Looking for Clark Sargent of Winnebago County, Illinois

Clark Sargent purchased federal land in Winnebago County, Illinois on 1 March 1848. I think he died shortly thereafter and the Mrs. Mary Sargent that married in Winnebago County, Illinois to Asa Landon on 6 January 1849 is his widow. I have tracked Mary and Asa in the 1850 (Winnebago County, Illinois) and 1860 census (Christian County, Missouri), but am trying to find out if Clark Sargent who purchased the property is the Sargent who was the husband of Mary. One of the Sargent children living with Landon is Ira, born ca. 1844. I lose the Landons after 1860.

Declarations of Intent pre-1906

When I was in Salt Lake last May, one of my goals was to search for some declarations of intent and other naturalization documents on a few of my ancestors.

Like other documents, declarations of intent to become a citizen can vary greatly from one location to another and from one time period to another. Those familiar with naturalization research and history realize that records before 1906 are less detailed and less uniform than records after the 1906 reform.


There are two declarations of intent included in this post. The first one comes from Adams County, Illinois in 1856. Bernard Dirks is simply stating his intent to naturalize. It is not known (yet) when he immigrated, but it was likely close to the time this declaration was filed in April of 1856.





The second declaration of intent (partially shown in this post) comes from 1853 in Hancock County, Illinois, just north of Adams County. This form is significantly more detailed than the 1856 form for Bernard Dirks. In this declaration, George Trautvetter indicates his date and place of birth in Germany and his date and place of landing in the United States. His declaration was filed on 4 January 1855, a year and a half (approximately) after his immigration in July of 1853. Why the delay is not known. George did settle in Hancock County, Illinois, pretty much immediately after his arrival in the United States as he is listed as a resident of Hancock County, Illinois, when he purchased property in the fall of 1853.

Unfortunately, declarations of intent are not always preserved at the county level and as we have seen here there can be inconsistencies in how much information they contain. However, they should still be included as a part of any research plan for immigrant ancestors. And don't forget that before 1906, any court of record could naturalize.

Living after death?

You have to love the entries you find in some online files. While searching for an ancestor, I found the following entry. I've changed the name and the place and the dates slightly, but the error still remains the same. The person is question is listed as being alive 36 years after his death. Minor detail. I know some will disagree, but errors like this make me wonder about the accuracy of other material in the file. And frankly, if my ancestors have come back from the dead once, I wish they'd do it again. I have some questions, I'd like to ask them.

Name: Tom Jones
Sex: M
Birth: 22 APR 1808
Death: 1846
Burial: 1846
Event: Resided 1880 Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, USA

Is Grandma living with one of the kids in the census?

The 1920 censustaker found my 87 year old ancestor, Heipka Dirks living with her daughter in law, Anna Dirks near Coatsburg, Adams County, Illinois.

If you cannot find your "older" ancestor in the census, look at the entry for each of their children (or in this case daughter-in-law)---they might have moved in with family as they got older. Heipka lived to be 91 and did not die until 1924.

The source citation for this image is:

Year: 1920;Census Place: Honey Creek, Adams, Illinois; Roll: T625_296; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 12; Image: 213.

Platting Out Kentucky Properties

When I was at the Family History Library last May, I scanned several deeds from Bourbon County, Kentucky for James Tinsley and Thomas Sledd, two of my ancestors.

This deed dated 2 April 1814, transferred property from Thomas Sledd to George Henry, part of the deed is shown in this post--the part that contains part of the metes and bounds description of the property.

I like to use a program called DeedMapper to plat out the parcels to get an idea of how they are shaped. DeedMapper requires the description of the property to be entered in a specific format, but it's really not to difficult to do that. The screen image shows how I did that for the Sledd deed.

DeedMapper will plat out the property. The first image shows it REALLY SMALL with the lines/corners shown.

The second image is larger and only shows the directions of each line. It gives a little better perspective. What I really need to do is fit all the deeds together in order to better understand what property Thomas Sledd owned at his death and how that property was allocated amongst his heirs.

