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Monday, December 26, 2005

A Censustaker Speaks

I recently had the interesting experience of assisting the U.S. census bureau with a special census in Arizona. It revealed a few things of genealogical application. The first is that censustakers were instructed to make a few attempts to contact residents directly but, failing that, they were to get information from neighbors. Some neighbors were able to provide only genders and approximate ages. Reliance on that type of informant surely explains some of the odd and contradictory reports of ages and birthplaces in old census records, not to mention variations in spelling.

I have thought of the censustakers of the 1800s, making their way on horseback or on foot from house to house. Each page is dated, and it's rare to find a record where the censustaker backtracked or came back a second time after missing a family. In other words, if a family wasn't home, I'm sure the censustaker just tasked the neighbor to give what information they could.

Many times I've heard people explain that they odd reports in the census were probably due to attempts by their ancestors to hide something. Maybe so, by why impute something ill when you can blame on the neighbors?

Thursday, December 22, 2005

ABBOTT Family of Carter County, Kentucky

Here's another one I owe to a friend. Here's what he could provide: Julia Doris (or Dorris) ABBOTT was born 25 SEP 1922 in Soldier, KY. Julia had sisters Margie, Mary Kathryn, and Christine. One infant brother died.

The family shows up in the 1920 census (though I couldn't find them in 1930). They are in ED 62, Olive Hill town, Carter County, Kentucky. Charles H. ABBOTT is the head of household. He's 26 and born in KY to parents from KY. He's a brickmaker in a brickyard. His wife is Laura, 25, also from KY and with parents from KY. Their only child is Christine, 3.

Charles shows up in the 1900 census in Olive Hill (ED 29, sheet 2A) as the 11-year old son of Chandler and Lilley D. ABBOTT. His birthdate is given as OCT 1888. That doesn't match what was given in 1920, but it's close enough. The family lived on Front Street in Olive Hill. The father was a farmer. The children, besides Charles, were Theodore (DEC 1886), Walter (JUN 1892), and Perlie (OCT 1894). Chandler was born JUN 1853, and Lillie was born APR 1867. They have been married 14 years, and Lillie is the mother of 5 children, with only four living.

The 1910 census shows the family on sheet 3B of ED 40, still in Olive Hill Town. Father Chandor (?), 56, is a farmer. He and his wife Lillie D., 42, have been married 24 years and have 4 children. At home are Charlie C., 21; Walter P., 17; and Pearl L., 15. The children were all born in KY, but the parents both report haveing been born in Ohio.

A record at www.FamilySearch.org shows that Chandler R. ABBOTT married Lillie DAWSON on 30 DEC 1885 in Carter County, KY.

The 1880 census of Olive Hill (page 22 of ED 14) shows young "Chan" ABBOTT, 24, OH OH OH, as brother-in-law of J.P ZIMMERMAN, minister and farmer. Clearly Chan is the brother of Mellissa ZIMMERMAN, 26, OH OH OH.

In the 1870 census (Precinct 3 of Carter County, KY; P.O. Grayson, page 14), Chandler ABBOTT, 14, is the son of James ABBOTT, 44, a farmer from Ohio, and Mary ____, 47, also from Ohio. The other children are Joseph, 16, OH; Malissa, 12, OH; Loren (son), 10, OH; Elia, 8, OH; Persilla, 6, OH; and Delaware, 4, OH. John ZIMMERMAN, 21, of VA, is two doors away.

The 1860 census of Lodi, Athens County, Ohio (P.O. Shade), shows the family. James is 32, born in Ohio; Mary A. is 37, born in PA; and the children are Mary E., 9; Joseph, 7; Chandler, 5; Melissa J., 3, and Caroline 4 months (in early June). Several other ABBOTT families are in the area, including James ABBOTT, 67, PA, and his wife Rebecca, 62, VA.

That's enough for now. If you connect to this family, contact me.

Monday, December 19, 2005

HOLLAND Family Research

Here's a line of research that I owe to a friend. We start with Joseph Emmitt HOLLAND, born 22 or 25 MAY 1911 (30 MAY, according to the Social Security Death Index) probably in Hoboken, NJ, and died SEP 2000 in Long Beach, CA. He served in the US Army from about 1928 through about 1953, going from enlisted ranks to officer. That's the info we start with.

He got his SSN in Washington, DC before 1951.

In the 1930 census, Joseph E. HOLLAND is a private at Fort Eustis, Warwick County, Virginia. He's 19, born in NJ to parents from NJ. Oddly, that's all that can be found on this line. He ought to show up in the 1920 census index, but doesn't--at least not for a certain identification. The family says his mother's name was Mary, maybe, and that he had a brother named Harold. Any help in breaking this line open would be greatly appreciated.

CAGE and GREER of Texas

Nancy Bethia GREER was the daughter of Eli GREER/GRIER and Mariah STUBBS. She was born in Georgia in about 1832. The family moved to Texas in the 1840s. Nancy's only brother, Jackson, took his mother's family name, for some unknown reason, but Nancy kept the GREER name until she married Benjamin CAGE in about 1852.

Benjamin CAGE was a widower with two children, Sarah and Thomas, by his first marriage to Mary STEWART, who died in 1851. He and Nancy had four sons: Phillip, in about 1852; Benjamin, Jr., in about 1854; Eli, in about 1857; and William, in about JAN or FEB 1860. In 1860 they lived in DeWitt County, Texas. In 1870 and 1880, they were in Blanco County. By 1900, the boys were spread out in other counties.

This is the first entry in the continuing quest to find and catalog all the descendants of Nancy and Benjamin. I welcome all input. This research is being conducted for and with Gary Crosby of Arizona, a descendant of Nancy's brother Jackson (GREER) STUBBS.