Saturday, August 22, 2009

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Genealogy Scavenger Hunt!

It's Saturday Night - time for some Genealogy Fun! We've had great responses the past few weeks to this event - over 62 entries to the 16-great-great-grands (see the list at Geneabloggers here (be sure to click on "View All"! Thanks Thomas!).

This week is a "Genealogy Scavenger Hunt." Remember doing a scavenger hunt as a kid? Going door-to-door looking for specific items on a list and the first one back with everything got the prize? Sometimes the neighbors didn't speak to my folks for a week afterwards!

I digress... for this Genealogy Scavenger Hunt, there are no prizes, just the reward you get for finding something useful or interesting (or not...):

1) Is there someone on your list of 16-great-great-grandparents that you don't have a census record for, and for which one should be available? If you have all of your great-great-grands (or they are not on the census records), what about your great-grands, your grands, or your parents? What about siblings of your great-grands? What about your spouse's family lines? Go find at least one!

2) Tell us about it in your blog, comments to this post, or comments in Facebook. While you're at it, give us a source citation for your census finding too (you do make source citations, don't you?).

As a help:

* www.Ancestry.com has the 1790 to 1930 US census records indexed and imaged - but you need a subscription.

* pilot.FamilySearch.org has the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880*, 1900 and 1920* (partial) census records indexed and imaged (* means no images) -- FREE!

* www.Footnote.com/1930census/ has the 1930 US Census indexed and imaged (FREE until 31 August)

* www.HeritageQuestOnline.com has the 1790-1820, 1860-1880, 1900-1930 (partial) indexed and has 1790-1930 imaged (FREE using a participating library).

Here's mine:

I decided to find one of my wife's grandmother's siblings in the 1910 census. Here's what I know about her:

* Allethia McKnew (1867-1959), married John Runnels (????-1912) in about 1888, and they had three children - Mabel, Raymond and Dora. They lived in San Francisco CA.

I found the family in the 1910 US Census indexed on Ancestry.com as Alletine J. Runnels (I used All* Run* as the Exact search name). The census listing showed:

* John W. Runnels - head, male, white, age 51, first marriage, married for 22 years, born Missouri, father born Germany, mother born Missouri, a teamster, working out, rents home at 51 Floyd Street
* Alletine J. Runnels - wife, female, white, age 42, first marriage, married 22 years, 3 children born, 3 living, born California, father born Maryland, mother born Australia (indexed as Austria)
* Raymond J. Runnels - son, male, white, age 18, single, born California, father born Missouri, mother born California, a porter, works in crockery store.
* Dora A. Runnels - daughter, female, white, age 15, single, born California, father born Missouri, mother born California.
* Arthur Francis - son-in-law, male, white, age 30, first marriage, married 1 year, born Missouri, father born Missouri, mother born Missouri, a packer, works in grocery store
* Mabel V. Francis - daughter, female, white, age 21, first marriage, married 1 year, 1 child born, 1 living, born California, father born Missouri, mother born California
* Lois A. Francis - granddaughter, female, white, age 2/12, single, born California, father born Missouri, mother born California.
* James L. Shearer - lodger, male, white, age 53, divorced, born Missouri, father born Illinois, mother born Indiana, a printer, works in office.

Source citation:

1910 United States Federal Census, California, San Francisco County Population Schedule, 37th Assembly District, Enumeration District 166, Sheet 10A, John W. Runnels family, Dwelling #129, Family #243, originally on National Archives Microfilm Series T624, Roll 98 (online database accessed at www.Ancestry.com on 22 August 2009).

I did not have John Runnels birth year, Mabel's or Lois's middle initial, or Lois's birth year in my database, so this added a bit of knowledge. I met Dora Runnels many times, usually at Christmas!

11 comments:

Brenda said...

Oops.. messed up.. Ok..