West Virginia Archivist Fired over Coffee Shop Flap

Fred Armstrong was fired as West Virginia State Archivist last Friday--29 years of state service and he was escorted out of the building. Armstrong was fired by Randall Reid-Smith, Culture and History Commissioner. Reid-Smith is looking to expand the Culture Center's offerings not with literary or archival materials, but rather with one more coffee shop. Like this nation needs one more place to buy overpriced high-fat, high-sugar coffee and calorie-laden muffins.

One nice quote:

“He’s a washed-out opera singer who can’t administer unless it’s in a dictatorial way.” — Fred Armstrong, describing Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith.

For more information, visit the Charleston paper's website. Another blurb about the firing.

I say it's time for West Virginia genealogists to remind a few politicians that they vote and that they aren't happy.

Think about the informant

Think about the informant on the death certificate or other record you are viewing. Is there a chance they might not have had first hand knowledge of the information on the deceased. The informant on the 1946 death certificate of Granville Lake in Marcelline, Linn County, Missouri, was his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Ola Lake. While the information she provided in this case appears to be accurate (based upon other records), it is always possible that an informant is uncertain of some information, especially parents and place of birth for the deceased.

Make Certain You've Seen the Whole thing

The death certificate for Granville Lake (died 1946 Marcelline, Linn County, Missouri) contains an omission: the year of birth. Part of Granville's death certificate is shown along with this post entry.

This certificate was located on the Missouri State Archives Death Certificate website.

The year of birth is a detail I would like to have. On the Lake certificate, like others from this era, there is a supplemental certificate to correct the omission. It always pays to read the entire document or see if an additional document is filed after the first one has been located. Of course, they had to stamp "supplementary" OVER the year of birth, but it is still legible (1863).

Granville is my wife's great-grandfather.

Adams County 1901--the Dirks farm has grown

Moving forward to 1901, I found Bernard Dirks (as B. Dirks) owning 138 acres in Honey Creek, Adams County, Illinois, as shown here in section 35 of that township. His son, Bernard Dirks, Jr., owned 60 acres in section 36.

And of course, I made a copy of the title page so I know from where I obtained the information.

Adams County Illinois 1872 Map

This map is for sections 35 and 36 in Honey Creek Township, Adams County, Illinois, in 1872. The 40 acre plot in the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 35 is supposed to be B. Dirks, actually Bernard Dirks.

Make certain when using these maps at Ancestry.com that you get the source as well. Simply saying "1872 Adams County Plat Book" is not an accurate title, nor is it a complete bibliographic entry. Take the time to look on the site for the title page, usually obtained by searching for the county and the year the book was published. It was too hard to locate the title page for this one. This is one drawback to how the maps are on the site--one has to be a little more vigilant to get adequate documentation.

Ancestry's 1908-1922 Hancock County, Illinois Map

Ancestry.com recently posted a collection of county platbooks on their site. A wonderful source and very helpful to those of us with rural ancestors.

There appears however, to be a problem with the maps for Hancock County, Illinois. The site indicates there is a 1908 and a 1922 map included on the site. The title pages make me think it is the same map as do the several township maps I compared.

I think the maps are from 1922 instead of 1908. Speaking from memory, I know there is a early 1920s plat book of Hancock County. Also there are two of my ancestors who should be listed as landowners in any 1908 platbook and they are not listed.

1870 era immigrant trunk

I've had this trunk for a while and am still trying to locate Altje on the passenger manifest when she immigrated.

Altje was born in 1848 in Wrisse, Ostfriesland, Germany, the daughter of Johann Luken Jurgens Goldenstein and his wife Tjode Anna Focken Tammen.

Altje Goldenstein was married to Hinrich Schuster on 28 August 1870 in Adams County, Illinois.





She has not been located on the 1870 census, but Hinrich is apparently enumerated in 1870 in Northeast Township, working as a hired man in the household of Habbe Osterman. It is possible that Altje immigrated after the date of the census and married Hinrich upon her arrival.

The destination listed on the trunk is "Keokuk Junction. Ills"---a reference to the town now known as Golden, Illinois.

Altje was a sister to Foche (Frank) Goldenstein, my great-great-grandfather

Back from Saratoga Springs-20 Oct 2007

(note: this post somehow got lost in cyberspace, so I'm reposting it today).

