I worked a bit yesterday on Colleen Fitzpatrick's weekly Forensic Genealogy puzzle #111, which I solved using the Proquest Historic Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2003), available at home using my library card for the San Diego Public Library.
Just for fun, I decided to input the string "John Robinson Hall" into the Search box and see if this fellow made the NY Times, since he was such a hot shot aviation enthusiast and promoter in the 1910- to 1920 time frame (that's what he told his wife, anyway!).
Bingo! JRH had at least 7 mentions from 1913 to 1924. In 1913, he was a pupil at the Moisant Aviation School at Hempstead on Long Island. He had an accident in October 1913, but survived. He became the Manager of the New York Times Aerial Derby, which flew around Manhattan Island, in October 1913, In December 1913, he was arrested for forging checks to pay his hotel bill after the meet, and it noted that he went to Philadelphia. In February 1914, he was cleared of the charges. Finally, in 1924, he wrote an article for the Times describing the Aerial Derby in 1911 and comparing aviation then with aviation in 1924.
Needless to say, I was very surprised to find these articles, and my colleague Joan will now have more biographical information about JRH. The file keeps growing!
The ProQuest Historical Newspaper collection is wonderful - I just wish I had access to more than the New York Times with my current crop of library cards!
This is another case of being lucky - and being in the right place when the thought flashes through your brain and you decide to act on the flash.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
More about Genealogy Societies - Change or Perish?
George G. Morgan uses his regular Ancestry column (at http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1476) to share his thoughts about how genealogical societies could or should change their programs, meetings, publications, etc. in order to adapt to the changing environment that societies exist in.
His thoughts and comments are cogent and timely. I encourage all genealogy society members, especially society leaders, to read his comments and see how they fit your own society.
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) is doing almost everything that George suggests for programming. The exception is that we still offer weekday monthly programs, but have started Saturday programs 3 times a year. Perhaps we should do more Saturday programs, but old habits of our members are hard to break.
CVGS doesn't have Special Interest Groups for specific subjects; rather, we have a monthly Research Group to discuss all subjects. We have regular field trips, a computer group, special classes, a cemetery project, and a social half-hour at our meetings.
CVGS publishes a newsletter for those that choose not to receive it via an email notice and PDF download. About half of our members download it now, so that saves a significant amount of money.
CVGS has a web site at www.rootsweb.com/~cacvgs2/ and a blog called the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe at http://cvgencafe.blogspot.com/.
All in all, we do OK by George's list! How about your society? Can it benefit from George's comments and suggestions?
UPDATE 6/5: George G. Morgan has a lengthy comment to this post - please click on Comments and read it too. His best comment is:
"The other thing that societies may overlook and lose out on is getting members involved in projects. The camaraderie and the friendships that form and grow as a result are a major benefit that bonds us all together. In addition, there is a huge amount of fun -- and learning -- involved that you cannot duplicate in an individual genealogical research experience."
Excellent thoughts! While large societies can sponsor seminars and conferences, they can lose the personal touch. Small societies can touch each member and enhance their genealogy education and experience. The best solution is to belong to both kinds of societies to take full advantage of the benefits of both!
UPDATE 6/5, 10:30 PM: Mike Ferguson made some cogent comments today, especially about newsletter publishing, in a second comment. Please click on Comments below and read his thoughts.
Thanks to George and Mike for sharing. Unfortunately, a blog isn't the most efficient way to see comments - a forum with a "flat view" (like what Rootsweb does with their message boards) would be ideal.
His thoughts and comments are cogent and timely. I encourage all genealogy society members, especially society leaders, to read his comments and see how they fit your own society.
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) is doing almost everything that George suggests for programming. The exception is that we still offer weekday monthly programs, but have started Saturday programs 3 times a year. Perhaps we should do more Saturday programs, but old habits of our members are hard to break.
CVGS doesn't have Special Interest Groups for specific subjects; rather, we have a monthly Research Group to discuss all subjects. We have regular field trips, a computer group, special classes, a cemetery project, and a social half-hour at our meetings.
CVGS publishes a newsletter for those that choose not to receive it via an email notice and PDF download. About half of our members download it now, so that saves a significant amount of money.
CVGS has a web site at www.rootsweb.com/~cacvgs2/ and a blog called the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe at http://cvgencafe.blogspot.com/.
