Stop Following the Herd!

 

One thing I often see both novice and experienced researchers doing is taking the short cut of trusting the research of others. It doesn't matter if it is on a tree on Ancestry, the common tree found on FamilySearch, compiled histories handed to you by a relative, or even in published books. It is all fine and dandy to use other trees for clues and hints but trusting should be out of the question!

I'm going to highlight an example of why trusting other trees is a bad idea.

I periodically go to the common FamilySearch tree to see if there have been any changes to folks that I'm following. Recently I noticed an update to Moritz Schoenberger (LXSK-9NP). He isn't a direct relationship to me but he is connected to my tree as the great-grandfather of husband of a grandaunt. That's when I noticed that I hadn't reviewed his tree on FamilySearch and, based on the list of children and only one spouse recorded, there were errors and missing issues. So I started drilling down into his family to do the usual minor updates or to provide additional details that I've discovered over the past few years.

That is when I noticed something I didn't have for Emil Schoenberger, the son of Henry Schoenberger and Lilliam Fischer,...a wife.

Screen capture for the profile of Emil Schoenberger, son of Henry Schoenberger and Lillian Fischer, from the McKinlay-McMullen database on Legacy Family Tree.

This is the the family profile from FamilySearch for the supposedly same Emil Schoenberger as of noon (ET) on 21 Sep 2022.

Screen capture for Emil Schoenberger (LX35-QT1) from FamilySearch as of 14h00 21 Sep 2022.

Anytime that I come across a discrepancy between my personally created tree and those I find online I automatically assume that I'm in the wrong and I work to verify that the information I've just come across is accurate. In the case of Emil, son of Henry and Lillian, I have quite a bit of information about him by following him and his parents through the various United States federal census enumerations including the 1950 census where we find him with his parents and recorded as unmarried:

1950 U.S. census, New Haven County, Connecticut, population schedule, New Haven, enumeration district (ED) 12-107, sheet 16, household 184; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Sep 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T628, roll 3792.

So what about this Louise Joos that Emil is supposed to have married?

A quick check on the "Connecticut Vital Records — Index of Marriages, 1897-2001" site from the Connecticut State Library revealed that an Emil Schoenberger and a Louise Yoos were married on 30 Jun 1932 in Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA. Why don't I just look at the Connecticut marriage registration for details about Emil's family? That should answer the question right away. That costs money and takes a bit of time, especially for someone doing long distance research from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Sometimes the easiest path isn't the one that is possible at the time.

Just a second...if Emil was married in 1932 why did it say he was never married in the 1950 census? 

Immediately I knew there was something was amiss. So I checked what I have for "my" Emil in the 1940 Census of the USA. There I saw that he was recorded as a son living in the household of Henry and Lily Schoenberger in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, USA and he is single working as a grocery clerk.

So it was time to stop and look at this family of Emil Schoenberger and Louise Joos/Yoos from the beginning. On Ancestry I added this couple to my tree but didn't attach them to anyone else and I put in the information I was starting to find. One of the hints on FamilySearch was an obituary for her found on GenealogyBank from the 25 Mar 2005 edition of the Hartford Courant where it stated that she was born on 1 Nov 1906 in Germany and died on 19 Mar 2005 in a local nursing home. The obituary even included her two children, Robert and Margaret. Plenty of information for starting a profile on her household.

With those details entered in Ancestry started giving me hints to other records and the real winner was from the "Connecticut, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1790-1996" collection on Ancestry for the Petition of Naturalization of Louise Schoenberger who arrived under the name "Luise Joos" on 21 Apr 1930 at New York on board the S.S. Berlin. That petition included her children including when and where they were born. It even stated that her husband, Emil Schoenberger, was born in Bavaria Germany on 12 Sep 1901 and he arrived in New York, New York in April 1926. 

How do I know that this is the same family found in that Connecticut marriage index? The petition also gave the date and place they were married: 30 Jun 1932 in Hartford, Connecticut. The same information found in the index. 

