Using Indirect Evidence to Identify a Photo - Summary

For the last several days, we have been examining this photo for clues and researching to see if we can answer the question, "Is the woman in the photo Mary Ann (Ballenger) Woods?" I believe the answer to be yes. Let's summarize and see if you agree.

The clues provided in the photo:

• The photo was taken in Denver.
• The photographer is G.R. Appel, 1579 Larimer Street, Denver, Colorado.
• On the back of the photo, Frances (Robinson) Lowe wrote "Walt Wood's mother." Frances is the daughter of Nancy Robinson mentioned below.

1. Using the prior series, about Mary Ann Ballenger,  I was able to link Mary Ann to her parents, and 2 siblings, Nancy and John via a census record. And have linked her to Boulder, Colorado (the home of the Ballenger family in the 1860's, 70's and possibly early 1880's). Using the previously discussed newspaper article, which is transcribed below, we can link Mary Ann to Boulder, Colorado and to her sister Nancy. 

Returns After Many Years.

Mrs. Milton Y. Woods, of Telluride, is in the city, accompanied by her three children. They are domiciled at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Dan Robinson. Mrs. Woods is a sister of Mrs. Robinson, and in her girlhood days was well and favorable known as Miss Mary Ballinger. She comes to spend a short time with her relatives and friends, all of whom receive her cordially. It is about fifteen years since the visitor chose the southern part of the state as her home.

2. In Part 1 of this series, we linked Mary and her husband Milton to their son Walter W. Woods(possibly the person named on the back of the photo)  by using the 1900 and 1910 Census. In 1900, they are living in Telluride which is in the southern part of Colorado (consistent with the newspaper article).

3. We tie Walter Woods to Frances (Robinson) Lowe (former owner of the photograph) in Part 3, by using the 1920 and 1930 census and a get well card and note sent to Frances from Walt and Maude.

4. We can complete the circle by tying Frances (Robinson) Lowe to Nancy (Ballenger) Robinson as her daughter. We haven't discussed it in this article so you will have to take my word for it that I have Family Bible photographs showing Frances' birth in Boulder, her marriage also in Boulder, Frances' death certificate naming Nancy Ballinger as her mother, photos of Nancy that Frances labelled with Nancy's name and identified Nancy as her mother, the 1880 census showing Frances with her parents Dan and Nancy, and much more.

Clues from the photo that are important were discussed in Part 2, and the comments through out this series. The fact that the photo was taken in Denver (or at least the photographer had his studio in Denver) links the woman to the state of Colorado. The puffy sleeves date the photo around the mid 1890s. The photographer was in business at the address listed on the card during the same time frame. Thank you to Brett of Photo Sleuth blog and Sue at Family Folklore blog for your assistance in dating the photo!

What do you think? Is the woman in the photo, identified only as "Walt Wood's mother," Mary Ann (Ballinger) Woods?

Links from this series:
Using Indirect Evidence to Identify a Photo:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Elusive Mary Ann Ballenger
Mary Ann Ballenger Woods Continued

Photo Album Archiving & Digital Sorting - Part 1
Photo Album Archiving & Digital Sorting - Part 2
Photo Album Archiving & Digital Sorting - Part 3
Photo Album Archiving & Digital Sorting - Part 4

Sources:

1900 U.S. census, Montrose County, Colorado. Population schedule, California Precinct 10, sheet 13 B and 14 A, dwelling 229 & family 250, Milton Y. Woods family; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 21 February 2010), citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 127.

1910 U.S. census, Montrose County, Colorado. Population schedule, Precinct 106 sheet 6 B, dwelling 139 & family 129, Walter Woods; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 26 November 2011), citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 123.
1920 U.S. Census, Rosebud County, Montana. Population schedule, District 121, sheet 1A, family 11, Walter Woods family; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 November 2011), citing National Archives microfilm publication T625, roll 975.

1930 U.S. Census, King County, Washington. Population Schedule, North Bend, sheet 4B, Walter Woods family; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 November 2011), citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 2490.

