Baiting My Ancestry Tree

I've spent time lately updating my public Ancestry tree and hoping to optimize its' effectiveness, per some hints from found at Roberta Estes DNA-Explained blog.  Focusing right now on adding some pictures to my direct lines.

Some of these pictures have been shared on social media, such as Facebook, but not all.  I'm trying to include a good picture from my relatives younger days - either a graduation picture or a wedding photo.  I'm also adding high school graduation photos for as many relatives as I can locate.  Some I already had in my files, others I've sought out online through either MyHeritage or Ancestry's yearbook collections.  Many others have been found through local high school yearbook collections as they come online.

For those ancestors that didn't graduate high school, I have substituted either a military photo or some other early life photo.  I'm finding that for a few of my direct relatives, I am missing photos, so will have to reach out to other family members to see if I can locate one.

Right now I'm going to focus on adding at minimum a portrait (graduation, wedding or military) and a tombstone photo for my direct line ancestors.  As I complete them, will work on adding the ones for the descendant lines to complete the tree.

Hopefully, as I work my way back in the family tree, adding this pictures will trigger some cousin bait as others find the photos I've uploaded as hints in to use in their Ancestry tree.

I've also began adding Web Links to the profile pages of my direct line ancestors that link back to my blog posts here - such as the 52 Ancestors series - hoping that others will find them useful.  I do not know if Web Links show up as hints for others, but if not, at least they can be found through the ancestor profile page.  Adding the Web Links to the Facebook Groups I've created for common ancestors as well.

Sifting Through the DNA Matches

I continue to sift through mom's AncestryDNA matches, making identifications and grouping them into family groups using the shared matches feature.  I've been pleasantly surprised at how accurate and helpful this feature has been.

For each match that I can identify how they are connected with mom, I am looking at the shared matches and marking each of the shared matches with a note of my hypothesis of how they are connected.

For example, mom's maternal first cousin has tested at AncestryDNA, and their MRCA (Most Recent Common Ancestor) couple would be Lambertson-Gilliland.  I am then theorizing that any of these shared matches between mom and her first cousin would also share ancestry somewhere along the upline of this couple.  In essence, this should give me places to expect to find the connection.

By taking a look at each of these 'shared matches' and seeing if they have a tree where I can make a connection, I can bolster my theory.  For those who do not have a complete tree, I can create a 'Quick & Dirty' tree at Ancestry to see if I can get the automated system to generate a tree back far enough to make a connection.

Depending on how far back the identified match goes, I could move shared matches 'up-the-line' as far the hypothesis goes for which branch they should be on. 

I have currently worked my way through all of my mom's DNA matches down to the 20 cM level.  I'm using that as my cut off for now.

What You'll Find on my Public Tree

I've hemmed and hawed through the years about whether to make my family tree at Ancestry public or keep it private.  I've finally decided that it should remain public, though I've added "Working File" to the title to make sure that fellow researchers know it is an evolving file.  I sync my RootsMagic database with Ancestry fairly regularly with my results.

I'm not getting any younger, and I want to make sure the research is out there for someone else to pick up the torch.  The link to my public tree is here. There are several types of information in my tree:

• Cumulative research on my direct family lines, started back in the 1980s when I was a young Boy Scout;
• The ancestry of my wife's family lines;
• The ancestry of my daughter's family lines (ex-wife's);
• The ancestry of my step-children's family lines;
• One name studies - such as LeMaster families that are either distantly or not yet connected to my main lines.
• Place name studies - such as records of related families in locales such as Madison or Jay Counties, Indiana where I have concentrations;
• Quick & Dirty trees of DNA matches that have undiscovered connections to my main lines (before I learned to keep them separate)

In a nutshell, there is a little bit of everything in my tree, which has grown quite large - over 40,000 individuals.  My citations and facts from RootsMagic are tied to the profiles in Ancestry, though I haven't uploaded documents in every case to attach.  Some of that I am hoping to get around to adding - I have Dropbox files for each surname of the families I am researching where I keep the images.

I'm hoping that by keeping it public, more researchers might reach out to me to share information.  What has been your experience with public versus private trees?

Adding Relatives To My Tree Through the 1880 Census

While I haven't posted lately to the blog, it doesn't mean I haven't been actively researching the family tree.  My latest project has been to systematically work through my RootsMagic database and update/add to relatives from the 1880 U.S. Federal Census.

Why add relatives this way?

