Category: Moore Family

Mysterious Ancestors

Posted on by Kathleen

I’ve been so disorganized in the last few weeks. I recognize now that’s why I don’t feel like I’ve gotten anything accomplished. However, I have many hours of television on my DVR to catch up on and a few hours to spare. So I’m taking that time to sit down and look over some of my current mysteries. I’m on a Mays family hiatus, in case you were wondering. That two death certificates thing just through me completely off my game.

George Yohn / George Thorward

Okay, he’s my biggest mystery. I’ve discussed him with myself and others many times since I had my latest breakthrough. Here are the facts about George Thorward.

  1. He is most definitely George Thorward through my Great-Great Grandfather’s life. I don’t have Lewis’ birth or death records but as our family is most notably Thorward, I’ve got to assume we’re Thorwards.
  2. In the 1900 and 1910 censuses they ask for year of Immigration. George answered 1865[1. 1910 United States Census; Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey; ED 156; Dwelling: 38, Family: 39;] and 1867[1. 1900 United States Census; Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey; ED 215; Dwelling: 133, Family: 145;].
  3. There was no George Thorward in 1870 Caldwell, New Jersey.
  4. There was a George Yohn living next door to Josephine Doremus in 1870. George Thorward’s wife, whom he married in 1871.
  5. I found a marriage record for George Yohn and Josephine Doremus on the New Jersey Archives website.
  6. George Thorward was in the tobacco business his whole life. George Yohn is listed as a cigar maker’s apprentice in 1870.[3. 1870 United States Census; Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey; Dwelling: 118, Family: 134;]

The things I’m doing to resolve this problem:

  1. I sent away for the marriage record between George Yohn and Josephine Doremus to see what it says.
  2. I’m making a list of the dates of all these Caldwell/Essex County events so that if I get a chance in July, I’ll be ready to go to the local library in New Jersey.

William H Moore

William Moore runs a very close second to George Thorward when it comes to mysteries. Here’s what I know about him:

  1. He first shows up in 1870 census in Chicago with his wife and oldest three children[4. 1870 United States Census; Chicago Ward 9, Cook, Illinois; Dwelling: 1570, Family 2102;]. My Great-Great Grandfather isn’t born until 1871.
  2. Through city directories I know that William lived in Chicago from 1866 to 1870. This might explain why Cook County didn’t have a record of Robert’s birth in 1871.
  3. He immigrated to the United States in either 1858 or 1859[5. 1900 United States Census; Brooklyn Ward 25, Kings, New York; ED 441; Dwelling: 115, Family 252;] [6. 1910 United States Census; Brooklyn Ward 25, Kings, New York; ED 696; Dwelling: 241, Family: 461;]
  4. In 1920, William and his daughter Mary are living at 7 Myrtle Ave in Caldwell, New Jersey.[7. 1920 United States Census; Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey; ED 22; Dwelling: 366, Family: 382;]
  5. I found dates of death penciled onto the back of the Brooklyn Cemetery deed. William’s is given as July 28, 1928.
  6. Caldwell, New Jersey, July 28, 1928 did not return a record when I sent away for it.
  7. I don’t know if his wife immigrated at the same time as him or if they married after. She died in 1896, before the immigration question on the census.

What I need to do to solve his mysteries?

  1. I need to fill the gaps between his estimated birth of 1836 and 1870. His daughter Mary was born in 1865 in New York. His next child was born in 1868 in Chicago.
  2. When I go to look up things in New Jersey, I have to check myself to see if he did in fact die in Caldwell or some other part of Essex County.
  3. I want to find an obituary for him to see if it mentions anything about his early life.
  4. I should look in New York and see if there is a marriage record for him and his wife, Mary.
  5. I should also look and see if there is a naturalization record for him. In 1910, he says he is a naturalized citizen. There should be a record of it somewhere. I just don’t know if his very generic name will be a road block.

Sources

Verification is Wonderful

Posted on by Kathleen

Ever since I started this journey into genealogy, I’ve learned something new everyday. It’s wonderful to learn so many different things. Whether it be a technique to searching the census or what exactly a Sawyer is. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in genealogy is to verify, verify, verify. I’m still learning all the different types of sources you can use to learn millions of different facts.

Awhile back, I found my William H Moore in a Chicago city directory. In fact, I found him in Chicago directories for the years 1866 through 1870.

Above is William‘s household in the 1870 US Census [1. 1870 United State Census, Chicago Ward 9, Cook County, Illinois; p. 248, family 1570, dwelling 2102, lines 25-29; July 7, 1850; National Archives Microfilm M593 , Roll 204.] It wasn’t until today that I had the idea to use the city directory on Footnote.com to verify that the William in this census is the same William in the city directory. Without some kind of verification, how would I ever be sure that my William was in fact living at 56 Foster all those years ago.

