Finding Parents' Names When all You have is Birth and Death Year

Deb asked

I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how to find info on a person who is buried in the Colborne Township Cemetery Ontario ? This cemetery is online with photos of the headstones. However the stone for the person that I am researching only has the year of birth and the year of death. I am trying to find the names of his parents but with out an exact date of date it is difficult to find an obit etc. His name is Clayton Steels . By the stone he we born in 1920 and died in 2005. I was hoping that a local Genealogy Society had a clipping file by year and name or something. Any ideas.

Olive Tree Response: Deb - there are several ways you could try to find Clayton's parents' names

1. Send for his birth registration (assuming he was born in Ontario). You can request a search  by contacting the Office of the Registrar General.

2. Hunt for an obituary or ask on a mailing list if anyone has access to the 2005 newspapers for the area where he lived and died

3. Write to the cemetery where Clayton is buried and request any information they have.

4. Check out the other STEELS family members who are buried in that same cemetery. There's a very good chance they are all related. In fact I see that James Steels (1881-1947) would be a good age to have a son born 1920. James' wife was Anna (1888-1969), her name is on his stone. Just something to take a look at.

5. If all the above ideas fail, take heart because in six years the 1920 Ontario births will be available to the public. 

Good luck, I hope your quest is successful.

Confusion About Canadian Loyalists Answered

Jim asked an interesting question about an Irish ancestor being a Loyalist

I have Canadian roots in 1850-1869 area of Kingston Ontario Canada, and I am
wondering if they were survivors on a coffin ship, (mine were on the ill
fated Hannah that struck a ice reef and sank) and they have lived in the
Brewers Mills area of Rideau Canal.  MY question is "did they have to become
loyalists" when they got off the ship?  Seeing they were catholic, survived
the "Potatoe Famine" and more than likely hated England? Being a loyalist
did they have a better time of it in Canada than the regular people that
lived there?

OLIVE TREE GENEALOGY ANSWER: Jim - to be a Loyalist a person had to meet certain criteria including:

* Reside in the American Colonies before the American Revolution
* Joined the British Forces before 1783
* Suffered loss of property, goods or life

As you can see, your man did not fit any of these. Besides, no individual "had" to become a Loyalist. A loyalist was someone living in the American Colonies who remained loyal to the King of England and did not participate in the Rebellion on the American side.

If what you are really asking is "Did he have to become a citizen of Canada" the answer is -  Canada was not "Canada" at that time. It was still a British colony until 1867.  

The Canadian Citizenship Act began on 1 January 1947. From 1763 to that date, people born in the provinces and colonies of British North America were all British subjects. Taking the oath of allegiance meant becoming a British subject. Thus immigrants from Great Britain and the Commonwealth (England, Ireland, Wales or Scotland) did not have to be naturalized. 

It is most likely that, being Catholic and Irish, your ancestors had a rough time of it. There was a great deal of discrimination against the Irish at that time, and being Irish Catholic was in a sense a double whammy. 

But you could find some details by consulting the census to see what kind of home they had - a shanty, a log cabin, a stone house, including how many storeys. You could also consult land records to see if they owned land. There are ways to flesh out the bare bones of names and dates. 

How to Find an Ancestor Who Disappears in Canada after 1861

Alexa Genealogy has a challenging question about an ancestor's cousin who disappeared after leaving England for Canada circa 1867. I  edited her question to provide readers with the basic facts and assumptions of the individuals she asked about.

Elizabeth Young was my Great Grandma's lst Cousin. She was documented as born in Bretby, Derbyshire abt June, 1845, and definitely christened there on 15 JUL 1845 - with parents PHOEBE AND ABRAM YOUNG; probably 6 weeks old -because she was 5 in the next census ( n 1851 they guessed born in 1846 - but we know she was born in 1845).

 She was living there, age 5, in the English 1851 census with her parents and family, living on Hoofy Farm, Hartshorne.

