Hunting for great uncle from England living in British Columbia

Gayna asked:

I am hoping you can help me - in fact you are my last hope in finding my great uncle. His name was MAURICE DENIS WILSON and he was born May 1895 in Stockport, Cheshire, England. His parents were MARY BRADWELL & WILLIAM NOAH WILSON.

My last known piece of data is the 1911c for Cheshire when he was at an orphanage for warehousemen and clerks age 15. I know he went to live in Kelowna, BC, Canada and I remember him visiting England with big boxes of apples! I don't know the name of his first wife but when she died he married her nurse D'arcy (I don't know if that was a first name or surname) There was also an adopted daughter.

I think he died late 50s/early60s. Is there anyway you can help me, please?

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Gayna, I'm glad you gave me details, it makes it so much easier for me to figure out how I can help. I have good news! The Indexes to vital Records for British Columbia can be searched online at the British Columbia Archives. If you find Maurice, you can send for his full record (certified copy) from the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency. You could also order a paper copy of the microfilm page with your ancestor's details from the British Columbia Archives.

Out of curiousity I had a quick look and found a marriage for a Maurice Dennis Wilson in 1929. Of course it might not be your man, the only way you would know for sure is to send for the full record which no doubt would give his parents' names

Vital Event Marriage Registration

Groom Name: Maurice Dennis Wilson
Bride Name: Lenna Nellie Ayliffe
Event Date: 1929 5 18 (Yr/Mo/Day)
Event Place: Glenmore
Reg. Number: 1929-09-361612
B.C. Archives Microfilm Number: B13758
GSU Microfilm Number: 2074554

But here is the really good news - I found Maurice's death

Vital Event Death Registration

Name: Maurice Dennis Wilson
Event Date: 1984 7 10 (Yr/Mo/Day)
Age: 89
Gender: male
Event Place: Kelowna
Reg. Number: 1984-09-011820
B.C. Archives Microfilm Number: B13640
GSU Microfilm Number: 2073193

Now you have some clues to use for your next step - I personally would hunt for an obituary for Maurice next. Good luck!

Looking for an Ancestor who disappeared after 1911 Canada Census

Diane's Question:

I am looking for my great uncle: Miles Colson Rowe. He was born to Thomas and Jane Ann (Conn) Rowe August 14, 1887 in Prescott Ontario Canada. He married Clara McNaughton December 5, 1907. I have found Miles and Clara in the 1911 Saskatchewan Census records. In 1916 they had a daughter Grace.

I have been told that Miles moved to the states leaving Clara and Grace in Saskatchewan. I was told he moved to California but have not been able to find any record of that. I was also told he died in 1939 possibly in Pennsylvania which I have not been able to verify either.

Would you have any suggestions where I should try looking. I have looked in the US Census records on Ancestry but have not hand any success.

Ask Olive Tree Answer: Diane, It sounds like you used verified facts for your hunt for your ancestor up to 1906 and after that you're forced to try to verify family lore. That's a tough challenge because often family lore is completely in error or mixed up. Sometimes lore about one ancestor will turn out to be true for someone in another branch.

If you've searched for Miles in the Ancestry.com census records using wildcards and various spellings of the name, and come up empty-handed it may be time to turn to another research tactic.

Have you tried to find Clara or Grace after 1906? Look for their deaths, their obituaries, anything that might reference a lost father or husband. From my own personal research I was able to find a trace of a missing great grandfather (who went missing after 1901) by following all of his children. One son was found in the Border Crossing Records Canada to USA 1895-1956 in 1911 and he stated that he was coming from his father's house in Canada! So at least I now know that his father was alive in 1911 and living somewhere in Canada.

I had a quick look around online and found this reference to your family in Knight's Cemetery, Inkerman:

KNS 209. MULLOY
G. Bernard Mulloy 1917-1979
his wife Grace Rowe 1916-1999
mother Clara MacNaughton Rowe 1887-1971
[Editor's note: obit - Clara Wilhelmina MacNaughton died 6 Feb 1971 in 83rd yr, widow of Miles "Colson" Rowe. Leaves 1 girl Grace Mulloy.George Bernard "Bud" born 27 Augt 1917 to James Thomas Mulloy & Frances Bernadette Daniels died 5 Mch 1979. Leaves wife Helen Rowe]

This little death record provides some nice clues. Miles apparently used his middle name of Colson (that is why it is quotes in the Editor's Note) so you should be looking not only for Miles Rowe but also Colson Rowe. Use wildcards when you search. Be creative in spelling - Miles=Myles. Rowe=Row. Colson=Coulson etc. With death dates for Grace and Clara you may be able to find obituaries. It appears the "Editor" had access to an obituary for Clara but there may be more. I'd also get in touch with this "Editor" to see if he/she has more information or knows where you can find more.

