Help Dating an Old Family Photo

A question was asked on a Facebook group about this photo. Audrey M. asked the group "Does anyone know how I could try to find the date of this photograph?"

I thought I would answer here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog.


To date photographs, first detemine the type. This is a cabinet card which were not used until ca 1870. 

Next determine when the photographer was in business. Narrow the years this way. A check online for the Maitland Photography studio in Stratford, Ontario Canada reveals that the owner, George Maitland, did not establish his photography business in that town until 1876. His first studio was on Market Street and that is where this photograph was taken. George was in business for about 30 years (perhaps a little longer) so we can estimate this cabinet card photo was taken between 1876 and 1906 or slightly later. 

Searches of available Stratford City Directories reveals that in 1888 George Maitland's studio was still on Market Street but in 1896, Maitland Photgraphy Studios was on Downie Street. Thus we have narrowed the year of the cabinet card even more.

Next we start looking at clothing and hairstyle clues. The adult woman's hairstyle is ca late 1880s to early 1900s but it could be narrowed down even more. Using the reference book "Out-of-Style:A Modern Perspective of How, Why and When Vintage Fashions Evolved" by Betty Kreisel Shubert
I see that her hair with its flattened "spit curls" was in style 1880-1890s.

Her dress with its tight fitted bodice looks like ca late 1880s to early 1900s as well.The children's clothing is confusing me slightly as the boys with their knickers look to be in the early 1900-1906 range. But the girls are wearing the yoke-style dresses framed with ruffles which was popular in the 1890s.  The 1890s also saw huge balloon style sleeves. I'm leaning towards dating this photograph in the late 1890s.
 
Here is a place to start reading up on some basic clues http://www.lostfaces.com/photo-clues.html

4 Genealogy Qestions and Answers

Sue B. wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy with several questions:

How do you know who to include in a tree?  Should I just include blood relatives?  I currently have 2500 people in my tree and it is growing daily.  I am using mostly ancestry and lan-opc.org.uk and sometimes familysearch.org to search for information.  My tree is in ancestry because I can move anything I find there to my tree.  I am not sure if I should transfer my tree from ancestry to somewhere else in case I opt out of ancestry.  Can I transfer all pictures, ancestry records, parish records and documents if I move my tree?

These are great questions and hopefully my answers will help not only Sue but any other genealogists who are struggling or floundering slightly. So let's take them one question at a time.

Q: How do you know who to include in a tree?  Should I just include blood relatives? 

A: There is no right or wrong way to research your ancestry. Each genealogist must decide on what suits them, or how much time and energy they want to put into their genealogy. But there are some things to remember before you make your decision. For example it is often the case that when you are stuck on finding an ancestor's parents or some other information, searching another son or daughter may provide the solution to your brickwall.

Q: I am using mostly ancestry and lan-opc.org.uk and sometimes familysearch.org to search for information. 

A: This isn't a question but I'm going to respond anyway. It seems you are searching mainly in Lancashire England. I would also suggest your branch out and use Find My Past and British Newspapers sites. They have excellent UK records.


Q: I am not sure if I should transfer my tree from ancestry to somewhere else in case I opt out of ancestry. 

A: I would have a backup copy of my tree on my computer even if you never opt out of Ancestry. My suggestion would be for you to find a genealogy program you like and keep your tree there. I like Family Tree Maker but you may prefer a different program such as Legacy Family Tree, Roots Magic, etc. If you google "genealogy programs for family tree" you will see many results and can read up about each of them.

Q: Can I transfer all pictures, ancestry records, parish records and documents if I move my tree?

A: If you are moving your tree from Ancestry, the answer is "no". You will have to save (download) each document manually to your computer and save it on your hard drive. Be sure to label each file so you can easily find it again. I suggest creating a folder for each surname and putting the appropriate files in there. If you are using Family Tree Maker on your computer you can add Media Files easily to each ancestor.

