Back to Frederick Horace...

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that Frederick Horace Merrill - my great-grandfather - first showed up in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census. He next appears in the 1880 census still living with his parents Frederick Sr. & Lucretia in Avon, Illinois. He's recorded as being 18 years of age which does not compute with the information given in the 1870 census. In that census he's said to be 11 years old. An enumerator error at one end or the other?

He is now employed as a Clerk in Store - his father's store by all accounts as he was a hardware dealer - and he has the company of two brothers in this endeavour - Charles H. & Giles E.

There's no trace of Fred and his family in the 1890 census so their records must have been destroyed in the fire. As well I can find no trace of Fred & family in the 1900 census although I have found his brother Giles and his family. I find this curious - did they leave Avon by this time? I have no evidence of this as yet but it is intriguing. Especially since the family reappears in the 1910 census right back in Avon. Has the portion of the 1900 census that contains their information simply not be been transcribed/digitized yet?

As for the 1910 census, as mentioned Frederick Horace appears, this time married to Mary Alice (Belding) and living with their three children Grace E., Clement and Kent. They are domiciled in Union Township, Fulton Co. in the the Village of Avon.

Fred & Mary Alice will not appear in any future U.S. censuses because sometime between 1910 and 1914 they emigrated to Canada. My next task is to try and find them in the Canadian census of 1911.

Sources:

• “1910 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the Unit, Year: 1910; Census Place: Union, Fulton, Illinois; Roll: T624_288; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 99; Image: 996., http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=1910uscenindex&h=5327789&ti=0&indiv=try, Name: Fred H Merrill, Birth Date: abt 1860, Birth Place: Illinois.
• “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ? Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limite, Year: 1880; Census Place: Avon, Fulton, Illinois; Roll: T9_208; Family History Film: 1254208; Page: 378.4000; Enumeration District: 55; Image: 0278., http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=1880usfedcen&h=21090113&ti=0&indiv=try, Name: Fredrick Merrill.
• “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2003.Original data - 1870. United States. Ninth Census of the United States, 1870. Washington, D.C. National Archives and Records Administration. M593, RG29, 1,761 rolls. Minnesota. Minnes, Year: 1870; Census Place: , , ; Roll: M593, http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=1870usfedcen&h=15675981&ti=0&indiv=try, Name: Frederick Merrill, Birth Date: abt 1859, Birth Place: Illinois, Residence Date: 1870, Residence Place: Union, Fulton, Illinois.

Backtrack...

Just received copies of both my grandmother's and grandfather's birth certificates. They are in fact Delayed Record of Birth certificates but are on file with their respective county clerks so I take that to be valid.

They both contain some interesting information. Each was created in 1962 when my grandparent's were living in Canada and both required the sworn affidavit of a blood relative. The certificates confirm the birth dates of 7 August 1895 in Macomb, McDonough Co., Illinois for my grandfather, and, 16 March 1893 in Avon, Fulton Co., Illinois for my grandmother.

Interestingly, both documents also give the date of their marriage as 4 March, 1921 in Scott County, Iowa and a record number of #28675. This too confirms the information in the family history and found on the internet. Also, each certificate contains the Canadian Naturalization Certificate # for each and the date they were naturalized. This was news to me as it was my understanding that my grandmother had never naturalized.

And one final note, the certificates both show that all important information - names and birthplaces of the parents.

Sources:

• Delayed Record of Birth for Louis Dwight Switzer, October 8 1962, State File No. 207268, State of Illinois Department of Public Health, Certified copy in possession of author.
• Delayed Record of Birth for Grace Edith Merrill, October 13, 1962, State File No. 206752, State of Illinois Department of Public Health, Certified copy in possession of author.

Frederick Horace Merrill cont.

I've had great success at Ancestry.com so far...
Frederick Horace Merrill first shows up in the 1870 census in the household of Frederick H. & Lucretia Merrill (this jives with the info I have on little Freddie's parents, so I feel I'm on the right track). Frederick Sr. & Lucretia have, at this point, 7 children living with them - Charles H., 20; Effie M., 16; Frederick, 11; Giles E., 9; Eliza D., 5; Frank, 2; and Baby, 6 months.

I found it interesting that the ages given for Frederick Sr. & Lucretia are 51 and 45 respectively. At bit late in the day to be having a new baby but I suppose that sort of thing wasn't all that uncommon back then. Or was it? Something to look into perhaps.

On the other hand, here's a bit of wild speculation - what if the child was their grandchild rather than their child? No way to prove it of course, so best let it go - I can hear all those professional researchers out there groaning in disapproval : )

However, I can state the following with confidence. According to the 1870 census the Merrill family was residing in Union Township in Fulton County in the state of Illinois as of June 2 1870. Their post office is listed as Avon, Illinois. Also, little Freddie Jr.'s age is recorded as 11 and birthplace as Illinois so the birth date/place of 20 April 1860 in Illinois fits this information though it doesn't prove it. It does proves that if Freddie was indeed born in Greenbush the family did in fact move to Avon sometime prior to his 11th birthday.

Not a bad start but a long way to go yet...

Sources:
Will post these when all census research is complete.

Frederick Horace Merrill

O.k., I've now got a formalized (somewhat) plan of attack based on my research logs. In a nutshell, I'll start with lineage-linked databases like Ancestry etc. then move on to networking, search engine queries, databases & transcripts (cemeteries, immigration, land records etc.) and peripheral resources like maps, state resources, & photographs. Of course I've also got the information contained in the family history...

but then that has to be verified....

which is the whole point of this endeavour...

Anyways, according to my grandmother's statements in the family history, Frederick Horace Merrill (her father) was born 20 April, 1860 in Greenbush (Warren Co.), Illinois but went with his parents to live in Avon (Fulton Co.), Illinois at the age of 3.

So the first piece of information to verify is name & date of birth - let the games begin : )

Happy Leap Day

It's been a few days since I've been on the trail - spent most of it tweaking the site. As for the continuing search, I was trying to decide which line of the family I'd carry on with now that I'm moving on from my grandparents when I came across DAR. For anyone who doesn't know, DAR stands for Daughters of the American Revolution. According to the family history, Edward Paine is my great-great-great-great grandfather. He has been confirmed as a patriot through the Patriot Lookup service provided by DAR.

So, I've decided I'd like to join this organization but, naturally, I have to prove my lineage to Mr. Paine so that's solved the dilemma of which line to search. The connection is through my grandmother's paternal line which means the next person to document is Frederic Horace Merrill. Fortunately I've quite a lot of information to get me off to a running start.