Look for Obituaries & Death Records of Everyone in the Family

Diane asked for help with William Henry Leitch

Son of John E Leitch and Sarah Blagborough in Brantford, Ontario.  He is my grandfather.  I found reference to him in the 1924 Brantford City Directory, working as a salesman for Met Life Insurance.  After that……..nothing.  I know he and my G.mother separated shortly after that date……any suggestions on how I might find out what happened to him?  Have not been able to locate him in any local cemetery or find an obit or death record for him.  His sister emigrated to Mass, USA and I found her but he was not with her.

Diane

1953 Voter's List

I did a little digging and found William born ca 1887 and often going by his middle name of Henry in the records. In 1891 he is 4 years old in Brantford with his parents and sister Florence May. In 1901 he is a lodger in Brantford with his wife Nellie. In 1921 he and Nellie and their son Harold are still in Brantford.

In 1953 his wife Nellie is listed as a widow living in Brantford with their son Harold and a Mavis Leitch who I suspect is a daughter.

Nellie may have lied about her matrimonial status but it is also possible she was telling the truth. I would look for cemetery records in and around Brantford between 1924 and 1953. Also you might check newspapers for an obituary of either his sister in Massachusetts or William Henry himself. Try death records and obituaries of his children as well.

Could this be your Nellie Leitch celebrating her 90th birthday? Brantford Expositor Index:

Leitch Mrs Nellie 90th

Birthday

Jul 16, 1980

P20

Leitch Nellie 90th

Birthday

Jul 26, 1980

P19

Perhaps this is her death?

LEITCH, NELLIE ADA

Death

Jan 25, 1992

You can search for yourself at http://brantford.library.on.ca/localhistory/bmd/search-the-bmd/ 

Obituaries and death records of all family members may prove to be very helpful

Proving Statements in Obituaries

Question from Marguerite :

Would you by any chance know any information about the great grandfather of General Lew Wallace?

I have transcripts of obits for my 3 great grandfather, James Madison Wallace (b. 1810 Huntington Co, Pennsylvania, d. 1889, Loudoun Co, Virginia), son of William Wallace m. Bethia Steel. They both state that James Madison Wallace is a first cousin of General Lew Wallace. The one in VA states "their fathers were brothers" but this phrase is omitted in the PA obit.

Can you fill in any information? I suspect that the father of "my" James is the brother of the grandfather of Lew. Is there any way this can be proven?

OLIVE TREE ANSWER: Hi Marguerite - to prove (or DISprove) that these men were brothers, you will need to find reference to each of them with parents. So you will need birth or baptism records, or marriage records or census records when they are still at home with their parents. Census is not going to work for you given the years of birth. So that leaves marriages and births or baptisms.

You may want to have a look at Ancestor Birth Record Finder and Ancestor Marriage Record Finder for ideas on where to look for hard-to-find birth or marriage records.

You could also hunt for obituaries for both men - General Lew Wallace and the father of your James (William) but don't forget that an obituary was not written by the individual him/herself. Therefore it is only as reliable as the person who submitted it - and they may or may not know the facts.

Last but certainly not least, hunt for a biography of Lew Wallace and obtain more information on his parents and siblings. I had a quick search online and found dozens of bios. One states that

General Lewis Wallace, known for most of his life as “Lew,” was born in Brookville,Indiana, on April 10, 1827. He was the second of four sons born to David and Esther Test Wallace. http://www.ben-hur.com/WallaceBiography.pdf

It goes on to say that one son, John, died at a young age. So that leaves 2 brothers for Lew and you will want to find out if one was named William. If the answer is "yes" is it YOUR William? Should be a fun time for you!

Finding an ancestor with an unusual surname

Norma's Question:

I have researched my family pretty well here in USA. My Maiden name is
Ernenputsch, and. as you can see it is unusual and there are about 175 or so with that name. I have the entrance of my gggrandfather and family into the states, however when I check the German files I cannot locate him or his family in Germany. How or where do I search to find information on him or
his parents? His name is Carl/Charles Ernenputsch and is found to be a widower on the passenger list. He and his 3 children immigrated November 6,
1885. I lost track of him until his death in Michigan 1918. My grandfather's name was Hugo and I pretty much have his information. His
brother Charles was murdered in Lincoln Twn., Newaygo, Michigan. His murder was never solved. They had a sister by the name of Rosetta (aka Setta.) I have traced her to Chicago by her married name of Whitfield, and she had 3 daughters. I would appreciate very much to be able to make contact with her descendants but without knowing their married name I am at a loss. How do I find out what the married names are?

Olive Tree Answer:
Dear Norma, You have many questions, I will try to briefly answer each of them.

You are blessed and cursed with an unusual surname. The good part is that you may be able to find other Ernenputsch's who have more complete details which can provide you with clues to where families with that name originated. Some may have complete Home Town information on their passenger lists, or on their applications for naturalization. Some people have detailled obituaries which mention their birthplaces. As far as Carl is concerned, have you obtained his death certificate? The Library of Michigan, in partnership with Michigan State Archives, has placed death certificates 1897 - 1920 online.

Did he have an obituary? Did he apply for naturalization? Or did Carl and Hugo naturalize? Footnote.com has Naturalization Records from NARA. Ancestry.com also has Naturalization records as part of their World Archives Project

And be sure to look for burials: oftentimes immigrants have both their hometowns and US towns proudly carved on those headstones.

Did you derive the emigration information from an index, or from the actual Hamburg passenger list? The Hamburg list has a residence included.

As you have Hugo's complete information (including birthdate) it will be easier to identify the correct person when you get to those German church records. Don't forget the German naming conventions, do a search on vornamen and ruhnamen for further explanations.

