Someone's David Stone

I was working on this little research project because I found it on one of the message boards for the Stone family.  No clue if we're related.

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.stone/7147/mb.ashx

I am looking for the generations before David Stone and any other information. He was born in 1835 and died in 1915. He lived in vestal and Binghamton, Broome County, New York. His wife's name was Rhoda and his mother's name was Mary Anne. I have no idea what his father's name was. Thanks for any assistance.

Yeah, so it's a tricky problem.  I found four pieces of information:

WWI Draft Registration Card
David John Stone, residing at 44 Second, Bingham Broome, NY, age 48, born April 29, 1876, occupation Carpenter, nearest relative Mrs Donna Stone, registration date 12 Sep 1918

New York, County Marriages, No. 3245
2 Mar 1912, Binghamton, New York
Jennie H. Stone age 26, residence 12 Rush Ave Binghamton, occupation Cigarmaker,
born in Binghamton, NY, father David Stone (American), mother Rhoda Ros (American)
married Frederik P Hendricksen age 44, occupation Teamster, born in Doraville, NY,
father Henry P Hendrickson, mother Polly Judd

1900 US Census, Binghamton, Broome, New York
12 Rush Ave
Stone, David, head, born May 1836, age 64, married 36 years, born in New York,
father born in New York, mother unknown birthplace, occupation carpenter
Stone, Rhoda, wife, born May 1841, age 59, married 36 years, 2 of 2 children living,
born in New york as are both parents
Stone, David J, son, born Apr 1876, age 24, born in New York
Stone, Hannah J, daughter, born July 1885, age 14, born in New York

1880 US Census, Binghamton, Broome, New York
Mary Street
Stone, David, age 44, Carpenter, born in New York as are both parents
Stone, Rhoda, age 41, wife, keeping house, born in New York as are both parents
Stone, Delphia, age 17, daughter, born in New York
Stone, Louisa, age 10, daughter, born in New York
Stone, David, age 4, son, born in New York
Stone, Mary Ann, age 72, mother, born in New York

The military card is for David the son of the man in the initial request.  I saw the address for the 1900 Census and for the residence of the bride matched so those link up.  The carpenter occupation and other pieces of information link the two census entries.  Searched all over for the 1910 or 1870 census for these people, not sure why I'm not finding them, I'm usually pretty good at coming up with people after a bit of looking.  I wonder why the 1900 census says she only had two children and they're both living when Delphia and Louisa would be 2+2=4 or so?

I'd like to know what the birthplace for the groom says.  I read it as Doraville, but apparently that's not a place in New York (there is one in Georgia but that's a stretch of the laws of the universe and whatnot).  Also, there's quite a bit of information on Henry P. Frederickson and his wife Polly from Broome County, New York out there on the internet but unless someone lied about their ages, this Frederick would have been a little too late to be one of their children.

I'd like to know what Rhoda's maiden name is here.  I read it Ros but the only clear letter is really the R and after that it's kind of a short name with a vowel and a consonant most likely or possibly two vowels, like Roe or something.

PS - The two pictures actually go next to each other but I cut them up to post them on here.

Revolutionary War Ancestors

Captain Jonathan Drown

Sarah (Wheeler) Drown

This is cool.  Captain Jonothan Drown served in the Revolutionary War.  He's not my side of the family (mostly mine were British then) but Jared's side so this one is for my kids.  Capt. Drown would be ten generations back for them.  It's interesting to me to see that ten generations later we've lost most of what this man fought for and we're back to "revolutionary times".  Capt. Drown and his wife Sarah had ten children that I've been able to find so far.  Sarah's maiden was most likely Wheeler but I haven't found a Sarah Wheeler document to prove it.  Jonothan and Sarah Drown raised their children in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts.

Who knew findagrave would be this exciting?

I keep finding amazing information on http://www.findagrave.com/.  It's a site where people share cemetery information to help in family history research.  Just this weekend I found this amazing headstone with all these different names from Jared's family history carved into the base.  The person who took the pictures and posted the information has shared over 50,000 (!! wow !!) of these records.  It makes me wish I could do something in return.  The cemeteries in my area seem to be pretty well covered and I posted that I was willing to take pictures and search in them if anyone wants me too.  There are requests for information from cemeteries all over the world and if photography and helping people with family history appeal to you then consider joining this free site and possibly adding to the wealth of information available.

Turns Out Mary's Last Name Was Drowne

      There has been a mystery woman in the form of "Mary S." at the top of Jared's family tree for a while now.  She was one of those brick walls you find when doing family history because sometimes you don't have access to the right records and sometimes there just aren't any records.  Well, yesterday I was looking for information on the Bortells line and I found a birth record in Massachusetts indexed by the family search indexing program recently.  Grace Bortells was the daughter of George Bortells and Mary DROWN!!  Yay!!  a maiden name for Mary S.!!
      So I went looking for the Drown family and found Mary's parents, Reuben and Martha and lots of information on the Drown/Drowne line.  Even Revolutionary War soldiers with nice little files of information online.  Then I got kind of into it and stayed up until midnight tracing the lines...  Well, enough about my addiction.
      I had a feeling Grandma June would be a great guardian angel for the genealogy of her family.
      Well, I can hear the little ones waking up so Reuben Olmstead Drowne and his wife Martha Peabody Buckley and their kids Mary Sophronia Drowne, Mary Sophronia Drowne (the first one died as a baby), and Charles Nye Drowne will have to wait at least a little while longer until I can get back to them.  Hungry babies with dirty diapers have to trump the dead.

Mildred June [Bortells] Grover's funeral

      We flew to Greenville last Wednesday for the funeral on Thursday.  It was a very nice service.  June was laid to rest in the Greenville Memorial Gardens.

There was an open house at Michael and Natalie's home after the funeral and we were able to visit with friends and family there.

Horace Grover and Betsey Gallop update

I did a little more work on the Grover line for Horace and Betsey and their descendants but it just isn't connecting to my Grovers.  I know Aunt Linda was really hoping I could find a relationship but if there is a connection it's farther back than what I can find in available records.  I'm going ahead and posting the information on rootsweb.com, (click here to go to the site) this information will be public and it should be available in about 2-3 days (it has to be processed after it's uploaded).
I wanted to find someone who belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this Grover line to share this information with.  Our church teaches the importance of doing research and finding your family history.  We believe our families are important to us after we die.  It would just make my day to help someone out who wants to know more about their family.

Adoniram Grover marries Margaret Bechtel

Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1928:

Adeniram Grover of Blenheim Township, age 25, born in New York, parents George and Anna, marries Margaret Bechtil of Dumfries Township, age 17, born in Dumfries Township, parents Jacob and Mary, marriage date 6 May 1863 in Paris, Brant, Ontario

WOOHOO!! Found the marriage :o)  This record is indexed on both familysearch.org and on ancestry.com but the names are slightly different in each index.  I'd like to see an original to make up my own mind but that will have to wait until I can get up to the library in Salt Lake and take a look at film # 1030055 .  That is unless anyone wants to scan the image and send it to me...?

Pearl D LaPress (1884- ?)

1900 US Census, ancestry.com, 3rd Ward, Buffalo, Erie, New York, ED 21, sheet 6A, line 4
Lapress, Louis L, head, w, m, May 1851, 48, married, born in Canada as are both parents, immig 1870, Engineer
", Jane A, wife, w, f, Oct 1856, 43, maried 29 years, 7 children born 4 living, born in NY as are both parents
", Henry L, son, w, m, Oct 1872, 27, married, NY
", Frank R, son, w, m, Jun 1880, 20, single, NY, fireman
", Pearl, daughter, w, f, Dec 1884, 15, single, NY
", George, brother, w, m, March 1867, 33, single, Canada, immig 1887, RR laborer


1905 New York State Census, familysearch.org, 3rd Ward, Buffalo, Erie, New York, page 41
Grover, William G, Head, w, m, 22, born in US, Glass Worker
", Pearl D, wife, w, f, 20, US
", William R, son, w, m, 2, US
", Louis B, son, w, m, 1, US
sharing a house with:
LaPress, Louis L, head, w, m, 55, born in Canada, in US 40 years, Engineer
", Jane A, wife, w, f, 49, US
Newton, Chloe, lodger, w, f, 76, US

1920 US Census, 4 Ward, Buffalo, Erie, New York, ED 36, sheet 19A, taken 19 Jan 1920
Grover, William G., Head, age 36, Widower, born in New York, Stationery Engineer
", William, Son, age 17, born in New York
", Louis B., Son, age 15, born in New York

Still haven't found the 1910 census for them.  Different sites have bits of information posted on Pearl but they LACK DOCUMENTATION!!  which drives me nuts because without proof it's just dates and places they could have come up with anywhere.  One site has a daughter for Pearl that is only 9 years younger than Pearl.  Think about it... yeah, not likely.  Since Pearl is only related to my husband's Grovers by being the first wife and the mother of the half-siblings I am not interested in tracing her lines back very far.  I would like to see her real relatives get their story straight though.

I wonder if they called him 'Big Al'

     Al...something Grover, Horace and Betsey's son, born in August of 1848 and married 14 Mar 1870 to Mary Ann Jefts in Halifax, Windham, Vermont.
     They had SIXTEEN children (egad!!) if the 1900 census information is correct, and then Mary Ann either left or died (who wouldn't?) and he marries Maud S Johnson about 1905 and they have more children, at least two, before Mr. Grover is in his late sixties and I don't find anything else about him.
      I would think, with that many children, and all the census, birth, marriage, and death records this man appears on, we could find some kind of agreement on what his name was.

Nope.

Here are some of the ways it was spelled:
Almison Grover
Almann Grover
Almeron Grover
Almium Grover
Almusson Grover
Almarion Grover
Almerion Grover
Almeran Grover
Almirin Grover
Almeurein Grover
Almerian Grover
Alma Grover
Almiran Grover
Oh, yeah, and sometimes he used his middle initial 'M'. I dont' know what it stands for, but if he couldn't go by his middle name it makes me wonder what could be harder to spell/pronounce than his first name.

         Just goes to show how creative you need to get in finding information on people. Spelling wasn't even that important back that far, not many people could read and write so they didn't worry about it as much. Creative spelling is back in fashion these days, texting, people who want their kid to have a 'different' spelling for their name, and of course people like my husband who just can't spell worth anything, have brought back the 'good ol' days'.

Horace Grover born about 1819 in Vermont

My mother-in-law's sister asked me to help find out if we were related to some Grovers she met a while back.  I'm trying to find the connection between the two Grover lines.  So far I'm back to Horace Grover and his lovely wife Betsey Gallop.  No connection yet but I'm having fun so I'll keep going.  The thing is, if I can't find a connection I end up with all this research I'm not sure what to do with.  I want to find someone in that family who is interested and give it all to them.  That will be the next research problem after I work on this.

RIP Ella Kathryn Grover 1925-2011

I just found out this week that Great Aunt Ella passed away back in September.  I never met her, and only got a couple of cards from her years ago but it makes me sad to see the last of the Grover siblings pass away.  My husband's grandfather was Miles Allen Grover.  Miles had two younger full-siblings, Kaleel and Ella, and some half-siblings from his father's previous marriage that I'm still trying to sort out.  Ella was my last hope of someone who actually knew some of the people I can't seem to find information on, like Miles's first wife, Jeanette?  Joanne?  something?... My mother-in-law is the daughter of Miles and his third wife.  Anyway, the family doesn't appear to have been real close in life and Miles didn't talk about his family very much that anyone remembers.  I've heard from the family that Ella wasn't well and wouldn't be able to help with information.  I wrote to her a few times but didn't hear back.  I wish we could have connected.  I know she's at peace now.  Maybe she can help me out a little from the other side.

Here's some of what I have found about the family (as always, I welcome corrections and additions!):

William George Grover - born 30 Mar 1883 in Eden, Erie, New York, died 13 Aug 1946 in Buffalo, Erie, New York
first married- about 1901 to
 a mystery woman who I would love to find out more about.  If you find them on the 1910 census, please, let me know!  (PS- some people believe her name was Pearl LaPress but I've got some evidence this is a mistake)

children:
William Roy Grover - born 10 Jul 1902, anyone know when he died?  the last I hear of him was the 1920 census...
Louis Byron Grover - born 27 Apr 1904 in Buffalo, died 11 Mar 1938

second marriage - 26 Jan 1920 in Buffalo to
Vera Helena Hevner - born 25 Jan 1902 (a few months older than his son?!) in Hyner, Clinton, Pennsylvania and died 1 Apr 1969 in Los Angeles

children:
Miles Allen Grover - born 9 Feb 1921 in Buffalo, died 13 Nov 1994 in Greenville, South Carolina
Kaleel George Grover - born 21 Sep 1922 in Buffalo, died 25 Sep 1981 in Odessa, Texas
Ella Kathryn Grover - born 20 Nov 1925 in Buffalo, died 26 Sep 2011 in California

Thursday Thoughts - Family

A second cousin of my husband found me on the internet and we have been exchanging family history and family currently information.  I had to try to explain some of the issues with my husband's family deciding not to speak to each other for a couple of decades and then carrying out that plan.  I recently met one of Jared's brothers on facebook (first time I had ever made contact of any kind with him and I've been married to Jared for more than a decade).  Jared has one sister I still have yet to meet or talk to as she has nothing to do with the family.  So anyway, this cousin asked if I knew the names of Jared's first cousins (his father's only brother's children).  Nope, no clue.  Jared doesn't know either.  This is NUTS!  I can name like a hundred of my cousins (yes, I actually have that many, it's a big family) and even the ones I have never really gotten to know I still have names and addresses for.  Jared has ONE uncle and spoke to him the first time a few years ago when I found the uncle on the internet.  At least the internet cousin was understanding, he said his father was the same way with his uncle so maybe it's an inherited trait in their family.  Whatever.