Here is an example of how I create my Genealogy Folders on my computer drive:

I like to name my files as Surname_First Name_Year_Type of Record. That way the documents fall into alphabetical order and chronologically for each individual. Every genealogist has their own method that suits them.

 I've given you my suggestions. Now it's time for my readers to weigh in with theirs. I'm sure there will be many different ideas and answers and I'm looking forward to reading them.

Losing 8 Generations of Ancestors

I just lost 8 (EIGHT) generations from our family tree......

Extracts of church records I found many dozens of years ago for a marriage in 1785 in England did not give all the data! I had previously found that my 5th great-grandfather Philip Hubbard married in St. Lawrence, Thanet, Kent England on 17 October 1787 to Elizabeth Moses. At least that is what the transcribed records listed. No image was available to compare at that time.

Then I found a scan of the original church register which showed his wife to be Elizabeth Moses Burbank, widow. Since I was curious about this first husband, I did more research and found that on 03 June 1785 Elizabeth Moses Hinds, spinster married Richard Burbank, a widower.

Thus it turned out that my 5th great grandmother was not Elizabeth Moses but Elizabeth Moses Hinds. Hinds was her maiden name, not a previous married name, and Moses was her middle name.

So my 8 generations of research going back for the lineage of Elizabeth Moses was wrong. Ouch. And yet...  I can have the fun of searching a new set of ancestors

In fact I have now found the baptism record of Elizabeth Moses Hinds in February 1764 to parents John and Mildred.

 

It pays to review old research!!! It also pays to be cautious accepting a transcript or extract without viewing the original.

Snce discovering the new surname, I researched the line back several generations in England, and wrote a small (28 page) book about the family. I originally wrote this book to share with my adult children but ended up also putting it on Amazon for sale.


The Hinds Family of Kent England

List Price: $6.99
8.5" x 11" (21.59 x 27.94 cm)
28 pages

The Hinds families were in Ramsgate Kent England for many generations. This book follows the descendants of Thomas Hinds and his wife Sarah Ammis who married in 1693 in Canterbury.

Was Great-Great-Grandma Crazy?

Insane Asylum Records

My second great-grandmother Georgiana Golding was institutionalized in an Insane Asylum in Kent England in 1864, released after 6 months, and sent back in 1868. But was she really crazy?

There were many female complaints that were mis-diagnosed back then. She was only 24 in 1864 so it wasn't menopausal symptoms. But a scrutiny of the family reveals that Georgiana had just had her third child a few months before being admitted. Post-partum depression comes to mind. Three children ages newborn, 3 and 5 years old might just do it.

In 1868 she was admitted shortly after her 6th child was born. She was 28 years old and her six children were aged newborn to 9 years old. I truly  believe the poor woman was worn out and depressed. After another 6 month stay Georgiana was released.

I did not find her in any other Asylum records but in 1882 at the age of 42 Georgiana died in childbirth. It was her 11th child.

If you haven't checked Asylum records for your ancestor, especially your female ancestor, you should. Below is a link to some online Insane Asylum Records.

Insane Asylum Records

Online New Netherland New York Church Records

Do you have ancestors who settled in New Netherland (New York) in the 17th Century? If yes, you won't want to miss these free online church records

