The Prasse Family of Cleveland, Ohio and Saxony, Germany- So many Germans, so little time…

I am presenting a series of three lectures on German Genealogy on the third Saturdays of March, April and May at 1:00 PM at the Friendswood, Texas Public Library.  The first session is coming up on Saturday, March 21.  The topic will be finding your German hometown in American records.  In preparation for that lecture, I have been researching several of the German names in our family history.

The Prasse Family of Cleveland, Ohio has captured my attention both for their accomplishments and for their bountiful records. The new life story screen at Ancestry.com tells us: Gustave Carl A. Prasse was born in January 1828 in Leipzig, Germany. He married Christianna Sisser in 1845. They had five children in 13 years. He died on July 22, 1912, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, having lived a long life of 84 years, and was buried in Cleveland, Ohio.

The genealogy communities of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the State of Ohio have done an excellent job of preserving and indexing their records.  Ancestry.com has the Ohio death indexes and Family Search has images of actual death certificates.  Starting with the most recent records about this family, I found death certificates, cemetery memorials, and interment registers which document their lives, deaths and burials in Cleveland and prior.

Entrance to Monroe Street Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio

The death certificate for “Carl G. Prasse” states that the original immigrant was actually born on the 12^th of January 1826.  The precision of this date makes me wonder whether there was a family bible.  The informant was “C.G. Prasse” of Fairview, Ohio who is most likely his son, Charles Gustav Prasse.  The residence in Fairview was Stop 3 of the Elyria Line.  Carl died on the 22^nd of July 1912 of “Old Age.”  The only fact that Charles could offer about his father’s origins was that he was born in Germany.  He apparently did not know or could not recall at the time, the names of his German grandparents.  The death certificate did note that Carl G. Prasse was buried in the Monroe Street Cemetery.

Have I ever told you that “Google is the Genealogist’s Best Friend”?  Whenever you get a document like a death certificate you want to “Google” all of the names and places that you find.  The Monroe Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Cleveland that has a wonderful website with pictures, history, a burial index and links to digitized interment registers.  FindaGrave.com also has memorials for 21,796 interments but only 15% have been photographed.  

Gatehouse and Arch restoration project at Monroe Street Cemetery
Source: http://mscf1841.org/

The Monroe Street Cemetery Index reveals that there were actually four members of the Prasse family buried here.

Source: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohcdrt/clecems/mo-pe.html

Vol/Page; Interment Date & Number; Name; Age; Race & Gender; Address; Native of; Cause of Death

2/95; Aug 20 1888; 14682; Prasse, Carl; 6d; W M; 242 Birch, Cleveland; Convulsions

3/185; Jul 21 1912; 25810; Prasse, Carl G; 86y; W M; Fairview, Ohio; Germany;   Old Age

3/87;  Jun 13 1904; 23375; Prasse, Christina E; 80y; W F;  241 Birch; Germany; Old Age

1/73; May 9 1872;7368; Prasse, Herman; 14y; W M; 241 Birch St. Germany; Infl. of Brain

I double checked the address for the child Carl and it was entered as 242 Birch on the Interment Register.  Since he was born in 1888 he was most likely a grandson of Carl G. and Christina.  City directories might confirm which Prasse family lived across the street.  These graves are located in Section C Line 8.  Carl is Grave No. 14; Carl G. Grave No. 16; Christina E is Grave No. 15; Herman is also in Grave No. 14.

Fortunately, I was able to find pictures of several of the gravestones from Find a Grave:

There was no picture of Carl G. Prasse's gravestone.  It looks like it may have fallen over.

Unfortunately, Christina E. Prasse died in 1904 just before the Ohio Death Certificate Database on Family Search begins in 1908.  My source for her maiden name was the death certificate of her son, Frederick Emmanuel Prasse who died in 1935.   F.E. Prasse’s death certificate lists his mother as Anna Sisser born Germany.  So we have her given name listed in various records as both Christine and Anna.  The 1870 census reveals that the original German name may have been Christiana.  It also reveals that Christiana and her husband Carl Gustave Prasse were from Saxony.  Some of the family trees on Ancestry.com say Leipzig but I have not seen a source for that yet.

