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Adventuring in Ancestry

~ A Genealogical Journey

Adventuring in Ancestry

Category Archives: familysearch.org

My Trek: The Next Generation

25 Friday May 2018

Posted by P J Sabados in 1870, 1880, Ancestry.com, familysearch.org, General Research, Research Sites, Secondary Source Data, Taylor Family, US Census, West Virginia, WV Division of Culture & History

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birth, Chrisman, Civil War, death, death certificate, Gochenour, marriage, Oldaker, trek, Typhoid, West Virginia

In my last journey into records, I had used information from Fold3 to discover the identity of the father of my great-grandmother, Georgianna Chrisman. Georgianna was named after her father, George Chrisman, who died of Typhoid Fever about six months after joining the Union Army in 1862.

After learning of his fate, I searched the muster records to see if George may have seen some battle prior to his illness. Other than him being present at muster, the only entry prior to his death noted that he was in the hospital due to illness in August. I further looked into it, and Typhoid Fever is usually due to contaminated food or water, though people can also contract it from an infected person. It does not sound like an easy way to die, especially since it appears he was ill for three to four weeks before succumbing to the disease.

I also wanted to fill one gap I had in records from the life of my great-grandmother. I had found census records available for every decade she had been alive except one: the 1880 US Census (since 1890 records were demolished by fire, 1890 would remain a mystery unless I could find state census records). Since she did not marry until 1883, I felt it likely to find her living with her mother and her step-father, Henry Oldaker. I did a search for the Oldakers, and this is what I found:

Clip Oldacre 1880 US Census

So, we have a Henry and Levisa Oldacre listed with several children, but none of them are my great-grandmother. We know Georgianna is alive at this time, and she has a few years before marrying my great-grandfather, so where is she? Was this even the right Henry and Luviza Oldaker?

My searches were turning up nothing regarding my great-grandmother in 1880, so I decided to look into confirming the 1880 US Census record I found really was her mother and stepfather, and then to see if I could trace Luviza’s line back further. Since I could not find out about her daughter Georgianna, maybe I could find out about Luviza’s parents.

I wanted to see if I could find birth records for children born to Henry and Luvisa, to confirm that I had the right group of people for 1880. I ran through my known facts:

  • This Henry and Luviza were living in Lewis County, West Virginia in 1880.
  • My Henry and Luviza were married in 1872 in Lewis County, West Virginia.
  • If this was a correct match, the three older children (Grandison, Mary L., and Sarah M.) would have been Henry’s with another woman or women.
  • If this was a correct match, the two youngest children (Lucy Alice and Wm. Marion) would be children Henry and Luviza had together.

I have a great deal of luck with vital records available through the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, so I went in search of birth records for Lucy Alice and William Marion. I did the search first for Lucy Alice looking for a female with the last name Olda*, using the wildcard search so that both results for “Oldaker” and “Oldacre” would show up. Searching in Lewis County turned up nothing, so I expanded the result to all counties, restricting it to birth records within three years either way of 1875. This time, I got a hit, but not where I expected:

 

Summary of birth record for Lucy Alice Oldaker

Where was Braxton at? And did they give Louisa’s married name, or her maiden name?

This was not the first time that I had seen a variation of “Louisa” for Luviza. I also knew it was possible that they had used the mother’s married name instead of her maiden name. Braxton County had never hit my radar before. While it was possible Henry and Luviza could have married in Lewis County in 1872, moved to Braxton County, had Lucy Alice in 1874, and then moved back to Lewis County by the time of the 1880 Census, how likely was it? When I looked at a map showing the area around Braxton County, it made a bit more sense.

Braxton County Map

Braxton County is adjacent to Lewis county. This might mean it wasn’t the Oldakers that moved; it was the border. Even if the people moved, it could have been a short distance, and would be a more likely move back and forth than moving across the state and back.

My next step was to see if I could find a birth record for William Marion Oldaker, and see if it might allow me to match the 1880 US Census record without question to my great-great-grandmother and her second husband.

I turned once again to the West Virginia vital records search.

 

Clip Birth Record Wm M Oldaker

Back in Lewis County, but the record is still inconclusive. What’s my next step?

The birth records for both children showed as likely matches to each other, but there was still nothing I felt tied them with certainty to my great-great-grandmother. So, the birth records didn’t pan out; what about marriage or death records?

