Really Last-Minute News about the 1950 US Census Release

The US National Archives held a very informative webinar on Wednesday, revealing for the first time what the search interface will look like when NARA releases the 1950 US Census on April 1st. 

Search example

Shown above, one of the search screen examples provided by NARA. I added the title to the slide, the thunderbolt (to show the name "John Doe" being searched), and the red boxes (to show two of the results that match the search). 

We can search by surname only, by given name only, or by both. We can add a location (state, county, city, and/or Enumeration District number) to narrow the search. 

We can view the results as a list or in a grid...we can view more than 25 results on one screen...we can click on the "Population Schedules" button to view that ED's pages for a result that looks promising. 

You can watch the NARA video here -- and don't miss the comments in the chat, where we learned two absolutely key details.

Name index not available for bulk download!

NARA will not make its basic name index available for bulk download along with the population schedules. As a result, Family Search, Ancestry, My Heritage, and other genealogy groups that download the entire 1950 Census will not have access to NARA's name index as the foundation for creating their own. 

On April 1, all of these sites will have the 1950 US Census available for browsing. However, they will have NO index for some time (weeks? months?). 

Bottom line: If you want to try a search instead of browsing for ancestors, NARA's site will be the only game in town for now.

Improve the index by adding surnames!

NARA will allow members of the public to improve the index in various ways. Of course, we can correct names that are not spelled correctly. But we can also add surnames to household members who only had a dash, because their surnames are the same as the head of household.

Here's why that is a big help. The automated indexing transcribed each line as it appeared. Let's say one household, a mother and two children, looks like this:

Smith, Mary A. 

_____, John

_____, Tessie

Neither John nor Tessie will have a surname transcribed, because their surname is the same as the head of household and therefore the enumerator was told to only put a dash. The technology used for indexing doesn't read the dash, only the names "John" and "Tessie."

Now NARA will allow members of the public to add the surname to those two children. This will help anyone looking for John Smith and Tessie Smith to find them by their surname AND given name. Otherwise, we'll need to use NARA's recommended strategy of searching for head of household to find Mary A. Smith and then look in her household for the children. 

My plan for April 1st and beyond

My approach on day 1 will be to search NARA first by name/location. Then I'll locate the ED and browse the images for people who don't turn up in my name search results. (NOTE: NARA says it is ready for a surge and doesn't expect the 1950 Census site will crash. Fingers crossed!)

I can browse images on NARA or on any of the big genealogy sites, but I can search only on NARA in the beginning.

I've also signed up with Ancestry.com to be notified when it has completed indexing states in which my ancestors lived. Take a look at the Ancestry page for more info here. 

Plus I'll be keeping an eye on MyHeritage's 1950 US Census plans as they develop. The company just announced its Census Helper tool, which will identify ancestors on your family tree that are likely to be included in the 1950 US Census. 

Want to help index this Census? FamilySearch is inviting volunteers to join the project and speed the process along. Thousands have already signed up. Read more here.

Mapping the Shehen Family in London (Mary in Two Places at Once)

Today I'm using Charles Booth's London maps and notebooks for context about my husband's 2d great-grandparents. I know very little about John & Mary Shehen (or Shehan or Sheen). But Booth's info indicates that they were truly poor. 

The 1841-1871 UK Census entries for the Shehens consistently say they were born in Ireland around 1801. He is a "labourer," she is usually a "laundress" or "charing." They never left a quadrangle known as Gray's Buildings, shown above on Booth's maps in the Marylebone section of London. Census entries on the same page with the Shehens in 1871 indicate that a good number of the residents were also Irish-born. Given the devastating Irish Famine, it's not surprising to find so many Irish people in London in that period.

Above, a snippet from Booth's notebook entry about Gray's Buildings, in which he writes there are "a great many Irish" and also notes: "most of the doors open but few broken windows." Based on the poverty he observes, Booth considers the area of Gray's Buildings to be "very poor . . . chronic want."

Poor isn't the end of it. Alas, hubby's great-great-grandma Mary Shehen (whose maiden name I don't yet know), was admitted to the medical wing of the crowded Northumberland Street Workhouse on March 15, 1871, due to"chronic rheumatism." One month later, she was discharged (or, as the record shows, "reliesed").

Two places at once? Mary Shehen was enumerated both in Gray's Buildings and in the Northumberland workhouse for the 1871 Census. Interestingly, that Census was supposed to be as of April 2. But even though Mary Shehen is listed as being in the household with her husband John, the workhouse admission record AND the 1871 Census, below, are evidence that she was actually ailing in the workhouse. Probably it was her husband John or someone else who reported her at her usual residence, unsure of how to tell the Census about her temporary stay in the workhouse.

When I started looking for the Shehen family in Booth's records, I hoped they would not be in as dire economic shape as their daughter Mary's family. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, as the maps and then the workhouse documents indicate. (Sadly, their daughter Mary Shehen, who married John Slatter in 1859, was in and out of workhouses and then two asylums for years.)

Two Ancestors Named Margaret Larimer

L-R, Lucille E. McClure with husband John E. De Velde
and mother Margaret Larimer McClure

My husband's family tree is filled with multiple versions of John, Mary, Elizabeth, and Thomas. Just one example: he has "John Slatter" ancestors in three generations.

Today I want to look at two female ancestors with the same maiden names but very different lives. Margaret Larimer Short was my husband's third great-aunt. Margaret Larimer McClure was my husband's great-grandmother. The two Margarets were granddaughters of Isaac Larimer and Elizabeth Wood Larimer.

Margaret Larimer Short, Pioneer Mother of Doctors and a Dentist 

Margaret Larimer was born in 1825 in Bremen, Fairfield county, Ohio. She was a granddaughter of Isaac Larimer and Elizabeth Wood Larimer, two Ohio Fever ancestors who were living in the "Territory north west of Ohio River" in 1800, according to a land-claim petition submitted to the U.S. Congress in 1801. These ancestors had moved from Pennsylvania to the frontier near the Ohio River in search of fertile farmland.

Isaac and Elizabeth's son John Larimer, a farmer, married Rachel Smith in 1818 in Bremen. Margaret was their third child (but first daughter). When Margaret was 11 years old, her father John purchased land in Elkhart county, Indiana, and was moved the family westward to pioneer in rugged country yet again.

