Hi Ray, Winnetka is about 14 miles north of Chicago also in Cook County, Illinois.  I found this in US Census Records: James Bishop 1880 Census age 35 wife Maria age could be 30, 32 or 38 handwriting is bad.  I think it is 30.  Children are Ella 8, Willie 7, and Edward  5.  James is listed as Head Master US Guards (not sure what that is) and as born in NY NY.  He is living in Lake, Cook County, Illinois. Also in 1880 living in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois is James 28 also born in NY NY. He works in a retail fur store.  He is living with a lot of people who have different last names so I think this is a bording house and the head is Henry Clements and his wife Nettie.  Also in 1880 in Chicago is a J A Bishop age 25 born in Illinois a farmer.  Once again living with a lot of different people so probably a boarding house (he is listed as a boarder) run by John Fredine (or something like that). There is no 1890 US Census as it was destroyed by water / fire.  1900 There is a J H Bishop age 61 and a wife Mary both of them born in England.  No children are listed.   He is listed as retired.  They live 25th Ward of Chicago. There is a James not married born in Indiana age 30 There is a James age 23 born in England  living in Proviso Township but his wife is listed as Jane... There is a James age 28 born in England living in 6th ward of Chicago. Wife Anna and son Charles. There is a James age 39 born in PA (Pennsylvania) living in 4th ward of Chicago wife is Mlisa (Melissa?) There is a James age 46 born in IL (Illinois) living in 1st ward of Chicago a teamster married but he is rooming his wife is not with him.  There is James A age 49 born in IL 32nd  ward of Chicago wife is Isabelle There is a James F age 29 born in IL listed as single... There is a Jame M age 55 born in NY wife is Marie children are William 27 , John 25 , Roy 18  He is a landlord.  Born Feb 1845. There are between 400 and 500 James Bishop listings in the 1900 US Census nationwide.  Is there an age range or birthplace that is known to help narrow it down? Laura ________________________________ From: Ray Hennessy <ray@whatsinaname.net> To: aberdeen@rootsweb.com Sent: Sun, February 21, 2010 9:28:52 AM Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] DEATH REG. INFO. (and Illinois connections) Thanks George We actually have the original marriage certificate which by some miracle was preserved through 130 years and many hands so we know what there is to know about the marriage.  Unfortunately there is very little information on it except that James was from Winnetka and the marriage was in Cook County.  We also have an index entry of the birth of their daughter in Richmond IL. As we have no age for James BISHOP finding him is a bit hit or miss. I'm hoping we will be able to find an entry on the 1870 or 1880 Census records giving an age but so far no luck.  I'll have a scan on the LDS site, thanks, and see where that gets me. We are also trying to find out how and when Mary MELDRUM went to the US and whether she took her young son [Thomas Anderson KING, born 1867] with her.  It's all very obscure but we keep on trying. Thanks again to you and the others who have offered help& advice Ray On 21 February 2010 14:45, George Brander <george.brander@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Ray > > I don't know if you have tried this site in your search for James Bishop > http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=home > > As the name implies it is a pilot website of the LDS Church and I find it pretty amazing for US and Canadian records. I had a great uncle who just vanished from records after 1871 but I found him in San Francisco in the 1900 USA census records on this site. Unfortunately he then disappears again but this may be due to the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 which destroyed a lot of documents. > > However I did turn up the actual image of the marriage licence of James Bishop and Mary Meldrum in Cook County, Illinois and the signed off date of 4 May 1874. The 1900 census for Cook County has a James Bishop born Illinois Aug 1954 and classed as Widower. The 1860 census has a James Bishop age 6 at Macoupin, Illinois possibly the same fellow. > > The other thing I like about the pilot site is that it is free and most of the images which can be downloaded are also free > > Regards > > George > > -- > George Brander > Torre de la Horadada > España ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ABERDEEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Laura Many, many