Not Trusting Trees -or- Make Sure You Read the Records!

When I'm stuck researching a family line using Ancestry I will often turn to the family trees created by others. Before you get in an uproar over how suspect they may be, take a moment to hear me out. I'm generally not looking at those user contributed trees for answers but instead I'm mining them for possible clues. I approach everything in those trees using my genealogy research mantra of "Trust no one, verify everything, and even if it is written in stone it might be wrong."

So let's take a look at the marriage of Charles Golding and Susanna. This is from a branch of a tree that I'm exploring for a friend and sort of a dead end on this branch for me. I wanted to learn what the maiden surname is for Susanna.

First I need to take a step back and start with their daughter. Initially all I had was the name Louisa Colston/Coulston Golding. According to the family chart of the Reuben Charles Short found in the family bible she was born 25 Aug 1802 and died 4 Sep 1873. Now blindly trusting family bibles can be fraught with challenges. However, I've been able to corroborate the information recorded on that family chart with parish and civil records so I'm trusting that document as much as I would any ecclesiastical or government generated record.

Here is her 1802 baptism record from Upper Maudlin Street church in Bristol, England, a Moravian church which means this is a nonconformist church, a non-Church of England church.

"England & Wales Non-Conformist Births And Baptisms," database and images, Findmypast, Findmypast (www.findmypast.com : accessed 7 Sep 2020), Louisa Colston Golding, born 25 Aug 1802, baptized 12 Sep 1802; citing The National Archives (Kew, Surrey), RG/3/1361B; Upper Maudlin Street (Moravian): Births, Baptisms and Burials.

In the baptism record the minister was kind enough to state where and when Louisa was born. It is really nice that the date of her birth matches what is recorded in the family chart. in the baptism record Louisa is recorded as the daughter of Charles and Susanna Golding. Unfortunately they don't state her mother's maiden surname.

As an aside, the place of her birth, Kingswood led me down some interesting paths as I tried to place it into a county. Some sites had it in Gloucestershire, others in Wiltshire, and one in both. That had me scratching my head. So I turned to GENUKI to see what it stated. The reference on that site for Kingswood in Wiltshire stated, "... Previous to 1844 it formed part of the county of Wilts, but is now annexed to Gloucester."¹ Prior to 1844 Kingswood, Wiltshire was an enclave completely surrounded by Gloucestershire. This means that when Louisa was baptized she was born in Kingswood, Wiltshire, England and not Kingswood, Gloucestershire, England. It is a minor but important distinction when one strives to record where an event took place at the time.

I now know the names of her parents, Charles and Susanna, along with the general location where she resided and the religious following of her parents. This helps quite a bit when it comes to researching in parish records. Of course, this led me down another path where I needed to learn more about the Moravian church in England and how it affected finding records. The one important item to note is that between 1754 and 1837 only Church of England marriages had been legal (Quakers were exempt from this law)². This means that I should probably not limit myself to Nonconformist records when looking for a marriage between the parents of Louisa.

This is where the various user contributed family trees on Ancestry come into play. Practically all of the trees have her parents as Charles Golding and Susanna Coulston or Colston Here is an example of one of the family tree profile hints for Louisa.

Screen capture of an Ancestry family tree profile hint for Louisa Coulston Golding (1802-1873).

The profile has a number of sources and records attached to it. However, generally when I see a profile hint on Ancestry with one more source than the number of records that's a good indicator that other family trees many have been used as sources. That is exactly what has happened here.

Since I've not found the maiden name of Susanna recorded in the documents I had come across I wanted to find out where these Ancestry members got their information. So I looked at each tree hint for Louisa and followed their tree to her mother, Susanna. For the associated sources for Susanna's name they all came from baptism registers and only had her first name mentioned. However, there was a marriage registration between Charles and Susanna that everyone pointed to. Even better, the source had an image connected to it. That's always a win!

"Bristol, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935," database and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Sep 2020), Charles Golding and Susanna Golding, married 9 Oct 1793; citing Bristol Archives; Bristol, England; Bristol Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: P/B/R/3/c; Parish of St. Mary, Bitton. 

Only one little itsy bitsy problem. That record doesn't state Coulston or Colston but Golding!

One Ancestry tree profile even commented on that recorded fact with the statement:

"Susanna's name on Marriage Record is listed as Susanna Golding. Assuming since Louisa was her only daughter and she gave her the middle name of Coulston that that [sic] could be her maiden name."

