Genealogy Jottings

Author Archive

Last Saturday an obituary appeared in The Denver Post for a woman I never knew. Her name was Barbara Ann Evert, and she was my third cousin. The sad thing is that she lived just a few miles from me. She descended from a line of Everts I could not find when I compiled a family genealogy a dozen years ago. Who could have known that she was virtually a neighbor? Barbara sounds like someone I would have liked. She passed away at the age of 77 after falling while hiking in the Grand Canyon. Barbara, I am sorry that you and yours do not appear in my book. You are now gathered back in with the rest of us on the website.

Courtesy of my local inter-library loan department, this week I have been perusing The History of Ashmore, Illinois 1800-2000.  My Reed and Carter family footprints are all over this book. Many of their descendants still live in Ashmore. My distant cousin and Ashmore resident, Margaret Reed Winkleblack, contributed many interesting articles to this volume. Thanks to all the information in this book, I will have abundant source material for writing character sketches of my ancestors who settled and lived in Ashmore.

This week I made a trek to the Post Office to pick up my great-grandfather’s probate file. The County Clerk in Illinois had mailed it with postage due, so I had to cough up the extra 84 cents to claim it. I have ordered many estate files in the past, and never before have I encountered the cumbersome procedure followed by this county. Usually I mail a query via e-mail if I can, or else with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The clerk sends back a response telling me whether they have the file and how much it will cost if they do. I send a check for the fee. They then mail  a copy of the file to me. Simple enough. Everywhere I have worked with before, the cost of mailing the file to me is included in the fee. This county, however, has come up with an odd policy. First of all, they require a money order for the fee (they won’t accept a credit card or a personal check), so I had to drive somewhere to get one. Secondly, they ask for another SASE for their use in mailing the file, but they do not say what size envelope to send or how much postage to affix. I used a single stamp, and of course it was not enough. They had to really work to stuff the pages into the business envelope I provided. It seems obvious to me that setting the fee to cover the cost of appropriate envelopes and postage is the way to go. Why create a procedure like theirs? Either they just have not thought it through, or else they want to discourage genealogists from asking for records. In my eyes, they look ridiculous. I am more and more appreciative of the wonderful folks in Grant County, NE who have e-mail and mail documents for free.

Common genealogical wisdom tells us that even though governments outside New England began registering births and deaths in the 1800’s, compliance with the registration requirement was spotty in the early years. This week I looked at Coles County, Illinois death records for 1877-1905. My Reed family pioneered near Ashmore about 1830, and three generations of my ancestors lived there. Cousins have done a lot of research on the family, but holes or undocumented facts remain on the family group sheets. As I looked at the LDS microfilm of the death register book, I found that the Reeds were as haphazard as anyone about reporting deaths. I found just 4 records out of a list of sixteen family members who passed away in Coles County during the time period I searched: Nancy Jane Dudley, George Robert Reed, Caleb Reed, and William Riley Galbreath. Despite this dismal registration percentage, at least these people actually were named in the record. Scrolling through the film, I noticed records of many unnamed babies who died shortly after birth in Coles County. Were any of them Reed babies? Often not even a surname appeared for the child, nor were the parents’ names listed. Not much of genealogical value there although I suppose the county was more interested in documenting causes of death and burial sites. I will add the information I found on Nancy, George, Caleb, and William to my database. Deaths of the other twelve known Reeds, and names of any who may have died young, will remain undocumented for now.

Awhile back I mentioned attending the 2011 Colorado Genealogical Society seminar. I was one of the lucky recipients of a door prize that day–a free membership to the Computer Interest Group (CIG) that operates under the auspices of CGS. Earlier this week I went to a CIG workshop meeting and met with a group of people there who use the same genealogy software that I use.  A couple of very experienced and knowledgeable users led a Q & A session about the software. I came home with several ideas of ways to make the program more useful to me. The very next day I modified my screen layout and began implementing some of the advanced task tracking features that the program offers. Both of these will be great time savers for me. Less time spent on organizing information means more time to spend on research!

One hundred fifty years ago the Civil War began. Many Americans today have ancestors who fought in that conflict. Until now, one had to travel to the National Archives in Washington to view the draft records compiled 1863-65. Recently the NARA-Ancestry partnership posted the records online on the Ancestry website at www.Ancestry.com. Of course I took a look right away. I had no luck finding two of my usually-elusive subjects, John Davis Riddle and Samuel Harvey Reed. I was thrilled, however, to find my third problem child, Thomas Sherman. He appeared as a single man in Johnson County, Indiana–the first Indiana record I have ever found for him even though family lore had always claimed he lived there for a time. The family also claimed that he served in the Civil War, but so far I have found no record of that service. Several men named Thomas Sherman did serve from Indiana, but none of those I have researched so far provide a good match for my Thomas. I need to do an exhaustive search of all military and GAR records to lay this issue to rest.

Earlier this month the Colorado Genealogical Society and Denver Public Library hosted their annual genealogy seminar with Rev. David MacDonald speaking on various topics. As usual, the seminar provided both inspiration and some new information. I especially enjoyed MacDonald’s wonderful summary of the evolution of Protestantism in the United States. He cleared up some of my puzzling family changes in denomination between Congregationalists and Presbyterians. I came away with new research ideas after an enjoyable day at DPL and a nice lunch catered by Udi’s.

Last week I mentioned a mysterious boy in the Reed household in 1855. I remarked that Thomas B. Reed would have been the right age for this boy, but family records show that Thomas had died before 1855. Interestingly, family records show a birth and death date discrepancy for this child. According to Michael Hayden’s book The Reeds of Ashmore, Thomas was born 1850, died 11 April 1851, and was buried in the Reed cemetery. The appendix to the book, however, includes a photocopy of the family pages from the Bible that belonged to Thomas’ parents, Caleb and Jane Reed. The pages list Thomas B. b. 19 May 1853, d. 12 April 1854, three years after the dates listed by Hayden. Which set of dates is correct? Hayden does not state the source for his information. On the Bible page, the first three deaths span a 10-year period and are written in the same hand. From a photocopy, I cannot analyze the ink to determine whether the entries were made the same day. If the birth and death were recorded 10 years after the fact, a mistake is not unlikely. How can I resolve this? I wonder whether Thomas has a cemetery marker or if his death was listed in a local newspaper. I will add these research tasks to my “To Do” list.

Recently I located my Reed family on the 1855 Illinois State Census. To my bewilderment, an extra boy resided in the household that year. Unfortunately, the census gives the name only of the head of household, and everyone else appears as a hash mark in an age column. The extra boy is under 10 years old. This family did have a son, Thomas B. Reed, who would have been that age in 1855, but family records show that he died before then. So is our death date for Thomas incorrect, or was someone else living with the Reeds that year? I have eliminated the other possibility of a previously unknown child. Why? Because the mother reported in 1900 that she had borne 11 children, and all are accounted for.

Lately, genealogy work has been on hold for me because of an age-related health emergency with a relative. I find myself paying close attention to each diagnosis. As parents or grandparents grow older and increasingly frail, their health problems give me a glimpse of what my own health might be like in later years. Beyond the immediate family, death certificates for more distant ancestors or collateral relatives can reveal patterns of illness that run in my family. Heart disease, diabetes, dementia, osteoporosis–these and more have a hereditary component. Knowing the conditions that might affect me enables me to work towards lowering the risk of some conditions and seeking early treatment for others. Knowledge truly is power when it comes to one’s health.