Not only am I able to make sure that I have a more complete picture of the lifetime of my immediate relatives, I've also been able to add additional descendants from family groups that are roughly in the time frame of my great-great grandparents.  Many of these families had not been traced down into the current generations, and by adding the newly found members to my database, I'm one step closer to tracing the lines down to the present day.  Doing so will come in handy as I continue to have 2nd-4th cousin matches through the various DNA testing sites whose connections I don't always immediately recognize.

Why the 1880 census?

The 1880 U.S. Federal Census was the first census to actually indicate the relationship to the head of the household.  While the 1850 census was the first to name all of the individuals listed in the household, the relationships were not spelled out.  Many assumptions have been made through the 1850-1870 census about the relationships to the family members which have later turned out to be incorrect.  For example, all of the children in the household with the same surname might not be children of the couple.  

How I'm doing this:

Using my RootsMagic database, I'm using the RootsMagic Explorer to search for anyone who was born before 1880 and died after 1880, as a starting point for relatives to search for.

Doing this gives me an individual to start with.  If I already have a 1880 census fact sourced for this individual, I move on.  However, if I don't, then I try to find them in the 1880 census using Ancestry.com based on the other facts I have about the family.

Note that there are many individuals I have in my database that should appear in the 1880 census, but I don't yet have enough identifying information (names of spouses/parents/children, etc.) in order to positively identify that the census record found matches the individual in my database.  In those instances, I have to skip them and move on to the next individual.

Creating the sources:

Once I've found a record for a relative, I create a census record fact and add it to my Master Source list at RootsMagic.  I then tie each individual who appears in the household to that event.  I am using the date that the census was enumerated on the page, rather than the standard June 1, 1880 date that was given as a guideline by the census department.  I find it interesting how many census takers were delayed in getting the actual rounds done in taking the census.  Of course, not all of them have the best handwriting either, so often I am having to use my best judgment on the spelling of a name if I cannot make it out clearly.

Who I'm including:

I'm adding all members of the household that I find, including boarders, servants and other non-relatives.  While this does add some "unconnected" members to my family tree in my database, one never knows what ties will later be found.  For instance, I've already discovered instances where the "servant" in the household was actually a relative (niece/nephew), but was not listed as such by the census taker.  Additionally, these individuals in the household are part of the FAN group (Friends, Associates & Neighbors) who may later interact through marriage or land dealings with your relatives.  It's better to include them when you find them rather than having to go back and add them in later.

Database Expansion:

Since my database is synched with my Ancestry Tree, each time I add an indvidual to my database that kicks off a whole series of 'hints' on that site for additional information as well.  I'm trying to not go down the path of chasing those bright shiny objects just yet.

Next Steps:

Right now, I'm searching my database for everyone who was born before 1880 and died after 1880 to including them in my search parameters.  Later, I will go back and exclude the death date parameter, as there are many in my database who I do not have a death date yet.  My thoughts are that by doing this process systematically, I will eventually have captured as many individuals as possible with a census fact for the 1880 census.

Then, the hope is to repeat this process working forward to the 1900 census or even backwards to the 1870 census.  The possibilities are only limited by my time and willingness to keep going.

He Drowned in the Potomac

Sometimes an ancestor or relative seems to call out to you, wanting their story to be told.  Before yesterday, all I knew of William H. Cunningham was his year of birth (1905) and date and place of death (1929, Washington D.C.).  While working on updates on his father, John W., I was drawn to search old newspapers to see what I might find.  It turns out this led me on an interesting search.

John W. Cunningham (1868-1947) was my paternal first cousin 3 times removed, the son of William E. Cunningham and Rachel Lemasters.  Our common ancestors were the Rev. Luman Walker Lemasters and Nancy Young.  While updating his death certificate information from Ancestry.com, I found out that at one time he was the Sheriff of Jay County, Indiana.  Curious to see what stories might mention his service as Sheriff was what led me to the unknown story of his son, William H. Cunningham.

The Daily Reporter (Greenfield, Indiana), May 13, 1929, page 1

The story that grabbed my attention was a news report that appeared in several newspapers across the state, telling the tale of William's death by drowning:

Young Man Drowned.

Portland. - This city city was shocked today to learn that William Cunningham, 24-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Cunningham here, a student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. was drowned in the Potomac River while canoeing Sunday.  According to reports from Washington the body has not yet been recovered.

