HINT: Use the Ethnic Name of Your Ancestor and NOT his Americanized Name when Researching!

Norma asked about:

Name: CHARLES W. ERNENPUTSCH b: 1844 Germany d: 3 MAR 1918 Newaygo County, White Cloud Michigan. I Searched Ancestry.com, German directory, Passenger Lists

His one son Charles was murdered (unsolved) in White Cloud 3 May 1933. He
was a farmer. I am searching for the entry date of both Charles, Port of entry, and the names of parents of Charles W. Ernenputsch Sr.

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Norma, Three questions in one email is good as it allows me to pick and choose :-) Actually you may be able to find out the answers to all three in one document - naturalization papers or passport applications. Footnote.coml is what I use to look for naturalization records (including passports).

You haven't given an estimated year for his arrival in America. You should find him on all possible census records in USA, that will help narrow the timeline for his immigration. Also the 1900, 1910 ,1920 and 1930 census identify citizenship status, with notations showing the individual was an Alien,
or had started the Naturalization process or had his final papers. Finding your ancestor in the 1900 and 1910 census will give you more to go on. For more help with what you can find in the various census records regarding citizenship status, see NaturalizationRecords.com

Remember though that "Charles" is not a German name. In all probability your ancestor was Karl or Carl which anglized to Charles in America. Also he probably had a formal first (baptismal name) which is how he might be found on a passenger list. In other words his name might be something like Johannes Carl and he may be recorded on a ship manifest by whatever first name he was given at his baptism. Be cautious too with his surname of ERNENPUTSCH. That can be misspelled in a variety of ways! I would definitely use wildcards in any search you conduct, so for example if you are seaching the Ancestry.com passenger lists, search under ERN* as that will allow for misspellings or misrecordings of his name.

In fact I had a quick look in the Hamburg Passenger Lists on Ancestry.com and bingo! This looks like your man:

Carl Ernenputsch arrival 6 Nov 1885 born abt 1845 Hartlepool (Amerika (USA) via Liverpool) Ship Name: German Empire

You will have to view the image to get full details and see who was travelling with him. It shows his port of departure, residence, occupation and much more. I do see 3 other family members with him, including his son Carl (Charles). Knowing his specific town of origin, you may be able to find church records for the births of the family members, including your Carl/Charles Sr.

Don't forget you can also look for this ship and your family in the New York arrivals. They may have different information or details.

Finding an English Indentured Servant in 17th Century America

Russ asked

I have an Ancestor who came to Annapolis, Maryland ABOUT 1665. I say about, as that is a guess based on the first time I found his name in Maryland. John Worthington 1650 - 1701. The story goes, that he came to the new world with Lord Baltimore. Great, I can find him. In reality, there are at least 3 Lord Baltimore's. These are Calvert's who were given this title. John, was apparently intentured to Lord Baltimore.

I haven't found any good evidence on a passage of any of the Calvert's into Maryland (actually looked from Pennsylvania to Virgiinia, that might have happened after 1650 but before 1700. The story goes, that John was about 14 years old when he arrived in Maryland. I have been to the Maryland Historical Society and spoke with a person who knew the Lord Baltimores, but was not able to provide any further information.

So, my Question:Where should I be looking to find this John Worthington? The other side of the pond, that is England, I have found conflicting information to know where John Worthington came from, which is really what I am trying to identify.

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Russ, glad you found your way over here! My question to you is - what is your source that John Worthington came to the New World with Lord Baltimore? Is it family lore or do you have a reliable source?

Moving on though, you say he may have been an indentured servant and that could be very helpful to you in your search. An indentured servant is under contract to an employer for a certain length of time, so somewhere there may be a contract in existence for your ancestor. Just out of interest, you may want to read what it was like for an Indentured servant in the 17th and 18th centuries.

I think you should check the lists of names of Child Apprentices in America from Christ's Hospital, London 1617-1778 Have you checked the Peter Coldham books on English migration to USA? He has written many, but the ones that might be of most interest to you are

* The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1660: A Comprehensive Listing Compiled from English Public Records of Those Who Took Ship to the Americas for Political, Religious, and Economic Reasons; ....
* English Adventurers and Emigrants Immigration Sixteen Hundred and Sixty-One Thru Seventeen Hundred and Thirty-Three
* The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775
* More Emigrants in Bondage: 1614-1775
* British Emigrants In Bondage, 1614-1788

Here is the complete List of Peter Coldham's Books on Amazon. I think Google Books has some of these online.

Lastly - have you read my blog post called Finding English ancestors in the National Archives UK ? I'm hooked on that website, and you might want to have a search for your John Worthington there. I've just ordered four records from the 1700s for two of my English ancestors, and it was very reasonable cost-wise.

