Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Elizabeth Sutton
b. 10 October 1713

Piscataway, Middlesex County, New Jersey
d. abt 1750
Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey

I also have that her parents are John and Elizabeth (Conger) Sutton. The above information is what I will start with in this five minute exercise. This was received many years ago from a distant relation who had documented very well the family information she researched and willingly shared. I am grateful for the hours and hours of work she did to locate the data we have. I will see if I can find anything new to add to this record. Here goes!

Findings:

Only undocumented information, but worth pursuing.

At FamilySearch, Elizabeth has a record showing her married to John Molleson, Jr. There are six children included in the record. At Ancestry.com, in the time allotted, I found only undocumented family trees, none of which included a marriage. If she did die before 1750, which seems plausible, I believe I will need to do a much more specific and time-consuming search of records local to where she lived, including church records. Also, searching out information about her husband may be beneficial, too. I am totally willing to do that, if I can locate them. So, signing out, for now.

You win some, you lose some; but, it is never wasted time!

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Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Olivia Josephine Cowger

b. 9 October 1856
Wapello County, Iowa
m. J. Fletcher Livezay
d. 25 November 1929

Olivia is the daughter of Gustavus C. and Susannah (Cowger) Cowger (yes, her maiden name is correct; they were cousins). She is my third great grandaunt. Because I know quite a bit about her parents, I have a fairly well documented history of Olivia's growing up years. Today, I choose to see what I can discover about her adult life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That was a surprisingly frustrating exercise! 

• There was no record for Olivia that I could locate in either Find A Grave or Billion Graves. I searched for her husband, too, hoping to locate her through him. Neither of them showed!
• There is, as expected, a record for Olivia in FamilySearchFamily Tree. Her husband's full name is John Fletcher Livezey (note the different spelling). In a Google search, there were several references to a person with that name being involved in lawsuits in Indiana. Could very well be him.
• FamilySearch also has a link to the 1910 census for her family. They lived in New Castle, Henry County, Indiana. They had four Roomers and a Servant in the household, no children residing with them. It does record that Olivia had four children and that they were all living. She and John had been married 35 years. Their home is a ‘Boarding House.’
• Their son, John William, was married in 1908 in Henry County, giving his residence as New Castle. Their son, Harry, was married in Henry County in 1913. His residence is recorded as Battle Creek, Michigan. The other two children included in the Family Tree record are Alfred and Addie.

I’m sure a little more searching and surfing will be more satisfying, but for the purposes of this project – “Th-th-that’s all, folks!”

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Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Hugh Cecil Ament

b. 8 October 1874
Muscatine, Muscatine County, Iowa
d. 29 February 1920
Muscatine, Muscatine County, Iowa

The Ament family has been heavily researched over the years. There is a great deal of information with excellent documentation. That said, there are still things we don't know. 

Hugh is the son of Joseph Pettus and Catherine A. (Robbins) Ament. He is my first cousin four times removed. He was baptized privately on 30 March 1875 because he was sickly (Submitted by Eleanor B. McCleary, "Holy Baptism Records," database Ament family.) However, he lived to serve in the United States Navy, enlisting in Boston, Massachusetts in 1890.

On the 1920 census, taken 10 January, he is a patient in Monson State Hospital in Monson, Massachusetts. It says he is epileptic, and single. He died on 29 February that same year and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Muscatine. Where did he die? Massachusetts? Iowa? Maybe this search will reveal. I have no idea what else might be in cyberspace for Hugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Proof of Hugh's death, condition, and location~

There is some information at Wikipedia about the hospital here. 

Also, it may be haunted! Check this out. ;)

Poor Hugh! He is buried where many of the Ament family members are buried, though; so, a family member must have retrieved his body.

Remember, this is a very short search. I'm intrigued, and will continue searching. Enjoy!

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Five-minute Family History Fun - October 7th

Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Mary Jane Sweet

b. 7 October 1841
Vermillion County, Illinois
m. abt 1876 - a Cline

All of the information I have prior to doing a five-minute search was received from a family researcher in Illinois. There was some documentation included about the family in general, and Mary's parents in particular. However, there is no specific documentation regarding Mary.Let's  see what's out there!