I enjoyed my time with the Heritage Hunters from Saratoga Springs New York this past weekend. Ruth Anne from the group was gracious enough to take me on an extended tour of the area, including the Saratoga National Historical Site and other sites in and around the area. There is a lot of history there and I learned first hand how the group has been working on preserving names of Revolutionary era soldiers and other information from the colonial era and how they are also ever vigilant in their efforts to preserve cemeteries and other local historic sites.

And my hosts graciously picked me up at 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning to take me back to the Albany airport. Now that is dedication.

Habbens at Castle Garden and Ancestry

This is the entry for the Habben family at http://www.castlegarden.org/. Note that except for the youngest child "U" everyone has their complete name spelled out. Other than Trientse, whose name was Trientje, and Meinke (father and son) whose name was Mimke, the names are on the mark. This is apparently the same data that was used to create the Germans to America series which is where I first found the Habben family. Note: I "connected" two pages of hits together to make the one image shown here.

The second image comes from Ancestry.com and is for the same family. On this manifest (apparently the quarterly reports of immigrants), first letters of some names are only given. This manifest is difficult to read and one can see how the name might have been interpreted in a way other than Habben.

This data from Ancestry.com is from

Source Information:
Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.

Original data:
Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; (National Archives Microfilm Publication T715, 8892 rolls); Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Note: I "connected" two pages of hits together to create the image shown here.

A copy of the manifest (from the microfilm) appears as the last image on this post.

Now I am slightly confused. The Castlegarden.org database shows ten members of this family as immigrants. Ancestry.com (as well as the image) shows 11. The child who is "L" on the manifest image and the Ancestry.com index does not appear in the castlegarden.com database.

Trientje's age is also off on the http://www.castlegarden.org/ entry.

As a note, the names of all the children are "correct" order, at least when comparing the manifest entry with the list of children I have from church records in Wiesens, Ostfriesland, Germany from where the family originated. The "inft" was actually Antje, born 26 August 1867, shortly before the family left Germany.

Note: More to come...

Michael-2nd great-grandson of Jan Habben, son of Mimke and Antje.

Looking for a Speaker?

I am currently working on my 2008 and 2009 travel and speaking calendar. There are still several open dates on my travel schedule.

My lectures are entertaining, relaxed, yet educational and informative. There is no getting up and reading the handout and lectures are up-to-date and reflective of the latest research methodology. Handouts are always intended to be more than adequate to reduce the amount of time attendees take notes. Those attending the workshop are encouraged to ask questions between sessions, at lunch (at least after I eat), and after we are done.

For questions about having me present to your group, send me an email at mjnrootdig@gmail.com and we can go from there.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements-Michael John Neill

I will be speaking or presenting at the following conferences at workshops over the next several months:

San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society 3 November 2007
DuPage County Genealogical Society 23 February 2008
Galesburg, Illinois, Genealogy Computing Week 3-8 March 2008
Ohio Genealogical Society Conference 19 April 2008
Salt Lake City Research trip 13-21 May 2008
Allen County Public Library Researth trip 28 May-1 June 2008

Each link contains more information about workshop, conference, or sponsoring organization. If you are unable to get your questions answered on the site, email them, or drop me an email at mjnrootdig@gmail.com.

That blob on the manifest makes all the difference

This is part of the manifest for the Ernst Moritz Arndt which landed in New Orleans on 13 June of 1853.

There is a reasonable chance that the 53 year old Andreas Schollmeyer is my wife's ancestor of the same name. There is only one problem: the tear in the manifest. The entry before Andreas Schollmeyer appears to be that of Frederich Schollmeyer and his family (including wife Catherine and children Nicodemus, Dorothe, and Elisabeth). The problem is that one transciber thinks that the Schollmeyers are from "Lohr" which is the village of residence which is partially shown in the upper right corner of the first image.

The second image contains a larger view of the "Lohr" above the Schollmeyer's town of origin and the column for the destination. I think that the blob is large enough that it easily could cover another location.

The column for destination (which contains "New Orleans") in the entry for the family before the Schollmeyers, clearly contains something other than "New Orleans" and does not contain ditto marks in the column for Frederick (the third line in the image shown). I think it might be "Iowa" for reasons we'll announce in a future entry.

Schulmeyers in Beberstedt, Germany

On last year's trip to Salt Lake, one of the things I finally located was the 1840 christening for Elizabeth Schulmeyer in Beberstedt, Germany.

We had known for some time that her father was Andreas as he was living with Elizabeth's family in Davenport, Scott County, Iowa in the 1860 and 1870 census. We did not have the name of Elizabeth's mother. Here in the christening entry (which was split into three parts) is the name of her mother Brigitte Schilling.

Scanning the microfilm was infinitely easier than other copying processes. Of course, scanning the "title" page of the record (also shown in this post) was an integral part of tracking where I obtained the information.



I also like to write down notes I take while making digital images of the microfilm. Those notes I then take to one of the book scanners in the library. That image goes in the same folder as my digital scans from the microfilm. I make notes about what image numbers are from what record, what year, etc. In many cases European church records have no page numbers and these notes help me keep track of what is actually on each image. My notes always contain the name of the film to prevent confusion as well and I try and scan them as soon after creating the images from microfilm as soon as possible.

I really enjoy using the scanners while I am at the Family History Library, but one has to stay organized or your files can become extremely unorganized.

Separating Delayed Twins

I'm not certain why, but the page of three Chicago birth certificates is one of the most popular on my site.

One of the certificates is shown in this posting, for Lillian Apgar, born 2 March 1910 in Chicago with her birth being registered on 3 March 1931. Her sister's birth certificate was a delayed one as well. Her other sisters's birth was never recorded and the younger brother is the only child whose certificate was recorded shortly after the actual birth.

There's an article I posted on my site some time ago analyzing these three certificates and summarizing why I think daughter 3 never had a certificate.

My wife is a descendant of this family and I would love to hear from anyone else researching the family. Of course, she descends from the one who has no birth certificate.

How was Habben read on the 1867 manifest?

The name was read as "Walelsen." The image in this post shows how the last name appears on the actual record.

Our earlier post today regarding the Habben family's manifest from 1867 indicated I was having difficulty finding the same entry on Ancestry.com in their index. After some creative searching, I discovered the name was read by the indexers at Ancestry as "Walelsen." I can see it now that I know what they thougth it was. Of course, it looks like "Habben" to me, but that's because I already know what it is.

Compiled Virginia Civil War Confederate Records

Footnote has completed digitizing the Compiled Service Records for Virginia during the American Civil War.

The image shown here is one of the cards for John W. Sledd which indicates he spent some time at the hospital in Richmond.

This image has been reduced for faster loading, but the actual images on footnote are high quality and print nicely.

These records are currently searchable by name of soldier on Footnote.com.

Finding a manifest a second time

This is part of the 21 Oct 1867 arrival manifest for the Union which landed in New York City.

The names are intended to be:

• Mimke Habben
• Antje Habben
• Trientje Habben
• L[ubbe] Habben
• Jasper Habben
• H.
• John
• M.
• J.
• Ger.
• Inft.

The names are a little "off" from what they actually are, but they are very close considering.

I actually located the reference several years ago using the Germans to America series--which included the last name spelled as "Habben." I am trying to find the family in Ancestry.com's indexes and so far have struck out. I'll keep trying and post a followup message on how these names appear in their database.

Taking Notes When Photographing Stones

I wish I had taken better notes when I was taking photographs of tombstones a few years ago at the Buckeye Cemetery in southern Hancock County, Illinois.

I can read most of the inscription just fine:

Elizabeth

daughter of

J. & E.

Rampley

Died

Aug 24 1855

Aged

16 Yrs ?? ds.

Can't read the number of days and think it might be a "9." I probably could have read it at the cemetery when I was there.

Leaving out the details on a death certificate

You have to love a death certificate like this one from Mercer County, Illinois. The place of birth for Sarah Smith is listed as "Franklin County." No state is given. One might think it is Franklin County, Illinois, but it is not. The actual county is in Ohio.

Sarah was actually the daughter of Archibald and Lucinda (Wickiser) Kile who migrated to Mercer County, Illinois in the late 1840s.

Can You Read it? (not one of mine...)

Nancy from the Gen-Newbie mailing list was having difficulty reading the back of this photograph, so I offered to post it here for her.

Anyone able to read it or having a guess can post a reply below.

Thanks.