The Family Tree Problem Solver: Tried-And-True Tactics for Tracing Elusive Ancestors (32 page)

You may find it necessary to reconstruct a whole family before you can find its origins in a prior community. In the process of reconstruction, you probably will find names of associates that can help you identify a former residence. By reconstructing families, you can learn the relative ages of its members and determine how the dependents should fall into the age categories of various census records. If you reconstruct the family in a later time period and determine all the children who survived to adulthood, those same children should appear in the parent's household in earlier decades.

Let's look at the family of William Jenkins. In 1837, William Jenkins purchased 160 acres in Section 21, Township 30, Range 21 of Greene County, Missouri. After pinpointing his location, we need to get an idea of his age. William Jenkins appeared as head of household in the 1840 federal census, listed between Thomas J. Whitlock and Columbus Williamson. His household consisted of two males age five to ten, one male age ten to fifteen, one male age fifteen to twenty, one male age twenty to thirty, one male age fifty to sixty, one female age ten to fifteen, one female age fifteen to twenty, one female age twenty to thirty, and one female age forty to fifty.

What do we now know about this family? That it included an older man who apparently had a living wife and several children. Because of the ages of the children, we can surmise that William was nearer the age of fifty than forty. We know the names of two neighbors, Whitlock and Williamson.

At the time of the 1850 census, William Jenkins was still in Greene County, listed in dwelling #551. He was sixty-six years old, born in Georgia; his wife Susan, age sixty-one, was born in North Carolina. The children then living with them had been born in Kentucky: William W., age twenty-seven, Willfred, age twenty-five, Edward, age twenty-one, James W. and Irvin W., both age nineteen.

From this information, we deduce that the family should have been living in Kentucky in 1830, and at least three of their children should be on that census. But because there was more than one Jenkins family who met the criteria, it would be quicker and more reliable for us to reconstruct the family in Missouri before we move our search back into Kentucky.

I used the following sources to reconstruct the family: marriage records, cemetery inscriptions, probate records, deeds, local histories, and newspapers.

Let's look at each family member and see what the records tell us that can help us determine their origins. William's wife was Susan [— ? —]. (We're lucky that Susan is an easier name to search than Sarah or Mary!) We know Susan's approximate age and her birthplace. From her age, we know that she could have been the mother of all the children. Because the family was from Kentucky, she should have signed deeds releasing her dower. Now let's look at the children.

The last two children were born after 1830, so they would not figure in our reconstruction.

Let's recheck the 1840 census and see if the ages are consistent with what we have learned to be
sure
we have the right family. Have we accounted for the all dependents? Census ages are rarely exact from decade to decade, so we must make
some
allowances; except for William Jr., everyone fits in the category where they should.

Now, instead of searching the 1830 census for a William Jenkins with three known dependents, we are looking for a man with seven dependents — possibly eight, if we count Dominick, who was said to be the oldest.

There were five men who were head of household in Kentucky in 1830 named William Jenkins, but now only one Jenkins household fits the proper configuration; it was in Caldwell County.

On 12 May 1836 William and Susanna Jenkins sold to James L. Priest land on Eddy Creek for $1000. The marriage book recorded that Caroline Jenkins married C.C. Williamson 4 March 1834 in Caldwell County. Additional deeds led to William's father, John Jenkins, and all of William's brothers and sisters. Not only did I find William, but C.C. Williamson as well (Caldwell County Kentucky Deed Book H:185).

More than any other method, identifying and locating my ancestor's associates led me to the correct origins of the families that I was researching. Associates often turn out to be family, but even if they do not, they may lead you to the people and the places you seek.

No
record is too obscure or insignificant to offer a vital clue.
Ordinary researchers scan records looking for the genealogical “headlines” — the big nuggets rather than the tiny kernels — and in doing so, they often miss important details. Excellent researchers, on the other hand, never let a clue slip through their fingers. Let's look at an example.

Greenberry Adams was an ordinary man, one who created very few records in the fifteen years he lived in Greene County, Missouri. I will not list all the records that I checked where he did not appear. All I knew was that according to the 1850 census, he was born in 1803 in Tennessee. His wife was Sarah [— ? —]. His elder children were born in Tennessee, placing him there between 1831 and 1832, but he was not listed as head of household there in 1830. There were, however, plenty named Adams. I could start searching all of them, but what would I find? Too many slash marks that wouldn't mean a thing. So I had to go back to Missouri, where I knew who Greenberry was.