In 1842, at age 16, Margaret Larimer married a farmer, Thomas Short, in Elkhart county, Indiana. Thomas was the son of pioneers, James Short (born in Ireland) and Frances Gilbert Short (also born in Ireland), who had left Pennsylvania for the wilds of Indiana. Thomas and his bride Margaret continued the pioneering spirit, farming in LaGrange county, Indiana. Of their ten children together, the youngest was only 11 when Margaret died in 1877, at the age of 52.

Remarkably, four sons of Margaret and Thomas became physicians, and one son became a dentist!

Margaret Larimer McClure, Mother of an Inventor and a Teacher

Margaret Jane Larimer was born in 1859, the youngest child of Brice S. Larimer and Lucy Emeline Bentley. Brice was a son of Ohio Fever pioneers Isaac Larimer and his wife Elizabeth (the common ancestor with Margaret Larimer Short). Lucy was a daughter of Indiana pioneers born in upstate New York.

Margaret's father Brice farmed only briefly before becoming a postmaster and then railroad agent in the fast-growing county of Elkhart, Indiana. Like the other Margaret Larimer, this Margaret married young, at age 17. Her husband was William Madison McClure, who grew up on his family's farm but decided to work for the railroad in Elkhart.

Not one of Margaret and William's children became a farmer, despite the long tradition of family farming on both sides of the family tree. Their youngest son, Hugh Benjamin McClure (1882-1960), became involved in industry, first as a shipping clerk, then a salesman, then the owner of a thriving manufacturing firm in Peoria, Illinois. Ben invented a folding machine and received a patent in 1954.

The older daughter, Lola, graduated from high school (not typical for the time and place), became a teacher, and married a civil engineer. The younger daughter, Lucille, embraced city life, marrying a plumber in Chicago and remaining in the Windy City.

The older son, Brice Larimer McClure, was a master machinist who worked for the railroad and, later, put his skills to use working in a company that supplied equipment for the U.S. military during World War II. This Brice was my husband's beloved grandfather.

This is the Week 6 prompt for #52Ancestors.

Sharing Hubby's Irish Roots with Younger Generation

My husband has a number of Irish ancestors, as reflected in his latest DNA results update (above)!  They are far back in the family tree, but we have some names and some dates, plus a few places.

Every year I remind the younger generation of these roots and encourage them to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with pride.

1.    Brice Smith was born in Pennsylvania in 1756. His immigrant parents, William and Jean Smith, were from Limerick. Brice and his wife, Eleanor Kenny Smith, were the 4th great-grandparents of my husband. Two descendants born much later were named Brice in honor of this ancestor.

2.    About 1740, Robert Larimer boarded a ship to sail across the Atlantic in search of a new life, age 21. Unfortunately, he was shipwrecked and forced to serve as an indentured servant to work off the cost of his rescue. After years of hard work, Robert ran away, married Irish-born Mary Gallagher, and farmed in Pennsylvania. Later, the couple and their family moved to Rush Creek, Ohio. Robert and Mary were the 5th great grandparents of my husband.

3.    Thomas McKibbin was born in County Down, Ireland, and married his wife Jane Irvine in Ireland before traveling to Pennsylvania about 1812. Later, Thomas and Jane moved west to pioneer in Indiana, where both were buried. In-laws of hubby’s Larimer family.

4. Halbert McClure and his wife, Agnes, were both born in Donegal, although the McClure family is originally from Isle of Skye in Scotland. Halbert, his wife, their children, and some of Halbert’s brothers sailed to Philadelphia and then walked together to Virginia. Their descendants became farmers in Ohio and then in Indiana. Halbert and Agnes were the 4th great grandparents of my husband.

5.     John and Mary Shehen, both born in Ireland but transplanted to England by 1840s. Their descendant married into the Slatter family, which ultimately left London to settle in North America during the early 1900s. Still researching their Irish roots.

6.     The Short family, apparently Scots-Irish. In-laws of our Larimer family, with intermarriage in several generations. Many doctors, dentists, other professionals in this line of the family tree.

7.     The Work family, originally from County Antrim, Ireland. In-laws of our Larimer family, intermarried in several generations. This branch did a lot of genealogical digging to trace the family's origins in early 1900s through mid-1900s.

8.    David O’Killia or O’Kelly, possibly born in Galway, married Jane Powell in Massachusetts in 1670. 7th great-grandparents of my husband. Still researching this ancestor, a challenge for sure.

I'm keeping these ancestors' names and memories alive by putting them in the spotlight as St. Patrick's Day rolls around.

52 Ancestors #7: Valentine's Day Marriage of Adaline and John

For this week's Valentine's theme in the #52Ancestors Challenge (thank you to Amy Johnson Crow for this theme), I consulted my RootsMagic calendar to see what happened in my husband's family on February 14. I found one member of his mother's Steiner family had a special event on that day.

Adaline Elizabeth Steiner (1837?-1912) married John Dome (1824-1902) on Thursday, Feb. 14, 1861. Adaline was a daughter of Jacob S. Steiner (1802?-1860?) and his wife, Elizabeth (1802?-1864), the brick-wall great-great-grandparents of my husband.

Adaline's Valentine's Day wedding was her second marriage. In July of 1857, when she was just 20, she married her first husband, Albert Sigler (1833-1858). Their Ohio marriage record is shown here.

Sadly, Albert died only 6 months later. The next time I found widowed Adaline Elizabeth, she was living with her widowed mother, Elizabeth, in the 1860 Census, as shown at top (occ: Sewing). There are other siblings in the household. And the last person in the household is "Albert J." aged 2.

On Valentine's Day of 1861, Adaline married her second husband, John Dome. By this time, Valentine's Day was a thing. I want to hope they chose the day for romantic reasons!

By the time of the 1870 Census, Adaline and her 2d husband, John Dome, were living in Jasper, MO. At right, an excerpt from that Census. The two children listed at the end, Ora and Laverne, were born to John and Adaline.

Since John and Adaline were married only 9 years earlier, the first three Dome girls listed in this census (Mary, Ida, Eva) can't be Adaline's daughters.

But below these three girls, "Sigler, James A" aged 12 is shown in this same household. That is almost certainly James Albert Sigler, who I believe was born to Adaline two months after her first husband Albert died.

