New Discovery: Wesley Finkle

I recently discovered that images of the 1884 census for the State of Michigan are available for free from the SeekingMichigan.org website. In fact, they even have a searchable database to locate specific images. As I was writing my recent blog post on William Finkle, I decided to take a gander at the census for the Finkle family.

Sure enough, David and Eliza (Pemberton) Finkle were not too hard to find. I figured they would be in Clay, St. Clair, Michigan.

In the household of 1880, there were six children enumerated, and in 1900, there was one more son, which made for a total of seven children. These were the only seven children ever mentioned in family obituaries, so I figured I had found them all. Curiously, at the bottom of the 1884 census record, there was a seventh child literally called "(No Name)." This child was a one-year-old baby boy. All six children from the 1880 census had been accounted for on this 1884 census record. According to the St. Clair County birth registers, the seventh child was not born until 1885. So who was this nameless baby?

I decided to double check the "Michigan Deaths, 1867-1897" database at FamilySearch.org. Perhaps I could find a death record, though I had my doubts because I was positive I had already searched this database for the Finkle surname. Lo and behold, there was a death record! It was right there in plain sight. No finagling of surnames or parents' names needed to get the right search results.

That little stinker! Wesley Finkle was there all along. According to the death record, Wesley Finkle died on 20 Nov 1887 from spinal disease (poor baby!) in Marine City, St. Clair, Michigan. He was the son of David and Eliza Finkle. And he was 4 years old, making him the right age to be the one-year-old baby boy in 1884. I'm not sure if spinal disease means spinal meningitis or spina bifida. I also wonder why he didn't have a name in 1884 if he was already a year old? I could understand if he was only a few days old. Makes me think he may have been born disabled and perhaps they didn't name him right away, knowing that he was going to die. Even so, would they really wait a year to name him? Or is it more likely the census taker and the death record are off on his age by about a year? Maybe that is more reasonable.

Lesson Learned: Don't forget to search for the death and birth records of children who were born and who also died between 1880 and 1900. Thank goodness for those of us lucky to have state census records in the intervening years.

ATTENTION ALL MICHIGAN RESEARCHERS

As posted yesterday, today was my birthday. To celebrate, we had a large family gathering at my uncle's house. My grandfather's younger sister (my great-aunt), Eva, was there, and I asked her where she got married. I noticed the last time I was at the St. Clair County Courthouse in Michigan that I had found most of her siblings' marriage records, including my grandfather's marriage to his second wife, but I had never found Aunt Eva's marriage record. She said that she and Uncle Karl had gone down to Angola, Steuben County, Indiana, to get married because they did not have to wait there to get married. They could get the marriage license and get married all in one day. Uncle Karl was working seven days a week at that time, so they did not have a lot of time. Based on their ages, I'm assuming this was in the early 1950's (forgot to ask the date). But this struck a bell. I remembered that my great-grandaunt, Alvina Florence Pemberton, had married her second husband, Arnold Frederick Distelrath, in Angola on 21 Jan 1956. I would not think this so strange if Angola were right on the border of St. Clair County, but it is several hours away. Then I found this article on the Albion, Michigan, website, which confirmed what my Aunt Eva said about couples flocking there to get married because of the no-wait marriage laws. I also know that my Uncle Jim's mother, Christine Elizabeth Chatterson, married her second husband, George Edward Mason, in South Bend, Saint Joseph, Indiana, on 21 Apr 1954. According to usmarriagelaws.com, the whole state of Indiana has no waiting period.

The point of this is that if you have Michigan ancestors and have exhausted your search for their marriage record in Michigan, maybe it is worth checking out the Indiana border counties. The border counties are LaPorte, St. Joseph, Elkhart, Lagrange, and Steuben. I'm not exactly sure how long the no-wait law has been in effect, but according to the Albion, Michigan, article, it was in effect at least as early as the 1930s.

Happy Birthday - Feb 13

Happy birthday to Melvin Edward DISTELRATH. Melvin was the younger brother of the second husband of my great-grandaunt, Alvina Florence PEMBERTON. Melvin was born on 13 Feb 1925 in St. Clair, St. Clair, Michigan. Sadly, he died when struck by lightning at the age of 14. He died on his father's farm on Trumble Road in St. Clair on 27 May 1939. He had been working on an old automobile when it started raining. He ran into the woods and was found 18 hours later by his father and his older brother, Arnold, my great-grandaunt's husband. He attended school at St. Mary's in St. Clair and was an altar boy and member of the choir there. He is buried at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in St. Clair. See his obituary here.

