Welcome to: Genealogy Roadshow II, Who In The WLA Do You Think You Are: Moms Side! Don Litzer Kalahari Resort Wisconsin Dells, WI 6 November 2014 TO REVIEW: PLUMER LOVELACES PEDIGREE CHART (BEFORE WAPL 2014) PLUMERS CLUES: MOMS SIDE A THICKER PLOT THE FAMILY LORE ON VIRGINIAS LINE THICKENS Virginia (Ryan) Lovelace told this story to her son Plumer: --Ada Ryan was approached in 1918 by a relative of hers, single and with child --Ada and her husband agreed to take the child (Virginia) and raise her as their own in Denver, Colorado WERE NOT IN COLORADOWHAT CAN WE FIND OUT FROM A DISTANCE? --U.S. Censuses --Online indices (& sometimes records they point to): --in FamilySearch.org --guides like vital records indices, etc., managed by Joe Beine --Ancestry.com --Google searches --Websites providing research context (not necessarily BMD) 1920 CENSUS, VIRGINIA WITH ADA & WALTER RYAN IN DENVER, COLORADO Note: parents age vs. childbirthplace consistencyfathers occupation Starting with lowest hanging fruitthe census most likely to show the full family WHAT WAS WALTERS 1920 OCCUPATION AGAIN? Yes, Walter worked for the railroad as a fire knocker notice how the enumerator writes his Fs --Below is an excerpt from the Evansville Courier & Press article of August 30, 2011, describing the job of 'fire knocker.' Several men in this directory were 'fire knockers. Jerry EVANS responded to a "Good Morning" column about difficult jobs. --"I was 18-years-old, and my first real job was... painful, dangerous, sweat-soaked and very dirty... I lasted one week. --"I was a fire knocker for the L&N Railroad. When the engines returned from a run, it was my job to shake down the clunkers in the fire pit and leave a nice bed of hot coal before the engine could be parked inside the roundhouse. --"The tool to smooth the hot bed of coal was about 15 feet long. Very heavy, and it came out hot. --"My dad could never understand why I quit such a great entry job with the railroad." (Article contributed by Richard Harrison, March of 2011) (http://iagenweb.org/cerrogordo/Directory/directoryindex.htm) What did a fire knocker do? Heres one explanation, accompanying an online version of the 1923 Mason City, IA city directory: HMMMCANT FIND ADA & WALTER IN 1930 CENSUSHOW ABOUT 1940? (shown in ancestry.com index as Ada B & Walter M Rysn) note x showing Ada as informant HMMMSTILL CANT FIND IN 1930 CENSUS INDEXHOW ABOUT MORE SPECIFIC CLUES? --look closely in the 1940 Census clue Walter & Ada resided at 2945 Glenarm Place --Google denver city directory to find Denver Public Librarys Digital Collections TO FIND WALTER & ADA AT 2945 GLENARM PLACE IN THE 1929 DENVER HOUSEHOLDERS DIRECTORY ONLY TO FIND THAT, APPARENTLY, THE 1930 CENSUS ENUMERATOR PASSED THEM BY! HMMMHYPOTHESIZE THAT WALTER & ADA WERE MARRIED IN DENVERRECORDS? to FamilySearch.orgto Colorado databasesto Colorado Statewide Marriage Index, to index entries and attached documents: OKAY, WALTER & ADAS WAS A CHURCH MARRIAGE! MAYBE A RECORD? But what church? Back to the city directories, and find the pastor SO, ADA AND WALTER WERE MARRIED HERE A PHONE CALL LATERDARN --marriage records have been kept by Denvers Zion Baptist Church for the current pastors tenure only --I obtained contact information for the church historian --religious institution recordkeeping does vary greatly LETS POKE AROUND DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARYS COLLECTION SOME MORE FOUND THIS ENTRY AND, THANKS TO A FRIENDLY LIBRARIAN AT DENVER PUBLICHERES WALTERS DEATH NOTICE FROM THE 15 APR 1950 COLORADO STATESMAN: Full of clues: address & spouse confirm identityto Fairmount & Prince Hall Masons leads FAIRMOUNT?...LETS CHECK FIND-A-GRAVEHERES WALTER AND HERES ADA! AND THE REFERENCE TO PRINCE HALL MASONS?... ON TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF CLUESTHE 1940 CENSUSIN A FOUR-FAMILY UNIT AT 2704 E. 27 TH AVE., DENVER, COLORADO Virginia married, with two children born in 1939 & 1940 and their memories SO, STARTING WITH THIS WEVE GOTTEN TO THIS WITH SOME REASONABLY LOW-HANGING CLUES GOING FORWARD From Walters death notice: --Rev. John Perkins? A contemporaneous city directory (at Fort Wayne or BYU, WHS on microfilm) might identify his churchto a funeral record --Masonic records for Walter? Possible clues from vital records: --Birth record (1918) (under what name?) for Virginia? --Death record (1970) for Ada? --Death notices (1950s?) for Virginia & James? --Local Civil Marriage record (1912) for Ada & Walter? --Local Civil Marriage record (1937) for James & Virginia? IN CLOSING, THANK YOU, PLUMER! The WIGLHR Genealogy Detectives sincerely thank you, Not only for being a good sport, But for helping make genealogy more understandable to librarians in Wisconsin and everywhere!