Remember Albert J, the 2-year-old listed in the Steiner household during the 1860 Census? Bet it was Adaline's son from her first marriage. Since she was widowed, where else would she go but back home?

True, I don't have absolute proof that James is their son--his death cert shows "Unknown" for mother's and father's names (excerpt shown here), because a non-family member was the informant.


James Albert was very likely Albert James. Multiple family trees from other researchers show James as the son of Adaline and Albert, but until I see the actual documentation, I can't put the QED on this. Still, the evidence strongly favors that interpretation.

Newspaper Research Adds Nuance to Family History

As I prepare a new family history photo book about my husband's paternal line, I'm freshening up my research to uncover any new info. 

The last time I wrote a booklet about the family trees of James Edgar Wood (1871-1939) and Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925) was five years ago. Lots of genealogical content has been digitized since then, especially newspapers being added to databases.

Sure enough, I discovered there's a little more to the story of Mary's Slatter family. I already knew that her sister, Adelaide Mary Ann Slatter (1868-1947), married James Sills Baker on Aug. 23, 1896 in Cleveland, Ohio, as shown in marriage record at top. What I didn't know was exactly where and who was present.

When I searched GenealogyBank for news coverage of Adelaide, I discovered two social items that mentioned Adelaide's father (hubby's great-grandfather) John Slatter (1838-1901). The items are quite similar, so I'll quote from the Cleveland Leader, Aug. 25, 1896, p. 4:

On Thursday evening, a score or more of invited guests assembled at the home of Mr. John Slatter, 433 St. Clair Street, to witness the marriage of his youngest daughter, Miss Adelaide M. Slatter, to Mr. John Sills Baker of Toledo. Mr. Thomas Lees officiated in tying the legal knot. Hearty congratulations were extended to Mr. & Mrs. Baker by their many friends. Supper was served, and the remainder of the evening was devoted to music and a social time. Many choice flowers and presents adorned the parlors. The young couple leave for Toledo, their future home, Saturday morning.

Well, the father hosted the wedding ceremony and supper for his daughter! John had been widowed for the second time the previous year, and worked as a paper hanger. My impression was that his financial situation was rather tenuous. Perhaps the married couple actually paid for their own wedding supper but the father offered his home for the ceremony? I'll never know for sure, of course.

But I'll hold onto the image of a father happily watching his daughter get married. And of course this nuance about great-grandpa John Slatter will be in the new photo book. 

52 Ancestors #21: 1812 War Veterans Isaac, John, and Robert Larimer

Isaac M. Larimer (1771?-1823), hubby's 4th g-granddaddy, was a pioneer of the Northwest Territory in Ohio--and a captain who served in the 1812 war, along with his sons, Robert Larimer (1792-1850) and John Larimer (1794-1843).

Descendant Aaron Work (who did much of the important genealogy research on the Larimer family), wrote to a Middlebury, Indiana newspaper in 1921 about the Larimers' service during the 1812 war. The article is shown at left. (Aaron was hubby's 1st cousin 4x removed.)

Work noted that Isaac and Robert were in Hull's division of the US Army at Detroit, Michigan and were part of Hull's surrender to the British. Isaac returned to the family farm but Robert kept up the fight with another US Army division. Robert's brother John enlisted at age 18 and served in Northern Ohio.

Isaac Larimer (who married Elizabeth Woods) died in 1823 and was buried in Bremen, Fairfield cty, Ohio.

Robert Larimer (who married Mary La Masters) used his land bounty in Perry, Ohio, but later moved to Elkhart county, Indiana, where he died.

John Larimer apparently earned no land bounty. After marrying Rachel Smith in Fairfield cty, Ohio, John moved his family west to pioneer in Elkhart, Indiana. John and his brother Robert are both buried in the Eldridge Cemetery.

Remembering Great Uncles on Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!

Both my husband and I have immigrant ancestors who settled in Canada . . . and by coincidence, these men were our great uncles.

About Great Uncle Abraham Berk (Burk/Burke)

Above, a snippet from the 1945 publication of Canadian citizenship for my great uncle Abraham Berk (1877-1962) and his wife, Annie Hurwitch Berk (1880-1948). A native of Gargzdai, Lithuania, Abraham was my paternal grandfather Isaac's older brother.

Abraham and Isaac left Lithuania in 1900 or 1901 and stopped in Manchester, England, presumably to learn the language and make some money. I found the Burk/Berk brothers in the 1901 UK Census in Manchester with "Uncle" Isaac Chazan (1863-1921) and his wife, Anna Hinda Hannah Mitav Chazan (1865-1940). After consulting with my Chazan cousins, we've come to the conclusion that Anna (not Isaac) was actually the relative.

Abraham got married in Manchester in 1903 and in 1904, he continued on to Montreal, Canada, his final destination, establishing his business in cabinetmaking. Wife Annie followed in 1905, bringing their baby Rose.

According to the Canadian Census, Abraham was originally naturalized in 1910. Still, he and Annie went through another naturalization process during 1944, results published in 1945, in accordance with the Canadian "Naturalization Act." When my father and mother married, his uncle Abraham served as patriarch of the Burk family and had pride of place in the wedding photos.

About the Slatter Brothers, Hubby's Great Uncles 

Three of the four sons of John Slatter and Mary Shehen Slatter grew up and left London, where they were born and raised, to become well-known military bandmasters in Canada. They were the brothers of my husband's maternal grandma, Mary Slatter Wood.

Albert William Slatter (1862-1935) was the older of the three sons who came to Canada. After a career in the Army, he married, came to Canada, and became part of the Ontario Band in 1906. By 1911, he was living in London, Ontario, with his family and listed his occupation as "bandmaster." By 1921, he was the bandmaster of the Western Ontario Regiment. After a long career in music, Albert retired in 1932 and passed away in November, 1935. Researching Albert again today, I found that he was a member of the United Grand Lodge of England Freemason from 1905 to 1907. Also found a document saying he was with the Shropshire Light Infantry, serving as "Color Sergt & Acting Sergt Major of Volrs" in 1906.