Ballenger & Richards, …Annual Denver City Directory…(Denver: Ballenger & Richards, 1892), p. 114, for “Appel, Gustaf R, photographer.” See also Gustaf’s entries under “Appel” in Denver City Directories for subsequent years with varying subtitles, specifically: ( 1894) 120, (1896) 121, (1899) 123.

“Returns After Many Years,” Boulder Daily Camera (Boulder), 7 December 1893, p. 1; digital images, Colorado Historical Newspapers (http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.) : accessed 30 November 2011.

Walt and Maude, letter, 14 June 1949, get well card and note; Lowe Family Papers, Privately held by Michelle Goodrum, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Mesa, AZ.
Walt Woods mother. Photograph. Original, privately held by Michelle Goodrum, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]. 2010.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Using Indirect Evidence to Identify a Photo - Part 1

If you look closely you can see the words, "For Frank" written in pencil under the picture. Frank was my great grandmother, Frances Lowe's nickname.

Have you ever wondered who the person in an old photo is and if you will ever figure it out? My great grandmother Frances Lowe had plenty of pictures in her old candy boxes where she stored photos, cards and letters. This one had me baffled for years. This is what Frances wrote on the back:

Recently, while looking for something, I ran across this picture once again. Immediately, light bulb came on. I think I know who this is! Follow along with me and see if you are convinced I have the answer to the question - Who is the woman in the picture? If not challenge me! Where else should I research? What else should be considered?

The clues:

• The photo was taken in Denver.
• The photographer is G.R. Appel, 1579 Larimer Street, Denver, Colorado.
• According to Frances, the woman is Walt Woods mother.

Back in the very early days of this blog, I wrote two pieces about Mary Ann Ballenger, including a timeline of her life. Right there is Walter Woods! Take a moment and at least read the second piece on Mary Ann Ballenger Woods. I'm not going anywhere...

It looks like the Walt Woods named on the back of the photo is Mary Ann Ballenger Woods son. It gets more interesting when I follow Walt through the census.

Re-examining the 1900 census we see that Walter and his sister are listed at the top of the page with his parents and another sister at the bottom of the previous page. Walter is 12 years old, born in Colorado, his mother is listed as born in Iowa which is consistent with what we know about Mary Ann. They reside in Montrose County, Colorado which is in the southwest part of the state, consistent with the Boulder Daily Camera, 7 December 1893, Boulder Daily Camera newspaper article.

In 1910, Walter is listed as the 24 year old head of household with no one else in the home. Further down the page is Milton, Mary A and Hazel. His birth year is a little different from that listed in the 1900 census but his mother's birthplace of Iowa is consistent.

So nothing directly proves the woman in the photo is Mary Ann (Ballenger) Woods but the evidence indirectly indicates that to be the case.

1. In December 1893, Mrs. Milton Y. Woods, the former Mary Ballinger, visits her sister, Mrs. Dan (Nancy Ballinger) Robinson in Boulder, Colorado with her 3 children. (Boulder Daily Camera, 7 December 1893, front page).
2. Mary was living in Telluride, Colorado at the time the news article was written and had moved to the southern part of the state about 15 years earlier.
3. The 1900 census shows the Woods family including Mary and son Walter living in Montrose County, Colorado.

We have tied Mary and Walter together. Tomorrow I will show how the provenance of the photograph ties these families together.

How is it looking so far?

 

Links from this series:
Using Indirect Evidence to Identify a Photo:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Elusive Mary Ann Ballenger
Mary Ann Ballenger Woods Continued

Photo Album Archiving & Digital Sorting - Part 1
Photo Album Archiving & Digital Sorting - Part 2
Photo Album Archiving & Digital Sorting - Part 3
Photo Album Archiving & Digital Sorting - Part 4

 

Sources:

“Returns After Many Years,” Boulder Daily Camera (Boulder), 7 December 1893, p. 1; digital images, Colorado Historical Newspapers (http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org) : accessed 28 September 2007).

1900 U.S. census, Montrose County, Colorado. Population schedule, California Precinct 10, sheet 13 B and 14 A, dwelling 229 & family 250, Milton Y. Woods family; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 21 February 2010), citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 127.