 She was boarding at school, as a Trainee Teacher  age 15, in the 1861 English census, in Stapenhill, Derbyshire;

Elizabeth Young left for Canada to marry her sweetheart, JOHN BOND!  (the year?) (1870 +-5).He was also from Derbyshire, England

John Bond and Elizabeth Young were married, for sure, on the quayside, beside the emigrant ship. (Date?) I suspect about 1867. Or a bit later.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHIP. I DONT KNOW WHAT DATE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHORE. It could have been Nova Scotia, or it could have been Quebec

She married, I'm sure whe would have had children. Why can't I find her on the Passenger Lists? Why can't I find a Marriage Certificate? Why can't I even find them in a census after?

In my searches, I found one John Bond, age 29, born in England, C of E, a widower, with 2 tiny girls, living in central Montreal, Quebec, in the 1871 census. A merchant. This could be him.

Hello Alexa - That is indeed a challenging research question!

First: You will want to consult the Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), specifically the Montreal Centre. There the indexes of births, marriages and deaths of non-Catholics in the Québec City area (1790-1875) and in the Montréal area (1760-1899), available on microfiche and microfilm, and the index of births, marriages and deaths of Catholics in the city of Montréal (1642-1899), available on microfilm.

If you are correct that your Elizabeth married in the arrival port then the marriage might be found here. Of course if the ship landed in Nova Scotia you will have to consult records for that province. You're in luck because Marriage Registrations for Nova Scotia 1864-1935 are indexed online at NovaScotiaGenealogy

Second: Look for a death for your Elizabeth in Quebec and Ontario. The problem is that Ontario did not require vital registrations until 1869 so if she died before that year you will have a challenge to find her. Before 1869 you must look for church records so that means knowing where she lived and what religion she was.

Third: Ships passenger lists to Canada did not have to be kept before 1865. So if your Elizabeth sailed before that date it is very possible that there is no surviving passenger list for her. There are passenger lists online from 1865 on both Ancestry.com and at Library & Archives Canada However The early ships lists are very difficult to read and it may be that your Elizabeth's name is badly mangled and misindexed. It may be that it is entirely unreadable so you may have to scroll page by page reading the passenger lists for yourself. You might be able to spot her name by recognizing some other fact such as her age or place of origin.

For alternate ships passenger lists in these early years see Filling in the Gaps  There are shipping company records, emigration officer records, Poor Law Union correspondence and many other records that provide information on an immigrant arriving in Canada in those years.

Fourth: Many early census records for Canada are missing or incomplete. Since you seem to have no information about John Bond (his date of birth etc) *and* you are not sure if Elizabeth died before 1871, it will be difficult for you to determine which, if any, are the correct man.

The only advice I can give you here is to use the search engines and use wildcards. Be creative in your searches. For example perhaps the family is listed under BUND, BAND, BONDD, BONDE or any other variant spelling and misspelling of the surname. Perhaps John is listed only under his initial J. or perhaps he used his middle name or a nickname. Try other possibilities!

Fifth: You mention a possibility for John in the 1871 Quebec census. My advice is to follow this family - look for the marriages for the two daughters and see who they say their mother is. Look for a death in Quebec of John. You have some good clues and avenues of research left to explore.

Using Wildcards to Break Down a Brick Wall

Roxanne asked about her great grandfather's arrival in Canada and naturalization date:

I am looking for informationon my great grandfather.  He came over to Canada about* 1913 on a ship.  I'm not sure from which port but he came from Sweden to Ontario.  He started out in Kenora, Ont.  On the ship were two or three of his children and his wife:
Albin Franz Danielson (my great-grandfather)and Charlotte (Wohlin), along with Sonia, Siren and Donald their children. (All the children are under 5).  I can not seem to locate a passenger's list anywhere to find out where in Sweden they came from.  Or when they became citizens of Canada.  I do know that Charlotte his wife died in Kenora, Ontario in 1917 and my great-grandfather died in Eagle River, Ontario 1970.  I've looked at many different passenger lists but still could not find them.

ASK OLIVE TREE RESPONSE: Hi Roxanne. I don't usually do lookups or research on this blog. Instead I try to direct genealogists towards locations to find the records they want or to offer ideas on where/how they might search next.

However your question intrigued me! I wondered why you had not found Albin on a ships passenger lists, since passenger lists to Canada after 1865 are online on Ancestry.com and at Library & Archives Canada. So I headed to Ancestry.com to have a look.

