tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29949984171415790992024-03-05T03:31:47.622-08:00Bones & BranchesMy Family History: A Journey of DiscoveryAylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-54074352264984222732013-04-14T13:40:00.000-07:002013-04-16T12:56:56.902-07:00A Life Well-Lived: The Passing of John Allen Aylard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgABX0E44QBj4XPnwvmrKBq9QU4ceGoKd4E1xZcU4q0GRDjPSz0DUR_Ng52Geg6Z1W4wyRkzJoIYfdROG2xRrLZ3E-ConK_DDDrX6-_Wn7CCurzThrjqi27ZpVeeA3jvVMzp6m2pfAs4-Q/s1600/John-Allen-Aylard_0043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img align="right" border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgABX0E44QBj4XPnwvmrKBq9QU4ceGoKd4E1xZcU4q0GRDjPSz0DUR_Ng52Geg6Z1W4wyRkzJoIYfdROG2xRrLZ3E-ConK_DDDrX6-_Wn7CCurzThrjqi27ZpVeeA3jvVMzp6m2pfAs4-Q/s320/John-Allen-Aylard_0043.jpg" style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px;" width="240" /></a>On the evening of Thursday, March 28, my father passed away. He had suffered for at least two years from Lewy body dementia, a disease that slowly unraveled the fabric of his logical and perceptive mind and diminished the strength of his once-vigorous frame. But while the deterioration of that disease increasingly confined him during his last months, it will never define his life.</div>
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The second of four sons, my father John Allen Aylard was born on March 15, 1931, in Jackson, Michigan to Clark William and Esther Lavina (Vore) Aylard. When my father was five the family moved to Arizona in the hope that a warmer, drier climate would relieve his father's crippling bouts of arthritis. Clark built a house trailer for the trip to be pulled by a Model “A” Ford. You can imagine the result of piling four rambunctious little boys into the cramped rear seat of an un-air-conditioned car for a two-thousand-mile Summer road trip. My father later recalled that the Burma-Shave signs helped to break the monotony of the trip. The trailer was used as full time or supplemental living space for the next four years.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-eCeR9JjY0HdCxV0DIWCmpkXc4pUZYYGcFBH_8op0M2vHgV2UUDmZtU2x55L7z5dZhkrTq_MFQtBfKzVC9YGPC3hreItyjjYTtX5zsIL2pKhHUxCBLFs8UkNc4wT8bbTxB2peTVGQBc/s1600/John-Allen-Aylard_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img align="left" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-eCeR9JjY0HdCxV0DIWCmpkXc4pUZYYGcFBH_8op0M2vHgV2UUDmZtU2x55L7z5dZhkrTq_MFQtBfKzVC9YGPC3hreItyjjYTtX5zsIL2pKhHUxCBLFs8UkNc4wT8bbTxB2peTVGQBc/s320/John-Allen-Aylard_0001.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" width="201" /></a>At this time, the nation was in the middle of the Great Depression. My grandfather was unable to find work in Arizona, so the family continued on to Southern California. They lived in trailer parks for about a year before renting in West Los Angeles. Despite living in relative poverty, my father often recalled that he never felt poor. My grandfather took whatever odd jobs were available to provide for the family and the four active brothers never failed to make their own excitement. <br />
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In 1940, my father developed non-acute appendicitis that kept him out of school. The surgery and recovery resulted in more lost time from classes, requiring that he repeat a grade, placing him in the same grade as his next-younger brother. <br />
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World War II erupted when my father was ten. My grandfather was too old to serve and none of his four sons was old enough, so the family was spared the angst of having one of its own in harm’s way. Instead, the family experienced the war through the rationing of food and other staples, bond drives, and the increased presence of military personnel in the area where they lived. He once saw a fighter plane flying low over the highway and crash just off the coast into the Pacific Ocean; he recalled that the pilot survived and swam to shore. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kL4R-zzo_BNN-edZSi62rDyRVflzcZOWwD-bQOvRpD-xBs8nNdTPLuMlKSG66qiT7FxOTRbkTRzD3j7LEHsbHoVPDMZKt6vny_qKRhH4JhKD9tc47uqXWL42h5338LtDKGGAou6l8nk/s1600/John-Allen-Aylard_0011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img align="right" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kL4R-zzo_BNN-edZSi62rDyRVflzcZOWwD-bQOvRpD-xBs8nNdTPLuMlKSG66qiT7FxOTRbkTRzD3j7LEHsbHoVPDMZKt6vny_qKRhH4JhKD9tc47uqXWL42h5338LtDKGGAou6l8nk/s320/John-Allen-Aylard_0011.jpg" style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="158" /></a>Leaving the Los Angeles area in 1943, the family headed northward, living in a variety of locations in Central and Northern California. One destination was the small town of Independence, near a Japanese internment camp named Manzanar. The family’s landlord worked in the camp, and invited them to visit him there. My father was impressed by the imposing fences and armed watch towers, but found the atmosphere of the camp surprisingly peaceful. <br />