1910 U.S. census, Montrose County, Colorado. Population schedule, Precinct 106 sheet 6 B, dwelling 139 & family 129, Walter Woods; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 26 November 2011), citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 123.

Walt Woods mother. Photograph. Original, privately held by Michelle Goodrum, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]. 2010.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

A Look at a Cash Land Entry File - Part 7

Today's document from William Ballinger's Cash Entry file, which is really a preemption file, is a preprinted oath that has actually been signed by William himself. I have not seen this document in any "plain 'ol" cash entry files so it must be related to the fact that this is a preemption file. It is important because William signed this document. When I compare the signature from this document to the signature in the Military Bounty Land Warrant File in Mahaska County, Iowa (from the series Using Land Records to Solve Genealogical Problems), there is no doubt in my mind that this is the same individual. Also, examining the composition of this family in the 1856 Mahaska County Iowa census further confirms this (but let's not get too far off track here).

I, William H. Ballinger

do solemnly swear that I will support, protect, and defend the
Constitution and Government of the United states against all enemies, whether
domestic or foreign, and that I will bear true faith, allegiance, and loyalty to
the same, any ordinance, resolution, or law of any State Convention or Legislature
to the contrary nothwithstanding; and, further, that I do this with a full
determination, pledge, and purpose, without any mental reservation or evasion
whatsoever; and, further, that I will well and faithfully perform all the duties
which may be required of me by law. So help me God.

William H Ballenger [SEAL]    [actual signature of William]

Colorado Territory

Arrapahoe Co                 ss

Sworn and subscribed to before me, this 3d day of April 1865.

CMMle[_]necott [hard to read]

Register of the Land Office at Denver City. Co T

Previous Installations:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Subsequent Installations:
Part 8
Part 9
Summary

Artwork compliments of Free Clip Art Now
© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

A Look at a Cash Land Entry File-Part 6

If you would like to catch up on previous installations in this series, check out the links at the end of this article.

Today we look at the receipt from the Receiver's Office at the Denver Land Office. The transcription appears first and then an image of the document.

No. 244 Receiver's Office at Denver City, C.T. Apl 3d 1865.

RECEIVED from William H. Ballinger
of Boulder County, Col Ter. the sum of Two
hundred dollars and ----------- cents; being in full for the
S.W. 1/4,, S.W. 1/4 Sec. 17 & S.E. 1/4,, S.E. 1/4 Sec. 18 & N.E. 1/4,, N.E. 1/4
Sec. 19 & N.W. 1/4,, N.W. quarter of Section No. --- 20 --- in Township
No. One North of Range No. Seventy West containing
160 acres and ------------- hundredths, at
$125 per acre.

CBClements

Receiver:

$200.

[Stamped across the front:]

PAT Delivered by R. & R.

Previous Installations:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Subsequent Installations:
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Summary

Artwork compliments of Free Clip Art Now
© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

A Look at a Cash Land Entry File-Part 5

If you haven't been following along, you might want to read Part 3 and Part 4 in particular. Part 1 and Part 2 are about a separate Cash Entry file.
As I pointed out in Part 4, now that we have the legal description of William Ballinger's Preemption claim, we can plot the property on a map. Here's the legal description again:

• The SW ¼ of the SW ¼ of Section 17,
• and the SE ¼ of the SE ¼ of Section 18,
• and  the NE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 19,
• and the NW ¼ of the NW ¼ of Section 20,
• of Township 1 North
• of Range 70 West
• containing one hundred and sixty acres

We can use Google Earth to locate the township, range (outlined in orange), and some section numbers (outlined in pink). Then we can, pinpoint William’s property, which is the area within the red box, and drive out there for a look see (using a more detailed local map).

