Yates family research time: or what you can find in a newspaper with only an hour

"The Lighthouse" from Palo Duro Canyon
State Park. Canyon City, TX borders this
park. Image from the Library of Congress.

A 2nd cousin twice removed to my husband contacted me a few months ago looking for information, and I was a bad, bad genealogist friend.  I forgot to write her back, but I thought I had.  Yeah, let the flogging begin!  So to make amends I did some quick research into a family story and whoa did I get a good surprise.

In the early days of my genealogy research I did what we are all told to do, I interviewed the family. Even if it was like pulling nails at times I tried to extract information from them in any way possible. My father in law knew some, but not a lot about his family beyond dates and names.  One statement he made to me that stuck was that someone in his maternal grandmother's side of the family owned a hotel in Canyon City, Texas. He wasn't sure if it was her father or someone else though.

Eventually I found my husband’s 2^nd great grandfather along with his wife and son living in Canyon City on the 1910 US Federal Census.  Eureka!  A Canyon City connection.  At that time however, that was all I could find. 

Through the Census records I learned he was still in Missouri during the 1900 census and then returned by 1920.  However, my skills weren’t the best in the beginning so this mystery sat while I worked on lines that needed more immediate attention.  Then the email came, and I felt awful.  So I sat out last night to see what I could find in a limited amount of time. 

In the 1900 US Census[1] Eugene, Missouri, and two of their children are living in the same household in Grand Pass, Saline County, Missouri.  I have located most of his children in the general area as well.  But what happened to get him to Canyon City in 1910[2] and then back to Saline County in 1920[3]?

This is when last night I stumbled on The Portal to Texas History from the University of North Texas Libraries.  They have digitized and searchable records from all over the state of Texas.  I was able to locate 4 newspaper entries for Eugene moving to Canyon City plus then owning and selling a hotel there.

Notice in paper[4]:

“Eugene Yates, of Mt. Leonard, Missouri, moved here last week and on Monday opened up the Rogerson Hotel business.”

  

Review of Hotel:[5]

“Hotel Rogerson,

Eugene Yates & Son, Proprietors.

  One of the popular hotels in Canyon is the one run by Eugene Yates & Son- Here every guest is made to feel at home and no pains are spared to make everything comfortable.  The dining service at this hotel is hard to excel.

  The writer has traveled in almost every state in the union and can heartily say that at no hotel has he received more courteous treatment.

  All the rooms are nice and clean and the full register each day shows that the traveling public fully appreciate the excellent service the management is extending to all.  When in Canyon do not fail to register at the Rogerson.”

Notice:[6]

“Eugene Yates has quit the hotel business and will more to his residence, now occupied by Mr. Hatchell.”

Notice:[7]

“Change in Management

E. Yates, a former hotel man of this city, announces that he has leased the Rogerson Hotel in this city and will take charge next Monday.  He invites his former patrons and other to call and see him.”

Now I have a larger line of inquiry to search out which might take longer than an hour on the internet!  I will be the first to admit that my Texas research skills are not strong so if you have any suggestions on what my next steps are I would love to hear from you.

---

[1] 1900 U.S. Census, Saline County, Missouri, population schedule, Grand Pass Township, p 159 A (stamped), dwelling 210, family 212, Eugene Yates family; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed January 2012);  citing NARA microfilm publication T623.

[2] 1910 U.S. Census, Randall County, Texas, population schedule, Canyon Ward 3, p 10 11B (written), dwelling number 193, family 207, Eugene Yates family; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed January 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1584.

[3] 1920 U.S. Census, Saline County, Missouri, population schedule, Grand Pass Township, p 9A (written), dwelling 184, family 200, Eugene Yates family; Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed January 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 962.

[4] Canyon City News. (Canyon City, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, October 27, 1905, Newspaper, October 27, 1905; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth323011/ : accessed December 10, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.

[5] Canyon City News. (Canyon City, Tex.), Vol. 10, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, June 29, 1906, Newspaper, June 29, 1906; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth323044/ : accessed December 10, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.

[6] Canyon City News. (Canyon City, Tex.), Vol. 10, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, March 1, 1907, Newspaper, March 1, 1907; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth323078/ : accessed December 10, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.

[7] Terrill, R. A., editor. The Randall County News. (Canyon City, Tex.), Vol. 12, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, October 2, 1908, Newspaper, October 2, 1908; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth323158/ : accessed December 10, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.

