Friday, September 14, 2007

Genealogue Challenge #30 - I finally got one

Chris Dunham's series of Genealogue Challenges has been interesting and fun, but I usually don't see them until they've been solved due to my older retired guy schedule and being on the West Coast.

Last night, I noticed that there were no responses yet to #30, so I decided to go for it.

The challenge was:

"I have an old bottle on my shelf labeled 'F. W. KINSMAN DRUGGIST AUGUSTA ME.'

"What was the full name of F. W. Kinsman's son-in-law's eldest son?"

My response to Chris was:

"Frank Woodman Kinsman Kidder, born 1 Sep 1886, died 1 Aug 1956 in Los Angeles CA. He was the son of Albert A. Kidder and Hattie Lee Kinsman, who married 13 Nov 1882 in Kennebec County ME.

"The process [note I'm truncating some of it for clarity]:

"1) 1870 Census - Frank W. Kinsman family is in Augusta, Kennebec, ME with daughter Etta L.

"2) 1880 Census - F W Kingsman family is in Augusta, Kennebec, ME, with daughter Hatie age 22, born ME

"3) Ancestry One World Tree database for Frank W. Kinsman family lists Hattie Lee Kinsman, born 19 Sep 1856 as only daughter who survived childhood.

"4) LDS FamilySearch listed two marriages for a Hattie Lee Kinsman in Kennebec County ME - 1st on 10 Jul 1877 to Henry Parcher, 2nd on 13 Nov 1882 to Albert A. Kidder.

"5) 1900 Census for Springfield Ward 8, Hampden County MA has Albert A. Kidder family with wife Hattie L Kidder born Sep 1857 in ME, married 16 years, 4 children born, 4 living. Eldest son is Frank M. K. Kidder, born Sep 1886 in NM.

"6) Ancestry search for Frank Kidder results in CA Death Index entry for Frank Woodmank Kidder born 1 Sep 1886 in CT, died 1 Aug 1956 in Los Angeles County CA.

"7) BGMI on Ancestry shows him as Frank Woodman Kinsman Kidder, 1886-1956.

"I'm willing to bet that F W Kinsman's middle name was Woodman! That might have been even more difficult to determine!

"I wonder what happened to poor Henry Parcher? I couldn't find him in ME in the 1880 census. Did he die after marrying Hattie?"

Chris apparently saves all of the responses and posts them when he can - that way the challenge isn't spoiled by someone staying up all night! Mine was the first entry (at 2:31 PM EDT). Other solvers didn't get the second middle name, Kinsman.

These challenges are excellent examples of doing online genealogy. It is possible to solve puzzles like this in an hour of effort online, whereas just five years ago it would have taken several weeks or months.

Chris must work awfully hard to create these puzzles, often taking persons from the daily headlines, researching them a bit to find a research "hook," and then asking a question that almost forces researchers to go try to solve it. In the process, the folks who try to solve it learn something, hone their skills, and have fun doing it, thereby reinforcing their geneaholic addiction (well, at least it works that way for me!).

I look forward to more of these, even if they keep me up at night!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Randy:

Nice solve! All online, too. I looked at it, thinking "his son-in-law's eldest son? -- isn't that quaint -- his own grandson!" But I was just killing a few moments awaiting a phone call. Thus, the hook wasn't strong enough to pull me in. I like those puzzles, though.

Again, congratulations.

Happy Dae.