  Records of Baptisms of the Reformed Church at Machackemeck (Deerpark), Orange County New York 1716-1827 [New May 2008]
  Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam/New York -- Baptisms 1639 to 1801
  Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam/New York -- Marriages 1639 to 1801
 Membership Lists of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam/New York 1649-1701
  Records of the Reformed Church at Conewago - Marriages 1789 to 1793
  Flatbush RDC Consistory Books, Kings Co. Long Island NY - Coordinated Records of Marriages and Baptisms from the Flatbush RDC Consistory Books And the Registers of its Daughter Church at New Lots Kings County, Long Island, New York, Baptisms 1792-1872 and Marriages 1787-1872
  Reformed Dutch Church of Flatlands, Long Island Baptisms 1747-1802
  Reformed Dutch Church of Gravesend Baptisms 1715-1805
  Reformed Dutch Church of Gravesend List of Members 1763-1805
  First Reformed Dutch Church of Newtown, Long Island Communicants 1741, Baptisms 1736-1845, Marriages 1835-1846
  Baptisms for St. George's Church Hempstead, Long Island, New York 1760- 1763
  Reformed Dutch Church of Woodstock, Ulster Co. -- Baptisms 1805 to 1889
  Grace Church, Jamaica (Queens) Baptisms 1710-1731
 Grace Church, Jamaica New York Baptisms 1780-1810
  Grace Church, Jamaica (Queens) Burials 1710-1731
  Grace Church, Jamaica New York Tombstone Recordings
  Grace Church, Jamaica (Queens) Marriages 1710-1731
 Grace Church, Jamaica New York Marriage Records 1769 to 1810
  Miscellaneous Church Records from Jamaica, Flushing and Newtown New York. Communicants 1791-1794 | Baptisms 1790-1802 | Marriages 1790-1810 | Deaths 1790-1795

Church Records of New Netherland/New York on the Olive Tree Genealogy

FInding Nancy Longstreet Part 5 (The End)

The online family tree I was using for clues to further research had John Longstreet's death as 14 September 1868 in Erin, Wellington County Ontario. There were no sources provided to support this and since this date is before mandatory registration of deaths, there was no death registration to be found.

My next decision then was see if I could find some proof of his death. For that I could search church records, burial records, cemeteries, and wills.

Agricultural Census

I also thought I'd take a look in the Agricultural census for 1851 and 1861 for John Longstreet in Caledon. John wasn't found but his son Henry was found living on Concession 6, Lot 10 in Caledon Township in 1861. So I could also have a hunt in the online Land Records for Ontario and see if John was there and when he first bought land.

Fields: Name, Concession, Lot #, Total Acres, Acres cultivated, Acres with crops

Land Records

I would need more time to find the Abstract Indexes to Deeds for Lot 10, Concession 6 in Caledon on the online Ontario Land Record site, so I headed out in another direction. It was beginning to feel like I was floundering around so I decided to just do some Googling, see what turned up when searching under John or Nancy's name. I'd mull over what I'd found so far and where to turn next while doing some simple searches online.

An exhaustive internet search turned up a little tidbit of information on a message board where an individual said that Abigail Longstreet Snyder was named in her father John's will. No other details were given. No sources, nothing. But.... a possible will!!?? My spidey senses tingled. I decided to drop everything and go on a hunt for this will if it existed.
 
I didn't think that the family tree notation of John dying in Erin, Wellington County made sense, so I went to the Archives of Ontario website to look at what was available for wills in Peel County. It made more sense to me that since some of John's children stated they were born in Caledon, and John was last found in 1861 in Caledon, Peel County, he may have still been there in 1868.

Surrogate Court Records

From Archives of Ontario website I learned that if John had a will it is probably found on the following film: GS1, Reel 563. That covers Estate Files 1-80, years 1867-1868. Archives of Ontario Peel County Surrogate Court Records also suggests it is wise to look up the application in the Docket Books on microfilm GS 2, Reel 146. The estate file number will be listed at the top of the application.

These films are not online and since I cannot access the Archives myself I hired my friend Sue de Groot at researchbysue@sympatico.ca to look for me and copy a will if she found one.

Bingo!

John's will was found. The microfilmed Docket Book shows us that John's will is #67 on GS1 Reel 563

"10 October 1868. John Longstreet, late of the Township of Caledon in the County of Peel, farmer, died 14th day of Sept. 1868"

Executors were Noah Herring, farmer, and Francis Longstreet, labourer

John's will was quite long and rather than transcribe it, I have extracted names and bequests as follows:

To Francis Longstreet, my son, the 5 acres I now occupy, with house and all personal property on 5th Concession W.H.S. Township of Caledon. Westerly corner of the Southerly Quarter Lot 10. Also 5 acres of land on the 6th Concession between the lot I deeded to Wm. Long and that hereafter willed to my son Henry Longstreet.