Recently, I was in Boulder helping a family member and had the opportunity to drive through my great great grandfather's land. Visiting the land my ancestors lived on has become a bit of a hobby for me. I find it exciting to stand where my ancestors lived and worked. It helps give perspective on what their lives might have been like and, it's fun!
A portion of William's land is now a school:

The rest is a very pretty residential area:

So, what did I learn? Driving through the area and back into Boulder gave me a fantastic perspective of the area the Ballinger family lived and worked in, and more importantly, what it took for them to "go to town". The land is just a few short miles from the original downtown portion of Boulder where the Ballingers would have gone to shop, socialize, or go to school. A nice horseback or wagon ride in the spring or summer. Probably a miserable, bitterly cold trip at times during the winter months.
My great great grandmother, Nancy Ballinger would have made this trip regularly; I am told she probably attended school in Boulder along with her siblings.

Stay tuned...
Oh, and one sidenote: Sections 15 and 22 contain Theodore Low’s property discussed in, Finding the Low Farm in Boulder.

Here are links to the entire series, in case you are interested:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Summary
Artwork compliments of Free Clip Art Now
© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Time Capsule - Part 2

Today I am examining the next layer of my great grandmother, Frances Lowe's "Time Capsule;" specifically some of the contents of the leather case. You can read previous posts about the "Time Capsule" here, here and here.

A partial inventory reveals items relating to the Order of the Eastern Star, including:

• 
  
  Rosters from Queen Esther Chapter No 5, Boulder Colorado for the years 1907, 1914, and 1938. Frances is listed as a member in the 1914 directory only with an address of Nye, Montana.
• 
  
  By-Laws for the same chapter.
• 
  
  Book titled, Ritual of the Order Eastern Star, published by Authority of the General Grand Chapter, Chicago, copyright 1890. The publish date is July, 1904.
• 
  
  2 receipts dated 9 July 1914 and 25 March 1915 stating Frances Lowe had paid her dues.
• 
  
  The "certificate" dated 25 March 1915 and shown below which, if I read it correctly, is saying that Frances was received as a member 24 November 1910 and  is now released from membership.

 

Frances moved with her husband, Milton, from Boulder, Colorado to Limestone/Nye, Montana in the mid 1890's. I can't help but wonder why she joined the Order of the Eastern Star, in Boulder, so long after she had moved from there.  Frances was born and raised in the lovely town of Boulder and moved literally to frontier country in Montana.  I visited their homestead last summer and it is still in what I would consider back country (or very nearly); a beautiful land but remote and harsh in the winters. Talk about going through a lifestyle change.  I would not be surprised if she had hoped to move back to Colorado.

Interestingly, the Ritual of the Order Eastern Star, has a paragraph titled Membership.  It states:

Master Masons in good standing in a Masonic Lodge, and their wives, daughters, mothers, widows, and sisters, who have attained the age of eighteen years, are eligible to membership in this Order.

I have found no evidence, yet, that Frances' husband, Milton, belonged to the Masons (although his father did[1]).  Frances' father, Daniel Robinson, was a Mason in Boulder[2].  So that could have been how she gained her membership. Frances' mother, Nancy (Ballenger) Robinson, was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Boulder (she is listed in the 1914 directory and her obituary[3] mentions it).

If you are interested in the Order of the Eastern Star, you can read more about it here and here.

So far all of the items in the Time Capsule (with the exception of the leather case) can easily be placed together in an archival safe box.  It is done.

Next up are by far my favorite finds to date in the Time Capsule.

Here are links to the other posts in this series as well as a couple of related articles:

The Time Capsule
First Steps
The Time Capsule's Top Layer
Part 2
Teacher's Certificate
Teacher's Certificate #2
Baby Shoes
Sewing Anyone?
Help! Do You Know What This Is?
Frances' Necklace
A Bottle of???
Embroidery
More Stuff To Sort
Doilies
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Dress
Pictures, Announcements, etc.
Preserving the Time Capsule
Sorting Saturday - The Time Capsule is Sorted. What I learned.
COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe
Treasure Chest Thursday-You Are My Treasures


Endnotes:
[1] The Boulder Daily Camera (Colorado), 3 June 1897, p. 4.
[2] The Boulder County Herald (Colorado), 7 Feb 1900, page 5.
[3] Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Washington), 9 September 1927, section H.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Madness Monday - Mary Ann Ballenger Woods - continued

Last week for I introduced one of the oldest children of William and Lucinda Ballenger - Mary Ann Ballenger who was initially identified from an article in the Boulder Daily Camera, December 1893.