My Heritage: progress and minor frustration

Okay, the new tree is going really well for the most part.  My biggest excitement came when I was able to find records for my husband’s great grandmother in Wales and England.  Frustration came quickly after since I have not figured out how to page through the images.  So, where do I begin?  How about with finding new a new document?

Last month I received the death certificate I ordered from the state of New York for Thomas Pittard.

He was my husband’s 2^nd great grandfather who immigrated to the US in the early 1880s with his children and 2^nd wife.  On it there were clues to who his parents were, which made me giddy beyond all belief.  You see Pittard is a very common name in the area he was from on the border of Wales and England.  Plus, throw in Thomas, which is not a very distinctive name, and you have dozens upon dozens of hits.  However, becasue of the new record now I know that his parents were Thomas Pittard and Elizabeth Palmer and the whole family was born in Martock, Somerset, England.

I know, death certificates cannot be trusted 100% of the time.  Yes, the person may be giving information they think is correct but may be all wrong.  Yep, got it, but I am inclined to believe it for a couple of reasons.  First, they were married in England before coming over and the wife may have known them. Second, the family lore that his 2^nd wife and 1^st wife were sisters.  If that is correct I am pretty sure she would know their names.

Last week a record hint appeared for the 1851 England Census.  Thomas was born in 1850 which made him 1 on this census.  Lucky for me it looks like I found the family.  Whoot!  He was there with his parents and a slew of siblings.  Plus, an uncle named Thomas Jeans who was 51 and deaf.  I copied the image of the census record below:

Needless to say there are now lots of little clues coming up very frequently.  It is hard to spend only my allotted time working on this (I do have other things I have to get done after all) but it is very nice to come and see actual record hits every time I open the page.  Yes, it is the beginning and in the beginning there are a lot of hits, I wonder how long I can keep building the tree out from these records alone before I have to go to my files.

The thing that I am extremely frustrated about is that I can’t browse the images.  I like to look forward and back from my family of interest to see what else I can learn about the community and to see if there are other potential relatives there.  I still can’t figure out how to do that with the website and it is bugging me.  I mean, the image is awesome, but for good research I need to be able to research and that means looking forward and backwards in the record pages. 

If you know the hint to solving this problem let me know.  I’d really love to hear it!

1940 census Website

I am catching up on a weeks worth of reading over my tea this morning.  This is what happens when you are have repairs done to your house that force you to live out of your bedroom for a week.  To say I am a bit behind is an understatement. 

Starting with the newest posts on my Google Reader, I saw an announcement from NARA about the upcoming website for the 1940 census.  They are getting us ready for the release by having daily lectures and announcements about it too.  Make sure to check out the NARA site frequently over the next month!

If you haven't seen the video from Family Search "I'm in it" you can see it here.  This makes me very excited, as this will be the first census my father is in.  I have to wait 20 more years for a census that contains my mother, and another 20 for a census that contains my husband and me.  History is catching up to the living quickly.

*Image: Auntie P via photopin cc

New post at Family Tree Firsts

My next post on FTF is up.  I hope you enjoy the read.  Living on a Civil War Battlefield puts researching your family from that time into a whole new light.  During the course I read all about troop movements for units that my ancestor were assigned to.  Which of those campaigns they were actually there for I don't know, but I got an odd sensation to read there was a possibility they fought within a mile of my house.

I talk about Button Cody in this post, he was mentioned in the last post too.  He is of the "famous" Cody line that Buffalo Bill is also descended from.  When I found him on the 1890 Veterans Schedule I could not believe what I read about his physical condition.  I now have to find out if those injuries were due to the war.

The photo for this post was sent to my by my long lost distant cousin Debby.  She has been such a help when I got started last year.  We still correspond whenever we find something new to share.  I just love the cousins I have found and the connections I have made!

Part 2 of 4 is up on Family Tree Firsts

Hello out there, just wanted to let you know that the next post is up on Family Tree Firsts, over at Family Tree University.  Hope you enjoy!

I have to tell you that searching the census records was painful.  To make it work, and to find every possible person I was looking through I spent about 5 hours reading entire enumeration districts over multiple censuses.  However, what I learned was priceless.  I got a real feeling for where everyone was located, who their neighbors were, and how the family units formed and moved.  It also showed me where other ancestors were at the same times, many of them literally right next door.

This will be a part of my research from now on I have to admit.  Before I just trusted the indexer and actually didn't know you could scroll through the images until I learned it in one of my classes.  I have a feeling I will be going back through a lot of records!

Of course, why I just didn't go out to google to begin with I will never know...but hey, I got a great story out of it.  Just wait!

photo credit: Chris Devers via photopin cc