sources for parents names

[John D Wiebel]

Hello,

I'm looking for ideas on how to find my subject's parents names. I have tried all the traditional methods with no results. He was born in 1857 so birth certificate is out, census for 1860 and 1870 has been a bust, and I can't find him in anyone else's tree. So my question is are they any other sources out there that might reveal those names. His death certificate from 1939 didn't help either. I know as a good genealogist we're not supposed to give up, but the towel is in the hand and about to go over the top rope. I keep thinking that with the vastness of the internet there will be a record, a source, somewhere. The man was born so he had to have parents and I can't believe that their names have completely disappeared forever. There must be something out there, some place I haven't looked. John

[Sylvia C]

which country are you searching in????

[Janet in Yorkshire]

1860 and 1870 census - was this for someone living in the USA?
What other info do you have about your subject - do you know of any siblings so you can any investigate parallel lines? Did he marry? Have you looked for possible baptisms?

Jay

[Elizabeth Herts]

John, please give us a name and other information to work with.
Where was he born?

[Janet H.]

As John is a new member and his first post, I have sent a pm to get him to come back to thread.

[John D Wiebel]

His name was James Robert Cross, born in Albany, NY in Nov 1857. If he had siblings, I'm not aware of them. He married Elizabeth Ewing in Washington in 1889. Again I've tried the 1860 and 1870 census with no luck. I do not know when he went west. He died in San Diego in 1939. I was thinking of writing to Social Security and inquiring if he applied for it. I mean although he died a few years after its inception, maybe he did apply.

[Sylvia C]

Where did you get his birth date and place of birth from?

[Sylvia C]

Is this a possibility??


NO NO ....... I got my James and my Johns mixed up

IGNORE

from FindMyPast

1870 Census

John Cross Male 48 1822 Canada
Hannorah Cross Female 45 1825 Ireland
Mary Cross Female 14 1856 New York
John Cross Male 13 1857 New York At School
Nella Cross Female 11 1859 New York
Hannorah Cross Female 9 1861 New York
William Cross Male 6 1864 New York
Allace Cross Female 4 1866 New York
Francis Cross Male 1 1869 New York

Address:- Cohoes Ward 3, Albany, New York

[Sylvia C]

from trees on ancestry ......

James Robert Cross married Elizabeth Matilda Ewing, 25 December 1889, Spokane Falls, Spokane, Washington State


I note that none of the trees have found James' parents or any census earlier than 1890.


Have you got his marriage certificate? That should show at least his father's name.


Of course, the other possibility is that he invented his early life

[PhotoFamily]

Did you buy his Death Cert? US death certs of that era usually have parents' names - if they were known to the informant. Have you looked for an obit?

I think these are your family:
1900: Parents' POBs = UNK, his POB = NY

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1900usfedcen&h=72885790&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Cxi1&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&rhSource=5187

1910: Parents' POBs = England/VT; his POB = OH

https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7884/4449757_00329?pid=23435680&backurl=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26db%3D1910USCenIndex%26h%3D23435680%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DCxi1%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26rhSource%3D5187&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Cxi1&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

1920: parents' POB = NY & Canada; his POB = NY

https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6061/4390427_00893?pid=93772250&backurl=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26db%3D1920usfedcen%26h%3D93772250%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DCxi1%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26rhSource%3D5187&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Cxi1&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

1930: Parents' POB: NY & NY; his POB = NY

https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6224/4531849_00807?pid=92084650&backurl=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26db%3D1930usfedcen%26h%3D92084650%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DCxi1%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26rhSource%3D5187&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Cxi1&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

There is also the birth of a child in WA

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=FS1WashingtonKingCoDelayedBirths&indiv=try&h=244762

I doubt he had a SSN. Social security started in 1932, and it was not required for all employers. And he's not showing up with an SSDI entry. If you have his DC, it should list his SSN, if he had one.

[Janet in Yorkshire]

For those of us who don't have Ancestry world wide, could someone please post the locations for the census links in #10?
So, born in Albany (presuming the one in NY state?) north east coast USA, married and had child in Washington state (north Pacific coast) died in California (south west.) Quite a lot of movement within the USA.
What was his occupation - any clues there, which could suggest reason for James or his parents relocating? Wasn't this period a follow on of USA/Canada boundary disputes, the opening up of the Oregon trail when there was a lot of migration to the NW states for trapping, lumber, mining? (My USA history is not too good, so apologies if I’ve got this wrong.) I have emigrants to Canada who then crossed the border into the eastern and central states of the US around this time.

Jay

[Sylvia C]

Jay ..............

I think the time is a little bit later than the great opening up of the west. There were a lot of gold finds in the 1860s to 1900s, but his pattern doesn't seem to follow the one of moving from gold find to gold find.

I could see the censuses on Ancestry, but don't have world-wide, so I couldn't open them to find out his profession. That could be very helpful!


There were several public family trees on ancestry, but none had found either the parents or any censuses before his marriage.

[John D Wiebel]

His death cert has unknown for the names.

[PhotoFamily]

JDW - did you look for an obit? I had good luck retrieving several for cousins who lived in Riverside.

Also, sometimes an obit may be printed in the town that they lived most of their life in.

Have you found him in the 1880? or earlier?

Why do you think he lived in Albany?

[PhotoFamily]

He was a carpenter.

1900: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMPZ-DLV

1920: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHFF-N7L

1930: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC6L-DXY

[PhotoFamily]

and finally, 1910

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLYY-BG5

couple of odd things - he had been in Washington state, moved to Portland (about 60 mi), then moved back to Washington state? And this indicates his birthplace is Ohio. Whassup with that?

[Sylvia C]

and finally, 1910

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLYY-BG5

couple of odd things - he had been in Washington state, moved to Portland (about 60 mi), then moved back to Washington state? And this indicates his birthplace is Ohio. Whassup with that?

possibly moving to get work?

[PhotoFamily]

In 1900, he was living in Grays Harbor, Washington, United States. This book could be pertinent (maybe, maybe)
Polson Museum Chehalis County nationality survey
but I can't find an online edition.

Familysearch has city directories for places that they lived, including Grays Harbor for the pertinent time period. Might be useful if they had other family members living with them (maybe a brother or father?), as well as define the time period that they lived there.

JDW - have you found online directories for Grays Harbor, or been able to review copies in a library?