All in all, we do OK by George's list! How about your society? Can it benefit from George's comments and suggestions?
UPDATE 6/5: George G. Morgan has a lengthy comment to this post - please click on Comments and read it too. His best comment is:
"The other thing that societies may overlook and lose out on is getting members involved in projects. The camaraderie and the friendships that form and grow as a result are a major benefit that bonds us all together. In addition, there is a huge amount of fun -- and learning -- involved that you cannot duplicate in an individual genealogical research experience."
Excellent thoughts! While large societies can sponsor seminars and conferences, they can lose the personal touch. Small societies can touch each member and enhance their genealogy education and experience. The best solution is to belong to both kinds of societies to take full advantage of the benefits of both!
UPDATE 6/5, 10:30 PM: Mike Ferguson made some cogent comments today, especially about newsletter publishing, in a second comment. Please click on Comments below and read his thoughts.
Thanks to George and Mike for sharing. Unfortunately, a blog isn't the most efficient way to see comments - a forum with a "flat view" (like what Rootsweb does with their message boards) would be ideal.
Following up on Cornelia Bresee
My "to-do" lists sometimes get buried in my "stack of stuff" and I don't get around to doing the tasks until I find the paper in the stack.
One of the items on my Bresee research list was to email a fellow named Lance who submitted a database to the WorldConnect database on http://wc.rootsweb.com that includes the following information (when you request a Register report):
=================================
1. Cornelia BRESEE was born 5 Dec 1780. She married James BELL in Schodack,NY, son of Thomas BELL and Margaret LECKI. He was born 7 Aug 1777 in Scotland, and died in Smithville.
Child of Cornelia BRESEE and James BELL is:
+ 2 i. Betsy BELL was born 23 Sep 1808, and died 1 Apr 1887.
================================
It is apparent from the rest of the genealogy report printed from the database that Lance is a descendant of Betsy Bell and therefore Cornelia Bresee.
Lance's database appears to have been obtained from family records of some sort - he has specific names and dates, but only for one line down from Cornelia, and doesn't have many localities listed.
The key factor here is that the birth date for Cornelia Bresee in Lance's database matches the date in the book of baptisms for St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Churchtown NY (Claverack).
If Lance does have family papers with this information, obtained independently from the church record book, then this is good evidence that the Cornelia who married James Bell is the Cornelia Bresie in the church book.
I sent the email today to see if Lance is willing to share his source for the information about Cornelia Bresee. I should have done this several months ago, but, as I said, my "to-do" list got buried in my stack.
I guess I'd better dig down into my stack and organize everything so that I can find more things to do today...and tomorrow...and ... I really am pretty organized, I just don't know where everything is!
One of the items on my Bresee research list was to email a fellow named Lance who submitted a database to the WorldConnect database on http://wc.rootsweb.com that includes the following information (when you request a Register report):
=================================
1. Cornelia BRESEE was born 5 Dec 1780. She married James BELL in Schodack,NY, son of Thomas BELL and Margaret LECKI. He was born 7 Aug 1777 in Scotland, and died in Smithville.
Child of Cornelia BRESEE and James BELL is:
+ 2 i. Betsy BELL was born 23 Sep 1808, and died 1 Apr 1887.
================================
It is apparent from the rest of the genealogy report printed from the database that Lance is a descendant of Betsy Bell and therefore Cornelia Bresee.
Lance's database appears to have been obtained from family records of some sort - he has specific names and dates, but only for one line down from Cornelia, and doesn't have many localities listed.
The key factor here is that the birth date for Cornelia Bresee in Lance's database matches the date in the book of baptisms for St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Churchtown NY (Claverack).
If Lance does have family papers with this information, obtained independently from the church record book, then this is good evidence that the Cornelia who married James Bell is the Cornelia Bresie in the church book.
I sent the email today to see if Lance is willing to share his source for the information about Cornelia Bresee. I should have done this several months ago, but, as I said, my "to-do" list got buried in my stack.
I guess I'd better dig down into my stack and organize everything so that I can find more things to do today...and tomorrow...and ... I really am pretty organized, I just don't know where everything is!
