Anatomy of a Death Certificate (or ... more confessions of an Intermediate Genealogy Noob)

Ahh, the death certificate.  So much information in such a small amount of space.  Some of it is even reliable!

I'm going to share two examples.  The first might be one of the most accurate death certificates in my possession.  The second is definitely the least accurate.  Still, there is a lot of information in both that can be used.

I encourage you to take a look at Elizabeth Shown Mills' explanation of sources, evidence, and proof here.  (Take a minute to look at all of her QuickLessons while you're there - they are invaluable!)  These death certificates are considered to be original sources with both primary and secondary information.

According to this death certificate, my great grandfather, Thomas Patrick Slowey, died on March 14, 1963 after suffering from a myocardial infarction (heart attack) for 30 minutes.  Fortunately, this certificate is quite detailed as far as time of death and the doctor provided an actual time of death instead of just a date.  Thomas died at 3:50 p.m.

This information is considered reliable, since it was the attending physician who provided it at or near the time of death.  Of course, not ALL the information on this certificate is reliable.  Of course, I can't be certain who provided the personal information about Thomas, but I'm pretty sure that he lived at 812 Douglas Avenue longer than "minutes," as it shows in #1(c).  With the exception of that little morsel, the rest of the information given on the certificate is correct.

Noob alert:  When you are reviewing a death certificate (or any research document), always read and re-read and then read it again.  If you look over on the right hand side - yep, right there under the cause of death - it says that an autopsy was performed.  I've had this death certificate for over a year and I didn't even notice this until a few days ago.  I will try to obtain the autopsy report (if it still exists) to see if it contains any other useful information.

So ultimately, what sort of assertions does this death certificate actually make?
1. Thomas died on March 14, 1963 at 3:50 p.m. 
2. Thomas' cause of death was cardiac standstill due to myocardial infarction lasting 1/2 hour due to coronary atherosclerosis lasting over 2 years.
3. Thomas suffered a myocardial infarction in October 1960.
4. Thomas was born on December 29, 1895 in South Dakota, and he was 67 years old when he died.
5. Thomas died in Yankton, Yankton Co., South Dakota, at Sacred Heart Hospital.
6. Thomas' residence at the time of his death was 812 Douglas Avenue in Yankton.
7. Thomas' occupation was a foreman at the stockyards.
8. Thomas' parents were John Slowey and Theresa Burns.
9. Thomas was married and his wife was Anna Huber Slowey.
10. Thomas was buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery on March 18, 1963 in Yankton, South Dakota.
11. Thomas was never in the military.

You may have heard me cursing talking about this next death certificate.  It is for my great great grandmother, Eliza Bourke Lanctot.

As before, the doctor supplied the information regarding the time of death and cause of death.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of conflicting information on this one.  Her date of birth is given as February 2, 1859.  However, if we subtract her "age" (70 years, 10 months, 20 days) from the date of death (December 22, 1930), her birth date is calculated as February 2, 1860.  Which is correct?  Where did the information come from?

This is where the REAL errors begin.  Her son, Art Lanctot, was the informant.  He must have been very confused and/or grief-stricken (or both) at the time.  He listed Eliza's mother as "Eliza Bourke" and her father as "Zenophile."  That's all well and good except that those are HIS parents, not Eliza's, which does not help me in the least when it comes to finding Eliza's parents.  So pretty much every detail that Art Lanctot provided has an underlying question mark.

However, there are still some assertions made by the document that must be taken into account:

1. Eliza died at 1:00 a.m. on December 22, 1930 in Armour, Douglas, South Dakota from lobar pneumonia with contributing factors of senility and obesity.
2. Eliza was a proprietor of a hotel.
3. Eliza may have been born on February 2, 1859 or 1860 in Michigan.
4. Eliza was a widow at the time of her death.
5. Eliza was buried on December 24, 1930 in Armour, South Dakota.

Now I can take the assertions made by each of these documents and plug them into their related proof arguments.  This is when the information becomes evidence (direct or indirect), and it can be evaluated accordingly in context with other evidence.

