Our lives produce a lot of documents. This is helpful when researching our family history because we can use these documents to rebuild the facts of these people’s lives. But what is really true?
A few weeks ago I discovered the Taylor Family Association website which includes an extensive family tree. As I was adding this data to my own database (I made sure to cite where it came from) I found a few errors.
If you’ll remember, I really didn’t have much information about the Taylor line so most of what I copied was new information. I did however already have some information for a John Ammon Taylor. Here’s what was listed in the online database:
My own records showed his death date as 19 Feb 1921 and his burial date as 22 Feb 1921. So, I had to ask myself – Where did my information come from? Who was more correct, me or the online database?
The source for my data was John Ammon Taylor’s own death certificate, which was made on the day of his death. I have no idea where the information on the online database came from, so guess what I did….
I still added the information to my database! Why? So I know that it’s wrong! See how it’s crossed out?
I use RootsMagic5 and I can enter multiple facts for the same event, in this case Death and Burial. I added the incorrect dates from the website database and cited that database as the source. I then changed the “Proof” field to “Proven False” so that it would cross out the event. I also added a note saying “No source for this INCORRECT DATE in the database. I believe the death certificate.” Later, I went back and checked the “private” box so that I could choose if I wanted it to print on reports I may want to share with others.
This will be helpful for me in the future when I may run across information for a John Ammon Taylor stating his death date incorrectly. I can compare it to what I’ve already researched and know why I don’t agree with that conclusion.
So now that I found Joseph Taylor alive in the 1880 census I wanted to find out more about him. He is listed as 55 years old which gives me a birth year around 1825…now back to findagrave.com!
The birth year looked right and he is listed as being married to Hannah Mariah Harris, which matches the Hannah M. in the census. According to some user added information he was a veteran of the Mormon Battalion! Perhaps there will be pension records?
I was excited and related what I had learned to my husband Troy. I was excited about the idea of writing a book about the ancestors and descendants of Joseph Taylor. Then I found the Taylor Association website. All this research has already been done, and several books have already been written!
According to their records, this line goes back to a Joseph Taylor Sr. born about 1728. I decided to copy over the information in their database into mine, and in the process already found two errors. So, obviously, while the research has been done it all still needs to be verified. This will, however, make my job a lot easier. I made sure to label all the info I got from this database so I would know during my future research that these “facts” may or may not be true.
As I discover and verify more about the Taylor family, I will be sure to update the blog. For now, I feel that my quick investigation to answer Troy’s question, “Who’s that guy?” was successful.
I had to wait a few days before I could head the local Family History Center to look up Ada Rose Taylor’s 1880 US Census. So I thought I might search for a Joseph Taylor on FindAGrave.com, and narrowed the search to Utah. There were 60 matches! And remember, I didn’t know his birth date or even death date. I tried to look through those that died before 1880, because I thought since he wasn’t in the census with his family that he may have died already. But still, too many options. So I just had to wait.
Then, I finally got the image of the 1880 census –
Source:
Ada is listed with her mother.. Here’s the transcription:
Dwelling 72, Family 72, Lines 9-15 Line 9. Taylor, Hannah M. W, F, 45. Wife, Married, Keeping House. Pob: North Wales, father pob: North Wales, mother pob: England. Line 10. —–, James H. W, M, 21. Son, Single, Farm Hand. Pob: Utah, father pob: Kentucky, mother pob: North Wales. Line 11. —–, Heber. W, M, 20. Son, Single, Farm Hand. Pob: Utah, father pob: Kentucky, mother pob: North Wales. Line 12. —–, Franklin D. W, M, 15. Son, Single, Farm Hand. Pob: Utah, father pob: Kentucky, mother pob: North Wales. Line 13. —–, Ada Rose. W, F, 7. Daughter. Pob: Utah, father pob: Kentucky, mother pob: North Wales. Line 14. —–, Eveline. W, F, 5. Daughter. Pob: Utah, father pob: Kentucky, mother pob: North Wales. Line 15. —–, Elizabeth. W, F, 88. Mother, Widowed. Infirmity from age, maimed, crippled, bedridden or otherwise disabled. Pob: Virginia, father pob: Virginia, mother pob: Virginia.
