John M. Smith (AKA The Brick Wall)

I’ve been researching John M. Smith for years. YEARS! He definitely falls into my “Madness Monday” category!

Here’s what I know about John M. Smith

• I know that John was listed in the Russell County tax records from 1827 – 1835.
• I know that John was listed in the 1830 Russell County Census.
• In the census, John had in his home: 1 male aged 10-15, 4 males aged 20-30 and 1 male aged 50-60.  1 female aged 15-20, 1 female aged 20-30 and 1 female aged 50-60.
• If I assume that all of the younger people in this census are children, then the oldest would have been born around 1800.
• I know that John’s estate inventory was submitted to court in October 1835.
• Based on land records, I know that John had 5 children, 4 of which I can follow:

1. Sarah Smith who married Henry Payne and died before 1845. She is married before 1830, so she is not included in John’s census.
2. George A. Smith 1805-1890 (these dates are on his tombstone.  This is my ancestor.)
3. Elias Smith abt. 1810-1853
4. Jane Smith abt 1813 – 1880.  She married Thomas Simpson in 1838.
5. Solomon Smith – the only thing I know about Solomon is that he received some of John’s land after he died, but he was listed as deceased by 1842 in another deed. George and Elias submitted John’s inventory and took over his tax listings, so I assume Solomon was not the oldest son.

Last week, we had three days of no school due to icy weather so I decided to follow up this little clue that I had found.  In a published biography for one of John’s great-grandsons, there was a line that stated that the great-grandfather (John) was an early settler of Danville, Kentucky.  I had a note tucked away in my files that on another genealogy site, another great-grandson had a descendant who stated that he was told that one of John’s sons was born in Virginia and came to Kentucky with his parents and settled near Danville where his father (John) and brothers (John’s brothers?) operated a trading post. The printed biography corroborated the location in the story I’d read so I thought, Yeah!  Something new to research!

Danville is right on the boundary between Mercer and Lincoln County.  And of course, John Smith is a rather common name so I thought it might be best to start with what I could find in Danville itself.

In the book, “Early Days of Danville”, there was a John M. Smith mentioned for the formation of a Baptist church, but how can I know if this is MY John Smith?  I can find mentions of “John Smith” in other Danville books, but nothing that I’d call “proof”.  I was hoping to find a John Smith mentioned in regards to a trading post since that would be the only way I can think of to feel pretty sure I was on the right track. However, I see information on alot of John Smith’s with a middle initial and I’ve never seen more than 1 John M. Smith, so I did make a copy of this page.

I decided to try a different tactic.  I know that John M. Smith shows up in the Russell County tax records in 1827.  Was there a John Smith in Mercer County tax lists that disappeared about the same time?  The first bio I had read stated that John’s son had followed in the footsteps of his father and “became a planter whose broad acres were tilled by slave labor”. The Mercer County tax lists show about 3 different John Smiths in the time frame I’m looking for, but 2 of them had no land.  The other had 450 acres and several slaves. I followed the tax records from 1811 to 1828.  This John Smith disappeared from the tax records in Mercer county after 1824.  If my ancestor had an uncommon name, I’d be excited by this information, but with the name John Smith?  I could probably find a John Smith in just about every county in Kentucky!

Maybe I would find a lightbulb moment with the census records.  My biggest challenge is that John Smith died in 1835, so that means I can’t use the children’s information to tell one John from another.  And all of the known children of John came of age in Russell County, so I don’t expect to find their names anywhere else. I made a chart – in Excel of course – to help me compare the different Johns and I can say which ones I think are most likely, but I keep coming back to the fact that there are probably John Smiths in every county and there would probably be several that COULD fit the information that I have, so it’s purely a wishful, barely educated guessing process.

I also found a newspaper online from Mercer County in 1804 in which a Lincoln County man lived “six miles south of Danville”.  That reminded me that I have to consider Lincoln County as well to cover all of the Danville area.

I think my next step is going to have to be land records for Mercer County.  I ordered them on Saturday. I’m not holding my breath for a deed that says “John M. Smith, who is moving to Russell County, now sells this land to so and so…” so again, how will I know for sure?

I’m also looking at records at the Allen County Public Library for Wayne County, Kentucky.  John’s land was partly in Russell and partly in Wayne, and Russell County was formed in 1826 so perhaps the clue will be in Wayne Co. I’ve searched the tax records for a John Smith with land entered in the same name as the land listed in the Russell County tax lists – so far, no luck.  Just before leaving the library Saturday, I also found 2 books of records for early Mercer County – court orders and marriages.  It’s at the top of my list to look at next Saturday (or next school snow day, whichever comes first!)

So right now, my strategy is to collect and collect and collect.  Anything that seems likely based on locations and dates.  Keeping track of witnesses and neighbors and such and then hopefully, when the land records film does arrive, maybe something will click.

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Madness Monday – Hans Dabelstein

I have a LOT of family group sheets.  But until about a year ago, I had never seen family group sheets with footnotes!  What a wonderful idea!  I’m always wondering where a certain piece of information came from, but I don’t always have my software with me.  So I’ve been working diligently to update my group sheets to have footnotes.

I have a group sheet for Andrew Dabestein and Alvina Carsten – my husband’s great-great grandparents.  On this group sheet, I have 6 children listed, complete with dates of birth and dates of death and burial locations.  The only problem is that I have 1 sibling that I cannot find a SINGLE source for!  He is not listed in my genealogy software or on my tree in Ancestry.  He only exists on my group sheet. 

I have Hans Dabelstein b. 27 Dec. 1881, d. 6 Mar. 1903 buried in Concordia Cemetery (where most of the family is buried) in Chicago.  He would be the 2nd child out of 6. I have no idea where this information came from. 

