those with Michigan roots!”

Within a few hours one of the researchers, Deb, had posted a newspaper article about the burial of John Gould at Rose Hill Cemetery! 

WHAT?! Oh my gosh! I had searched newspapers many times and never found this. Did I miss it? Was the newspaper for the particular year and date recently updated?  I don’t know and don’t care. 

The article reads – ARMADA – The remains of John Gould, of Detroit, were brought to Armada for burial, Wednesday. He left many relatives in this community. Interment was in Rose Hill Cemetery. Rev. R. J. Chase officiated.

First question I asked – Which newspaper and what was the date of the article?

It was The Times Herald, Port Huron, Michigan and the date the article was published was 23 May 1919.  WOW! I have a death certificate that I’ve always believed to be John’s.  Date of death 19 May 1919.  Port Huron is just north of Armada and Detroit. AND, the article states that his remains were transported on Wednesday to Rose Hill Cemetery in Armada.  That Wednesday date would have made it 21 May 1919, two days after his death.

Conclusion – This is DEFINITELY my John Gould.

He, according to Rose Hill cemetery records, co owned a plot there. Many family members are buried there.  I’ve been to Rose Hill three times on visits back to Michigan.  I’ve looked at every headstone in this small cemetery.  There is no Gould headstone.  However, we know that may mean there wasn’t one, or that it has disappeared, or sunk into the earth.  I have many ancestors with no headstones. Next time I visit, I will try to find out which plot was on the deed and use a device that allows me to poke into the ground to locate sunken headstones.

In the meantime, I am seriously happy to have found a new piece of information in my ongoing search.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

Those Places Thursday – Armada

Those Placed Thursday - Towns or roads in Michigan using the name Gould

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

THE END OF ANOTHER YEAR ~ 2021 comes to a close–What have I accomplished this past year?

Hello readers.  It’s been a very quiet year here at Michigan Family Trails.  I have not blogged as regularly as I have in years past.  Truth be told, I haven’t done much research either.

What are the reasons?  If I thought 2020 was a rough year, 2021 has proved much tougher.  My husband has had some health issues in the form of needing back surgery and hip replacement. I’ve had to pick up the slack of chores and animal care etc. here at home. 

I have noticed in past years that if I have distractions in my regular life, my research and my writing take a hit.

However, all was not lost as far as family preservation.  I began digital scrapbooking in April, taught myself how to use Photoshop Elements, and have created 75+ pages honoring our ancestors. You can see some of those pages here Ancestor Scrapbook  In addition, in August, I started my own Facebook group devoted to heritage scrapbooking, here is the link for that, Digital Heritage and Vintage Scrapbooking We have 168 members so far.  There are some very talented people in the group.

Other good things have happened as well.  My nephew Joshua married his wonderful fiancé Katya, we had a visit from our granddaughter Chalyssa and great grandson, Conrad. I was officially welcomed into the San Diego Mayflower Colony at the November meeting (first in person meeting since before Covid) and we welcomed a puppy into our home in January. Her name is Libby and she’s a Bernadoodle and we love her to pieces. I also presented and co-presented some classes for the San Diego Genealogical Society via Zoom.

As I do every year, good or bad, I will share my Legacy family statistics with you.  I’m sure it won’t be pretty, but let’s see what changes occurred in my database in 2021.

Here are the stats from 2020

Here are the stats from 2021

Surprisingly, there have been increases in all the numbers I normally keep track of.  That’s a good thing, in spite of a very slow research year.

Here’s the comparison

Goals for 2022 – In general I just hope that this coming year is happy, healthy and safe for everyone. As to research and blogging, I am hoping for a more productive year and sharing more family stories and learning tips.

What are your genealogy goals for 2022?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2021   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION