FOR the RECORDS Announcement for Harry J
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VOL. 10, NO. 11 — NOVEMBER 2017 Fig. 1 | Marriage FOR THE RECORDS Announcement for Harry J. Rooting through regional Ambler and Nellie Mae periodicals Crumrine from The Daily Gazette, 11 July What is a regional periodical? The term refers to publi- 1911. cations issued at specific frequencies (daily, weekly, monthly) and includes newspapers, as well as the litera- ture of local and regional historical and genealogical societies. Employing some creative strategies, regional periodicals can be used to: Expand social history Identify records to search for, such as land or probate records Resolve genealogical relationships Locate missing data, such as date of death, surname, religious denomination, etc. Find records not published in other sources The genealogist’s goal is to always conduct reasonably exhaustive research. A part of that process should in- clude a review of regional periodicals. Expanding social history Periodicals by nature lend themselves to learning more standing the experiences of the George H. AMBLER Fig. 2 | about social history. Local histories, biographies, and family, for example*. George H. was born 13 March Marriage record for Harry J. local news reports can all offer social information to the 1913 to Nellie Mae CRUMRINE and Harry Joshua AMBLER and creative genealogist. Newspapers are particularly great AMBLER. The AMBLERs were married 11 June Susan Ella EVANS, for researching social history. Do not limit your think- 1911 in Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas (Fig 1). The Ottawa, Kan., ing about newspapers to a basic genealogical purpose, 1940 federal census documents this as the first mar- 7 Nov. 1898. such as obituaries. One of the great things about news- riage for each. However, The 1915 and 1925 Kansas papers is that they were published frequently. Stories state and 1920 federal censuses list a number of could be carried out over weeks, facilitating an in-depth Crumrine children living with the family. Who are exploration of an ancestor’s experience. these children? Furthermore, CONTINUED ON PAGE 3. Newspaper research was particularly useful in under- *A partial family tree for George H. Ambler appears on p. 3. NEWS AND TIPS | HISTORY AND GENEALOGY AT ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY [ OPEN Nov. 11–12 ] NOVEMBER 2017 | PAGE 3 William McGinley Partial ancestral chart of b. 28 Feb 1806, Gettysburg, Penn. George Henry Ambler d. 3 June 1887, Atlanta, Kan. Henry S. Crumrine Clementine S. McGinley m. 1865 b. 17 Oct. 1874, Somerset, Ohio b. 22 April 1843, Wayne, Ohio d. 21 March 1910, Eudora, Kan. d. 11 Dec. 1914, Osawatomie, Kan. m. 11 July Harry Joshua Ambler Nellie Mae Crumrine 1911 b. 8 Jan. 1874, Wegee, Ohio b. 12 Jan. 1871, Eudora, Kan. d. 7 Dec. 1944, Tonganoxie, Kan. d. 29 Oct. 1952, Eudora, Kan. George Henry Ambler b. 13 March 1913, Eudora, Kan. d. 9 Sept. 1977, Eudora, Kan. the 1905 state and 1900 federal censuses identify Do not stop with the legal notice; ask additional questions. Henry’s spouse as S.E. or Ella. A Kansas marriage What led to their divorce? Is there information regarding record exists for Susan Ella EVANS to Harry J. AM- the kids? In this case, six articles appeared in the Lawrence BLER, 7 Nov. 1898 (Fig 2). Who is Ella? [Kansas] Daily Journal from 28 July to 9 Aug. 1908 docu- menting the AMBLER families’ battle with small pox. In These records suggest several possible queries and 1908, all nine family members contracted small pox and raise questions such as “was Harry married twice”, were confined to their small north Lawrence home (Fig 4- “did his first wife die”, or “did they get divorced?” In 5). Bereft of employment income, the family relied on do- each of these cases, a newspaper could hold some nations just to eat. answers. Divorce announcements appeared in several local newspapers in Sept. 1910 for Susan E. and A newspaper article from 17 Aug. 1910 revealed the chil- Harry J. AMBLER (Fig 3). Divorces would appear in dren’s fate: all seven were removed from the home and three separate publications as legal notices. As a part dispersed among orphan’s homes [Fig 6]. Following the of a reasonably exhaustive search, it is always impor- marriage of Harry J. to Nellie Mae, an article appeared in tant to look for all legal notices. You never know the Lawrence Journal World announcing that the children when an extra detail can be extracted. were returned to the care of their father and new step- mother [Fig 7]. Fig. 3 | Divorce wanted Identifying records notice, Jeffersonian In the 1900 federal and 1905 state censuses, a daughter, Gazette, 14 Minnie Belle EVANS, is recorded with the AMBLER fam- Sept. 1910 ily. We know from the marriage register that Susan Ella EVANS was her mother. A legal notice published on 17 May 1897 identifies Susie Ella Evans and William T. Evans NEWS AND TIPS | HISTORY AND GENEALOGY AT ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY NOVEMBER 2017 | PAGE 4 Fig. 4 (left) | article published in the Lawrence Daily World, 8 June 1908. Fig 5 (right) | Article published in the Lawrence Daily World, 22 Aug. 1908. filing for divorce. The legal notice identifies Minnie Belle EVANS as their biological daughter (Fig 8). Research into Kansas marriage records revealed the marriage of a Susie Ella MCCARTIE, age 16, to Wil- liam T. EVANS in Haddam, Kansas in 1895. Resolving relationships In smaller communities, social engagements were commonly recorded in newspapers into at least the 1960s. In 1912, Alonzo and Harry J. AMBLER were visited by Ruth H. MUSSING, Alonzo’s sister (Fig 9). Without a civil marriage record or church marriage register, we might never have made the surname con- nection. Accessing newspapers Local newspapers can be accessed numerous ways. Local libraries often have microfilm copies of local newspapers. They may also offer access to newspaper databases. St. Louis County Library offers a variety of pers, and many of the items for this article were found databases including Newspaper Archive, 19th Century using the Newspaper Archive database. Although da- Newspapers, and ProQuest Historical St. Louis Post- tabases can often be accessed with personal paid sub- Dispatch and New York Times databases. These data- scriptions, you can often use them for free at your bases are a great way of accessing St. Louis newspa- local library. pers, but also those published all over the United States. Some databases include small town newspa- Although not offered by St. Louis County Library, the NEWS AND TIPS | HISTORY AND GENEALOGY AT ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY NOVEMBER 2017 | PAGE 5 Fig. 6 (left) | article published in the Lawrence Daily World, 17 Aug. 1908. Fig 7 (right) | Article published n the Lawrence Journal World, 15 June 1911. Finding records not published in other sources Historical and genealogical society journals can serve similar research purposes as local newspapers. Local histories can highlight social aspects of migration, identify local ministers or congregations, identify oc- cupations, or even provide lists of early settlers. Such publications also offer valuable record transcriptions that might never make it into a book or onto the Inter- net. Such records can be used to resolve any number of genealogical queries. For example, the burial location of Clementine subscription website Newspapers.com can also be a CRUMRINE, mother of Nellie Mae AMBLER, is useful tool. You do not have to have a subscription to found alongside her husband at the Friends Cemetery search the database, only to read the articles. Use in Hesper, Douglas County, Kan. Only her first name Newspapers.com as a searchable index, write down and date of birth were recorded. To research the newspaper citation returned from a search, and Clementine further required finding her maiden name. then obtain a copy of the article from a library or other repository that has the newspaper on microfilm. Clementine married Henry S. CRUMRINE sometime between 1860 and 1865. Henry appears in a Kansas As government institutions digitize their newspaper territorial voter list in 1857. He is unmarried on the holdings, free, state-specific digital newspaper data- 1860 census and married in 1870 to Clementine. Re- bases are becoming more common. These sources can search into the 1860 census revealed no Clementine in be fantastic for locating many small-town newspapers any state between Indiana and Kansas. that may have only been collected in microfilm on a local or regional level. One good example is Hoosier In 1880, Clementine appears on the Federal census in State Chronicles <https://newspapers.library.in.gov>. both Hesper and Osawatomie, Kansas. She is also Many state repositories are cooperating with the Li- duplicated on the Defective, Dependant, and Delin- brary of Congress to add titles to the digitized news- quent non-population schedule, committed to the state paper collection on the Chronicling America website hospital in Osawatomie, Miami County, Kansas for <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/>. melancholia (Fig. 10). NEWS AND TIPS | HISTORY AND GENEALOGY AT ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY NOVEMBER 2017 | PAGE 6 Fig. 8 (left) | Notice pub- lished in the Lawrence Daily Journal, 17 May 1897. Fig 9 ( top right) | Item published in the Lawrence Daily Journal World, 9 Aug. 1912. Fig 10 ( top right) | Item published in the Lawrence Jour- nal World, 24 April 1875. A solution to the Clementine query was found in an ple is The Casselman Chronicle Fifty-Year Index 1862 voter registration list published in The Pioneer, a (R 974.879 C344) a publication of a genealogical so- quarterly issued by the Douglas County Genealogical ciety in the Casselman Valley of Pennsylvania and Society in Lawrence, Kan., (Fig 11). In order to iden- Maryland. tify Clementine’s maiden name, each voter (male head of household) was researched in the 1860 and If a print index does not exist, then consult the Peri- 1850 federal census to find a daughter named odical Source Index (PERSI).