To my son Henry Longstreet, 25 acres of land on 6th Concession of Caledon, W.H.S. being part of the Southerly quarter of Lot 10 on condition that within 5 years of my death he pays to my son Francis Longstreet $200.00

To my daughters Matilda Smith and Mary Long each $5.00. To my sons Samuel, Richard, and John each $1.00. To the remainder of my daughters Nancy Ann Fisher, Betsy Ann Lawrence, and Abigail Snyder each $1.00

6. My son Francis to take good care of, and maintain, my beloved wife during her life and also pay her funeral expenses at her death.

John signs with an X for his name

Inventory

There are several other legal papers and documents with John's will. All in all a total of 12 pages of documents is in the file.

Conclusion

Nancy Fisher's father has been found. She is named as the daughter of John Longstreet in his will dated 1868. It is possible that her mother was John Longstreet's second wife whose name is thought to be Mary aka Phoebe Bear. But finding proof of the second wife is another research project for descendants to tackle.

Now let's look at the summary of theorized children of John Longstreet which I prepared for Part 4 Finding Nancy Longstreet. We need to see which children are now proven by John's will.

Samuel Longstreet IN THE WILL
Born ca 1814 USA (some records indicate he was born 27 Feb. 1814)

Richard Longstreet  IN THE WILL
born ca 1816 USA (New York?)

Sarah Catherine Longstreet NOT IN THE WILL
We must not assume she is not a daughter just because she is not in the will. She may have died before 1868. She may have been disowned. More research would be required by her descendants.

Henry Longstreet  IN THE WILL
born ca 1823 (29 March 1823?)

Nancy Ann/Elizabeth Longstreet IN THE WILL
born ca 1823
married George Fisher

Betsy (Elizabeth) Ann Longstreet  IN THE WILL
born ca 1825
married William Lawrence

Abigail Longstreet  IN THE WILL
born ca 1835
married Calvin Murray Snyder

John Longstreet s/o John & Mary (Phoebe?)  IN THE WILL
born ca 1836 (25 October 1835?)

Mary Longstreet d/o John & Sarah  IN THE WILL
born 1839
Married William Long

Matilda Longstreet probably d/o John & Sarah  IN THE WILL
born 11 May 1843
married Jacob Smith

Francis Longstreet s/o John & Sarah  IN THE WILL
born 22 May 1845

I hope my readers have enjoyed following along with me on my quest to find Nancy Longstreet Fisher. If you found my research or the process I used helpful, please consider a donation to support my continuing to bring free genealogy online for all.

Here are the links to all 5 parts of this series

https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-1.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-2.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-3.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-4.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-5-end.html 

Revolutionary War Graves Lost and Found

Bones from as many as 11 unmarked graves have been found so far in an empty lot in the Adirondack village of Lake George, 55 miles north of Albany.

Two uniform buttons found appear to be from a Pennsylvania soldier in the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion. It is quite possible that the 11 soldiers died of smallpox at St. George.

Soldiers who went north to fight in Canada in 1776 were sent upon by a smallpox breakout, and were sent back to St. George to recover if they fell ill.

If you had ancestors from Pennsylvania who fought in the Revolutionary War, you might want to Google for more articles as archeologists uncover more details.

FInding Nancy Longstreet Part 4

My decision as to what to look for next was made. I wanted to try to piece together the family group(s) for John Longstreet born circa 1796 in New Jersey.

The Known

First I listed what was known:

Source: 1861 census

John married Sarah

Children by unknown wife:

• Matilda born ca 1843
• Francis born ca 1845

Who was Erastus? When was he born?

Was Henry, born ca 1823 another son?

Source: Online Family Tree

by wife #1 Ann Page:

• Samuel b 1814 New York
• John S. b 1815 New Jersey <--I am troubled by the placement of this individual as a son there is another John born ca 1836 who I am able to trace. It also seems odd that the family would be in NY, then NJ briefly then NY
• Richard b 1816 New York
• Henry A. b 1822 New York <--agrees with 1861 census
• Elizabeth Ann b 1825 Ontario

Note that all later children show as born Ontario (Canada West aka Upper Canada) on the online Family tree

by wife #2 Phoebe Baer

• Sarah Catherine b 1828
• Abigail b 1833
• John b 1836 (see FN1)
• Nancy Ann b unknown

by wife #3 Sarah Lawrence

• Mary b 1840 (see FN2)
• Matilda b 1843 <--agrees with 1861 census
• Francis/John b 1845 <--agrees with 1861 census. Also see FN3

Finding Birth, Marriage or Death Records to confirm children

My next step was challenging. There would not be birth records unless I could find a family bible or church records, as the births were too early for registration in Ontario. So I turned to marriage and death records. Here is what I found:

FN1. John Longstreet, 24, born Caledon, married Jane Eagles on 26 Oct 1859. He gaves his parents' names as John and Mary. He fits the John born 1836 to John and Phoebe (I noted the discrepancy in first names for further research)

FN2. Mary Longstreet, 21, married William Lang on 10 Aug 1859. She gave her parents' names as John and Sarah. She fits the Mary born 1840 above.

FN3. Francis Longstreet, 89, died 13 September 1934. His parents' names were given as John Longstreet and Sarah Lawrence.

Many of the deaths of these individuals from the family tree were too early for parents' names to be recorded. So we may want to check other resources such as land records to see if the father left land to son, or sold land to son.

What do the Census Records Tell us?

• The 1861 census for Windham, Norfolk, Ontario shows Samuel Longstreet born ca 1814 in USA. This agrees with the online tree.  
• The 1861 census for Oxford, Ontario shows Richard Longstreet born ca 1816 in USA. This agrees with the online tree.  

Summary

As readers can see, this family is very large and complex. It took me quite awhile to researcj each individual listed as a child in the online tree. Rather than go into the details of what I found for each and how I found the information, I'm going to jump to a summary instead. Remember that an online tree is only good for clues to further research.

I invite my readers to use the brief summary below to do their own research. In my next article I'll share the proof I found which verifies some of John's children. This summary below is my theory/suggestion of John's children.

Samuel Longstreet
Born ca 1814 USA (some records indicate he was born 27 Feb. 1814)
Died 6 April 1878 in Princeton, Brant County Ontario
Married Sophronia Lorinda Robinson. He may have had more than one wife

Richard Longstreet
born ca 1816 USA (New York?)
died 18 Feb 1872

Sarah Catherine Longstreet
I suggest she may be the Sarah born ca 1818 USA who married Robert Markle. This does not agree with the online family tree

Henry Longstreet
born ca 1823 (29 March 1823?)
died 13 June 1894 Michigan. Death cert provides father's name only
married Elizabeth Laurence

Nancy Ann/Elizabeth Longstreet
born ca 1823
died 29 January 1890
married George Fisher

Betsy (Elizabeth) Ann Longstreet
born ca 1825
died 1881
married William Lawrence

Abigail Longstreet
born ca 1835
died 1894
married Calvin Murray Snyder

John Longstreet s/o John & Mary (Phoebe?)
born ca 1836 (25 October 1835?)
died 1913
married Mary Eagles

Mary Longstreet d/o John & Sarah
born 1839
died 14 Sept 1907
Married William Long

Matilda Longstreet probably d/o John & Sarah
born 11 May 1843
died 23 April 1938 in Manitoba (her death record could be obtained)
married Jacob Smith
Francis Longstreet s/o John & Sarah
born 22 May 1845
died 13 Sept 1934
Married Janet McDonald

Stay Tuned!

I'll leave my readers to do some research on their own if they are interested, and also to think about what proof I finally found to verify many of John's children. That will be my last blog post about my process in finding Nancy Longstreet Fisher.

Easter Bunny Returns!

This was announced previously on Olive Tree Genealogy blog but I felt it was worth repeating!

 

Easter Bunny's Family Tree Found! 