Have you checked the 1916 Canada Census that just went online recently? Perhaps Miles/Colson will be found there. The 1916 Census for Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan is available at Ancestry.com

Finding an Ancestor in Ships Passenger Lists to Canada Before 1865

Sharon asked me:

How can I find a passenger ship with German emigrants that settled in Wentworth county from 1852 to 1859 they landed in Quebec I had thought it was the Prince Arthur but my Michael Koch was not listed in the Passenger list with him was his wife Hannah, Charlotte, William Kaul & a baby Joseph.I have tried all kind of resources but so far have no luck.

Olive Tree Answer:Sharon, You've got a very challenging hunt ahead of you. There are no comprehensive lists of immigrants arriving in Canada prior to 1865. Until that year, shipping companies were not required by the government to keep their passenger manifests. So you may not ever find the ship your ancestor came on but there are some avenues of research you may not know about.

It helps me to help you if I know exactly what resources you've checked but I'll go ahead and list the available ones in case you have not tried them.

* There are a few surviving passenger lists which were kept by shipping agents in the originating country. The Passenger Books of J & J Cooke, Shipping Agents gives sailings from Londonderry to Quebec and St. John New Brunswick from 1847 to 1871.(Also to Pennsylvania and New Orleans) These are online and can be freely searched.

* The Hawke Papers, letterbooks of Chief Emigrant Agent Anthony B. Hawke are also available at the Archives of Ontario. They cover the years 1831 to 1892. See the
Hawke Papers searchable database for years 1865 - 1883

* TheShipsList website has Quebec ship arrivals extracted from contemporary newspapers.

You should also check the Ships Passenger Lists to Canada chart for Ships Passenger Lists BEFORE 1865 and Ships Passenger Lists AFTER 1865. It has links to all known online projects with ships passenger lists

One last tip - don't forget that the name you are searching for may be quite different than what you think it should be. Often the name used daily by German ancestors was their middle name, not their formal first baptismal name. But on a ships passenger list, that individual often gave his or her first baptismal name. Also the name you have may be the anglicized name so you will have to find out what the same name is in German. Look for various spellings as well. Remember a clerk might write what he heard (phonetic) and not use what we consider the correct spelling.

Sorting Out Family Information on Ancestors

Carrie had previously written about her Babinec ancestor, and I found her genealogy puzzle such an interesting challenge that I asked her for more details. Carrie sent an image of a third hand-written note which I am going to talk about in another blog post as it proved very interesting to puzzle over. This is Part 2 of Carrie's question, heavily edited by me for publication on AskOliveTree. :

I was mixing information. Where I made the mistake was that the hand-written "mess" that was confusing me even worse was on my grandmothers side ...she is a Babinec but the mix-up that she wrote about is on HER side of the family which is PAUZA. I think that I am trying to tackle too much at one time but I keep going back in forth between my grandmothers side and my grandfathers side when I get stuck on one. I believe My grandmother: Alice Babinec wrote these words:

On My Mother's side:
* Great Grandfather Vochner lived in Vine, Austria, 1820 Married Marie Vlcek
On my fathers side:
* Great Grandfather named Pauza married to Smidt.
* My grandmother, Marie Vlcek was of Bohemian descent. Married to Frank Vochner of German descent. He was born in 1850, he was a wagonmaker and cabinet maker. At 65 he went to Germany lived on pension. He died in 1930 at the age of 80 after a short illness.
* My grandfather Frank Pauza, lived in Czechoslovakia. He was Married to Marie Prebel of Bohemian descent.
* My mother was born in Kopicie, May 6th 1880 near the big city of Brix in Czechoslovakia. Came to America in 1905.
* My father was born April 16, 1887 Neudorf-Herlich, Czechoslovakia at age of 12 was apprentice to butcher. At 17, went to Military school in Prague. Stayed 3 years and then went back to Butcher. He came to America in 1904, worked in big meat company in Akron. Worked for Pavelka Bros. co. in Cleveland for many years.

