On the last Friday of each month, we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new bonus webinar just for them!   This month enjoy "What to Call That German Place?" by James M. Beidler. 

What to Call That German Place?

Because of the non-linear history of German-speaking lands, describing to what political entities a village belonged requires two or more iterations depending on the time periods involved. Learn the best practices for recording German place names.

About the Presenter

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Last week I introduced you to S. Ada Miller and her mysterious political card. This week I want to talk a little bit about the research process and how to start researching with few clues.

As I mentioned previously, the clues from this card include:

• Ada’s name
• The city Ames, Iowa (she may have lived here at the very least she has a connection to the city)
• A possible son and daughter.

But in all reality, all I really know is her name. I also guesstimated, based on the children’s photos, that she was alive around 1910-1920.

The first record I chose to search was the U.S. Census. The reason why is probably obvious. The U.S. census is easily accessible, it covers the early 20^th century, and it places a person in time and place. Finding her in the census might also verify her location, her occupation, and a possible husband and/or children.

The 1910 U.S. Federal Census

I decided that the 1910 census would be a good place to start. As I searched, I found a result for the 1910 US census for a S. Ada Miller living in Ames, Story, Iowa.[1] While she is not listed with an occupation (she has a border living with her so it seems that her occupation is probably tied to that) she does have two children living with her, a 7-year-old son named Lisle and a 5-year-old daughter named Ruth. This census also reveals that she is a 43-year-old widow who was born in Iowa to parents born in Indiana.

This appears to be the S. Ada Miller I’m looking for and she does have two children. Assuming those children’s photos on the card are her children, the children in the census appear to be younger than those shown on the card leading me to hypothesize, that she didn’t run for county recorder until closer to 1920. 

So we have her in 1910, the next step is to exhaust other census records. I’ll go ahead and take a look at the 1920 census.

The 1920 U.S. Federal Census

In 1920 Ada is in Ames, Story, Iowa and she appears on the census as Ada Miller (no S). She is living with one child, her daughter Ruth (age 14). No mention of her son Lisle, who technically would be about 17 and may have left home. Although Ada once again is shown as having no occupation, she does have four lodgers living with her so that indicates once again that she is earning a living through boarding people in her home.[2] However, that doesn’t preclude she could also be the county recorder.

Once again, she is not listed with an occupation. Perhaps she is a county recorder after the census is taken, between the years 1920 to 1930. I think it’s important to mention that it’s not unusual for a census to show women as having no occupation when they really do but maybe I still haven’t found the year she was a county recorder. Unfortunately, a search of the 1930 and 1940 census came up with no results for her.

Ok, so maybe we now need to look for a possible death. If I’m not finding her in the census, it could be that she has moved out of the country, changed her name or used a different name (we know she has an unknown first name that starts with an S), was mis-transcribed in the indexing process, or is dead. Let’s try to determine if she has died prior to 1930.

I went ahead and tried a search on the Historical Records collection at FamilySearch to see what I could find and sure enough, one of the records available for S. Ada Miller was her death certificate. The death certificate confirms that she died in 1923 (hence why she is not in the 1930 census). She died of “grippe” or the flu. And her occupation on her death certificate? County Recorder. So now I’m wondering if she was elected sometime between 1920 and 1923.[3]

Where’s Lisle?

There is much more to learn about Ada from this death certificate and it gives us more clues about her life including her husband and her parents’ names. One thing I noticed is that it’s not immediately clear if the informant on the death certificate is a family member. What I do know is that it’s not her son or her daughter. Which makes me wonder where they are.

Ada’s son Lisle is not in the 1920 census. So where is he? Some of the Legacy blog readers know the answer, because they did some research.

Lisle was dead by 1920.[4] At 16 years 5 months and 22 days he succumbed to an accidental gunshot wound to the neck. His mother was the informant for his death certificate.[5] I can only imagine the heartbreak this would have caused her to bury her high school-aged son. As you know, a few years later she would also be dead. Daughter Ruth would be the sole survivor of this family at the age of 17 years.

Ada Miller, County Recorder

There’s much more we could do to fully research this family. We could trace her back in the census and find her marriage and birth. We could search for her daughter Ruth and find out what happened to her. But I’m going to stop there for now. I want to go back to one of my original questions. If you recall, I wanted to know if was Ada a county recorder. Her death certificate seems to verify that. However, I want to know more. What else can I learn about this part of her life, if anything? Let’s explore that next week.

Thanks to everyone who commented on last week’s blog post. For those Legacy readers who are following along…what facts about Ada’s life did you uncover? What questions do you still have?

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

[1] 1910 US census, Story County, Iowa, population schedule, Ward 3 Ames, Enumeration District 203, p. 1A, dwelling 109, family 12 S. Ada Miller; digital image by subscription, MyHeritage.com (https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10132-25199729/lisle-e-miller-in-1910-united-states-federal-census: accessed 25 May 2021).

[2] "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDM2-TVP : 1 February 2021), Ada Miller, 1920.

[3] "Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DHLN-F9MM : 14 December 2020), S. Ada Miller, 23 Oct 1923; citing Death, Nevada, Story, Iowa, United States, page , offices of county clerk from various counties; FHL microfilm 1,403,710.

[4] "Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS6V-G3DR?cc=2531337 : 18 October 2019), > image 1 of 1; State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.

[5] The death certificate lists his name as Lyle not Lisle. However, his birth record (an index on FamilySearch) lists him as Lisle. This is a great example of being flexible about names.

The recording of today's webinar by Michelle Leonard, "How Testing Multiple Relatives Can Turbocharge Your DNA Research" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour and 33 minute recording of "How Testing Multiple Relatives Can Turbocharge Your DNA Research" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

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Introductory pricing:

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Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2021 webinar brochure here.

The recording of today's webinar by Ofer Karp, "Advanced DNA Features on MyHeritage" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour and 13 minute recording of "Advanced DNA Features on MyHeritage" is now available to view in our webinar library for free. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 1,520 classes of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,806 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2021 webinar brochure here.

 

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About the presenter

Michelle Leonard is a Scottish professional genealogist, DNA detective, freelance researcher, speaker, author and historian. She runs her own genealogy and DNA consultancy business, Genes & Genealogy, and specialises in DNA Detective work particularly the solving of adoption, unknown parentage and all manner of unknown ancestor mysteries using a combination of DNA expertise and conventional research methods.  She also undertakes traditional family history research, living relative tracing, historical and television research, media consultation, the creation of bespoke family history books, podcasts, article, blog and book writing, tutoring, lecturing, webinars and speaking engagements. She is a regular speaker at major genealogy events such as Rootstech, The Genealogy Show, Family Tree Live, Back To Our Past and Who Do You Think You Are? Live as well as a co-author of "Tracing Your Ancestors Using DNA: A Guide For Family Historians" which was published in June 2019.

Additionally Michelle is the official genetic genealogist of ancestryhour.co.uk and is one of the hosts of the hour itself: #AncestryHour takes place on Twitter each Tuesday evening from 7-8pm GMT and Michelle is usually on hand to answer any #DNA queries that arise. She also spent several years working on the ground-breaking Fromelles Genealogy Project tracking down appropriate DNA donors to identify WWI soldiers buried in a mass grave in France and served as the Genealogical Consultant on the official Fromelles documentary. She regularly works on new historic soldier cases when battlefield remains are found and DNA testing is conducted.

Michelle holds an M.A. in English and Modern History from the University of St Andrews and a PgCert in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Scottish Genealogy Network (SGN), the Society of Genealogists (SOG) and the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). You can find out more about Michelle on her Genes & Genealogy Facebook page and you can follow her on Twitter.

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

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Here's how to attend:

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Ofer is a Director of Product Management overseeing the development and management of MyHeritage DNA products. For the past two years, he has been in charge of planning, developing and launching the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry product. In creating this innovative health product, Ofer led a massive joint effort of various teams in MyHeritage, including the MyHeritage Science Team, Research & Development, Design, Operations, Marketing and multiple other teams that were part of this project. Ofer joined MyHeritage in 2017, after a decade of product management experience in top consumer technology brands, including Polycom, Microsoft and Apple. He holds an MBA, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.Sc., cum laude, in Computer Engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

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We look forward to seeing you all there!