Death Certificate of Frederick Emmanuel Prasse, 1863-1935

One of the great things about Family Search is that they provide you with a fairly complete transcript of many of their documents.  Here is the image and the transcript for the death certificate of Frederick Emmanuel Prasse:

• Name:  Frederick Emmanuel Prasse
• Titles and Terms:             
• Event Type:        Death
• Event Date:        31 Dec 1935
• Event Place:       Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio
• Residence Place:              Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio
• Address:              1455 Waterbury Rd.
• Gender:               Male
• Age:       72
• Marital Status:   Married
• Race:     W
• Occupation:        Lumber Co. Owner
• Birth Date:          27 Jan 1863
• Birthplace:          Cleveland, Ohio
• Birth Year (Estimated):  1863
• Burial Date:         03 Jan 1936
• Burial Place:       
• Cemetery:          Lakewood Park
• Father's Name: Carl Prasse
• Father's Titles and Terms:           
• Father's Birthplace:         Germany
• Mother's Name:               Anna Sisser
• Mother's Titles and Terms:         
• Mother's Birthplace:       Germany
• Spouse's Name:               Elizabeth Prasse
• Spouse's Titles and Terms:          
• File Number:      fn 72091
• GS Film number:              2022570
• Digital Folder Number:  004001938
• Image Number:                01403
• Citing this Record:
• "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6WY-7LX : accessed 16 March 2015), Frederick Emmanuel Prasse, 31 Dec 1935; citing Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio, reference fn 72091; FHL microfilm 2,022,570.

The date of immigration for Gustav Carl Prasse and his wife, Christiana and daughter, Augusta is probably closest to the 1856 date cited in the 1900 census.  Daughter, Augusta was born in 1848 according to her gravestone.  This date is supported by the 1870 census which gives an approximate date of 1849.  The 1900 census cites an immigration date of 1862 which has to be wrong.  Two sons were born in the U.S. prior to 1862: Herman was born about 1858 and Charles Gustav was born on 26 September 1860 and both were born in Cleveland.  The Declaration for Naturalization filed in the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Probate Court states that he immigrated in June of 1855.  This naturalization record was found on the U.S. Genweb Archives (http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/cuyahoga/vitals/naturalizations/le2sa.txt)  Here are the details:

• Naturalization ID#: 29198; Name: Prasse Gustav; Name of Volume: DOA; Vol 2; Page 8; Germany; Date of Arrival: 6/1855 Date of Naturalization: 8/22/1867                    
• Naturalization ID#: 29199; Name:  Prasse Gustav; Name of Volume: NB Vol 7; Page 105; Country: Germany; Date of Naturalization: 10/23/1872

There appears to have been a second man named Gustave Prasse that naturalized in 1872.

Further information on ordering Cuyahoga Naturalization records is here: http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/cuyahoga/vitals/naturalizations/cuynatinfo.txt

The 1870 census record clearly shows that the Prasse family was from Saxony.  The oldest daughter, Augusta (Guste) was born in Saxony about 1849 per this record and 1848 per the gravestone.  The family immigrated before Herman was born in Ohio in 1858.  More research is needed to find this family in the 1860 and 1880 census. There is a nine year gap in the ages of Augusta and Herman.  This may be explained by the 1900 census where Christina says she she was the mother of nine children and that only four were alive in 1900.

Come learn more about how to research your German heritage at the Ethnicity Focused Research Special Interest Group.  Beginning in March 2015, The Bay Area Genealogical Society will host a monthly presentation and working session focusing on researching ancestors from a variety of countries.

Location: Friendswood Activity Building located at 416 Morningside Drive, Friendswood.

Nick Cimino and Bob Wegner, BAGS members, will kick-off this Special Interest Group with a detailed look at German ancestry research.

• Saturday, March 21 at 1:00 pm: How to identify the hometown of German ancestorsin American records.
• Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 pm: Church records and Civil Records in Germany
• Saturday, May 16 at 2:00 pm: German script and research training videos, also vocabulary

All Roads in Our Family History Pass through Reno

The Washoe County Courthouse in Reno, Nevada holds several records of our family history.  I worked for Washoe County in the early 1980s and was in this building many times.  The Washoe County Courthouse helped to make Reno the "Divorce Capital of the World". This was also the place where many marriage licences were obtained by our family members.  Source: Online Encyclopedia of Nevada (Click here for more information.)

