Exploratory Data Analysis : Joseph W. Wright (1838-1919)

Joseph W. Wright (1838-1919) was my maternal third great grandfather.  What follows is an exploratory analysis of the biographical data I have discovered about him.

1. Vital Records

     Joseph was born in April of 1838 in Brown County, Ohio^{1, 2}.

     1.1. Birth Certificate

          The State of Ohio did not require birth certificates at the time of Joseph's birth.  Statewide recording of births started in 1867.

          1.1.1. Birth Notice in Newspaper

               If Joseph's birth was mentioned in a newspaper, I've not yet located it.  Will need to check with state and local archives to see if they have any local newspapers from the time period.

          1.1.2. Bible Record

               I am not aware of any surviving Wright family Bible that mentions Joseph.  Will continue to reach out to extended family in hopes that one can be located.

          1.1.3. Baptismal Record

                I'm not aware of any baptismal record record for Joseph.  I'm not aware of the church affiliation of the Wright family at this time.

          1.1.4. Adoption Record

               There is no indication that Joseph was adopted.

     1.2. Marriage License

          Joseph married Rebecca Heaton on November 1, 1857 in Schuyler County, Missouri³.  They had moved with Rebecca's parents to Liberty Township, Schuyler County, Missouri along with other families from Brown County, Ohio.

          Joseph married Dortha Palmer on April 11, 1891 in Madison County, Indiana⁴.

          1.2.1 Marriage Notice in Newspaper

               I have not yet searched available newspapers from the time period to see if Joseph and Rebecca's or Joseph and Dortha's nuptials were mentioned.

          1.2.2. Anniversary Notice

               I have not yet searched available newspapers from the time period to see if mention was made of Joseph and Rebecca's anniversaries, either.  Their 25th wedding anniversary would have been November 1, 1882.  Rebecca passed away before their 50th.  Will add this to my list of "to-do" items for my next research trip.

          1.2.3. Divorce Decree

               There is no indication that a divorce ever occurred, and a recent search of court records during the time period did not turn up a divorce record.

     1.3. Death Certificate

           Joseph died September 16, 1919 in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana⁵ of organic heart over inflation.

          1.3.1. Obituary in Newspaper

               Joseph's obituary appeared in the September 16, 1919 edition of the Alexandria Times-Tribune in Alexandria, Indiana⁶.

          1.3.2. Funeral Home Records

                Will need to search records of the local historical society to see if they have any records of funeral homes that might pertain to Joseph.  Will add this to my list of "to-do" items for my next research trip.

          1.3.3. Tombstone Photograph

                Joseph's tombstone in the I.O.O.F. cemetery in Alexandria, Indiana has been photographed⁷.  A link to his memorial page at FindAGrave can be found here.

2. Census Records

     2.1. Federal Census Records

          2.1.1. 1910 Federal Census

               On April 20, 1910, Joseph was enumerated as head of household in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana⁸, as Joseph Wright, male, white, Farmer, age 72.  He was married for the 2nd time for 19 years.  He was born in Ohio, as were both of his parents.  He could read and write and spoke English and owned his home free of mortgage.

          2.1.2. 1900 Federal Census

               On June 27, 1900, Joseph was enumerated as head of household in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana⁹, as Joseph Wright, male, white, Farmer, age 62, born April 1838.  He was born in Ohio, as were both of his parents.  He could read and write ans spoke English and owned his home free of mortgage.

          2.1.3. 1880 Federal Census

               On June 18, 1880, Joseph was enumerated as head of household in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana¹⁰, as Joseph Wright, male, white, Farmer, age 50.  He was born in Ohio, as were both of his parents.

          2.1.4. 1870 Federal Census

               On September 13, 1870, Joseph was enumerated as head of household in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana¹¹, as Joseph Wright, male, white, Farmer, age 33.  The value of his real estate was $3000, and his personal estate was valued at $639.  He was born in Ohio, and was a U.S. citizen.

          2.1.5. 1860 Federal Census

               On June 28, 1860, Joseph was enumerated as head of household in Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio¹², as Joseph Wright, male, Farmer, age 22, born in Ohio.