Carrie had a second hand-written note which differed slightly from the one above. She is not sure who wrote it:

* My (the word "Great"was scratched out in pencil) grandfather on mothers side whose name was Vochner lived in Vine, Austria born in 1820. He married Marie Vlchek
* On fathers side, my great grandfathers name was Pauza and great grandmother was named Smidt. They all lived in Czechoslovakia.
* Grandmother Marie Vlchek was of Bohemian descent. She married Frank Vochner of German descent. He was born in 1856 a wagon or cabinet maker when 65 yrs old he went to Germany where he lived on a pension till he died in 1930 at the age of 74. * Grandfather Frank Pauza lived in Czechoslovakia
* Grandmother Pauza was Marie Prebel of Bohemian descent.
* Mother was born in Kogpice on May 6, 1880. she came to America in 1905. Dad was born on April 16, 1877 in Neudorf, Herlich, Czechoslovakia. At the age of 17, he went to military school in Prague trained to be soldier. He came to America in 1904.

Olive Tree Answer: Carrie, how lucky you are to have such a wealth of hand-written details on your family! The notes were obviously written some time ago, and it makes sense that your Grandmother Alice was the writer. I think you've done a good job of trying to make sense of all the genealogy notes handed down in your family.

What I would do is take each of the notes you have, and make separate charts. Don't worry about who wrote each one, just record the information as given, using squares or horizontal lines for each person named. Give them labels (grandparent, great-grandparent) as given in each note.

Then use those charts you have made to research and verify the facts given by the writer(s) of each note. Look for the individuals in census records, ships passenger lists, military records and vital statistics.

After you've done all the research, try combining the notes. Where do they differ? Where are they the same? Again, you're not worrying about who the writer was, just about getting the relationships and details straight.

Be very cautious when hunting for these individuals that you don't leap to a conclusion too soon. I noticed that you were looking on Footnote.com for your Pauza ancestors. You left comments on certain records, but I think in your excitement over your finds you overlooked facts that don't fit. I left you a comment on Footnote about one of your notes, as you mistakenly assigned a man as father to one of your Pauza ancestors whose births were only a few years apart.

So go slow, verify each person in the hand-written notes you have on your ancestors. You may be correct when you say that you are mixing yourself up by jumping back and forth from one line to the other. Your genealogy puzzle is very challenging, it will require you to be methodical and force yourself to not get too excited and lose your concentration.

I would also try to verify the place names that are in these family notes. The spelling of course can be incorrect but you should be able to find where these towns/cities/villages are by using Google Earth or a good atlas.

You have some wonderful clues and facts in your notes and I think you're doing a very good job of trying to make sense of them. I will talk later this week about the image you sent me of yet another note about your ancestors which was signed by the person who wrote it. I found it very interesting and hope that what I found will help you in your genealogy search.

Searching for an Ancestor with a common name

Brenda R asked this question:

I have been doing my Irish/English family history for more than 12 years and have got back to my great-grandmother's branch in County Durham England. Her father's name was JOHN JONES (natch) and it has been really a challenge to find out the true JOHN JONES!!!!

The facts I have I got from censii and RC Parish records in Blackhill @ St Mary's Chapel in Co Durham.I don't know his parents names or middle name or Catherine Clark's background. Ok here is my info.Would really appreciate any other facts on John Jones!!

JOHN JONES b. 1830 (circa) in England (I think) possibly in Middlesbrough. abt. 1850 he married: CATHERINE CLARK b. 1833 (circa) in Ireland or England

2 children - ALICE JONES b. 1858 abt, England and MARGARET ANN JONES b.1860 abt England (MY Great grandmother)

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Brenda, I sympathize with your challenge of a commmon name to research. You have checked a lot of sources but have you looked at Free BMD online? Free BMD contains indexes to England's Birth, Marriages and Deaths from 1837 on.

If John and Catherine married in England they should be found there. Finding them in an index means you can then send for their Marriage certificate from GRO (General Register Office). It will have both their father's names and occupations.

You mention you have information on the family from the census records but you don't say what years or locations you have found. If I were you I would systematically hunt for John and Catherine after their marriage in UK Census Records for 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 at least. Those will give you birth locations and other details.

Sometimes We Need to Slow Down and Gather more Facts

Dona wrote:

Sure hope you can help. G-G-grandfather disappeared!! Georg Buechner was born Oct. 3, 1851 in Schondra, Germany. (I have his birth cert.)
He arrived in NY on Jun 21, 1873 (ships list says 1857 but I think this is wrong) from Bremen, Germany aboard the Rhein.(I think this info is true).

He married Mary Ott before 1875 in either NJ or NY. They had four children: George b.4-24-1875, James b.?, Boniface b.abt.1878, and Mary b.? I think they were all born in NJ. About 1889 Georg took off never to be heard from again. Can you help. I'm at my wit's end.

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Donna, It looks like you have gathered some information on your ancestor but it's not clear what parts are verified with sources and which parts are not verified (perhaps they are family lore or from contact with other descendants?)

