Family History Tips - Part 7

Examining Siblings in Census Records and Other Documents 
by Brenna Corbit, Technical Services Librarian
 

When I first started working on my family history about 20 years ago, I often concentrated on the direct ancestral line. This is understandable considering one of the desires of family history is to go back as far as we can. I usually ignored other valuable clues in records, those of siblings, household members and other people associated with our ancestors. In doing so, I made some glaring errors in my research, as well as prevented myself from finding other records. 

Unless you have an ancestor uniquely named something like Buckner Killebrew, you may have a tough time tracing your roots. I once was researching my 3x great grandmother Catharine Smith (b.1822—d.1905) who happened to have married a Henry Miller, two of the most common names in Berks County. What a nightmare! I had several sources of information about her after the fact of her marriage, but I wanted to find her parents. 

U.S. Census Records would be of little help since Catharine and Henry’s first child was born in 1845—the 1790 to 1840 decennial censuses list only the heads of households, and 1850 to 1870 only list household members, but not relationships. I also had no definite year of birth for Catherine Smith, except about 1822 (dates vary from record to record). She died on 11 November 1905—one year before the start of the Pennsylvania Death Certificates, which may have given me the needed information. 

The big clue was her obituary. She was survived by two brothers, Jacob and Nathan. By cross-examining baptisms, obituaries, and tombstones, I was able to discover that Catharine, Jacob and Nathan were the children of Johann Schmidt and Dorothea Broskioski. Obituaries of the late 1800s and early 1900s usually do not give the names of parents, but they often list siblings, which are valuable clues. In the process, I also discovered nine other siblings. 

Brothers and sisters are also quite valuable, especially when comparing several decades of census records. The mother and father of your ancestor may match, but the siblings may not. Sometimes even the children and ages almost match two different households. Which one is your family? Of course, family households change through decades due to other births, deaths and siblings moving out on their own. Look for consistencies—occupations, residence, existing household members, places of birth, etc. But even these clues can be confusing. 

While researching my Lutz family in Berks County, I had two John Lutzs, occupations hatter, same age, both married to a Catharine same age. The children were also pretty much the same matches. They both lived in Reading, too. Only through following the siblings of each was I able to come to conclusions. 

Keep cross-examining records. Sometimes it is easier to lay all the information out on a table. Below is an example of me trying to piece together a confusing set of census records involving adoptions, varying geographic locations, step-children, etc. This one was really tough, but in doing so, I solved the puzzle.

1880	1900	1900	1910	1910	1920	1920	1930	1940	1940
Fort Custer, Custer, Montana 16 June	Dayton, Sheridan, Wyoming 24/25 June		Sturgis Ward 1, Meade, South Dakota 18 April	Camp Gregg, Pangasinan, Philippines, Military and Naval Forces 7 June	Cristobal, Civilians In Canal Zone, Panama Canal Zone ? January	San Antonio Ward 4, Bexar, Texas 6 January	San Antonio, Bexar, Texas 2 April	San Antonio, Bexar, Texas 2/3 April	Pedro Miguel, Balboa, Panama Canal 6/7 April
No Christopher Olsen other sources show Christopher as the husband	Fred Foster 1859 Scotland (married) vet. surgeon Scot. (father) Scot. (mother)	W.S. Littleton 1867 Pennsylvania (married) Illinois(father) Penn.(mother)		Frederick Foster 1861 Scotland (widowed) veterinarian USA Eng. (father) Scot. (mother)	Fred Foster 1860 Scotland (married) veterinary (army) Eng. (father) Scot. (mother)	S. Fred F. Foster 1849 Pennsylvania (married) no occupation listed Den. (father) Penn. (mother)	Frederick Foster 1861 Scotland (married) soldier retired none Eng. (father) Scot. (mother)	F. Foster (ret. col) 1861 Scotland	Theodore R. Foster 1905 Kansas
Elizabeth Olsen 1845 Pennsylvania (married)	Grace Foster 1869  Pennsylvania Sweden (father) Penn. (mother)	No Emma States they were married 8 years-1892	Emma F. Littleton 1868 Pennsylvania (widow) Den. (father) Penn. (mother)		Emma Foster 1868 Pennsylvania Scot. (father) Penn. (mother)		Hanna E. 1875 Maine Canada (father) Eng. (mother)	Hannah   1876 Maine	Flora M. 1905 Texas
Emma 1867 Pennsylvania		William Littleton 1897 Washington	William S. Littleton 1896 Washington						Phyllis H. 1933 Canal Zone
Gracey 1869 Pennsylvania	Albert Foster 1889 Montana								Fred A. 1940 Canal Zone
Charley 1871 Texas	May Foster 1893 Montana		May M. Foster 1894 (niece) Montana
	Lila Foster 1897 Montana		Laila E. Foster 1896 (niece) Montana		Lillian (Ricce) (widow) 1897 Montana	Lila E. (Reis) (widow) 1897 Montana
	Alpha Foster 1899 Wyoming		Alpha E. Foster 1898 (niece) Wyoming		Alba E. Foster 1899 Wyoming	Alpha E. Foster 1900 Wyoming
		Arthur 1898 California	Arthur P. Littleton 1899 California		Arthur Foster 1900 Kansas	Arthur Foster 1899 California
			Theadore R. Littleton 1903 Kansas		Theodore R. Foster 1904 Kansas (in 1930 it says he was born on a U.S. Army Port)	Theodore Foster 1904 Kansas
						Louise J. Foster 1919 Texas
	Marriage Frederick Foster 1860 Grace nee Olsen Kaiser 1869 4 December 1892 Fort Custer, Custer, Montana							Death Frederick Foster 7 June 1860 Scotland (married) 25 Nov. 1950 San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, USA	Death Theodore R. Foster 16 March 1946 Police Files Panama Canal Zone, Gorgas Hospital Mortuary Records, 1906-1991