Category Archives: Research Process

Elizabeth Barnes Salisbury Bevis

Posted on by under Browning Family, Documents, Family History, Genealogy, Marriage, Research Process, Salisbury Family

I finally decided to sit down and work with the clues I had for Ossian Salisbury.  Just to recap, these clues are:

  • First name appears variously as Ocean, Oceanna, Ossian, OssiaAnn, and Osia Ann.
  • Surname appears variously as Salisbury, Saulsberry, Sauelsbury, Sausberry, Stansberry, Landsbury, Lounsbury, and Browning (her married name).
  • She was born in Illinois.
  • She married in 1852, at the age of 17 (which places her birth around 1835).
  • She was married in Kentucky to Daniel Browning.
  • Her mother was Elizabeth Burns or Barnes.
  • Her step-father’s name was Bevis.

Since I have recently begun ordering film from FamilySearch.org, I thought I would start by ordering the film for the record that gives her mother’s name.  When I put the film number in, the website informed me that there were already digital images online for that roll.  I thought to myself, that’s funny, since there are no images attached to the record.  So, I clicked the link provided for the digital images and searched for the page that the index had cited.  There it was!

Marriage register showing Ocean's mother cropped

From Jefferson County, Kentucky Reference Book 5, p. 153.

I looked first for Elizabeth’s name.  It looks like Barnes to me, but I can see where someone could get Burns.  In this record, Daniel Browning married Ocean Stansberry (or maybe Stausberry) on June 30, 1852.  Her mother, Elizabeth Barnes, gave consent.  Consent was proved by Lewis Browning (Daniel’s father).1

I looked for any records of an Elizabeth Barnes or Burns who married a Salisbury or a Stansberry, to no avail.  I only knew that Elizabeth gave birth in Illinois in about 1835.2  Using those details, nothing turned up.  It’s very possible, that they had been married much longer or in a different state or country.  Or, maybe they were never married.

I shifted focus to the step-father.  I had the name Bevis.3  Not knowing if this was a first name or surname, I tried both with Elizabeth Barnes, Burns, Salisbury, and Stansberry.  I found that an Eli Bavis married an Elizabeth Saulsbury in Clark County, Illinois in 1838.4  Thank God for soundex!  I kept searching on FamilySearch for Eli Bavis, but turned up nothing new, so I moved my search over to Ancestry.

Here, I found the same marriage citation, but when I clicked it, it suggested two census records for me to look at.  The first showed Eli Bavis in Clark County, Illinois in 1840.5  It was just an index record, so I couldn’t see family members and age groups.  The second was the 1850 Census.  This one was taken in Jefferson County, Kentucky.  Eli and Elizabeth Bevis lived here with their five small children, Lydia, Jane, Susan, Levi, and Bloony.6  Ossian wasn’t listed.  Since this was two years before her wedding, she should have been about 15 and living at home.  Perhaps she worked as a servant in another household, but I have been unable to find her thus far.

I wish I had turned up information on her father, but I’m satisfied for now to know who Bevis is and to confirm her mother’s name.

Sources

  1. “Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F438-JWR : accessed 29 Nov 2014), Daniel Browning and Ocean Stansberry, 30 Jun 1852; citing Jefferson County, Kentucky, reference bk 5 p 153; FHL microfilm 482707.
  2. Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Marriage Records, 1852-1914 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.  Kentucky. Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records – Microfilm (1852-1910). Microfilm rolls #994027-994058. Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky.
  3. De La Montange, Marie. Letter to Sanford Wiseheart. 12 Feb. 1938. MS. New Albany, Indiana.
  4. “Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934”, database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X2P6-BQQ : accessed 24 January 2016), Eli Bavis and Elizabeth Saulsbury, 1838.
  5. Ancestry.com. Illinois, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.  Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Illinois Census, 1810-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.
  6. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.  Year: 1850; Census Place: District 1, Jefferson, Kentucky; Roll: M432_205; Page: 188B; Image: 381.

Mary Wiseheart Jacobs and the Move to Illinois

Posted on by under Family History, Genealogy, Jacobs Family, Research Process, Wiseheart Family

According to family tradition, Price Jacobs died in Jefferson County, Kentucky sometime before 1850 and his widow and children moved to Illinois, where they had Wiseheart family.  I spent some time trying to track the family movements to see what might be true.  I’m hoping this will narrow down a death date and location for Price.