There is a lot of good info out there about Mary Jane (Sweet) Cline, who is my ninth cousin three times removed. It was hard to make myself stop when my timer went off. :) 

• FamilySearch
• There is a FamilySearch Tree for Mary with her vital information and family information, both as a wife and as a child. There are no sources noted. This record did name her husband as Jonas Cline.
• Marriage date is in the record: 26 March 1856 in Clark County, Illinois. I did locate extracted information about their marriage, but it only had the year. ("Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934", database)
• Also found at this site a record of the Jonas and Mary Jane Cline family living in Martinsville Township, Clark County, Illinois in 1860. There were four people in the household: Jonas (21), Mary Jane (19), Daniel (1), and William Nilson (0).
• Find A Grave
• The record for Mary Jane Sweet Cline includes her birth and death dates. Her death date is recorded as Oct. 6, 1898. Her parents and siblings are named with links to their memorial pages. Her husband is not named on the page.
• Mary Jane is buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Martinsville, Clark, Illinois. Her memorial number is 45191488.

There were other records I saw in passing, but my time is up! I continue to be amazed at the information available to us when we focus, and take the time. Of course, these exercises are only scratching the surface!

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Five-minute Family History Fun - October 6th

Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Walter Leach

b. 6 October 1879
Higher Booths, Lancashire, England

What I have:

This information is from someone else's tree, so it all needs to be verified. Let's see what I can find, today.

• Walter is the son of Samuel and Sarah Jane (Hoyle) Leach.
• He was the seventh of nine known children.

What I found:

Well, that was satisfying!

• FamilySearch Family Tree did not have an obvious record for Walter.
• FamilySearch Record Search resulted in a christening extraction showing Walter christened 1 August 1880 in Goodshaw, Lancashire, England. His parents are recorded as Samuel Leach and Sarah Jane. ("England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database)
• At FindMyPast in the 1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription is found the entire household with Walter recorded at one-year-old. His parents, Samuel and Sarah J., are there, along with his siblings to that date: Jno Jas, Hy, William, Mary Ann, and Benj. They were living on Rings Row, Higher Booths, Haslingden, Lancashire. This is exactly where my Hoyle family lived before they emigrated to Canada in 1879.

This is a great exercise in quickly finding information about persons. In this case, it also helped verify the information I already had. Fun, fun, fun!

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Five-minute Family History Fun - October 5th

Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Elmore Everitt

b. 5 October 1823

What I think I know:

• Son of Dr. John and Sarah (Coryell) Everitt
• married twice; once to an Alice, and once to Myra A. Johnson
• The information appears to be from Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York, by LeRoy W. Kingman.
• He is my first cousin five times removed.

Five-minute finds:

• A search at Find A Grave proved to be a treasure trove!
• Included in the information there are his birth date, October 1822 (a departure from what my records have) and a death year of 1910. 
• There are extractions from several census records, all of which I could see in the results list at FamilySearch.
• Information about his marriage to Alice Jordan Sherwood is included (she was a widow), as well as a link to her Find A Grave memorial page.
• Links to the memorial pages for two children are also mentioned.
• He is buried in the Nichols Cemetery in Nichols, Tioga County, New York.
• There is a picture of his headstone, too.
• At FamilySearch, there is a record for Elmore Everitt, with sources linked to it. It was updated at recently as 1 July 2015 by a contributor. 
• His birthday is recorded there as 5 October 1822. I did not locate a birth record, or any other official document that stated is birth date.
• His death year is recorded as 1910 without a location. In the five-minute search time, I did not see a death record or obituary.
• His marriage to Myrah A. Johnson is shown as having occurred on 27 May 1868 in Nichols, Tioga, New York. There is no documentation attached, no did I see any in my brief search.
• A quick Google search located references to Elmore in the Journal of Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors of Tioga County. He was mentioned by name on at least 29 pages as a member of that board.

It is easier to quickly find information for some people, than others.

This was a very satisfying search!

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Five-minute Family History Fun - October 4th

Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Benjamin Bigelow

b. 4 October 1755
"Rev. War soldier taken
prisoner at Bunker Hill,
and said to have d. in the service"

Benjamin is a very distant relation of mine, second cousin six times removed. I know very little about him, other than what is above this paragraph. His parents were Benjamin and Elizabeth (Colman) Bigelow who married in Massachusetts in 1754. This information is from a working copy of "Bemis Genealogy" by Robert Andrews. I honestly don't know what or how much I might find in five minutes, but I'll give it a shot.

In a search on FamilySearch Family Tree, I found a record for Benjamin with only his mother's name. A Record Hint led me to his birth record, so I will be able to update the record in Family Tree with documentation.