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Anatomy of a Census Record (or Confessions of an Intermediate Genealogy Noob)

I've been doing some beta testing for a new software product that (for now) shall remain nameless (until I get permission to blab).  In any case, this certain software requires that I enter my sources (with citations) and then enter all of the individual fact claims for each person on each source.  Ultimately, this is going to help me with my proof arguments for ... well, everything.

I had barely gotten started when I had to stop and ask myself, "have I really thought about the individual claims made in every source I have?"  Nope.  Do those sources really make the claims I think they make, or do I see them because that's I want the source to tell me?  Hmm ... good question.  Let's take a look.

I'll start with a census record, since that's pretty much the first thing I look for when trying to flesh out a family.

This is the 1870 U.S. Census record for Saunders County, Nebraska.

You can see that it lists the Bourke household about halfway down the page.  My great great grandmother, Eliza Bourke, is highlighted.

The first thing to note is that (unlike the 1940 census) the person providing the information to the enumerator is not indicated.  Therefore, right off the bat, we can't say whether the information is reliable.  We'll put that aside for now.

It clearly shows that Eliza is 9 years old at the time of the census.  Nice!  A clue to her birth date.  But ... when was the census taken?  There is no date at the top of the page.  Fortunately, I referred to my source citation and went back to the source, kept going backwards page by page until I found a date.  Unfortunately, it was on the very first page.

So Eliza was 9 years old on the 6th or 7th of August, 1870.  This places her birth date between August 7-8, 1860 and August 5-6, 1861.  Here's the big question: Does the census record tell me that? Or is it merely inferred?  Technically it is inferred.  It's still evidence for "When was Eliza Bourke born?" (because you can't have evidence without first having a question), but in this case the evidence is indirect.

The next major fact is that Eliza was born in Illinois.  This is direct evidence for the question "Where was Eliza Bourke born?"  Pretty straightforward.  Not very precise, but it will do for now.

Now comes the hard part.  Does this record tell me that Louis Bourke and Mary Bourke are Eliza's parents?  It does not.  What it does tell me is that Eliza was living in the same household as Louis and Mary Bourke and supposedly shared the same last name as Louis and Mary Bourke.  It also tells me that both Eliza's father and mother are of foreign birth (as are Louis and Mary).  We could infer that Louis and Mary are Eliza's parents, but that would be risky, as there simply isn't enough evidence to make that connection.  We can't even say for sure that Louis and Mary are married.  They might be brother and sister or cousins or any other relation - or no relation at all.

The bottom line is that this 1870 census record is helpful for clues, but not much more.  The only "facts" I can really take away are that Eliza was born in Illinois, that she did not attend school within the year, and she can read and write - and that's without taking the reliability of the information into account.  The one thing I can count on from this record is that Eliza Bourke was in Township 14, Range 9 of Saunders County, Nebraska between August 6 and 7, 1870.

In the grand scheme of things, it's not much, and at first it seemed like my "reasonably exhaustive" search would quickly become an unreasonably exhausting search.  Fortunately, subsequent census records contain a little more information that I can (and will) use to help make these connections.

Between my NGS Home Study Course and the beta testing for this yet-unidentified software, I am looking at my research in a whole new way ... and that's turning out to be a very good thing!

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

... In Which I Do the Genealogy Happy-Dance!

I was so busy doing the happy dance, I almost forgot to provide an update on my post (here) about the genea-angels at the Douglas County Historical Society in Armour, South Dakota!

When I sent my letter to the Douglas County Historical Society requesting information on the Armour House hotel, of which my 2nd great grandparents were proprietors, I fully expected the same response I had always gotten, which was "no."

To my surprise, I received a response rather quickly, and it wasn't "no!"  (Okay, I was kind of doing a little happy dance at this point).  The Society did, indeed, have a couple of photos of the interior of the hotel, and it was believed that my 2nd great grandfather was in one of the photos.

To say I was excited might be the understatement of ... well, ever!

I came home from work last Monday and there was a large envelope from the Society in my mailbox.  It was all I could do to walk ALL the way back to the house (about 50 feet) before I opened it! 