John Daniel Slatter (1864-1954) - at left - was the most famous of the Slatter brothers. At the age of 11, he served as "band sergeant" of the Boy's Band on the Training Ship Goliath, anchored in the Thames River in London. John left London for Toronto in 1884, married in 1887, and was appointed as the first-ever bandmaster of the 48th Highlanders of Toronto in 1896. Captain Slatter toured North America early in the 20th century with his renowned "Kiltie Band" and trained 1,000 buglers for WWI while at Camp Borden in Ontario. Capt. Slatter died in December, 1954.

Henry Arthur Slatter (1866-1942) enlisted at age 11
as a musician in the British Army! At top, a copy of his attestation, joining the Army in Dublin in 1877. He lied and said he was 14 years, 2 months." Later, he became part of the Grenadier Guards. By 1912, he had gone to Canada to become bandmaster of the 72d Highlanders of Vancouver. After his wife died, he remarried, and then went back to Vancouver as reappointed bandmaster of the reorganized 72nd Highlanders in 1920. Henry died in Vancouver on July 15, 1942. I'm still searching for "Jackie Slatter," born in England about 1915 to Henry and his second wife, Kathleen. Come out, come out, wherever you are, Jackie!

Sibling Saturday: "Lady" Ada Slatter Arrives with $2.50

One of the ongoing mysteries in the Wood family tree is when/where Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925), hubby's paternal grandma, arrived in America. In the spirit of the Gen Do-Over, I'm reviewing unsolved mysteries and looking at gaps in my research with fresh eyes.

Since the Slatters were from London (albeit a very poor part of the city), I conducted an Ancestry search of passengers from London to Canada in the 1890s. After all, the three musical Slatter brothers were interested in Canada, and Capt. John Daniel Slatter already lived in Toronto by 1884. Previously, I'd tried to trace the Mary Slatter from London to New York or another US port.

Lo and behold, up popped Ada Slatter (formally Adelaide Mary Ann Slatter, sister of hubby's grandma) aboard the S.S. Labrador, from Liverpool to Quebec/Montreal in the spring of 1895.

Her "calling or occupation" was Lady (which I guess sounds better than "spinster" as I've seen on so many other manifests). [SEE BELOW!] She was going to her father in Cleveland. She paid her own passage, had a ticket to her final destination, and held $2.50 in her purse. A $1 in 1895 was worth approximately $28 in today's money, so she carried the equivalent of $70 when she arrived.

Aunt Ada, as she was known to hubby and his siblings, was born on May 20, 1868. She was the 5th of 6 children of Mary Shehen Slatter and John Slatter. Hubby's grandma Mary Slatter Wood was the baby of the family, born a year after Ada in 1869.

Within a year after Ada joined her father in Cleveland, she met and married John Sills Baker, a fellow Englishman. Their two children (hubby's first cousins, once removed) were Dorothy Louise Baker and Edith Eleanor Baker.

Now will I find Mary Slatter's trans-Atlantic passage during the Gen Do-Over?

PS  On the Canadian passenger manifest (above), Ada Slatter said her profession was "sevt" which must mean . . . "servant." Within a few days, as she crossed the border into Vermont en route to Cleveland, she transformed into a "lady."

Ancestral Traditions: Occupation and Middle Name

Many of my husband's English ancestors went into the same line of work as their fathers, generation after generation. That's definitely true of the WOOD family woodworkers (going back to the 1400s and lasting through the mid-1900s). In addition, naming traditions were often handed down from father to son, even continuing into the 21st century.

Recently, I researched ancestral traditions of occupations and names in the WHITE family, united by marriage in England with my husband's SLATTER family. I examined two specific aspects of the White line: the distinctive middle name of Hoxland carried by one male in nearly every generation, and the similar/related occupations of these male ancestors over the years.

Three Generations of Thomas White, Stone Workers

Thomas Hoxland White, born in Devon, England, in 1800, was a stone sawyer, according to UK Census records. He and wife Mary named their son Thomas Hoxland White, and he grew up to be a stone sawyer like his dad (see marriage document at top). This Thomas married Caroline Corbett, the daughter of a waiter.

Thomas and Caroline's son Thomas John White, born in Westminster, Middlesex, England, was not given that distinctive middle name of Hoxland. Perhaps a different son (one who died young?) received that middle name, but so far I haven't found him in the records. 

Thomas John White was yet another stone sawyer in this family, according to his marriage document. He changed careers later--more about that in a moment. Thomas married Fanny Gardner, the daughter of Fanny Slatter who was hubby's 2d great aunt. That's the connection point between the White and Slatter families.

Stone Sawyer vs Stone Mason

In the 1901 UK Census, Thomas John White's occupation was shown as stone mason, not stone sawyer, as was his father's occupation. What's the difference between stone mason and stone sawyer?

My gen friend Dr. Sophie Kay helped me out by consulting an early 20th century UK dictionary of occupations. She says stone sawyers did less skilled stone cutting. In contrast, stone masons did more skilled work, dressing and and shaping stone. This tells me that in less than three generations, the White family's men progressed in their skills from sawyer to mason. 

Hoxland Middle Name Lives On, Tradition of Stone Work Does Not

Back to Thomas John White, who did not have the Hoxland middle name but did begin his work life as a stone mason. He left the United Kingdom in 1905, marrying and settling in the bustling manufacturing city of Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1910, he told the US Census that his occupation was draftsman in a cemetery. Finally, an ancestor who worked in a cemetery!

Thomas married Florence Elliott and their son, John Hoxland White, carried that distinctive middle name but had nothing to do with stone work. According to US Census records, he was a bookkeeper in a Cincinnati, Ohio machine shop, and rose to become assistant treasurer, he said in a later Census. 

Although there is no longer a tradition of working with stone, the White family has carried on the tradition of Hoxland as a middle name for 200 years and counting.

Erin Go Bragh - Hubby's Irish Roots

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My hubby has Irish (and Scots-Irish) ancestry that we can trace to the 17th century as they prepared for their journeys to America.

