One Puzzle Piece I Would Like to Solve

I have only done research on my family history for the past four years, but I already have a couple of minor mysteries that I want to resolve.

One of those mysteries deals with one of my Stout ancestors and whether or not he went to California with his two older brothers. Joseph and Susannah Stout had seven children: William, Reuben, Peter, Edward, Margaret Ann, Sarah Ann and Alexander (based upon Reuben's biography and the censuses of 1850 and 1860). According to Reuben Stout's biography, Reuben and his brother William went to California in the mid-1850s. All that Reuben Stout's biography says about that trip is that he engaged in mining (which type, I'm not sure) and was successful. In addition, Reuben's biography mentions that his brother, William, was thirty-two when he died in California. Unfortunately, the biography does not give a date or place of death and neither states where Reuben engaged in mining. Although, I don't know exactly when William died, I'm guessing that he died sometime between 1860 and 1863 based upon his age in the 1850 census. In the 1850 census, William's age was given as twenty years old.

When I first read Reuben's biography, I believed that only Reuben and William went since they were not with the rest of the family in the 1860 Census. Peter, of course was listed as living at home with his parents, so I assumed that he had stayed in Michigan, that is until I started to do research in Saint Joseph County, Michigan's deed records. As I was going through the grantor and grantee indexes to the deeds (both grantors and grantees were listed in the same book index for that time period, which made looking for deeds even more difficult), I came across a deed made between a Charles A. Lawrence and Peter Stout. Obviously, it was not surprising to me that the land Peter Stout was buying was in Saint Joseph County; what was surprising to me, was that the deed had been written out in Nevada County, California and sent to the Saint Joseph County's Recorder Office. In addition, Peter Stout was listed as a resident of Orleans Flat, Nevada County, California. Up until that point, I had no idea that Peter might have gone to California or where the Stout brothers might have done mining in California. I forget when exactly the deed was created because I don't have it in front of me, but I do remember it being created somewhere between 1857 and 1859, since I was impressed by how close the time was to the 1860 Census.

Needless to say, this piece of information has left me in a little bit of a quandary, since Peter was back in Michigan by 1860 and the deed, as I mentioned before, was created only within a couple of years before the census. This has left me wondering: did my ancestor, Peter, go to California with his brothers? I did check the 1860 census to see if there were other Peter Stouts living; however, none of the Peter Stouts listed in the 1860 census resided close enough to California to rule out the possibility that my ancestor was the one who bought the land. At the moment, I believe that the Peter Stout on the deed is my ancestor since the deed was dealing with a parcel of land that was in the same area roughly where other family members lived. Other than that deed, I do not have any further proof that my ancestor was in California. His brother's biography does not mention who exactly went to California, other than to state that William died somewhere in California.

So far, what I have written about seems fairly straight-forward; however, there are some problems with a few of my sources that makes this mystery a little bit more complicated.

The first source that I have problems with is Reuben's biography. Many of the dates in his biography, especially the deaths of his parents, are incorrect when checked against sources that are more contemporary to the dates. For example, Joseph Stout's probate packet, his and Susannah's death records and the joint tombstone for Joseph and Susannah all confirm that both Joseph and Susannah died later than published in Reuben's biography. So, the problem for me is that I don't know how much I should believe Reuben's account. There is information in his biography that I have yet not confirmed or unconfirmed , but many of the dates in the biography do not add up. In addition, Reuben's biography incorrectly state when his father bought his land and the location of the land.

The second source I have problems with is the 1860 census. The problem that I have is that I have not been able to find William or Reuben in California or in the 1860 census. If I had been able to find either one of them, I would have a better idea of where to look for records in California. So far, I only have a deed that suggests a possible location and in my eyes, this information is weak at best.

A third source that I have problems is with two deeds that deal with land in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. I have already mentioned about the deed made out in California, but in 1864, Peter Stout sold a parcel of land that was in Saint Joseph County. At first it appears as though the two deeds are related, and they might be, except that the locations for the parcel are do not match with the older deed. It is very possible that the California office wrote down the lot number incorrectly and that this is the same lot of parcel; however, if this deed is for another parcel of land, I have not yet found a deed where Peter Stout bought this land. At the risk of appearing stupid, I definitely need to go back to the Saint Joseph County, Michigan's Recorder of Deeds office and go through the deeds again.

I have not yet done research into California records primarily because I'm not familiar with California records for this time period. I'm familiar with Michigan records for this time period, but in California, I don't know what type of records were made during the Gold Rush Era or around it, since the events in this mystery occur around that time. In addition, I don't know if the Stout brothers travelled overland or by boat to California. If they travelled overland, would any records exist as to whether or not lists were kept of those who came into California from the east?

While I was writing this post, several questions came to my mind. If Reuben was doing so well at mining in California, why did he return to Michigan? Did he leave California as a result of his brother's death. When and how did William die? Did William die in a mining accident? Was William involved in mining, and was he successful as well? I suspect I will find the answers to some of the questions as I do research into California records.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I need to look? Any advice or ideas is welcome. Thanks.
___________________________________________________________________

Sources

(Unfortunately, I don't have my sources with me at the moment, but I'll try to put down as much information as I can remember about my sources. I can't guarantee the complete accuracy because my sources are at home and not up at school with me.)

1. Lockport Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, 1850 U. S. Federal Census
   
   
2. Florence Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, 1860 U. S. Federal Census
   


3. "Reuben Stout," Portrait and Biographical Album of Saint Joseph County, Michigan. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1889), 347-348.



4. Probate Packet of Joseph Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Probate Office



5. Deed record of Charles A. Lawrence to Peter Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Recorder of Deeds Office.



6. Deed of Peter Stout selling a parcel of land, about 1864, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Recorder of Deeds Office.


7. Tombstone of Joseph and Susannah Stout, Calhoun Cemetery, Florence Township, Saint Joseph County, Michigan.


8. Death registrations of Joseph and Susannah Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan, Book One, page 85.

A Ghoulish Post ...

I noticed earlier today that Olive Tree Genealogy had posted information on the discovery of a medieval cemetery. I thought I would post a link to this post because it fits very well with this time of the year, since Halloween is only a couple of weeks away. You can read the post here.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Four

"How did you get involved in genealogy?" I have been asked that question a couple of times. The short and simple answer would be that I had an interest in history and that led to wanting to find out the history of my family; however, over the past several days, I have reflected upon how I got into genealogy, and I realized that the full answer to that question was more much complex than the answer I usually give to other people.

Ever since I was a young child, I had an interest in history. At the age of five, I knew that I had grandfathers who were World War Two veterans. How did I know? My parents told me, even though I don't remember now exactly when they told me so. In addition, my grandfather began to tell me stories about our family's history around the time I was five. My grandparents also had a family tree that they showed to me as a young child. In addition I knew that my grandpa was a history buff. Of course I highly doubt that my grandparents knew that this exposure would have an impact on me, but either way, I believe that hearing stories about my family unconsciously influenced my interest in history.

I don't remember now if the history lessons in elementary school also added to my interest in history because I only remember history lessons being taught in class from the fifth grade and up. Before the fifth grade, I think the lessons were more social studies than history. Either way, I think the elementary lessons only had a small influence over me because by the time I entered the fifth grade, I was already reading about history on my own, and I know that my own personal reading had more of an influence on whether I would find history interesting or not. One the first eras of history that I had an interest in as a child was in World War Two, and that was probably as a result of knowing that my grandfathers had served in that war. At the same time, though, this interest wasn't consciously on my mind. What I mean is that, I wasn't actively thinking about the stories I heard when I decided to open a textbook and read the few paragraphs or pages on a historical topic. It was much more subtle.

Well, that is probably the most in depth reason that I have ever given on how I became interested in history and genealogy. How about you? How did you get interested in genealogy? I would love to hear other people's stories. Please feel free to either respond by a comment or a post on your blog. I look forward to hearing what others have to say.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I have added a few more genealogy blogs to the blog. The blogs added are:

• Miriam's AnceStories2
• Family Tree's Blog
• Sue's Sues Genealogy

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left side of the page. Any suggestions for other genealogy or history blogs are welcome.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've just added a few more genealogy blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Boisvert History
• Echo Hill Ancestors
• Lynn Turner's Hispanic Genealogy

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left hand of this page. Any suggestions for other genealogy and history blogs are welcome.

Haven't Posted In a While, and Articles of Note ...

I haven't posted in a few days because I've been busy mostly with schoolwork. It's midterm time at our school, so as you can imagine, my mind is focused on school.

On another note, there have been a few blog posts that I want to mention. First off, I want to thank Terry Thornton for adding me to his H. O. G. S. blogger. It is an honor, and you can read his post here. I also want to mention his article, "Don't Miss These...," and you can read it here. Jasia wrote a response to my third column, and you can read her post here. And last but not least, I want to mention that Craig Manson will be posting another legal post on his blog. You can read his post here.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Three

Has anyone ever had an experience where history became something more than just a bunch of dry facts or something that happened to people in the past? What I mean when I say, "where history became something more," I mean, has anyone had an experience where history came alive and felt real for a moment or at least did not feel as distant as at other times?

During this past summer, I was browsing through an old newspaper from an ancestral county, when I came across a newspaper article on the Missouri Compromise. As I read the column, history suddenly came alive for me. It wasn't just a feeling where I thought, "Hey, I learned this in school," but it was also a sense of a close connection. It actually felt as though it had meaning for me. (I realize this sounds weird, but I can't explain this any better.)

After I stopped browsing the newspaper, I started to wonder if history could be made more interesting to people not interested in history. Would many more children find history more interesting if their teachers brought in some original documents or had them do their family history as a project? From my understanding, many students find history boring and I think part of the reason is as a result of how history is taught. Would a change in teaching style or presentation style make history more interesting? I'm not sure, but I am worried by the failure of many Americans to remember their country's history.

What do you think? Please feel free to leave a comment.

Just Wanted To Say Thank You ...

I just want to say thank you to Craig Manson, Jasia and Miriam for their kind comments that they left earlier today on my "Added a new post." I also want to say thank you to anyone who may leave any comments as well.

Update, 7 October: Miriam posted a congratulations post to me on Friday. You can view it here. Thank you Miriam.

Added A New Poll

After the results from the last poll indicated that most of the respondents' ancestors came from Europe, I decided to add a new poll. The question for this poll is: What Area of Europe Did Your Ancestors Come From? The choices are:

• Western
• Central
• Eastern/Russia
• Southern

You can choose more than one category.

I chose to divide Europe into four sections to keep the poll categories simple. I do plan on having polls on this blogs in the future that go more in detail as to which countries, but for the moment, I just want to keep it simple.

On a side note: This post happens to be my 100th post, and I have started posting on this blog since mid-March of this year. Can you imagine that?

More Genealogy Blogs Posted

Several more genealogy blogs have been added today. The blogs added today are:

• Allan Scahill's The Scahill Pages
• Karen Burney's Louisiana Lineage Legacies
• Paula Stuart-Warren's Paula's Genealogical Eclectica
• Peter Walker's Hollyer One-Name Study Blog
• The Mobile Genealogist

I learned about The Mobil Genealogist first from a post by Jasia, and I first learned about Karen Burney's Louisiana Lineage Legacies from a post by Craig Manson. You can find these blogs and others on the lower left hand of this page. Any suggestions for other genealogy or history blogs are welcome.

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The Carnival of Genealogy has been posted on Jasia's Creative Gene. The next topic has to do with Halloween. Enjoy!

A Five Questions Challenge - School Memories

Juliana Smith over at Ancestry's blog, has posed a five question challange about school memories. I know Randy Seaver and Becky Wiseman have already posted their own answers to this challenge, but I decided to join this challenge, even though my public education school days are not that distant. At least, I don't think this question applies to college ...

1. What was your favorite subject in school?

My favorite subjects were German, history (not suprising, as that's my major), creative writing, anatomy and physiology, world religions and geography.

2. What extra-cirricular activities did you participate in?

In middle school, I participated in the school newspaper and student government. In high school, I participated in several clubs:

Freshman year: I did not participate in any clubs.

Sophomore year: I was in the Mock Trial Club, and I was in a literary club that put on a couple of skits for an open house.