Is it coincidence or serendipity that so many events in our family history occurred in Reno, Nevada? Our little family of four resided in Reno, Nevada from 1982 to 1997.  My wife, our eldest daughter and her husband all graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno.  I completed all of the course work for the Masters program in Historic Preservation at UNR.  We have many good memories and good friends from Reno and we have continued to visit there over the years.

When I started my family history research in Reno in 1989, I began to realize that several major events in our family history occurred in Reno.  For example, I was surprised to learn that my “Gram” Elaine Coffman was married to my Grandpa George Kelly at the First United Methodist Church in Reno on the 24^th of October 1937.  This was the era when Reno was known as the “Divorce Capital of the World.”   The short six week residency requirement induced many divorce seekers to temporarily relocate to the “Biggest Little City.”  They resided in guest houses and dude ranches while their divorce was processed through the Washoe County courts. 

And so it was with Gram Elaine.  Her nine year marriage to Grandpa True Mayne was on the rocks.  Elaine had been lodging across the street from the courthouse since September 1, 1937.  The decree of divorce was granted in the Washoe County Courthouse on the 16^th of October 1937, exactly six weeks after Elaine arrived in Reno.  Elaine and George were married eight days later. The marriage to Grandpa George lasted over fifty years until his death.  They shared a lifelong love with each other and with Lake Tahoe.  George named his Lake Tahoe cabin cruiser, the Elaine B.

I was surprised recently to learn that my paternal grandfather, Richard Cimino was married to his second wife, Macy Lu Kimes at the same church in Reno as my maternal grandparents.  Grandpa Dick and Grandma Macy became strong adherents of the Methodist Church.  My aunt Betty Ann remembered vividly that her father and step-mother were married in the summer of 1955 because it was a year before she was married to Elson Hancock also in Reno, Nevada on 17 August 1956.  Betty Ann could not recall the exact date so another piece was needed to solve our “Ancestor Puzzle.”

My search for the 1955 marriage record of Grandpa Dick and Grandma Macy seemed to be frustrated at every turn.  Ancestry.com has a database of Nevada marriages but it did not include marriages for 1955 in Reno.  I went to the Washoe County Clerk website which claimed to have all of the marriages recorded in the county in an online database.  My search for “Cimino” in 1955 showed “0” results.  I searched for the contact information and found that the County Clerk was open until midnight on a Saturday.  It appears that they still have a lively marriage trade in Reno!  I called the number and I marveled that a live person answered and explained that their database was down for the weekend. The friendly clerk stated she would be happy to look up the date of the marriage on the microfilm and call me back.  Finally persistence seemed to have paid off.

I waited patiently until past midnight Central time for the return phone call.  The call never came.  But then I checked my phone before heading to bed and realized that the “do not disturb” function was programmed for 10 pm.  I had a missed call from the 775 area code.  Fortunately the clerk had left a message.  The date that Grandpa Dick and Grandma Macy were married was the 2^nd of July 1955.  So if you are looking for a marriage record that you cannot seem to find, you might consider researching the Nevada marriage records.

For more information on the Reno divorce industry, see the following source: Mella Rothwell Harmon. Divorce and Economic Opportunity in Reno, Nevada during the Great Depression. Reno: MS thesis. University of Nevada, 1998. - See more at: http://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/reno-twentieth-century-divorce-capital#sthash.4pub4Oc9.dpuf  Mella was a classmate of mine at UNR and she is now a faculty member at our alma mater.

Obituary Search for Obediah Phebus died 31 Mar 1897 in Indian Territory

I recently found the McAlester, Oklahoma Public Library has digitized newspapers and put them on their website.