Just based on that one document I knew that there were at least two people with the name Emil Schoenberger residing in Connecticut at that time. One who apparently was born in Connecticut, the son of Henry and Lillian Schoenberger, and the other was born in Germany, the husband of Louise Joos.

The next step was to find the household of Emil and Lillian Schoenberger in the 1940 and 1950 census of the USA. Since I also had the names and birth years of their children it was really easy. In 1940 I found the household of Emil and Louise with their two children residing at 66 Busnhell Street in Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut. There Emil is recorded as a cabinet maker. In the 1950 census I found the family still living at that address and Emil is still a cabinet maker. In both the 1940 and 1950 censuses Emil and Louise are recorded as being born in Germany.

1950 U.S. census, Hartford County, Connecticut, population schedule, Hartford, enumeration district (ED) 10-149, sheet 3, household 30; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Sep 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T628, roll 5302.

In Emil's Petition for Naturalization dated 28 Apr 1933 he states that he married Louisa on 30 Jun 1932 in Hartford, Connecticut and at that time only one child was listed since the second child had yet to be born. He also stated he was born 12 Sep 1901 in Kohlberg Bougern, Germany, arrived in 1926 on the Bremen, and is a cabinet maker.

As I discovered and entered in information into Ancestry about the Emil who lived in Hartford and was married to Louise even more details appeared such as his date of death in 1980 and even a copy of his obituary from the Hartford Courant on Newspapers.com. The details in that obituary closely match what had been found in the census enumerations of his family and even his petition for naturalization. I knew I was looking at the right person.

Some very interesting differences between the two Emil Schoenbergers can be found once one starts to examine and read the records available online in various places.

I'll now be off to fix up that common tree on FamilySearch and send a note to several tree owners on Ancestry about the error in their individual trees.

I leave you with this thought though...

STOP following the herd in your research!

My Top 10 Fee-Based Genealogy Sites

We all have genealogy sites that are our go-to places when doing any of our research. It has been a long time since I've listed mine so I figured I'd take a stab at it today. There will be two separate posts. The first, that of my top ten fee-based sites, and the second, to be published later, will be the list of my top free genealogy sites that I use often.

As with any top ten list there will be disagreements as to the order or why a site is included or missing. These are my top ten sites that I turn to regularly in my research. Your favourite site might not have made the cut due to various factors such as it was number 11 (or 12 or 13...) or I haven't had a subscription to it in the past year. A two sites that I make use of periodically that didn't make the top ten cut for me are Fold3¹ and MyHeritage³.Yes, they are useful but not vitally so over this past year.

Counting down from number ten...

10. The New York Times TimesMachine

In my research of a branch of my extended family that originally settled in New York City in the late 1800s the ability to read the death notices and even a few marriage announcements has answered a quite of few questions when trying to locate the next generation. As long as I've had the death date from a death index or registration more often than not I've been able to find a notice in The New York Times fairly quickly.

9. American Ancestors by New England Historic Genealogical Society

I don't have a current subscription but when they have had their free access periods their databases have shed light on a number of my early European settlers in the United States. Even their free databases have been useful to point me to documents I need to find and read at a later time.

8. Genealogy Quebec²

If you have ancestors that resided in Quebec then this site needs to be in your genealogy toolkit. They are constantly adding new images from various parishes in Quebec that you probably won't find any where else. They are also the home of the Drouin Collection Records. Yes, the Drouin Collection is available on other sites but Genealogy Quebec I consider the master source and all others will be behind the times when it comes to new additions. The site also has The LAFRANCE collection with early Quebec parish records starting from 1621. There is also a large obituary collection and a notarized documents collection. If that's not enough they have a collection of marriage and deaths records recorded in Quebec between 1926 and 1997 collected by the provincial health services.

7. The National Archives at Kew, England

The National Archives (TNA) in England (not to be confused with the other national archives around the world) has both free and fee based access to records. With the restrictions in place due to COVID-19 The National Archives has opened up their digital record downloads for free when normally some of these records could only be retrieved for free at their site or by paying a nominal fee. That is why they are in this list and not in my top ten free list. That said, this site is an important one for my British Isles and early Canadian research. Why Canadian? Prior to Confederation, many of the records headed back to England for government use and storage and thus ended in TNA. If you have come across WO or AO record mentions in your Loyalist research, those are collections originally held by The National Archives. Some of those collections are also held by Library and Archives Canada but it is always good to check the TNA site too.

