Census Sunday – Makes no Sense

State & National Census Reports are filled with information for genealogists. Both the population & nonpopulation schedules give us insights into the lives of our ancestors. What have you found that is Surprising? Reassuring? Bewildering?

I am helping a good friend trace her family, hopefully across the Atlantic to Ireland & Germany. Naturally, we are starting here, gathering as much information as we can before stepping further back in time.

Fortunately my friend lives in the same county where her family has lived for over 150 years; Rensselaer County, New York. She knows the cemeteries and the stones and has remembered some stories. We wrote down the names & dates she already knew and began to uncover more.

When we looked at her Meissner family we turned to the census records on ancestry.com. Census records are a good place to begin and she knew her family had lived in Troy, New York for generations. However, we could not find them. It makes no sense.

We tried city directories and easily found the Meissner family, beginning 1875 and extending for over fifty years. In 1875 Henry Meissner was a cigar maker. In 1883 Henry Jr. joined him as a clerk. In 1889 there were Meissners as saloon keepers, cigar makers and clerks all in Troy. They were there in 1900 when Theresa, widow of Henry, appears; in 1910 when eight Meissners are listed, including two widows; and in 1919 when only three Meissners are included.

1899    Troy City Directory Page 236

Why, then, aren’t these people in the US Census reports or the New York State Census reports? We did find a 1910 report for Margaret Meissner and her three children. However, there should be reports for every year beginning 1880. Maybe I mentioned this before but it makes no sense.

Alphabetical Ancestors - G

Working my way through the alphabet and taking another look at the surnames linked to my various trees. Some are branches with very few leaves and others are quite full. I post them in hopes of discovering new contacts to expand my knowledge of these names. If you see some leaves & branches from your trees, let’s share & compare.

G is for these Surnames…

Gardner/Gartner

My great grandfather was Leopold Gartner/Gardner [1860 Austria – 1948 NY]. He was a tailor in New York City for many years. In 1878 he married Fannie Edelstein. They had five children. I know very little on Jewish research and would be very interested in research tips. I believe Leopold’s father was Marcus S. Gartner.

Gibney

My third great grandmother was Catherine Gibney [c 1818 – 1873 Ireland]. She married Thomas Brady [d 1914 Ireland]. They lived in County Cavan and had nine children. I would like to learn abouther parents and siblings.

Good

A handful of people with the Good surname join up with my trees. Albert Edward Good [1883 OH – 1965 OH] married Elizabeth Lodema Moore. Their six children were born in Ohio. Albert was a conductor on the railroad for many years. Albert’s parents were Joel H Good & Margaret Brown.

Grorisclauss

Mary Grorisclauss was my third great grandmother [d c 1849]. She was born in Switzerland. She married Christian Gruissy [1811 Switzerland – 1907 OH]. They had four children. My information ends there. I am not even sure I am spelling her maiden name correctly.

Gruissy

My fourth great grandfather was Christian Gruissy [b c 1792 Switzerland]. Tracing this family is difficult because the name is often misspelled; there are more females than males; and later generations changed the name to Creasy. They were centered in Stark County, Ohio. Christian’s wife was Barbara Straum & their children were Christian, John & Rosanna. Christian Jr. was married twice. His son, Augustus Ceaser Gruissy, was married three times.

Other ‘G’ Surnames in my tree: Galer, Ganung, Gillaspie, Graves, Griffin

Genealogy Travel: Meeting a Blog Pal!

Charles Purvis & Colleen Pasquale, Fellow Bloggers in North Carolina

Some time ago I searched Geneabloggers for blogs about the Carolinas & discovered

Carolina Family Roots by Charles Purvis. On the blog Charles wrote, “My goal is to document the genealogy of my families living in Chesterfield County, SC and Anson County, NC. His surnames include:  Brock, Brown, Graves & Moore, Smith & Purvis. We share some of these surnames.

I especially love that everything Charlie posts is well documented. You can count on his facts.

I became a follower and began stopping by quite often. Charlie & I have been in touch through our blogs and by email, exchanging information. We have learned that we are distant cousins.

On my recent trip to South Carolina Charlie & I, with his lovely wife and my brother, met. My brother and I were in North Carolina, Charlie’s home state. We met up at a small chain restaurant where we introduced ourselves and had a delightful conversation. We discussed places for research, DNA genealogy, our families, and many other things.

If you have an opportunity to meet a fellow blogger do it! You may be making a new friend.

Where am I From?