What a sad fate.  I immediately began searching for more information, and found a little more detail in a similar news report:

Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, Indiana), May 13, 1929, page 14

Hoosier Student Drowns.

Potomac River Has Not Yielded Body of Portland Young Man.

Portland, Ind., May 13 (A.P.) - Mr. and Mrs. John W. Cunningham, of this city, have received a message telling of the death of their son, William Cunningham, age twenty-four, by drowning in the Potomac river at Washington.  The body has not been recovered.

The young man, a student at Georgetown University, was riding in a canoe with two other students when the craft was upset by a whirlpool.  He told his companions to swim to shore and he would bring the canoe in.  They swam to safety, but Cunningham was carried under the surface by another whirlpool.

The parents, one brother and one sister survive.  His father is a former sheriff of Jay county.

 Looking for a death record, I searched FamilySearch and located a record of his death, which gives the date as May 18, 1929.  This may be the date when his body was recovered.  I was unable to obtain an image of the record, only the following:

 

This record gives me William's middle name as Harvey.  He was named for his grandparents - William Cunningham being his paternal grandfather and Harvey Drake being his maternal grandfather.

Knowing that he was a student at Georgetown University, I went online to see what they had in the way of digital archives.  They have their old yearbooks and newspapers available for viewing.  In the May 16, 1929 edition of the student newspaper, the Hoya, I found the following article:

Hoya, Vol. 10, no. 28 (May 16, 1929), page 1

 F.S. STUDENT DROWNED SAT.

W.H. Cunningham loses Life in Potomac as Canoe Capsizes Below Chain Bridge

W.H. Cunningham, 24-year-old junior at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, was drowned in the Potomac River last Saturday afternoon when a canoe in which he was riding with two companions turned over in the swift water about half a mile below Chain Bridge.

Cunningham, with Willard Burkett and W.W. Stevens, his roommates and fellow students, started up the river for an outing early in the afternoon.  At Dempsey's boat house they were joined by a friend, George Davlin.

In two canoes they stared to paddle up the river.  About half a mile from the bridge they came to a swift stretch of water and Cunningham and Burkett tried to make their way through in their canoe.  Unable to force their way through the rapids, they paddled to an island where they were joined by Stevens and the three of them resumed the attempt.

They had progressed about 100 yards into the swift water when the canoe was caught broadside in the rapids, the water spinning the frail craft around and tipping it over.  Burkett, who had been kneeling in the bottom of the canoe, was nearly drowned when his leg was caught in a seat.  All three of the boys came to the surface and seized the canoe.

Unable to right it, they began drifting downstream.  Stevens swam to shore.  Burkett and Cunningham continued to drift with the canoe, calmly discussing the best means of reaching shore without damage to themselves or the craft.  Burkett, at Cunningham's suggestion, removed the pillows from the canoe and seized one of the paddles which was floating alongside.  With this burden he released his hold and started for the Virginia short [sic], calling to Cunningham to steer the canoe into shallow water if possible.  Cunningham answered that he thought he would be able to bring it ashore.

Burkett, on reaching the shore, looked around for his companion.  He saw the canoe bobbing in the current, but Cunningham had disappeared.

Burkett ran back up stream to the point where Davlin was in the other canoe.  They paddled down the river in a futile search for their friend.

The drowned youth, said to have been a strong swimmer, lived in Portland, Ind.  With Burkett and Stevens, he attended Western Reserve University before coming to Washington.  The three boys lived together here at 2410 Twentieth Street.

This article not only gave me the important details of how William died, but also gave me avenues of additional research - the fact that he had attended Western Reserve University as well.  I will need to research local newspapers in Jay County on my next trip to the library.

There is much more to research on this young man and his life, but at least now the story of his untimely death will be known.

William is buried in Green Park Cemetery in Portland, Jay County, Indiana.  A memorial page for him exists at the FindAGrave site.

Indiana Databases at Ancestry Make Subscription Worth Price

Whenever I hear of someone complaining about the high prize of subscription genealogy websites such as Ancestry.com, I have to wonder about where their priorities lie.  Genealogy as a hobby or passion is no different than anything else one might do with your free time - you willingly pay for what you want to get out it in the way of enjoyment.  For me, I would never spend money playing golf or attending concerts, but if that is what you want to spend your money on, who am I to tell you you are wrong.