I began with 1840, since Price would have still been living then.  I found him in Jefferson County, Kentucky with a wife, four sons, and a daughter.  I also noticed that he was living near Harmon Wiseheart (and a few Gillilands) at this time.1

I couldn’t find Price or his family in Kentucky in 1850.  I did find Mary C. Jacobs, with children John A., James H., Ellen, Samuel, and Peter, living in Columbus, Adams County, Illinois.2  The ages are all correct to be the same family from 1840.  A James Wisehart is living several houses down from her.3

Mary married John Carson in 1852.4  In 1860, John Carson is living with Mary, Henry, and Rebecca in Columbus, Adams County, Illinois.5

In 1870, Mary Jacobs is living with Milton K. Johnson and family in Burton, Adams County, Illinois.6  Mary’s daughter, Ellen, married Milton K. Johnson in 1855.7  Presumably, John Carson died sometime between 1860 and 1870.

Mary is still living with Milton and Ellen in 1880 in Burton, Adams County, Illinois, where she is listed as mother-in-law of Milton.8

I couldn’t find any information for Mary after the 1880 Census, other than her FindAGrave memorial.  According to that, she died in 1887 in Adams County, Illinois.9

It’s entirely possible that she moved to Illinois to be near family, but it’s strange since she had family living much closer to her in Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Sources

  1. Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.  Year: 1840; Census Place: Jefferson, Kentucky; Roll: 115; Page: 154; Image: 312; Family History Library Film: 0007828.
  2. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.  Year: 1850; Census Place: Columbus, Adams, Illinois; Roll: M432_97; Page: 51B; Image: 108.
  3. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.  Year: 1850; Census Place: Columbus, Adams, Illinois; Roll: M432_97; Page: 50B; Image: 106.
  4. “Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934”, database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X2T7-5QS : accessed 21 January 2016), John Carson and Mary Jacobs, 1852.
  5. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.  Year: 1860; Census Place: Columbus, Adams, Illinois; Roll: M653_155; Page: 607; Image: 263; Family History Library Film: 803155.
  6. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.  Year: 1870; Census Place: Burton, Adams, Illinois; Roll: M593_186; Page: 16B; Image: 41; Family History Library Film: 545685.
  7. “Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934”, database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X2T8-6HQ : accessed 21 January 2016), Milton K Johnson and Ellen Jacobs, 1855.
  8. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc.  Year: 1880; Census Place: Burton, Adams, Illinois; Roll: 174; Family History Film: 1254174; Page: 23B; Enumeration District: 002; Image: 0048.
  9. “Mary Catherine Wiseheart Jacobs (1808 – 1887).” Find A Grave. R. Dennis Jacobs, 21 May 2014. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. Find A Grave Memorial# 130137820.

 

Mary Catherine and America Christina

Posted on by under Documents, Family History, Genealogy, Jacobs Family, Marriage, Research Process, Wiseheart Family

A distant cousin contacted me recently to see if I had any idea what happened to Price Jacobs.  I looked through my records and I don’t have much on him.  Now, I’m one of those people that can’t stand an unsolved mystery, so it’s been bugging me.  I haven’t been very concerned with Price, as he’s a collateral for me, but now I would like to know what happened to him.  Of course, this means researching more than just his death.

My grandparents’ pedigree chart lists Price as having married Mary Catherine Wiseheart, so I started there.  It turns out, their marriage is a little bit confusing.  I first looked on Ancestry to see what I could turn up.  I found a record for Price Jacobs and Mary E. Wiseheart, married on December 29, 1825 in Jefferson County, Kentucky.1  Then, I found a record for Price Jacobs and Christena Wisehart, married on August 13, 1827 in Shelby County, Kentucky.2  According to my grandparents’ information, Mary Catherine had a sister named America Christina.

I considered the possibility that Mary Catherine died and Price remarried to her sister, but based on their children’s ages, that just isn’t possible.  I managed to find an image of the written consent given by John Wiseheart.  He does indeed give permission for Christena to marry.

Christina Wisehart permission to marry

Consent in writing for Christena Wisehart to marry Price Jacobs, given by John Wisehart. August 13, 1827.

I decided to look for America’s marriage, thinking that might shed some light on things.  I found that she married Peter Shrote, Jr. on December 20, 1834 in Jefferson County, Kentucky.3  I then looked up the record for Price in the same book series.  It showed that he and Mary Catherine applied for a license, with John’s consent, on December 29, 1825, but there is not marriage date.4  Possibly, Price and Mary Catherine married two years later in Shelby County, but I still have no idea why the consent says Christena.  Perhaps John was confused.

I’m hoping to come across something that will clear this all up as I continue to research Price Jacobs and family.