I have a gravestone record that shows Obediah Phebus died 31 March 1897.  He was buried in Red Oak Cemetery in Bache, Oklahoma which is now in Pittsburg County but that jurisdiction did not yet exist in 1897. The proper location for the time would have been Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. His son, William Morris Phebus would have been a bachelor presumably residing in the vicinity of Krebs. William was married to Margaret Welch nee Garvin on the 28th of August 1898 in Krebs a little over a year after the death of his father, Obediah.

Obediah Phebus and his wife Ava Briggs
This picture appears to be an artist's sketch.
It was probably drawn in the 1870s in the vicinity of Lead Hill, Boone County, Arkansas where they were residing.
 This picture was found on Ancestry.com.
Angelica_9803 originally submitted this to Weir,Baker,Crosswhite,McCullough tree on 4 Nov 2008

I began searching digital newspapers at the McAlester Newspaper site on 27 February 2015: https://mcalesterlibrary.net/mcalesternews in the South McAlester Capital Daily Edition for 1897.

There appears to be a gap in the dailies between March 30 and April 6.
The following dates were searched:
Daily Capital 04-06-1897  No obit
Daily Capital 04-07-1897  No obit
Daily Capital 04-08-1897  No obit This paper was dated Thursday evening, April 8, 1897. There was no obituary but there was a column on page 3, column 4 entitled PURELY PERSONAL POINTERS.  There was also a subtitle "News Notes From Krebs." One story of note was:
   "E.P. Wilkinson has bought the Sample place between this city and Alderson and will move to it one day next week.
   Miss Lulu Wood of Hackett City is visiting her sister Mrs. E.P. Wilkinson."
Apparently Lulu Wood had come to help her sister move into her new home.  I have a Lulu Wood in my tree but she was born about 1893 and therefore would only have been about four years old at the time of this article.
Daily Capital 04-09-1897 No obit
Daily Capital 04-10-1897 No obit
Generally I did not see any obituaries or death notices in the local news. Until I opened the paper for Thursday Evening, April 15, 1897.  On page 3 column 3 we find this notice:
   "E.P. Wilkinson's infant son died yesterday at the family residence between Krebs and Alderson, after a month's illness.  The remains were buried today at the McAlester cemetery."

It appears that Miss Lulu Wood might have come to help her sister with her ailing child in addition to the planned move.  Since the residence was between Krebs and Alderson, it would appear that they did not move yet.

It is perhaps more likely that an obituary might have appeared in a Krebs newspaper.  No Krebs newspaper is available for 1897 at this library site.

Chronicling America shows the following newspapers available for Krebs:
US Newspaper Directory Search Results
Results 1 - 6 of 6 1 Jump to page:
Your title search returned 6 results
Sort by:       Results per page:
1. The Oklahoma miner. online resource (None) 1912-192?
2. The Oklahoma miner. (Krebs, Okla.) 1912-192?
3. The Krebs eagle. (Krebs, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1899-1900
4. The Krebs cyclone. (Krebs, Ind. Terr. [Okla.]) 1900-190?
5. The Krebs banner. (Krebs, I.T., Okla.) 1906-1908
6. The Krebs advertiser. (Krebs, Okla.) 1910-191?

It appears that there was not a newspaper for Krebs in 1897.  My search for the obituary of Obediah Phebus was unsuccessful.  Reading the newspapers gave me a good sense of the historical context of the time.  This was the period before statehood where the European settlers in Indian territory outnumbered the Five Civilized Tribes and the freedmen.  The Choctaw and the Chickasaw were voting to determine whether they would accept the land allocations of tribal land being proposed by the federal government.  It was the Jim Crow era in the south and the rights of freedmen were being curtailed.  This clipping tells a tale of the times:

South McAlester Capital August18,1898 Page 4

The vote for allocation of the tribal lands was approved by the Choctaw citizens and freedmen despite the recommendation of this article.  This vote set the stage for the statehood of Oklahoma in 1907.  It would be interesting to know how many of the freedmen were able to hang onto their land.  If you have anything to add on this subject, please add a comment.

A Visit to Austin, Texas: Genealogists’ Treasure Trove

No visit to Austin is complete without a visit to the Texas State Library and Archives (TSLA).  This state agency is located in the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building at 1201 Brazos Street across the street from the Texas State Capitol.  The Capitol Visitor Parking Garage at 1201 San Jacinto is the best place to park.