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From 1944 to 1948, the family continued to move north, settling in the small town of Windsor, living in a large tent while my father and his brothers helped their father build a house. <br />
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My father later described himself as being “painfully shy and unsophisticated” during his youth. As a teenager his social life consisted of family and a few members of a local church group. Yet he was an avid fan of the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast Baseball League, and he enjoyed exploring the natural beauty of the area in which he lived. <br />
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My father worked at various jobs to defray his school expenses. He worked on a chicken ranch and learned about territorial roosters; he worked with sheep and learned why the Bible compares us to sheep; and he worked in a Maraschino cherry processing plant, and learned that it was possible to feed more cherries onto the conveyor than the crew down the line could process. <br />
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In 1954, he graduated from San Jose State College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a minor in Mathematics. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMG4i_20We381wZtwZcSIwgYjGP-vsFhs6_k4jWtDjpd011cI6faEa2YGnzRb14tjFAJDsfIy8x9xWLfw212L6pDPE1G7u-UWg8OyCeEE2Z2uszAc1Zma51_nq8IVO6jtGnUo9u54Wpk/s1600/John-Allen-Aylard_0016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img align="left" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMG4i_20We381wZtwZcSIwgYjGP-vsFhs6_k4jWtDjpd011cI6faEa2YGnzRb14tjFAJDsfIy8x9xWLfw212L6pDPE1G7u-UWg8OyCeEE2Z2uszAc1Zma51_nq8IVO6jtGnUo9u54Wpk/s320/John-Allen-Aylard_0016.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" width="140" /></a>In January, 1955, my father was drafted into the United States Army. After completing basic training, he was sent to Texas for training as a guided missile crewman with the 601st Field Artillery Missile Battalion. My father proved his ability in training and was eventually recommended to become an instructor. Unfortunately, he had already been assigned as a jeep-driver, wasting the advanced training he had received and limiting him to the rank of Private First Class. <br />
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In the spring of 1956, his unit was shipped overseas for a tour of duty in Germany, stationed at Zweibrücken. During his overseas assignment he was able to do some travel and sightseeing in Germany (visiting Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the mountains above Berchtesgaden) as well as France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, North Africa, Greece and Turkey. <br />
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After his discharge from the Army in 1957, he went back to San Jose State under the GI Bill for additional education in accounting. This time he cleaned model homes to pay the bills. After completing enough courses for the equivalent of a major in accounting, on January 2, 1959, he was hired as an internal auditor with Contra Costa County, California. <br />
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Also, after his return home from the Army he met and fell in love with Lorna (my mother), who was attending his home church in the San Jose area. After a two-year friendship and courtship, they became engaged on January 3, 1959. They were married in June of that year and rented an apartment, near my father’s work, while my mother worked as a teacher. <br />