The next step I took in looking for answers to my questions about Mary, was to look in the 1900 Census where I found her with her husband and 3 children.  After some more census research the following timeline has been compiled.

Circa 1855 - Mary Ann is born - see 1856.

1856 - Mary Ann Ballinger is living with her parents William and Lucinda and siblings Nancy and John in Black Oak, Mahaska County, Iowa. She is one year old and listed as residing in Iowa for 0 years. Go figure. (Iowa State Census 1856 - Ancestry.com)

November 1866-February 1867 - She is listed as attending Central School in Boulder, Colorado with her sister Nancy Ballenger ("Items About Boulder's Early Schools," Boulder Genealogical Society Quarterly, February 1975).

Circa late 1870s - Mary Ann moves to the southern part of Colorado. One wonders why? (Boulder Daily Camera, 7 December 1893, front page).

1880 - A Mary Ballinger is listed in the Federal Census in Rico, Ouray County, Colorado.  She is living with the Walter Higgins family.  I can't be sure if this is my Mary or not.  Her age is 22 putting her birth year around 1858 and her birthplace is listed as Illinois.  This Mary is living in the part of Colorado that would be consistent with the Boulder Daily Camera article and at the right time.  Her birth year is close.  The state is not the same but close.

December 1893 - Mrs. Milton Y. Woods and her 3 children visit her sister, Mrs. Dan (Nancy Ballenger) Robinson, in Boulder. The article states that Mrs. Woods in her "girlhood" was known as Mary Ballinger. (Boulder Daily Camera, 7 December 1893, front page).

1900 - Mary A. Woods is living with her husband, Milton, and their 3 children, Blanche, Walter and Hazel in California Mesa, Montrose County, Colorado.  The federal census lists Mary's birthplace as Iowa and her birthdate as August 1860 which is slightly different from the 1856 Iowa Census.  It also states she is the mother of 4 children 3 of whom are living.  This is consistent with the Boulder Daily Camera article in 1893 which stated she was visiting Boulder with her 3 children.  The census also states Mary and Milton have been married for 18 years which gives me a time frame to go on when I look for a marriage record.

1910 - Mary, Milton and their daughter Hazel are listed in the federal census in Montrose County, Colorado.  Mary does not seem to be aging properly - her age is listed as 47 which would put her birth year at about 1863.  This is both Milton and Mary's first marriage and they have been married 30 years.  Again she is listed as mother of 4 children 3 of whom are living.

1920 - Mary and her daughter, Hazel, are living in Ouray County, Colorado.  Her age is listed as 58 and birthplace of Iowa.  She is widowed according to the census.  Mary works as a cook in a "mine boarding house." Hazel is a waitress in the same place.

I need to find Mary and Milton's marriage record and death certificates for both.  At least now I have more clues to guide me in that search.

Copyright 2010, Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday - All That's Left of the Family Fortune

Recently, I was sorting through some old letters and photos when I ran across a letter to my mother from her grandmother on the occassion of Mom's college graduation many years ago.  It reads, in part:

These antique napkins rings are the remnant of your Great Grandfather and Great grandmother’s fortune. The silver in the rings were part of a silver brick given to them by a friend and my father had six napkin rings made out of same and when their three daughters were married they gave each of us two napkin rings. They are over Seventy-five years old.

The great grandparents she writes of are Daniel Robinson and Nancy Ballenger Robinson (I wrote about Nancy in my February 8 Madness Monday and February 10 Wordless Wednesday posts).  The three daughters are Frances Lowe (author of the letter), Julia Eckwortzel, and Georgie Williams.  The silver brick would have been given to them in Boulder, Colorado.

Of course, I immediately asked Mom if she still had the rings and if she knows where they are.  She remembered them and described the box they were in to me and the fact that they were tied together with a ribbon.  Unfortunately, they were not in the location Mom thought they were, so we will have to keep looking.  I am confident they will turn up and will keep you, my readers posted.....