Check in at the front desk and get a visitor badge to access the Texas Family Heritage Research Center, the Reference Library and the Texas State Archives. The Archives Room is on the first floor and the Reference Library and Texas Family Heritage Research Center (TFHRC) are on the second floor.  A reference librarian gave me a tour of the Research Center.  When I asked about African American genealogy resources, the librarian gave me a handout from a workshop that was held on the subject earlier in February for African American History month.

Washington Edwards, 103 years old, 1889, Prints & Photographs, 1905/011-1. Edwards was a former slave brought to the United States from Africa. He arrived in Texas prior to the Mexican War and lived near Columbia, Texas. Source: Texas State Library

The Genealogy Collection at the TFHRC includes print and microfilm records including print indexes to Texas vital statistics (birth, death, marriage and divorce), city directories, county tax rolls, Federal census records, newspapers on microfilm, family histories and county histories.  Most of their microfilm can be borrowed through interlibrary loan.  In addition, the genealogy research center has several computers with free access to online resources such as Ancestry.com, Family Search.org, Fold 3, Heritage Quest and the Texas collection at Newspaper Archive.  The library is equipped with computers, microfilm printers and book scanners that will save images on your USB drive.  The Reference Library has books from Texas and most U.S. states and some foreign countries in two stack areas.

The TSLA website is the first point of entry for all users.  Select “Genealogy” from the quick links drop down menu in the upper right hand corner.    The Genealogy page summarizes a variety of state records with genealogical value including military service records, Confederate pensions, Republic claims, muster rolls, 1867 voter registration, Confederate indigent family lists and convicts record ledgers and conduct registers. 

The search strategy for African Americans in the early Texas records is to look for free blacks or slave owners in the online indexes.  Many blacks served in the Texas State Police during Reconstruction.  State Police pay records have been digitized and are available in the Texas Adjutant General collection. Another collection that includes significant numbers of African American males is the “Voter Registration of 1867.”  The voter records are available on microfilm through interlibrary loan or digital images are available on Ancestry.com.

George Thompson (G.T.) Ruby
Born: New York, 1841; Died: New Orleans, Louisiana, October 31, 1882; 

Political Life: Delegate to 1868-69 Constitutional Convention from Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda Counties; Delegate to 1868 and 1872 National Republican Conventions; Senator in 12th (1870-71) and 13th (1873) Legislatures from Galveston (Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda Counties); Elected from predominantly white district; Involved with the Freedman's Bureau and Union League; 

Personal Life: Also worked as a reporter, editor, organized laborer and teacher; Beaten by a white mob while trying to establish a school; Wife Lucy

Source: Texas State Library

For anyone interested in African American history in Texas, I recommend you visit the online exhibit entitled “Forever Free.”  These illustrated web pages summarize the history of fifty-two African-American men who served Texas as either state legislative members or Constitutional Convention delegates during the last three decades of the 19th century.   ForeverFree Online Exhibit 

Here are some links to other records provided by the Texas State Library of value to African American researchers:

• Scholastic census records www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/local/index.html
• State Police and State Guard military rolls www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/30022/tsl-30022.html
• Service records www.tsl.texas.gov/apps/arc/service/
• Convict Ledgers www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/convict.html               
• Convict Ledgers also available at Ancestry.com http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2143
• Clemency records described at www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/30056/tsl-30056.html (Card file index to pardon applications in Archives search room)
• Civil War Confederate Reports of Slave impressments 1863, 1865 Description of records: www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/30021/tsl-30021.html

My Dilemma with the Lord of the Manor: UK and Ireland Genealogy

Most of my world travel is virtual reality experienced through a screen.  Downton Abbey took me across the pond last night.  The show portrays a fictional estate in Yorkshire from an actual estate in Hampshire.  My Banford and Nevin maternal ancestors emigrated from the confines of the Colebrook estate in County Fermanagh in Ulster.  My paternal grandmother’s ancestor, James McCrory, left County Monaghan, Ireland, settled in Lancashire, England married an innkeeper’s daughter, Sarah Lee and took her to Pennsylvania.  I have had the good fortune to retrace some of the steps of these ancestors with a visit to Ireland back in 2008.