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The next year my parents purchased their first home and welcomed their first child, my sister, in the Fall of 1960; she was followed by my brother in the Spring of 1963. I was born in the Fall of 1965.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6s2Rrn7FWcMYSjbqTvdhp5B1fY7v50NCDCULHXE-fSLb-eB5gzhP54LzOoyEAB11QpHFs9jc34ikKNsBvmMF20wlWi-xLj41aFbK9tHmQhHv4ZZI8yXSkeIm-5vvwUixHFdNDkr03SRo/s821/John-Allen-Aylard_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img align="left" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6s2Rrn7FWcMYSjbqTvdhp5B1fY7v50NCDCULHXE-fSLb-eB5gzhP54LzOoyEAB11QpHFs9jc34ikKNsBvmMF20wlWi-xLj41aFbK9tHmQhHv4ZZI8yXSkeIm-5vvwUixHFdNDkr03SRo/s200/John-Allen-Aylard_0002.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" width="158" /></a>My father worked in the Contra Costa County Internal Auditing Division for the entirety of his professional career, the last 26 years as the head of the Division. While employed, he was a member of several professional organizations, and was one of the first auditors to qualify for the professional distinction of Certified Internal Auditor. He retired from his professional career in March 1993 after a total of 34 years of public service. <br />
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In retirement he had more time for the hiking, photography, and travel that he had enjoyed throughout his working life. He continued to be actively involved in church, serving in roles in such as treasurer, financial secretary, and small-group leader. But he made possibly the biggest impact, and experienced the most reward, through his years of teaching adult Sunday school. He was a life-long student of the Bible with the goal of passing on his faith and values. <br />
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He underwent triple-bypass surgery after he suffered a mild heart attack on Christmas Eve night in 2007. His health and strength seemed somewhat diminished thereafter, until he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2010. He died at home in my mother’s care on the evening of Maundy Thursday, March 28, 2013. His body was buried at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, California, on April 10.<br />
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My father’s life was one of quiet but consistent faith, generosity, and wisdom, not only in word, but even more so in action. His was a life well-lived. I have inherited a priceless legacy from his example that I will cherish, and that I hope to bequeath intact to my own children.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Parts of this post were adapted from the life story read at my father's memorial service on April 12, 2013.</span></i> Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-18865175711210706902012-07-31T22:10:00.000-07:002012-07-31T22:12:18.816-07:00The Daughter He Left BehindWhen in the early 1850s my great-great grandfather bade his final farewell to friends and family in the countryside town of Soham, England, I can only imagine that he carried with him a burden of heart-breaking memories. The scythe of death had winnowed many loved ones, both old and young, from the life of William Aylard. Only months or perhaps weeks earlier, he had buried Fanny (Levet), his wife of nearly ten years, following her death from pulmonary tuberculosis. As he closed the book on this chapter of loss, he brought with him the two surviving children Fanny had borne him: Sarah and William. His firstborn son, also named William, had died five years earlier, just before his first birthday, and would remain behind, buried on the grounds of the local parish church. And yet he left behind more than death and painful memories in Soham: he also left his oldest child, a daughter named Ann.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2msLPUX0BX2PX1m28fvL1fV7gXEdiZPD-b4IH5bLIH0ymoRKrZ7B5ZzIAnBczBFxZIgxdKI2IavOlYgo7tlGahIwQwVqqsyXVTrXJPgakrgQ40UlAwVJwm9sh89UffJjzb_dKoZMoOFU/s1600/20090711002_Resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2msLPUX0BX2PX1m28fvL1fV7gXEdiZPD-b4IH5bLIH0ymoRKrZ7B5ZzIAnBczBFxZIgxdKI2IavOlYgo7tlGahIwQwVqqsyXVTrXJPgakrgQ40UlAwVJwm9sh89UffJjzb_dKoZMoOFU/s320/20090711002_Resized.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Aylard (1814 - 1886)<br />
<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Private Collection of James A. Aylard</span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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When my uncle gifted me with extensive genealogy resources several years ago, I inherited a considerable trove of family history information onto which I could graft additional research of my own. But in that inherited data, Ann was a perplexity: a limited entry in the genealogy database with little detail beyond her first name (listed there as Anna) and the faint possibility that she had one day produced two sons who might have died in the First World War. Even her mother’s name - and whether that woman and William were actually married - were unknowns.<br />
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Ann’s circumstance touched me, and the lack of information about her intrigued me. Why did she remain behind in Soham? Did she live into adulthood? Did she ever marry? Did she have children? Where did life take her, if apparently never to the shores of her father’s adopted American homeland?<br />
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Whatever happened to the daughter that William left behind? That is a mystery that I will explore in coming posts.Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-62730045472175169422011-07-09T17:30:00.001-07:002011-08-08T20:43:41.528-07:00A Peculiar Practice: Reusing the Names of Deceased Children<div style="text-align: center; clear: both" class="separator"></div> <div style="text-align: center; clear: both" class="separator"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; float: right; margin-left: 1em; clear: right" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWzpCVURV_ud0Sn6nzkGIbzbBsh164MnEEvs7wmC_mXQTku6573cuXHqgtLQhyc0gi0VkBLgq3BZfs0eKrBD43Oe-ufExcWsRK3Ql4MCw1ap5YFxEBxnl-KO_wN-1jErYNsQRH_YmwI8/s1600/AYLARD%252C+William+%2528Will%2529+-+1872-Dec-19+%2528Version+1%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWzpCVURV_ud0Sn6nzkGIbzbBsh164MnEEvs7wmC_mXQTku6573cuXHqgtLQhyc0gi0VkBLgq3BZfs0eKrBD43Oe-ufExcWsRK3Ql4MCw1ap5YFxEBxnl-KO_wN-1jErYNsQRH_YmwI8/s200/AYLARD%252C+William+%2528Will%2529+-+1872-Dec-19+%2528Version+1%2529.jpg" width="118" height="200"></a></div>The practice may seem jarring to modern sensibilities, but a century and-a-half ago, reusing the name of a dead child for one born at a later time was relatively common. Of course, child mortality was also more common, which no doubt was a factor in the less-sentimental attitudes of that day.<br><br> <div style="text-align: right"></div><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; float: left; clear: left; margin-right: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkV7opCT8j4QVAUEXdT0LwurvFu4Zs2cAwFuqR9AsdlCJ3bDWpLrYd46wcVA5PpEvPIgeuD7LRi2qOLajhmBo8HUndNuznAg5mOlNskIO3-lF3b_z5YsSB_w-wr7B-uCMOU-EIgBSbgYs/s1600/RelationshipChart_Aylard%252CWilliam_1848-1915.PNG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkV7opCT8j4QVAUEXdT0LwurvFu4Zs2cAwFuqR9AsdlCJ3bDWpLrYd46wcVA5PpEvPIgeuD7LRi2qOLajhmBo8HUndNuznAg5mOlNskIO3-lF3b_z5YsSB_w-wr7B-uCMOU-EIgBSbgYs/s320/RelationshipChart_Aylard%252CWilliam_1848-1915.PNG" width="148" height="320"></a>In my own family line, my great-great grandfather, William Aylard, fathered two sons named William by his second wife, Fanny (Levet). I provided some brief detail about the first-born William in my <a href="http://www.bonesandbranches.com/2011/04/original-sources-william-aylard-1845.html">last post</a>. That son was born in 1845 and died less than a year later, in 1846. A year and-a-half after this tragic death, in January 1848, a second son was born to William and Fanny, and he was also named William.<br><br>The second William, often named Will in adulthood, emigrated from England to the United States with his father and sister, Sarah, around 1851. After several years living in New York state, Will moved with his father, step-mother, sister and growing family of half-brothers and half-sisters to Ohio where he lived the remainder of his life, until his death in 1915 of a heart condition. He is not known to have ever married or fathered any children.<br> <div style="text-align: center; clear: both" class="separator"></div><br> <table style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" class="tr-caption-container" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center"><a style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLvYeEqXsAe9oiZtlOxmVU_jRb7t3qXwAr2AeNCyHZRsfJXDtQc8nulh9WrtCd6pWqw4GaY1G9hIYeIqjf2Q0VdnY6uzQJ4yRQV1nyb5L6jBo0F5DQBcBRfP5ar_XHOrAH1x3U3phRDQ/s1600/AYLARD%252C+William+-+Birth+Certificate%252C+1848-Jan-27.