 

Breaking news - yesterday a little girl named Alice was playing in the garden of an old house in England when she fell down a large rabbit hole. Before climbing out she made a unique discovery. In a small wooden box under a pile of rabbit fur hats Alice spotted a yellowed letter. The letter was addressed to "Dear Easter" and signed "Uncle Wiggily", and it provided details of an interesting family tree!

The complete letter has been transcribed below:

Dear Easter,
I'm glad you asked about your family. Time is getting short for me and I think I'm the only one left who knows the stories of our family.

Your great-grandfather, Bugs, was one of three brothers (Bugs, Peter and Brer). The brothers left their home and sailed for America in the late 1800s. The ship they were on was caught up in a terrible storm and the brothers had to tie themselves to the mast. The ship sank but Bugs, Peter and Brer were lucky enough to find a plank and they climbed up on it and drifted for several days until they were rescued by the SS Lollipop.

When they got to Ellis Island, the customs officials changed the brothers' last names before allowing them to leave the ship, and so the three branches of our family began.

Bugs, Your great-grandpa, kept his Bunny name. Peter's was changed to Cottontail and all his descendants have kept that name. Brer's name was changed to Rabbit and it is from his line that our famous cousins White and Velveteen descend.

Great grandpa Bugs later met and married your great-grandmother Bunny Fufu. I don't know anything about her parents. My cousin Willy Bunny has photos and her family bible but he is stingy with the family information and refuses to share. Apparently Bunny Fufu's family bible was tossed into a fire by Indians when they attacked the settlement where she and her parents lived, but Bunny's father leapt into the flames and saved the bible. I wish Willy would not be so secretive with the information!

It gets a bit confusing, but Velveteen Rabbit, your mother, was your father Energizer's second wife and his third cousin once removed. It wasn't unusual for cousins to marry each other, but it does get confusing as we all seem to have large families.

Velveteen's father (your maternal grandfather) was Peter but I don't know too much about your mom's side of the family. I did hear there was an Angora in there somewhere way back. Some say she was a Princess and Peter rescued her from pirates!

Of course you know your grandparents - Buster and Trix. One day you should ask your grandma Trix why she calls your grandpa Buster by his nickname "Hassenfeffer" whenever she is mad at him, it's a cute story.

I've done some research on our family but am stuck on your great-great-grandmother. That would be your Great-Grandpa Bugs' mother. Great-Grandpa Bugs' father (your great-great-grandpa) was named Cadbury but I think your great-great-grandma was left by aliens. She is my brick wall. I know Cadbury called her Flopsy and they had 54 children but even though I've searched everywhere, I can't find what her SIRname was.

I guess I should tell you about the family scandal involving your Great great grandpa Cadbury Bunny. My Aunt Babbity told me she heard the grownups whispering about this when she was little. It seems that Cadbury's father fell in love with a chicken and Cadbury was the result of that love match! This might explain Cadbury's strange behaviour....

Well Easter, I think I've given you enough details to confuse you, but I hope I've gotten you interested in learning more! I know where some of the graves are of your ancestors and will take you there one day if you want to go. It's just a hop, skip and jump away.

Give my best to all the little children when you make your rounds this year,

As ever,
Uncle Wiggily

Since that exciting discovery in 2009, Easter Bunny has found more genealogy goodies!  In 2010 Easter found a family tree chart! You can see it here

In 2011 Easter was delighted to discover a Family Bible that once belonged to his great-grandmother Bunny Fufu! He's been hunting ever since, tracking down leads on the Bunny Trail and exploring every nook and cranny he can find.

Finding Nancy Longstreet Part 3

Deciding to go on a hunt for the mysterious John Longstreet born ca 1796 in New Jersey but settling in Ontario was fun. Challenging but fun!

Typing the information above into Ancestry.com search engine brought up two results. I always start with precise information and then I widen my parameters as needed. So I was eager to see the details on the two results of my search.