Here is my Saturday Night Fun: 21 Aug 2009 http://hte46.blogspot.com/2009/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-20-aug.html

I even did a screen shot of my database! as well as sourcing even though it is not a 'neat' job it is okay in RM. Thanks Randy~

Carol said...

Not sure tonights challenge ended up FUN over at Reflections From the Fence. http://reflectionsfromthefence.blogspot.com/2009/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-genealogy.html

Maybe cause I am tired??? Could we try for Saturday AFTERNOON?? Maybe I would not be so tired in the afternoon. LOL

That said, looking forward to next Saturday!

Tracy said...

I played along!

http://multitudeofsens.blogspot.com/2009/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-august-22.html

Susi's Quarter said...

Gee I did that and didn't know you planned this.
http://brickwalls.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tracking-down-the-elusive-one

go to the Elusive Scott blog.

Anonymous said...

Great Saturday Night GF Genealogy Scavenger Hunt: found my great-grandfather William Henry Luehr in Centralia, Wood County, Wisconsin, in 1895 Wisconsin Census. He was hiding under the mistranscribed surname Luchr. Two females in household surely were wife Clara and daughter Lucille. He was a local newspaper publisher as the time as known from other sources. Centralia was later renamed Wisconsin Rapids.

Mary said...

Ok. Did the challenge and on Saturday night, too!

http://marysfamilytree.blogspot.com/

Cyndi Beane Henry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cyndi Beane Henry said...

Oh my! A day late and a dollar behind, as my granddad always said. But here's my results from the challenge.

http://mountaingenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/08/saturday-night-challenge-sunday-morning.html

Thanks so much Randy! I'd been searching for more census records on this gr-gr-grandfather for years, and had literally given up! With this challenge, I decided to look "one more time". And don't ya know!!!

What a GREAT way to begin the new week!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm not a blogger, but I often spend a Sat. night with your "fun"/challenges. Was delighted to discover that I have most of the census records for 11 of the 12 great grand parents that I know about. I'd had a reference for #12, Josiah Morrill, for 1860 from the days before census images were online. Last night I found that image on Ancestry, but it is so washed out as to be unreadable. Printing it was like printing a blank form. It had been transcribed though, so I was able to confirm ages. His wife, Hannah Flanders Morrill is 38; he is 45, he lived only 4 more years. Only initials are given for their children: M.R. (Rosetta, 15, but I'm still not sure what the M stands for); J. E. (Josiah Edwin, known as Edwin, 6); H.E. (Hannah Elizabeth, known as Lizzie, twin of Edwin). Judith (Flanders) Morrill, Josiah's mother, age 75, was living with the family. The new information I gained was the $1000 value of Josiah's farm and the $775 in personal property he owned. The family lived in Cornville, Somerset, Maine.
Source:
1860 United States Federal Census, Cornville, Somerset, Maine; Sheet 26, Josiah Morrill family, Dwelling #194, Family #194, originally on National Archives Microfilm Series Roll M653_452; Image: 785. (accessed
database on-line at Ancestry.com on 22 Aug 2009)
I've saved the image of the page to see if photo editing software will bring out any of the text.
After that I need to get to work on the parents of my Irish paternal great-grandparents, Michael Harrison and Catherine Dooley who were in Fishkill, NY in 1860.

Anonymous said...

If Saturday night is the scavenger hunt, then Sunday morning is writing the blog entry about it. Covered is what I did not find - gg-grandfather Sherman A. Bradley in the 1850 Census - and what I did. In the 1895 Wisconsin Census, I found my great-grandfather William Henry Luehr hidden under a mistranscription of his surname. Enjoy the hunt recalled at my blog:
Relative Musings
Thanks, Randy!
Barbara Bradley Petura

Greta Koehl said...

My search is posted at http://gretabog.blogspot.com/2009/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-great.html. Did the only remaining great-greats for which I have not already done census work, listed all greats and great-greats that still have missing census(es), but haven't had time to try again for those still missing.