Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Help with American research

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Help with American research

    Charles Harnden and Emily Williams were married 1/6/1890 by the 12/6/1890 they had arrived in America, to start a new life.
    But they return to the UK and are on the 1901 census.

    I know very little about the 10 years they were in America and would love to try and fill in the gaps.

    I have recently found them on the ships passengers list as travelling to New York and from there they must have travelled to
    Michigan. Although recorded as HARDEN I have found a Birth for daughter Emily. Emily B Harden b.24.sept.1891 Detroit, Wayne,
    Michigan.

    I have been unable to find a record for daughter Lillian who was also born in America ( @1894 )

    By the 1901 census the family are back in London and go on to have 2 more children ( including my Nan )

    My mum has a wooden box given as a good luck present to her grandparents on thier new life in America but she has
    always wondered about why they went, what they did while they were there and why they didn't stay !

    How can I fill the gaps for when they were in America. I believe any possible clues from a census at the time wont be possible
    as it was detroyed in a fire - so where do i start ? Is there anywhere to start.

    I had thought about getting a copy of the BC for Emily - but don't know what info you get on American certs. Would it gives
    me any clues ?

    I have also been unable to find any record of the family returning to England.

    I seem to have no answers to a lot of question and would appreiciate any help ideas

    Esta
    Esta

  • #2
    Emily's birth is on familysearch.org.

    Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.


    haven't looked for Lilian. You may be able to find her as well.
    Karen

    Comment


    • #3
      You can google for city directories for detroit - there are probably some free online. Don't know if ancestry has any detroit directories.

      Comment


      • #4
        Might be useful: http://stevemorse.org/

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Esta in Bristol View Post
          I have been unable to find a record for daughter Lillian who was also born in America ( @1894 )Esta
          Originally posted by Esta in Bristol View Post
          I had thought about getting a copy of the BC for Emily - but don't know what info you get on American certs. Would it gives
          me any clues ?Esta
          The familysearch record already found for Emily seems to be your girl. Be sure to look at the second page. I doubt there is any other civil registration to be found. Didn't find a record for Lillian: my Chicago ancestors seemed to register a first birth, but usually not subsequent. Perhaps a function of who attended the birth? Or the joy of telling the world of the firstborn? Dunno.

          The only other possiblity I can think of would be church records. If they were Church of England, you could try contacting the Episcopal Church in Detroit. The archivist would probably look up the name for you (but not necessarily!)

          Originally posted by Esta in Bristol View Post
          By the 1901 census the family are back in London and go on to have 2 more children ( including my Nan )Esta
          I didn't see them in the 1900 US census on Ancestry or familysearch, so apparently they left before then.

          Originally posted by Esta in Bristol View Post
          How can I fill the gaps for when they were in America. I believe any possible clues from a census at the time wont be possible
          as it was detroyed in a fire - so where do i start ? Is there anywhere to start.Esta
          City directories. Ancestry has some for Detroit, and I saw some online for free.

          Originally posted by Esta in Bristol View Post
          I have also been unable to find any record of the family returning to England.Esta
          ditto - I looked on ancestry and familysearch, also checked CastleGarden for their arrival (not there). Didn't check Ellis Island for there arrival, tho familysearch should have picked it up if they were listed there.

          On their arrival, they seem to be listed separately (Charles Harnden and next line, Emily Williams), not husband & wife; he a machinist, she a cook. Wonder if they were working on board, and couldn't travel/work as a married couple?

          Another remote possibility would be Detroit newspapersbut it's unlikely they would include birth announcements.

          It's curious that there is a Lillian Harnden in Detroit beginning in 1910 and beyond, but she and her husband have parents born in the US or Germany. Not yours.

          I doubt there are any surviving internal travel records.

          Good luck!

          Comment


          • #6
            ahh, and have you checked FMP for incoming UK passengers?

            Comment


            • #7
              Just realized that there is a Michigan state census for 1894, indexed on familysearch. I didn't find them there. You can look at familysearch's list of collections, but if she existed in those censuses then she should have appeared when searching the entire collection.
              Last edited by PhotoFamily; 15-04-12, 05:47.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by PhotoFamily View Post
                ahh, and have you checked FMP for incoming UK passengers?
                FMP has outgoing passengers 1890 -1960 and Ancestry have the incoming 1878 -1960.

                Margaret

                Comment


                • #9
                  The thing that tends to disappoint UK researchers is that foreign countries are often much more federal, and have correspondingly non-centralised BMD systems. This is certainly true of the USA, where the BMD systems for each state are very separate.

                  Christine
                  Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Lillian's school admission has her date of birth as Nov 1893.
                    Karen

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      There's no indication where in the US she was born, but some record does indicate the US?

                      As mentioned before, there's a strong possibility Lillian's birth was not registered. I have relatives born in the early 1900s who were not registered (tho not in Michigan: as Christine said, it's state-by-state, or even county-by-county if it was early enough).

                      That they were not found in the 1894 state census is interesting: could they have been back in England by then?

                      I still think it's worth a try contacting the Detroit Episcopal Diocese. A cousin contacted the Denver Diocese and had an answer in 24 hrs. Leave no stone unturned!

                      Sarah

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X