Recently, Ancestry added three databases relating to Indiana genealogy that has made the annual subscription price worth its weight in gold, so to speak.  Because so much of my ancestry has Indiana ties, I was ecstatic when I found out that birth, death and marriage records from the state level were being imaged and would be available in 2016 at Ancestry.

The publication of these databases has kept me busy updating and adding to the information in my database for my direct and collateral lines with Indiana ties.  Right now, I working through the death certificates database and finding information regarding spouses, causes of death and residences that I didn't already have.  

Having all of these records in one place makes research cheaper because the costs of these long form certificates from the state are $8.00 each.  If I went to each county, I could be paying even more for a certificate. Just recently, I paid $10 per certificate for county level death records. It only takes a few of these online images for me to reach the break-even point on the cost of a certificate. In addition, having the long form from the state will give you information not found at the county level, such as who the informant was for the information. 

Knowing who the informant was for the information provided can be extremely valuable in evaluating the accuracy of the information given.  On the death certificates, information given regarding birth date and names of parents are suspect as clues only - as oftentimes the informant was a son or grandchild who didn't know the maiden names or exact dates of birth.  I've recorded the information as I've found it - using as a clue with a bit of skepticism.  Informants were under a lot of stress and grief, and it is easy to make errors.  I've seen grandmother's maiden names given instead of the deceased's mother's maiden name and I've also seen the birth date of the informant instead of the deceased.  In those cases, I'm assuming that the informant simply was too distraught to understand the question they were being asked.

The long form death certificates also give the manner of disposal and the funeral home and cemetery where they were buried, providing additional avenues of research.  Far-flung relatives could die in one part of the state and be buried "back home" or next to a first spouse.  

The most frustrating piece of information is when you are looking for the names of the parents and the informant states "don't know".  Sad to think that they didn't know the names of their grandparents, but with extended families and lots of years between them it is easy to see how a granddaughter or grandson whose elderly grandparent died at their home wouldn't know where they were born or who their parents were when answering the questions of the physician.

The saddest thing I'm finding while researching these Indiana death records are the number of young children dying from measles and pneumonia.  We are blessed these days to have antibiotics and access to healthcare.  Tragedies do still occur, but they are more rare and shocking today than they were 75 to 100 years ago when it was common for families to lose a child or two.

I look forward to being able to knock down some brick walls and expand my knowledge of extended families through the information gleaned in these databases.  I'm only part way through my database on the death certificate database, I can only imagine how many more discoveries I'll make when I begin with the birth and marriage records from Indiana.

Shaky Leaves : Charles M. Trainer household, 1940 census Warren County, Ohio

Working through more of the shaky leaves hints at Ancestry.com for my LeMaster & Allied Families and updated the record of the 1940 census in Morrow, Warren County, Ohio for my maternal 3rd cousin twice removed, Charles M. Trainer and his wife.

1940 US Census, Warren County, Ohio, population schedule, Morrow, Salem Township, enumeration district (ED) 83-21, SD 7, sheet 8A, household 175, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 April 2016); National Archives, Washington D.C..

Charles was working as a truck driver for a creamery, and had lived at the same residence in 1935.  He and his wife had both completed 4 years of high school.  They were renting their home.  Charles was 22 years old and his wife Estalena was 24 years old.

My common ancestors with Charles are John & Sarah A. (Willson) Lambertson.  Charles was the son of Charles T. & Bessie N. (Mengle) Trainer.

If you are related to this family or have additional information, I would love to hear from you.

Adding updates to LeMaster & Allied Families tree

Because of my recent AncestryDNA test, I've been adding to my family tree at Ancestry, LeMaster & Allied Families, in hopes of seeing exactly where more of my matches connect.  I have always kept this tree as a "bare-bones" tree, leaving my full tree online at myrootsmagic.com/tjlgenes .

However, knowing that many of the matches would be connecting through my 5-great grandparents and earlier, I've been working on updating those lines by working forward from my 5-great grandparents, including everything I have on the descendants in each generation.  I am utilizing the Vertical Pedigree charts that I have stored at on Dropbox as a guide.

Another side benefit of doing this work is that I can let the Ancestry algorithms do their thing and suggest hints for additional records at the site, which will in turn expand my tree.  Keeping my original work on my Rootsmagic database, I should be able to add many more cousins over the next few weeks and keep myself more than busy with blog post fodder.

In one sense, I'm doing extra work by re-typing the family tree into the Ancestry, but I've also caught a few errors and questionable dates this way.