Finding JRH - looking for siblings in 1930 census
I'm helping one of my colleagues find data online to try to find what happened to her John Robinson Hall (JRH), born 1886 in Philadelphia PA). I posted "what we knew" here. The initial research summary is here, and the census search for him, his parents and siblings is here.
The next step in the search is to try to find JRH's siblings in the 1930 census - that would give us more names to find an obituary for and perhaps identify relatives of his that might still be living (and have information about him).
From the 1900 and 1910 census records, we know that his siblings are:
1. Edward Hall, born Feb 1884 in PA
2. William Robinson, born Jul 1888 in PA
3. Martha Robinson, born May 1890 in PA
4. Florence Robinson, born Oct 1895 in PA
5. Warren Robinson, born Mar 1897 in PA
6. Edith Robinson, born 1906 in PA
In the 1930 US census, we were able to find the following families:
In Ward 22 of Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, PA (NARA T626, Roll 2104, ED 628, Pg 12A):
* Warren Robinson - head, age 32, married, at age 24, born PA, parents born NIreland/PA
* Winifred Robinson - wife, age 30, married, at age 22, born PA, parents born NIreland/NIreland
* Mary J. Robinson - daughter, age 8, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* William Robinson - son, age 4, born PA, parents born PA/PA
In Ward 22 of Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, PA (NARA T626, Roll 2104, ED 622, Pg 49A):
* Harry Pfaff - head, age 36, married, at age 29, born PA, parents born Germany/Germany
* Florance Pfaff - wife, age 34, married, at age 28, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
* Florence Hope Pfaff - daughter, age 3, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* William J. Robinson - bro-in-law, age 42, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
Remember back in the second post, we found that Mrs. Harry G. Pfaff was the next-of-kin for John Robinson Hall in 1942 on the World War II draft registration card? And here we find his step-sister Florence married to Harry Pfaff (indexed on Ancestry as Harry Pfoff of course, just to throw us off the trail for a minute or two - a search using Flor* and her birth year was successful).
We looked for Edith Robinson in Philadelphia, with no results that fit the known information. We looked for Edith (no surname) in Philly Ward 22 and born 1906 +/- 2 years and had 5 hits, but none fit the known information. There were 313 women named Edith born 1906 +/- 2 years who were wives in Philadelphia in 1930!
We tried for Martha (no surname) too - with no positive results. There were 8 in Ward 22, and 585 in all of Philadelphia. It is too common a name!
That leaves Edward Hall, born in 1884. We couldn't find him in 1910 or 1920, but we tried 1930 anyway, assuming he could be anywhere in the USA. There were 10 Edward Hall's born 1884 +/- 2 years in PA, but none of them fit the known information.
In summary - we have at least three siblings living in 1930 in Philadelphia, and have identified at least 3 children of those siblings (although only one of them is male - the females are much harder to trace, as we all know!).
My recommendation for the next step in the search is to find newspaper obituaries for John Robinson Hall, or for his step-father William Robinson, mother Mary Robinson, sister Florence Pfaff, or brothers William J. Robinson and Warren Robinson to see if they list John Robinson Hall in a certain location.
The problem with this strategy is that it is going to take some time to find obituaries in the Philadelphia newspapers since we don't have any death dates for any of these people. It will be impossible if there is not an index for Philadelphia newspapers. I looked at the Philadelphia Free Library site and
An alternative plan is to search Philadelphia city directories for all of these people and note when they "disappear" from the directories. This might define an approximate death year, but they might have just moved away rather than died.
Another alternative is to request death records from Pennsylvania for John Robinson Hall, or his parents and siblings. They would give us a death date that might help find an obituary. The problem with this alternative is that it is costly to search PA death records when you don't know the death date.
Any comments on the search so far and the plan for further research?
The next step in the search is to try to find JRH's siblings in the 1930 census - that would give us more names to find an obituary for and perhaps identify relatives of his that might still be living (and have information about him).