If I were you the first thing I would do is to verify your details. You have your ancestor's birth certificate so start from there.

Find out where he was in each census year available. Finding them in census records should give you places of birth, which is another fact you are not sure of (you say New Jersey or New York)

Verify his arrival on that ships passenger list. I'm not clear what you mean by "...ships list says 1857 but I think this is wrong..." What ships list? Have you found Georg on a ship named Rhein arriving in 1873? Or did you get this immigration information from his naturalization records?

I had a peek in the Ships Passenger Lists online on Ancestry.com and I think this is the entry you are referring to:

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
Name: Georg Beckler
Arrival Date: 21 Jun 1873
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Port of Departure: Bremen, Germany
Destination: United States of America
Place of Origin: Germany
Ethnicity/Race­/Nationality: German
Ship Name: Rhein
Port of Arrival: New York
Line: 8
Microfilm Serial: M237
Microfilm Roll: M237_377
List Number: 608
Port Arrival State: New York
Port Arrival Country: United States

Although his name is indexed as Beckler, it looks to me like Bokler (it is difficult to read). He is shown with Johan, age 57. So if it is your Georg, you may have a father's name. However I would not say this is positively your man without more research.

Because you have so many questions about your ancestors I really think you need to take your research one step at a time. Go slowly and gather the records, think about what clues they are giving you and don't overlook tracing all Georg's children or his wife or his siblings if you find any. Tracing one of them may lead to Georg in later years!

Having given you my advice for further research, I can tell you that I had a very quick look at the databases online on Ancestry.com. Boniface Buechner is found in the World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 so you really need to have a look there. He gives an exact date of birth (11 Jul 1877), a location and other details including his wife's name.

Boniface is also found in later census records in New York. My big question for you would be where is the family in 1880, 1900 and later? I'd start with that, then I'd look for marriages of the children, follow them in later census years. Remember, tracking them down may lead you to Georg.

Don't forget to use wildcards when searching and be creative in spelling of names! For help with this see Using Search Engines to Find Ancestors.

Separating Family Lore from Facts

Carrie asked:

I am having trouble linking my Great Grandfather to His father and further on. I know my grandpa's name is Stephen Babinec (alternate spelling is Babinecz), and that his father is Andrew Babinecz and I also know they came over from Hungary on the Pretoria ship. But for some reason, no matter how hard I try I cannot figure out beyond them. ...the main problem stems from a hand-written note my grandmother (or my great aunt) wrote and the information does not match what I have found. The information that I have found has been taken from official documentation. So, either I am reading the letter/note as being from the wrong person or just completely misunderstanding it. It is possible too that the person who wrote it may have also made a mistake.What is your opinion as to how I can obtain this information?

Olive Tree Answer: Carrie - It's very challenging to try to sort out family lore. Sometimes when we research we discover that family "facts" are actually myth OR they are slightly off OR they refer to some other branch of the family entirely! So if your hand-written note from your grandmother or great-aunt does not contain any sources, I would trust your own research.

For example, my uncle always swore his grandmother Vollick was "born in Elmvale Ontario". He said that was what he overheard as a boy listening to his mother and aunts talk. However my research found that his grandmother was born in Seaforth Ontario (in an entirely different county than Elmvale) BUT the family moved to Elmvale when she was young. So sometimes that family lore has a grain of truth to it and you should never discount it completely without checking further.

If your hand-written note has sources to back up what it says, then I'd track those sources down to verify or disprove what is written.

As for other avenues of research, I see that in the 1920 census on Ancestry.com your Stephen's father Andrew says he has his first papers (PA is noted, which means First Papers). Then in 1930 he says he is naturalized (NA is noted) The 1900, 1910 ,1920 and 1930 census identify citizenship status, with notations showing the individual was an Alien (AL), or had started the Naturalization process (PA) or had his final papers (NA).

You may want to hunt for his naturalization records as they may provide an exact birth location and other details. Footnote.com has Naturalization Records from NARA

Also since he naturalized after 1906 you should see a notation on the passenger list beside his name, which may guide you to the court where he naturalized. An immigrant who arrived after June 29, 1906 could not naturalize until the government located their immigration record (a passenger list). Petitions (not the Declarations) after 1906 have information that has been verified and matched to an immigration record. A certification of the immigrant's arrival record was a required part of the process and this should be noted beside his name on the passenger manifest.

For a Resource Guide to naturalization records, what you can expect to find, where to find them, and alternate sources of finding those important years (immigration and naturalization) at http://naturalizationrecords.com/usa/