Find Your Dead

Innis Family Tree

Provided by family member ‘Kate’ and used with her permission. The photo is undated. It’s always so nice to have a face to go with a name.

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Innis Family Tree

Since I have done some of the basic research on Ancestry to establish the family line, I thought I would take a quick look at the archives in Tennessee and Kentucky to see what other things they might offer.

I was very disappointed to go to the Tennessee State Library and Archives and see this great list of databases online – only to find that most are only available to Tennessee residents. I emailed to ask if they had a way for non-residents to access the archives for a fee. I received a quick response that the contracts with their online commercial vendors specified only the current residents could access the databases. Like everyone else they had no funding to make it “available nation-wide.” I did send back a suggestion that they consider doing a “Friends of the Archive” fee based system for non-residents. I’m not against paying a non-residence research fee for a 30-day subscription. I am against not having access to records just because I live in another state. If there is anyone in Tennessee willing to help let me know.

Kentucky sadly has little to offer of basic use in their online catalog. They offer some of their vital statistic records for purchase on their site, but most of them are available on Ancestry. They do offer the microfilm of the Original Death Certificates from 1911-1958 for a rather large amount of money.

So much for the state archives. Guess I’m going back to Ancestry for some deeper research in their card catalogs and then some Google, GenWeb, County, and newspaper work.

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Scholefield Family Tree

As I continue to check out possible siblings of the direct Moore ancestral lines, I have another apparent match.

According to the law suit, Jacob Moore married Hannah. And if he was born in 1791…

Jacob H. Moore, age 58, Seaman, NY¹
Hannah Moore, age 50, NY
Richd R. Moore, age 22, Blacksmith, NY
Geo A. Moore, age 17, Clerk, NY
Chas B. Moore, age 16, NY
Sarah M. Moore, age 15, NY
Thos W. Henry, age 25, Carpenter, Connecticut
Ann P. Henry, age 20, NY
Willm L. Henry, age 1, NY
Jacob Moore Senr., age 91, NJ
Thomas Rawson, age 24, Stone Cutter, England
Willm Briggs, age 20, Plane Maker, Rhode Island
Margt Rodin, age 27, Ireland

Notice the Senior? The IGI record names the father of these possible siblings as Jacob! If we assume in this case this means father instead of just an elder of the same name, this is looking better and better.

1. 1850 U.S. census, Kings County, New York population schedule, Williamsburg, p. 522, dwelling 1502, family 2607, Jacob H. Moore household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 May 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 432.

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Innis Family Tree

Moving back a generation I will now look at the family of John and Nancy Innis. From my 17 Feb 2010 post I have established the family as:

John H. Innis, born c.1800-1805, Virginia,
Nancy [Unknown] born c.1800-1805, Virginia – first wife,
Nancy [Unknown] born c. 1822, Kentucky – second wife,
John, c.1824, Tennessee,
James E., c.1826, Tennessee,
Wiley M., c.1833, Tennessee,
Mary B., c. 1835, Tennessee,
Nancy Ann, c. 1841, Tennessee,
Thomas H., Jan 1843, Kentucky,
Emily M., c.1845, Tennessee

And from 20 Feb 2010 the timeline for John’s family appears to be:

1 June 1840 – Roane Co., Tennessee, census,
9 July 1860 – Morgan Co., Tennessee census (Morgan Co. abuts Roane County),
1864 – Clinton Co., Kentucky Louisa C. (daughter of Thomas H.) is born,
25 Jul 1870 – Clinton Co., Kentucky, census
11 Jun 1880 – Clinton Co., Kentucky, census

While the primary long-term goal is still to take the line back, my short-term goal is to determine what records are available and fill in the family information. So I went to FamilySearch hoping for the same luck I had in Texas, but sadly there is nothing in the pilot search for Kentucky or Tennessee. There does appear to be quite a bit on Ancestry in their card catalog so I got a “fair start” and then I’ll go hunting elsewhere. I’m going to approach this as a family group and begin in Kentucky with the latest records and work back. I’m going to look at the children and see if they can help me get anywhere on John. The Nancy’s I’m just going to look at together and see if I can get some clarification – I’ll probably wind up looking in the family trees for some hints.

Since I have already looked at the census records for John (born 1800-1805) I’m going to do this work through the card catalog of Ancestry looking at some of the other databases available. One of things I want to point out is that I will be looking at Thomas H.’s siblings and I will use their children to see if I can establish more information for them, but I’m not going to be spending time coming down their individual lines. I’m only interested in trying to use them to establish facts about their parents, which may lead me to records to clarify John’s life and discover his records.

Before I began my search for the Innis family I went back and had another look at the 1850 census record. I wanted to look for John Innis, both the father and son, and I was bothered by the indexing of the son as John R.K. Ennis. I looked at the image to see if it could be any other middle initial(s) and I was not convinced on the R.K.. I would have probably indexed it that way myself, but the reality is that it could be anything. The double initial just doesn’t fit the family somehow. While they have some unusual names they are generally a single middle name. So I am open to anything from an A to H (which seems popular in the family) and all the way to Z. Somehow what comes to my mind is a W, but it looks nothing like anything else on the page.

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Innis Family Tree

Before I move back a generation and over to Tennessee and Kentucky, let me tell you some of the places that I looked for this last group of Innis siblings. I don’t always get a chance to tell you in the posts, but there are a lot of side trips made while researching. Some good – some not so good, but it’s always an interesting journey.

I spent a lot of time playing in the TXGenWeb Project. As I have said before some states have a long way to go and some states are really doing some great things. The Grayson County TXGenWeb site was the The TXGenWeb Project County of the Year for 2005 and it’s easy to see why. It is easy to negotiate and has tons of easily searchable information. While I didn’t find my families, they sure made searching for them easy and fun. I got sidetracked (not hard to do) looking at the old photos.

I love the home page of the Fannin GenWeb Page! The site is simple to negotiate and I spent most of my time in the Cemeteries section. I encountered a couple of links that didn’t work and emailed the webmaster. What a gem Suzie Henderson is! Less than an hour later I had a response with information concerning the situation and her projection for not only fixing it, but making it better. Can we replicate her and put her in a few neighboring counties where they need some real help. Keep up the good work Suzie!

I also did very well on the sites by Gloria B. Mayfield, Cemeteries of TX Project Manager. While I found all the clouds, pearly gates and blinking stars make the openings hard to read and extremely distracting, it’s really about the information and the information was good. The material is broken down by county and then by cemetery and appears to be updated frequently.

Apparently, GenealogyBank and NewspaperArchives haven’t gotten into the area yet, because I was stumped for information in those searches. That was painful because I have come to rely on them for the background information on a family. On the upside of that – since they didn’t have the information I went to the Bonham Library and what a nice group of people that is to deal with. They are friendly and interested and willing to help. I have asked for obituaries on Thomas H. Innis and Thomas Ballard Innis. I’ll keep you posted.
There are several sites I haven’t really mentioned because they were quick visits with no results. Yes I know you should note your negative results also, but I’m just tired of telling you how poor Colorado is for online sources.

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Innis Family Tree

Have you visited the Texas State Library and Archives yet? They are getting it right and I’m hopeful they will keep working at it and loading more things into their digital archives. Take a look at what’s available under genealogy.

There is an Online Public Access Catalog to see what they have in the archives, but the following links are available on the genealogy page.

Online and searchable by name:
Index to Confederate Pension Applications,
Index to Texas Adjutant General Service Records, 1836-1935,
Index to Republic Claims,
Confederate Indigent Families Lists,

In Person:
Vital Statistics Indexes,
Texas County Tax Rolls on Microfilm,
Texas City Directories,
Texas Telephone Directories,
1867 Voters Registration
Convict Record Ledgers (1849-1954),
Convict Record Ledgers Indexes (1849-1970).

Don’t forget to always look at the university libraries and pay close attention to their special collections. The Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin is terrific.

Thanks Texas! It’s nice when you can at least find out what’s available in a state.

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Innis Family Tree

Whooohoooo – a family member has gotten in touch and is now helping out! Kate (not her real name) is a descendant of Thomas Ballard Innis and Loula Roberts, and lucky for me, a fellow researcher. Kate recently contacted me and is willing to share some of her evidence concerning the family. She has cleared up a few of my questions and I’ll cover those now.

Thomas Ballard Innis and Lula Roberts married on 2 January 1903 in Grayson County, Texas.¹ Notice that she spells her name as Lula not Loula.

Also provided was a Certificate of Birth from Texas for Edith Sally Innis, born 2 December 1905.² This is a record of birth that includes the affidavits attesting to the birth. Grayson County, Texas, did not register births before 1906 so there was no “original” birth certificate. This birth is sworn to by her mother Lula C. Prescott (Lula’s last marriage).

Edith first married Harold W. Perry on 13 April 1924 in Denver, Colorado.³ They divorced within a few years.
Edith next married Dr. Ralph Cowles – they eventually divorced.
Edith’s last marriage was to Royal R. Griffith.

I can’t thank Kate enough for the information she is providing – there will be more to come in future posts. I’m really looking forward to working with her.