          2.1.6. 1850 Federal Census

               On September 18, 1850, Joseph was enumerated in the John Wright household in Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio¹³, as Joseph Wright, age 12, male, born in Ohio.  He had attended school within the year.

     2.2. State Census Records

          The State of Indiana conducted census in 1853, 1857, 1871, 1877, 1883, 1889, 1901, 1913, 1919 and 1931.  These, however, were merely for the purposes of legislative apportionment.

          No state census records in Ohio are known to exist.

     2.3. Agricultural Census Records

          I have not yet investigated these types of records to see what light they might shed on the Wright farm.

3. Military Records

     3.1. Draft Registration

          No draft record has yet to be located for Joseph.  Searches in Brown County, Ohio, where he was residing in 1860 census have not yielded positive results.

     3.2. Pension Records

          I am not aware of any military service by Joseph that would have made him eligible to receive a pension.

     3.3. Service Records

           No military service has been discovered for Joseph, though he would have been at the proper age to have served during the Civil War.  No mention of Civil War service was made in his obituary, and there is no known tradition of Civil War service.  How he managed to not serve during the war is a mystery that needs further research.

4. Land Records

     4.1. Deed Records

          Deed records need to be thoroughly searched in Madison County, Indiana, Brown County, Ohio and Schuyler County, Missouri to see what records mention Joseph.  Will add this to my list of "to-do" items for my next research trip.

     4.2. Plat map / county map

          Plat maps of Madison County, Indiana will need to be searched to see what information can be gleaned that might be relevant for my search.

5. Supplemental Records

     Supplemental records to research for Joseph include city/county directories, court records and will and probate records.  Will add this to my list of "to-do" items for my next research trip.

Sources:

1. Joseph Wright household, 1900 U.S. census, population schedule, Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana, ED 96, SD 8, sheet 22A, dwelling 411, family 445; National Archives micropublication T623, roll 386, page 39.
2. Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2015. Original data : Indiana State Board of Health. Death Certificates, 1900-2011. Microfilm. Indiana Archives and Records Administration, Indianapolis, Indiana.
3. Ancestry.com. Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.  Original data : Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm.
4. Joseph Wright - Dortha Palmer marriage license (1891), Madison County Clerk's Office, Anderson, Indiana, USA.
5. Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Indiana State Board of Health. Death Certificates, 1900–2011. Microfilm. Indiana Archives and Records Administration, Indianapolis, Indiana.,Joseph Wright, 9-16-1919, Madison County, Indiana.
6. Joseph Wright obituary, Alexandria Times Tribune, Alexandria, Indiana, USA, September 16, 1919, page 1, page 1.
7. FindAGrave, Inc., FindAGrave.com (www.findagrave.com : accessed 14 November 2016), Joseph W. Wright memorial.
8. Joseph Wright household, 1910 U.S. census, population schedule, Monroe Twp., Madison Co., IN, ED 109, SD 8, sheet 2B, dwelling 40, family 40; National Archives micropublication T624, roll 364., Page 168.
9. Joseph Wright household, 1900 U.S. census, population schedule, Monroe Twp., Madison Co., IN, ED 96, SD 8, sheet 22A, dwelling 411, family 445; National Archives micropublication T623, roll 386., Page 39.
10. Joseph Wright household, 1880 U.S. census, population schedule, Monroe Twp., Madison Co., IN, ED 21, SD 3, Page 39, dwelling 329, family 330; National Archives micropublication T9, roll 293., Page 106.
11.Joseph Wright household, 1870 U.S. census, population schedule, Monroe Twp., Madison Co., IN, Page 38, Alexandria P.O., dwelling 275, family 270; National Archives micropublication M593, roll 336., Page 210.
12. Joseph Wright household, 1860 U.S. census, population schedule, Washington Twp., Brown Co., OH, Sardinia P.O., dwelling 360, family 360; National Archives micropublication M653, roll 938., Page 25.
13. John Wright household, 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio, USA, dwelling 1555, family 1560; National Archives micropublication M432, roll 662.