The first picture I saw was of the dining room of the hotel:

The next photo was of the lobby:

Now, before I go any further, I would like to point out that this was the photo said to show my 2nd great grandfather.  However, they said it was the gentleman behind the desk in his shirt sleeves.  I think they're wrong.  I believe the gentleman standing between the desk and the stove is Zenophile Lanctot (mainly because the other man is too thin to be him).  Here's his photo - you be the judge (just imagine him with a mustache):

Incidentally, after I scanned it, I enlarged the lobby photo enough to be able to tell that the calendar on the wall behind the desk was showing the month of November and the first day of the month fell on a Sunday.  I consulted my handy-dandy perpetual calendar and discovered that November 1 occurred on a Sunday only in 1908 and 1914.  Zenophile died in 1913, so the photo must have been taken in November 1908.  (Of course, this hinges directly on the hope that my inability to remember to change the calendar on the wall was not an inherited trait).

The final photo is of the kitchen area:

This photo was the one that caused me to do the happy dance ... like, for real.  The woman standing at the stove with her hand on the skillet?  That is, without a doubt, my 2nd great grandmother, Eliza Bourke Lanctot!  No one ever mentioned that she might have been in these photos!  Here she is (and you can see why I'm so sure that's her):

In addition to the three photos, I also received a photograph of the couple's grave marker and a copy of the deed to the two lots upon which the hotel was situated (I'm saving that for a later post).

Now I just have to try to identify all the other people in the photos.  Maybe they are their children and/or siblings!  I can't wait!!

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

C is for ... CANADA!

Special thanks to Alona at Gould Genealogy for coming up with the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge!


C is for CANADA!


My 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Zenophile Lanctot, was born in Quebec, Canada.  So was his mother Sophia (Longtin) and his father Pierre.  My 3rd great grandfather, Louis Bourk(e) was also born in Canada.  So was his wife Mary and his father Francis.  As you can tell, I have a little Canadian research that needs to be done.


I haven't been able to do a lot of research in Canadian records yet, as I'm trying to get all the research done in this country before I start venturing outside of it, but I have taken a peek at some of the Canadian census records for those two families - mainly to solve a couple of mysteries that continue to hang around my neck like an albatross.


I sure would like to know that when the time finally does come for me to jump into Canadian research that there are historical and genealogical records and archives still available to me.


Lorine McGinnis at the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog sent out this heartfelt plea to save the National Archival Development Program (NADP) in Canada.  The loss of access to the Canadian Archives doesn't only affect Canadians!  You can help by signing this petition.  It doesn't matter where you live ... Canada, the United States, Uganda, or Bora Bora ... your signature can help!

*updated to correct relationship errors

Do we share any ancestors? 
 Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Happy Alien Abduction Day!

image courtesy of happyworker.com

Oh yes, those pesky aliens.  How many of our ancestors have they abducted, taken away for years -- decades, even -- and brought back to Earth to plop down in some random place where we will never find them?


In honor of today's celebration, I am including a list of ancestors about whom I would like to know the following: (a) where they were abducted, (b) where they were taken, and (c) where they were dropped when they were brought back.  I'm not even interested in what you did with them while you had them!


1.  Louis Bourke/Burke - sightings include Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, and Canada.
2.  Patrick E. Slowey - sighted in Ireland, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.
3.  Gustav Justin Stiker - seen in France, disappeared for 50 years, then resurfaced in Indiana.
4.  Anthony Heerdink - spotted in Germany, disappeared for 30 years, resurfaced as a member of the military in 1863, then never heard from again. **I think this qualifies as a double-abduction.


Those are just the most important ones at this point.  I don't want to seem greedy.  However, if the aliens could also return the maiden names of all of my LNUs, I would be most grateful.


Hopefully, there is an alien out there who will stumble across my blog, take pity on me, and encourage the aliens-that-be to at least drop some clues.

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

My Brick Wall - Eliza Bourke

I've hit a sort of brick wall with some of my research on my 2nd great grandmother, Eliza Bourke.  I guess it's actually more of a Catch-22 than a brick wall, but it's frustrating nonetheless.  I'm hoping that if I post her information here, one of two things will happen: (1) I will realize that I missed something; or (2) someone will think of something I haven't done yet and give me a nudge in the right direction.


Goal:  Determine the county in Illinois where Eliza Bourke was born.