The recording of today's webinar by Kathryn Lake Hogan, "Researching Canadian Nurses, Pilots and Sailors in the First World War" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour and 1 minute recording of "Researching Canadian Nurses, Pilots and Sailors in the First World War" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

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• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2021 webinar brochure here.

As I browsed in an antique store one weekend, the two faces jumped out of me. That wasn’t an easy task since the card they appeared on was virtually hidden in a locked glass cabinet tucked inside a yellowed plastic envelope, and a 1950s envelope obscured part of the card. When I got someone to unlock the cabinet so I could take a look my first thought was that S. Ada Miller had to be a woman and that this might be a political campaign piece for a woman seeking to be elected at about the time of the 19^th amendment.

The card shows two children and states “Two Reasons why I am a candidate for the office of county recorder. S Ada Miller. Ames Iowa.”

On the back, the antique dealer wrote on a small post-it note that she had found an S. Ada Miller in the 1913 Record of the Great Council of Iowa-Degree of Pocahontas “she is listed as Great Keeper of Records.”

Quite frankly at $3.00 it was worth a risk to purchase it and learn more to satisfy my curiosity.

How Do You Start?

How do you start to research someone that you only have a few clues for? Well, first you note what clues you do have. In this case I knew:

• Her name was S. Ada Miller or perhaps she went by Ada Miller
• She was a woman (remember the antique dealer had already Googled her name and found her in a fraternal society, more on that below)
• She possibly had 2 children (though it could be her grandchildren or some other relation)
• She lived in Iowa (though maybe not Ames so I need keep that in mind)
• She possibly was alive in the early 1900s judging from the photos.
• She ran for a county government position and possibly held that position.

So what do I not know and have research questions about?

• What did the “S” in her name stand for and did she ever go by that name or simply Ada?
• What time period did she live in?
• Was Miller a married name? If so, what is her husband’s name?
• Are the two children pictured her children, another relation, or just children with no relationship to her?
• Did she live in Ames, Iowa?
• Did she become a County Recorder?
• Why did she run for County Recorder (the card gives a possible clue)
• Can I learn more about this item?

Now that I’ve identified what I know and my research questions, I need to start considering where to research. An obvious first step is to conduct a search on a genealogy website and see if I can locate her in the U.S. Census. If I can find her, that might confirm if she had children, a spouse, her approximate age, and where she lived. It might also give me an occupation. However, it’s not uncommon to find working women listed as a “housewife” in the census so I can’t make an assumption that the census will help with occupation.

Once I find her in the census and get that information I can then move on to other sources. For example, I should look for:

• Vital Records (for her and possible children)
• City Directories
• Burial
• Government Records (that might confirm her work if she was elected)

Because she ran for a city government position, I should expect to find her listed in newspapers. So I need to look for articles about her in online newspaper websites. I would also look in digitized books for possible local and family histories, directories, county reports, and other location-specific items.

Besides possibly being involved in government I know that the antique dealer found her name in a book or other records for the “Great Council of Iowa – Degree of Pocahontas.” The dealer didn’t say where this information comes from and I still need to verify this find. I’m assuming that the Degree of Pocahontas is referring to the female auxiliary to the fraternal order, the Improved Order of Red Men. This may mean additional records and at the least, it provides social context to her life. It also may mean she was married and her husband was in the Improved Order of Red Men fraternal order.

I can also expand my search by learning more about resources in Iowa by consulting the FamilySearch Research Wiki as well as specifically look in the FamilySearch Catalog for Iowa and the county for Ames, Iowa (Story). I do know that I will need to check:

• Digitized newspaper websites
• Genealogy websites
• FamilySearch Catalog (and the Historical Records collection as well as the Digital Book Library)
• Google Books

Before I start researching what else should I consider? Anything missing? What would you check? I’m interested in your thoughts and ideas.

In Part 2 we delve deeper into the case of S. Ada Miller.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new, short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "What is WATO?" by Michelle Leonard.

What is WATO?

What is WATO? The 'What Are The Odds?' tool on the DNA Painter website, known as WATO, is a free tool that can help solve DNA relationship mysteries and test different hypotheses. In this TechZone video Michelle Leonard briefly walks you through how it all works.

About the Presenter