I’m happy to report that he is![2. J.H. and C.M Goodsell, Publishers, Printers & Stationers (1869), City Directory – Chicago, page 55 & 629.] I checked the neighbor right above, and the neighbor right below. In fact, the neighbor right below is also listed at 56 Foster. A little strange since the dwelling number goes up between their households. Maybe this was an apartment or duplex? I tried going for more neighbors but their surnames are a little harder to interpret then the Atzel and Pullver families were. I’ll try again later though!

Now I wonder what I can figure out now that I know his address!

Tech Tuesday: Slide Updates

Posted on by Kathleen

I hope everyone reading this had a very, merry Christmas! I’ve been enjoying a few new gadgets. The first gadget I got was a slide viewer that I mentioned earlier this month. I found a few slides that I really wish I could get prints of. They were of my Aunt Diane and some of their family photos. The problem was, I didn’t know what to do. So I went to Google and it brought me up a few options. One of them didn’t cost me a penny!

It turned out that my mother’s scanner has a slide scanner template built into the top. All I had to do was slide the placeholder off and slide my slides in. Then hit the button for film scan. This method will also work for negatives! So if you have a scanner, take a second to study the inside of it’s lid. You might have this feature too! Pressing the film scan button brought up the software that came with the scanner where I could choose between a negative or positive/slide.

Now I can share these photos with my family on Facebook, and I can print them out and frame them for individuals!

I really can’t wait to dig in and see what other treasures I find. It’s really difficult to find pictures of my aunts and dad when they were younger. It’s even more difficult to find pictures of their brother Stevie, who is no longer with us.

By the way, for my regular readers, the house Dad’s family is posing in is in fact the Park Avenue house. There are a bunch of inside shots among the slides!

Those Places Thursday: Park Avenue House

Posted on by Kathleen

One of the places that I often think about is the house on Park Avenue. Anytime we have a family get together, this house always comes up. Everyone on my dad’s side of the family has memories of this house. Whether it be the layout of the house, the renovations done, or the way the porch was screened in during the winter. Unfortunately, I don’t have any memories of the house. So I soak up any information that people give to me about the house. Now I just have to remember to type it all up and keep it in my files for later.

Park Avenue house, October 2010.

We even drove by the house when we were in Caldwell in October for my cousin’s wedding. Though it looks different, I can recognize much of the original house just by looking at it. (Thanks to my sister for getting the picture!)

Park Avenue house.

Even when people contact me about the family tree, they ask me about this house. I don’t think people love this house because of it’s floor plan or windows. I think people loved the people who lived in this house.

Park Avenue house.

The more I research William and Llewellyn, the more I see that they were well loved by everyone around them. When I first started researching genealogy, I was just soaking up the facts and collecting dates. It’s different now. Now I’m learning about the people. I’m seeing the full scope of things. I’m learning why I am the way I am. Not only that, but I’m learning why my ancestors where the way they were.

July 1931, Park Avenue house.

I have a lot of pictures and documents that pertain to this house. Including all the documents from when William and Llewellyn bought the house. I’ll share those with you another day though.

Park Avenue house.

Would it be weird to knock on the door and ask to come in for a looksie?

Those Places Thursday is a blogging theme being used by GeneaBloggers, it was originally started by Cheryl Palmer at Heritage Happens!

Wednesday Fun!

Posted on by Kathleen

Thanks for your opinions on my dilemma yesterday! Both on twitter and in the comments. 🙂 I decided to have a little fun today before I got started on work and last minute wrapping for Christmas.

I’ve been catching up on The Generations Project. I’ve been recording it on my DVR for the last few weeks and I’ve finally found some time to catch up. While I was watching, I realized I’d like to see if there were previous episodes available to view online (there is!). While I was there, I decided to do some of the fun activities they have on their site. I usually skip by those things but for some reason I decided to do them this time. As a website designer I really want to make more of an effort to view bells and whistles on other websites so I can learn more!

Make Your Own Family Pedigree

The first activity was to make your own family photo tree! This was really fun for me. The only thing I wanted was one more generation because I actually have photos that far back! Very fun, In fact, I might even try printing this out at some point and framing it for my wall! Why not, right?

Make your Family Crest.

The second activity was to make your own family crest. I chose the cell phone and book as our symbols because that’s what we usually talk about. Books and gadgets! The rest were picked as personal preferences by me. 🙂

There was also a lookalike activity that I did not do. I have phobias about people looking at my picture and judging it. You should try it if you don’t have that phobia though! The activities were definitely fun to play with though! Try it yourself at The Generations Project on byu.tv.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with BYU or The Generations Project. I was just wanting to play with stuff and their stuff was there for the taking. I don’t own any of the images except my own personal family photos.