6. General Register Office of England and Wales

We are all probably familiar with the various England and Wales birth, marriage, and death (BMD) indexes available on many genealogy sites. However, in order to make sure you have the right person you really need to order the certificate and, for England and Wales, this is the place to do it. It isn't inexpensive, £11 for a BMD certificate sent by post, but they do offer £7 for a PDF of a birth (1837-1919) or death certificate (1837-1957) sent by e-mail. One new feature is when you search the birth index on the GRO site the mother's maiden surname is now provided in the results. This can save you money or even provide a clue that helps you in your research without paying a penny.

5. GenealogyBank

This newspaper site is invaluable if you have branches of your tree that lived in the United States of America. This site has digitized newspapers that can't be found on other sites. In addition to digitized newspapers, some going back to the early 1700s, the site has a searchable copy of the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), an obituary collection from modern newspapers, some digitized books, and census records. All searchable by name, keywords, date ranges, and location (where applicable).

4. Newspapers.com¹ Publisher Extra subscription

Edging out GenealogyBank for newspaper collections is Newspapers.com with the additional Publisher Extra add-on. Much like GenealogyBank, the primary focus is on US newspapers but with the addition of the Publisher Extra add-on one has access to a number of Canadian newspapers too. The Canadian newspapers are heavy on the western side of Canada especially British Columbia but any indexed and searchable Canadian newspaper collection is a good thing in my books. Newspapers.com also has newspapers from Australia, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Panama, Scotland, and Wales in their collection. 

3. ScotlandsPeople

If you have any Scottish roots this is the one site you need to visit to locate the images of birth, marriage, and death statutory (civil) registrations, census returns, and parish registers that can't be found elsewhere online from home. Many sites will have the indexes of those records but not the images. Unlike many other fee-based genealogy sites that are subscription based ScotlandsPeople is credit based. For £7.50 you get a 30 credit voucher. The price for viewing and downloading, if you so chose to do so, is 6 credits for statutory BMD registrations, census returns, and church registers. Other records can be had for between 2 credits and 40 credits, depending on the collection.

2. Findmypast

Findmypast continues to be one of my primary research sites especially for the UK branches of my family. It isn't just because of their wonderful census, parish collections, immigration, and military collections that covers the British Isles and select parts of the world but also for their newspaper collections. With Findmypast I have access to English, Irish, and US newspapers from various other sites. There are also a number of Canadian newspapers buried in their collection.

1. Ancestry¹

There is probably no surprise that Ancestry is at the top of my list of fee-based genealogy sites. Combined with their record collections and DNA testing they have been my go-to site for many years. My primary cousin-bait tree is hosted on that site and I make use of the good...and not so good...user created trees to provide me with clues as to where to possibly look next for records in my research when I hit a stumbling block.

 

These are my top ten fee-based sites and they probably differ from yours. I'd be interested in hearing from you as to your favourites (and why) that I didn't include.

Stay tuned in the coming week or so for a list of my favourite free genealogy sites.

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Full disclosure

1. As a member of the Ancestry Canada Advisory Board this year I have been provided a free subscription to Ancestry, Newspapers.com with Publisher Extra, and Fold3. However, prior to this year I either held my own subscriptions or made use of those sites via other venues such as at my local Family History Center or a genealogy conference.

2. I was provided with a one year subscription to Genealogy Quebec last year. The subscription has since lapsed but my to-do list for that site is growing for the day when I can access those records at my local library.

3. In July this year I won a subscription to MyHeritage when I attended a Facebook presentation hosted by MyHeritage. I had a subscription in previous years but had let it lapse.

My Father is my Sister-in-law's Husband...Say What?

