Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Dear Genea-Man: Am I descended from John Tyler?

I received this query as a comment from Heather on my post "John Tyler's Grandson is still alive!" I have no other way to reach Heather, so I'm posting my response here in the form of a Dear Genea-Man question.

Q: I am looking for my heritage of the Tyler family. My grandmother was born Ruth Tyler in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1898. Died early 1980's. Resident of New York since early 1930's. I located her name listed on the 1930 census. Married to Ralph Titus. My mother was Edith Titus and My great aunt was Elizabeth (Agnus) Tyler. I was told we are descendants of President John Tyler. Any information is very helpful. Thank you.

A. You provided several important clues to help determine an answer to your question. I looked for your Ralph and Ruth (Tyler) Titus family, and the Sydney and Elizabeth (--?--) Tyler family in the following resources:

* Family trees posted on www.ancestry.com, www.rootsweb.com, and www.genealogy.com.

* LDS databases at www.familysearch.org.

* Census, vital records, immigration, stories and newspaper databases at www.ancestry.com.

The only records I found that directly relate to the two subject families are in the Census records on www.ancestry.com. Working backwards, here is what I found:

1) 1930 US Census for Manhattan, New York County, NY (NARA T626, Roll 1577, ED 1028, sheet 8B), residing at 510 West 147th Street, Renting for $64 per month:

* Ralph Titus - head, male, white, age 32, married, at age 21, born PA, parents born PA/PA, a sprayer of automobiles.
* Ruth Titus - wife, female, white, age 32, married, at age 21, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* Ruth Jr. Titus - daughter, female, white, age 10, single, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* Betty Titus - daughter, female, white, age 8, single, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* June Titus - daughter, female, white, age 3, single, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* Sherley Titus - daughter, female, white, age 1-6/12, single, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* Sidney W. Tyler - father-in-law, male, white, age 65, widowed, married at age 25, born PA, parents born PA/PA, a chef in a restaurant.

2) 1920 US Census for Wilkes-Barre Ward 10, Luzerne County, PA (NARA T625, Roll 1597, ED 240, Sheet 8A), residing at 85 N. Ross Street, Renting home:

* Elizabeth Tyler - head, female, white, age 47, married, born NY, parents born Canada/MD, no occupation.
* Ruth Tyler - daughter, female, white, age 20, single, born PA, parents born MD/NY, a clerk, works in retail store.
* Agnes Tyler - daughter, female, white, age 18, single, born PA, parents born MD/NY, a stenographer, works for attorney.
* Edward J. Tyler - son, male, white, age 12, single, born PA, parents born MD/NY

I could not find Sydney Tyler in Luzerne County PA in the 1920 census. I wonder where he is?

3) 1910 US Census for Wilkes Barre Ward 13, Luzerne County, PA (NARA T624, Roll 1371, ED 153, Sheet 16B), residing at 137 Prospect Street:

* Sidney W. Taylor - head, male, white, age 39, first marriage, for 14 years, born MD, parents born MD/MD, a chef, works at French house
* Elizabeth Taylor - wife, female, white, age 36, first marriage, for 14 years, 3 children born, 3 living, born NY, parents born NY/NY
* Ruth Taylor - daughter, female, white, age 11, single, born PA, parents born MD/NY
* Agnes Taylor - daughter, female, white, age 8, single, born PA, parents born MD/NY
* Edward Taylor - son, male, white, age 2, single, born PA, parents born MD/NY

4) 1900 US Census for Wilkes Barre Ward 13, Luzerne County, PA (NARA T623, Roll 1436, ED 177, Sheet 8B):

* Sydney Tyler - head, white, male, born Mar 1871, age 29, married, for 2 years, born MD, parents born MD/MD, a day laborer.
* Elizabeth Tyler - wife, white, female, born Oct 1872, age 28, married, for 2 years, 1 child born, 1 living, born PA, parents born Germany/Germany
* Ruth M. Tyler - daughter, white, female, born Oct 1898, age 1, single, born PA, parents born MD/PA.

5) 1890 US Census - not available - destroyed in fire in 1921.

6) 1880 US Census - I searched for a Sidney, Sydney or S. Tyler in PA, MD and VA, but found only one (see below). There were no Tyler's in Luzerne County PA born in MD or VA. There were 97 Tyler males born between 1869 and 1873 in MD, none of them with Sidney/Sydney as a given name. There were 54 Sid* and 21 Syd* born in MD between 1869 and 1873, none of them with Tyler (or anything close) as a surname.

The only Sydney Tyler found was in Richmond, Henrico County, VA (NARA T9, Roll 1371, ED 79, Page 21A):

* Jno Lyle - white, male, age 59, married, a watchman, born VA, parents born VA/VA
* Francis M. Lyle - white, female, age 56, wife, married, keeping house, born VA, parents born VA/VA
* Jno. L. Lyle - white, male, age 20, son, single, a blacksmith, born VA, parents born VA/VA
* Mary E. Lyle - white, female, age 12, daughter, single, born VA, parents born VA/VA
* Sydney W. Tyler - white, male, age 8, boarder, single, born VA, parents born VA/VA

I don't know if this Sydney W. Tyler is the one who lived in Wilkes-Barre in 1900 to 1920, married Elizabeth and had a daughter Ruth. Sydney W. Tyler said he was born in MD in every record found for him, and his parents also. This one in the 1880 census is in Virginia.

For informational purposes, there were 1,354 persons with surname Tyler in Virginia in the 1870 census, including 56 in Henrico County. Certainly some, but probably not all, are descendants of President John Tyler. I can't determine if the Sydney W. Tyler in the 1880 census is a descendant of President John Tyler. A review of the family trees at http://wc.rootsweb.com reveals several trees that list at least two generations of descendants of President John Tyler, but there is no Sydney or Sidney listed. One of the most complete is here. That doesn't mean that he isn't a descendant or a relative, there is just not enough information.

What should you do now? I recommend that you:

* It is possible that Sydney W. Tyler married Elizabeth --?-- in Luzerne County PA in 1897 or 1898. You could try to obtain a marriage certificate from Luzerne County PA for them. It would probably name their parents, their birth dates and birthplaces, and provide Elizabeth's maiden name. The PA vital records don't start until 1906, however. You can check http://www.vitalrec.com/pa.html for more information - it looks like there might be records in the Register of Wills in the Orphan Courts for each County.

* While your grandmother Ruth (Tyler) Titus was born before 1906, her brother Edward was born in about 1908, probably in Wilkes-Barre. You can probably obtain a birth certificate for him at the PA Vital Records site. That would give you Elizabeth's maiden name and birthplace, and Sydney's birth place also.

* Try to determine when and where Sydney W. Tyler died. Are there family papers, a Bible, an obituary, etc. that provide a death date and location?

* If there are no family papers available, the City Directories may help define a year range when Sydney or Elizabeth died. There may be a probate record for them if they owned property - you can find these records at the County Courthouse.

* If you can find a death date and place, then you could request a death certificate for Sydney W. Tyler. This will probably provide his birth date, birth place, and parent's names. If he died in PA, then you should be able to obtain a death certificate from the State of Pennsylvania - see http://www.vitalrec.com/pa.html.

* If you can determine his parents names, then you could do further research in the location(s) where his family lived and come up with a birth record for Sydney and possible siblings, and a marriage record for his parents.

Research like this often takes a long time. Finding the census records is fairly easy, now that they are online. Finding a death date, obtaining birth, marriage and death records usually requires writing letters to repositories, visiting them in person, or hiring someone in the locality to do it for you.

Do any of my readers have suggestions for Heather to help her out? Please comment on this post if you do - and I'll update this post.

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