1. His 5th great-grandparents, Halbert McClure (1684-1754) and Agnes (1690-1750?) were born in County Donegal, but the McClure clan was originally from Scotland's Isle of Skye. These Scotch-Irish McClures were the journey-takers who sailed to Philadelphia and then walked, as a family, down to Virginia so they could buy fertile land and farm it. Above, a transcription of the land purchase by Halbert McClure in 1747. Later, the McClure clan fanned out to Ohio and Indiana and beyond.
2. His 5th great-grandparents, Robert Larimer (1719-1803) and Mary O'Gallagher Larimer (1721-1803) were from the north of Ireland. Robert is the ancestor who was shipwrecked while enroute to the New World, and was brought to Pennsylvania to work off the cost of his rescue. Larimer worked hard and then walked away to start a new life in the interior of Pennsylvania. Larimer descendants intermarried with the Short, McKibbin*, and Work families who were cousins from Ireland.
3. His 5th great-grandparents, William Smith (1724-1786) and Janet (1724?-1805), were from Limerick. Their first son born in America was Brice Smith (1756-1828), who later settled in Fairfield County, Ohio. The name Brice has come down through the family, but this is the earliest instance documented in the family tree in America.
4. His 2nd great-grandparents, John Shehen (1801?-1875) and Mary (1801?-?) were born in "Ireland" (that's all the info they told UK Census officials in 1841). Their children were born in Marylebone, London during the 1830s. In 1859, their daughter Mary Shehen married John Slatter Sr. in Oxfordshire. Mary Shehen Slatter is the ancestor I have been tracing through two different insane asylums, eventually dying at Banstead from tuberculosis in 1889. More on her saga very soon.

*Just in time for St. Paddy's Day, I heard from a McKibbin cousin who has Ohio naturalization papers from the McKibbin family, confirming their origin as County Down! Thank you so much, Marilyn.

P.S.: My wonderful daughter-in-law is adding to the festivities by having the family piece together a puzzle of different Irish places and themes (above is a sneak peek of our progress). A great way to remind the next generation of their Irish roots!

Thankful Thursday: Hubby's Pioneer Ancestors

Hubby's immigrant ancestors were all pioneers to be proud of--and thankful for:

• WOOD. Way back on the Wood side, via the Cushman family of Fortune fame, he has four Mayflower ancestors (Degory Priest, Mary Norris Allerton, Isaac Allerton, and Mary Allerton). Their courage in braving the dangerous trip to the New World in 1620 is quite astonishing. John Wood, Sr., called "The Mariner" by Wood genealogists, was a seafaring man who came to America around 1700. His male descendants were mainly ship's captains, ship builders, or ship's carpenters. Hubby's great-grandpa Thomas Haskell Wood left his life on the sea to marry Mary Amanda Demarest and raise a generation of sons who were all carpenters or painters.
• McCLURE and McFALL. The next set of pioneer ancestors to arrive in America was the McClure clan. Patriarch Halbert McClure and his family--originally from the Isle of Skye--came from Donegal to buy farmland in Virginia in the 1730s. McClures continued pioneering other areas further west in America. Halbert's grandson, John McClure, married Ann McFall in April, 1801, in Rockbridge county, VA. Above, a note scanned from the marriage bonds for that county, and posted by the US GenWeb archives. I'm now in touch with another McFall researcher and we're pursuing that family's connections. More soon!
• LARIMER. The original Larimer pioneer left from Northern Ireland for America in 1740 with a trunk of Irish linen. Alas, he was shipwrecked but eventually made his way to central Pennsylvania and then the family continued west to Ohio and pioneered even further west over time.
• RINEHART and STEINER. Hubby's McClure line includes intermarriages with the Rinehart and Steiner families. Both were pioneer farm families who seem to have settled originally in Pennsylvania in the late 1700s, then continued to Ohio (for more land?). Sadly, I still don't know which ancestors were the original immigrants and their original homeland.
• SLATTER. The Slatter family lived in inner-city London, apparently so poor that the parents put three of their sons into a training program leading to stable careers in the military. This was in the 1870s. These sons grew up to be pioneers in the Canadian music world--specifically, conductors and composers of military band music. Both the Slatter daughters came to America around 1895, and married soon afterward. Mary Slatter married James Edgar Wood, hubby's carpenter grandpa. 

November Is NaGenWriMo Time

A few years ago, my husband participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), writing fiction every day during November. The idea was to set goals, and make the time to write consistently throughout the month. He found the structure helpful and motivating. 

This year, I'm participating in NaGenWriMo, which stands for National Genealogy Writing Month. Taralyn Parker Pope (@KeepMovingTara on Twitter) is giving this a social media push and I'm jumping on the bandwagon! 

Today is the kickoff. 

My goal is to write and post bite-sized bios of more ancestors on my family tree and my husband's family tree. I've already completed and posted bios for nearly all of the ancestors in our direct lines: parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and some great-greats. 

Now I'm branching out [pun intended] to write bios for aunts, uncles, and cousins in multiple generations--including spouses and partners, including infants who died young. 

I'll be posting the bios on sites like Family Search, Find a Grave, WikiTree, My Heritage, and so on. 

In the process, I'm sure I'll notice gaps in my knowledge of an ancestor and need to do a bit of additional research and attach sources before polishing a bio. That's great! 

But my main focus in November will be writing family history that I haven't written before and sharing widely because LOTS OF COPIES KEEP STUFF SAFE. 

Tuesday, day #1 of NaGenWriMo, I wrote about my hubby's great aunts and great uncles, including Carrie E. Steiner Traxler (1870-1963) and her husband John Newtown Traxler (1862-1924). 

On day #2, I wrote about two other Steiner ancestors, Etta Blanche Steiner Rhuark (1864-1956) and Minnie Estella Steiner Halbedel (1867-1947), and their husbands. Also I wrote about Lola A. McClure Lower (1877-1948) and her husband, Edward A. Lower (1873-1920).

On day #3, I wrote briefly about milliner Lucille Ethel McClure De Velde (1880-1926) and her husband, John Everett De Velde (1874-1947), a plumber. Also I added a memorial page for him on Find a Grave, based on the burial place listed on his death cert.

On day #4, after participating in the WikiTree Symposium, I wrote about Hugh Benjamin McClure (1882-1960) and his first wife, Olivette Georgianna Van Roe McClure (1885-1905). Next will be Hugh's second wife.

On day #5, while watching WikiTree Day festivities, I wrote about Rebekah V. Wilt McClure (1896-1975), the second of Hugh Benjamin McClure. Now moving on to siblings of hubby's other grandfather, Edgar James Wood.