Lately I've been doing the drudge work of genealogy and family history research, recording information that I had previously found on Ancestry about the branches on a family line that I haven't looked at for about a decade. Of course, with all the new collections being digitized and put online hosted by various sites I have been coming across records that answer questions I didn't even know I had. I even have  those "Say what?" moments. This is one such case.

Some background first...

The branch of the family I've been working on is that of the descendants of Alexander Fraser and Sarah Howell. Alexander and Sarah came to settle in the Perth Military Settlement (in what later became Lanark County, Ontario, Canada) after Alexander's service in the British Army during the Napoleonic War and War of 1812 era. I had already researched my direct line, those descended from their eldest daughter Ann but I'd been "avoiding" looking at the descendants of other 11 surviving children ever since I started my "genealogy do-over" in 2011. I knew there was going to be a lot of typing and researching to do since I follow each line until I can go no further.

I'm fortunate that I have a book written by Louise Agnes (nee Fraser) Milne titled "Fraser : a short history of the Fraser clan and our own branch of Frasers in Canada and the United States". That book includes a "Fraser Genealogical Table" at the back listing the various children of Alexander and Sarah along with their descendants and even possibly their spouses. She probably did her research like many others at the time, by sending letters out to various family members to gather names of even more family members. One challenge (amongst others) is that only names are given and no sources are provided. But it is a starting place and can offer clues.

Now, on with the journey. Oh, and hang on to your hats, it is a bumpy ride!

I'd been working adding the children of Sarah Fraser, the 4th child of Alexander and Sarah, and the wife of John Mills into my Legacy Family Tree master database when I came across a challenge with the daughter of Lydia Mills (daughter of John Mills and Sarah Fraser) and her husband John A. Coates. This branch drew a lot of "hmmm" and "WTF?" when I was working on it.

The first "hmmm" was in the 1881 census of Canada where I found Annie Coats in the household of John and Sarah Mills. I knew from earlier research that John and Sarah's daughter, Lydia Ann Mills, had married a John Albert Coates. It also helped that the Fraser book also included an Annie Mae Coates as a child of John A. Coates and Lydia Mills. So I was fairly certain that the Annie Coats in the census was that child. but that census doesn't state family relationships.

1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 122, sub-district F-1, p. 45, dwelling 143, family 186, household of John Mills; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Jul 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-13239.

What I quickly discovered, thanks to those who contribute to Find A Grave, is that Lydia died 28 May 1876 and was buried in the Marmora Common Cemetery. Based on some of the dates I've seen, I'm guessing it might have been due to complications from child birth.

I next came across her in the 1891 census of Canada, still in the household of John and Sarah Mills. Except this time she is recorded as a daughter. Hmmm.

1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 74, sub-district J, p. 40-41, family 187, household of John Mills; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Jul 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm T-6343.

Could this Annie May Mills be the daughter of John and Sarah? Contrary to what some of the trees on Ancestry may have one believe, it is very unlikely just due to what was recorded in the 1881 census and what is in the Fraser book.

Just an aside...What I knew about John Albert Coates at that time was that he was 23 years old (born abut 1852) when he married Lydia Ann Mills in Marmora, Ontario, Canada on 23 Jun 1875. He was born in Rochester, New York, USA, the son of John and Ann Coates and he was a carriage maker. I have found a few John A. Coates in the 1881 and 1891 census enumerations of Canada. By checking out the various birth registrations for the children of the John A. Coates along with census enumerations and marriage registrations I was able to eliminate each one as a possible candidate.

Yet Annie seemed to have disappeared from Canada after 1891. So it was off to the next possible clue in the Fraser book, that she married a Carl W. Oldenburg and had four children: Louise Sophia, Frederick Albert, Ida Mae, and Neva Beatrice. It was off to do a general search looking for this family on Ancestry. To my surprise I found them, although missing Louise Sophia, in the 1920 Federal census of the United States residing in Michigan.

1920 U.S. census, Oakland County, Michigan, population schedule, Township of Milford, enumeration district (ED) 173, sheet 5A, dwelling 104, family 105, household of Carl Oldenburg; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Jul 2020); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 789.

With a bit more research it turned out that Louise had married Norme R. Bowers on 30 Aug 1919. But I did find her with the family in the 1910 Federal census of the USA.

Could a marriage record be found for Anna/Annie May Coates and Carl W. Oldenburg? That took a bit more research but I came across one for Carl W. Oldenburg, born in Germany, son of Ernest Oldenburg and Louisa Severt, and May Coats, born in Canada, daughter of Bert Coate and unknown mother.

"Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Jul 2020), entry for May Coats and Carl W Oldenburg, married 26 May 1900; citing Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 68; Film Description: 1900 Delta-1900 Mackinac.

Bert Coate? Could this be John Albert Coates? Might he be in the same neck of the woods?

In the 1900 census of Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan I came across an Albert Coates, husband to Lena with a daughter, Hazel, in the household.

1900 U.S. census, Kent County, Michigan, population schedule, Grand Rapids, enumeration district (ED) 69, sheet 17B, dwelling 353, family 383, household of Albert Coates; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Jul 2020); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623.

Hey, he's born in New York. That's a good sign since, if you recall, in his marriage registration to Lydia Ann Mills he stated he was born in Rochester, New York. But, just like we saw in Ontario, John A. Coates or even Albert Coates, isn't unique as a name. Can we find a marriage registration for John Albert Coates or variations thereof ?

After quite a bit of work and following the records I did!

"Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Jul 2020), entry for Bert Coater and Lena Oldenburg, married 25 Jul 1898; citing Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 62; Film Description: 1898 Eaton-1898 Marquette.

His father is John Coates and his mother is Anna Wolcott and Albert is born in Rochester, New York. I also abstracted the 1910 and 1920 census enumerations for Albert and Lena and on the 1910 enumeration his name is recorded and John Albert Coates. I'm pretty sure that Albert Coates in this record is the same person that married Lydia Ann Mills. On this marriage record page for the county it even stated that he had one marriage before this one. Hmmm, so did Lena. Since I try to document the spouses also it was time to look at Lena Oldenburg.

If you though it was confusing before I won't get into all of the issues with Lena Oldenburg but it turns out she married an Eper Van Louten/Flouten on 8 Feb 1897¹, filed for divorce on 2 Apr 1897 and was granted a divorce on 21 Dec 1897². In that marriage registration it states that her father was Arnest Oldenb... and Louse Miller. Of course, in the marriage to John her mother was recorded as unknown and father was "Geo." Nothing like inconsistency to drive a researcher around the bend!

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective), Lena died in 1921 and Ancestry has the "Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952" collection that include images.

Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, "Michigan, Deaths Records 1867-1950," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Jul 2020), entry for John Coates, died 1 Oct 1934.

In the block for her parents they are listed as Earnest Oldenberg and Louise Siebert. It just so happens that there is an Ernest and Louise Oldenburg in the 1900 Federal census of the USA in Grand Rapid, Kent County, Michigan.

1900 U.S. census, Kent County, Michigan, population schedule, Grand Rapids, enumeration district (ED) 74, sheet 10A, dwelling 1862, family 195, Ernest Oldenburg; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Jul 2020); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623.

If you look closely, you will also see a son Carl and a daughter-in-law, May, of Canada, living in the same household. Hmmm.

The Louise Siebert in Lena's death registration could be the Louisa Severt that we found in the Carl Oldenburg's marriage record if pronunciation variations are taken into account. For that a side trip to Germany was required. OK, not actually travel to Germany but the "Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971" collection on Ancestry provided me a clue. There I learned that Carl was born Carl Johann Heinrich Oldenburg, the son of Ernst Johann Christian Friederich Oldenburg and Luise Christine Caroline Sievert. A bit of anglicizing of the forename and saying Luise's surname out loud and you can see how the variations in the spelling appeared.

Of course I'd like to use the 1890 census for that area to see if Ernest, Louisa, Carl and Lena were in the same household. Alas one gotcha with researching in the United States is almost all of the 1890 Federal census was lost in a fire in the Commerce Building in Washington, D.C. In theory I should be able to find Lena and Carl and the rest of the Oldenburg family in the 1880 census of the United States since Lena was supposedly born in Michigan by that year, at least according to her death registration, but no such luck (so far).