This post was developed as part of the series relating to Building My 2011 Research Template, an attempt to systematically document and source the details of my ancestors' lives. Comments regarding this template and the conclusions drawn in this article are welcomed.

Scanning, Sorting & Purging

In addition to spending some time this week on my vacation doing some research, I've also used this opportunity to catch up on an ongoing project - the digitization of the piles of genealogy paperwork I've accumulated over the years.

I've been scanning everything and will be sorting and filing in digital folders so I will always have it at my fingertips.  Additionally, having it digital will allow me to share the information with other researchers quickly and easily.

Today, I found myself scanning correspondence going back to 1987 !! Not only did I still have those letters and documents, in looking at them, I apparently hadn't extracted all the information into my database.

Once these newspaper scraps and photocopies of documents have been scanned, I have had to make the determination whether or not to keep or purge the documents.  My guidelines have been - if it is a vital record copy, I keep it; if it is a photocopy from a book I am purging it.  In addition, any printouts from census pages or other records that I know have been digitized at FamilySearch or Ancestry I am purging.

So far I've made it through a few boxes, with several more to go.  The sad thing about having all of this information on paper is that I've found I've duplicated some efforts and likely paid for copies of information I already had.

In the end, this process will not only eliminate some of the piles of paper but will hopefully help me stay organized in my research.

Election 2016 : Justice at the Ballot Box

Well, the people have spoken and the contentious election of 2016 is over - Donald J. Trump will be the next President of the United States.

Since this blog details not only my search for my ancestors, but the nuggets of my daily life for my descendants, I thought I'd better drop a line or two about one of the sea change elections of my lifetime.

We voted early this year - Indiana has had early voting since 2012 and our county had Saturday voting the two Saturdays prior to election day.  The wait was about 30 minutes at the courthouse.  It seemed like the turnout was high.

In a non-Presidential election year, I usually in the first two or three people at the polls when they open at 6 a.m.  I'm an early riser, so that doesn't present any problems. But this year, I knew I would be doing research at the Genealogy Center on election day, so we cast our votes early.

I voted for Donald J. Trump for President.

Trump represents a change from the status quo, an unconventional candidate who is not beholden to special interest groups.  He defeated 16 other experienced Republican candidates in the primary, and in the general faced one of the most unpopular Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton.

Trump also promises an agenda of "America First" which I feel this country needs after the last 8 years of a President who has weakened our position in the world.  He has promised to re-negotiate the disasterous trade treaties and look at America's commitment around the world.  This has really rubbed the establishment elites the wrong way - they fear their power slipping away.  When you are attacked by not only the left but the right as well, you are probably doing something right.

While there's no need to go into all of the negatives for Clinton and the scandals and lack of justice by our own government's Department of Justice and F.B.I., as last night's results show - justice was delivered at the ballot box and we no longer have to deal with the Clintons.

Indiana polls close at 6 p.m. and per usual, was declared a Republican win rather quickly.  We're a very "red" state, and one of the first ones called each election.  It's the rest of the country that I worry about.

I stayed up watching the results come in until about 2 a.m. last night.  At that time, Mr. Trump was leading and it appeared that he would be declared the President.  The looks of shock on the faces of the media was precious.  They just couldn't understand how their favorite candidate wasn't winning. 

Throughout the campaign Trump highlighted the strong media biases which were confirmed by the Wikileaks emails.  Since so many people only get their news from the networks or Fox/CNN, they are only receiving what those media outlets want you to know - and they only deal in soundbites and don't deal with the issues in any substantial way.

My Facebook feed today is full of people wringing their hands in fear of a Trump Presidency.  I'm not sure what exactly they are afraid of - though I see things bandied about that Trump is a racist, homophobe, etc.  He hasn't even been sworn into office and they are acting as if he will be rounding people up, comparing him to a Nazi, etc.  The moment you start to do that against your political adversary, you loose the argument.

Time will tell what a President Trump will mean for our country, but I'm hopeful that America will be moving in the right direction.

I just hope that my other genealogy friends in the blogosphere and on FB will calm down and give the man a chance.