From the 1900 and 1910 census records, we know that his siblings are:
1. Edward Hall, born Feb 1884 in PA
2. William Robinson, born Jul 1888 in PA
3. Martha Robinson, born May 1890 in PA
4. Florence Robinson, born Oct 1895 in PA
5. Warren Robinson, born Mar 1897 in PA
6. Edith Robinson, born 1906 in PA
In the 1930 US census, we were able to find the following families:
In Ward 22 of Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, PA (NARA T626, Roll 2104, ED 628, Pg 12A):
* Warren Robinson - head, age 32, married, at age 24, born PA, parents born NIreland/PA
* Winifred Robinson - wife, age 30, married, at age 22, born PA, parents born NIreland/NIreland
* Mary J. Robinson - daughter, age 8, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* William Robinson - son, age 4, born PA, parents born PA/PA
In Ward 22 of Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, PA (NARA T626, Roll 2104, ED 622, Pg 49A):
* Harry Pfaff - head, age 36, married, at age 29, born PA, parents born Germany/Germany
* Florance Pfaff - wife, age 34, married, at age 28, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
* Florence Hope Pfaff - daughter, age 3, born PA, parents born PA/PA
* William J. Robinson - bro-in-law, age 42, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
Remember back in the second post, we found that Mrs. Harry G. Pfaff was the next-of-kin for John Robinson Hall in 1942 on the World War II draft registration card? And here we find his step-sister Florence married to Harry Pfaff (indexed on Ancestry as Harry Pfoff of course, just to throw us off the trail for a minute or two - a search using Flor* and her birth year was successful).
We looked for Edith Robinson in Philadelphia, with no results that fit the known information. We looked for Edith (no surname) in Philly Ward 22 and born 1906 +/- 2 years and had 5 hits, but none fit the known information. There were 313 women named Edith born 1906 +/- 2 years who were wives in Philadelphia in 1930!
We tried for Martha (no surname) too - with no positive results. There were 8 in Ward 22, and 585 in all of Philadelphia. It is too common a name!
That leaves Edward Hall, born in 1884. We couldn't find him in 1910 or 1920, but we tried 1930 anyway, assuming he could be anywhere in the USA. There were 10 Edward Hall's born 1884 +/- 2 years in PA, but none of them fit the known information.
In summary - we have at least three siblings living in 1930 in Philadelphia, and have identified at least 3 children of those siblings (although only one of them is male - the females are much harder to trace, as we all know!).
My recommendation for the next step in the search is to find newspaper obituaries for John Robinson Hall, or for his step-father William Robinson, mother Mary Robinson, sister Florence Pfaff, or brothers William J. Robinson and Warren Robinson to see if they list John Robinson Hall in a certain location.
The problem with this strategy is that it is going to take some time to find obituaries in the Philadelphia newspapers since we don't have any death dates for any of these people. It will be impossible if there is not an index for Philadelphia newspapers. I looked at the Philadelphia Free Library site and
An alternative plan is to search Philadelphia city directories for all of these people and note when they "disappear" from the directories. This might define an approximate death year, but they might have just moved away rather than died.
Another alternative is to request death records from Pennsylvania for John Robinson Hall, or his parents and siblings. They would give us a death date that might help find an obituary. The problem with this alternative is that it is costly to search PA death records when you don't know the death date.
Any comments on the search so far and the plan for further research?
Friday, June 1, 2007
UK Census Records on Ancestry Library Edition
Do you have ancestors or cousins hiding in the England and Wales census records 1841 to 1901? Have you found them in those census records?
Ancestry Library Edition provides access to those census records, but you can access ALE only at subscribing libraries. In the San Diego area, Chula Vista, San Diego city, Carlsbad and San Diego County library systems have access at all branches (I'm not sure about other libraries). In other areas, you should check at your local libraries.
For those persons that have only a US Deluxe Subscription to www.Ancestry.com, and need to access England and Wales records, going to a library with access to Ancestry Library Edition is a much cheaper solution than signing up for a World deluxe subscription to Ancestry.com.
However, you are out of luck if you need Scotland or Canada census records - you need the World Deluxe subscription. By far the cheapest way to find those records is to wait for a free trial offer on www.ancestry.com that provides access to them.
Ancestry Library Edition provides access to those census records, but you can access ALE only at subscribing libraries. In the San Diego area, Chula Vista, San Diego city, Carlsbad and San Diego County library systems have access at all branches (I'm not sure about other libraries). In other areas, you should check at your local libraries.
For those persons that have only a US Deluxe Subscription to www.Ancestry.com, and need to access England and Wales records, going to a library with access to Ancestry Library Edition is a much cheaper solution than signing up for a World deluxe subscription to Ancestry.com.