Sources

  1. Dodd, Jordan. Kentucky Marriages, 1802-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.
  2. “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954”, database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJ9-21QC : accessed 13 January 2016), Price Jacobs and Christena Wisehart, 1827.
  3. The Filson Club, Incorporated. Jefferson County, Virginia-Kentucky, Early Marriages. Vol. 2. Owensboro, KY: McDowell Publications, 1980. Print.p. 113.
  4. The Filson Club, Incorporated. Jefferson County, Virginia-Kentucky, Early Marriages. Vol. 1. Owensboro, KY: McDowell Publications, 1980. Print.p. 189.

Could Louise Be the Key?

Posted on by under Family History, Genealogy, Marriage, Reese Family, Research Process, Schröder Family, Schroeder Family

I still haven’t been able to figure out how or if Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schröder is related to Frederick Ludwig Schroeder.  I have been trying to collect as much information on Heinrich as I possibly can, which is difficult because he has so many names and most of his records are in German.  Finally, I came across a marriage record for him and Louise Wilhelmine Reese.  According to my grandma’s pedigree chart, Heinrich did marry a Louise Reese.

Louise Wilhelmine Reese was born on July 18, 1858 in Lemgo, Lippe, Germany.2  Her parents were Heinrich August Reese and Dorothe Henriette Catharine Sasse.1,2  She was christened on August 8, 1858 at Sankt Nicolai Evangelisch in Lemgo.1  Louise married Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schröder on January 26, 1882, also at Sankt Nicolai Evangelisch.2

I began to try a different tactic and looked for birth and baptism records containing Louise Reese Schröder.  My hope was that I would find her children.  So far, I’ve had no luck.  I will keep up the search for them, as well as immigration records for Heinrich and Louise after January 1882.  I have ordered the microfilm for these church records from Salt Lake City, to see if there is more information than the indexes yielded.

This information has been somewhat helpful in providing me clues and ideas to continue my search.  More importantly, if I can ever connect Heinrich and Frederick, I now have the names of Louise Reese’s parents, which I did not have before.  I’d call this attempt a moderate success.

Sources

  1. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N68C-67S : accessed 12 January 2016), Louise Wilhelmine Reese, 08 Aug 1858; citing ; FHL microfilm 582,486.

  2. “Deutschland Heiraten, 1558-1929,” database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JHNN-FNS : accessed 12 January 2016), Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schroeder and Luise Wilhelmine Reese, 26 Jan 1882; citing Sankt Nicolai Evangelisch, Lemgo, Lippe, Germany; FHL microfilm 582,486.

 

Henrich Wiseheart: Untangling the Wiseheart Line (52 Ancestors #52)

Posted on by under 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, Documents, Family History, Genealogy, Immigration, Research Process, Wiseheart Family

Previously, I wrote about John Wiseheart and not being able to figure out which John he is.  As a result, one of my goals for 2016 is to resolve this issue.  A few years ago, my grandpa told me about Henrich Wiseheart, who came over here on the Winter Galley in 1738.  He said he believed that Henrich was our immigrant Wiseheart ancestor and John’s grandfather.  He let me borrow the “Wiseheart” box, full of papers, to look through.  There were several documents on Henrich and his children, which have left me scratching my head.  These are, to the best of my ability to decipher since none of them are cited, passenger lists for the Winter Galley, two orphans court records, three probate records, and a letter from a relative.  I started with the letter.

The letter was addressed to my grandpa and written by Velda Clark.  In it, Velda tells of her sister-in-law finding some information about Hans Nicholas Wiseheart online.  According to this information, Hans Nicholas is the son of Henrich Wiseheart and an unknown mother.  Hans Nicholas married Barbara Lehr and had a son, Johann, with her.  He then married Rachel.  They had Nancy, Polly, Catherine, and John.  The rest of the letter goes on about Polly.1

With this information in mind, I moved on to the orphans court records.  The first one I looked at, dated May of 1763, is about Henry Wisehart, son of Henry Wisehart, whose guardian is Gotlieb Ziegler.  Henry, the son, was born in June of 1744.2  As I had no way of knowing from this whether this was my Henry or not, I filed it away for later.

The next record, dated August of 1750, was for Casper Wiliert and Michael Koontz, guardians of the orphans of Henry Wiseheart.  These children were Christopher (born circa 1741), Hans Nicholas (born circa 1744), and Gartrude (born March 1, 1748).  Christopher was bound out to Godlib Liegler to be an apprentice carpenter.  Hans Nicholas was bound out to Johannes Shultz to be an apprentice blacksmith.  Gartrude was bound out to Casper Wiliert.  No trade was mentioned.3  It seems to be that he is officially taking her in as his ward.