Junior year (different high school): I was on the varsity quiz bowl team and I was on the make-up crew for my high school's theatre company/club.

Senior year: I was the captain of the quiz bowl team and I was again a member on the make-up crew for the school's theatre company. I was also a member of NHS.

3. Did I go on field trips, and if so, what was my most memorable trip?

I went on many field trips when I was in school. I went to places such as the Detroit Institute of Arts (or DIA as it is also known), the Detroit Science Center, Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum, the Jiffy plant in Chelsea, a YMCA camp in the sixth grade, and many more places that I have memories of but don't remember the names of the places. Again, I went on many field trips, several of them to the same places, that I don't believe there is one that sticks out in my mind.

4. What teacher influenced me the most?

I'm not sure I can pinpoint any specific teacher as having an influence over me, but I have had many memorable teachers. A few of my most memorable teachers are: my high school history and English teachers, my German teacher, my eighth-grade teacher and my world religions teacher. Many of those teachers, though, are now retired. I have also had teachers that I don't want to remember, but I don't want to write about them.

5. Did I buy lunch at school or did I bring my lunch from home?

I mainly brought lunch from home. The few times that I did buy lunch primarily occurred when I was in elementary and middle school. Most of the time, the food tasted terrible and wasn't very healthy, and I preferred to bring my lunch from home because the food tasted so bad.

As you can see, I still have many memories of my school days, some bad and some good. Of course, what I have posted here is only a slight fraction of what I do remember.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Two

I've just started an internship at an archive and as a result, I finally have a better understanding and appreciation for why other genealogists write about being specific when it comes to sending a query to an archive or library. (No, this has nothing to do with reading a request written by a researcher; the amount and different types of records an archive may keep is what has made those lessons sink in.)

Since many archive keep thousands upon thousands of pages of documents, just mailing a request with a name would be difficult to research if a person does not give a date range. Unless the person who are researching was famous in the city or area, chances are, that any general request for information would be too time consuming. And more than likely, an archivist would not respond with information but a suggestion to come do your own research at the archive precisely for the reason that the archive staff does not have the time to do the research. (It is also possible that the only staff member is the archivist and the rest of the people who work there are volunteers.)

Archivists generally spend their time preserving, organizing and filling documents and other historical artifacts, and thus, they don't usually have the time to extensive research. In addition, the archive probably only has a couple of people working on the staff. If anything, they will be spending their time trying to organize artifacts so that they'll be easier to retrieve when someone comes in to do research. That information will also more than likely not be online because it is just for internal use and because the archive either doesn't have the staff, funding or technological know-how to put information online. And this lack of time, staff and money is precisely why I don't believe all records will be digitized and put online. More than likely, the information that has been put online has been the result of volunteers doing the work, and this work has probably taken those volunteers many years.

I don't mean to lecture, and this wasn't intended to be a lecture. I think, though, that many times, we as genealogists forget or don't know about the amount of work and effort that goes into preserving records so that they are available to be viewed in the future. I know I didn't realize the amount of work that went into archiving until I began my internship.

If you agree or disagree, please feel free to leave a comment.

Poll Results

The poll has officially closed, and now I'll bring you the results. The poll's question was "Where are your ancestors from?" A person could chose from any of the five categories offered and could vote more than once. Ten people voted, and the results are:

• Europe - 10 votes
• Asia - 0 votes
• Africa - 0 votes
• North or South America - 2 votes
• Australia - 0 votes

To those who voted, thank you for voting.

Added More Genealogy Blogs

I've just added a few genealogy blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Robert Stanley Orrell and Reverdy Lewin Orrell, III's Bob & Reb's Genealogy Blog
• George Geder's Genealogy~Photography~Restoration
• Ancestry. com Blog

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left hand of the page. Any suggestions for other genealogy or history blogs are welcome.

Finally ...

I finally got my response to Mike Elgan's article posted today. I had been working on bit by bit since Saturday, and I was only able to get it finished today. If I had not been busy, I would have had it finished sooner and I would have posted more.