However, you are out of luck if you need Scotland or Canada census records - you need the World Deluxe subscription. By far the cheapest way to find those records is to wait for a free trial offer on www.ancestry.com that provides access to them.
Godfrey Library provides access to CT VRs
A colleague received this notice from the Godfrey Memorial Library in Middletown CT today:
-------------------------------------------------
Library Members Receive State Approval for Access to Vital Records
The State of Connecticut Department of Public Health issued a letter of approval on May 24, 2007 to Godfrey Memorial Library which allows current members access to Connecticut Vital Records located throughout the state.
According to the Registrar of Vital Records Elizabeth Frugale, "Members must show photographic identification and a valid Godfrey Memorial Library Membership Card before being granted access to vital records."
"We are very pleased to have received this designation from the state. We suggest that all of our local members make use of this great opportunity to further their genealogical research. We encourage every member to abide by the rules of conduct set forth at each town hall," said Library Director Richard Black.
Richard E. Black, Director
Godfrey Memorial Library
134 Newfield Street
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 346-4375
richard@godfrey.org
------------------------------------------------
That is excellent! You can join the Godfrey Scholar program for $35 and gain access to Connecticut Vital Records. This has been one state that requires a genealogical society membership in order to access town vital records. I'm not sure if they accept New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) members - does anyone know?
My one try to gain access to Killingly town records ended up positively, even though I wasn't a CT society member. In 1994, I showed up at the former location of the Bugbee Library just as the director walked out to go to the new location - and the new location wasn't open yet. He asked what I was searching for, and when I said cemetery records, he led me to the town clerk office a block away and asked them to help me out. The clerk's office had the cemetery records, plus the Killingly town vital records, and they didn't check any credentials since I came in with the library director. I found quite a few vital records, plus the cemetery records.
As I left, there was a lady working in the other room, and she asked me what surnames I was working on. I said Oatley, White and Richmond in the 1830 to 1900 time frame, and she said she was working on a book about a Dr. Hill who served East Killingly in the 1850 to 1900 time period. I eventually bought her book and found only cryptic references to my people - but he was their doctor!
-------------------------------------------------
Library Members Receive State Approval for Access to Vital Records
The State of Connecticut Department of Public Health issued a letter of approval on May 24, 2007 to Godfrey Memorial Library which allows current members access to Connecticut Vital Records located throughout the state.
According to the Registrar of Vital Records Elizabeth Frugale, "Members must show photographic identification and a valid Godfrey Memorial Library Membership Card before being granted access to vital records."
"We are very pleased to have received this designation from the state. We suggest that all of our local members make use of this great opportunity to further their genealogical research. We encourage every member to abide by the rules of conduct set forth at each town hall," said Library Director Richard Black.
Richard E. Black, Director
Godfrey Memorial Library
134 Newfield Street
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 346-4375
richard@godfrey.org
------------------------------------------------
That is excellent! You can join the Godfrey Scholar program for $35 and gain access to Connecticut Vital Records. This has been one state that requires a genealogical society membership in order to access town vital records. I'm not sure if they accept New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) members - does anyone know?
My one try to gain access to Killingly town records ended up positively, even though I wasn't a CT society member. In 1994, I showed up at the former location of the Bugbee Library just as the director walked out to go to the new location - and the new location wasn't open yet. He asked what I was searching for, and when I said cemetery records, he led me to the town clerk office a block away and asked them to help me out. The clerk's office had the cemetery records, plus the Killingly town vital records, and they didn't check any credentials since I came in with the library director. I found quite a few vital records, plus the cemetery records.
As I left, there was a lady working in the other room, and she asked me what surnames I was working on. I said Oatley, White and Richmond in the 1830 to 1900 time frame, and she said she was working on a book about a Dr. Hill who served East Killingly in the 1850 to 1900 time period. I eventually bought her book and found only cryptic references to my people - but he was their doctor!
Promising Genealogy Blogs
Genealogy-related blogs continue to crop up with regularity, and Chris Dunham tries to capture all of them at his Genealogy Blog Finder (over 630 are now on his list).
Some of the most recent blogs that I have subscribed to via Bloglines (I have about 145 on my list now) include:
* Creative Genealogy by Jasia - "If you're interested in taking your genealogy to the next level, come join me in exploring creative ways to share your family's history." This is a "beautiful" blog!