They read the evidence but just didn't believe their own eyes and came up with an explanation of their own.

It just wasn't in the recording of the names of the parties but in the place where the parties signed their name. Maybe she couldn't write so the priest made the same mistake twice. This is where looking at the whole document is important since the next marriage, that between John Bush and Ruth Gunning, for the husband the signature is "The mark of  + John Bush" and the next marriage record one after that has "The mark of X Ann Bryant". So it appears that Susanna could write her own name and knew what it was.

Since the marriage was performed after the Banns of Marriage were read I searched for the record of banns. Maybe they would clarify the matter and give a different surname for Susanna. I got lucky and found them relatively quickly in the same collection.

"Bristol, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935," database and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Sep 2020), Charles Golding and Susanna Golding, banns read 15, 22, 29 Sep 1793; citing Bristol Archives; Bristol, England; Bristol Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: P/B/R/3/c; Parish of St. Mary, Bitton.

Even that record had her surname as Golding. In both the marriage and banns records it is stated that she is a spinster. So Golding would appear to be her maiden surname.

But is this the right Charles and Susanna? I think so. Bitton is in the same neck of the woods as Kingswood, only about 3.8 miles apart so it is possible. According to Wikipedia (yes, taken with a grain of salt), until the early 19th century there was no Church of England church in Kingswood and they were served by the parish in Bitton. Also, remember that little detail about nonconformist marriages being not legal? St. Mary's in Bitton is a Church of England parish so it would make sense to get married there to be legal in the eyes of the government.

A further search of the nonconformist baptisms, using both Findmypast and Ancestry, revealed a number of children born in Kingswood to a Charles and Susan/Susanna/Susannah Golding:

1. Jeremiah, 1794-1803
2. Edward, 1796-
3. Daniel, 1797-
4. Philip, 1799-
5. Ebenezer, 1801-
6. Louisa Colston/Coulston, 1802-1873
7. Jeremiah, 1804-
8. Ephraim, 1807-1812

Yes, there are two Jeremiahs. The first was born just over a year after Charles and Susanna were married but died as a young child. I haven't gone down the branches of the various siblings of Louisa but in just glancing at the records there are some neat finds including that of Ebenezer Golding, boot and shoe maker, being admitted to the Freedom of the City of London on 8 Oct 1835 at Guildhall.

Just wait though, there is more to mess people's trees up when documenting this family group...

To add to the confusion in the records and what is recorded in various trees, I had found the baptisms recorded under "RG4: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths ˃ Buckinghamshire ˃ Primitive Methodist ˃ Piece 1361A: Wooburn Green (Primitive Methodist), 1832-1836" in the "England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970" collection on Ancestry. This didn't make sense to me since I expected it to be Somerset, Gloucestershire, or Wiltshire as the county. If one looks at the reference plate included with frame of the original microfilm you will see that the collection is actually RG4/1361B according to the Public Records Office reference number. To really mess things up, "RG4: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths ˃ Somerset ˃ Moravian ˃ Piece 1361: Bristol, Upper Maudlin Street (Moravian), 1755-1837" is actually for the Primitive Methodist denomination in Wooburn Green. Big OOPS on Ancestry's part.

To wrap things up, and assuming that I have found the correct records, it would seem to me that the various trees on Ancestry are incorrect and Susanna's maiden surname is the same as her husband, that is, Golding.

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1. The National Gazetteer : a Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands Compiled from the Latest and Best Sources and Illustrated with a Complete County Atlas and Numerous Maps, vol. 2 (London, England : Virtue & Co, 1868), p. 477, entry for Kingswood; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org : accessed 21 Sep 2020). 

2. The National Archives research guide on Nonconformists.

Second World War RCAF Operations Record Books

In my post "Researching Canadian Soldiers Who Died in the Second World War" I discussed how we can use the various online resources to learn more about those that made the ultimate sacrifice for Canada. However, I really only talked about the War Diaries of the Canadian Army to learn more about what was happening in the unit that the individual was in. In this post I'm going to look at the Second World War Operations Record Books for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

As with any research into the Canadian military I always head over to the Library and Archives Canada Military Heritage landing page. Since I'm looking for information about the Second World War I click on "Second World War: 1939-1945" to bring up the topic page. Reading through that page we see that there is a Research Guide for "War Diaries, Ship Logs and Operations Record Books "

However, the research guidance there is a little sparse:

Second World War (1939-1945) and Korean Conflict (1950-1953)

References to the Operations Record Books (RG24-E-7) can be identified by using the Advanced Archives Search.