Here's what I know:

1. Eliza Bourke/Burke/Burk was born between 1859 and 1860, most likely in Illinois [death certificate, obituary, 1870, 1880, 1885, and 1990 censuses].
2. Eliza's father Louis Bourke (age 40) and Mary somebody (age 35) (probably her mother) were born in Canada.  They must have emigrated to the U.S. sometime prior to 1854 and settled in Illinois.  At least 4 children were born to the couple, one of them being Eliza Bourke, while they lived there until at least 1863.  Between 1863 and 1867 they relocated to Michigan and had at least two more children, and then relocated again to Nebraska between 1868 and 1870 and had at least one more child.  A gentleman by the name of Francis (age 72), born in Canada, also lived in the household in 1870.  This could be Louis' father. [1870 U.S. census - Saunders, Nebraska]

Here are the problems I've run into:

1. I cannot locate Louis Bourke (using many spelling variations, wildcards, etc.) or any other member of this family on the 1860 U.S. census using the search features on Ancestry or FamilySearch.  Not only in Illinois, but anywhere in the U.S.  Given that the first child listed on the 1870 census was born in Illinois and is age 16, they should be living somewhere in the United States in 1860.  I can only guess this is due to poor quality images that were indexed and the name just got indexed far enough off the mark for it not to appear in my search results.
2. Birth records in Illinois were not kept by the state until 1916.  All birth records prior to 1916 are kept at the county level.  Unfortunately, most of the counties didn't start keeping birth records until the 1870s ... 10 years too late for me.
3. Louis Bourke's date of death is unknown to me, so I can't request a death certificate or an obituary until I narrow that down.  I have found no mention of his death in any searchable online newspaper source.  So no information about his family is forthcoming from that front either.

Without being able to find them on the census, I cannot find potential birth counties for Eliza.  Without the birth county for Eliza, I am unable to narrow down their county of residence, and thus am stuck doing a page-by-page search of the 1860 for the entire state of Illinois looking for Bourkes until my eyes bleed.  There has simply got to be a better way.

As I was typing this post, a thought occurred to me.  They were Catholic.  So I reached out to the dioceses in Illinois to see if I could locate any birth or baptism records.  Hopefully I will hear back from them in the next few days.  Sadly, I think the records are probably kept at the Parish level, so I may be out of luck on that front as well.

Another thought occurred to me ... land records.  I did a search for land patents for Bourke in Illinois and came across some records for Francis Burke in Thompson Township from 1849 and 1850, but after a page-by-page search of the 1860 census images for Thompson Township, found no Burkes at all, so I don't know if this is the same Francis Bourke from the 1870 census.  There were no land records for Louis Bourke/Burke.

If any of you brilliant readers have any ideas to narrow down my search, please let me know!

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Sunday's Obituary - Joseph Zenophile Lanctot

Obituary.


Again has the heavy hand of death been laid upon our city, and one of our foremost citizens, Joseph Zenophile Lanctot, answered the dread summons, passing to his eternal reward on Monday, July 21, 1913, aged 52 years, 6 months, and 6 days.  The cause of death was heart failure.

Joseph Zenophile Lanctot,
Armour Chronicle, Armour,
South Dakota, 25 July 1913,
p. 2, col. 1

The deceased was a native of Canada, being born at LaPrairie, in the district of Montreal, on January 15, 1861.  He came to the United States in 1877, settling in Mead, Nebraska, where he resided until 1883, when he came to Charles Mix county and filed upon land, moving to Armour in 1901, since which time he conducted the Armour House.


He was united in the bond of wedlock to Miss Eliza Bourke, at Fremont, Nebraska, in 1881.  Eight children were born to this union, five sons and three daughters; three sons and two daughters, together with the bereaved wife and mother, are left to mourn his loss.  The surviving children are: Arthur, Mrs. F. Luchsinger, Louis, Mrs. L. H. Barnes and Elmer, to whom the heartfelt sympathy of our people go forth in their hour of trouble.


The funeral was held Tuesday morning at 10:30 from the Catholic church, of which faith deceased was a member, Rev. Father Keane officiating.  The remains were intered [sic] in Pleasant Ridge cemetery and were followed to their last resting place by a large concourse of friends and neighbors.