* Unofficial Footnote Blog - "Highlighting Features, News and Content of Footnote.com"
* Connecticut Ancestor Connections - "Visit here to share ancestral news in and around Connecticut. Discovering the Past to Connect with the Future!"
* Passing it On - "A site dedicated to preserving, celebrating and sharing family and personal history."
* The G Files - "The truth is out there."
* ephemera - "exploring the world of old paper"
* Exploring Rootsweb - "and making web pages"
* Jessica's Genejournal - "A blog that posts information on genealogy and historical research."
* The Genetic Genealogist - "Adding DNA to the Genealogist’s Toolbox"
These are all fairly new (to me), and have fairly regular postings. If you have some time, go visit each of these and support genealogy bloggers worldwide.
There are now over 30 genealogy or historical societies on the Genealogy Blogfinder - including our Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe!
Do you have a genealogy blog with regular postings that I have missed? Please let me know and I will add you to my Bloglines list and my Blog roll.
Some of the most recent blogs that I have subscribed to via Bloglines (I have about 145 on my list now) include:
* Creative Genealogy by Jasia - "If you're interested in taking your genealogy to the next level, come join me in exploring creative ways to share your family's history." This is a "beautiful" blog!
* Unofficial Footnote Blog - "Highlighting Features, News and Content of Footnote.com"
* Connecticut Ancestor Connections - "Visit here to share ancestral news in and around Connecticut. Discovering the Past to Connect with the Future!"
* Passing it On - "A site dedicated to preserving, celebrating and sharing family and personal history."
* The G Files - "The truth is out there."
* ephemera - "exploring the world of old paper"
* Exploring Rootsweb - "and making web pages"
* Jessica's Genejournal - "A blog that posts information on genealogy and historical research."
* The Genetic Genealogist - "Adding DNA to the Genealogist’s Toolbox"
These are all fairly new (to me), and have fairly regular postings. If you have some time, go visit each of these and support genealogy bloggers worldwide.
There are now over 30 genealogy or historical societies on the Genealogy Blogfinder - including our Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe!
Do you have a genealogy blog with regular postings that I have missed? Please let me know and I will add you to my Bloglines list and my Blog roll.
Finding JRH - into the census records
I am helping my CVGS colleague, Joan, find records about her John Robinson Hall (JRH). The "what we knew" post is here, and the "first steps in our search" post is here.
The next path we chose to follow is to try to find his parents and any siblings in the census records. If we can identify year ranges for when the parents disappear from the census records, we might be able to find a death record or an obituary. If we can identify siblings, then we may be able to trace their families and find living descendants, or find obituaries for them that might tell us if JRH is alive at the time of the sibling's death.
We started with the 1900 census, since JRH was born in March 1886. The marriage record says his parents were John S. Hall (born in Ireland) and Mary Ann McLaughlin (born in PA). We decided to search in Philadelphia County PA first because John Hall is such a common name.
By inputting Given name = John, Last name = Hall, mother's name = Mary, and Birth Year = 1885 +/- 1 year, we found this family (NARA film T623, Roll 1464, ED 505, pg 14A) in Philadelphia Ward 22:
* William Robinson - head, age 37, born May 1862, married 14 years, born Ireland, parents born Ire/Ire.
* Mary Robinson - wife, age 35, born Jul 1864, married 14 years, 9 children born, 6 living, born PA, parents born Ireland/Ireland
* Edward Hall - son, age 16, born Feb 1884, single, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
* John Hall - son, age 15, born Mar 1885, single, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
* William Robinson - son, age 11, born Feb 1889, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
* Martha Robinson - daughter, age 10, born May 1890, etc.
* Florence Robinson - daughter, age 4, born Oct 1895, etc.
* Warren Robinson - son, age 3, born Mar 1897, etc.
The birth year for John Hall is a year off, but everything else is correct, and the thing that makes it almost a 100% cinch is the surname Robinson. If Mary Hall married William Robinson in 1886, then John Hall was raised by William Robinson for almost his entire life - and may have taken his surname as his middle name - John Robinson Hall.
