|
LESSON EIGHT
|
| READING ASSIGNMENT: Click here for Chapter 8 Working in this earlier time period can be a challenge. From California to the Midwest A search of the vital records (birth, marriage, and death) [the standard method for finding marriage dates is to search under the category “vital records”] of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from Family History Library records, nor a search of the state-wide marriage CDs [CD searching can cover many counties or states at one time] or state-wide indexes at Ancestry.com reveal anything on the family. Therefore, a search in nearby surrounding counties [look in ever increasing circles around the area of residence] was undertaken starting with Walworth because of the elder Ansel Briggs. This turned out to be effective as it produced the maiden name and marriage date of Etna’s parents. The marriage of Harris H. Briggs and Electa Harrington was duly solemnized at East Troy, Walworth County, Wisconsin Territory, 21 Jan 1844 by Gaylord Graves, Justice of the Peace. [Justice of the Peace records are sometimes found under “court records” rather than vital records.] Mr. Graves didn’t get around to registering the marriage until 3 months later. County Histories & Biographies The Milwaukee city directories available at the FHL listed Harris H. H. Briggs as a painter in 1847-48 and 1848-49, but not later. The only other Briggs individuals through 1855 were a Reuben and Uriah F., names not even in the 1850 census. It appeared the family, if they were connected, had moved in the early 1850s. [Following families in census records, reveal locations to search for vital and church records.] We asked ourselves other questions? How did Etna get to California?
When did
With these new clues, we searched the census indexes and records for the Stearns family. We found Etna on an 1860 census in Iowa, Fayette County, Westfield Township living with the Winslow Stearns family. Both Winslow and his wife, Phoebe, were born in Vermont. Living with them was Orvil W. Stearns (the O. W. who had given testimony in 1910), his one year old sister, Oran Briggs age 15 born in Wisconsin; and “Edny” Briggs (as she was enumerated) age 12, born in Wisconsin. The 1878 History of Fayette County [county histories, particularly in the midwest, are excellent resources for marriage information] listed the soldiers who served in the Civil War, and included Orion Briggs, Etna’s brother, as well as George S. Briggs, Harris’s potential brother. It did not mention the two children, but notes that the Sterns family was from Vermont and that they were members of the Congregational Church, which could explain the children’s presence in their home. Having learned that Harris’ son apparently served in the Civil War, we checked for pension records. The index indicated that Orion Briggs served in Company F, 9th Iowa Infantry (which matched the 1878 history) and that he received a pension in 1890 in Kansas. Once again we requested his pension file which might indicate more about his early life and suggest where else to look for his father Harris H. H. Briggs, as well as Ansel. With limited new information in Iowa and Kansas, we focused on seeing if earlier records about Ansel could document his marriage and children. With a birth in Massachusetts (according to the 1850 census) and children’s births in Ohio, those became the most likely states to seek his marriage to a Susannah within a few years after 1810. [Because we were now in the New England area, we knew that marriages for both states are well indexed in the International Genealogy Index (IGI)]. The Massachusetts IGI listed an 1814 marriage of an Ansel Briggs to Susannah Allon (sic) in Bernardston, Franklin county. This was an important lead as this seems surely to be the Wisconsin couple, and likely parents of Harris H. H. Briggs, so we began searching records of that area. The 1902 history of Bernardston did not mention Ansel, but it did discuss the Allen family of the town. However, its comprehensive genealogy of that family did not mention Susannah. The only Briggs entry was a notation that Owen Briggs, born about 1758, served in the Revolutionary War in 1780. Clearly he was the right age to be Ansel’s father, so we set out to learn more about Owen Briggs. The vital records [vital records in New England are excellent sources for marriage records] of Bernardston were extracted and entered into the IGI, and since Ansel did not appear in the IGI, we reviewed the printout of the birth extractions. The births showed no Briggs entries, nor a birth for Susannah Allen. Two family histories [compiled records are excellent sources for marriages] about Briggs descendants did not include any reference to Owen or to Ansel Briggs. Since the history of Bernardston claimed that Owen served in the Revolutionary War, we checked for a pension for him and found that indeed, both he and later his widow received a federal pension for his service. The abstract of his pension files indicated that he also lived at Leyden, Massachusetts, that he did have children, but only Thomas was mentioned, and that he later lived in Lincoln county, Vermont. This lead sent us to records of Addison county, where neither the history of his town, Lincoln, nor the probate records mentioned Owen or his children. Backtracking to Leyden, where he also served, we learned that Leyden was created from Bernardston [town records are excellent sources for marriage records]. Although the history of Leyden mentioned Owen’s Revolutionary War service, only one child was mentioned, a son Owen. It also alluded to a Zadoc Briggs, a Revolutionary soldier. With the New England states possessing numerous town records, the Briggs family was located in extracted IGI entries.. Owen Briggs, noted in Leyden records, married Margery Brown and had eight children between 1787 and 1802, but none were