Genealogy Happy Dance: Findng the parents of John Pemberton

The first time I encountered John Pemberton was when I was searching for my great-great-grandfather, Lovell Hugh Pemberton, in the 1880 U.S. Census. From my great-grandfather's death record, I knew his father was Lovell Pemberton [1].

In the 1880 U.S. Census, I found Lovel Pemberton, age 2, living with his parents, John and Mary Pemberton, in Armada, Macomb, Michigan. John was a blacksmith born in Canada. His father was born in New York and his mother was born in Ireland [2]. Woohoo! I could now add another generation to my family tree, and I even had possible birth places for an even earlier generation.

The 1900 U.S. Census gave John's parents' birthplaces as Canada, and the 1910 U.S. Census gave his parents' birthplaces as Pennsylvania and Ireland [3]. Therefore, it appeared that John's father was either born in New York , Pennsylvania, or Canada, and his mother was born in either Canada or Ireland. According to the 1880, 1900, and 1910 U.S. census records, John was born between 1835 and 1839, possibly in April 1839. As I was searching the 1880 U.S. Census on Ancestry.com, I noticed that there was a Jeremiah and Susanna Pemberton living in Clay Township, St. Clair, Michigan, only 30 miles from Armada, where John and Mary were livng in 1880 [4].
Jeremiah was also a blacksmith, like John. He was 68 years old, therefore old enough to be the father of the 44-year-old John in the 1880 U.S. census, and was born in New York. His wife, Susanna, was 60 years old and was born in England. She was also just old enough to be John's mother if he was born in 1835-1836, like the 1880 U.S. census suggested. She was definitely old enough to be his mother is he was born in 1838-1839, like the 1900 and 1910 U.S. census records suggested. This was the only Pemberton couple found in the surrounding area in the 1880 U.S. Census that could possibly be the parents of John, based on their ages. At least I now had a clue!

I decided to start looking for Jeremiah and Susanna in the 1870 and 1860 U.S. census records. I knew John would not be living with them in 1870 because I had already found him and Mary living in Washington, Macomb, Michigan. John was 31 years old (again suggesting a birth date of 1838-1839) and a blacksmith, and his birthplace was given as Canada [5]. A fellow researcher had told me John Pemberton and Mary Ann Coombs were married 30 Dec 1865 in Ashley Village (now New Baltimore), Macomb, Michigan [6]. Of course, the 1870 U.S. Census does not ask for parents' birthplaces, therefore it did not help me in connecting John with Jeremiah and Susanna, as the 1880, 1900, and 1910 census records had done.

I found Jeremiah and Susanna living in Algonac, St. Clair, Michigan, in 1870.

Jeremiah was 65 years old, worked as a blacksmith, and was born in New York. Susanna was 50 years old and was born in Ireland. There were what appeared to be at least 5 children living with them: Samuel, William, Sarah M., Ella, and Charles. There was also a David Finkle and Eliza J. Finkle with 3 Finkle children in the household of Jeremiah and Susanna. Based on her age, it appeared that Eliza may be a daughter and David a son-in-law [7]. Now I had potential siblings for John.

Since John had not married Mary Ann Coombs until 1865, it was likely I would find him living with his parents in 1860. Sure enough, I found a Jeremiah and Susan Pemberton living in Brownstown, Wayne, Michigan, in 1860. Jeremiah was 48 years old, a blacksmith, and was born in New York. Susan was 40 years old and was born in England. John, who appeared to be the oldest child in the household, was 21 years old and born in Canada. This suggested an approximate birth date of 1838-1839 again. The others in the household were Stephen, Eliza, Agnes, Samuel, William, Maria, Almira, and Charles [8]. More possible siblings for John! And further evidence that his parents were likely Jeremiah and Susanna!


A search of the 1860 U.S. Census records in Michigan did, however, reveal another close match for my John Pemberton. There was a John Pemberton, age 23 (b. abt 1836-1837), also born in Canada, living at the State Prison in Jackson, Jackson, Michigan [9]. This John Pemberton was not found again in the 1870 or 1880 U.S. Census records by doing a search of all John Pemberton's born in Canada on Ancestry.com. It is in the back of my mind that this could have been my John Pemberton, considering the census at the prison was taken in June 1860, while the census at Brownstown was taken in July 1860. Perhaps John got out of prison in June or July and returned home. This would be interesting research, considering a prison is involved, so it is on my to-do list to pursue this further at a later date.

Taking a break from John's parents, I decided to find the census records of John and Mary's children. I found two daughters, Elva and Myrtle, living in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1910 U.S. Census. They were living in the household of none other than Hayes Finkle, and Myrtle was the wife of Hayes [10]. Elva was listed as sister-in-law. Also in the household was Jerry Finkle and Roy Finkle, both listed as brothers of Hayes. All had been born in Michigan. Hayes was age 33, and Jerry was age 37.