This time, I started with William’s death record. The death record had the date of birth as November 21, 1876 in Lewis County. This was slightly different from the birth date I had found of November 22, 1875. I re-checked the West Virginia records to make sure I hadn’t missed something; there was no male Oldaker (or variation of Oldaker) with any first name born in November of 1876 in Lewis County. This made me believe once again, a secondary record had a slight error on it.

The parents’ names gave me some hope:

Clip Parents of Wm OldakerNot only do we have parents both born in Lewis County, but we have the correct spelling of Luviza, and Goechnaur vs. Gochenour. How would we fare with Lucy Alice?

At first, I thought I would have to look for a marriage record for Lucy Alice, but I searched once with her maiden name in case she never married. I found something:

Clip Death Record Lucy Alice Oldaker

My only question – Did Lucy Alice marry another Oldaker, or did she revert to her maiden name after her husband died?

This is from the death record for Lucy Alice Oldaker. The date and county of birth are a match to the birth record found in Braxton County (note that someone did correct the year of birth, but it’s still a year off). We now have a middle name for Henry, and while poor Luviza’s name has once again been mangled, Gochner/Gochenour is similar enough, and since both William and Lucy have death records that point to what appear to be the same set of parents, I feel the evidence points to the fact that they are not only brother and sister, but that their mother is my great-great-grandmother, and they are the group I discovered in the 1880 US Census.

So, I started working backwards again. Luviza’s estimated date of birth was about 1840. I already had records for 1880 and 1870. In 1860, I found Luviza and George “Christman” living in Lewis County. In 1840, the census only shows the head of household and then shows the gender and age of others in the household. My last chance to tie Luviza to her parents would be the 1850 US Census.

It was not easy at first. Searching with Luviza specifically did not turn up any match that seemed plausible. I started playing with spellings, and still did not get what I was looking for. I then decided to strip back information. I looked specifically in the 1850 US Census for someone with the last name of Gouchenour born about 1840 (Luviza’s estimated birth year) in the state of Virginia (this because it was prior to the formation of the state of West Virginia). This time, I got a record that seemed interesting; it was for a Louisa E Geochenour born about 1840 in Lewis County Virginia. The record showed the following family members:

Clip 1850 US Census Gochenour

Adam Neff was listed as part of this household. Who was he? A family member? A farm hand?

The Geochenour family:

  • Samuel Geochenour – 45 – Male – Farmer
  • Rachael Geochenour – 36 – Female
  • Mary C Geochenour – 17 – Female
  • Caroline Geochenour – 14 – Female
  • Elihu H Geochenour –  12 – Male
  • Louisa E Geochenour – 10 – Female
  • William A Geochenour – 7 – Male
  • Angeline Geochenour – 4 – Female
  • John W Geochenour – 11 months – Male

Could I now confirm that Samuel and Rachael were my third great-grandparents? Would I be able to make the link back one more generation on my family tree?

I have so far been unable to find a death record for Luviza. While I found a marriage license from 1856 for her and my two times great-grandfather, George Chrisman, it unfortunately did not list either set of parents. I thought I had struck out, and then I thought of something. Luviza had remarried after George’s death. Would the marriage record for her and Henry Oldaker yield the information I sought?

Again, it wasn’t easy. Searches with both names did not show anything. Searches under the estimated year (between 1870 and 1880) had no results. Once again I stripped back the search, deciding to search marriage records for Henry Olda* as the groom, omitting any name for the bride, and searching for any date in Lewis County. If this did not pan out, I planned to search all counties before setting it aside. Luckily, I got a result, though at first glance, I wasn’t sure if it was right.

The good news was that it showed Henry Oldaker and a bride with the last name of Chrisman. Her first name was listed as *iza. This likely meant that the transcriber had not been able to read the name, so they only put the portion they could make out clearly. At least *iza and Luviza made this a likely match, so this was more good news.

The bad news was that it showed that the marriage record was from 1892, a full twenty years after the wedding was supposed to take place. There was only one way to know for sure; I selected the option to view the record.

When I looked at the record, I breathed a sigh of relief. The clerk who had made entries in the book would sometimes make a squiggle at the top of some numbers (it looked like it might be a method of writing two numbers without lifting the writing instrument). What someone had transcribed as a nine looked to me like a crazy seven; the year listed looked to me to be 1872, a more likely year for the marriage.