Help to Find a Biological Grandfather

Kathi's question: [edited]

I am searching for my biological grandmother. I am the daughter of a man that was adopted in 1934. My father passed away when I was pretty young. For the past couple of years I have been looking for any information about his adoption. I have found my biological grandfathers family but cannot come up with too much of my grandmothers. Here's what I know...
Her name is/was Gearldine Marie Leach. She was born on June 18, between 1913 and 1916 in Vinton County, Ohio. She married a Chester Napper in October of 1934. I sent away for the marriage license to confirm this marriage. I found a 1920 census with Gearldine but the last name was misspelled as Loach. Found out she had a sister, Pearline...brothers Arthur Ishmel and George Dewey both younger. Her fathers name was Leo and her mothers maiden name was Morris. There is not trace of her after the marriage in 1934. I don't know where to search now.

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Kathi, You've already discovered quite a bit, good going! Here are a few more items for you to add to your research and to follow up on -

First, you say that you found Geraldine/Gearldine in the 1920 census but her name was "misspelled as Loach". That is an error in transcribing. If you look at the actual census image (as I did) you can see that the surname is LEACH. Don't be too quick to believe an index or a transcribed version of an event. We all make mistakes and human error is very common when indexing or transcribing records. Also to be fair in this case, the image shows that the "e" in LEACH is rather like a blog of ink, so it is easy to see how the surname could be misrecorded as Loach. But even if it WERE written on the image as LOACH that would not be a reason to discard it, as spelling was not always exact.

Moving on, I think you need to find all the siblings in the 1930 census. I use
Ancestry.com for this. You could try Heritage Quest if you have access. You found George living with his grandparents, so perhaps the others were split up and placed elsewhere. Remember to use wildcards to search, be creative with spelling and don't restrict yourself too much. Use only a first name and date of birth. Try only a date of birth and location of birth. Be creative

I believe I may have found your Leo's death - there is an Arthur Leo Leach born 31 July 1886 in Vinton Ohio who died 18 Feb 1952 in Zanesville Ohio. His parents were Enoch and Martha. I found this online in Family Search Labs Ohio Deaths 1908-1953.

Ancestry.com has Ohio Births, Marriages & Deaths, you may want to try using their search engine. Try finding an obituary or burial record for him in local Zanesville newspapers. Don't let the name "Arthur Leo" throw you off track, people often used first or middle names interchangeably. Given his naming of a son Arthur Ishmael, and the year and location of birth, my money is on this being your Leo.

Lastly I found a death for Chester A. Napper in the SSDI (Social Security Death Indexes) online. He was born 1 Nov. 1911 and died 14 May 1984 in Hamden, Vinton Ohio. He is also in the 1930 census for Wilkesville, Vinton Ohio. You should try tracking Chester since you say he married your grandmother. He may never have left the area, so have a look around for him. By finding him, or by finding your grandmother's siblings, you may find her.

Finding the Identity of Denes Tunison and wife Sarah Hoogland

LewisK asked:

Derek Tunison was born in 1754 to Denes Tunison and his wife Sarah, nee Hoglandt. I believe they lived in Bridgewater Twp. of Somerset Co., NJ. I am searchng for the wife and descendents of Derek.

Olive Tree Answer: Hello Lewis, you are now in the thick of genealogy of Dutch ancestors in America, and its sometimes confusing world.

You should check the will abstracts found in "Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey" for you. These books are in 3 vols -- V. I Calendar of New Jersey Wills 1670-1730; V. II 1730-1750; V. III 1751-1760.

Denes Tunison did live in Bridgewater Tp.Somerset Co. He is named in the will of Robert BOLMER,farmer of Bridgewater, 30 Dec. 1754. His neighbour is John
Sebring. Don't overlook the will of Cornelis Tunison, who appears to be your Denes' father, in Vol. II - 1730-1750 p 475. The will was written 24 Aug. 1727 and proved 3 Oct AND 3 Nov. 1731. The original can be found in Lib. B, p. 238. It was written by Cornelius Teunissen of Raratan River, Somerset Co. His wife was Neelye.

His children are: oldest son Cornelius; eldest daughter Fenmeye widow of George Fairly; second son Tunis; youngest daughter Sarah; third son John; youngest son Dinis [sic] Dinis is given 'that plantation between the first and second mountains bought of Jacob Sebring, on which my son Cornelius now lives" The land having been bought from a Sebring, and a Sebring being your Denes' neighbour in 1754 indicates to me that this is the correct man.

In this same volume, on p. 245 I found the will for the man I believe is your Sarah Hoogland's father. The will is of Dirrick Hoogelandt, written 21 April 1746 and proved 8 Aug.1746. It can be found in Lib D p 399. He is a farmer of Middlesex Co.with wife Annatie and children Hendrick, Derrick,Annatie, Sarah and Maria. He names his sister Antie Quick; brother Adrian Hoogland; brother Adrian Hoogland's son Hendrick Hooghland [sic].