Wading Into the Big Pond with AncestryDNA

I finally took the plunge into the 3rd of the major players in the DNA field and submitted a test to AncestryDNA.  I'd already tested at both 23andMe and FamilytreeDNA.  Between those two, I probably have enough data to keep me busy for years, but by testing with Ancestry, I will be fishing in the pond with the largest pool of fellow testers.

For a comparison of how the various autosomal DNA testing companies break down, please see the chart at the International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki.  They rate Ancestry's DNA users as having a medium response rate and a medium level of genealogical knowledge.  The worst response rate was from 23andMe and I managed to have pretty good results before they changed their setup.  I like how FamilyTreeDNA is set up, but they only have about 150,000 testers versus the 1 million at Ancestry.  So I'm definitely stepping into the big pond.

I'm looking forward to finding even more relatives and hopefully break down some brick walls.

Shaky Leaves : Harvey A. Huey (1866-1947)

Harvey A. Huey (1866-1947) was my paternal 2nd-great granduncle, the husband of Mary A. Metzner (1862-1925).  Ancestry.com was showing a hint for him that lead to the discovery of what happened to him after Mary's death, including a second family.

Prior to this hint, I only had Harvey and Mary's death dates and their place of burial : Mt. Zion Cemetery in Jay County, Indiana.  In the 1920 census, they were living in Davison Township, Genesee County, Michigan, where Harvey was a Free Will Baptist Preacher.

The hint was for the 1930 census of Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, which had Harvey's surname enumerated as Hewey.  He was head of household, aged 63, born in Indiana, renting his home and his occupation was that of a Methodist minister.  Also in the household was a wife, Leona, aged 39, no occupation, born in Indiana and a son, Robert L., aged 12, born in Michigan.

1930 U.S. Census, Oakland County, Michigan, population schedule, Waterford Township, enumeration district (ED) 63-132, SD 14, sheet 23B, dwelling 562, family 686, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 December 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

The first thing that stood out, other than the change in denomination, was the inclusion of a son, Robert, who would have been born circa 1918 in Michigan.  Harvey and Mary had no children, and Robert would have been born when Mary was alive.  Did I even have the right family?  I had to do some further digging to verify that this was indeed the correct individual.

By the 1940 census, Harvey and Leona were in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan, where Harvey was 73 years old working as a custodian for the University of Michigan.  Leona was aged 49 with no occupation.

1940 US census, Washtenaw County, Michigan, population schedule, Ward 1, Ann Arbor, enumeration district (ED) 81-2, SD 2, sheet 6A, household 420, dwelling 147, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 December 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

I searched both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch for a marriage record of Harvey Huey to a Leona sometime after 1925 and was unable to find a record.  

What about Mary (Metzner) Huey, my maternal 2nd-great grandaunt, whose death year I only had as 1925 and burial in Mt. Zion cemetery?  I did a search at SeekingMichigan.org and found her death date as January 2, 1925 in Vernon, Shiawassee County, Michigan.  The certificate lists her name as Mary Ann Huey, born March 4, 1863 in Indiana, the son of John Metzner and Katharine Young.  Her husband is listed as the Rev. H.A. Huey of Vernon, Michigan.  The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage.  Burial was in Portland, Indiana.

Shiawassee County, Michigan, Death Records, , Mary Ann Huey, 2 January 1925; digital images, SeekingMichigan (www.seekingmichigan.org : accessed 2 December 2015); Michigan Department of Health.

The FindAGrave memorial page for Mary is pretty limited, only giving the year of birth and death and linking her to her husband, Harvey.  I will contact the admin of the page and give them the updated death data.

The FindAGrave page for Harvey had a little more detail, including the date of death for Harvey as November 28, 1947 in Washtenaw County, Michigan.  The site lists a wife Leona, and that Harvey's parents were Christopher Huey (1824-1894) and Clarissa Grattis Huey (1829-1895).

With the date and place in Michigan for Harvey's death, I went to SeekingMichigan to see what I could find on his death in 1947.  No full copy of the death certificate yet, but this individual was born in 1866 with a given name of Harvey A Huey, which lines up with what I know about my 2nd-great granduncle.

FamilySearch had additional information on the same death that tied Harvey who died in 1947 back to Portland, Jay County, Indiana:

So next I decided to turn back to the 1930 census record and trace the son, Robert, born circa 1918 in Michigan and find out where he came from.