-- Card of Thanks --


We wish to thank the friends and neighbors who assisted us during the illness and burial of our beloved husband and father; and for the beautiful floral tributes.


Mrs. Z. Lanctot and Family.

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Sunday's Obituary - Elizabeth Bourke Lanctot

Mrs. Lanctot “Goes Home.”

Armour Lady Passes to the Great Beyond

Armour Herald, Armour, South Dakota,
26 December 1930, p. 4, col. 2

One of Douglas County’s best known pioneer women – Mrs. Eliza Lanctot – passed away on Monday, December 22, 1930, at her home in Armour.  She had suddenly contracted pneumonia and because of her advanced age, was unable to withstand the ravages of the illness.

Mrs. Lanctot was born on February 2, 1861, and died at the age of 69 years, 10 months and 20 days.

Her birthplace was Greenbush, Mich.  Fifty-one years ago she was married to Zenophile Lanctot at Fremond, Neb.  To this union six sons and two daughters were born, of whom two sons and two daughters survive.  The sons are Elmer of Chicago, and Art of Armour, the daughters, Mrs. Josephine Luchsinger of St. Paul and Mrs. Marie Barnes of Armour.

Mr. and Mrs. Lanctot homesteaded in Charles Mix county [sic] in 1883 and came to Armour in 1900.  For the past thirty years Mrs. Lanctot was in the same location, owning and operating the Armour house, still in operation.  Mr. Lanctot died in 1913.

Practically everyone in Douglas county and many in other nearby sections knew Mrs. Lanctot, who was one of the state’s few women to own and manage a hotel by herself.  She was highly esteemed by neighbors and friends and she will be greatly missed in Armour.

Mrs. Lanctot was a fine Christian woman, and always had a good word and pleasant greeting for everyone.  Mrs. Lanctot for many years had been a neighbor of the Herald force and during that time we entertained the highest regard for her sterling qualities.  We but wish we could pay an adequate tribute to her memory.  We are saddened, with many others, in the loss of a genuine friend.

Funeral services were held Wednesday at St. George’s Catholic church, Rev. Father Carey officiating, and burial was made in Pleasant Ridge Cemetery.

Mrs. Luchsinger of St Paul and Elmer Lanctot of Chicago came to Armour for the last rites.




Do we share any ancestors? Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Louis Lanctot's Date of Birth - an update

I first posted my Research Log for Louis Lanctot here.  Since then, I received a copy of his death certificate from Natrona County, Wyoming.


I need to take a moment here and give a big thumbs up to the Wyoming State Archives, particularly Wanda (a research volunteer).  I sent an email on Monday (11/7) to see if Louis' death certificate existed, and the cost to obtain a copy.  In less than 48 hours, I had a digital copy of the death certificate in my inbox with a note from Wanda stating that she had also looked for a newspaper article about Louis' death (more on that in a minute), but wasn't able to find one.  The best part?  NO CHARGE FOR THE CERTIFICATE!  We now refer to Wanda as "Ms. Awesome" in my house.


Okay, back to regularly-scheduled programming ...

So this isn't as much of an "update" as I hoped.  Louis' death certificate shows his birth date as 17 Sept 1877.  Ten years before any other mention of his birth.  It is obviously wrong because he is listed as being 35 years old.  If he had been born in 1877, he would have been 45 years old.  Clearly, this is not a big help as far as narrowing down his birth date is concerned.


However, now that I know his date of death, I can (hopefully) locate his obituary.


You'll notice that his cause of death is "fracture at base of skull caused by truck overturning."  Here's the story I was told by my grand aunt, Josephine -- Aunt Jo -- (Louis' daughter) before she died in 2009 [she would have been 5 years old at the time of his death]:

The truck did not belong to Dad, it belonged to a neighboring homesteader.  Still another neighbor wanted to ride along.  The trucks in that era did not have cabs wide enough for three men so Dad rode on the back.  Grandma Lanctot [Eliza Bourke] had filed for homestead land and time was running out for her to get her house built.  Dad had been over and dug the basement on her land and the lumber was to build her house.  I don't know if anyone ever told her the lumber was for her house.  The cause of the accident -- they came around a curve in the road and met a car with bright lights which blinded the truck driver.  They thought Dad tried to jump and his coattail caught on the lumber and threw him under.  His neck was broken and the hub of the wheel rested on his temple.

