Mystery Monday-Estate Papers of Margaret A. Mitchell

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum  Recently I blogged about the Homestead Certificate of my great great grandfather's that I discovered in the Archival Closet. Also among those Mitchell papers were the Final Settlement papers for the estate of his wife, my gg grandmother, Margaret A. Mitchell. This was another of those woohoo moments!

Years ago, I was given a copy of a page from the Mitchell/McDonald Family Bible (whose provenance is completely unknown to me). It said Margaret died 26 March 1911 in Tum Tum, Stevens County, Washington. I have never been able to locate a death certificate for Margaret, even though according to the information I had, she died after death certificates began to be required in the State of Washington (that was in 1907). The Final Settlement papers sort of corroborate the information I already had (they say Margaret died on or about March 1st, 1911 near Tum Tum).

With this new discovery, I decided to take another look and I've noticed something rather interesting. I'd love to know what you think. The Washington Digital Archives has a death record for a Margaret Mitchell who died 19 March 1914 in Spokane.

A couple of points:

• I find it a little odd that Margaret's estate wasn't settled for over 3 years after she died (that's if you use the March 1911 DOD)
• The March 1914 DOD of the woman who died in Spokane fits into the timeline of the estate of "my" Margaret Mitchell
• I was told (this is family lore, if you will) that "my" Margaret's maiden name was McConnell.
• My Margaret Mitchell's first husband was a McDonald.
• The Margaret who died in Spokane apparently was the daughter of a Michael Ryan.
• A copy of a Washington State Death Certificate currently costs $31.50.

I've definitely got some conflicting information. What would you recommend doing next? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Finally, if you happened here because you're researching Mitchells and you know anything about that Bible, please email me at turningofgenerations at cox dot net. I'd love to hear from you!

(Coincidentally, Carol over at Reflections From The Fence wrote a post on finding a marriage record that she had been searching for forever at about the same time these papers appeared. Her story reminded me that tenacity pays off. I found myself rejuvenated after reading her post).

Treasure Chest Thursday - Homestead Certificate

While sorting through the Archival Closet, I came across a very old envelope simply labelled Mitchell. Upon opening it, I realized this was an item I had never been through before! Most of the papers had to do with my great great grandfather, John Hamilton Mitchell, Sr.'s homestead in Tumtum, Washington.

Years ago, I had written off to the National Archives for his homestead application packet, so most of the information in this envelope was already familiar. However, there was a very heavy weight, large piece of paper in this envelope that had an official raised seal. Upon opening it, I was surprised to see it was the original certificate issued to John in 1906! It's in great shape and now in a home that will insure it's longevity.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Treasure Chest Thursday-Grandma's personal address book

How can an old beat up address book that had been sitting in a garage for over 30 years possibly be of any value to anyone? Let's find out.

Earlier last year I was contacted by a distant cousin who was trying to identify and locate every descendant of our gg grandparents, Ernest and Elizabeth Haun, who immigrated to the US from Germany, settling in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Mine was the last branch he was working on. He had been working for several years and had located the descendants of all of their children but one.

We exchanged quite a bit of information and shared photos. He sent me a picture of our mutual gg grandmother Elizabeth Haun. What a thrill to actually see a photo of yet another person whose genes are part of me!

During our exchange of information, it became apparent that there was one more twig on the family tree that might have some as yet unidentified descendants. We both did some research and one day Rob dropped me an email asking if by chance I had any old address books of my grandmothers. He was thinking that maybe it would contain the name and address of the son of my grandmother's youngest brother. The son's name was Donald W. Mitchell. I didn't know if Donald had ever had any children. If he did they would be the last descendants waiting to be found.

I asked Mom if she knew where Grandma's address book might be. All I could remember was that it was blue. Her answer: in one of those boxes in the garage. The garage isn't quite as scary and dangerous a place as it was a few years ago but there were still several dozen boxes that could contain one little blue address book. After much digging, shuffling and restacking, I found it in the last box! Under the Ms was listed Donald W. Mitchell in Seattle! Even better, Grandma had written in his wife's name - Pat and their daughter's name's Dawn Ann and Gennie Lynn. We are still looking for the daughters of Donald Mitchell but at least now there is something concrete to go on.

The little blue address book is now safe and sound in an archival box at my house waiting for the next time it can be of use. I have already noticed several familiar names from my previous research so who knows how it might prove to be of value in the future.

Copyright 2010, Michelle Goodrum