Either way, I hope you enjoy this first column of Genealogy and History Thoughts.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column One

This column was not exactly the one I originally planned on posting, but I could not pass up commenting on Mike Elgan's "Coming Soon: The Mother of All Genealogy Databases." I realize that Jasia, Randy Seaver and others have already posted their thoughts on this article, but I feel as though I need to add my two cents worth as well.

After reading this article, I believe Mr. Elgan's concept of genealogy is incorrect. I realize that Mr. Elgan is writing from the view of someone in the computer field, and that his interest in genealogy is only related to the networking that has been occurring in genealogy lately. The social networking with other genealogists over the internet is only a small part of genealogy. Most of a genealogist's research is done off the internet, in libraries or other repositories. Most of the records that genealogists use are not on the internet, and even with information found on the internet, that information has to be verified with information not on the internet. I know that not everyone believes spending time digging for old documents interesting.

Of course, I can't resist commenting on some of Mr. Elgan's remarks.

"Millions of people around the world spend hours tracing their 'roots' as far back as they can. I've always suspected that people are really searching for self-identity."

It is possible that some people who do genealogy are searching for an identity, but that is not the reason why I got interested in family history. I got into genealogy primarily because I was interested in the history of my family. Most of my relatives do not know much about the history of our family, and it was my Grandfather who originally began to do research on our family. I took over because I was curious.

"Unfortunately, many uncover unpleasant family secrets. Instead of finding aristocrats and royalty, people are likely to discover war deserters, criminals and illegitimate children. Even more common is to find family origins in countries not part of the family lore. Genealogy isn't for wimps."

This was precisely the reason why I got into genealogy. I wanted to find out the truth about the history of my family.

"Many Americans who consider themselves white or black are in fact both to one degree or another."

This doesn't shock me at all. Racial mixing between Europeans, Native Americans and Africans has occurred before. Quite a bit of racial mixing occurred as a result of slavery. I have to wonder, though, just how well known is this to most Americans. It does make me wonder how well history is being taught in schools.

"The biggest genealogy hobbyist site, Ancestry.com, claims to have 5 billion records collected globally, including census, immigration and military records; newspaper and magazine clippings; court, land and probate files and other records going back to the 16th century. The site enables its users to do the work of piecing together who's related to whom. It's an impressive database. You can simply enter names - your mother's maiden name, for example - and get back dozens or hundreds of possibilities, which you can then narrow down and use the result as the foundation for a new tracing."

Sometimes, I wish it was that easy. I must stress, though, that Ancestry is just a tool. I can't just use the internet to create my family tree. I have to find records offline, and most of the records are not online. I still have to do fact checking, and I can't assume that a John Smith in a database is my John Smith. It's more complicated than that.

In the next ten years, there will probably be more records online, but I do not believe tracing my family history will be as simple as typing in my name. I do not believe I would come up with an accurate tree. There any many trees with incorrect data online. I will still have to go to the places that my ancestors lived, as that is where the records will be. There will still be more records offline than online, especially when one thinks about all of the privacy concerns today. Also, I believe most of the world's records will still be offline because those repositories will not always have the funding to digitize records and put them online. It would be nice if all of the world's records were online, but the reality is that it takes many hours to transcribe and digitize records before those records can be put online. One cannot expect the records to be put online in weeks; the process of making a searchable database with records takes years to complete.

Well, that is my two cents on this issue. Does anyone agree or disagree with me? As always, you can leave your thoughts as a comment.

Things to Keep in Mind ... An Interesting Blog Article

This article was posted on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog yesterday, and I thought I would add a link to the article. The article is short, but the argument that a name of an ancestor might be more common than thought is something that is worth remembering. You can read the article here.

Added A Few More Genealogy Blogs ... Again

I've added a couple more genealogy blogs to the list. The blogs added are:

• Searching for our Ancestors' Journal
• Miriam's Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog

You can find these blogs and other blogs on the lower left hand of the page. Any suggestions for history or genealogy blogs are welcome.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've added more genealogy blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Amy Crooks' Untangled Family Roots
• Coffee/Coffey Call
• Midge Frazel's Granite in My Blood

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left hand of this blog. Any other suggestions for history and genealogy blogs are welcome.