When I got to the bride’s name, I started to smile: Luviza E Chrisman. I’m not sure why the person was unsure of the name. I just knew that this was the correct record. So I went to the next page, where the parents’ information would be listed.

The first portion showed both Henry and Luviza were widowed; this confirmed that Henry had been married previously. Henry was born in Lewis County; Luviza in Hardy County (a new piece of information). Henry’s parents were Anthony and Sarah Oldaker. And Luviza’s?

Clip Parents of Luviza Gochenour

Yep! You got it! Saml and Rachel Gochenour! I looked at these names and realized I had just made a trek into the next generation! When I started my journey a few years ago, I didn’t know much beyond my great-grandparents, and in some cases, I didn’t know much beyond my grandparents. Now, here I was, about 200 years back in my family history, back before the Civil War. Could I now use this information and work forward and maybe see if I could find my great-grandmother?

I tried to find an 1860 US Census record for the family, but I was unable to do so. I was mainly looking for this to see which family members might have died, moved out of the home, etc.. I then went to 1870, and found Samuel and Rachel with several of their children. The family list:

  • Samuel Gochenour – 66 – Male – Farmer
  • Rachel Gochenour – 59 – Female – Keeping House
  • Caroline Gochenour – 35 – Female
  • William  Gochenour – 25 – Male – Farm Laborer
  • John  Gochenour – 21 – Male – Farm Laborer
  • Silas E  Gochenour – 18 – Male – Farm Laborer
  • James J  Gochenour – 15 – Male – Farm Laborer
  • Mary C Neff – 39 – Female
  • Columbia Neff – 19 – Female
  • Lavina C Crisman – 30 – Female
  • Gorgia A Crisman – 8 – Female

Wait a minute…Lavina and Gorgia Crisman? Haven’t I seen this record somewhere before?

Luvisa and Georgianna Chrisman 1870

Adam Neff is no longer in the household, but Mary and Columbia Neff now show up. I may want to investigate the Neff family further to see if there is any tie-in to my family.

In the second installment of Off the Beaten Path, I had listed this to show where Luviza and Georgianna were living after the death of George Chrisman. Where are Samuel, Rachel, and Caroline you say? They are at the bottom of the previous page of the 1870 US Census, a page I had neglected to add to the previous post.  This shows I had already determined Samuel and Rachel were Luviza’s parents (DOH!). However, having more records confirming that fact just adds to the confidence in my findings.

After some additional searching, I was able to find what I had set out on a quest for at the beginning of this entry: where my great-grandmother was at the time of the 1880 US Census.

Clip 1880 US Census Gochenour

So, “Georieanna Christman” (once again misspelling made things difficult to locate) was not living with her mother. Instead, she was living with an uncle, who seems to be the person supporting his older, spinster sister and his widowed mother (Samuel died in 1878), as well as his niece. Did Georgianna continue to be supported by the pension for which her step-father was the guardian? I would hope so.

By searching for the gap in census data for my great-grandmother, I not only was able to fill in her whereabouts, I was able to learn more about the early life of my great-great-grandmother, and in turn, discover and confirm information about my three times great-grandparents as well. When I started this particular trek, I did not know it would lead me to the next generation.

 

A Milestone and Some News

17 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by P J Sabados in familysearch.org, Newell Family, US Census, Whittaker Family

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cemetery, family, familysearch.org, genealogy, indexing, journey, milestone, Newell, news, photographs, Whittaker

In my email today, I received a note from FamilySearch Indexing.  Apparently, last night, I indexed my 50th batch of information.  Most of the batches that I’ve indexed have been for the 1940 US Census.  I’ve indexed over 1,700 names since I started.  It’s probably not all that much, but every bit counts.

If you don’t believe that, check out the numbers from a few weeks ago on July 2nd:

Over 46,000 people indexed and arbitrated over 10 million records in one day!  Pretty impressive, especially considering that they had set the goal at 5 million.  In 16 hours, we had surpassed that goal.  Yes, I participated that day, and I was able to post 400 names that day, all from the 1940 Census.  So far, I’ve indexed records in 11 states, as well as in the District of Columbia.  Most of the states I have indexed are those in which ancestors of myself or my husband have lived.