1. Grayson, Texas, marriage certificate (2 Jan 1903), T. B. Innis-Lula Roberts; Privately Held.
2. Grayson, Texas, birth certificate no. date of birth 2 Dec 1905 (cert. issued 1957)), Edith Sally Innis.
3. Denver, Colorado, Marriage License, 98016, Harold W. Perry-Edith Innis, Married 13 Apr 1924.

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Innis Family Tree

Since I was working on Thomas H., I just went ahead and did his parents and filled out the basic sibling list. Based on the 1840,¹ 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records, the parents and sibling of Thomas H. are:

John Innis, born c.1800-1805, Virginia,
Nancy [Unknown] born c.1800-1805, Virginia – first wife,
Nancy [Unknown] born c. 1822, Kentucky – possible second wife,
John R., c.1824, Tennessee,
James E., c.1826, Tennessee,
Wiley M., c.1833, Tennessee,
Mary B., c. 1835, Tennessee,
Nancy Ann, c. 1841, Tennessee,
Thomas H., Jan 1843, Kentucky,
Emily M., c.1845, Tennessee

I am reasonably convinced in reviewing the records that Thomas H. was most probably born in Roane County like his siblings, but he grew up in Kentucky. It may have been a simple case of identifying himself with where he was from rather than where he was born.

1. 1840 U.S. census, Roane County, Tennessee, p. 77, John Enicks; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Jan 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M704, roll 535.

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Innis Family Tree

Let me just add a short note here about the use of checklists. Checklists are one of those things that work for some people and don’t for others. Arwen has one of those organized brains and I doubt her list (if she even has one) is anything like mine. I like to think I’m organized, but the simple truth is that I’m often just following a trail and not doing so in an organized manner. While this makes me a decent genealogist – it can also make me a lousy genealogist.

Following the trail of a family is a little bit like being in a large maze. The trick is to follow the trail wherever it takes you, but when you hit a wall you need to back up and look for a new trail. To do that you have to look at everything around you, and leave a trail of bread crumbs so you can get back to where you began. A lot of family lines that you explore are going to be like those blind alleys in a maze.

Checklists are a lot like any organizational tool. Not everyone works in the same way and you should do what works for you. I generally only use mine when I’m stuck, and I’m going back to review my work. As we noticed in the earlier post I should probably use one more often.

Create your own checklist by making a list of the things you should check every time. Such as the census records for the lifespan of the person you are working on. Not just the federal census records, but also the state census records. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Mine is literally a list that says:
Ancestry:
Census
State Census
Military
Birth
Death
SSDI
Family Trees
Message Boards
Family Trees

Family Search:
Pilot
IGI
Ancestral Files

Then I list all the other things that I routinely look at when I’m stuck. Make your own and then use it. Otherwise, Arwen will likely be pointing out the obvious thing you missed in your research.

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Innis Family Tree

While it is always the goal to just do the genealogy and advance the line for research, part of my personal goal is to learn about research in other areas. It is important to know what records may be available to find. It makes no sense to be searching for something that simply did not exist in the time period you are working in. For comprehensive information either consult one of the many great books out there that tell you about the records available in a particular state, use the research guides at FamilySearch, or do your online research in the specific state for the available information.

Just a quick note about this – if you are going to do this online, be sure that you use the state’s official site for the latest information on locating or ordering their records. That said – do not stop there. Go out and look at other sites including blogs, because that’s where the tips and secrets are.

In Colorado try the COGenBlog which is just a wealth of information about genealogy. The site material comes from Julie Miller, Birdie Monk Holsclaw, and Roberta “Bobbi” King. They have spent a lot of time adding great information about doing research in Colorado. These are the folks that are helping genealogists doing research in Colorado!!!

Noted genealogist Arlene Eakle has several blogs – Tennessee, Kentucy and Virginia. All have some great information that can help build your knowledge base when you are starting your research.

I keep a small printed cheat sheet near the computer as I’m working. It is not comprehensive – it is just some basic notes and prompts.

Colorado:
Births – 1910 statewide registration
Deaths – 1906 while available in counties as early as 1900, the national system was 1906.
Neither birth, or death is online and you’ll need to send requests to the appropriate agency.
Marriages – by county and dates vary. As mentioned previously, Ancestry has some online, and there are some in the state archives (not accessible online), but not for my time period.

Texas:
Births – 1903 statewide registration. Some earlier records are available in some counties.
Deaths – 1890-1976 online certificates and 1964-1998 an online index – both free through FamilySearch.
Marriages – pre 1966 in the counties as they were organized. After 1966 it became statewide.

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