I immediately recognized the Finkle name as the married name of John's possible sister, Eliza. Since examining that 1870 census record in which Eliza and David Finkle lived in Jeremiah Pemberton's household, I had found a marriage record for a David Fincle and Eliza Pemberton in 1865 [11]. While this record did not mention Eliza's parents, it at least confirmed my original theory that Eliza was a Pemberton. Was Hayes a son or a nephew of David Finkle? If he was a son of David and Eliza, and Myrtle was the daughter of John Pemberton, then wouldn't that make Myrtle and Hayes first cousins? I had to step back into time and realize that the marriage of first cousins was not as uncommon as it is today in the early 1900s, especially if they grew up in small, isolated communities.

Armed with this new theory that Hayes may be a son of Eliza's, I looked for David and Eliza in the 1880 U.S. Census. Given Jerry's and Hayes' ages in the 1910 census record, they should have been born by 1880. Sure enough, I found David and Eliza living in Clay Township, St. Clair, Michigan, in 1880, and their household included two sons, Jeremiah and Hays, ages 7 and 3, respectively [12].


While this find did make me do the genealogy happy dance, it still did not prove that John was necessarily a son of Jeremiah's, but at least it proved John's family and Eliza's family were at least connected through the marriage of their children, Hayes and Myrtle.

I continued on looking for John's daughter, Elva, in the 1930 U.S. Census. In Toledo, Lucas, Ohio, I found an Elva Harriman, closely matching my Elva's age, who was born in Michigan and was boarding with a widower named George P. Lerch, his mother, and his children [13]. At first, I assumed no connection between Elva and George, and was not entirely sure this was even my Elva. The only slight connection I noticed was that George's children's mother's birthplace was given as Michigan. But something in the back of my mind kept telling me to check out George Lerch and see who he was. I did a search on Rootsweb's "WorldConnect" database, and to my surprise, found an entry that stated George P. Lerch was married to Cordelia May Fink, who was born 22 May 1887 in Michigan. Prior to this, I had found a marriage record for Jacob E. Fink and Elmira Pemberton, stating that Elmira was the daughter of Jerimiah Pemberton [14]. I figured this must be the Almira and Ella Pemberton listed in Jeremiah's households in 1860 and 1870. (Srangely enough, the marriage did not take place until 1894, though Jacob and Elmira were found married in the 1880 U.S. Census and had 9 children before 1894).

To prove that Cordelia May Fink was the daughter of Jacob and Elmira, and the granddaughter of Jeremiah and Susanna, I looked for Jacob and Elmira in the 1900 U.S. Census. I found Jacob and Ella Fink in Toledo, with a daughter, Delia, age 13, born in May 1887 in Michigan [15].


Now I could connect John's family to Elmira's family as well! John's daughter, Elva, was living with the widowed husband and children of Cordelia May Fink, who was the daughter of Jacob Fink and Elmira Pemberton, making Cordelia the potential first cousin of Elva. I also later found a marriage record for George Lerch and Cordelia Fink, stating Cordelia was the daughter of Jacob and Ellen Fink [16]. Of course, I knew there was still some happy dancing to do, because I had not directly linked John Pemberton to Jeremiah and Susanna.

When I traveled to St. Clair County, Michigan, in the summer of 2007, I did some research at the county clerk's office, and found a death record for Eliza Finkle, stating her parents were John Pemberton and Susanna German [17]. This rang a bell because two years earlier, a fellow researcher had found an online transcription of a marriage record from Toronto in 1836 for a Jeremiah Pemberton and Susannah Jermyn [18]. Perhaps the informant on Eliza's death record confused her father's name, Jeremiah, with that of her older brother, John. Well, another happy dance for the maiden name of Susanna. Now I was still hoping that I would be able to directly connect John with Jeremiah and Susanna.

You may ask why I didn't just order the death record of John Pemberton, since death records often list the parents of the deceased. Well, years before, a distant cousin and fellow genealogist had told me that he had seen the death record and that it did not list John's parents. This was in my early years as a genealogist, and I took his word for it. I laugh at myself now. But, lucky for me, that cousin had also told me that John had fought in the Civil War on the Union side. I searched for John Pemberton in the Ancestry.com database, "Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934," and found a John Pemberton, with a widow, Mary A. Pemberton, from Michigan who filed for a pension. I had read in a beginner's genealogy book that pension records often do not list parents, but that they do often list children and spouse information. However, the book also stated that you really never know what you are going to find in a pension record. There is always a chance, so I decided to take it. I ordered his pension records online through the National Archives and waited about two months.