My ancestor, James LEE aka LEIGH was listed in various records as a victualler and a publican.  An 1825 listing of Inns and Taverns in  Newton-in-Makerfield included Miriam LEIGH [maiden name CHAMPION] as proprietor of the Millstone Inn. This would indicate that she was a widow by 1825 and therefore is consistent with a death date of 1819 for her husband. The Millstone Inn still exists in Newton today: Address: 71 Mill Lane, Newton le Willows, Postcode: WA12 8BG, Telephone: 01925 290 899

Our ancestors who emigrated from the United Kingdom and Ireland had an uneasy relationship with the lord of the manor.   Now we marvel and dare I say idolize the grandeur of our former masters.  I presented an overview of my British Isles research techniques to the Bear CreekGenealogical Society on Thursday.  I took a “show of hands” survey and was pleased to see how many of the audience had, English, Irish, and Scottish forebearers.  I was also somewhat amazed that the vast majority of the audience was following Downton Abbey.  Why is this show so popular with Americans ranging from the 1% to the Occupy Movement?  What are the implications for genealogy in America?

To answer the first question, I recommend a most intriguing article posted by the History News Network at George Mason University.  The article observes that the show features characters that appeal to our deepest American beliefs: “Downton allows people from across the socio-economic and political spectrum to see their values legitimized through the storytelling process.”  And of course that castle and those costumes are a great escape from the routine of our urban and suburban lives.

As a genealogist, I love the fact that Downton Abbey profiles the lives of the gentry, the tenant farmers and the servants.  We can at least imagine what it was like for our ancestors to live in this tiered society that was manifested throughout the British Empire.  Perhaps we can imagine why our ancestors supported a revolution in the American colonies.  But the thing I love most about the lords of the manors are that they kept good records.

I lured my wife to accompany me to Ireland with the promise of touring the Irish countryside.  She was not surprised to learn that there was a family farm, church or cemetery at the end of every road.   I also promised that we would see tourist attractions like the Book of Kells and the Giants Causeway.  Being the ever patient wife of a genealogist, she shared some of my excitement when the archivists from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) brought us the leases and survey maps in the form of the original hand drafted documents on sheepskin.  We never made it to the Giants Causeway because of the five days spent at PRONI.  We did make it to the bar at the top of the Dublin observation tower at the Guiness Brewery and we came home with some great pictures and souvenirs!

We introduced ourselves to the locals at Scott's Bar in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh.  They took us to meet a woman who was the keeper of the Colebrooke Cemetery records.

Bertie Morrow and Nick Cimino at Colebrooke Church Cemetery, April 2008.
Bertie was a retired postman and volunteered to provide us a tour of numerous family history sites.  His full name was Albert Nevin Morrow.  We are both descendants of the Nevin family, tenant farmers on the Colebrooke Estate in the Rafintan Townland in County Fermanagh.

Children experiencing "living history" at the Ulster American Folk Park, Northern Ireland.  We enjoyed visiting this hands-on demonstration of the lives of our ancestors.

The archivists at PRONI brought us this survey map of the lease described below:

PRONI Reference Number: D998/26/295 : dated 29 Sep. 1812; Lease from Henry Brooke, Colebrooke, Co. Fermanagh, to Richard Neven and Thomas Neven, Rafintan, Co. Fermanagh, of 25a. 2r. 5p. of Rafintan, Co. Fermanagh, for the lives of Thomas Neven, lessee, aged about nineteen, Mathew Lucy son of Thomas Lucy of Dogary [Doogary] aged about nine years and Thomas Neven eldest son of Richard Neven one of the lessees aged about four years: (1) Rent £37 5s. 10d.; (2) Thirty-seven days work of man and horse and thirty-seven fat hens or two shillings in lieu of each days work and fourpence in lieu of each hen; (3) Corn, etc, to be ground at mill of Henry Brooke, payment for not doing so £5; and, (4) Reserves right to make a road.