They have the complete set of ships passenger lists to Canada from 1865. I figured it might be the spelling of the names and that perhaps you weren't aware you could use wildcards. That brings me to another point I wanted to make - when you are struggling with a brick wall ancestor, find out WHAT records are available for your needs and WHERE they are kept!

Tip #1: Use Wildcards!

So I started with wildcards and did a search for DANIELS*N. That allows for e, o, i or any number of other substitutions for the *

With this method I found  someone I thought was your Albin travelling to Kenora Ontario in May 1911 on board the Lake Manitoba. I wasn't 100% sure it was the right man but then I found Albin's wife and children arriving later with the notation that Charlotte was headed to her husband in Kenora. Bingo. Albin came first and Charlotte and the children followed in August 1911 on board Empress of Ireland. You can find the passenger lists online and enjoy reading all the details.

Charlotte,  28, was with two children (not 3) named Sonya age 3 and Albin aged 1 1/2. Could Albin Jr be Sorin? Albin was with a man named Axel Adolph Danielson but I can't read his age with certainty. I'm wondering if he was related - a brother perhaps? There is a notation beside Albin's name which you will want to follow up "Continental Bonus Allowed"

It didn't take long and that is why it's important to use wildcards in searches to allow for mis-spellings, mangled readings of surnames and other errors.

Tip #2: Be prepared for errors and inconsistencies when comparing records to family lore/memories

Also you're going to have to be very creative with the wildcard searches because I found the marriage of your Albin to Olga Anderson in 1918 in Kenora. But he is recorded as "DONALDSON". He's a farmer, widower, living in Eagle River born in Sweden and with parents "D. Danielson"  and "Brita Crautch" This also was found on Ancestry.

Interestingly a birth registration for his son Carl Donald in Kenora in 1912 shows Albin as "Frans Albin Danielson" but a death registration for another son (unnamed) who was born and died in Dec 1916 records him as "Albin Donaldson" We know it is your ancestor from his wife's name in that record - "Charlotte Wallis" So either he called himself Donaldson/Danielson interchangeably or the clerks doing the recording misunderstood what he was saying.

Tip #3: Finding Naturalization Records

Remember you want to find out WHAT records are available and WHERE they are kept. So for naturalization records I went to NaturalizationRecords.com, clicked on Canada and then used the link there to go to the LAC (Library &Archives Canada) searchable index for Naturalization records 1915-1936.

Another bingo! Your great grandfather is found there as Frans Albin Danielson. His two minor children Sonya and Soren are also naturalizing with him so you will want to send for the full record. You can do so by reading how to do this on the LAC website.

And that's all there was to it. If I were you I would now search Swedish records for Frans Albin/Albin Frans and his parents, as well as the Axel Adolph Danielson he was travelling with in 1911. I'd also search records after 1911 for Axel to see if there's a family connection to your Albin. 

Canadian Citizenship Records 1950s

Yolanda asked about lists of Canadian citizens in 1959:

I am looking for some help as I do not know where to start.  I am looking for a list of people who became Canadian citizens in 1959.

Please advise as to where I might find these records...

Hello Yolanda - You won't find such a list. Canada has strict privacy laws. The most recent Canadian public census is 1911. Compare that to the United States whose most recent public census is 1930 (with 1940 being made public in a year)

If you are looking for one specific individual, you may be able to access that information (depending on your relationship to the person and a few other factors) See http://naturalizationrecords.com website for the answers. Choose Canada Naturalization Records. Good luck.

Finding an Ancestor in 1851 Agricultural Census Canada

Susan had a question about the 1851 Agricultural Census for Ontario Canada

I recieved an answer from you on May 24, 2011 about John Edmondson. Thank you! I have another question. I can't seem to get to the 1851 agricultural census. Every time I try all I get is the regular 1851 census.

Hi Susan -

Go to Ancestry.com

Type in your ancestor's name as John edm*ds*n (using the wildcards allows for mispellings)

Keyword: Perth


Collection Priority: Only Canadian Records


Choose CENSUS when the results are shown. 