thanks for all your hard work on this for us. I did look at the 1880 Census some time ago but couldn't find any James BISHOP that seemed to fit. We have no clue what age James may have been. He and Mary Ann MELDRUM married in 1874 when she was 30 +/- 1. They had their child in 1876. Mary Ann was in the Ellon Censuses in 1871 and 1881 so, unless her parents lied, she was only in Illinois between those dates. That sets the parameters of our search. The reason I say "unless her parents lied" is that there is a record of James BISHOP and Mary BISHOP on a boat to the US in 1870 but ... If this is our couple, a] Mary's parents must have lied to the enumerator in Ellon in 1871 and b] they weren't yet married (not that either of these things would be inconceivable!). The James you have found in Cook County, born in NY, aged 28 in 1880 would have been the right sort of age if 8 years younger than his wife is allowable! Also his "occupation" is not as we understand it. These are my notes on your text: > Winnetka is about 14 miles north of Chicago also in Cook County, Illinois. We intend visiting the records offices there, later this year. > James Bishop 1880 Census age 35 wife Maria age could be 30, 32 or 38 handwriting is bad.  I think it is 30.  Children are Ella 8, Willie 7, and Edward  5.  James is listed as Head Master US Guards (not sure what that is) and as born in NY NY.  He is living in Lake, Cook County, Illinois. I think the ages of the children rule him out. Our Mary would have been c.35 at that date. > Also in 1880 living in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois is James 28 also born in NY NY. He works in a retail fur store.  He is living with a lot of people who have different last names so I think this is a boarding house and the head is Henry Clements and his wife Nettie. Possible, except our James is stated as a Joiner (= carpenter) or Building Mason on later records in Scotland and this one would have been 8 years younger than Mary Ann. > Also in 1880 in Chicago is a J A Bishop age 25 born in Illinois a farmer. Too young to have married in 1874? And occupation is different. > There is no 1890 US Census as it was destroyed by water / fire. How frustrating! > 1900 >There is a J H Bishop age 61 and a wife Mary both of them born in England. No children are listed.   He is listed as retired.  They live 25th Ward of Chicago. Our Mary Ann was 100% certainly back in Scotland by then! > There is a James not married born in Indiana age 30 > There is a James age 23 born in England  living in Proviso Township but his wife is listed as Jane... > There is a James age 28 born in England living in 6th ward of Chicago. Wife Anna and son Charles. > There is a James age 39 born in PA (Pennsylvania) living in 4th ward of Chicago wife is Mlisa (Melissa?) > There is a James F age 29 born in IL listed as single... All of the above would be too young to have married in 1874. > There is a James age 46 born in IL (Illinois) living in 1st ward of Chicago a teamster married but he is rooming; his wife is not with him. > There is James A age 49 born in IL 32nd  ward of Chicago wife is Isabelle These could be the same guys as were in the 1880 Census although the ages are a bit off and the details are different (middle initials and occupations). > There is a James M age 55 born in NY wife is Marie children are William 27 , John 25 , Roy 18  He is a landlord.  Born Feb 1845. Apart from the children William & John, born around the time of our guy's marriage & fatherhood, this could have been right. Mary Ann MELDRUM was born in c.1844 so she is about the same age. However the ages of this family seem to preclude him being ours. > There are between 400 and 500 James Bishop listings in the 1900 US Census nationwide. Ouch!! > Is there an age range or birthplace that is known to help narrow it down? Only his marriage 4 May 1874 in Cook County and birth of his daughter 24 April 1876 in Richmond IL give us any clues about James BISHOP. His wife's death certificate and his daughter's marriage certificate show him as a Joiner. His stepson's marriage certificate says James was a Building Mason. And that's all she wrote! :-)) Thanks again for all the information, Laura. It'll give us some basic information to work with when we get out there. -- Best wishes Ray ********************************************************** >From Ray Hennessy Forenames website: www.whatsinaname.net Preferred Email address: ray@whatsinaname.net Hints for Scotland's People at http://bit.ly/WIAN-SCP **********************************************************