On the nonalphabetized tax list of Greene County, Greenberry was listed between James H.M. Smith and John T. Williams.
Smith, Adams, Williams
. Was this a conspiracy? I was beginning to feel persecuted by so many common names! Greenberry had moved from the county by 1856, leaving no clue as to his destination. I found only one county land record for Greenberry.

On 10 January 1843, Green B. Adams mortgaged to Jasper Ruyle, for $5, “land on which he then lived on an unsurveyed township and range,” as well as one sorrel mare seven years old, one iron grey colt, three cows, and two calves, if Jasper Ruyle agreed to stand security on a promissory note given to Samuel Asher on 21 July 1831 for $43.75. Green B. was also indebted to Jasper Ruyle for $27.68 that he had borrowed 15 October 1841. There was no release on the mortgage, found in Greene County, Missouri, Deed Book C:104–105.

This land record has three significant clues for the genealogist.

1.
Greenberry was not a rich man. He was mortgaging the home place and two horses. He was taxed for only two horses in 1835. He was desperate!

2.
He had signed a note to Samuel Asher in 1831. That note almost certainly was signed in Tennessee, as Greenberry was probably present when his child was born there that year. If I could find Samuel Asher, I should find Greenberry.

3.
Jasper Ruyle was a friend indeed. Jasper stood as security and he loaned Greenberry more money in 1841. (What a good guy!) How long had they been friends? I hoped they had been friends for years and years and years. If I could find Jasper, perhaps I could find Greenberry as well.

Jasper Ruyle was not a difficult man to find. He had come to Greene County with his parents and large extended family from Wilson County, Tennessee, and had descendents remaining in Missouri. I checked the records in Wilson County, Tennessee. Greenberry Adams had married Sarah Perriman there. Her family also had come to southwest Missouri. So, Greenberry had come with his wife's family. Once I knew which county to look in, I found that Greenberry had sold his land in Tennessee in October 1833, which beautifully coincided with his appearance on the tax list of Greene County, Missouri, in 1834.

When you can identify your ancestor's friends and associates, begin following the trail of clues that connects them to each other. Carefully analyze each record that you find. As I have demonstrated, sometimes the clues are obscure, so the trail may not be obvious — but I can almost guarantee that one exists.

Tenets for the Tenacious: Suggestions for discovering the origins of pioneer ancestors

1.
Adopt a versatile approach when choosing research techniques. No one or two (or even five) methods will work in any given case. The method that was brilliantly successful for one problem may slam you into a brick wall for the next. Difficult cases usually require trial and error until a clear trail emerges.

2.
Learn all you can about your ancestor and his community. Don't focus on just a name. Learn his age, the name of his wife (or wives), the names and ages of all his children, the names of the children's spouses, the names of his associates, his religion, his occupation, his economic and educational status, the exact time of his migration, and where his neighbors originated. Study county histories for the names and origins of other early pioneers in your ancestor's community.

Isolate the first five years that your ancestor lived in the new community
. Consider every-one with whom he had contact during that period as potential relatives. As people migrated, they often traveled in groups. Group members often intermarried and continued to associate with one another in the new community — particularly if they belonged to an ethnic group such as the Ulster Scots, who retained their clan system in the new country for generations.

3.
Expect your ancestor to be normal.
Normal
is defined here as doing what most people do at a given period of their lives. Expect him to move with others; expect him to be married to one wife at a time; expect him to have come from a place similar to his new place of residence. Assume that he will form connections with other people, try to support his family, shoulder family responsibilities, strive to improve his conditions, and behave as others in his age group and socioeconomic bracket.

Look for the records normally created during the course of a life. The odds are good that you will find data pertaining to your ancestor. If that fails, move to more exotic possibilities such as bastardy bonds, criminal records, and penitentiary archives.

4.
Focus on families, not surnames. Work with as many correlated surnames as possible. Success in tracking origins often depends on the number of surnames you can associate with the ancestral family search. Look for relationship webs, not straight lines.