See the two hits for 1851 census? The first is the personal census, the second is the Agricultural census

Hiding in Plain Sight

Nicole wrote to me last year with a query that began with

According to the family and the SSDI my great grandfather Stanley Albert Gorleski was born 4/19/1900 in Pennsylvania USA (no county of birth found yet) - he lived in Westmoreland County, PA for the majority of his adult life; well that's all the family ever knew...

Nicole went on to say she could find nothing on Stanley in any census records except for a possibility in 1920 but in the wrong part of Pennsylvania and this Stanley was 10 instead of the expected 20 years old. We exchanged another email where I asked for more details. Nicole provided a bit more including this

Ella & Stanley spent their married life in New Kensington, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

I set Nicole's email aside, with good intentions to work on it. But I forgot and it fell to the bottom of my pile of requests. Well, one year later Nicole wrote - a very lovely, polite and gentle email in which she asked if I perhaps had forgotten about her or more likely couldn't answer her question and that was why she never saw it on my Ask Olive Tree blog.

Yes, I said one year. Nicole waited an entire year then wrote to me again. But she didn't demand and she didn't chastise me. I wish everyone would take a lesson from Nicole! I get a lot of angry, demanding emails and all that accomplishes is my blood pressure rises and I delete the question. As my grandmother used to say "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" and Nicole is a great example of that adage.

I was so impressed with her letter that I decided to forgo my usual advice and suggestions for pointing researchers in what is hopefully the right direction. Instead I set about researching Nicole's Stanley Gorleski. Many hours later and with one of the most challenging research puzzles I've ever tackled, I'm pleased to say I have found the family. Because it was such a challenge (poor Nicole, no wonder nothing was found!) I am writing up how I found them, where I found them and the difficulties I had to overcome. I hope this will help other genealogists.


Polish & Other Non-North American Names

One thing I've learned is that Polish names  are often very badly mangled both in transcribing and in recording. Often the immigrant had a thick accent or spoke very little English,  so the census taker or clerk could only record what he heard. So the original record can be different from the name as the researcher knows it. That meant that Gorleski could be very different in the records - such as Gorlesky, Gorlewski, or any other variant. And that's not taking into account transcriber error - the person indexing the records may have had trouble reading the handwriting.

Using Wildcards

So I like to begin with wildcard searches. Since I'm going to focus on census records on Ancestry.com, I'm going to start my search using Stan* Go*l*sk* as the first and last name (that will find variations in the surname as well as first name Stanley such as Stanly or Stanislau or Stanislaw... I can't assume that his name as Nicole knew it was his baptismal name)  

Even though Nicole stated Stanley was born in Pennsylvania I'm not restricting my search with a birth location, just a date of birth (1900) plus/minus 2 years. I'm using Pennsylvania in the keyword field as I only want results that include the word Pennsylvania, either as place of residence or birth.

Possible Family in 1920 Census - a Working Theory Begins

My best result was a hit in 1920 census in New Kensington, Westmoreland Pennsylvania  for a  Stanley Gorlewski aged 19, born Pennsylvania. I had a gut feeling this was Nicole's ancestor (Do you get those feelings? I do and I run with them as a working theory while I work to prove or disprove it) so I noted the parents and siblings and details to try to find the family in 1910 and earlier.

Briefly the father was Joseph Gorlewski, age 50 born Poland/Russia (that is how it was recorded), immigration year 1885, not naturalized (as proven by notation AL in the column). Mother Anna age 50 same location of birth, immigration year not known. That was interesting as it may indicate they did not immigrate together. Just something to jot down and keep in mind as I search.

Children were all born in Pennsylvania, another interesting fact as it may mean that Joseph and Anna married in USA. Just another thought to jot down. They were John, 29; Gust 26 (I jotted a note that this could be short for Gustave or Gustaf); Mary 21; Stanley 19, Joseph 19; Esther 17 and Martha 14.  Since nothing jumped out in 1900 or 1910 for the search I'd done for Stan* Go*l*sk* I knew I had to either conduct a less restrictive search or use more wildcards in the surname or search for the parents or another child.