If you’re a regular visitor, you may see that the picture of my header has changed.  The person that took the photo is Bobbie Creech, my first cousin, once removed.  He has been a wonderful ally in my genealogical journey.  We have shared many pieces of information back and forth, primarily on the Newell and Whittaker lines.  In an email the other night, he said, “I think all this Genealogy should be open to all and you do have my permission to reproduce any and all of the photos I send to you.”  I am very excited about this!  I really don’t have any of the family photos myself, other than what my Dad or others have sent to me via email.  Bobbie allowing me to share photos he has shared with me allows me to introduce other family members to you in both words and pictures.

The cemetery above is Henry Cemetery, located in Putnam County, Tennessee.  Many of my relatives are buried there, including two of my great-great-grandparents, and several of their family members.  It sounds like it’s not an easy place to get to.  According to Bobbie, “It was so far back in the woods they had to pipe sunlight in…”  It looks like such a wonderful place though; I’d love to visit it one day.

I’m going to post a Wordless Wednesday this week.  I plan to introduce you to my Mom’s oldest sister, whom I’ve mentioned a few times before.  So get ready to meet Anna Mae shortly.

In Search of…Baby Taylor

04 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by P J Sabados in Ancestry.com, familysearch.org, Nebraska, Primary Source Data, Taylor Family, US Census, West Virginia

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Tags

adventure, birth, death, In Search of..., investigation, marriage, mystery, Nebraska, path, road, search, Taylor, US Census, vital records, West Virginia

Does anyone else remember the television show “In Search of…”?  I used to love watching it.  My Dad turned me onto it at first.  It was in the late 70’s and early 80’s; about the time I was in high school.  The show was hosted by Leonard Nimoy, and was done documentary style.

The focus of the show was to explain mysteries and phenomena.  Some shows dealt with natural occurences like tornadoes.  Others delved into things like ESP or UFOs.  Several shows dealt with mysteries of historical significance as well, like Jack the Ripper, the lost colony of Roanoke, Virginia, or even Dracula (Vlad the Impaler, but of course, they did touch upon the vampire as well).

“In Search of…” never claimed to have the correct answer.  It gave the facts, provided some possibilities, but ultimately, it left it up to the viewer to make up their minds as to what the explanation really was.

In going through my family history, I have a few mysteries.  One that keeps drawing my attention is a child without a name.  So today on my genealogical journey, I’m going ‘In Search of…’ Baby Taylor.

I’ve actually mentioned this baby before.  I first discovered information about this child on the 1900 US Census when tracing my great-grandparents’ travels from their native West Virginia.

My Grandfather and His Family

My great-grandmother has eight living children, but had nine children in total.  The ninth child, Baby Taylor, is our mystery.  When and where was the baby born?  Was it a boy or a girl?  How long did the child live?  When and where did it die?

Assuming the child was not born out-of-wedlock, the date of birth would be some time after my great-grandparents were married.  My great-grandfather’s obituary stated:

He was married on March 15, 1883 to miss Georgia Chrisman and to this union nine children were born….

I was able to confirm the date of the marriage using data from a vital records search at the West Virgina Division of Culture and History site (West Virginia has been probably one of the easiest places I’ve found to search for such information, and if you have family members that are from West Virginia, I would recommend searching there).

The date of the 1900 US Census was the 29th of June.  So, I was looking at a window of birth somewhere between March 15, 1883 and June 29, 1900 (about a 17 year window).

Looking further into my great-grandfather’s obituary, it provided me with more information:

He moved with his family to Nebraska in 1884 and for nine years resided in that state. In 1893, he moved to Gallatin, Mo., where he made his home for sixteen years, moving from there to Arkansas, where he lived for three years.

So, unless born on the move from West Virginia to Nebraska in some state between those places, the baby would have been born in West Virginia, Nebraska, or Missouri.  Those were the three states the family lived in within that 17 year window.

The birth months and years on the census of the 8 children known are:

      • Millard D. – October 1885
      • Oscar R. – March 1887
      • Boyd – July 1888
      • Lucy D. – April 1891
      • Ethel – November 1892
      • Anna M. – February 1894
      • Hazel – May 1896
      • Floyd R. – April 1900

I decided to look at the gaps between events:

      • From Marriage until birth of Millard D. – 31 months
      • Between Millard D. and Oscar R. – 17 months
      • Between Oscar R. and Boyd – 16 months
      • Between Boyd and Lucy D. – 33 months
      • Between Lucy D. and Ethel – 19 months
      • Between Ethel and Anna M. – 15 months
      • Between Anna M. and Hazel – 27 months
      • Between Hazel and Floyd R. – 47 months

I excluded any gap that would be too small for another baby to be born (assuming a normal term of 9 months for each baby, that would mean less than 18 months).