The pension records came in around Labor Day in 2007. As I browsed through the file (over 100 pages), I realized that this was a gold mine of information. I was just about ready to do my happy dance and really delve into the papers when my fiance reminded me that we had friends comng over to visit. Darn! They stayed about 2 or 3 hours, and as soon as they left, I rushed back to the bedroom where the pension file awaited. My fiance came back there and laughed, saying, "You couldn't wait for them to leave, could you?" I just said "No comment," and gave him a look. The first thing that caught my eye in all those papers was a death record of John Pemberton, which Mary had to submit to prove she was widowed and therefore eligible to receive his pension, stating his parents as Jeremiah Pemberton and Susanna Jermyn [19]!!! Alas!!!! My direct connection. As I studied the files more, I realized there was a 20 page deposition by John stating his experiences in the military and much of his life story. He had to give the deposition in order to receive a pension based on injuries received during the War. He was rejected many times, which explains why there were over 100 pages in the file. The deposition mentioned his mother, Susanna, and his father, Jeremiah. There were also many short statements from many of John's sisters and brother-in-laws and his mother testifying to his character. WoW! The connection I had been looking for, and even the bonus of his 20-page deposition and all those statements from friends and family!!! I still do a genealogy happy dance just thinking about it!!!




Sources:

[1] Michigan Department of Community Health, death certificate 8103-16510 (1950), Jack V. Pemberton; Vital Records Office, Lansing.

[2] 1880 U.S. census, Macomb County, Michigan, population schedule, Armada, enumeration district (ED) 198, p. 8, dwelling 83, family 87, John Pemberton household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 10 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 592.

[3] 1900 U.S. census, Macomb County, Michigan, population schedule, New Haven, enumeration district (ED) 57, sheet 11B, dwelling 286, family 288, John Pemberton household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 10 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 727. See also 1910 U.S. census, Macomb County, Michigan, population schedule, New Haven, enumeration district (ED) 66, sheet 1A, dwelling 14, family 14, John Pemberton household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 10 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 659.

[4] 1880 U.S. census, St. Clair County, Michigan, population schedule, Clay, enumeration district (ED) 370, p. 14, dwelling 84, family 84, Jeremiah Pemberton household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 23 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 604.

[5] 1870 U.S. census, Macomb County, Michigan, population schedule, Washington, p. 12, dwelling 88, family 88, John Pemperton; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 12 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 688.

[6] David Carnahan II, to author, "RE: Lesperance genealogy," email, 16 September 2000.

[7] 1870 U.S. census, St. Clair County, Michigan, population schedule, Algonac, p. 12, dwelling 94, family 94, Jeremiah Pemberton household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 23 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 698.

[8] 1860 U.S. census, Wayne County, Michigan, population schedule, Brownstown, p. 115, dwelling 1017, family 947, Jeremiah Pemberton household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 23 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 564.

[9] 1860 U.S. Census, Jackson County, Michigan, population schedule, Jackson (Ward 4), p. 121, State Prison, John Pemberton; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 23 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 564.

[10] 1910 U.S. census, Cuyahoga County, Ohio population schedule, Cleveland (Ward 6), enumeration district (ED) 126, sheet 18A, dwelling 278, family 327, Hayes Finkle; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 14 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 1168.

[11] St. Clair County, Michigan, Marriage Book 2: 476, Fincle-Pemberton (1865); FHL microfilm 976,870.

[12] 1880 U.S. census, St. Clair County, Michigan, population schedule, Clay, enumeration district (ED) 370, p. 17, dwelling 98, family 98, David Finkle household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 27 Dec 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 604.

[13] 1930 U.S. census, Lucas County, Ohio, population schedule, Toledo (Ward 16), enumeration district (ED) 126, sheet 4A, dwelling 70, family 72, George P. Lerch household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 30 Jul 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 1838.

[14] Michigan Department of Vital Records, Marriage Registrations, 1894, 4: 18, no. 3318, Fink-Pemberton; digital image, "Michigan Marriages 1868-1925," FamilySearch Labs (http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch : accessed 26 Jul 2008).

[15] 1900 U.S. census, Lucas County, Ohio population schedule, Toledo (Ward 10), enumeration district (ED) 83, sheet 13A, dwelling 267, family 278, Jacob Fink household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search : accessed 29 Jul 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1298.

[16] Michigan Department of Vital Records, Marriage Registrations, 1905, Monroe County, p. 85, no. 886, Lerch-Fink; digital image, "Michigan Marriages 1868-1925," FamilySearch Labs (http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch : accessed 27 Jul 2008).

[17] St. Clair County, Michigan, Death Book 6: 195, Eliza Finkle; County Clerk, Port Huron.

[18] "Marriages at St. James Cathedral, Toronto Aug 1836-1841," Marriages in Ontario 1800-1925 (http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maryc/old4.htm: accessed 23 December 2007). Original data published John Ross Robertson, Landmarks of Toronto, 3: 395 ff.

[19] Michigan Department of State, death certificate (no number given), 1912, John Pemberton; Division of Vital Statistics, Lansing; widow's pension application no. 998,000, certificate no. 759,851; service of John Pemberton (Pvt., Co. C, 1st Michigan Vol. Cav., Civil War); Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt #4

From Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook:
Week #4: Take a genealogy day trip and blog about it. Discover the local history and genealogy in your area. Take a trip to a cemetery or other historic location. Describe the day, what you learned, where you went, how it looked, how it sounded. Armchair genealogists will love the mini travelogue.

Well, I haven't taken a trip lately. The last major genealogy trip that I took was in August 2007. It was a visit family/genealogy trip to Port Huron, Michigan. My mother, Pamela Sue Pemberton, grew up in Port Huron. She met my dad, Michael David Trahan, in 1977 when he was stationed there on the USCGC Bramble in the U.S. Coast Guard.
They married in 1977 in Port Huron, but they moved about 1979 to Vinton, Louisiana, where my dad grew up. Because I've always been distanced from those Michigan records, I always try to make a research trip out of my family visits. It's quite convenient, actually, because my cousin and my aunt both work right next door to the courthouse and library.

I started my first day of research in the St. Clair County Public Library in Port Huron. I mostly spent my time looking at newspaper articles and obituaries. The library has The Times Herald going back to 1872 and quite a few other newspapers from the surrounding communities. I had a list of obituaries to look up and got right to work. In the obituary of my great-grandaunt, Madeleine Marion (Pemberton) Carnahan, who died in 1961, there was a reference to two previously deceased children who died in a fire in 1952. I remembered about a year or so before, I had asked my grandmother why Aunt Madeleine's family had moved from Michigan to California. She said that she didn't know, but she remembered that they moved after their house caught on fire. However, my grandmother could not remember when their house caught on fire. From the year given in the obituary, I went to the St. Clair County Courthouse that afternoon, and found the death records of two Carnahan children who died within 8 days of one another in April 1952. From there, I was able to find the newspaper articles on the fire. It amazed me how the community came together to raise money to help the family build a new house and pay for medical expenses.





I love the state of Michigan because all marriage and death records are open to the public. None of that crazy paranoia about identity theft. Anyhow, there is a genealogy room at the county clerk's office. All you have to do is tell the deputy clerk at the front desk that you want to do genealogy research, and she will take you to the genealogy room with all the death, marriage, and some divorce records. She will also retrieve birth records for you, provided the records are over 100 years old. The staff is very friendly and will take the time to describe the records to you if you have never been there before. I had a list of the records I wanted prior to going there, but of course, I also found some while browsing. I mostly spent my time there transcribing marriage records after 1925 and death records after 1904. The records prior to these years are available on FHL microfilm, which I can borrow at my local Family History Center, so I did not want to waste time with the older records. My most exciting find at the courthouse was the confirmation of my potential 4th-great-grandmother's maiden name: Jermyn. From census records, I had a hunch that my 4th-great-grandparents were Jeremiah Pemberton and Susanna. According to census records, they had immigrated from Canada to Michigan. A fellow researcher had found an online transcription of a marriage in 1836 in Toronto for Jeremiah Pemberton and Susannah Jermyn. This was about the correct time frame, considering my great-great-great-grandfather, John Pemberton, appeared to be their oldest son and was born around 1839. At the courthouse, I found death records of two of their children that both stated Susanna's maiden name was Jermyn/German. So I had solved at least part of the mystery. All that was left was to confirm that Susanna really was my 4th-great-grandmother, though this did not come until months later when ordering John Pemberton's pension application from the National Archives.

I also visited Omard Cemetery, Elk Township Cemetery, and Zion Cemetery in Sanilac County, Michigan, just north of Port Huron, and found the graves of three great-grandparents, my great-aunt that died as a child, my great-great-grandparents, and my potential great-great-great-grandparents.

This is the photo of the grave of my great-aunt who died well before I was born in 1948. I find it odd that she died just one day before her birthday and that her birthday was on Feb. 29. There was actually a Feb. 29 in 1948, so that would have been really strange had she died on her birthday. According to her death record, she died of adema of the lungs and continuous epileptic seizures.

Well, that was my research trip in a nutshell. I really look forward to the day when I retire and can have a summer house in Port Huron.