• In the pull down menu, select Finding Aid Number, and enter: 24-104a
• Enter a keyword, for example, the unit name or number or date: "Royal Air Force Bomber"
• Some volumes are available on microfilm.
• Some of the microfilm reels have been digitized on our partner site Héritage.

Since I find learning is often best done by doing, let's look at an example. I'm going to look for the Operations Records Books for No. 426 Squadron. Why that unit? It was the squadron that my 1st cousin twice removed, David Douglas Dakin (J86386), served in when he was posted there in March 1944.

You might be wondering how I know that little tidbit. It might have come from his service file but he passed away in 2012 and his file is now embargoed for 20 years with limited information available to immediate family members only¹. So that option was not available for me. However, I was lucky enough to come across his name when I searched the RCAF Association "Search Awards". There I found a very lengthy write up of his service in the RCAF including being awarded with the Distinguished Flying Cross. The other place I found him was in the Last Post database of the Legion Magazine.

But back to searching for the RCAF Operations Records Books.

The first step is to go to the Library and Archives Canada Collection Search page. That is not the search box on the right side of the Library and Archives Canada home page but it is found under the "Search the Collection" tab. Going there will bring up a page similar to this:

Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada Collection Search page looking for "24-104a 426 squadron"

Here I've already filled in the key details that the Research Guide told me to use:

• Finding Aid Number: 24-104a
• Squadron: 426 

I also added the word "squadron" to my search otherwise over 9,000 results were returned and the vast majority had nothing to do with the unit I was looking for. That search returned only 19 results:

Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada Collection Search results page looking for "24-104a 426 squadron"

The first result was actually the one I was looking for so I clicked on the link to display the following page:

Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada page concerning No. 426 (B) Squadron for Oct 42-Feb 45.

However, what is initially shown doesn't help me find the Operations Record Books. That is hidden under the Record Information - Details bar. If that is clicked we now see this extra information.

Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada page concerning No. 426 (B) Squadron for Oct 42-Feb 45, Record Information Details.

We learn that the Operations Record Book for No. 426 (B) Squadron is available on microfilm reel C-12298. Remember that in the Research Guide that some of the microfilms have been digitized and put on the Héritage site. So how about popping over there in the hopes that the microfilm we want has been digitized.

Screen capture of Canadian Héritage search screen looking for C-12298.

You can see that I've already typed in the microfilm number and I've used quotes around the microfilm number. The quotes are important since without them you will often get all kinds of extraneous results.

Screen capture of Canadian Héritage search results screen when looking for microfilm C-12298.

As you can see the first result is the one we are looking for. So I clicked on the link.

This is where it gets a bit challenging. There may be multiple Operations Record Books for different squadrons on the microfilm. In the case of C-12298, No. 425 Squadron was at the start and it wasn't until I got to image 1453 where No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron's book began.

Screen capture of Canadian Héritage page for No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron Operations Record Book.

So what will you find in these books?

Just like the War Diaries for the Canadian Army there are the standard entries of what was happening in the unit.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 1877; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12298.

This is the first page for March 1944 for No. 426 Squadron. Here we learn of a crew reassignment, that on the 2nd the weather was a "beautiful clear day", and on the 5th an air accident occurred with details of what happened and who was in the aircraft.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 1879; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12298.

Here we learn that on the 15th of March, 1944 air operations took place with 16 aircraft involved. Regrettably two aircraft never made it back home so the names of the crew are listed along with their service numbers and function in the airplane.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 1883; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12298.

You might also come across a page, like above, where it details who is coming into or leaving the squadron. This is where Flight Sergeant D. D. Dakin first appears with the squadron as a pilot. 

Sometimes the records continue onto the next microfilm. That was the case with No. 426 Squadron, the Operations Record Book continued on microfilm C-12298. There I found F/S Dakin in a Lancaster bombing Frankfurt on 18 Mar 1944 leaving at 19h01 and arriving back to the airbase at 00h59.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 10; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12299.

You might even come across an incident report describing an unusual event like the "collision with friendly aircraft over target area" below.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 54; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12299.

Through these records you can often follow the career of a crew member. Events such as when they promoted or commissioned can be discovered along with the details about the various sorties they flew. When the squadron was moved to another base you might even come across entries where the non-flying personnel are mentioned and how they were to get to the new location.