I wonder if the descendants of the Eckwortzel and Williams families still have theirs?

Copyright 2010, Michelle Goodrum

Madness Monday - Elusive Mary Ann Ballenger

This Ballenger daughter has been a bit on the elusive side. If it wasn't for the Boulder Genealogical Society website, Colorado Historical Newspapers and Ancestry.com, I would have absolutely no information on Mary Ann. She is a great illustration of how a little piece of information here and another bit there can get you started in researching an individual. So I want to talk about some of these sources and the methodology you can use to get going on a project.

The Boulder Genealogical Society, among the many ambitious projects they have taken on over the years, has published abstracts from the local newspapers in their Quarterly. This has proven to be a goldmine of information on my various Boulder families. While the abstract itself is usually immensely helpful, I like to get a copy of the entire article.

What I have done is searched the BGS Quarterly's annual surname index for the names I am interested in. That takes me to the appropriate article or abstract in the BGS Quarterly. My local Family History Library has the Quarterlies on microfiche. You can also check local libraries with genealogical collections for items like these.

The Colorado Historical Newspapers has been the next stop in my searches. Once I find an abstract, the first place I check is this website. They don't always have the article I want but it's worth a try since it's quick and I don't have to physically go anywhere. I have also spent quite a bit of time searching and browsing for my Boulder families on this site with great results.

Remember too there are numerous commercial websites with digitized newspapers such as Ancestry.com, worldvitalrecords.com and genealogybank.com

Another option would be to request a copy of an article through interlibrary loan which I have also done successfully.

The next stop has been onsite searching of newspapers at the Boulder Public Library and the University of Colorado Archives. Even though I don't live in Colorado, I have been fortunate enough to be in the Boulder area in recent years and have taken advantage of their resources on my trips. This has been particularly helpful since some of the newspaper articles I was interested in, I was unable to get economically through interlibrary loan.

A basic timeline outlines what little I know about Mary Ann Ballenger:

Circa 1855 - Mary Ann is born - see 1856.

1856 - Mary Ann Ballenger is living with her parents William and Lucinda and siblings Nancy and John in Black Oak, Mahaska County, Iowa. She is one year old and listed as residing in Iowa for 0 years. Go figure. (Iowa State Census 1856 - Ancestry.com)

November 1866-February 1867 - She is listed as attending Central School in Boulder, Colorado with her sister Nancy Ballenger ("Items About Boulder's Early Schools," Boulder Genealogical Society Quarterly, February 1975).

Circa late 1870s - Mary Ann moves to the southern part of Colorado. One wonders why? (Boulder Daily Camera, 7 December 1893, front page).

December 1893 - Mrs. Milton Y. Woods and her 3 children visit her sister, Mrs. Dan (Nancy Ballenger) Robinson, in Boulder. The article states that Mrs. Woods in her "girlhood" was known as Mary Ballinger. (Boulder Daily Camera, 7 December 1893, front page).

So from these 3 tidbits I have been able to link Mary Ann to her parents William and Lucinda and 2 siblings, Nancy and John via a census record. And have linked her to Boulder (the home of the Ballenger family in the 1860's, 70's and possibly early 1880's) and again to her sister Nancy through two newspaper articles.

So, even though I haven't "proven" anything, I do have a very basic outline and lots of questions:

Where in southern Colorado did the Milton Y. Woods family live?
Who were the 3 children that visited Boulder with their mother in 1893?
When and where did Mary Ballenger marry Milton Y. Woods.
When and where did they die?
The list goes on.

Next week we'll look into this case a little deeper.

Copyright 2010, Michelle Goodrum

Madness Monday - A photograph Helps Solve the Question of When Nancy Died

Nancy Ballenger Robinson is my gg grandmother and one of the oldest children of William and Lucinda Ballenger, who I wrote about last week for Madness Monday. She married one of Boulder, Colorado's early pioneers and later in their lives they moved to Montana probably either with their children or to be near them. After Nancy's husband Daniel died, she stayed on in Montana, living off and on with her various children.

