I hadn’t been able to locate my husband’s grandfather, Fred Hunter, and his family in the 1940 census. Searching for his parents and siblings individually didn’t help me locate the family. So, I turned to a census “trick” to find this missing family. PROCESS I chose one of the more unusual names in the family: Mabel. I chose the 1940 U.S. federal census and searched for the following: First name “Mabel” set to “exact” Born in “1912” set to “+/- 2 years” Born in “Oklahoma” set to “exact” Lived in “Garvin County” set to “exact” RESULTS With this search I...
Bethuel Vincent was only 29 years old when he was found lifeless in a brook. His obituary reads: Died – In Turbut township, on the 11th inst., Bethuel Vincent, junior, aged about 30 years. The deceased had gone to the fields to collect raspberries and while crossing a small brook was taken with convulsive fits, to which he was daily subject, fell into the water, where he was, shortly after, found lifeless. [The States Advocate, Thursday, 17 July 1828. Posted on Bethuel Vincent’s Find a Grave memorial page in Warrior Run Church Cemetery, Delaware Run, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania] Find a...
In November of 2013 I found my first record of an ancestor in Europe. It was my first “jump across the pond.” It was a huge day for me and I was thrilled! In fact, that’s the day a volunteer told me she loved my ‘enthusiasm’ for genealogy and I came up with my blog name. So, how did this ‘pond jump’ happen? 1860 Census – Lock Haven, Clinton Co, PA from Ancestry.com At the time, I knew the following… my great, great grandmother, Sarah, was born in 1848 in England (she was 12 in the above census) according to...
Last week we remembered George Washington’s birthday on February 22nd (which also happens to be my birthday). But was George Washington born on February 22nd? Extreme Genes, one of my favorite genealogy podcasts, discussed the uncertainty of Washington’s birthday in this week’s show. Portrait of George Washington – Painted by Gilbert Stuart After listening to the conversation, I decided to dig a little deeper and found his family Bible where he is listed as being born on the “11th Day of February 1731/2.” [See “Washington Family Bible Page” at the Digital Collections site from The Washington Library.] If he was born...
Evidence suggested that my great, great, great grandfather, Gunther Werther, was born in 1819 in Berka in present-day Germany. However, locating his baptism on an FHL film proved quite difficult. The film covered dozens of villages and included baptisms, marriages, and death records. Yesterday, I returned to search the film for the second time. This time, I decided to start at the beginning. I saw a typed listing of what appeared to be villages. And, on the next few pages, I saw handwritten, numbered lists of what also appeared to be village names. Did one of these lists show the...
After the death of Michael Kline in 1781, his son Nicholas paid 400 pounds to the other heirs—Nicholas’s mother, Dorothea, along with his siblings and their spouses—for two tracts of his father’s land. Although I’ve blogged about this 1781 indenture before, today I am looking at the adjoining neighbors who were listed in the description of the first piece of land: David Beilor, George Kline (possibly a brother of Michael’s), Thomas Falkner, and John and Jacob Snavely. [Note: The relevant part of this 1781 indenture is transcribed at the bottom of this post. Also, though I believe the document is...
When my husband’s grandmother was 16, her 7-year-old brother died from injuries after he was hit by a car. He was hit while crossing a highway on his way home from school. The newspaper account says that an officer had stopped to tell the children to face the traffic to safely cross the highway. Little Obel Jene ran from behind the police car and was hit by a car. His little body was then thrown into traffic coming from the other direction and he was hit a second time. Another motorist picked him up, but Obel Jene died before he...
Last week I shared about Dorothy/Dorothea Klein/Kline’s “interesting will.” I also shared about it at my local special interest group genealogy meeting on Friday. We all had some laughs, but a few things were pointed out to me. What’s a “half wagon?” First of all, I shared how two of Dorothy’s sons, Daniel and Nicholas, were each given a “half wagon.” When I first read about this, I thought it must be a type of wagon. But, someone suggested to me that it was literally half a wagon. In other words, the two brothers were sharing a wagon. That made...
Tomorrow is our monthly internet research group genealogy meeting and we will be discussing wills and probate packets. We were asked to pass along any “interesting” wills or probate packets we had in our files to discuss at our meeting. I chose one I recently received from a newly found cousin. The will, which was proved in 1799, is my 6th great grandmother’s. Will of Dorothy Klein of Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, signed 27 June 1794, proved 14 September 1799, provided by Lititz, Pennsylvania Public Library, page 1 of 3. Highlights From the Will I found this will to...
Last week, I posted on the “Pike County, Ohio Genealogy” Facebook group asking what church my German immigrant ancestors, the Peters family, might have attended. I knew that, in 1860, they had been enumerated in the township of Pee Pee in that county. And, from other church records I knew they were Evangelical Lutherans. By the next morning, I had information as to which church they probably attended and the name of a published booklet which contained the church records. I was also given the name of a library which had a copy of that booklet. I emailed the library...