The interesting thing about these records is that Hans Nicholas and the aforementioned Henry, son of Henry, were born about the same time.  I wondered if they might be twins.  However, Henry is not mentioned at all in the orphans court records of August 1750, which names all the children of Henrich.  Then, I noticed that Christpher was bound out to Godlib Liegler and Henry’s guardian is Gotlieb Ziegler.  I believe Liegler was supposed to have been Ziegler.  This made me wonder if Christopher and Henry were the same person, one of the names being his middle name, but there’s quite an age difference between the two records.  The 1763 record says that Henry is eighteen years old.  Christopher was bound until the age of twenty-one, which is how old he would have been in 1763.  I decided to leave it alone for now since Hans Nicholas is my primary concern.

I moved on to the probate records.  The first one, dated May of 1750, identifies Matthias and Elizabeth Culb, Daniel Dreighler, and Casper Wilyard as the administrators of Henry Wisehart’s estate.  It goes on to say that Elizabeth Culb is the late widow of Henry Wisehart.4  I’ve seen this a lot while working on projects at work.  One parent dies and the other remarries and the children are bound out, usually by their step-parent.

The second probate record, dated May of 1751, doesn’t provide any new information on Henrich or his children.4  The third probate record, dated December of 1752, states that Casper Wiliar is one of the bond men for Matthias and Elizabeth Culb.4

I looked at the passenger lists.  There were three lists for the Winter Galley in 1738.  Henrich was thirty years old.  He was listed as Henrich Weyshart on the first list, which was made in Rotterdam, Netherlands.  On the second list, from Deal, Kent, England, he was Henrich Weishart.  On the third list, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was Henry Weishart.  On September 5, 1738, Henrich took the Oath of Allegiance.5

This information is all fairly useful, but I really needed something to help me piece it together.  I decided to look at some user-submitted family trees online, to see if anyone had done this research.  I’m afraid all it did was confuse me more.  One tree suggested that Hans Nicholas went by John, which is a thought I had also had.  After all, Hans is traditionally a short form of Johann or Johannes.  It also mentioned records for Hans Nicholas in Adams County, Pennsylvania and Rockingham County, Virginia.6  I’ll have to look into that.

Another tree suggested that Henrich’s name was actually John Heinrich Wiseheart.7  That made me stop to think that perhaps John, son of John, son of John and John, son of Hans Nicholas, son of Henrich might be the same person.  I compared what I knew about the dates and spouses of both lines and this isn’t possible.  Herein lies the problem with unsourced family trees.  They can be helpful in providing clues to the next puzzle piece, but they can also have you doubting yourself.  I haven’t found anything to suggest that Henrich’s name was John other than this one family tree, and that person doesn’t have a source for that information.

With this post, I have exhausted all of the ancestors about whom I know much of anything.  Because of this, I’ve decided not to do the 52 Ancestors Challenge in 2016.  Instead, my New Year’s Resolution is to research more on the handful of ancestors who have proved to be difficult:  John Wiseheart, Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schröder, Charlotte Poppa, Leason Gilliland (the entire Gilliland family, really), Ossian Salisbury, and Frank Springer.  I also intend to go through all of the fruit boxes full of papers next year, to see what my grandparents have already found on these people.  I will post updates on my progress.

Sources

  1. Clark, Velda. “RE: Hans Nicholas Wiseheart.” Letter to Sanford Wiseheart. 31 May 2006. MS. In My Possession, New Albany, Indiana.
  2. “Henry Wisehart.” Orphans Court Records. York County, Pennsylvania: n.p., 31 May 1763. N. pag. Microfilm.
  3. “Casper Wilert and Michael Koontz.” Orphans Court Records. York County, Pennsylvania: n.p., 4 Aug 1750. N. pag. Microfilm.
  4. “Estate of Henry Wisehart.” Probate Records. York County, Pennsylvania: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Microfilm.
  5. Strassburger, Ralph Beaver, and William John Hinke. “Winter Galley 1738.”Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808. Vol. 1. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub., 1966. 198-203. Print.
  6. Yates-Potter, Dellamarie. “Information about Hans Nicholas Wiseheart.”Yates Family Tree. Genealogy.com, 24 Sept. 2004. Web. 26 Dec. 2015.
  7. “John Heinrich Wiseheart.” Ryner Family Tree. Ancestry.com, n.d. Web. 26 Dec. 2015.