However, it was newspaper death notice that clinched the connection between Lena Oldenburg and Annie May Coates:

"Obituary - Coates," The Grand Rapids Press, 2 Oct 1934, p. 2, col. 2; digital images, GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 24 Jul 2020), Newspaper Archives.

Since it is a bit small, here is what was written:

COATES - John A. Coates, aged 81, passed away Monday evening at the residence 547 Crosby-st. N. W. Surviving are two daughters Mrs. Hazel Kline of Grand Rapids and Mrs. May Oldenburg of Wixom; three sons, Albert Coates, LeRoy Coates and George Coates, all of Grand Rapids; eleven grandchildren and four great-granchchildren. Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon at the residence. Interment in Greenwood cemetery.

Recall that in the 1900 census there was a daughter Hazel recorded along with his wife Lena. After a bit more research I was able to locate Hazel's marriage to Percy Webster Kline. Hazel was residing in Grand Rapids between 1930 and 1940 according to the census records. His other daughter, May Oldenburg, is recorded as residing in Wixom, Oakland County, Michigan. That would be Annie May Coates who married Carl W. Oldenburg and they are in Wixom in the 1930 and 1940 census enumerations. From census enumerations, death registration, and newspaper notices I know hat Albert, LeRoy and George are all children of John Albert and Lena.

What we end up with is the family tree below:

Two Generation Tree of Annie May Coates

As we can see in this very basic two generation family tree diagram (dotted lines indicate marriage and solid lines are blood connection), after all is said and done, John Albert Oates is both the father by blood of Annie May Coates and also the husband of her sister-in-law. The relationships get even more interesting between the children of John Albert Coates-Lena Oldenburg and the children of Annie May Coates-Carl Oldenburg.

And don't even get me started about the challenges of trying to figure out Hazel Coates. It turns out she appears to be the daughter of Lena and her first husband.

Through all this I had to follow various family lines including siblings, parents, and children to knit together this strangely interesting family unit. Census enumerations in both Canada and the USA, marriage records, death registrations, grave markers, and newspapers all played an important part in understanding this family.

Nothing like a little bit of confusion to keep you on your toes!

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1. "Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Jul 2020), entry for Eli Van Flouten and Lena Oldenburg, married 8 Feb 1897; citing Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 60; Film Description: 1897 Kent-1897 St Clair.

2. "Michigan, Divorce Records, 1897-1952," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Jul 2020), entry for Lena Van Louten and Eper Van Louten, granted 21 Dec 1897.

The Changing Name of Caspard van Den Bergh

Once again I'm looking at one of the side branches of my family tree and comparing a family tree drawn up on January 1990 to the events and records I can locate online in 2015. You may recall that in the "Extra Children of a Bigger Mystery - Part 1" I was also using a hand drawn family tree as a guide post in figuring out those collateral branches. Both of these hand drawn trees appear to have been created by the same person.

Hand-drawn Family Tree for Martin m. Innes (created Jan 1990)

The side branch I am look at this past week is that of Robert Martin and Carrie Young. As with the other tree a number of the names listed are nicknames or abbreviations. For examine, Carrie Young's full name is Caroline Elizabeth Young. Some names have provided interesting challenges. The marriage of Kathleen to a "Cowhut" was a curious one. She actually married Alex Coward but since she disliked that surname and on the connotations surrounding it she always went by the married surname of "Cowaret"¹.

Cowhut ... Cowaret ... Coward

When said out loud I can see the connection. Yet that isn't the one name that has had me been baffled. At least some of her life had been documented and recorded. The name that has provides some challenge is that of 'Cap' West, the husband of Grace Martin

Since I have the tree on Ancestry that is the place I started looking. I have no problems with looking at the various public family trees on Ancestry. I just don't trust any of them and the conclusions that have been made by others. Like the hand drawn tree above I make use of the public trees on Ancestry and elsewhere as guide posts and clues. But I don't ever link those people or trees into my tree. I look, read the source records, analyze the information, then make a judgment call to include or exclude based on what I have previously found.

