Week 2: Favorite Find
Week 2's theme is "Favorite Find." This could be a discovery that you
made from breaking down a brick wall or something that just made you smile.
(Like on my ancestor's Civil War pension application when it asked, "Is
there an official record of your marriage?" and he answered, "No,
it's recorded at the courthouse." Sometimes, you just have to laugh.)
Through the years, I have had a few "Favorite Finds" while doing genealogy research. From locating some headstones of relatives to finding a particular ancestor in census records or finding the truth about a particular event. I've found records no one knew existed, pictures of ancestors that I never thought I would see. Ok to be honest, I get excited about every little piece I find. So for me to narrow it down to one favorite is not so easy.
I think the best thing for me to do is to give three of my "Favorite Finds". They are in no particular order and are in no way better than any other finds I have come across, but they are ones that do pop up when I think of some of my favorite finds.
1. Marriage Record of Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa Ilg
This is one of the first big "finds" that came across when I started doing research. When I inherited my Grandma Wheeler's photos, there was also a datebook included. This datebook was a treasure trove of information: Birth dates, death dates, marriages, arrival dates, original villages, etc. I was thrilled with this information. It's what I used to build my first family tree.
After I started filling in the tree and getting hints, I started looking at the census records. But I hit a discrepancy. According to the datebook, my Great-Grandpa Joseph Ilg and Great-Grandma Margaret Buer were married on July 24, 1919, in Detroit, Michigan. But I found 1920 census records for both of them showing that they were NOT married, living with their own families, and still in St. Louis. I was confused. It took me a while, but thanks to the help of another researcher, they found the Marriage Register for Detroit, Michigan. The register stated that they were married on July 23 but in the year 1920; not 1919. Oops!
I thought about it for a minute and then it all fell together. My grandma was born September 9, 1920; two months after they were married. Big oops! So that's why they went to Detroit. To hide the mistake. They eventually returned to St. Louis about a year after my grandma was born. And from then on, they told everyone they were married in 1919. Even celebrated their anniversaries with that year. It was that discovery that made me double-check and find sources to back up that datebook.
My grandma was still living when I found this information out, but I didn't want to stress her out with this information. Word was she didn't have a good relationship with her mom growing up. Plus grandma was showing signs of dementia, so I just felt this was the best decision. I wish I could say that this was the ONLY discovery I made about this side of my family, but nope!
2. Oma Mae Dennis was Adopted
Oma Mae Dennis is my 2nd Great-Grandma, the daughter of Maggie Molten and Logan Dennis. This information was also in my grandma's datebook. Logan was Maggie's first husband. After they divorced, Maggie and Oma moved to St. Louis from Tennessee. I have had quite a bit of trouble finding information on Maggie and Oma in Tennessee. Ever since I began researching in 2012, Maggie has been my brickwall.
Over the years, I have contacted many repositories trying to find information about Maggie and her marriage to Logan. I kept coming up with discrepancies. Little by little I started finding court records and newspaper articles. But the biggest surprise came when I found the final divorce decree for Maggie and Logan. In the decree, it mentions that Maggie wanted custody of their daughter Oma, who was NOT her natural-born daughter. It completely blew me out of the water! No one in the family knew this piece of information. Oma may not have known either.
Read more about this discovery here
I still had questions regarding this information. Such as where did Oma come from? Was she Logan's natural-born daughter? Then recently I finally got my answers. Searching through court records on FamilySearch.org (that wasn't transcribed) I found the adoption record for Oma! Both Logan and Maggie adopted her together in Tennessee from the Bedford County Asylum. Oma was only a few months old, and would you believe, they actually mentioned her original name: Oma Mae Collins.
I am still reeling from this find. I still have more research to do, but I am excited to find this. I haven't found the Bedford County Asylum yet but I found some leads. This is where a DNA test might come in handy. Before, I didn't consider it because it wouldn't help me track down Maggie's parents since we are not blood-related to her. I will just keep plugging away at this. That brickwall will fall piece by piece.
Read more about the datebook discrepancies here
These are just two discrepancies I've found in my grandma's datebook. There appear to be two authors of that book. One was my 2nd Great-grandma Pauline Ilg, who wrote everything in German. Then someone translated that to English and continued writing more. That person appears to be Margaret Ilg, but this is unconfirmed.
3. Joseph Henry Rickards Only Man to Arrest Jesse James
Oh yes, this was quite an exciting find. Joseph Henry Rickards is Mark's 2nd Great-Grandfather. We had learned from some family that he was the Sheriff in Liberty, Missouri, where he lived for a time. We took a trip out there in 2014 for our anniversary.
It was exciting to learn that Joseph was Sheriff during the time of the big bank robbery in Liberty, Missouri that was supposedly done by the James Gang, resulting in the death of a local man. We toured the bank, which is now a museum, and were delighted to see a picture of Joseph in the museum.
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| Joseph Henry Rickards Picture in the Museum |
After doing some research in the newspapers, I found some stories mentioning an incident with Joseph and Jesse James that occurred sometime before the bank robbery. Apparently, to make a point, Joseph arrested Jesse and some others and put them in jail for one night.
Why is this a huge thing? Because the stories that get circulated state that Jesse James had NEVER been arrested, but that's not the case. I have found a few books written about Jesse James that include this event. There was also an interview with the local judge who "set the record straight".
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| Cincinnati Enquirer 1902 Newspapers.com |
This information actually got me interviewed by Scott Fisher from Extreme Genes for his radio show. The interview is at the top of my blog on the right-hand side. I also brought this to the attention of a local historian in Clay County. He originally thought it was just lore, but I submitted all the proof I had found and he was shocked. Every time I share information about the research I've done on the family, I always include this story.
So these are just a few of my favorite finds from the research I've done through the years. Like I said before, really every new find is my favorite. I'm always so excited to learn more, whether it is about my family or someone else's. I feel like a detective trying to track down the truth. There is always something more to find.
What are some of YOUR favorite finds?
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