Notice anything – go ahead, take a good look. Click on the image to see it larger.
Hanna M. Taylor, Ada’s mother, is not listed as the “Head” of household, she’s listed as “Wife”. Also, she’s not listed as “Widow” as I expected, but rather as “Married”. But where is her husband?
Looking back at the census image I found him in the previous Dwelling with his other wife!
Dwelling 71, Family 71, Lines 5-8 Line 5. Taylor, Joseph. W, M, 55. Married, Farmer. pob: Kentucky, father pob: North Carolina, mother pob: Virginia Line 6. —–, Jane. W, F, 49. Wife, Married, Keeping House. Pob: Upper Canada, father pob: New York, mother pob: Vermont. Line 7. —–, Elizabeth. W, F, 14. Daughter, Single, at home. Attended school during census year. Pob: Utah, father pob: Kentucky, mother pob: upper Canada. Line 8. —–, Amanda. W, F, 10. Daughter, Single, at school. Attended school during census year. Pob: Utah, father pob: Kentucky, mother pob: upper Canada.
So, apparently Joseph Taylor was in the 1880 census all along, but if I hadn’t pulled up the original image and just based my findings on the index, I may have never have known that!
The other day I was showing my husband Troy what I was working on…starting to investigate the Taylor Family. He asked how many generations back I had for his various lines and I showed him. On his mother’s side (which I haven’t even begun to look at) he had up to 9 generations back! On his father’s side, I told him that any of the names we had I had personally added to the database – no one had given me anything to work with. So, his Lund side which I have already researched extensively (although there is always more work to do) went back 6 generations. His Taylor line…not so much. So, looking at the pedigree he asked about one man in particular – “Who is Joseph Taylor?”
As you can see I didn’t know Joseph’s parents…he’s was the end of the line. When I opened up his person window, here’s all I had:
All I knew was that he was born in Kentucky. The only sources I had for that information was his daughter’s death certificate, which gave me his name and birth place and the 1900 census which just listed her father’s birth place as Kentucky. That’s it! So the search began.
I was trying to show Troy right then how I go about researching people and thought I might try to find Joseph Taylor with his daughter Ada Rose in a census. I knew a lot more about Ada –
I figured since she was born in 1872 I would try to find her in a census as a child living with her parents. I already had her living with her husband in the 1900 census, the previous census 1890 was destroyed in a fire so I decided to search for her in the 1880 census. I did a quick FamilySearch search and here’s what I got –
Now, FamilySearch didn’t have the images online for this, so all I had was the index. Here, Ada is listed as 7 years old living with her mother Hannah, no Joseph Taylor as her father. Discussing this with my husband I reasoned – Perhaps Joseph Taylor had already died by now?!
My next step was to go to the local Family History Center and download the original image.
Note:Why not just search for Joseph in the 1870 census. Here was my reasoning – I know nothing about him except his name, that he was born in Kentucky (and I knew that only according to his daughter Ada’s death certificate which her husband filled out, and a census that may or may not be accurate) I have no idea how old he is or where he would have been living in 1870. I believe his wife’s name is Hannah, but how many Joseph Taylor’s married to a Hannah might there be in the 1870 census? So I thought I better exhaust the 1880 census before moving on.
Why, its the study of the Lund's, of course! I am jumping in to researching our family history and seeing where it takes me. We are the Lund's. We come from Lund's, Ranson's, DeMacedo's, Lima's, Anderson's, Warner's, Ferreira's, Da Silva's and beyond! Since my own side of the family is from Brazil, it is quite difficult to track things down. Troy's side, on the other hand, has proven to be much easier. So, I'll be jumping back and forth and all around to learn about where we come from.
Are you related to us? I'd love to learn more about you and share what I know about our common ancestors!