Just a quick note before we go any further. I am skipping some of the explanations of how and why I find some of the records. Sometimes the route to locate a given record can be a strange or even circuitous one where I look at a number of records at once and that provides the clues to get to the key record I mention.

One record that I came across in several trees was that of a "Grace Olive Walsh nee Martin (Vandenbergh former married name)" dated 23 Sep 1938. This was found in the "Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956" collection on Ancestry.

Ancestry.com, "Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956," database on-line, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 3 Feb 2015), entry for Grace Olive Walsh, 23 Sep 1938; Original data: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, RG 85. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.

There were several interesting statements recorded on this record:

• She had been denied admission into Canada
• She last resided at 1913 E Pine Street in Seattle, King County, Washington, USA
• Her destination has been her mother Mrs. C. E. Martin, 204 18th Street, North Vancouver, British Columbia

But as we all know², there may be additional details on the back of these card. The back of this card is even more interesting.

Ancestry.com, "Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956," database on-line, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 3 Feb 2015), entry for Grace Olive Walsh, 23 Sep 1938, back of card; Original data: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, RG 85. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.

Some interesting tidbits are recorded (other than having two highballs before getting on stage last night):

• She has a daughter Dorothy that is residing with Grace's mother
• She lives with her brother Arthur R Martin in Seattle
• She claims US citizenship by way of her marriage on 8-16-16 to Caspard Letrio Vendenberg in San Mateo
• She claims US citizenship by way of her marriage on 10-18-32 to Thos Wash at Seattle
• She claims US citizenship by birth

Although there is no mention of Arthur on the hand drawn tree, I have been able to confirm that he is a child of Robert Martin and Caroline Young and thus a brother to Grace.

Note, there is no mention of a 'Cap' West. But Caspard does start with 'Cap', could that have been a nickname? Can we find her marriage to Caspard? Nothing found in California using the various California collections on Ancestry and Familysearch. However, since I do know she was residing in British Columbia for the 1911 census of Canada could she have married there or in Washington State. Nothing was found in British Columbia but the Digital Archives of the Washington State Archives did have a possible match. A search for Caspard and Martin on their site returned back only one match. That of a marriage between Caspard Van and Olive Martin. Yet that marriage is recorded as taking place in 1912 not 1916. Fortunately for me the entry also had a marriage certificate I could view and unlike many of the later certificates this had information on the parents.

Washington State Archives, "Marriage Records," database, Washington State Archives - Digital Archives (http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/ : accessed 3 Feb 2015), entry for Carpard Van and Olive Martin, married 16 Jun 1912.

This appears to be the right person. Olive Martin, the daughter of R. W. Martin and Caroline Young. But his name is listed as Caspard Van and the place and date of marriage is way off. Yet she may have been nervous or just couldn't recall the date and place of her first marriage.

Take a look at his profession ... yup, an actor. Of course we've never heard of people have a stage name or changing their names have we? How about Issur Danielovitch³ or Ramon Antonio Gerardo Estevez⁴ for example? Could that be an explanation of the 'Cap' West name? Easier in the business than explaining time and again how to spell his birth name?

Another search, this time for any Thomas Walsh marriages in Washington State, returned a marriage certificate for Thomas F Walsh and Grace Van den Bergh. They were married on 16 Oct 1933.
Although the information recorded doesn't include her parents names and the year and day of the marriage is off it seems like this is Grace's second marriage.

Washington State Archives, "Marriage Records," database, Washington State Archives - Digital Archives (http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/ : accessed 3 Feb 2015), entry for Thomas F Walsh and Grace Van den Bergh, married 16 Oct 1933.