Keep in mind that these are the Operation Record Books for Canadian squadrons. For the Royal Air Force Operations Record Books you need to go to TheGenealogist or pay an in person visit to The National Archives in England. In doing so you just might find a Canadian who enlisted with the RCAF serving with the RAF.

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1. If you have a living family member that served Canada in the Second World War then I strongly recommend that they order a copy of their service file. Instructions for doing so can be found at Restricted records held by Library and Archives Canada (service files after 1919).

Mayflower Passenger List - A Challenge with Findmypast

One of the various challenges we sometimes face in our genealogy research is determining the source of the records we come across on the various genealogy sites. Some sites make it almost easy to learn where the records came from. In Ancestry's case, one will often find at the bottom of a record a Source Citation and a Source Information block of text. For FamilySearch it may be included in their ready built citation or on the description page for the collection in question. 

Unfortunately, Findmypast can sometimes make it a bit of a challenge to uncover the source of their transcription or images.

In the above case, the source is from the Manchester Archives. However, there are film numbers provided and a quick check on FamilySearch shows that they reference the "Rusholme Road Cemetery register of interments, 1821-1933". How did I know to check FamilySearch? No great trick just a number of years of experience.

Another example is this text some times found at the bottom of the transcription page of a record on Findmypast:

This indicates to me that I should be able to find the information also on FamilySearch. On FamilySearch I will usually then search for the names recorded in the transcription on Findmypast and will frequently come across the same record on FamilySearch. There might even be an image available for me to view if Findmypast doesn't have it associated with the record .

You might also find the source information in the transcription itself like below:

Here we learn that the information came from the Liverpool Record Office and the reference in that archive is 283-WAL-6-1-2.

This brings us to my challenge this week.

Recently Findmypast released their "Massachusetts, Mayflower Passengers 1620" record set. According to their description of this set "These records provide the names and details of all known 132 passengers and crew of the Mayflower." As a descendant of John Howland and Elizabeth Tillie this was of particular interest to me. Here you can see John Howland included in the household of John Carver as one of his man servants.

Household of John Carver

Keep in mind that this record set is not to be confused with Findmypast's already existing "Massachusetts, Mayflower Passengers 1620 (Published 1920)" record set which is from the book "A Record of the Names of the Passengers on the Good Ship "Mayflower" in December 1620: From Whom Descent May Now Be Proved, Together With the Names of Some of the Husbands of Their Married Daughers, Granddaughers and Great-Granddaughters" by Herbert Folger published in 1920.

However, Findmypast didn't specify the source of the images for this new record set. In our research it is often important to know where the documents may be originally found since that may point us to further material that can assist us in documenting our family line.

So off I went to discover the source of this old document.

The first place I went to was Wikipedia. Before you get up in arms in shock with my use of Wikipedia, it can be a very good resource for finding sources of information so follow those references at the bottom of the pages. Findmypast referenced the Mayflower Compact in their description so I checked out that page on Wikipedia. That's where I came across the statement that "The original document has been lost, but three versions exist from the 17th century..." Three sources are mentioned: Mourt's Relation (1622), William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation (1646), and Nathaniel Morton's New-Englands Memorial (1669). However, in the Wikipedia article they included a page from Bradford's transcription of the Compact and it looked very similar to the pages hosted by Findmypast.

That's when I decided to see if I could find a complete copy of Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation in the hopes of locating the source of the Findmypast images. Turning to Google I used the search 'bradford "of plimoth plantation"'. The double quotes are important here since I'm looking for that specific book. In the first page of the search results I found a transcription of that work at The Project Gutenburg and in the Smithsonian Library. However, a little further down in the Google results I came across the page from the Massachusetts government on Bradford's Manuscript "Of Plimoth Plantation". On that page I found the image of the first page of the passengers and it was identical to what was provided by Findmypast.

With only a few minutes of effort I think I found my source of the "Massachusetts, Mayflower Passengers 1620" record set on Findmypast. I even found additional information to help me learn more about my Mayflower ancestors and their adventures in settling in their new world for that page from the Massachusetts State site provided links to not only the list of passengers created by Bradford but also the complete "Of Plimoth Plantation" that one can download in PDF format. Now I can read what was written in William Bradford's own handwriting his accounts of the colony.

So take the time to find those source records. You never know what else you will discovery!

The Challenge of Being Challenged

Whenever you post a family tree online, whether it be in a one-world tree like on FamilySearch or WikiTree or in a self-manged tree like those found on MyHeritage, Findmypast, or Ancestry, you run the risk of someone saying that you are wrong. Hopefully, that person will provide a list of facts to back up their statement. Sometimes you are right with the information that you have, other times, the other person points out something that you had completely missed and caused you to follow the wrong family line.