We searched the 1910 census records for John Robinson Hall (and variations including J., R., Hull, Hale, etc) born in PA in 1885 +/- 2 years with no success - in Pennsylvania, California and the entire USA. He may be there, but there are a lot of John Hall's and the only discriminators we have are his age, his birth state and his parents birth places.
The 1910 census for Philadelphia finds the William Robinson family in Ward 22 again (NARA T624, Roll 1396, ED 458, page 5A) - with no Hall's and all the Robinsons 10 years older, and with another daughter, Edith, age 3. Mary Robinson has had 10 children, with 7 living, so that completes the family. She and William have been married for 23 years, and it is Mary's 2nd marriage. We know the names of all 7 children - two Hall sons and 5 Robinson children.
We searched the 1920 census records for John Robinson Hall (and variations including J., R., Hull, Hale, etc) born in PA in 1885 +/- 2 years with no success - in Pennsylvania, California and the entire USA.
The 1920 census for Philadelphia finds William Robinson in Ward 22, but he is a widower (NARA T625, Roll 1624, ED 620, page 6B) living with his Robinson children. Mary may have died between 1910 and 1920.
We looked for William Robinson in the 1930 US census records in Philadelphia, but there were none that matched the age and birthplace with any of the known children. It is possible that William Robinson died between 1920 and 1930.
We have made significant progress in the census records today, even though we can't find John Robinson Hall after 1900 in the census. Because we found his family in the 1900 census, there are some siblings to follow up on in the 1930 census and later records.
The next step in this search is to try to find some of the siblings in the 1930 census records.
The next path we chose to follow is to try to find his parents and any siblings in the census records. If we can identify year ranges for when the parents disappear from the census records, we might be able to find a death record or an obituary. If we can identify siblings, then we may be able to trace their families and find living descendants, or find obituaries for them that might tell us if JRH is alive at the time of the sibling's death.
We started with the 1900 census, since JRH was born in March 1886. The marriage record says his parents were John S. Hall (born in Ireland) and Mary Ann McLaughlin (born in PA). We decided to search in Philadelphia County PA first because John Hall is such a common name.
By inputting Given name = John, Last name = Hall, mother's name = Mary, and Birth Year = 1885 +/- 1 year, we found this family (NARA film T623, Roll 1464, ED 505, pg 14A) in Philadelphia Ward 22:
* William Robinson - head, age 37, born May 1862, married 14 years, born Ireland, parents born Ire/Ire.
* Mary Robinson - wife, age 35, born Jul 1864, married 14 years, 9 children born, 6 living, born PA, parents born Ireland/Ireland
* Edward Hall - son, age 16, born Feb 1884, single, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
* John Hall - son, age 15, born Mar 1885, single, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
* William Robinson - son, age 11, born Feb 1889, born PA, parents born Ireland/PA
* Martha Robinson - daughter, age 10, born May 1890, etc.
* Florence Robinson - daughter, age 4, born Oct 1895, etc.
* Warren Robinson - son, age 3, born Mar 1897, etc.
The birth year for John Hall is a year off, but everything else is correct, and the thing that makes it almost a 100% cinch is the surname Robinson. If Mary Hall married William Robinson in 1886, then John Hall was raised by William Robinson for almost his entire life - and may have taken his surname as his middle name - John Robinson Hall.
We searched the 1910 census records for John Robinson Hall (and variations including J., R., Hull, Hale, etc) born in PA in 1885 +/- 2 years with no success - in Pennsylvania, California and the entire USA. He may be there, but there are a lot of John Hall's and the only discriminators we have are his age, his birth state and his parents birth places.
The 1910 census for Philadelphia finds the William Robinson family in Ward 22 again (NARA T624, Roll 1396, ED 458, page 5A) - with no Hall's and all the Robinsons 10 years older, and with another daughter, Edith, age 3. Mary Robinson has had 10 children, with 7 living, so that completes the family. She and William have been married for 23 years, and it is Mary's 2nd marriage. We know the names of all 7 children - two Hall sons and 5 Robinson children.
We searched the 1920 census records for John Robinson Hall (and variations including J., R., Hull, Hale, etc) born in PA in 1885 +/- 2 years with no success - in Pennsylvania, California and the entire USA.
The 1920 census for Philadelphia finds William Robinson in Ward 22, but he is a widower (NARA T625, Roll 1624, ED 620, page 6B) living with his Robinson children. Mary may have died between 1910 and 1920.