As for Rosetta Whitfield, I did a quick check at the Illinois State Archives; Rosetta died 07 July 1937 in Chicago: her obituary will probably give the daughter's married names. And check the 1910 census: I believe there is another daughter. You can find obituaries in many online newspaper sites such as Ancestry.com, GenealogyBank.com or NewspaperArchive.com

Finding an Ancestor from America in Upper Canada (Ontario) before 1850

Lara asked on Jan 19, 2009

Hi , How do I go about locating the parents of an ancestor that was born abt 1820? All I know so far is her name is Azubah ( spelling varies often) married to John CUMMING sometime bef 1836. According to Census she was born abt 1820, one census lists her as being born in US and of dutch origin and others say born in Upper Canada. With help, was able to find out her maiden name was Palmer (her obit was listed under her maiden name not married name). Have not be able to figure out who her parents were and where and when she was born. Any thoughts on where I should look?

My Answer: Hello Lara, It is good that you are questioning the discrepancies you've found as you research your ancestor. It certainly makes our genealogy lives more challenging doesn't it!

As always I like to look at the same records as the person asking me the question. Four eyes are always better than two! And sometimes clues are missed the first time around. Since you sent AskOliveTree a follow up with the details that the family lived in Brighton Ontario, that was all I needed to have a hunt for them in the online Canadian census records (Canada 1851, 1871 index, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 are all available online)

The 1861 Census gives our first clue

Luckily the 1861 Brighton Census is online on Ancestry.com. In it we see quite a large family of John born Scotland, farmer, age 52; Azubah listed as born Upper Canada (Ontario), age 43. Next are their children Flora, Alvina, son (name not transcribed), another son (name not transcribed), another son (name transcribed as Duns with a question mark, meaning the transcribing could not read it) and Oscar. All the children are listed in 1861 as being born in Upper Canada. Living with them is Flora Cumming, age 79 born Scotland, a widow. She is quite likely John's mother.

It's important to realize that the 1861 census also has an agricultural section . These Agricultural returns are an overlooked genealogical treasure trove!

If you were to order the microfilm for 1861 census into a Family History Centre you could find out exactly where John and Azubah lived (Lot, Concession) Knowing their land location will allow you to search the Abstract Indexes to Deeds for that piece of property. Important info can be found there!

Back to that 1861 census - since the daughter Flora is listed as age 24, born in Upper Canada, I knew that the family would be in the 1851 census (if their area survived, as many parts of Ontario have not).

The 1851 Census hits a possible bingo!

The 1851 census images (no indexes) are available at Library & Archives Canada (LAC). An index and images are available at Ancestry.com A partial transcription, which is then linked to the images on LAC, is available at AutomatedGenealogy.com so you have many choices for searching for ancestors

A search of 1851 census on Ancestry.com found the Cumming family in Brighton. John, age 45, a farmer born Scotland, religion Baptist, is found with his wife Azubah, age 37 born Canada and several children: Flora, Jane, Alvina, Cameron, and Joshua. Also with them are Flora, 71 born Scotland (John's mother no doubt) and two Cumming girls who are no doubt John's sisters.

But the terrific find on this 1851 census page is the nearby neighbour who lives just two houses away - Joshua Palmer born USA age 62 and his wife Lucretia also born USA, age 57. Why is it a terrific find? Because very often an individual settled near other family members. My hunch is that your Azubah Cumming, nee Palmer, settled near her parents - none other than Joshua and Lucretia. But of course you can't just accept my hunch as fact, you now have to work to prove or disprove that Joshua and Lucretia are her parents.

A Growing Theory

Let's look at some of the facts and see if they support my theory/hunch:

1. Joshua is born USA and sometimes your Azubah is listed as born USA
2. Joshua and Azubah are both Baptists
3. Joshua is living 2 doors away from Azubah in 1851
4. Azubah names her eldest daughter Flora after her husband's mother. Her eldest son is Cameron (is that John's father's name? More research needed to find out) and her second born son is named Joshua (if she is following traditional naming patterns, Joshua will be her father's name. Bingo!)

Further research on my part found that Lucretia's maiden name was Draper and she was born in New York (from an online Ancestry Family Tree and her death certificate which is found at the Family Search Labs)

Taking the Next Step

The next step, which I leave to you, would be to check earlier tax and assessment records for the family. Does Brighton have an 1842 Census? How about the 1848 census - is there one that has survived for Brighton? You will need to do some research to find out what records exist for Brighton before 1851.

There may be very early tax records, some areas of Upper Canada (Ontario) have them back in the 1820s and earlier.

You can also check local churches for John and Azubah's marriage.

The Importance of Searching Siblings

I would also try to find all the known children of Joshua and Lucretia (Draper) Palmer. Don't overlook researching siblings to see if there is any interaction with a sister Azubah over the years. Perhaps Azubah is mentioned in a sibling's obit. Perhaps she witnessed a baptism or a marriage or was an informant for a death. Perhaps she lived near or next door to a sister or brother in later years.

Land Records - the overlooked genealogy treasure trove

I would also get the land records for Joshua Palmer. The 1851 census says he is a farmer so with any luck he owned land. Find out if there is a will attached to his land records. Check the online Surrogate and Probate Court indexes for Ontario before 1859. If you find his name in the index, you can order the full record. But be cautious because NOT finding his name in the index does not mean he did not file a will. You may have to check microfilm (which is more complete than the online index)

There is also the CLRI (Ontario Land Record Index) and Upper Canada Land Petitions which you should not overlook. These can offer invaluable genealogy treasures!

Good luck and please come back and let us know by using the Comment Form, how your search is progressing.