This 1841 sketch shows how the land was divided between Thomas and Richard Nevin.  PRONI Reference Number: D998/26/606 : dated 15 Apr. 1841; Lease from Sir Arthur B. Brooke, Colebrooke, Co. Fermanagh, to Thomas Nevin, Rafintan, Co. Fermanagh, of 20 acres 25 perches of Rafintan, Co. Fermanagh, reserving 17 acres 19 perches of turf bog adjoining, for the lives of Henry Francis Brooke and Mathew James Burnside: (1) Reserves right to make a road; (2) Rent £15; (3) Seven days work of man and horse and fifteen hens or fifteen pence in lieu of each days work and sixpence in lieu of each hen; and, (4) Corn, etc, to be ground at mill of Sir Arthur B. Brooke, payment for not doing so £2. Courts, Leet. Courts, Baron.

African American Research Strategies

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a series of three seminars presented by Franklin Carter Smith.  Mr. Smith is currently employed as a librarian at the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, a branch of the Houston Public Library.  Mr. Smith is co-author of A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African-AmericanAncestors.  This book provides easy, step-by-step instruction for researching slave and free black ancestors pre- and post-Civil War.  Mr. Smith excerpted examples from his book for the three seminars.

The first seminar was entitled “Tips and Strategies for Researching Post Civil War African-American Ancestors.”  Some of the points that I found especially illuminating were

• Create a knowledge base from your family
• Consult the Elders-oral tradition plays an important role.
• Identify family collectors and gatherers of information including obituaries, funeral programs, pictures, Bibles and documents.
• Pay close attention to your African-American ancestors’ neighborhoods in each census but especially 1880 and 1870.  They likely lived with or near relatives, in-laws and pre-Civil War neighbors.
• Given names of former slaves are oftentimes more important than surnames.
• Note ancestors, family members and neighbors’ places of birth, both White and Black to see migration patterns.

The second seminar was “Researching Pre-Civil War African-American Ancestors.”  Mr. Smith offered more tips and strategies for this very different phase of research.

• The search prior to 1865 becomes a search for records that identify chattel property.
•  Slaves were taxable chattel property.
•  Locating the Slave as chattel property depends on identifying the chattel property owner-the Slaveholder.
•  If your ancestor was free prior to 1865, look for Free Black registers- Free blacks were required to register annually at the county courthouse.
• The Rule of 1870- Most Freedmen and Slaveholders remained at or near where they were before 1865.
• The 1870 neighborhood can be the key to unlocking your ancestors’ history during slavery.
• Scour the 1870 neighborhood for potential slaveholder candidates.  They might be next door.
• Research the white families in the 1870 neighborhood who had real estate including wives and in-laws.
• Use pre-Civil War censuses and tax records to create a timeline of when and how many slaves the family held.

The third seminar focused on “Searching for Slave Ancestors in Slaveholder Documents.”  Mr. Smith described a variety of search strategies for finding records naming slaves.  The records are divided into two classes: 1) legal and public domain records (i.e. records filed at the county courthouse) or 2) business/personal records and documents including plantation and business records, family Bibles recording slave births, diaries, letters and other personal or family papers.  The legal records can be found in county courthouses, state archives, genealogy or historical societies or they can be found on microfilm through local Family History Centers.  Many of these microfilms are now being digitized and made available at FamilySearch.org.  Some are indexed.  Others require painstaking browsing.  Examples of the types of Slaveholder documents that must be searched include:

• Deed books may name slaves as the subject of a sale, gift, devise, trust or as collateral for a mortgage.
• Check the deed and property transactions of the Slaveholder, their immediate family, and extended family including in-laws.
• Other documents in the deed books may include manumission papers, surety bonds for free persons of color and bills of sale.
• Probate and estate documents may list the names and ages of slaves.
•  Look for records of slaveholders, spouses, parents, siblings or in-laws that died before 1865.
•  Slaves are unlikely to be named in Estate records created after 1865.
• Wills may be especially valuable as they might list slaves by given names or full names with descriptions of color, size or age.
• Wills may also suggest slave family units or explicitly describe families.
•  Wills might also not name slaves.
• Always search for an inventory and appraisal which is more likely to include names.

