Hi, I just rec'd permission to send this out to all of you... this is a laugh as you learn......... Jeannie <>< > > > Thought I would share a little humor with other frustrated searchers. > > > My grandmother (born a Burgess), now age 91, has been very helpful and > > > > > patient with all my family history questions. However, doing census > > > searches in between asking her questions sheds some light on why we > > have > > > trouble finding those elusive ancestors: > > =================== > > > > > > Armed with a list of her daddy's siblings in random order, I began my > > > search. Very few of the names matched those on the census, so I went > > > back to ask her more questions: > > > > > > "Do you think 'Mary J' in the census could be your Aunt Mae?" "I > > don't > > > know-her name was Mary, but we always called her Mae." Score 1! > > > > > > "Do you think 'Nancy M' could be your Aunt Minnie?" "Could be. I was > > > > > named after her." Score? > > > > > > "Was Uncle Lee's first name Walter? There is a Walter L in the > > > census." "I don't know. I never saw him but once or twice. He lived > > > > > in McKinney, TX." (Info from another researcher showed a Walter L in > > > McKinney, TX) Score 1! > > > > > > "I haven't been able to find Sam, Arlene, and John Haley in any of the > > > > > censuses." "Oh! They were my daddy's half-siblings! His second wife > > > > > was named Ella, Pappy called her Miss Ella, and she out-lived Pa > > > Burgess." (They apparently married in late 1890's and were never in a > > > > > census together; Pa Burgess died in Jan. of 1900, before Ella & the 3 > > > children were counted in the census in April; she was 37 years younger > > > > > than him, so I never would have guessed her to be his wife!) Score 3! > > > > > > > > "I can't find your Uncle Jack in any census, but there is a Millard > > > living with your daddy who is listed as his brother." "Uncle Jack > > > didn't like his name, so he changed it. He moved to Amarillo, TX." > > > Score 1! > > > > > > "In the 1910 census, there is a 5-month-old named Margrette, but > > that's > > > how old your sister Ellen should have been." "Pappy wanted to name > > her > > > Margrette, but Mama wanted to name her Ellen Rose. Her name really is > > > > > Ellen Rose, but Pappy called her Margrette most of the time, and we > > all > > > just called her Baby." (Guess who answered the census-taker's > > > questions?) Score 1! > > > > > > These are just a few of the examples. Is it any wonder we can't find > > > our ancestors? What a blessing it is to still have my grandparents to > > > > > ask. Be sure to ask questions of your living relatives-when > > they're > > > gone, so much information is gone with them. > > > > > > Happy searching! > > > Jenny Calvin > >