Baby Steps: My Ancestry.com Family Tree

LeMaster Family Tree on Ancestry.com

I've taken some baby steps and created a family tree on Ancestry.com.  I've been a member of Ancestry for quite some time, but didn't have my own family tree posted there. At one time I had uploaded my entire GEDCOM database, but I soon deleted it as it was unwieldy.  Now I'm working on creating my tree one branch at a time, working to have the best information, sources and photos possible.  My id on Ancestry is tjlgenes.

The process of creating a tree at Ancestry is very easy and straight-forward.  Even though privacy of living individuals is assured, I decided to input myself and my parents as simply Living, along with the surname and no dates.  

I've resisted the urges to click on the little green leaves that give "hints" because right now I know these individuals pretty well and doubt there will be anything new in the hints.  As I add information further back, or add my wife's line, I will probably look at them more closely.  Already, I've received emails from Ancestry suggesting census records, etc. to link with my great-grandparents.  I haven't yet done that, but will once I enter all of the facts and provide the source material.

I've been trying to locate photos of each of my direct line to add to the family tree as well.  Doing this has been an eye-opener, as I've finding out that I didn't have as many photos of some branches of the tree as I thought.

Right now, the tree only has my direct line back to my great-great grandparents.  Surnames include: LeMaster(s), Chew, Wehrly, Smith, Haley, Sherrick, Metzner, Moulton, Wright, King, Pierce, Penisten, Lambertson, Beals and Davis.

In addition to this mini-tree, I have my entire database backed-up as on WorldConnect at database tjlgenes.

LeMaster Deaths: Jay County, Indiana

Source: Deaths, Jay County, Indiana: Jay County Historical Society, Portland, Indiana

This copy of a page from a compiled notebook of Jay County, Indiana deaths was obtained on my last trip to the Jay County Historical Society in Portland, Indiana.  


The pages list the name of the deceased, place of death, date of death, sex, age, book and page of death record, and what cemetery they are buried in.  These records are more modern than the W.P.A. indices of the county which only cover up to 1920.  This appears to be a computerized index.


LeMaster, Arthur R., Portland, IN, Dec. 16, 1971, M, 85, CH-3, 335, Salamonia, Salamonia, IN
LeMaster, Chesley F., Portland, Aug. 9, 1960, M, May 25, 1890, CH-2, 98, Salamonia, Jay Co., IN
LeMaster, Dortha, Salamonia, IN, May 24, 1976, F, 73, H-12, 90, Salamonia, Salamonia, IN
LeMaster, John L., Jr., Portland, IN, Mar. 27, 1973, M, 50, CH-4, 47, Salamonia, Salamonia, IN
LeMaster, John L., Sr., Portland, IN, Jan. 13, 1980, M, 77, CH-4, 233, Salamonia, Salamonia, IN
LeMaster, Larry D., Jay County, IN, Feb. 28, 1974, M, 24, H-12, 70, Salamonia, Salamonia, IN
LeMaster, Maude G., Portland, IN, Jan. 31, 1967, F, 78, H-12, 2, Salamonia, Salamonia, IN
LeMaster, Roger A., Salamonia, IN, Mar. 5, 1972, M, 45, H-12, 46, Salamonia, Salamonia, IN
LeMaster, William A., Portland, IN, Oct. 15, 1978, M, 54, CH-4, 201, Salamonia, Salamonia, IN


Definitely good information to have, especially the exact book and page numbers to request copies of death certificates.

Postcard: Sheridan's Ride

Mrs. Sue Alderman

Pimento, Indiana

RR # 2

Receivd cards  Many thanks.  How I would love to see you.  Come out again.  Am fine.  Going home Xmas.  Do come out again.  Wish I could eat my Xmas with you.  Your girlie Mary.

---

This postcard, postmarked December 21, 1910 from Hansford, Texas, was sent to Mrs. Sue ALDERMAN of R.R. 2 Pimento, Indiana.  The card is part of my parents' collection, and is believed to have a family connection.


Checking Ancestry.com, I searched for Sue ALDERMAN in Vigo County, Indiana during this time period.  Three quick hits showed up:  the 1900 and 1910 census records, and the Indiana Death Index.  


In 1900, living in Prairie Creek Township, Vigo County, she is listed as Sue ALDERMAN, wife of John W. ALDERMAN, age 55, born February 1845.  She had been married 25 years and had no children.  She was born in Indiana, her father was born in Virginia, and mother was born in Ohio.  Husband John was a farmer, age 53, born October 1846 in Illinois, with both parents born in Indiana.


In 1910, living in Prairie Creek Township, Vigo County, she is listed as Susannah ALDERMAN, wife of John W. ALDERMAN, age 65.  This is listed as her second marriage, and she was the mother of 2 children, only 1 living.  She was born in Indiana, father born in Ohio and mother born in Indiana.  Husband John was a farmer, age 65, his first marriage, born in Illinois, with both parents born in Indiana.


The Indiana Death Index on Ancestry compiles information from the W.P.A. indices of Vigo County.  That reference shows Susie A. ALDERMAN died June 18, 1913 in Prairie Creek Township, Vigo County, Indiana.  The death record is located in Book H-42, page 136.


The question remains, how is this person related to my ALDERMAN line?  There was a John W. ALDERMAN, son of Richard and Eliza (________) ALDERMAN, born circa 1845 in my history.  He would have been a brother to my 3rd-great grandmother, Jane Ann ALDERMAN.  My database is silent on this John W. ALDERMAN after the 1860 census of Anderson, Madison County, Indiana, when he would have been 15 years old.  Those records have his birth as Indiana, but the ALDERMAN clan was known to have bounced back and forth between Indiana and Illinois.  


While I don't know for sure that this card was to a relative, for some reason it ended up in my family's "stuff", so I have circumstantial evidence to warrant further research.