He is not in a single family census record – perhaps because of the missing 1890 census records.  In the 1910 census, it says that Alvina had 5 children and 4 were still living.  If Hans really belongs to this family, she would have had 6 children by 1910. 

If the date of birth is correct, he would have immigrated with his family in 1883, but I only find a record for his parents and older brother.    Where did the date of birth come from?  It’s pretty specific!  I have found the Cook County birth certificates for the younger 4 children.  But if Hans was born in 1881, he would have been born in Germany, so no help there.

I can confirm the date of death in the online Illinois Death Index, but that in no way connects him to this family. And how do I know he’s buried in Concordia?  None of this family is listed in Find-a-grave.  He is not listed (that I can find) when I explore the death certificates available at the Cook County Genealogy Web site.

This one really is driving me mad!

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Madness Monday – Henry VonLanken

Henry and Mary VonLanken and family 1905

I recently signed up to attend the 2009 National Palatines to America Conference at the Allen County Public Library.  While I have not taken any of my own actively researched lines back to immigration, every SINGLE line of my husband’s side came from Germany.  I have done quite a bit of research on a French/German Alsace line that my husband has, but my lack of knowledge about ANYTHING German has kept me from researching his lines further.  I decided that I’d better take some time to make sure that I have all relevant information organized and cited to make the most use of my research time there.

As I’ve been putting together timeline format notes for all of the VonLanken line, I’ve become quite frustrated over the lack of an 1880 census for this family.  They arrived in New York on Mar. 30, 1870 and I have the 1870 census and the 1900 census, but I cannot find the 1880 census.  The VonLanken family seems to have gone directly from the ship to Douglas County, Illinois and every single life event for this family is found there right up to burial.  So why can’t I find the 1880 census?  The fact that the 1890 census doesn’t exist means that I have a 30 year gap between census information, which really irritates me!  (I suppose in the grand scheme of genealogy research, this is a tiny thing, but the type A personality in me is really steamed!)

In the 1870 census, Henry and his family lived next door to another VonLanken family.  I have no idea of the relationship, but I think it could be key in taking this line back further.

1870 Douglas County, Illinois

In 1881, Henry VonLanken married Mary Heit in Douglas County.  7 children were born to them between 1882 and 1900.  Two additional children were born after 1900 census.  The picture at the top of the page of Henry and Mary’s family was taken around 1905.  The young man in the back row on the left end is my husband’s great-grandfather, George VonLanken.  The family continued to grow, as evidenced in the following picture.  My husband’s grandfather, Ervin,  is seated in front on the floor in a white shirt.

Henry VonLanken family around 1916

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Madness Monday – Joseph Scott 1860

Joseph Wade Scott and Nancy Jain Gilpin were my great-great grandparents.  My “madness” comes from trying to find this family in 1860.

According to his death certificate, Joseph Wade Scott was born in April of 1834 in Kentucky to Andrew Scott and Elizabeth Wade.  Andrew Scott is listed in the tax lists for Russell County, Kentucky for every year from 1826 to 1838 with the exception of 1830, 32 and 34.  Andrew is listed along with his family in the 1840 and 1850 Russell County census records.  Andrew continued to be listed in the tax records for Russell County through 1855 when I believe he died.

Elizabeth Scott and Joseph Scott both are listed in the 1856 – 1858 tax records.  Joseph was 24 years old when he showed up in his first tax records.  1858 is the last year for tax lists on the microfilm until 1875.

On Nov. 12, 1857, Joseph Scott married Nancy Jain Gilpin in Casey County, Kentucky. 

In 1860, Elizabeth Scott is found with 4 of her children in the Russell County census.  Nancy’s father is living with her brother, William, and his family in Casey County. 

But where are Joseph and Nancy Jain?  Joseph Scott is listed in the 1860 Casey County tax list, however, he owned no land.  This is the only year that Joseph is listed in the Casey County records.  I have searched census records for Russell County and Casey County, as well as Tennessee and Ohio in general.  Based on possible listings I found in the Ancestry Civil War Soldiers Records collection, I also searched Kosciusko Co, Indiana and Cumberland Co, Illinois.  (I ordered the service records for the most likely civil war soldier and ruled him out.)  Joseph is not listed in the Russell County militia lists for this time period either.  He is not found in the 1890 special census for veterans for Russell County or Casey County, so perhaps he did not serve.

Joseph and Nancy’s first child was born around 1860.  She died in Russell County on June 19, 1941.  No date of birth is given on her death certificate, but her age is listed as 81 years, 6 days.  The 6 days seems pretty specific to me, so I have her date of birth potentially set at June 13, 1860.  There is a family tree on Ancestry that lists her place of birth as Casey County, so that’s the area I have been searching, but I have not personally confirmed the date or location.  If she was born in 1860 in Casey County and Joseph Scott was in the tax records for Casey County for 1860, it would seem that he should be in the Casey County census records.  I have spent significant time searching the Casey County census and have not found the family. (I believe I have done an every page search, but I usually indicate that in my notes.)

The family can be found in the 1870 census for Casey County.

In the 1880 census, 2 of Joseph and Nancy’s 9 children have their birth location as Indiana, while every other member of the family was born in Kentucky.  These 2 children were born in 1865 and 1868, which leads me to believe the family spent at least a few years at least.  I have not been able to locate specific birth records for either of these children.

Joseph passed away in Russell County in 1914.  I have other records for this family, but I’ve included the records that seem to be the most helpful for finding this family in 1860.  I have searched for the 1860 census for this family for many years.  I would love to finally put this in the “solved” file!

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