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLvYeEqXsAe9oiZtlOxmVU_jRb7t3qXwAr2AeNCyHZRsfJXDtQc8nulh9WrtCd6pWqw4GaY1G9hIYeIqjf2Q0VdnY6uzQJ4yRQV1nyb5L6jBo0F5DQBcBRfP5ar_XHOrAH1x3U3phRDQ/s320/AYLARD%252C+William+-+Birth+Certificate%252C+1848-Jan-27.jpg" width="320" height="225"></a></td></tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center" class="tr-caption">Certified Copy of an Entry of Birth for William Aylard (1848)<sup>1</sup></td> <td style="text-align: center" class="tr-caption"><br></td></tr></tbody></table><br> <table style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" class="tr-caption-container" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center"><br><a style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCL_TsKrwpsHoygO8wJhEa951d1VYt9Dec6YwqBr1wN3tv8bWvZSG00oe_3vwSjHHd9CG2JpHivAPfXBRJ-dyhct1AtgAKfXPjKh9GANajIfTLU6GVhBTFaFik5M3IvZUyTS0ZcJweyeY/s1600/AYLARD%252C+William+-+Ohio_Deaths_1908-1953_1983552_41.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCL_TsKrwpsHoygO8wJhEa951d1VYt9Dec6YwqBr1wN3tv8bWvZSG00oe_3vwSjHHd9CG2JpHivAPfXBRJ-dyhct1AtgAKfXPjKh9GANajIfTLU6GVhBTFaFik5M3IvZUyTS0ZcJweyeY/s320/AYLARD%252C+William+-+Ohio_Deaths_1908-1953_1983552_41.jpg" width="320" height="293"></a></td></tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center" class="tr-caption">Death Certificate for William Aylard (1915)<sup>2</sup><br> <ol> <li style="text-align: left">England, birth certificate (short form) for William Aylard, born 27 January 1848; citing 14/26/260, Newmarket Union registration district; General Registry Office, Southport. <li style="text-align: left">State of Ohio, Bureau of Vital Statistics, “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” database, FamilySearch.org (<a href="https://www.familysearch.org">https://www.familysearch.org</a> : accessed 28 December 2008), Certificate of Death for William Aylard, File No. 68275 (1915).</li></ol></td></tr></tbody></table> Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-42533467186433438052011-04-15T23:10:00.000-07:002011-04-16T12:41:26.525-07:00Original Sources: William Aylard (1845-1846)<div style="text-align: center; clear: both" class="separator"></div> <table style="text-align: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em" class="tr-caption-container" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; clear: right; margin-right: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTq8HaIwPPNqiHpTxuGPZuQFmkO7Dmk4m5lbyTqBeH_awiOy1v8l_sS60jNZuxeBHB9jpDuXpzIEcdk4SI_OQBld0OHHhHxoHpj79-sMKYGMB85x2gnW1dZwH2BdzIEz5Gse9IAfPeM50/s1600/RelationshipChart_Aylard%252CWilliam_1845-1846.PNG" target="_blank" imageanchor="1"><img class="clearAll" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTq8HaIwPPNqiHpTxuGPZuQFmkO7Dmk4m5lbyTqBeH_awiOy1v8l_sS60jNZuxeBHB9jpDuXpzIEcdk4SI_OQBld0OHHhHxoHpj79-sMKYGMB85x2gnW1dZwH2BdzIEz5Gse9IAfPeM50/s320/RelationshipChart_Aylard%252CWilliam_1845-1846.PNG" width="148" height="320"></a></td></tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center" class="tr-caption">How I am related to <br>William Aylard<br><i>(Click image to see larger copy)</i></td></tr></tbody></table>About two years ago, when I began researching the English birth, marriage, and death (BMD) registers for all occurrences of my Aylard surname, I discovered a son of my great-great grandfather, William Aylard, who had not been previously recorded in the family genealogy files. He was the first son of William (1814-1886) and his second wife, Fanny Levet (1815-1851), born on 8 September 1845. Tragically, he died on 5 August 1846, little more than a month shy of his first birthday. His cause of death, as recorded in the death register, was bronchitis.<br> <table style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 1em; float: left; clear: left" class="tr-caption-container" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; clear: left; margin-right: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlqfFH7yAiKr9hw3NW3T6X6nvRgVoVDN-m99sSHJPbJlJ24sQdcFfUmShn665ocdsgYJ1Xt-k_uGJH-4_Tnq8TzigiDWeSfKTSnXm0yFTwJCDmBUVPZK6bzGfDOFYxqvvw_wT082i064/s1600/AYLARD%252C+William+-+Birth+Certificate%252C+1845-Sep-08.jpg" target="_blank" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlqfFH7yAiKr9hw3NW3T6X6nvRgVoVDN-m99sSHJPbJlJ24sQdcFfUmShn665ocdsgYJ1Xt-k_uGJH-4_Tnq8TzigiDWeSfKTSnXm0yFTwJCDmBUVPZK6bzGfDOFYxqvvw_wT082i064/s200/AYLARD%252C+William+-+Birth+Certificate%252C+1845-Sep-08.jpg" width="200" height="140"></a><br></td></tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center" class="tr-caption">William Aylard - Certified Copy of an Entry of Birth (1845)<sup>1</sup></td></tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center" class="tr-caption"><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; clear: left; margin-right: auto" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCZxldrVz3ipc-nPAs_1ZOIznDxN6PTwj9yuHewWm5H7StlZkGxVghFKJZIcHumG0BeByaVa8ub_dClW10dOWZQpVLxhltg4iEpKAP9us6p8PlDSiQMa3WTHcK7h_gFTagLy0kfBCPVc/s1600/AYLARD%252C+William+-+Death+Certificate+-+1846-Aug-05.jpg" target="_blank" imageanchor="1"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCZxldrVz3ipc-nPAs_1ZOIznDxN6PTwj9yuHewWm5H7StlZkGxVghFKJZIcHumG0BeByaVa8ub_dClW10dOWZQpVLxhltg4iEpKAP9us6p8PlDSiQMa3WTHcK7h_gFTagLy0kfBCPVc/s200/AYLARD%252C+William+-+Death+Certificate+-+1846-Aug-05.jpg" width="200" height="140"></a></td></tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center" class="tr-caption">William Aylard - Certified Copy of an Entry of Death (1846)<sup>2</sup></td></tr></tbody></table> <p align="left"><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br></p> <p align="left"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="486"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="484"> <ol> <li><span style="font-size: x-small" class="Apple-style-span">England, birth certificate (short form) for William Aylard, born 8 September 1845; citing 14/113/456, Newmarket Union registration district; General Registry Office, Southport.</span> <li> <div><span style="font-size: x-small" class="Apple-style-span">England, death certificate (short form) for William Aylard, died 5 August 1846; citing 14/96/405, Newmarket Union registration district; General Registry Office, Southport.</span> </div></li></ol></td></tr></tbody></table><br></p> <div style="text-align: center; clear: both" class="separator"></div> Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-11163074035030621482011-04-12T21:11:00.000-07:002011-04-12T21:12:55.186-07:00Whatever Happened to Rachel Shiflet? Part III<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJNTmiU380G1waVmdMVvul6MT-5eZBckZ_hzR0CWtoioqRcOlm4QqXJb8Ic7Y3pSm-ppavOuLVvKUfMSErOH4-E80wIq_KnVkHDjsR0jvYIx27y-6dKQD5NcswHnzVlpdzHXTJSH7UFk/s1600/20090726032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJNTmiU380G1waVmdMVvul6MT-5eZBckZ_hzR0CWtoioqRcOlm4QqXJb8Ic7Y3pSm-ppavOuLVvKUfMSErOH4-E80wIq_KnVkHDjsR0jvYIx27y-6dKQD5NcswHnzVlpdzHXTJSH7UFk/s320/20090726032.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(L-R) Rachel Shiflet, Grace Vore, Mary (Vore) Stephenson,<br />
Louise Ward, William Lloyd Stephenson, Esther Vore,<br />
Lavina (Barr) Vore, and Jesse Allen Vore (abt 1918)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I conclude my three-part series on Rachel Shiflet with some details of her life after she left the family of my great-grandparents, Jesse Allen and Lavina (Barr) Vore. To my knowledge, though it is admittedly limited, Rachel disappeared from my family’s awareness when she left their home sometime toward the end of 1920, presumably to be reunited with her birth family after a ten-year absence. I can only imagine the trauma this would have likely caused this twelve-year-old girl who probably had no memory of her birth parents.<br />
<br />
In family history research, knowing where a person has been can help us determine where they might later have gone. The regular, ten-year rhythm of the United States Federal Census is one of the basic pulse points for determining a person’s whereabouts. The fact that we found Rachel in the 1910 Census while still living with her birth family, before she came to live with the Vores, proved a key to unlocking where she went once she left them.<br />
<br />
From the 1910 Census, I was fairly confident that Rachel’s parents were Frank and Emma Shiflet. The first census enumerated after Rachel’s departure from the Vore family was that of 1930. However, I was unable to locate any Rachel Shiflet in the 1930 Census, when she would have been roughly 22 years old. Had she died? Or had she gotten married? The key to the answer proved to be her parents.