On day #6, I wrote about Lucy Maria Kize Wood (1851-70) and her brother Alfred Olando Wood (1855-1895), and will continue with more of their Wood siblings. 

Day #7: Wrote about Francis "Frank" Ellery Wood (1857-1933) and his wife, Louisa Mary Schultz Wood (1860-1948), and continued with their descendants, partly based on genealogy researched by a Wood cousin and supplemented with additional details. Also corrected Find a Grave info and located vital records for some of the Wood ancestors. 

Day #8: Wrote and posted sad story of Robert Orrin Wood (1873-1933), who died of myocarditis in the Toledo State Hospital for the Insane. While hospitalized from 1925-1933, one of his children was placed in the Institute for the Feebleminded in Columbus, Ohio, where she remained for the rest of her life. The other two children were taken in by the Lutheran Orphans' Home until they were of age to work. One grew up to be a nurse, the other worked for an oil refinery for his entire career. Also finished other siblings in the Wood line, now ready to begin working on my grandparents' siblings on day #9.

Day #9: Wrote about my great uncle, Lithuanian-born Abraham Berk (1877-1962) and his English wife Anna, who crossed the pond to settle in Montreal and raise their family. Then I wrote about Abraham's sister Jennie Birk and her husband, Paul Salkowitz, who operated a citrus grove in Florida during the late 1940s/early 1950s.

Day #10: Wrote about Matel Max Birk (1892-1953), one of my grandpa's brothers, and about Matel's wife Rebecca. He was a jeweler, she was a bookkeeper, and they eventually left New York to live close to Matel's sister Jennie in Florida.

Day #11: Wrote about Meyer Berg (1883-1981) and his wife Anna Paris Berg (1888-1981). Meyer was my great uncle and lived for a short time as a boarder in the NYC apartment of his brother's in-laws. 

Day #11: Wrote about g-grandpa Meyer Eliyash Mahler's first marriage/divorce in Riga, Latvia and about his oldest son, Riga-born David Mahler (1882-1964), a black sheep of the family. 

Day #12: Revised bio of g-grandma Tillie Jacobs Mahler, whose exact birth year has long been in doubt. She's my longest-living ancestor, supposedly either 99 or 100 years old when she died in 1952.

Day #13: Revised bio of Tillie's mother, Rachel Shuham Jacobs, who is buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in Queens, NY, where her two children are also buried. 

Day #14: Enriched bio of Flora Jacobs, daughter of Joseph Jacobs & Eva Michalovsky Jacobs, granddaughter of Rachel Shuham Jacobs. She died at age 33, the third daughter of that family to die young. I added a gravestone photo to her bio.

Day #15: Corrected portion of Henry Arthur Slatter's bio on Find a Grave to include current link to photo of his gravestone, which also mentions his wife Alice and their son Arthur A. Slatter, a WWI casualty. Added Alice and Arthur's bios to various sites. The Slatters were part of my husband's family tree.

Day #16: Improving Mahler family bios, including Morris Mahler and his sister Sarah Mahler, who were siblings of my grandmother Henrietta Mahler.

Day #17: Finished Sarah (Sadie) Mahler Smith's biography. Will be documenting the military service of her sons.

Day #18: Wrote about Ida Mahler Volk (1892-1971), who was a favorite sister of my grandma Henrietta, and about Ida's husband Louis.

Day #19: I set up an account at Mastodon where I'll try tooting as @MarianBWood@genealysis.social so please say hello there! Wrote about my great aunt Mary Mahler Markell and her husband, Joseph A. Markell.

Day #20: More on Mastodon and writing about my uncle and aunt, Fred and Daisy, who were lifelong educators in New York City.

Day #21: Returning to my husband's family, beginning to write bite-sized bio of his Wood uncles.

Day #22: Wrote a blog post about Thanksgiving week weddings in my family tree, saved the info to plan future bite-sized bios. Created a Find a Grave memorial page for a cousin's baby born prematurely in 1924, who sadly died after only two days.

Day #23: Wrote bite-sized bio of Rosalind Ashby Wood, who was married to Theodore William Wood in 1949. 

Day #24: Wrote bite-sized bio of Leona "Lee" Zonna Wallace, my maternal aunt's life partner. Aunt Lee directed the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade for a number of years! Nov 24, 1903 was her birthdate so I wrote her bio on what would have been her 99th birthday.

Day #25: I blogged about Aunt Lee Wallace, an immigrant from Poland who rose through the ranks of Macy's to direct the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Day #26: I posted bite-sized bios of my great-grandparents, Leni Kunstler Farkas and Moritz Farkas. They were the journey-takers who left Hungary in search of a better life in New York City, after Moritz's harvest failed.

Day #27: I posted grandma & grandpa Schwartz's bios on additional genealogy websites and linked to their Find a Grave memorial pages. Here's Grandma Minnie's memorial page, for instance.

Day #28: Working on bios for Hermina Farkas's siblings and in-laws. Today I wrote and posted bios for Alexander Farkas and his wife, Jennie Katz Farkas. They were active in the Kossuth Society, a benevolent group helping Hungarian immigrants, founded in 1904.

Day #29: Wrote bios for Hermina's brother Bertalan Albert Farkas and his wife, Sadie Sari Klein Farkas, also active in the Kossuth Society. 

Day #30: Finished this month's write-ups with Albert & Sari's son George Eugene Farkas.

Wrapup: I wrote 70 bite-sized bios during the 30 days of #NaGenWriMo! 

Which ancestor(s) will you be writing about in November?

This is my blog post for the Genealogy Blog Party, November, 2022.

Ancestor Appreciation Day: Seeing Possible Futures in the Family's Past

On Ancestor Appreciation Day, I'm struck by the insights of Alison Light, in Common People--In Pursuit of My Ancestors. She writes:

"As I have written this book, many questions have weighed on my mind but one more than any other: why do we need these stories of people we can never know? What is it we are after and why do we so regret not talking (or not listening) to our elders when they were alive?"

Her answer is that we want "to apologize to them for not realizing that they too had lives like ourselves--fallible, well intentioned, incomplete--and to understand how mistakes were made that resulted in our lives; how much was accident, how much choice." She adds that we might seek to see our parents as young again, "full of possible futures."