In the 1920 census in Highland Park, Wayne County, Indiana, Robert was a 1 year and 8 month old son in the household of Max L. Huey, aged 26, born in Indiana,  an office clerk in an auto shop.  Also in the household was wife, Leona R. Huey, aged 27, born in Indiana, no occupation, and a brother-in-law, Leonard G. Maul, age 20, born in Michigan, a time clerk in an auto shop.  I believe we have here is Leona marrying two different men with the same surname, who are likely related because all were from Indiana.

1920 US Census, Wayne County, Michigan, population schedule, Highland Park, enumeration district (ED) ED 699, SD 145, sheet 11A, 71 Pasadena Avenue, family 258, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 December 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

Max Lyndon Huey, son of Charles and Frances (Hozlett) Huey, married December 15, 1915 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan to Leona Rose Maul, daughter of George and Mary (Alwerten) Maul.  Max would have been born circa 1893 in Indiana and Leona circa 1891 in Indiana at the time of their marriage.  The differences in age matches the household found in the 1920 census.  Leona's surname was mis-indexed in the FamilySearch record, but when viewing it you can see that it was Maul.

"Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3PJ-Y2L : accessed 3 December 2015), Max Lyndon Huey and Leona Rose Maud, 15 Dec 1915; citing Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, v 7 p 411 rn 125140, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,342,713.

Looking for further hints regarding Robert, I found a record of his marriage which gave me his middle name as Lee.   

Name:	Mr Robert Lee Huey
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birth Year:	abt 1918
Birth Place:	Michigan
Marriage Date:	28 Sep 1940
Marriage Place:	Pontiac, Oakland, Michigan, USA
License County:	Wayne
Age:	22
Residence Place:	Detroit, Michigan
Father:	Max
Mother:	Leona Maul
Spouse:	Dorothy Stewart
Spouse Gender:	Female
Spouse Race:	White
Spouse Age:	23
Spouse Birth Place:	Michigan
Spouse Residence Place:	Pontiac, Michigan
Spouse Father:	Lewis
Spouse Mother:	Anna Peterson
County File Number:	552603
State File Number:	233934
Film:	302
Film Title:	82 Wayne 233530-236769
Film Description:	Wayne (Dates TBD)

I also found a record for Robert in the 1940 census, before his marriage, in Detroit, Wayne County, Indiana, in the household of Max Huey.  Robert was listed as 21, single, born in Michigan.  The head of the household, Max, aged 48, born in Indiana and his wife, Wilma, aged 38, born in Michigan.  Both Max and his wife Wilma were social workers with the city welfare department and Robert was an adjuster with Commercial Credit company.

The World War II Draft Registration for Max shows his birthplace as Butler, Indiana (DeKalb County) on August 24, 1893.  His full name was Max Lyndon Huey, and he worked for the city of Detroit in the Department of Public Welfare, which matches the 1940 census record.

I also located a FindAGrave for Max L. Huey (1893-1989) whom I believe is this same Max - who was married to Wilma as a second wife.

Ancestry.com had the following death record in their Michigan Death collection which matches the other date details for Max Lyndon Huey.

Likely, Max and Leona were divorced before Harvey A. Huey married her, sometime between 1925 (wife's death) and 1930 (census) when I first find them together.

What happened to Leona after Harvey's death in 1947?  It would appear that she married for a third time to Marvin Macomber on September 28, 1949 in Dearborn, Wayne County, Michigan.

Additionally, I found the FindAGrave memorial for Leona R. Maul Macomber (1891-1969) in Howell, Livingston County, Michigan.

If you have any additional information on these families, I would love to hear from you.

Shaky Leaves : Marriage of Lydia Taylor & Noah Worcester, 1757, Hollis, New Hampshire

Lydia Taylor (1733-1772) and Noah Worcester (1735-1817) were my paternal 6th-great grandparents.  Ancestry.com was showing the following hint of their marriage record in my LeMaster and Allied Families Member Tree.

Ancestry,com. New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Lydia was the daughter of Abraham Taylor, and Noah was the son of Francis Worcester and Abigail Carleton.  Noah served during the Revolutionary War and was a member of the New Hampshire Constitutional Convention.

They were the parents of seven children : Noah, Jesse, Lydia, Sarah, Leonard, Thomas and Samuel.  My line comes through Sarah.

