Georgia Family History Expo 2011 - Day One

I made the decision to travel to the Expo this morning because registration didn't start until 1 p.m. I arrived in Duluth around 10:15 and grabbed breakfast at Chick-fil-A (I love Chick-fil-A, but never get a craving until Sunday when they're closed, so this was a special treat for me). And this is what makes CFA so awesome: as I was leaving, one of the servers asked if I would like a refill of my sweet tea to go. Well, of course I would! Sweet tea runs through my veins! She must have seen it in my eyes, and I didn't even have to ask!


So, a chicken biscuit and 45 minutes later, I headed over to Gwinnett Center for the Expo. I found a warm spot indoors to wait out the next 2 hours and try to make some final decisions on what sessions I would attend. 


Incidentally, after I got registered and spent some money on some books, I ran into fellow Geneabloggers DearMYRTLE, Linda McCauley (a Blogger of Honor), Valerie Craft, and Tonia Kendrick; as well as Valerie's mom Ruby and Linda's 23-and-Me cousin Christa.  I also ran into Kathy, a fellow member of the Delta Genealogical Society.


There were so many choices for classes, it was difficult to choose! This is how it ultimately turned out: 


The Power of DNA in Unlocking Family Relationships (Anna Swayne, GeneTree)
I've heard about a lot of people using DNA as a research tool, but never quite understood how it could help except in a very broad sense.  After this class, I not only have a better understanding of how it works (thanks to Anna for taking the time to explain it to me with colorful pictures and stuff), but also how it can help my research - particularly where my adopted grandfather is concerned!  (Heads up, family -- I'll be calling on you very soon!)


Census Techniques and Strategies for Finding Elusive Ancestors (Joan E. Healey, AG, FamilySearch) 
I really didn't need this class except as a refresher.  We learned the several reasons why a person can't be found on the census, and ways to get around them.  So basically, unless your person didn't exist or the census records don't exist, you should be able to find them by the time you employ all of these techniques!


How to Plan and Organize a Family History Book (Biff & Nancy Barnes, Stories to Tell Books) 
I didn't think I was anywhere near ready to start writing a book about my family history yet, but I just might be closer than I thought!  Biff & Nancy did a great job explaining the different ways to present your history and how to determine whether you have enough information to get started.  I'm feeling very motivated now ... I'm going to need another to-do list.


The Clothesline Approach to Documentation and Analysis (DearMYRTLE)
This was probably the most interesting concept on analysis I've seen yet.  Leave it to Ol' Myrt to put an interesting spin on such a mundane task.  I can't wait to get home and put this technique to the test.  It should really help out while I'm creating my research logs!  In case you're wondering ... here's how my notes looked:

I was so jealous of Laura when she won the big prize at the FGS conference in Springfield.  But turnabout is fair play.  I'm a winner too!  Take a look:

Seriously though ... after day one, I finally got back to my hotel room with a pile of loot that would make Cap'n Jack Sparrow jealous:

It would have been perfect, except that I realized I forgot my pajamas.  Good thing I won a t-shirt.  It was a long day, but tons of fun.  I can't wait to get up and do it all again tomorrow!

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.

Harold John Crowe's Date of Birth - A Research Log

This is me, still playing catch-up with my research logs, in an attempt to narrow the search for my great grandfather's birth date without the benefit of a true birth certificate.  If anyone sees anything I missed or any flaws in my analysis, please let me know.

Subject Name:  Harold John Crowe (Sr.), b. ?? d. 19 Sept 1971

Question to be researched:  When was Harold born?

Date of Search:  11.8.11

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Place Searched:  ancestry.com (1900 Federal Census, Perry Co., IN, Troy Township, ED ED number 116, Sheet 9B, dwelling 179, family 194, Herrold J. Crowe.)

Results:  “Herrold J.” is shown as 8/12 years old, born in Sep 1899 in Indiana.  Census taken on 9 Jun 1900.

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Place Searched:  Ancestry.com (1910 Federal Census, Spencer Co., IN, Ohio Township, ED ED number 84, p. 3B-4A, dwelling 72, family 74, Harold Crow.)

Results:  Harold is shown as 10 years old.  Census was taken on 18 Apr 1910, putting Harold’s birth date between 19 Apr 1900 and 17 Apr 1901.

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Place Searched:  ancestry.com (1920 United States Federal Census, Posey Co., IN, Ward 1, Black Twp., ED 50, p. 13A-B, lines 44-1, dwelling 325. family 344, Charles Crow.)

Results:  Harold is listed as age 20.  Census was taken on 13-14 Jan 1920, making his date of birth between 15 Jan 1900 and 12 Jan 1901.

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Place Searched:  ancestry.com (1930 Federal Census, Marion Co., IN, Center Township, ED number 49-402, p. 23A, dwelling 6, family 7, Harold Crowe.)

Results:  Harold is listed with his wife Lucille at age 30.  Census was taken on 22 Apr 1930, making his date of birth between 23 Apr 1900 and 21 Apr 1901.

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Place Searched:  ancestry.com (Harold Crowe Sr, no. xxx-xx-8788, "U.S. Social Security Death Index," ancestry.com.)

Results:  Harold Crowe Sr’s date of birth is given as 15 Sept 1899.

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Place Searched:  Harold John Crowe Sr, xxx-xx-8788, 1936, Application for Social Security Number, Social Security Administration.

Results:  Birth date is listed as 15 Sep 1899 for Harold John Crowe, Sr.

