Finding an ancestor between Census Years

Arlene's Question:

My paternal grandmother was born in Mainz, Germany in Sept. 1865 +/-2 years. In 1900 census she lived at 226 East 4th Street in Manhattan, New York. She and her first cousin William Billau were married in Bridgeport, Fairfield Co., CT on 24 Dec 1901. On 20 Oct.1902 my father, Lawrence Billau was born in Bridgeport. On 13 May 1903 William died and was buried in Park Cemetery, Bridgeport Otillia then put Lawrence in Wartburg Orphan Farm School in Mt. Vernon, New York. She moved back to New York City and from there I can not find anything. I heard that she remarried and then died of breast cancer in 1908 or 1909. She was fluent in French and German and was a teacher for Singer Sewing Machine company for the immigrant women. Can you help?

Olive Tree Answer:
Hello Arlene - If Otilia remarried and died within a few years, (and in between federal census reports) it may impossible to find her. I briefly checked the New York City marriage records 1902 - 1910 and did not find her. She may have married in Connecticut or perhaps in Mount Vernon. Or elsewhere.

Look at New York City (and Bridgeport and Mt Vernon ) city directories. You can use an Ancestry.com Free Trial to hunt for census and City Directories.

Check the 1905 NYC census You may be fortunate to find her still as Billau. Look at the LDS catalog for New York state census records for Manhattan Borough and Bronx, 1905. (e.g. Reel 10 FHL microfilm 1433086) 10/7

If you know that they were first cousins, then you must know their parents (and hence siblings). Follow the parents and siblings. Look for obituaries and probate records. There may be a mention of "Mrs X" who is unknown to you, and who might be Otilia's new surname. Where are the rest of the families buried? Check those cemeteries for an "Otilia".

Otillia may be found in a census with one of her siblings or in-laws, but indexed under that surname and not her own.

Why Mt Vernon? Were other family members living there?

The Wartburg orphange building still exists (It is now an eldercare facility). And they do maintain records from the orphanage. I would certainly write them; there may have been recorded visits from Otillia (and perhaps her new last name). gstone@thewartburg.org

Finding a Jewish ancestor

Dan's Question:

My wife’s great grandfather’s last years and his death are somewhat of a mystery. I hope you can assist. He was Louis Rubenstein.
While I have some specific dates about him in Chicago, here’s the jist.
He lived with his wife Henrietta Pearlstein in Chicago, raising four children.
She died in childbirth with the last child, he placed a couple into an orphanage in Cleveland, and tried raising the older two. He retrieved the two in the orphanage “with his new wife” around 1882. And, that’s the last we heard of him.

The family believes that he and his new wife moved to New York City and died in a Jewish home for the elderly there around 1920, or so.I’d like your advice in one major area now: find his re-marriage and new wife’s info; and also where/when did he die.

I’m eager to access the various Homes-for-the-elderly’s resident records, around 1920. How can I do this, and what recommendation do you have??

Olive Tree Answer:
Dear Dan - Unfortunately, there are no readily available records of Homes for the Elderly. There being no Medicare, no Social Security, no federal programs for the elderly, official documents are not to be found. Additionally, there were few assisted-living facilities: most folks simply moved in with their children.

You will have to rely upon traditional research avenues to find Louis and his new family.

The Illinois State archives has pre-1900 marriages online. If he married in Illinois you can obtain the marriage information. You will have to spend some time there, as the Search function is precise: no soundex, no miracode.

Likewise the information for the death of Henrietta may be found there (if she died in Illinois, it is possible that they moved after April 1880 census).

Have you looked at City Directories for Chicago and Cleveland? There must have been a reason for him to have chosen a Cleveland orphanage. Both Footnote,com and
Ancestry.com have City Directories.

Follow the known children. Obtain their census, marriage, death records. When you find a birthdate for Maurice, you will (presumably) have an approximate date for Henrietta's death. I use the census records on
Ancestry.com but Footnote,com also has many online. You may find other sites that have the census records you need.

Louis and his new wife may be living with one of those children; and if his new wife was younger than he, they could have more children. And the data collected on those kids will supply a maiden name for the second wife.

It will be quite a challenge to find the correct Louis Rubenstein in 1920 NYC census if you do not have additional information at hand. Can I assume you have consulted Jewish Gen for help with Jewish genealogy records such as Senior Homes?

Finding an Ancestor in a Colorado orphanage

CAROLYNE asked:

any info on Colorado orphanages...???

Olive Tree Answer: Carolyne, that has to be the briefest question I've had on AskOliveTree! You haven't specified if you want to see a list of all orphanages currently in Colorado, a list of historical orphanges, pointer to a website with records from Colorado orphanages, or.....??

I'll assume you are looking for records of orphans in Colorado orphanages. I like to use a variety of resources to find out what records exist for specific topics in specific locations. One is the online catalogue at FamilySearch.org. They have microfilmed many records and it's a good idea to check their first to see if what you want is available

My second resource is to check the GenWeb site for the location of interest. I suggest you go to the USGenWeb site for Colorado and see if there is any information there

Third - try the state archives for Colorado. If you don't know where these websites are, try Google. See what records the State Archives holds.

What is a Half-Orphan?

Nancy wrote: My grandfather, August Alfred Siegmund, was born in New Jersey in 1889. I was surprised to find him listed in the 1900 census at the Society for Relief of Half Orphans and Destitute Children in New York City because I never knew he was orphaned. He remained in the NYC area and married there in 1913. I assume records were kept when a child was placed in an orphanage - where would I find those records?

MY ANSWER: Hi Nancy. Congratulations on your new find! Half orphans were those who had one parent still alive but that parent could not care for them. So it seems likely your grandfather was not a true orphan (meaning both parents dead)

Yes, the orphanages kept records - often good records, so you can have a look in the FHC catalogue to see what is filmed

There are some orphan records online and also a bit of history on New York orphanages which might interest you.