 Obviously, her facts were a little skewed, but she had the general idea of how he was killed.  This is the first ancestor I've run across who did not die of natural causes -- and it makes me a little sad.  He was so young.  My grandfather was only 15 months old when his father died. He never got to know him.  I wonder if that's what caused him to be such a wonderful father and grandfather?


In any case, there is also an address listed for Louis' place of death on the certificate.  I Googled 1249 East 2nd Street, Casper, Wyoming, expecting to see a little grassy area or some farm land.  No.  It's the Wyoming Medical Center.  Apparently folks weren't real keen on following directions back in the day.  See the little blurb about "if death occurred in a Hospital or Institution give its NAME instead of street and number?"  I rest my case.  So it appears that one of two things happened: (1) he died on the scene and was pronounced dead after he got to the hospital; or (2) he lived for a very brief time and died at the hospital.  In either case, I get some comfort in the thought that his pain was not prolonged.


So ... off to find more sources for a birth date.  Again.

If a Picture Paints a Thousand Words ...

... somebody better get creative because I think I've used up all the 4-letter ones!


I was avoiding doing my math homework yesterday*, so I decided to work on my 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Zenophile Lanctot.  He's a French-Canadian gent who was born in Quebec on 15 Jan 1861 (according to his death certificate, WWI Draft Registration, and every census record between 1881 and 1910) ... but baptized on 15 Jan 1860 (according to his baptism record).  I know, right?


I originally sent the baptism record to Laura to see if she would have any luck transcribing/translating the record.  Fortunately, she sent me back a partially-transcribed and partially-translated document, which was awesome and enabled me to get the gist of what it said (and helped immensely with the handwriting).  It was the date that had me perplexed: "Le quinze janvier mil huit cent soixante."  Every translator I plugged that into said 1860.  Granted, the document is really terrible on a legibility level, especially if you don't speak 19th century French.  I had to resolve the discrepancy in the birth years!


So I looked at the record again ... really hard ... with a magnifying glass and everything.

If you look waaaaaay over on the right-hand side, almost in the margin, you can see the word "un." Okay, I solved part of the mystery.  He was actually born/baptized in 1861.  After 4 hours of fighting with it, and asking for help from the French message board on Ancestry, I think I've got it fully transcribed:

Le quinze janvier mil huit cent soixante un nous soussigné maire de cette paroisse, avons baptisé Joseph Zénophile né hier du légitime mariage de Pierre Lanctot, cultivateur et de Sophie Longtin de cette paroisse. ---- Le parrain a été Francois Simonneau?, qui ainsi que le père, a déclaré ne savoir signer, et la marraine Elise Longtin, qui a signé avec nous. Un mot rayé nul.

... and translated:

On January 15, 1861, We, undersigned Mayor of this parish, have baptised Joseph Zénophile born yesterday from the legitimate marriage of Pierre Lanctot, farmer and of Sophie Longtin from this parish. ---- The godfather was François Simonneau?, who, as well as the father, said not knowing how to sign, and the godmother Elise Longtin, who signed with us. A word crossed off void.

So apparently he was born on January 14, 1861, baptized on the 15th.  Now comes the second part.  Ol' Zenophile was magic!  He had the ability to be in two places at once!  Here he is listed as a single 19-year-old male in the 1881 Canadian census with his parents:

Here he is on the 1900 U.S. Census with his wife and children:

See the date he put as having come to the United States?  1876.  Only 15 years old.  Also, notice that it says the couple were married when they were 19.  Hmm ... that's 1881.  But they were married in Nebraska, or so I'm told.  It also says she was born in Illinois.


Now, here's the 1910 U.S. Census, where he is listed again with his wife and children:

... only this time, he says he came the U.S. in 1874.  In 1874, he would have only been 13 years old.  I doubt his parents just dropped him off at the border and said "have a good time, sweetie! We'll be back to pick you up in 7 years."  Notice, her place of birth still says Illinois.