But still no closer to figuring out this 'Cap' West. But it does seem that Caspard Van is the same person as Caspard van Den Bergh. I do however find a few mentions of Caspard in the San Francisco Chronicle when on 24 Sep 1930 Grace O.  Van Denburgh files a divorce suit against Caspard L.⁵ and then on 10 Nov 1930 the divorce is granted in "Van den Burgh - Grace O. vs. Caspard O."⁶

There were two other clues I can use besides the marriage to Grace. They had at least two children, Dodie and Marjory. Maybe they will provide me with some clues. In the 1921 census of Canada there is a Dorothy Van and Margory Van listed as lodgers living in the same household as the widow Caroline Martin. I also find Dorothy and Margory Van heading up to Alaska. Could these be the same children as mentioned in the family tree chart?

In glancing at the various family trees on Ancestry I came across a funeral home record for Marjory/Margory. That record indicated that she was married to Glenn Willard (he's another one that caused me some grief with his names and this time an obituary provided both of his names) and her parents were Casper Van Den Burgh and Grace Martin⁷. That looks like a match. But does it get us any closer to this 'Cap' West person?

In the 1930 federal census of the United States there is a Grace O., Dorothy M., and Marjorie C. with the right approximate ages and they were all born in Canada (English speaking part). However they have the last name of West and the head of the household is Guy Toby West.

1930 U.S. census, San Francisco County, California, population schedule, San Francisco, enumeration district (ED) 181, sheet 1A, p. 144 [stamped], dwelling 2, family 11, Household of Guy Toby West; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 4 Feb 2015); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 201; Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

Could Guy Toby West be this 'Cap' West in the drawn up tree? Is Guy Toby West the same person as Caspard van Den Bergh? According to the divorce announcements Grace O. Martin and Caspard L. van Den Bergh were still married at the time of the census and she also hadn't married Thomas Walsh yet. But it is still a leap to go from Caspard van Den Bergh to 'Cap' West to Guy Toby West. Is there another clue that might just help?

Strangely enough, an out of country death record does provide an additional clue. Caspard L. van Den Bergh died in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico and fortunately the "Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974" collection on Ancestry had an image of his "Report of the Death of an American"⁸ form. On that form he listed a wife, Rosalie, and a son, Gary Guy van Den Bergh who was serving in the U.S. Navy in 1951. Caspard was also the proprietor and lived at "Toby's Motel" in Los Gatos, California. Hmmm ... Toby's Motel ... curious. A Google search for his son "Gary Guy Van Den Bergh" (regrettably from his family's point of view and great for a researcher's perspective) turned up a very recent obituary⁹ for him. There it mentions his "father Toby and mother Roaslie van Den Bergh".

All those documents, taken individually, would seem to indicate that 'Cap' West, Caspard van Den Bergh, Caspard Van, and Guy Toby West would be different people. However, when examined together they all point to one most likely conclusion ... they are all the same person. However, there are still clues to track down and documents to find. The perfect document would have all his known aliases but I'd be happy just find some document with two of the known names listed for Caspard van Den Bergh.

[05 Feb 2015 11:55 - Updated to reflect Caspard's spelling of his surname per his signature on his US World War 2 draft registration]

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1. Canadian Museum of History, Virtual Museum Canada (http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/fort_selkirk/english/ps/psmiss.html : accessed 4 Feb 2015), Kathleen Martin Cowaret, Fort Selkirk Power and Sovereignty: The Missionaries.

2. You do know to check the image before and after on Ancestry to see if there is an additional page or two? The Passenger List sheet is a prime example since many times they span two pages.

3. Kirk Douglas

4. Martin Sheen

5. GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com/ : accessed 4 Feb 2015), Divorce Suits Filed; citing the San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Sep 1930 edition, p 12, col 6.
 
6. GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com/ : accessed 4 Feb 2015), Divorces Granted; citing the San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Nov 1930 edition, p 10, col 6.

7. "California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 3 Feb 2015), entry for Marjorie Cecilie Willard, died 25 Jun 1941; citing N. Gray and Company Funeral Records.

8. Ancestry.com, "Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 3 Feb 2015), entry for Caspard L Van den Bergh, died 9 Nov 1951.  

9. "Obituary for Gary Guy van Den Bergh," The Union Democrat, 3 Jun 2014, online archives (http://www.uniondemocrat.com/News/Obituaries/Obituaries-for-June-3-2014 : accessed 3 Feb 2015).