Shaky Leaves : Chesley Franklin LeMaster (1890-1960)

Chesley Franklin LeMaster (1890-1960) was my paternal granduncle, the son of Luman Cooper and Barbara Isabel (Wehrly) LeMaster.  Ancestry.com is currently showing 8 hints from historical records for him in my LeMaster and Allied Families Member Tree.

I have ignored the Ancestry Member Tree hints for now and will concentrate on the records.

One of the databases is U.S., FindAGrave Index, which leads to his memorial page.  

Name:	Chesley F. LeMaster
Birth Date:	1890
Death Date:	1960
Cemetery:	Salamonia Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:	Salamonia, Jay County, Indiana, USA
Has Bio?:	N
Spouse:	Clara L. LeMaster
Children:	Dale W. LeMaster
URL:	http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-...

Looks like his memorial page needs some updating and biographical information submitted.

In the 1940 census of Madison Township, Jay County, Indiana, Chesley, age 47, was renting a farm for $8 per month.  The household consisted of his wife Clara, age 45 born Indiana; son Ralph, age 17 born Indiana; son Dale, age 12 born Indiana; and daughter Patty Lou age 7 born Indiana.  Two older children were not in the household, daughter Doris was married in 1935 and son Donald was married in 1932.

1940 US census, Jay County, Indiana, population schedule, Madison Township, enumeration district (ED) 38-8, SD 5, sheet 5B, dwelling 179, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 August 2015); National Archives, Washington D.C..

In the 1930 census of Madison Township, Jay County, Indiana, he was enumerated as "Chessley Leamaster", age 39, renting a farm.  The household consisted of Clara, age 35 born Indiana; son Donald, age 16 born Indiana; daughter Dora, age 15 born Indiana; son Ralph, age 7 born Indiana; and son Dale, age 2 born in Indiana.

1930 US Census, Jay County, Indiana, population schedule, Madison Township, enumeration district (ED) 38-8, SD 5, sheet 9A, dwelling 204, family 204, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 August 2015); National Archives, Washington D.C..

I was surprised that I didn't already have these census records in my RootsMagic database.  I've since updated his file.

Another hint that was provided listed the exact date of his birth (which I already had), and provided the location of his birth record with the Jay County Health Department.

Ancestry.com. Indiana Births, 1880-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
Original data: Works Progress Administration. Index to Birth Records. Indiana: Indiana Works Progress Administration, 1938-1940.

One new record that I didn't have sourced in my database was the record of his draft registration during World War I.  He registered on June 5, 1917 in Midland, Midland County, Michigan.  He was a laborer with the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, was married with two children.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.

If you are related or have any additional information, I would love to hear from you.

Shaky Leaves : Iva Josephine (Ballein) Wardlow (1881-1932)

Iva Josephine (Ballein) Wardlow (1881-1932) is my 1st cousin 4 times removed on my maternal side.  She was the daughter of William Henry and Clarissa A. (Wright) Ballein. Surname variants include Bollein and Boline. Ancestry.com is currently showing 13 hints from historical records for her in my LeMaster and Allied Families member tree.

One of the databases was Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-2007 which shows her death on October 3, 1932 in Brown County, Ohio.

Name:	Iva J Wardlow
Death Date:	3 Oct 1932
Death Place:	Brown, Ohio, USA

Another database was the FindAGrave Index, 1600s-current which led me to Iva's memorial at FindAGrave.

Name:	Iva Josephine Wardlow
Birth Date:	1 Mar 1881
Death Date:	3 Oct 1932
Cemetery:	Sardinia Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:	Sardinia, Brown County, Ohio, USA
Has Bio?:	N
Spouse:	John Francis Wardlow
Children:	Bryce E Wardlow  John Ellison Wardlow
URL:	http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-...

In the 1920 census, Iva was enumerated along with her husband John F. and two sons, John and Bryce in Sardinia, Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio.

1920 US Census, Brown County, Ohio, population schedule, Sardinia, Washington Township, enumeration district (ED) 47, SD 9, sheet 13A, dwelling 249, family 251, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 August 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

In the 1910 census, Iva was enumerated along with her husband John F. and two sons, John and Bryce in Sardinia, Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio.

1910 US Census, Brown County, Ohio, population schedule, Sardinia, Washington Township, enumeration district (ED) 24, SD 5, sheet 4B, dwelling 114, family 119, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 August 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

I've updated the information that I have for Iva in my RootsMagic database and added her children to my Ancestry family tree.

If you are related or have any additional information or corrections, I would love to hear from you.