He dies in 1913, so I have no additional census records to consult.  If we go back in time again and look at the 1880 U.S. Census for his wife, Eliza, we'll see that it says she was born in Michigan:

Her obituary says she was born in Michigan, and I'm pretty sure her parents would have given the correct information to the census enumerator.  Should I chalk this up to hubby just not remembering correctly in 1900 and 1910?


I have only done a cursory search for Zenophile's immigration and naturalization records, but am coming up empty.  I also am not having any luck locating a marriage record in 1881 Fremont, Nebraska.  I'll have to look for churches there.  In order for them to both be 19 years old when they married, they would have had to marry between January 1 and January 14, 1881.  That should narrow my search a bit.  So my working theory for now is that Zenophile did come to America in 1874/76, married Eliza in January 1881, and returned home to visit his parents at the time of the census in April 1881.  Now I just have to prove it, and figure out why he's listed as not married on the 1881 census with his parents.  Perhaps he hadn't told them yet?  Perhaps the census was taken in early January - before they got married (after all, Zeno is listed as 19 years old and he would have been 20 on January 14, 1881)?


Here's my list of to-do items:
1. Find Eliza's birth records (either Illinois or Michigan);
2. Find the marriage record for Zenophile and Eliza - search churches in Dodge Co., Nebraska and surrounding areas;
3. Locate any land records, city directories, etc. placing Zenophile in the U.S. prior to 1881;
4. Find Zenophile's immigration/naturalization records, and maybe even a passport (if he indeed made a return visit to Quebec);
5. Find birth records for all of their children.  They had 8 total, but only 5 survived.  This will help identify all the children and help identify where they were living.


If anyone can see any holes in my logic, please let me know.  My brain is sorta like oatmeal right now.


*No matter how frustrating this research gets, it will always be better then algebra.

My Canadian Ancestors

In honor of Canada Day, I wanted to give a little shout-out to my Canadian heritage.  

Joseph Zenophile Lanctot - b. January 15, 1861 in Montreal, Quebec; d. July 20, 1913 in Armour, South Dakota.  He is my 2nd Great Grandfather, and is the son of Pierre Lanctot and Sophia Longtin.  He and his brother Phillipe traveled to the United States from Canada together sometime in the early 1880s (he is still listed with his parents on the 1881 Census).  He married Elizabeth Bourke in Fremont, Nebraska, but I am uncertain of the date.  He and Eliza ran the first hotel in Armour, South Dakota, called "Armour House."


Pierre Lanctot* - b. November 1, 1824 in Quebec; d. March 21, 1896 in Quebec.  He married Sophia Longtin on November 18, 1851 in Quebec.  He is my 3rd Great Grandfather, father of Joseph Zenophile Lanctot.


Sophia Longtin* - b. 1830 in Quebec; d. unknown.  She married Pierre Lanctot on November 18, 1851 in Quebec.  I do not know when she died.


I only listed those direct ancestors which I can prove.  I have roughly a bajillion (okay, maybe 175) others, direct and collateral, but I have no documentation on any of them except census records.




*I have more information on Pierre and Sophia, which I hope are baptism and death records, but I can't read them yet -- they're all in French!

Ancestor Approved Award

Just a few days ago, I was so excited because my blog had gone "international" (meaning that folks from other countries were reading it ... Canada, Romania, South Africa, Germany, Russia, Australia, South Korea, and the U.K.).  Now I feel like I just won an Academy Award or something!  I've only been blogging for a short time, so I am quite humbled and honored.  Thank you, Leslie Ann!

The award comes with a couple of requests:

1.  List ten things that you have learned about your ancestors that surprised, humbled, or enlightened you.

2.  Pass the award to ten other genealogy bloggers.

I certainly won't have a problem finding 10 other bloggers who are quite deserving of this award (provided they haven't already received it, that is).  I have read some fantastic blogs over the last several months.  Where do you guys find the time?!

Ten things I've learned about my ancestors ... hmmm.  Let's see ...