I've got way more clues now but searching under the parents' names turned up nothing that seemed solid. Searching for Stanley was not successful either. At least it wasn't apparent to me that any of the hits I got were for him.xx

Success in 1900 Census when search parameters widened

Bingo! One of the hits for 1900 was for a Golefskey family living in Allegheny Pennsylvania. Parents were Joseph, 35 born Poland and Antonia 30 born Germany as well as children John, 8; Gustav  age 5; Mary 1 and little Stanley 1 month. Dad stated his immigration year was 1888, mom said hers was 1890 and they were married in 1891. This looked really promising as the children matched the 1920 family where expected. And little Stanley's birth was listed as April 1900 which also fit with Nicole's known date of birth for her ancestor.

What added more weight to this being the correct family was that I had earlier found that John, the older brother,  was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Feb. 17, 1892. And Pittsburgh is in Allegheny. (The miscellaneous records I found for John were his WW1 Draft Registration, his WW2 records, and his burial in St. Mary's Cemetery, Lower Burrell, Westmoreland)

1910 Census Badly Messed Up

But I still could not find the family in 1910.  That's when I decided to search for Gust, the son who was 5 in 1900 and 26 in the 1920 census. I opted to use this in the name fields: Gus* G*l*sk*  I wanted to widen my search to  possible surname mangling. The only hit that seemed even remotely possible was for a Gustave Godleski age 16 born Pennsylvania, living in Pittsburgh, but the index said his father was John not Joseph. On a hunch I checked the actual image.

Wow, what an indexing mess! John who was listed as the father in the index was actually John, age 18, the oldest brother of siblings Gustave 16; Mary 12; Stanley 10; Joseph 8; Anastasia 6 and Martha 4. They were at the top of the census page so that meant their parents were on the previous page. Sure enough parents were listed as Joseph Godleski 42 born Russia and wife Antonia 40 born Germany. They said they'd been married 19 years so that fit nicely with what I'd found on the other census records.

Census Year 1930 Turns Up More Clues

I decided to hunt for the family in 1930 and using John this time I found the family where expected - New Kensington. This time they consisted of Antoinette Gorlewski age 58, a widow, born Germany, immigrated in 1890, not naturalized, with sons John 38 and Joseph 28.

Summary

Don't get me wrong. This was a very frustrating and time-consuming search. I didn't just quickly think of how and where to search, then bingo there the family was. I had many many search results that didn't help at all. I had to keep trying various methods of searching - no last name, no date of birth, no location, and so on. I've tried to summarize the successes in this blog post but genealogists need to realize there were many many failures along the way!

Thankfully I'm pretty stubborn because last night I gave up. I'd only found Stanley in 1920 and was frustrated by my inability to find anyone but his brother John in any other records (including census). But after a good night's sleep I woke up this morning with an "aha!" moment in my head. I figured there were dozens of other methods I could use to find this family wherever they were hiding.

What Did I Learn From the Census? And What Can Nicole Do With This Information?

1. The family surname was recorded as Gorleski, Gorlewski, Golefsky and Godleski. So Nicole will need to use wildcards or creative searching to search for more information

2. Stanley's mother's name was recorded as Anna, Antonia and Antoinette. Wildcards needed for further searching!

3. It appears that Joseph and Anna came over separately so look for Joseph alone or perhaps with sibings or cousins or parents in ships passenger lists 1888 plus/minus 2 years.

4. It appears Joseph and Anna married in USA (possibly in Pennsylvania) so look for their marrage in 1891 plus/minus 1 year

5. All the children were born in Pennsylvania, and John the eldest was most likely born in Pittsburgh in February 1892. Look for his birth record to find out Anna's maiden name

6. Joseph died between the 1920 and 1930 census. There is a good chance he died and is buried in New Kensington. Look for a death record and a grave.

7. We have months and years of birth for both the parents and the children from the 1900 census. Perhaps birth records for all the children can be found

I think this is enough to give Nicole something to keep her busy for a very long time! I really enjoyed this challenge as it forced me to step outside my usual methods of searching. It also forced me to do a lot of studying and analyzing of every bit of information I found, going step by step very slowly as I developed a working theory of the family. I love that!  So thanks, Nicole!