If you are not familiar with your Tunison ancestry, it appears that your Denis Tunison may be the son of Cornelius Tunisson and wife Neeltje Bogart. Cornelis Teunise was the s/o Teunis Nyssen and his second wife Femmetje Jans aka Phaebea Faelix. This leads you to the infamous John Celes aka Jan Seals who was Phaebea's father.

For more information on these families, refer to the well documented articles:

"Jan Cornelis Buys (alias Jan Damen) and His Three Wives Eybe Lubbertse, Phaebea Faelix (alias Phebe or Femmetje Jans) WIllemtie Thyssen; Teunis Nyssen (or Denyse) and his wife Phaebea Faelix (alias Phebea or Femmetje Jans); Roelof Willemszen and his wife Willemtie Thyssen" by John Reynolds Totten in New York Genealogical and Biographical Record July 1935, and "The True Identity of John Sales alias Jan Celes of Manhattan" by Gwenn F. Epperson in New York Genealogical and Biographical Record April 1992

You may also want to peek at THE DAMEN FAMILY OF LONG ISLAND New York Also you may find it helpful to read The Nephews of Jan Jansz Damen by Dorothy Koenig and Pim Nieuwenhuis in Volume 4, Number 2 May 1999 pages 36-39 of New Netherland Connections. The two nephews discussed are Jan Cornelisz Buys (aka Damen) who had three wives, 1) Eybe Lubberts, 2) Phebe Sales, and 3) Willemptje Thyssen; and his first cousin, Jan Cornelisz Damen, who married Fytje Martens.

Also this may be helpful Jan Corneliszen Damen in the New World by Lorine McGinnis Schulze (yes, yours truly), published on pages 47-56 of Volume 4, number 2 (May 1999) of New Netherland Connections. It is an account of the 13 children of Jan Corneliszen Damen and Sophia Marten, to the 3rd generation (grandchildren of Jan and Sophia)

Last but not least, Utrecht Farmers In Netherland From M.S.F. Kemp's Krommerijners in de nieuwe wereld Excerpted and translated by John H. Van Schaick in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, VOL. 127, January & April 1996

Finding an Ancestor on a Ship Arriving Canada 1854

Marilyn asked :

Hello, I am writing to ask if you know of any place I can find out about a ship that landed in Quebec or Montreal in the fall or early winter of 1854? I keep checking the list and they have only up to July. My people left Liverpool in August on the Megan Enterprise. I have documentation of them being in the US on December 10th of 1854. I am interested to see if there is any available log from that ship showing the deaths at sea.My gg grandmother died on the journey and was reportedly buried at sea.

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Marilyn, Finding a ships passenger list arriving in Canada before 1865 is a very challenging task. Prior to that year, it was not required that the passenger list manifests be kept. So finding one is a bit hit and miss. There is a nice little chart with links showing online projects with ships passenger lists (or substitutes) for BEFORE 1865 and AFTER 1865 at Filling in the Gaps

Have you seen the list of Names of individual passengers on ships sailing to Canada in the 1850s extracted from the Alms House Admission Foreigners & Nativity Records New York City, New York 1855-1858? These individuals sailed from their home countries to Canadian ports, then to New York in the 1850s and were admitted to the Almshouse for care. Although they were in the Almshouse after 1855, their ship arrivals were earlier.

As a gentle tip for writing a query, I have one comment. Putting this sentence in your email ("I keep checking the list and they have only up to July ") is frustrating for me, since I don't know what "the list" is, nor do I know who "they" refers to! But I hope my answer above is a help to you in your search.

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.

Finding a Death at Sea

Angela wants to know

My g-grandmother is listed on the manifest at Ellis Island June 14, 1897 with her 4 small sons. Final destinations - New Orleans, Louisiana. Her husband is already in the United States.

Looking for any records/information on passengers who may have died before arriving at port or deported back to her homeland for some reason. There were no markings or notations on the manifest indicating a passenger died on the ship. I have been searching for an answer for at least 7 years.

I can only surmise that something happened to her. Husband remarried a year and half later to help raise the boys. I have their marriage record.

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Angela. That's terrific that you found your ancestor on a ships' passenger list! If a passenger died on board ship, that fact would be entered on the passenger list. It might be noted beside the name of the individual on the list or it might be noted on the last page of the entire manifest. But it will be noted somewhere.

If you have checked every page of the manifest without finding a record of anyone dying on board, then she very likely died sometime in that 18 months after her arrival and her husband's remarriage. Have you searched for her death record or notices in newspapers in New Orleans for that time period 1897-1898?

There are some pre-1911 death records online at Lousiana Secretary of State Archives. There is also a New Orleans, Louisiana Death Records Index, 1804-1949 online on Ancestry.com Searching for her death in Louisiana would be my next research course of action if it were my ancestor.

Also, take a look at the Ancestor Death Record Finder for more ideas of other places to hunt for an ancestor's death record.