Franklin Carter Smith citing the example of his family story of Native American ancestry.  His research indicates that features attributed to Native American ancestry are most likely due to a European ancestor, William Dotson, 1794-1858.

I own an autographed copy of A Genealogist's Guide toDiscovering Your African-American Ancestors and I highly recommend it as a reference guide.

Fishing with a Bigger Net- More Newspaper Search Techniques

Genealogy and fishing have a lot in common.  They both require lots of patience.  They both have lots of tools that facilitate the “big catch”.  

I wrote last week about Newspapers.com.  I showed examples of how to make clippings and attach them to an ancestor profile on Ancestry.com.  I was using the surnames “Banford” and “Mayne” to search in the Cincinnati newspapers at Newspapers.com.  When you are fishing you can use a pole, a spear or a net.  When you research newspapers online using keywords it can be like using a spear or a net when you are fishing.

For example, the spear approach is to use the full name in quotation marks such as “George Banford”.  The net approach would be to use just the surname “Banford” to find all instances of matches for persons named Banford.  If you want to use a bigger net then you might start using the surnames of the relatives, friends, associates and neighbors.  

For example, George Banford was married to Mary Nevin.  Two of Mary’s sisters, Jane Nevin and Magdalene Nevin were both married to Stephen J. Ashworth in Schuyler County, Missouri.  So Ashworth is a name that I also want to search to learn more about George and Mary Banford.  The State Historical Society of Missouri has made many Missouri newspapers from the post Civil War period available at their website.  I began by searching the Schuyler County paper, the Lancaster Excelsior at the Historical Society Website.  I found this very intriguing article about George and Mary Banford (nee Nevin) that also mentions George’s mother-in-law, Nancy Navin (spelled Nevin in other records) and his brother and sister-in-law, Stephen J. Ashworth and Magdalene Ashworth (nee Nevin).

Lancaster Excelsior
4 September 1875
Image Courtesy of State Historical Society of Missouri
http://shs.umsystem.edu/newspaper/mdnp/

This article adds an interesting footnote to the narrative of the life of George Banford.  Born in County Fermanagh, Ireland in 1828, he immigrated to America in 1853 according to the 1900 census.  He settled in Schuyler County, Missouri. On 31 March 1859, he married Mary Nevin in Schuyler County.  In 1860 he was enumerated in the U.S. Federal Census with his new wife and they were residing next door to his in-laws,  Thomas and Ann (Nancy) Nevin.  Some time after the outbreak of the Civil War, he left Schuyler County and relocated near Cincinnati, Ohio.

Why George and Mary Banford left Missouri is subject to speculation.  The following was compiled from Caywood's 1888 History of Adair, Putnam, Sullivan & Schuyler Counties:

"The Civil War caused many hardships for Schuyler Countians. Although Missouri was a free state, enlistments in Schuyler County were almost evenly divided between Union and Confederate forces. Neighbor no longer trusted neighbor, and families were divided in loyalties. Bushwhackings and skirmishes occurred throughout the area. Some families left, unable to live under such stress."

Apparently George and Mary Banford left Schuyler County without disposing of all of their real estate as indicated by the clipping from the Lancaster Excelsior.

Another intriguing article was found by searching for Ashworth in the Adair County, Missouri newspaper.  The Historical Society of Missouri website redirected me to the Chronicling of America website.

The Weekly Graphic
Kirksville, Adair County, Missouri
6 July 1888
Who is this elusive Mr. Banford?
Image courtesy of Library of Congress
http:/chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

The John Ashworth mentioned above is probably John Davis Ashworth 1861-1918, son of Stephen J. Ashworth and his first wife, Jane Anne Nevin.  In 1890 at the time of his marriage, John Ashworth was residing at Novinger, Adair County, Missouri.  But who is Mr. Banford?  It is probably one of the sons of George Banford.  Tom Banford was about the same age but it also could have been George or one of his other sons, Joseph or William.

I found several more articles about the Ashworth cousins by "casting a wider net."  I was also happy to "spear" the above article about a most interesting real estate transaction.  Happy trails until next time!