This post is in response to Randy Seaver's

Saturday Night Fun at Genea-Musings. The assignment is to write a poem using a template and filling in your own personal details. Then tell about your poem in your own blog post and/or in a comment on Genea-Musings. I suggest you enjoy the assignment. I did.

Where am I From?

I am from a red wagon, a rope swing, a fat pitcher of icy Kool Aid; from fields of wild flowers and the shady woods.

I am from a small town, a red brick school, quiet, settled, beside the Hudson River.

I am from apple trees, corn fields and neighborly mountains.

I am from family picnics, Scout uniforms, marching in parades, flags and freckles, dogs with wagging tails and piles of laughing cousins.

I am from mechanics and farmers; independent and ingenious.

I am from soldiers and carpenters; straight and strong.

I am from women who cooked and cuddled; who hung out laundry and encouraged dreams.

I am from mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles: working & joking, reassuring & inspiring.

I am from Rosary beads, altar boys and flickering candles in the peaceful darkness.

I am from Irish Coyles; from German Marks; from colonial Browns and American apple pie.

I am from a Jewish telegrapher, an Irish baker, an Ohio carpenter and a Mississippi wheelwright.

I am from weathered tombstones, faded photographs and dented steamer trunk.

I am from a family tree with deep roots, a sturdy trunk and branches that reach to the future.

Colleen G (Brown) Pasquale

Census Sunday – Records are Not Just on the Internet

Census records are available on internet sites.

 I have used Ancestry.com many times to

look for family members with varying degrees of success. Many of us have done this. However, have you ever used a book to find census records?

I like using books to find early census records. On my recent trip to the Orangeburg County Library in South Carolina I browsed through this book, looking for my Ott family:

Jarrell, Lawrence E. Early Orangeburgh South Carolina Census. High Point, North Carolina: Alligator Creek Publications, 1998.

This book includes 1790, 1800 and 1810 records. I easily found Jacob Ott, Junior in 1790. I found Jacob Ott Junior and Senior, side by side, in 1800 and three “Jb.” Otts in 1810.

In these early records I am happy just to discover the state and county for my ancestors. However, books sometimes give more details. The 1800 information in Jarrell’s book tells me the Jacob Otts lived “between Edisto River & Beaver Creek of the four holes”. That narrows down their home place. There are many images of the Edisto River on Google. A return trip to the county would probably turn up a map of the area.

I like books like this because they focus on the local area. In the book I can easily see other local Otts:

· 1790: two Gasper Otts, Barbara Ott and John Ott.
· 1800: Anne, Peter, and Gasper Ott.
· 1810: Pr., Wm., Do., and Z. Ott.

These need further research.

I can also see the neighbors of the Otts. In 1800 & 1810 one of those neighbors was Phillip Jackson. Jacob Ott Junior was married to Margaret Jackson. This could be Margaret’s father or brother. It is something I should pursue.

Other books give me more information on these same people.

• Jarrell, Lawrence E. 1820 Orangeburgh South Carolina Census. High Point, North Carolina: Alligator Creek Publications, 1998. 

• 1850 Federal Census Index; Orangeburg County, South Carolina. 

• Miller, Floyd W., and Peggy Ann Easterling. 1860 South Carolina Census; Orangeburg District.

I would not eliminate using the internet to uncover census records but remember they are not the only source for this information.

Sepia Saturday - Rock of Cashel

This week's prompt at Sepia Saturday shows a large castle. It inspired me to share this photo.

Rock of Cashel

County Tipperary, Ireland

Built in the 12th & 13th Centuries

This week's prompt is the perfect way to remember my trip to Ireland a year ago. My photo is not old but it is of an old site. My daughter & I were in awe of its grandeur and age. 

Vintage Photograph: Mark Siblings in OH

Siblings in 1915

Viola Cathern (Mark) Nothstein 1913 OH - 2004 FL

& her younger brother

Owen Andrew Mark 1915 OH - 1993 OH

The children of Thomas K & N Regina (Gruissy) Mark

Genealogy Travel: Lancaster County, South Carolina

Our days in Kiawah Island, SC were over. I packed the seashells I had collected on the beach. My brother packed his drift wood. We emptied the refrigerator and took out the trash and packed all our things back into my car. One last walk on the beach and we were on our way to North Carolina to visit my son and his wife.



Rather than take a direct route, we took side trip to the Lancaster County Library. I had visited their website in advance & knew I wanted to spend time in the Caroliniana Room which “holds books, periodicals, maps, and vertical files. These materials are in open stacks for easy access for visitors.”

