ANOTHER PAIR OF EYES
After the publication of my article on reopening brick-wall research, I received e-mails from several readers who put the links and suggestions in the article into practice on their own brick walls, and a few who decided to see if they could help me with my elusive ancestor Abraham ROBINSON.
The e-mail discussions that followed reinforced my belief that no resource is more valuable in genealogical pursuits than having others with whom to discuss your research. Having another pair of eyes look over what you have checked and what you have not is invaluable.
I struggled for many years with my SMITHs from York County, Pennsylvania. I knew my great-grandfather James Henry SMITH was born in 1858 and baptized at First Moravian Church in York in January 1859. The baptismal record listed his parents as Samuel SMITH and Catharine DIETERICH. I had James's obituary from January 1920, which listed one surviving sister, Mrs. Samuel CORMANY of York.
I found Samuel CORMANY and his wife Minnie on census records, so I had a first name for James's surviving younger sister. However, repeated every-line scrutiny of census films going back to the days when doing so meant a trip to the National Archives in Philadelphia, or a two-and-a-half-hour journey to the York County Heritage Trust Library, failed to turn up any hint of Samuel and Catharine with young son James on the 1860 census. When I began my search, there were no every-name indexes to check. The head of household index turned up many Samuel SMITHs, some with wives named Catharine, but none with a son James of the right age. I searched until my eyes were bleary.
By 1870 the only possible James SMITHs I could locate in York or surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and Maryland were not with parents but were working as farm laborers in households of non-relatives. By 1880 James was married.
I knew if I could locate James's parents on a census record I'd have at least a clue about their ages, which could lead me to earlier records where I could possibly learn the identities of their parents and siblings. Nothing worked and I put the SMITHs aside until a couple years ago when I decided to post a query on the PAYORK Mailing List.
DON'T YOU THINK THAT IS ODD?
A list member who enjoys doing census lookups and sorting out problems found something I'd overlooked all these years.
She found a Samuel and Catharine SMITH in York County on the 1860 census with two sons named John SMITH. The first was John J. SMITH, age five. The younger one was John H. SMITH, age two--just the right age to be James. "Don't you think that is odd?" she asked. Was it an enumerator error? Could the second "John" really have been James?
I'd overlooked this oddity all these years because I was so focused on looking for a James, not a John. If this was the right family, I had a bit of good fortune: Barney SMITH, father of the head of household, was also living with the family in 1860. Plus, both Samuel and Barney were stone masons. When you are looking for a common surname such as SMITH, finding a unique occupation can help in your search.
ONE CLUE LED TO ANOTHER
I was able to find Barney SMITH on the 1850 census in York County living with his wife, Catharine, and his son Samuel (still unmarried in 1850). I hadn't found this Samuel SMITH in any of my previous searches due to an error on the census enumeration.
Barney SMITH, age seventy-one, was listed as head of household, and beneath his name was listed Ann REED, age twelve. She was listed as black. Everyone else in the household was listed as white. Beneath her name was Catharine, age sixty-seven (Barney's wife), and Samuel, age twenty-seven. The enumerator had used ditto marks under the name REED for the surnames of the other members of the household. The indexer had picked up their surnames as REED, not SMITH.
From that point on, it was clear sailing. I found Samuel Leander SMITH's baptismal record at Christ Lutheran Church, York, listing his parents as Bernhard and Catharine SMITH. But I found conclusive proof that I had this family sorted out properly in the 1910 census entry for Samuel and Minnie CORMANY. Who should be living in the household with them but Minnie's older brother, John J. SMITH. Bingo!
And all it took to find the information was a helpful list member who took the time to do a bit of checking and notice an inconsistency that I'd overlooked for many years. Oh, the incalculable value of a second pair of eyes.