Online Family Trees

The first hit was an online Family Tree. I don't use online trees for anything except clues and ideas for more searching, because each tree is only as good as the person who did the research. No sources? Forget that tree! Sources are good and that allows you to double check that the conclusions drawn are correct. Don't be fooled. I have encountered trees that linked to a vital record but clicking on the link revealed that the record was NOT for the individual in the tree!

This particular tree had a John Henry Longstreet born ca 1796 in either New York or New Jersey with three wives: Anne Page, Phoebe Bear, and Sarah Lawrence. Five children were shown with wife #1, four with wife #2, and three with wife #3.

Immediately we see that I need to track down every child shown. That is a total of 12 individuals. This was going to be a very time-consuming research project! But my eye immediately seized on an Abigail Longstreet born 1833 in Caledon Township, marrying a Calvin Snyder. According to the online tree she died in 1894 in Gainsborough Township. This was definitely worth investigating. Could she be the 1851 Abigail?

This Abigail was shown as having a sister named Nancy Ann but there were no details about her birth, marriage, or death. I was really intrigued now! I had to take a little detour over to the death registrations to see if Abigail's details were correct, and what else might be found.

Death Registrations

A search for Abigail Snyder on  Ancestry.com revealed she died 31 December 1894 at the age of 61 in Gainsborough, Lincoln County and that she was indeed born in Caledon Township, which is in Peel County Ontario. That clue gave me a new location to search for Nancy Longstreet. New information that I knew might prove useful later was that her husband was a miller in St. Ann's Ontario. Remember that the original query mentioned St. Ann's, so this is interesting. Of course there's also the possibility that the original query got this information from the same online tree I found

The Second Search Engine Result

 

The second "hit" when I searched for John Longstreet was an 1861 census record for Caledon, Peel Township. Clicking on the image showed the following:

Longstreet, John, gentleman, born New Jersey, Baptist, 65
Sarah, born Canada West, Baptist, 55 <--agrees with the online tree showing wife #3 as Sarah
Matilda, born Canada West, Baptist, 18
Francis, born Canada West, Baptist,16
Erastus, born Canada West, Baptist, no age but a note in the column "residence if out of limits" reads "Township of Caledon"

The family lived in a 1 1/2 storey log cabin. A few names further down the page I saw

Longstreet, Henry, farmer, born Canada West, Baptist, 38 <-- Baptist religion means it will be more difficult, perhaps impossible, to find church records
Elizabeth, born Canada West, Baptist,39
Wm. Alf?, born Canada West, Baptist,18
Erastus,, born Canada West, Baptist,16
Herman, , born Canada West, Baptist,14
Sarah Catherine, born Canada West, Baptist,11
George, born Canada West, Baptist, 3?

My intuition tells me that Henry age 38 could very well be a son of John age 65. I'll need to add that idea to my theory of the family unit. 
 
Forming a Theory

Forming a theory is important when researching a challenging family. But you must be careful to remember that it is only a theory and you are going to try to either prove or disprove it. It should be based on some solid facts, circumstantial evidence or other details that can support your theory. This is where I start writing down all the scenarios that might make sense, and all the resources I might try to find to either prove or disprove my theory.

If you're not used to developing theories, you might want to read my article Never Assume - Develop a Theory Instead

I already had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to look for next, and I was excited to get started! There are so many different paths a genealogist could take at this point. Here are the first few that came immediately to my mind:

• Continue gathering records about John Longstreet born ca 1796 in New Jersey
• Track the children we found in this 1861 census record
• Track Henry who I think might be another child
• Track each of the children listed in that online family tree
• Check marriage records for children who list their father as John Longstreet (and use each of the 3 wives' names from the online tree)
• Check death records for any children whose father is recorded as John Longstreet (and use each of the 3 wives' names from the online tree)

What would your next step be?

Here are the links to all 5 parts of this series

https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-1.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-2.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-3.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-4.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-5-end.html 

Looking For Hurlburt Descendants

Charlotte G. posted about these lovely photos and I am posting them on Olive Tree Genealogy blog in hopes a descendant might read about them.

