Death Notice of Orlando Barber, Lapeer County Press (Lapeer, Michigan), 26 December 1910, p. 4, col. 3
This notice of the death of my great-great-grandfather, Orlando BARBER, shows that his father and my brickwall ancestor, James W. BARBER, was living in Lansing, Ingham Co., Michigan on 26 December 1910. Interestingly enough, Orlando's mother and James's wife, Elizabeth "Betsey" A. COLE, is not mentioned in this notice, nor are Orlando's wife's and children's names given (I do know them, however). This notice was not found with funeral listings and other death notices, but instead in the local "gossip" column, which is probably why it lacks the details about family members and the funeral.
I am mentioning this obituary in regard to James, because it gives a different residence for him than the 1910 Federal Census taken earlier in the year, which was Montrose Township in Genesee County. In James's own obituary it states that two of his sons, James A. and Alexander, lived in Lansing in 1912, so it is likely that James (and probably Elizabeth) moved in with one of them. I'm guessing that James moved off the farm to the city because of his spinal injury. My attempts to locate an online Lansing city directory for the time period of 1910 through 1912 were unsuccessful, and I'll have to do another search for a county directory for Genesee County to see if I can find any reference to either James or Elizabeth for 1910 through 1912. As mentioned in James's obituary, he was living with his daughter in Mount Morris Township, Genesee County when he died in 1912. It appears that James was being cared for by his adult children during the last couple of years of his life; he was most likely unable to support himself due to his spinal injury.
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Last week after I wrote the post about James being enumerated in the 1910 census, a helpful reader sent me some information that will correct and expand upon what I blogged about in that post. I've been meaning to write an update this past week, but my schedule has prevented me from doing so. I plan to revisit the 1910 census armed with this corrected information and a little research on James's neighbors, the Streeters.
This Madness Monday series featuring my brickwall ancestor, James W. BARBER (1841 - 1912) has been written to highlight and analyze all records of this individual with the hope that I can eventually uncover information that will lead to his specific birthplace and the names of his parents and any siblings he may have had. Other posts on this topic include:
Cemetery Records of James W. BARBER
James W. BARBER in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census
Another nice report. It is also a reminder of how this kind of report could be useful to each of us, if we would but take the time to do it. Good for you. Best wishes on your continued search for the full truth!
ReplyDelete;-)
Miriam, I am not sure when our next "Library of Michigan" trip is, but please e-mail me the information you are looking for in the Lansing CD's and the years I should check. I won't take me long, and I would be glad to do it for you. Just e-mail to: pam (at) warrenweb dot info. I'll let you know when I find out the next date. (I usually ride over in a car pool).
ReplyDeleteBill, I think I figured out why we get stuck with our brickwall ancestors and why we don't write about them more on our blogs...it's usually because there is so much work involved in organizing and analyzing our information about them. Oftentimes it means going offline to look for more clues and in resources we aren't comfortable with or are ignorant of. (How's that for ending a sentence with a preposition!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by!
Pam, I'll e-mail you privately. Thanks so much for the offer!
ReplyDeleteMiriam,
ReplyDeleteI think you are right. It also takes more effort not to end with a preposition, as well! ;-)