My goal was to obtain Nancy's date of death and place of burial. The latest record I had for her was a 1925 homestead file in Stillwater County, Montana. She was not listed in the 1930 Federal Census. It seemed logical that she might have died in Montana, so I sent off to the Montana State Vital Records Office for her death certificate (this was before the index was available online). They were able to search well before 1925 and well after 1930 but she was not in their index. Frustrated, I set her file aside.

At a later point, while looking through some of the family snapshots taken at Alki Beach in Seattle, I notice a woman who looked suspiciously similar to a photo I had of Nancy. Was she visiting her children who had moved on to Seattle? Or had she possibly moved there herself? I was able to check the Washington Death Index and there was a Nancy Robinson with a death date of 7 September 1927. I obtained her death certificate and discovered Nancy had followed 3 of her children when they moved to Seattle and had been living with her daughter Georgie Williams.

I was able to visit the cemetery where she, my great grandparents and my grandparents are buried in Seattle. Sadly, she is buried in an unmarked grave.

So now I have an end to that story and as a result of the research I did trying to find Nancy's death date, I now have names for several more faces that keep showing up in some of the family snapshots.

Copyright 2010, Michelle Goodrum

Wordless Wednesday - William & Lucinda Ballenger

This is a photo of my ggg grandparents William Harrison and Lucinda Ballenger (or Ballanger or Ballinger) taken in Boulder, Colorado.

My great grandmother was great about identifying people on the back of pictures. Here she has written:
Grandpa & Grandma Ballenger
Grand Parents of
Frances E. Lowe

Copyright 2010, Michelle Goodrum

Madness Monday-William Harrison Ballenger

When I first started researching William Ballenger, I thought this would be an easy project. My mom and uncle helped me put together their side of the family when I did my pedigree chart for a junior high social studies project years ago . What they found among family papers was that William was born in 1821 in Maysville, Kentucky. He married Lucinda Cambell (or Campbell) and they had 12 children. There also was a picture of William and Lucinda taken in Boulder, Colorado which is where several other branches of the family also lived at one time.

What I most wanted to learn about William was:
1. Who his parents were.
2. Verify his birthplace. As you will see in future postings there is a big question mark on his birthplace.
3. Identify William and Lucinda Ballenger’s children and verify whether they had 12 children.

This is were easy ended. The first thing I discovered was there is no consistency, even within the family, as to how his name was spelled. I have seen Ballanger, Ballenger, Ballinger and many other variations. When I add in all of the potential spelling errors, I am ready to pull out my hair! Even one person would spell Ballenger differently over a period of time.

A logical next step was to check out the US Federal Censuses. Unfortunately, I have yet to find William in one single Federal Census over the course of his life. Through other research I have been able to put together a pretty extensive timeline of William's life. So I know pretty close, if not exactly, where he was living for the various federal censuses. What happened every year when the census taker came along? Did he and the family go into hiding? Did he come out and run the census taker off? Have I somehow missed this family every ten years due to spelling errors? I really believe the man had some "privacy" issues!

The good news is that William and his family are listed in 2 state censuses and this has turned out to be a huge help.
• 1856 - Black Oak, Mahaska County, Iowa he is listed with his wife Lucinda and their three children: Mary, Nancy and John.
• 1885 - Grand County, Colorado. William and Lucinda are listed with 6 of their children Stephen, S., Wm., M., Lewis and John. There were also two boarders in the house: John Gibbons and Henry McGuffey.

I keep holding out hope that William will eventually turn up in a federal census but I am not holding my breath. In the meantime, I keep looking for alternative sources to search and try not to let it drive me to madness.

I will be writing more on this family. I started out with a single photo of William and Lucinda, taken in Boulder, Colorado and the basic information I mentioned. From there I have been working to compile an extensive outline of the family. A photograph is a good home source to illustrate how you can take an item found in the family home (or that of another relative) and tie it in to your family history and come up with a more complete and interesting story.

Copyright 2010, Michelle Goodrum