An eloquent and poignant passage that resonates with me on this day, in particular. I appreciate that my ancestors may not have always acted out of choice but out of necessity or desperation or simply severely limited options. Each ancestor had any number of possible futures but one that actually became his or her path and ultimately my past.

If these ancestors had gone down a different path my husband and I would not be here today. Not infrequently, their paths were arduous (braving dangers to come to America, never again returning to their country of birth, making sacrifices to survive). Not infrequently, their personal dreams had to be put aside for the sake of their siblings or parents or children. In another age, who knows what possible futures they would have chosen for themselves?

With possible futures in mind, I want to recap what I know about the earliest ancestors identified in my husband's tree.

• Mayflower ancestors. The Wood family has four Mayflower ancestors (Degory Priest, Mary Norris Allerton, Isaac Allerton, and Mary Allerton) and a Fortune ancestor (Thomas Cushman, who married Mary Allerton). Talk about limited options and possible futures not foreseen! Two of the four Mayflower ancestors didn't survive the first year...but the others did, and the rest truly is history.
• Wood ancestors. Thanks to wonderful genealogist-cousin Larry, we know my husband descends from the Wood family of Little Compton, RI, whose ancestor was John Wood Sr. "The Mariner" (b. about 1590 in England, d. 1655 in Portsmouth, RI). Now debunked: John "The Mariner" was married to Margaret Carter on Wednesday, January 28, 1610 (see marriage record above). Given the Wood surname, it's not surprising these ancestors were shipbuilders and captains, carpenters and homebuilders, and others who worked in wood--the name was the family's destiny until well into the 20th century. In fact, even today, some Wood relatives have chosen the path of becoming carpenters and builders.
• McClure ancestors. James Andrew McClure is the earliest McClure ancestor we can identify, married in Raphoe Parish, county Donegal, and father of the McClure journey-taker (Halbert McClure) who brought the family to America in the early 1700s. The McClure family realized its dream of owning land in America and giving members a stake in this new world.
• Larimer ancestors. The family legend is that the journey-taker, Robert Larimer, was sent to sea by his father, with a trunk of fine Irish linen, to seek his fortune in America. Alas, a shipwreck ruined that possible future and caused Larimer years of servitude before he could choose his own path and acquire his own land. If Robert's ship hadn't wrecked, what would he have chosen to do when he arrived in America? Who would he have met and married? What possible future would he have forged if the accident had not changed his life forever?

Sympathy Saturday: Mary Ann McClure Cook

My ongoing quest for info about the McClures of Wabash, Indiana and Little Traverse, Michigan, has led me to the obit for Mrs. Mary Ann McClure Cook. She died on January 5, 1901 and her obit, published on January 9, 1901 in the Petoskey Record, mentions friends but NO family members other than her husband:

Mrs. Mary A. Cook, the wife of Rev. John J. Cook, of Conway, died at her home on Saturday last. Mrs. Cook was one of the best-known women about there, having lived in this country for more than twenty-five years. She was much loved and highly respected by old and young, and her death will be felt by all. The funeral was held Monday morning. Rev. John Redpath and Rev. Mr. Snawhan going from here to attend the services.

I already knew, checking Census records, that Mary Ann and John had no children (and never did, according to the Census). Now that I know something about Mary Ann, it's back to researching her siblings!

2022 update: For more about the McClure family, descended from ancestors in Donegal, see my ancestor landing page here.

Wedding Wednesday: Toledo Nuptials for Wood and Slatter

Hubby's grandfather, James Edgar Wood, married hubby's grandmother, Mary Slatter, on September 21, 1898 in Toledo, Ohio (see cert at left).

James Edgar Wood, born in Toledo, was a builder whose carpentry talents I showed off in photos on a Talented Tuesday.

According to her death cert, Mary was born in London to John Slatter and Mary Sheehan. Her 1925 obit says she had three brothers (Harry, John, and Albert Slatter) and a sister (Mrs. James F. Baker). 

2022 update: For more about Mary Slatter and her entire family, see my Slatter ancestor landing page here.

Road Trip: At the London Metro Archives

Checking the catalog at the London Metropolitan Archives

In search of more info about hubby's great-great grandma Mary [maiden name unknown] Shehen (b. abt 1801-d. ?) my husband and I took a road trip to the London Metropolitan Archives two weeks ago.

We preregistered online and when we presented personnel with our two pieces of identification, we were each issued on-site IDs. Then we proceeded to the computers, where we entered requests for relevant materials.

In Search of Physical Documents 

Many of the poorhouse and workhouse books have been digitized and are available on Ancestry, including this ledger of admissions and discharges from the Northumberland Street Workhouse.

"Mary Shehan" is the fourth name down on this page from March, 1871. This is unquestionably the right Mary, because on the facing page is her street address--which exactly matches her residence in previous UK census records. She was in the medical ward, due to chronic rheumatism, where she remained for 30 days.

With limited time for on-site research, we concentrated on printed materials only available in person at the archives. We requested a Visitors Book for the Northumberland Street Workhouse, not sure whether Mary would have have visitors during her monthlong stay. This was a physical book from the period that we would be allowed to page through on our own!

Visitors = Oversight

Well, I have to admit that I didn't understood the terminology. "Visitors" were actually committee people responsible for oversight of these institutions for the poor. They would visit the institutions periodically and look at conditions, also indicating whether the diet was good, etc. They weren't actually individually visiting the poor people, only writing reports about the care being provided.

But the good news is that the Visitors Book listed every person kept in the insane asylum areas during each visit. Most pages showed 8-20 inmates, although there were sometimes no inmates present during a visit.

Mary Shehen was not listed in the book, most likely because she was in the medical ward, not in the asylum itself.

Still, we found it a bit amazing to hold in our hands a workhouse ledger from way back in the 1870s. It made a big impression on both of us.

Records of the T.S. Goliath

Having struck out on Mary, we next huddled with the research staff about records of the Training Ship Goliath, where three of hubby's teenaged great uncles, born poor in London, learned maritime skills and were taught to play musical instruments during the 1870s. These three boys, sons of hubby's great-grandpa John Slatter and great-grandma Mary Shehen Slatter, grew up to be well-known military bandmasters in Canada.

We were given a microfilm showing the names of recruits on the Goliath, arranged by date (not indexed). Cranking through, we found some promising leads on one of the Slatter boys to follow up later, but ran out of time to do more in-person research. Guess that means another visit?!
--
Thanks, as always, to Amy Johnson Crow for the #52Ancestors prompts. This is my post for "Road Trip."

2013 Brick Wall Priorities (on the Wood tree)

Will 2013 be the year of breakthroughs on my most challenging brick walls? Here are my priorities for the coming year's genealogy research into hubby's family:

• McClure. Are hubby's 3d great-grandparents (John McClure and Ann McFall) originally from Donegal? They married in Rockbridge county, VA, in 1801 and one of their sons was Benjamin McClure (1812-1896), the subject of my Facebook genealogy experiment. If John McClure is from Donegal, is he Scots-Irish? Where in Scotland did the family come from?
• Rinehart. The patriarch of the Rinehart part of the family, Joseph Rinehart, died on December 9, 1888, 124 years ago tomorrow. His very brief obit in the Wyandot County Republican reads: "Joseph Rinehart died Sunday morning, Dec. 9th, at the residence of Mrs. E.G. Steiner [his daughter, Elizabeth Rinehart Steiner], aged 82 years. Funeral Monday afternoon at Oceola O." Joseph was born in 1806 in Pennsylvania; his mother's name was Elizabeth but his father's name I have yet to discover. Did they come from Switzerland or Austria or Germany? And when?
• Shehen. Who were John Shehen's parents and what was John Shehen's wife's maiden name? John (1801-??) was hubby's 2d great-grandpa, born in Ireland, as was his wife, Mary (1801-??). Where in Ireland, I don't yet know...
• Slatter. Where and when did John Slatter Sr. die? He was born in 1811 in Oxfordshire, England, and he was hubby's 2d great-grandpa. Who were his parents and where were they from?

2022 update: I later discovered that yes, John McClure was descended from a Donegal McClure family (see this ancestor landing page). I don't have many answers about the Rinehart family, but here's that ancestor landing page. I do know about the Shehen family and the Slatter family! See this ancestor landing page.

Thankful Thursday: Thanks to our ancestors who made Thanksgiving 2013 possible

On Thanksgiving, I'm giving thanks to the courageous journey-takers who came to America and made it possible for me and my family to be here today.

My side:

• Farkas ancestors: Above, a Thanksgiving dinner with the Farkas Family Tree, descendants of Moritz Farkas and Lena Kunstler, who arrived in New York City in 1899 and 1900, respectively, bringing their children from Hungary just a little later. I'm one of the "hula girls" near the back at far left.
• Schwartz ancestors: Tivadar (Teddy) Schwartz left Ungvar, Hungary (now Uzhorod, Ukraine) in 1902. He encouraged two siblings to join him in New York City, Sam (who arrived in 1904) and Mary (who arrived in 1906). Teddy married Hermina Farkas (daughter of Moritz and Lena) and settled in the Bronx.
• Burk and Mahler ancestors: Isaac Burk, a skilled cabinet maker, arrived in New York City from Lithuania in 1904. His bride-to-be, Henrietta Mahler, was a small child when she came to New York City from Latvia in 1885 or 1886, with her parents Meyer Mahler and Tillie Rose Jacobs. 

Hubby's side:

• Mayflower ancestors: My hubby has four Mayflower ancestors, but only two survived to give thanks on the first Thanksgiving in 1621: Isaac Allerton and his young daughter, Mary Allerton. The Allerton line connected with the Cushman line and eventually married into the Wood family.
• Wood ancestors: John "The Mariner" Wood, Sr., was the journey-taker in the Wood family. Born in England about 1590, he died in Portsmouth, RI in 1655, leaving a tradition of carpentry and sea-faring occupations throughout the Wood family for many generations. 
• McClure ancestors: Halbert McClure and his family journeyed from Raphoe Parish, County Donegal, to Philadelphia and then walked to Virginia to settle down. I'll be researching these ancestors more thoroughly at next year's NGS Conference, which takes place in Richmond on May 7-10.
• Larimer ancestors: Robert Larimer took the perilous voyage from the North of Ireland to Philadelphia--but was shipwrecked along the way. I've told his story before.
• Slatter ancestors: John Slatter Sr. was probably the first journey-taker in this English family, arriving in Ohio around 1889. I haven't yet located the ship records for his daughter Mary Slatter, who married James Edgar Wood in 1898.
• Steiner and Rinehart ancestors: Still on my to-do list is the task of identifying the first ancestors of Jacob S. Steiner to arrive in America. Jake himself was born in Pennsylvania about 1802. Joseph W. Rinehart wasn't the first journey-taker, either. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1806, but I can't find much on his parents (yet).

Thank you, journey-takers. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Remembering Hubby's Emerald Isle Ancestors

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My wonderful husband has a number of ancestors born on the Emerald Isle. And of course I've been keeping their memory alive by reminding descendants every year on March 17th. Let me introduce you to:

• William Smith and his wife, Jean, both immigrants from Limerick, were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. Their son Brice Smith (1756-1828) was an “Ohio fever” pioneer, leaving his birthplace in Pennsylvania to settle the forested frontier of Ohio.
• Robert Larimer and his wife, Mary O’Gallagher, both from the North of Ireland, were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. Robert was shipwrecked sailing to America, worked off the cost of his rescue, ran away, married Mary, and farmed in Pennsylvania until they died about 1803. Their descendants were pioneers in Ohio and Indiana.
• John Shehen and his wife, Mary, from somewhere in Ireland, were hubby's 2d great-grandparents. They were born early in the 1800s in Ireland but had moved to London by the 1830s. Their daughter Mary Shehen married John Slatter in London in 1859. Her youngest daughter (Mary Slatter, 1869-1925) left London for Ohio, married James Edgar Wood and was a loving mother until her unexpected death from heart problems.
• Halbert McClure and his wife, Agnes, were born in County Donegal, Ireland, although the McClure family is originally from Isle of Skye. They were hubby's 5th great-grandparents. In the 1740s, this family sailed as a group to Philadelphia, walked to Virginia, and bought farmland. Their descendants became early pioneers in Indiana and other states.

Erin Go Bragh!