Wisteria

Oh dear, for those of you following this story fresh, this post never got scheduled for publication until now. I truly left you with a cliff-hanger. My apologies! When I first began researching family history years ago, I had an elderly cousin tell me that it might not be a good idea as I might find horse thieves or worse. I think I recently found one. I spent some time trying to compile what I recently discovered in online records on the Backus family of Wyoming County, New York. I mentioned my brief version of the research cycle in the previous Wednesday's post: gather, compile, analyze, do it all over again. In compiling, I go back through the records I have gleaned and make sure I have documentation for what I think I know during the gathering phase. It also highlights for me what is missing and what I might still have to go looking for, an important step. The findagrave.com entry for Etna Smith Backus gives a transcript of her obituary which contains an important clue in...

While this post is not exclusively on a wedding, it does focus on a bride and her family origins. I am on a roll with blogging prompts this week so I want to keep the theme. I will finalize this post series with a Thriller Thursday post as my research into this family has an interesting ending. Online records are scarce on anyone named Charles Backus in Wyoming County, New York and I was searching for two of them. The obituary listed online at findagrave.com on Etna Smith Backus indicated that she was the mother of Charles Backus. Inferred in that record (though no source stated) is that she was the wife of Charles Backus (1814-1881). It also infers her maiden name as Smith. The cemetery transcript mentioned in yesterday's post helps confirm those assertions as the transcript specifically states her maiden name and that she was the wife of Charles. I mentioned previously that Wyoming County enumerations for the New York state 1892 census are not extant. The best we get on any...

The other clue on the Backus family I needed to follow up with was the fact that Rolla Backus, age 16, was listed as a nephew in the household of Adelbert Hitchcock and his wife Clarissa during the 1900 federal census. They lived in the town of Yorkshire. Also living with the family was a son, Carl R. Hitchcock, age 15. In what ways could Rollie be a nephew? Rollie's mother could be a sister of Adelbert or Rollie could be the nephew of Adelbert's wife. The research I was able to do online on the Hitchcock family did not yield any connections to Rollie Backus that I could see. Adelbert Hitchcock's wife is listed as Clarissa B. in other records and a Rootsweb WorldConnect submission gives her last name as Burnham . In 1910, Clarissa's birth place is listed as New York, her father's as Canada (English) and her mother's as New York. Clarissa was born about 1851 and was the mother of three living children. Her and "Delbert" were married 37 years accordi...

In January 2014, I wrote a post summarizing what I had so far on the ancestors of my mother-in-law, Ruth. I was stopped on Rollie George Backus who was born 15 August 1881 in New York. Rollie had a son named Herman who was born in the town of Java on 1 March 1905. One step in a potential research plan was to obtain a birth certificate on Herman but I have never done so. Another action on my list was to explore any Hayes enumerated in Cattaraugus or Wyoming County during the 1900 census to try and find the parents of Jennie who married Rollie. I suspected that Jennie's maiden name was Hayes based on a newspaper entry found at fultonhistory.com stating under the heading of Lime Lake that "Miss Iva Hayes returned from a month's visit with her sister, Mrs. Rollie Backus at Curriers Corners." I went back over those newspaper entries recently. I was able to pinpoint that this entry was dated July 15, 1903. I also went back to the original announcement of the birth of...

The previous post in this series is here: Rescued, Part 4   This post will complete our series on the research regarding this  old nineteenth century photo album pictured at left. We have determined that the album was probably originally owned by George Vernum  Killmore  and his wife Amelia (nee Wright).  The photograph below of a young man taken in Adrian, Michigan might have something to do with one of G. Vernum's brothers, Daniel or Schuyler, since they were both employed with Michigan Central RR. This paper cdv was paired in the album with the ferrotype of two younger boys that bear some resemblance to the young man. Perhaps the ferrotype is an earlier picture of the same young man and a brother? Left #19A paper cdv, unknown. Right #19B ferrotype encased in paper frame, unknown. Left #19A verso: "J.A. Foster, photographer, rooms opposite his old gallery over Park's Dry Goods Store, Maumee St, Adrian, Mich." Right #19B verso of ferrotype. No ma...

The previous post in this series is here: Rescued, Part 3 While searching for online records in Syracuse about the George V. and Amelia Killmore family, others of that same surname kept popping up but I put the research aside for awhile. Serendipitously, I later ran across some family group sheet information on a Kilmore family in Syracuse from a member of the Western Michigan Genealogical Society . The information is mainly focused on a Rathbone family but included information on Luke Kilmore, son of Henry Kilmore, who married Achsah Rathbone. The source for the Kilmore information was cited as History of the Kilmer Family in America,   edited by Charles H. Kilmer. Page 88. This book was not available in its entirety online at the time of this writing but I am including below information taken from the Rathbone compilation regarding the Kilmore line : History of the Kilmer Family in America,   edited by Charles H. Kilmer. Page 88. Children of Luke 3 [Henry...

(The previous post in this series is here:  Rescued, Part 2)     In an attempt to gather more information on the George V. Killmore family, another search is started on familysearch.org using his full name as noted with a birth date of 1825 and a residence of Syracuse, NY from 1850-1900.  Here is how we find him indexed: 1855 George V. Kilmer with Amelia J.; Syracuse 1865 George N. Killmore with Amelia, Mary, Luke R.; Syracuse, Ward 5 1870 George Kilmer with Amelia, Mary, Luther; Syracuse And as noted previously: 1875 George V. Killmore with Amelia, Luke; Syracuse We do not find a listing for him in 1880. How come? Well, we have to manipulate the search engine several times to find out more using variant spellings and other first names such as Amelia with a narrow focus of Syracuse only during 1880. Finally, up comes a list of Killmores in the 1880 census and we find the family we are looking for. Turns out they are indexed as “ Verm...