I'm hoping for some help to place a collection of Hurlburt family photos. The photos are of Heman Stanley Hurlburt taken in 1913. There is one of Horace Gordon Hurlburt with 2 others. There is a group photo of Stan, Helena, Gladys, Horace, Alice, Mary Ann, and Ann. There is also a photo of Alice, Gladys, and Helena Hurlburt with their grandparents. Research shows me that the Hurburts were in Hamilton, Northumberland and Mitchell, Perth areas in the 1800s. I'd love to give these lovely photos and letter to someone in the Hurlburt line.

 

 

If you are looking for photos of your ancestors, check out LostFaces.com

Finding Nancy Longstreet Part 2

Death Registration

I made the decision to gather all census data for Nancy and her husband George Fisher before branching out into marriage records or looking for Abigail Longstreet.

George and Nancy were easily found in 1861, 1871, 1881, and 1891 census records on Ancestry.com, still living in Lincoln County Ontario. In 1861 Nancy is recorded as "Elizabeth" so we should keep this in mind as we search - that this might be her middle name.

In the 1891 Census George is recorded as a widower so we have a timeframe for Nancy's death of between 1881 and 1891.

1861 Lincoln Co.
George 44
Elizabeth 39 <--This could be Nancy's middle name
David 20
George 16
Marian 14
Calvin 14
Alfred 8

1871 Gainsboro, Lincoln Co.
George 54
Nancy 50
Calvin 20
Harmy 18
Murray 16
Abigail 13 <-- the naming of a daughter Abigail makes me think that the Abigail from the 1851 census is even more likely to be a sister to Nancy

1881 Gainsboro, Lincoln Co.
George 64
Nancy E. 59 <---further support for the theory that Nancy's middle name is Ellizabeth
Murray 25
Abigail 23

1891 Gainsboro, Lincoln Co.
George is a widower, age 74, living with his married daughter "Abby" (Abigail) Pew, her husband and children. 

1842 Census of Canada West

I would have liked to search for George and Nancy in the 1842 census (which is a head of household only) but it is not available online for Gainsborough. There is no proof of course that the family wasn't living elsewhere in 1842 but a search of land records in that area could perhaps solve that question.

Niagara Fonds

The Ontario Archives holds microfilmed (but not digitized) Niagara Fonds which consist of the official records of the Niagara District, including Council Minutes, 1842-1853; Assessment and Census Rolls, 1828-1849; Commons School Accounts Ledger; 1842- 1844; Education Register, 1844-1850.

Fonds also includes assessment and other records from several lower tier municipalities including Gainsborough. It would be worthwhile to search for the family in these fonds. We might not find clues pointing to Nancy's father but we might find a great deal more information about Nancy, George, and their children. We should never overlook that as we try to flesh out a family line.

Agricultural Census & Land Records

I decided to search in the Agricultural census for 1851 and 1861 next. If I can find George I will learn his exact land location and from there I can search the Abstract Indexes to Deeds to see all records pertaining to that specific property. Often land was sold or given to relatives, so there could be more clues found there. The Agricultural census exists for Lincoln County 1861 but unfortunately George could not be found. This is another clue, and may indicate that George did not own land.

Death Records

I decided to do a quick jump to online death records to find Nancy's death. I knew there would not be much new information since parents' names were not recorded that early. It would be unusual for an exact birth location to be recorded but it is always worthwhile looking.

Nancy's death was found on Ancestry as occurring on 28 January 1890 in Gainsborough. Her place of birth was recorded as Ontario, and her age as 69. Her son Calvin E. Fisher was the informant. So nothing new to use as clues for our next step.

What Next?

Speaking of next steps, it was time for me to decide where to search next. I did want to search for the Abigail Longstreet from the 1851 census and the marriage of George and Nancy but perhaps it was time to branch out to the mention in the original query of "John Longstreet, b New Jersey in 1796 (moved to Ontario)". What would your next steps be?

 

Here are the links to all 5 parts of this series

https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-1.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-2.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-3.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-4.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-5-end.html