They list these materials:

o Confederate Veteran 1893 - 1932, 40 bound volumes, indexed. An Index to the Magazine is available online at The Library of Virginia.
o Lancaster City Directories, 1954 to present (not inclusive)
o Lancaster County Maps
o Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I - IV, 130 volumes. These are also available online and searchable at Cornell University.
o Periodicals
o South Carolina Census Indexes 1790-1870
o South Carolina Legislative Manuals, 1934 to present
o Vertical file for General Topics
o Vertical file for Surnames, A - L, M - Z

I was looking for evidences of my Faulkenberry/Fortenberry family. My third great grandfather, William Jasper Fortenberry had been born there in 1772; married Violette Kennington and fathered six of their ten children in Lancaster County. After that William & family moved to Mississippi.

The first thing I found was : Criminger, Adrianne Fortenberry. The Fortenberry Families of Southern Mississippi. South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1984.I own this book and have used it many times. Finding it meant I was on the right track. On the same shelf I found The Faulkenberry Family by Peggy Elliott Faulkenberry, a spiral bound book that traces the family back to Germany, explains the change from Faulkenberry to Fortenberry and details many branches of the family.

I am usual alone on these research trips but my brother was with me for this stop. He started by photocopying pages for me, then uncovered Census Books, and was soon showing those first signs of genealogy addiction. Our mother had loved history and had always taken us to historic sights whenever we traveled. My6 brother said it was great to think of our ancestors as being a part of that history.

In the end we had copied pages from these sources:

· Ellis, Joanne. Lancaster County, SC Cemetery Data. 1995.
· Ellis, Evelyn, and Joanne Ellis. Lancaster County, SC Cemetery Data. Volume II. Lancaster, South Carolina: DD, Inc., 1997.
· Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790; South Carolina. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908.
· Jackson, Ronald Vern, and Gary Ronald Teeples. South Carolina 1810 Census. Bountiful, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, Inc., 1976.
· Jackson, Ronald Vern, and Gary Ronald Teeples. South Carolina 1840 Census. Bountiful, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, Inc., 1977.
· Jeffcoat, Frances Reeves. Lancaster District south Carolina 1850 Census. South Carolina: 1984.
· Moss, Bobby Gilmmore. Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983.
· White, Virgil D. Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files. Volume II: F - M. Waynesboro, Tennessee: The National Historical Publishing Company, 1991.
· White, Virgil D. Index to War of 1812 Pension Files. Volume I: A - F. Waynesboro, Tennessee: The National Historical Publishing Company, 1989.

The librarian checked the index to the Perry Belle Hough Collection for me, looking for Faulkenberry & brought out a slim folder. Only two items were inside: handwritten notes on land ownerships by Faulkenberrys and a 1956 newspaper clipping for J R Faulkenberry’s obituary.

I would definitely return to this library because there were other materials we did not have time to look at more closely. 

Census Sunday - Double Entry in the 1905 Census

1905 NYS Census Nathan Gardner

Census Sunday! Horray! Happy to see this has been picked up Geneabloggers. This re-post give you an example of a Census Sunday discovery.

Nathaniel Gardner, b 21 July 1882 NY – 7 December 1944 NY, was my maternal grandfather. He was born in New York City where he lived until 1940. My mother was in high school when he died so I never had the opportunity to meet him.

I have found him in old letters he wrote to my grandmother; in faded photographs showing him with my mother’s baby carriage; in city directories, and in census records.

1905 NYS Census Nathaniel Gardner

In the 1905 N.Y.S. Census my grandfather is listed twice. He is listed at East 87^th Street in Manhattan with his parents, Louis [Leopold] and Fannie Gardner, and his siblings, Florence, Moses and Albert. This shows Nathan to be 19 years old and a telegrapher. [1905 NYS Census, NY Co, Manhattan, ED 13, AD 30, Block A, Pg8]

He is also listed as living at East 188^th Street in the Bronx. He was a boarder with Eugene Archer. He was 23 and a telegraph operator. [1905 NYS Census, NY Co, Bronx, ED 52, AD 25, Page 16]

I believe both of these are my grandfather. His parents were indeed Leopold & Fannie Gardner. The names of his siblings are correct. He was actually 23 years old and a telegraph operator. He was certainly old enough to live on his own, as a boarder. Nathaniel worked in various Western Union offices over the years, sometimes in the Bronx. I think he moved in the days the census takers were collecting information and was counted twice.