So, that left me with the following possibilities for Baby Taylor’s birthday (assuming the baby was not a twin of a sibling):

      • Between March 1883 and January 1885
      • Between April 1889 and July 1890
      • Between January 1892 and February 1892
      • Between November 1894 and August 1895
      • Between February 1897 and July 1899

The third one I found highly unlikely.  My great-grandmother would have been almost constantly pregnant!

One day on familysearch.org, I was searching for more information on my great-grandparents, and I got a suggestion for an ancestral file.  I went to look at it, and it showed the names of both my great-grandparents, and there were correct dates, including the date of their marriage.  Underneath that it said “Show Children (9)”.

I figured that perhaps when I clicked on it, I would get eight names and then some “?” type entry for Baby Taylor.  Instead, I got a name:

name: Amy C TALOR
gender: Female
birth: 15 Dec 1883
,, WV
death: 11 Aug 1885
afn: 6WK2-VK

AFN stands for Ancestral File Number, and is a unique indicator for that file.

Whoa!  Not only a name, but a birth date and a death date too!  The birth date and place listed was plausible; it was exactly nine months after my great-grandparents were married (that must have been some wedding night)!

But, before getting too excited, I wanted to check this out.  Could I find the records that matched the information?  Was Amy C. Talor (not sure why the different spelling) truly Baby Taylor?

So, back I went to my favorite vital research page in West Virginia, typed in Amy C. Taylor (figuring the Talor was a misspelling), Lewis County (last residence place of my great-grandparents), 1883, female, and hit search.  I got back…nothing.

I started playing around with it.  I changed the search to All Counties.  Nothing.  I changed the spelling to Talor.  Nothing.  I changed it back and just tried Amy.  Still nothing.

Finally, out of frustration, I decided just to search just the last name.  Show me all female Taylor babies born in West Virginia in 1883.  That time, I got a list.  Two results on the list of 25 caught my eye:

7 Annie C Taylor 1883 Lewis 1390 Kb
23 Taylor 13 Dec 1883 Upshur 856 Kb

My great-grandparents were also born in Upshur county, and the date was two days off from the date given on the AFN record.  While record 7 said Annie C. instead of Amy C., it was the same initials, and Lewis county was a possibility as well.

The unnamed Taylor girl did not turn out to be the right one.  While the father’s name was listed as Wm., the mother was Idella M. and not Georgianna.  Would I fare any better with Annie?  See what you think:

The father’s name is hard to read here.  It looks like a W and another letter.  On the opposite page is listed the mother’s name, and the name of the person who reported the birth.  The mother’s name is listed as “Georgie”.  I wondered…would someone have heard the name Georgianna and thought it was two names instead of one (Georgie Anna)?  I looked over to the name of the person that reported the birth.  It happened to be the father, and he was listed as W. H. Taylor.  The birth date was December 15th, an exact match to the record for Amy C.!

I thought of what that would mean that my great-grandparents had a child in 1883.  They would have traveled miles with the baby in a wagon across several states to reach Nebraska.  Where was she when she first started to crawl?  In which state would she have taken her first steps?  How would she have been kept occupied while her father worked on building their home?

Of course, I thought too about the death date that was listed.  Annie would not have been quite two before she died.  What happened?  A sickness?  An accident? Where would I find confirmation of the death date and would that provide other information?

Unfortunately, answers to those questions have yet to be answered.  I have yet to confirm the death date, but I’m working on trying to reach the submitter of the AFN to see if I can get more details.  I’m still looking for any other data on the family.  I was hoping the 1885 Nebraska State Census would be helpful, but it hasn’t.  I haven’t found any record of my family in it, even though I know they were there for Millard D.’s birth in 1885.  They were supposed to have moved to Nebraska a year before that.  Had something delayed them on the journey?

If I find out more information, I’ll share it when we go ‘In Search of…’ Baby Taylor Annie C. Taylor.

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Henry Cemetery - Putnam County, Tennessee
Image by Bobbie Creech
Used with permission

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  • My Trek: The Next Generation
  • A Genealogical Road Map
  • Off the Beaten Path – Part Two
  • Off the Beaten Path – Part One

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