Here is an interesting case in my own tree on Ancestry where a claim has been made and one piece of evidence provided that refutes what I had recorded. How you deal with such challenges is up to you but here is what I did in my case.

We need to set the stage first...

In the branch of the Fraser family on my tree on Ancestry I have Jane Fraser, born on 8 Sep 1839¹ in Upper Canada (what later became Ontario, Canada). 

L. A. Milne, Fraser : A Short History of The Fraser Clan and our own Branch of Frasers in Canada and The United States  (N.p.: L.A. Milne, 1943), p 59, photograph of Jane Fraser.

According to the Fraser book I have that was compiled by Louise Agnes (nee Fraser) Milne in the 1940s Jane was supposedly first married to "Manchester" (no known forename) and then to a "Wm Gould". I was able to locate Jane in the 1851/52, 1861, and 1871 censuses living with family in Drummond Township, Lanark County, Canada West/Ontario. In 1881 she is residing in the household of her older brother Thomas in Huron Township, Bruce County, Ontario. Where I next pick her up is in California, USA in the 1900 census. That find was based on a few premises:

• Comment in the Fraser book about after her mother, Sarah, passing away Jane went to California and married.
• Another comment in the Fraser book that stated "Old letters written to her people back home are full of expressions of affection for her husband and stepson."

So finding a Jane Gould in the 1900 Federal census of the United States of America in California living in Los Nietos, Los Angles County, California, USA with husband William Gould and an 18 year old James F Gould, recorded as a son to the head of the household, William, made sense. But then she disappeared.

That is what I had up until now when I started writing this post.

However, I'm in the midst of my review of my Fraser branches descended from Alexander Fraser and Sarah Howell and I decided to chase down Jane, their youngest daughter, before I continued with some of the other larger branches of Alexander's and Sarah's family since Jane didn't have any children listed in the Fraser book. That is when I came across this comment from five years ago attached to William Gould, Jane's husband, that I somehow missed:

"William Gould had only on wife Jane Fraser and James Fredercik [sic] Gould was there [sic] son  See the 1900 and 1910 census, married 24 years"

That comment came about since I had William Gould first marrying an Ellen Mourin before he married Jane.

With the number of records that have be placed online over the past decade I figured I'd have a good look at this family group and see if I could:

1. Confirm that Jane did marry a Manchester, and
2. Straighten out to my satisfaction that James Frederick Gould is a stepson of Jane.

The first thing I did was review the records that I had already found for Jane Fraser and make sure I had all the information entered into my master database in Legacy Family Tree. Just doing this sort of review can sometimes shed additional light on facts and events you missed the first time around.

As you can see in this clipping from the 1900 Federal census of the USA for the household of William Gould, it does state that Jane has 1 child born and 1 child still living.

1900 U.S. census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Nietos Township, enumeration district (ED) 110, sheet 29A, dwelling 676, family 704, Household of William Gould; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Aug 2020); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623.

What isn't showing but is in other columns is that for the number of years in the USA and her immigration status it is recorded as "unknown". Even the year of her arrival in the USA is blank even though her stated place of birth is Canada Eng. The immigration details for James F Gould, the listed son, are blank and he was born in New Zealand. Something seems to be amiss here. With both Jane and James not born in the USA there should have been additional details recorded.

However, the 1910 Federal census of the USA tells a different story.

1910 U.S. census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Nietos Township (part of Rivera Precinct), enumeration district (ED) 282, sheet 1A, dwelling 11, family 11, Household of Wm Gould; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Aug 2020); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 85.

Here it is stated that this is both their second marriage and they've only been married for 10 years. Also no children are recorded for Jane and, although not shown in this snippet from the page, it states that that Jane arrived in the United States in 1882.

Right away we have conflicting information from the census enumerations. Oh, joy! However, there is some hope now that the Fraser book was right and Jane did marry a Manchester before she married William Gould.

How about that supposed son of William and Jane, James F. Gould? What can we learn about him beside that he was born about 1881 in New Zealand.

For that I went to the New Zealand Government site for Births, Deaths & Marriages Online to search for historical records. I entered in the basic information I had concerning James:

• Family Name: Gould
  
• Given Name: James
  
• Search From Date: 01/01/1879
  
• Search To Date: 31/12/1883
  

I gave it a +/- 2 year range for the date of birth just in case and only three names that were registered in that time period were returned. One of them was for a James Frederick Gould, child of William and Ellen registered in 1881.