named Ansel. As this is the very period in which Ansel was born (about 1790), it seems to rule out Owen as his father. With Owen no longer a candidate, we focused on Zadock who also served in the Revolutionary War from the same area where Ansel later married, and whose age made him an excellent possible father for Ansel. According to the DAR Patriot Index, a Zadock served from Massachusetts and died in Ohio in 1823. Since Ansel’s children were born in Ohio (if indeed he was Harris H. H. Briggs’ father), this was encouraging. The index to Ohio probates shows a Zadock Briggs will in Washington county in 1823. This will, and the accompanying probate papers revealed much about his family, including the fact that he had a son Ansel, along with several other children. [Probate records often allude to marriages if no date can be located.] In his will, Zadock named his wife, Sally as well as five sons and three daughters. Henry, the eldest son only received a dollar, apparently having already received his share of his father’s estate. The balance went to the other sons, at one-quarter of the estate each, but each had to give a legacy to a specific sister. Son Ansel was to give $100 to his sister Asenath Jacobs, son Zara was to give $110 to his sister Sally Haynes, and both Marcus and Franklin were to give their sister Polly Very $40 each. Ansel was named the executor. An accompanying list of Zadock’s estate, and who bought what items, revealed he possessed many goods. Ansel bought many items. Similar items, and amounts, were purchased by the other sons, sons-in-law, and others. Clearly Zadock had been successful. With this record proving that Zadock had a son Ansel, the evidence was mounting (in particularly two areas) that this was the Ansel who later settled in Wisconsin: An Ansel in the same area as Zadock married Susannah “Allon” in 1814, and Zadock’s son Ansel later lived in Ohio, where the Wisconsin Ansel was having children. We therefore set out to learn more about Zadock. Enlist the Aid of Others This section of the week’s reading encouraged researchers to look for others who have similar interests. One example was to search online for specific records. One example that could be used would be to search for St. Louis, Missouri Catholic Church Records and what they contain by looking at this link: members.gtw.net/~seamus/churchrecords.htm Those interests might include a specific location and record group as just mentioned, or a genealogical society in the area, or an ethnic group, or a groups society publications, and finally searching for other researchers. Thousands of these special interest groups are available through www.usgenweb.org and www.rootsweb.com, as well as by searching the website offerings at www.FamilySearch.org where volunteers make links to societies by the thousands each month. We discovered that Zadock Briggs did indeed serve in the Revolutionary War, as the shown in the comprehensive Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War and the DAR Patriot Index notes. He served from Northampton, a neighboring town to Leyden. Knowing he died in Ohio, we checked the Official Roster of Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in Ohio, also by the DAR. This reference provided much about him, including alleged birth dates for many of his children, including Ansel in 1790, which matches the 1850 Wisconsin census. [Thus collections of people interested in Revolutionary War people, helped us to find more information as we enlisted the help of others.] That reference included a source citation to the DAR Magazine which included information from a descendant of Zadock, Mrs. Willis Wagener, of Palo Alto, California in 1950 seeking information on his birth and marriage, as well as information on many of his children. [Records of other researchers which may be found in published sources or on the Internet are another way to enlist the aid of others.] To explore Zadock further, we examined the research files of Walter Corbin (The Corbin Collection), a professional genealogist who specialized in Western Massachusetts during the first half of this century. His files included a fifteen page file on the Briggs family, most of which is correspondence from Mrs. Wagener in 1948 seeking Zadock’s ancestry. Fortunately, she provided detailed information on the descendants she already knew. She appears to descend from Ansel Briggs, as she named his twelve children, including many we had not noted in the Wisconsin records. She seems to call Ansel her great grandfather and implies access to family records or memory. In any event, this served as sufficient proof of the connection to Harris H.H. Briggs, whom she names as “Harris Henry Harrison” Briggs. [Here we enlisted the aid of other researchers.] Based on this research, many marriages were located. Others may still have to be found in land records, in occupational and insurance records, and in new Ancestral File and World Family Tree submissions from personal family Bibles. But rest assured there are many ways to find out more about your ancestor. |
|
she
come? Could her family have moved because of the gold rush to the
west? When did she marry? Could her actual marriage record
which was given by a family member, provide us with clues? [This
coming forward on the family line is a tried and true technique
for genealogists when something stops the progress backward in time.]
The family indicated that Etna’s husband, James N. Iliff,
was born in Kansas in 1841. She assumed her mother and father were
married there. James Iliff’s birth year made him the perfect
age to have served in the Civil War. A search of the Civil War index
revealed this to be the case, so his Union Pension records were
obtained from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The pension
records proved invaluable for all the clues and facts it provided
such as: