Genealogy Jottings

Several months ago I created a Twitter account to use for following genealogy societies and other genealogists. I have enjoyed feeling connected to the genealogy community this way. Sometimes I get promising research ideas, too.

Yesterday I received a tweet that led me to a source that might provide some information on a sketchy family line. The Twitter message linked to the online Ohio obituary index at the Rutherford B. Hayes Library http://index.rbhayes.org/hayes/index/. I did not know this index of 2,200,000 Ohio obituaries existed. I have Ohio ancestors, so I clicked on the link and pulled up the list of Dunbars, searching for any familiar names. They had lived in Summit County, Ohio from the 1830’s on. I do not know whether any Dunbar descendants live there today because my line moved on to Michigan about 1850.

Surprisingly, I found my great-great grandmother’s older sister, Rebecca Dunbar, on the list. She died in 1873 or 1874. I know very little about her, but I have a small mystery relating to her. In 1860, she headed a household that included her brother Benjamin and a little girl, Mahala Dunbar. I would love to know the nature of the relationship of Mahala to Rebecca and Benjamin. Unfortunately, the 1860 census does not tell us relationships of people to the head of the household. No other source I have consulted has told me anything more about these three people and how they are related.

Thanks to the tweet I received, I now know that an obituary for Rebecca exists. I can order it from the Akron-Summit County Public Library for one dollar. You can bet I will be ordering this document. I am hoping it will shed some light on this obscure branch of the Dunbar family tree. Thanks, Twitter!