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Place Searched:  "Funeral Records," Harold J. Crowe; G.H. Hermann Funeral Home, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Results:  Shows Harold J. Crowe’s birth date as 15 Sep 1899.  The informant was Harold Crowe Jr.  A phone call with the woman at the funeral home revealed that the information for the funeral home records was copied directly from the death certificate.

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Place Searched:  Harold J. Crowe, Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana, 20 September 1971, p. 31.

Results:  Obituary lists Harold J. Crowe as age 72.  He died on 19 Sept 1971, and the obituary was published on 20 Sep 1971.  This places his birth year in 1899.

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Place Searched:  (Male) Crow, Perry County, Indiana birth certificate no. 2014034 (15 September 1899)

Results:  Birth certificate shows a male child born to Charles Crow and Ida Gray on 15 Sep 1899.  I can only assume this is Harold.

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Analysis:  Census records as a whole are not reliable when it comes to exact dates.  His next oldest sibling is 2-1/2 years older, and his next youngest is 3 years younger.  Since the date on the birth certificate matches the date on his Social Security application, I am going to assume it is the same person.  That information also matches what was given in the funeral records.

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Conclusion:  Since I have 3 sources that agree with the birth date of 15 Sep 1899, I am going to assume this is correct.

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Next Steps:  I have requested his death certificate, but have not received it.  I have a feeling it will give exactly the same information that the records from the funeral home give.  I also requested his military records from WWI, but received a letter that the records were burned in the 1973 fire, so I am going to have to find a way to reconstruct them.

Louis Lanctot's Date of Birth - A Research Log

This is me, playing catch-up with my research logs, in an attempt to narrow the search for my great grandfather's birth date without the benefit of a birth certificate.  If anyone sees anything I missed or any flaws in my analysis, please let me know.

Subject Name:  Louis Phelisa Lanctot, b. ??  d. Oct 1922

Question to be researched:  When was Louis born?

Date of Search:  11.6.11

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Place Searched:  ancestry.com (1900 U.S. Census, Charles Mix Co., SD, (Darlington Township), p. 8B, li. 54-60)

Results:  "Lewis" is shown as being 12 years old, born in Sept 1887 in Nebraska.  Son of "Jenophile" (b. Canada) and Elizabeth (b. Illinois).  However, the census was taken on 21 Jun 1900, placing Lewis’ birth date between 22 Jun 1888 and 20 Jun 1889.  This may be a mathematical error on the part of the enumerator, or incorrect information given.

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Place Searched:  Ancestry.com (1910 U.S. Census, Cedar Co., NE, (St. Helena/Precinct 2), p. 10B-11A, li.96-2.)

Results:  "Lewis" Lanctot is found working as a laborer at the household of Walter Lawson.  He is 22 years old, single, born in Nebraska, father from Canada, mother from Illinois.  His occupation is listed as well driller.  Census was taken on 13-14 May 1910, which translates to a birth date between 15 May 1888 and 12 May 1889.

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Place Searched:  ancestry.com (1920 U.S. Census, Natrona Co., WY, (Election District 8, Enumeration District: 84), p.2B, li. 75-59.)

Results:  Louis T. Lanctot, age 32, listed with wife Alice.  He was born in Nebraska, father from Canada, mother from Illinois; occupation well driller.  Census was taken on 17 Jan 1920, which translates to a birth date between 18 Jan 1888 and 16 Jan 1889.

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Place Searched:  ancestry.com ("World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image [database online], Ancestry.com, card for Louis Phelisa Lanctot, no. 75, Converse, Wyoming.)

Results:  Louis Phelisa Lanctot of Yankton, SD, DOB: 17 Sept 1888 in Mead, Nebraska.  Occupation: independent well driller.  He is married with 2 children.

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Place Searched:  Edward John Lanctot, Casper, Natrona, Wyoming, USA birth certificate 2686 (30 July 1921).

Results:  Louis Lanctot listed as age 33 at time of Ed’s birth, making his birth date between 31 Jul 1888 and 29 Jul 1889.

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Place Searched:  Yankton Cemetery, Yankton, South Dakota, headstone

Results:  Shows Louis P. Lanctot’s birth year as 1887.

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Place Searched:  L.P. Lanctot and Alice M. Schnieder, (15 July 1913), South Dakota Marriages, 1905-1949 [database on-line]: ; South Dakota Department of Health, Pierre, South Dakota.

Results:  Listed as age 25 at time of marriage (15 Jul 1913), making his birth date between 15 Jul 1888 and 14 Jul 1889.

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Analysis:  All the information I have to date provides a birth date for Louis between September 1887 and 29 Jul 1889.  I do not put a lot of weight into the date given on the 1900 census, because there is clearly some error there (mathematical or otherwise).  I also do not put a lot of weight into the information inscribed on the headstone, since I don’t know where that information came from, or who provided it.  Therefore, for all the ages used to be correct, I am left with a birth date range between 31 Jul 1888 and 16 Jan 1889.  I would tend to believe the date of birth on his WWI Draft Registration, except that it is considered secondary information (he would not remember the date of his birth), although that date does fall within the range of dates in my analysis.

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Conclusion:  Louis Lanctot was born between 31 Jul 1888 and 16 Jan 1889.

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Next Steps:  I have requested his birth certificate from Nebraska, but it's a long shot.  I'm hoping at the very least to get a delayed certificate.  I need to locate church records or something in the meantime.  If I can locate daughter Marie’s birth certificate, that may narrow the range a bit.