Vacation time was time for me to do some things I have been putting off for months. I am an amateur genealogist…at least for my own family. I am not all that good at it, but I do like the research. And I found my grandfather and great-grandfather! It was an exciting discovery. I have been looking for them for over 15 years.
Thanks to distant cousins and older siblings I had some basic information. I knew the year and where in England my father’s father had been born. I knew my grandfather had lived in Canada. I even got copies of his marriage invitations. He and grandma were married in Alberta in 1906. We knew that they moved to Washington state shortly after that because both my Uncle Ted and my father were born there. I also know that as a child my grandfather had lived with his uncle as a child. Last weekend I found him in the 1891 English census living with his uncle. He was 8. I also found his father and mother. Working backward I also found his father and mother in the 1881 English census. It seems there were two children who did not survive childhood. Why? Using the census records, I was able to follow Grandpa Will’s movements.
My father had told me a story of being attacked by a gang of young men while he was living in Las Vegas. I was able to locate the family in the 1920 census in Vegas! But I also had a few surprises. Grandpa Will stated in the 1906 Alberta census that the immigrated in 1892. Oops! He was about 10 years old! That raised a lot of questions for me. Was he a run-away? I know no other family members immigrated. How did a 10-year-old child get from England to Canada alone? And what did he do to get across the Atlantic? and how did he survive? This raises lots of questions and answers why he was not really willing to talk about family history.
Grandpa Will married Mamie in 1906. Her father was another family member I was looking for 15 years. I found Great Grandpa Harrison! I had heard stories of the family traveling across the prairies in cattle cars because they couldn’t afford the fares for the passenger cars. I had been looking in all the prairie states. Finally last week I found Great Grandpa in Nebraska with seven of the nine children! And I found them again in Alberta with all nine children. Great Aunt Minnie was only 3 months old, but they were all there. This family brought out all the problems of doing research. Great Grandpa had different spellings of his first name in all but one census. And Grandma Mamie was known variously as Mary and Marnie.
Why had these people moved around the country and into Canada? I have the facts they were there. I know where Grandma Mamie and Grandpa Will moved over the next fifty years. But now I want to know why. And I may never know that answer. But, the information I have gives me lots of material for some creative non-fiction. Maybe I can satisfy myself with some imagining and writing about their travels. I now have a connection with the westward movement and settlement of the vast prairies. OK, I can imagine the reasons. And I was simply excited to locate these people in my history. It was a high last weekend, and I may do some more research this weekend before I return to the day job.
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Thanks to distant cousins and older siblings I had some basic information. I knew the year and where in England my father’s father had been born. I knew my grandfather had lived in Canada. I even got copies of his marriage invitations. He and grandma were married in Alberta in 1906. We knew that they moved to Washington state shortly after that because both my Uncle Ted and my father were born there. I also know that as a child my grandfather had lived with his uncle as a child. Last weekend I found him in the 1891 English census living with his uncle. He was 8. I also found his father and mother. Working backward I also found his father and mother in the 1881 English census. It seems there were two children who did not survive childhood. Why? Using the census records, I was able to follow Grandpa Will’s movements.
My father had told me a story of being attacked by a gang of young men while he was living in Las Vegas. I was able to locate the family in the 1920 census in Vegas! But I also had a few surprises. Grandpa Will stated in the 1906 Alberta census that the immigrated in 1892. Oops! He was about 10 years old! That raised a lot of questions for me. Was he a run-away? I know no other family members immigrated. How did a 10-year-old child get from England to Canada alone? And what did he do to get across the Atlantic? and how did he survive? This raises lots of questions and answers why he was not really willing to talk about family history.
Grandpa Will married Mamie in 1906. Her father was another family member I was looking for 15 years. I found Great Grandpa Harrison! I had heard stories of the family traveling across the prairies in cattle cars because they couldn’t afford the fares for the passenger cars. I had been looking in all the prairie states. Finally last week I found Great Grandpa in Nebraska with seven of the nine children! And I found them again in Alberta with all nine children. Great Aunt Minnie was only 3 months old, but they were all there. This family brought out all the problems of doing research. Great Grandpa had different spellings of his first name in all but one census. And Grandma Mamie was known variously as Mary and Marnie.
Why had these people moved around the country and into Canada? I have the facts they were there. I know where Grandma Mamie and Grandpa Will moved over the next fifty years. But now I want to know why. And I may never know that answer. But, the information I have gives me lots of material for some creative non-fiction. Maybe I can satisfy myself with some imagining and writing about their travels. I now have a connection with the westward movement and settlement of the vast prairies. OK, I can imagine the reasons. And I was simply excited to locate these people in my history. It was a high last weekend, and I may do some more research this weekend before I return to the day job.
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