1.  I was surprised to learn that my paternal great great grandfather, John Charles Slowey, may have been born a year earlier than everyone thought.  All of the documentation I've seen points to a birth date in 1861.  However, a U.S. Census taken in Lafayette County, Wisconsin in 1860 may prove otherwise.  I'm trying to obtain a birth certificate to confirm.

2.  I learned that my paternal great great grandmother, Theresa (Trasey) Burns Slowey, was a midwife.  Apparently, she was a good one too, because according to "Slowey History" compiled by Bob & Phyllis Hanson, she was "well known as a midwife and was much in demand at childbirth and other sicknesses."

3.  My paternal great grandfather, Thomas Patrick Slowey (son of John Charles and Theresa Slowey above), got his hand caught in some type of corn picking machine in his early adulthood and was never able to use his hand properly again.  While that's not all that unusual, here's what is: John Charles' brother, Barney Slowey, also got his hand caught in some type of corn picking/shredding machine and lost his arm in 1894 ... two decades before Thomas Patrick suffered the same type of accident!  (I have made a mental note to stay away from farm equipment).

4.  My maternal 3rd cousin, John W. Crow, was a member of the 10th Alabama Infantry Regiment in the Civil War.  He is said to have been present at the siege on Harper's Ferry, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg.  In 1864 he was taken prisoner at Reams Station and held at Point Lookout, Maryland, where he died.  He is said to be buried in a POW graveyard in Maryland, but I have not confirmed this. 

5.  John W. Crow's brother, Ferrington, was a member of the 28th Alabama Infantry during the Civil War.  In July 1862, his regiment was camped less than 10 miles from where I currently live.  Two days later, they camped at Tyner Station, about 10 miles on the other side of me, to await their trains and artillery.

6.  My paternal great grandfather, Louis Phelisa Lanctot, was killed in 1922 when a truck loaded with lumber turned over and pinned him underneath.  The truck belonged to a neighboring homesteader in Casper, Wyoming.  They were hauling lumber to build the homestead for his mother, as time was running out to get her house built to secure the homestead claim.  It is unclear that they ever told her that it was her lumber.  The truck came around a curve and met another vehicle with bright lights, which blinded the driver.  Louis was in the back of the truck (the cabs weren't big enough for 3 in those days).  They thought Louis had tried to jump out of the truck, but his coattail caught on the lumber and it threw him under the truck.  His neck was broken and the hub of the wheel rested on his temple.  (This is according to a letter written to me by my great aunt, Josephine Margaret Lanctot several years ago).  My grandfather was only a year old when his father died.  It made me very sad that he never knew his father.

7.  My paternal great great grandfather, Joseph Zenophile Lanctot, and his wife Elizabeth (Bourke) Lanctot, ran the first hotel in Armour, South Dakota.  It was called Armour House.  He ran the hotel until he died in 1913.  It is said that Elizabeth ran the hotel for a short time after that.  Records show that Hans Boock was the proprietor in 1916.  I wonder if this is some relation to Elizabeth Bourke.  Seems like more than a coincidence to me.

8.My other paternal great great grandfather, Louis Schneider, lived in Utica, South Dakota, and grew cane for sorghum, tobacco for his pipe, and broom cane and made brooms.  He used large beer pans to cook the sorghum and as roofs for his buildings.  I'm not sure what a beer pan is ... and apparently neither does Google.  It's a little scary that they are big enough to use as a roof for a building.

Wow ... this is harder than I thought!

9.  My paternal grandmother, who is still alive and kicking, was called "Mackie" when she was younger (her given name is Maxine).  She was a member of the Glee Club in high school, and performed in "The Whole Town's Talking" in her Junior year.

10.  My paternal grandfather, who is also still alive, played football and was on the track team in high school in Yankton, South Dakota.  He also served in the National Guard during World War II, re-enlisted and served during the Korean War.

Now I would like to present the Ancestor Approved award to the following deserving bloggers:

1.  Climbing My Family Tree
2.  Have You Seen My Roots?
3.  Greta's Genealogy Blog
4.  Mascot Manor Genealogy
5.  Finding Our Ancestors
6.  Branch Out Genealogy
7.  Caro's Family Chronicles
8.  Journeys Past
9.  Long Lost Relatives.net
10. Shakin' the Family Tree