We looked for William Robinson in the 1930 US census records in Philadelphia, but there were none that matched the age and birthplace with any of the known children. It is possible that William Robinson died between 1920 and 1930.
We have made significant progress in the census records today, even though we can't find John Robinson Hall after 1900 in the census. Because we found his family in the 1900 census, there are some siblings to follow up on in the 1930 census and later records.
The next step in this search is to try to find some of the siblings in the 1930 census records.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
When was this picture taken?
One of the treasures found in my Aunt Geraldine's photos and papers was this set of photographs encased in a fairly thick case - about 3/8 inch thick on each side.
The photos appear to be on a metallic medium, and are covered with a thin glass (resulting in the blurring of the picture above on my scanner). The whitish marks on the scan above are from fingerprints on the glass, not in the pictures.
The outside of the casing shows a relief of a mother kissing a small child with a large dog (?) watching. This is on both halves of the casing. There is no other identifying feature on the casing - inside or outside.
I am not sure who these people are, but I'm guessing that it was handed down to Gerry from her mother. Depending on the year the photos were taken, I have several candidates for who they are, assuming they are from Gerry's and my father's ancestry.
Can anyone give me an estimate of the year these photos were taken, based on the photo type, the case type, the clothing, the poses, the hair styles, etc.?
UPDATE 1 June, 1:15 PM: In comments, Dana and Jimmy have suggested that these are Civil War era photographs. Joy provided these very helpful links for photo dating:
"http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/photodating.htm and http://www.cyndislist.com/photos.htm#Dating have a lot of links to information about dating historical photographs."
Thank you all! I will report further when I have a better idea for the time frame.
Table of Consanguinity
I've heard the term "Consanguinity" before, but have never really understood it. The definition of it is at http://www.lectlaw.com/def/c285.htm. It appears that there is a difference between "common and canon law" and "civil law."
When I checked the article about the genealogy butler on the newspaper website, there was an advertisement for International Genealogical Search Inc. (http://www.heirsearch.com/) - an heir search company that claims 97% success and a guarantee of success or you don't pay on "standard searches." I followed the link and eventually found a Table of Consanguinity at http://www.heirsearch.com/docs/Consanguinity_Chart_Web.pdf. I downloaded it and printed it out for future use. This chart is used for Civil Law.
Clicking around the Heirsearch site I found this testimonial:
"We just sent our petition for distribution of the estate to the court filing. We never would have been able to get this far without all of your assistance. You lifted a great burden from our shoulders when you assumed the responsibility of reporting on all of the deceased's heirs (395 heirs). It has been a pleasure dealing with such a professional, yet friendly and understanding group of people." -- Probate Assistant, Fullerton, California.
I'm sure that most of the heir search firms have testimonials like this, but the number - 395 heirs - really stood out to me! I wonder what the record for number of heirs found is?
Please note that I don't have an interest in this firm - I just found the chart and thought the quote was interesting.
I'm still not sure that I understand how the degree of consanguinity is calculated but now I know the definition and have a chart!
When I checked the article about the genealogy butler on the newspaper website, there was an advertisement for International Genealogical Search Inc. (http://www.heirsearch.com/) - an heir search company that claims 97% success and a guarantee of success or you don't pay on "standard searches." I followed the link and eventually found a Table of Consanguinity at http://www.heirsearch.com/docs/Consanguinity_Chart_Web.pdf. I downloaded it and printed it out for future use. This chart is used for Civil Law.
Clicking around the Heirsearch site I found this testimonial:
"We just sent our petition for distribution of the estate to the court filing. We never would have been able to get this far without all of your assistance. You lifted a great burden from our shoulders when you assumed the responsibility of reporting on all of the deceased's heirs (395 heirs). It has been a pleasure dealing with such a professional, yet friendly and understanding group of people." -- Probate Assistant, Fullerton, California.
I'm sure that most of the heir search firms have testimonials like this, but the number - 395 heirs - really stood out to me! I wonder what the record for number of heirs found is?
Please note that I don't have an interest in this firm - I just found the chart and thought the quote was interesting.
I'm still not sure that I understand how the degree of consanguinity is calculated but now I know the definition and have a chart!
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