Wait a second, Ellen and not Jane? It is looking like the 1910 census might be right after all.

Since James isn't in the 1910 census with William and Jane he might have died, married, or moved away. A search for a Frederick James Gould that was born about 1881 in New Zealand find a Fred J Gould born about 1883 in New Zealand living with wife Jessie E in Los Nietos Township, Los Angeles County, California. Also, they've only been married for two years.

The California, County Marriages, 1850-1952 collection on FamilySearch is a wonderful resource for images of California marriage registrations. Keep in mind that not all marriages will be found here and the ones that are, not all may have images. But it is a good place to start to see if I can find a marriage for James F Gould and a Jessie.

We struck gold this time. A marriage license was found and the certificate of marriage include the Personal and Statistical Particulars.

It is a little faint to read but it states that James believed that his mother was Nellie Mourin.

Way back when, when I was doing my initial research, I had come across a mention of a marriage in the Perth Courier between Wm. Gould and Nellie Mourin. It was an interested notice since it stated that they married at Piccadilly, London.

"Gould-Mourin," The Perth Courier, 29 Sep 1876; digital images, PaperofRecord.com (https://paperofrecord.hypernet.ca/default.asp : accessed 9 Oct 2010).

On Ancestry in the newly available "Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935" collection there is even a copy of the marriage record from Parish of St. James (Piccadilly) Westminster for a William Gould and Ellen Mourin that took place on 12 Aug 1876.

What about Jane's marriage to William Gould? Well a search of FamilySearch in the "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952" collection didn't uncover a marriage to a Jane Fraser between 1881 and 1900 but there is one to a Jane Manchester. Recall that in the Fraser book they said that Jane first married a Manchester. There a marriage is recorded taking place on 26 Jul 1898 between a William Gould, residing in Rivera, a native of Canada and Mrs Jane Manchester, residing in San Gabriel, a native of Canada.

"California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," index and images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 11 Aug 2020), entry for William Gould and Jane Manchester, married 26 Jul 1898; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,073,995.

 

Curiously the witnesses are a W. G. McMullin, a resident of Los Angeles, and A. F. Mills, a resident of Pasadena. In my tree I do have a William George McMullin/McMullen, a sheriff in Los Angeles, and an Alexander Fraser Mills, residing in Pasadena around that time. Looks like she may have asked her nephews to act as witnesses.

What about a marriage to a Manchester? 

Again, FamilySearch comes through for us with their California, County Marriages, 1850-1952 collection. Here we find the marriage for James S Manchester, a native of Maine and a resident of Los Angeles, to Jane Fraser, a native of Canada and resident of Los Angeles, on 8 Sep 1885 with a George McMullen as one of the witnesses.

"California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," index and images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 11 Aug 2020), entry for James S Manchester and Jane Fraser, married 8 Sep 1885; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 1,033,135.

The question that then arises for me is did James Manchester die before Jane married William Gould? That was answered through a paragraph in The Los Angeles Times found via a search on Newspapers.com.

"Pasadena - Brevities," The Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep 1891, p. 7, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers (www.newspapers.com : accessed 11 Aug 2020).

There is the A. F. Mills that was a witness for his marriage to Jane Fraser and I also have J. S. (John Stevenson) Mills in my tree and they are nephews by marriage to James Manchester.

What about Jane? Why did she disappear from the census records after 1910. A bit of search and I found her death registration in the "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994" collection on FamilySearch. She had passed away on 31 May 1916 in Rivera, Los Angeles County, California. The only glitch in the record is that they list her father as John Fraser instead of Alexander Fraser. But surprisingly the unnamed informant got her mother correct, Sarah Howell.

Using that same collection on FamilySearch I found that William Gould had predeceased her on 11 Oct 1913, also in Rivera. Their grave markers can be found in the Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.

Jane Fraser had, for many a years, been one of my little annoyances. Until I decided to revisit her and see what new information could be found she had been one of my lost sheep. She is now welcomed back into the flock.

I have sent a reply back to the person that commented on William Gould's profile and included a link to this blog post for their reading confusion/enjoyment.

So take another look at those people in your tree that you had issues with finding more details about their life story. With new collections and records be added monthly on many of your favourite genealogy sites you might just find the answers you could find the first time around.

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1. "Fraser : a short history of the Fraser clan and our own branch of Frasers in Canada and the United States"

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.