According to the MassachusettsBirths and Christenings, 1639-1915 database, he was born as noted above, on 4 October 1755 in Lunenburg, Worcester County, Massachusetts.

As for the reference to having served in the Revolutionary War, I found one family tree on Ancestry.com that place his death in 1776. However, there was no documentation. In a quick search of the military records on that site, I came up with nothing.

Then, my five minutes expired. At least I made a little progress. I surely don't want Benjamin to be forgotten. :)

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Five-minute Family History Fun - October 3rd

Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Electa A. Nason

b. 3 October 1826
Rochester, Windsor, Vermont
d. 21 September 1867

Before searching:

Electa Nason was the daughter of Clark and Diana (Lyon) Nason. She had three known siblings: Olive Jane, Francis M., and Lora L., all of whom were also born in Rochester, Vermont. Electa is my first cousin five times removed.

To start my five-minute search, I opened FamilySearch Family Tree and searched for Electa. Immediately, I found a record showing her married to Chester G. Bliss. The vital information in the record was the same as that in my database.

Using the Record Hints, I located extracted information of Electa's marriage to Chester. They were married 16 September 1849 in Rochester, Vermont.

By looking at other records in the results list of the historical records suggested for Electa, I saw the 1860 United States census for the family of Chester and Electa Bliss. They were living in Rochester, Vermont. The household make-up looked like this.

Household          Role Gender      Age   Birthplace

Chester Bliss              M       41     Vermont

Electa Bliss                 F        33     Vermont

Dina Bliss                     F        9       Vermont

Jennie Bliss                 F        7       Vermont

Phinnie Bliss               F        5       Vermont

Charlotte Bliss            F        3       Vermont

Lodisa Nason              F        62     Vermont

Marsha Bedell             F        19     Vermont

The final record I consulted before my five minutes expired, was her death information from the "Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954" collection. Interestingly, her middle initial is recorded as "N," which may be for Nason.

Time's up!

Obviously, this was a quick search, but it rendered results which may be used for learning more about Electa and her family. 

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Five-minute Family History Fun - October 2nd

Happy National Family History Month!

In memory of-

Luther Eliphalet Webster

b. 2 Oct 1827
Pennsylvania
d. 10 Jan 1907
Lenox, Macomb, Michigan

Luther was the son of James and Jane (Shreve) Webster. He was their oldest child. He married Sally Morris on 1 Jul 1849 in St. Clair County, Michigan. They had three children: Eli, George, and Ida. Luther is my second great granduncle.

• I already have the following information about his residences through the years:
• 1850:  Clay, St. Clair, Michigan; enumerated with his parents
• 1860:  Lenox, Macomb, Michigan; b. PA
• 1870: Lenox, Macomb, Michigan; b. PA
• 1880: Lenox, Macomb, Michigan; b. PA
• 1900: Lenox, Macomb, Michigan; b. PA

Let's see what I can find in five minutes. Ready. Set. Go!

• nothing on Find A Grave using his first name, Luther
• Eliphalet L. Webster Michigan Deaths and Burials, extracted record
• another search at Find A Grave, using his name as recorded on the death record, found his burial place! Oakwood Cemetery, New Baltimore, Macomb County, Michigan, USA. This is truly new information for me. From this same source, I learn his wife's information, as well as that of his three children. Time to update the database!

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Five-minute Family History Fun

Well, it is October!

Happy National Family History Month!

I'm going to celebrate by identifying one person from my database for each day of the month, one who was born on that date. Then, I'm going to spend five minutes seeing what I can find around the web about that person. It may not be proof positive, but it will be interesting. :) I'll post my results here each day. Wish me luck!

In memory of-

Remus A. Cowger

b. 1 Oct 1874

Indiana

From family records, I have Remus' birth date and state. I know his parents are Noah Noble and Mary E. (Collins) Cowger. He had at least three siblings, Jennie (who married a Russell), James, and Dora. He is my second cousin four times removed.

In 1880, Remus was living with his parents and siblings in Posey Township, Rush County, Indiana.

It appears that Remus died in 1903, and is buried in the Mount Jackson Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana. There is no personal information about him, but a Dora Cowger is also buried in the same cemetery, indicating that this is the correct person.

In this quick exercise, I wasn't able to locate any further records, like the 1900 census, or perhaps a marriage record. While we know there is always more, this is a beginning.



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