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu2tjDowCgcgKKe4981DCoE42cbc9UhMzzchKN9QQgV3lkeGTnT_GF8Gl-yKJaBIbtSXa1CNs9RSUPp2vsmDaXqnPEreqKViBPV8r2ldEgjabVazdUzp1WfxjUNuVodhzYagCaBSPmSE/s1600/1930+United+States+Federal+Census11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="63" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbGSrHBkRhEfEt41PwEsx0flBxHpASLZr-8g82ZxHezSkOu3S1pHudmuoFd0fK8twFLEUWkFlumi0aL_kI2DcpwSzSRhJJZoSsbvUswfeUR6ISmphdnkIxVqAb3ayM_y6GwRH4RpHkB9U/s320/1930+United+States+Federal+Census11+small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Searching <a href="http://www.ancestry.com/" target="_blank">Ancestry.com</a>, I found a Frank and Emma Shiflet living in Hartford, Van Buren County, Michigan, in the 1930 Census<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></sup><span style="font-size: small;"></span>. Their ages matched that of Rachel’s parents, as did their states of birth, and their ages at first marriage (twenty for Frank, and seventeen for Emma). But Frank was not the head-of-household, instead listed as Father-in-law. He was living in the home of twenty-five-year-old Ora Alexander. And Ora’s wife: twenty-two-year-old Rachel Alexander. This is fairly convincing circumstantial evidence that we have found Rachel Shiflet, now married (from age seventeen, like her mother). Further evidence is that this Rachel was born in Indiana, as was Rachel Shiflet. Both Ora and Rachel are listed as laborers at what appears to be an “artificial foliage factory.” And they are the parents of a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Hazel M. Alexander.<br />
<br />
Since the 1940 US Federal Census will not be released until 2012, it is not possible to trace Rachel further in the Census at this time. In the search for other records on Rachel Alexander, I turned to <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/" target="_blank">FamilySearch</a>, a largely free LDS genealogy Internet resource. And there I found an entry for Rachel’s death on August 30, 1960, at 52 years of age<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></sup>. This particular entry only provides a partial transcription of data from the record, and does not provide an image of the original death certificate from which it was presumably taken. So my confidence in its accuracy is less than if I could view the actual document itself. No cause of death was transcribed. However, the names of her parents are provided, including her mother’s maiden name (Emma Yaw). It also provides her exact birth date (9 January 1908) and her place of birth (South Bend, Indiana). It also confirms that she was married to Ora Alexander.<br />
<br />
So as my series on “Whatever Happened to Rachel Shiflet?” comes to a conclusion, it is clear that we have only scratched the surface of her life. We have constructed a framework that enlarges the picture we have of her beyond the ten-year period in which she lived with my grandmother and great grandparents, but still we have little more than the dimensions of the canvas. That is part of the mystery and lure of family history: finding clues that lead to facts and details, that in turn add brushstrokes to that canvas, providing depth, color, and vibrancy to a life once lived. Rachel’s life is still largely a mystery to me, but I now have several leads for future research.<br />
<ol><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">“1930 United States Federal Census Record for Rachel Alexander.” Index and images, <em>Ancestry.com</em> (<a href="http://www.ancestry.com/">http://www.ancestry.com/</a>): accessed 11 April 2011. Entry for Rachel Alexander, living in Hartford, Van Buren, Michigan, 1930; reference Roll 1028, Page 11A, Enumeration District 18, Image 956.0. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. <i>Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930</i>. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Michigan Death and Burials, 1800-1995." Index, <i>FamilySearch</i> (</span><a href="http://familysearch.org/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://familysearch.org</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">): accessed 11 April 2011. Entry for Rachel Alexander, died 30 August 1960 citing Death Records; reference 893, FHL film 1,954,714; Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.</span></li>
</ol>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-56627861846412291942011-04-01T23:18:00.000-07:002011-04-01T23:18:01.757-07:00Whatever Happened to Rachel Shiflet? Part II<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmQftK6EudngA2kma-BqcK1NMjJwugGd2SWNtm0w3_QMZ8SPoKmMPvQH6bCf6TqLpLiff9Rf-8livp9WJd9fLaJODMS4xLvqgNqZ7ihVfmWWXXiokCCN9B3IdHyD7uZpk02L4pnBYdPo/s1600/20090726009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmQftK6EudngA2kma-BqcK1NMjJwugGd2SWNtm0w3_QMZ8SPoKmMPvQH6bCf6TqLpLiff9Rf-8livp9WJd9fLaJODMS4xLvqgNqZ7ihVfmWWXXiokCCN9B3IdHyD7uZpk02L4pnBYdPo/s320/20090726009.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front (L-R): Esther Vore, Rachel Shiflet, Grace Vore;<br />
Rear: Hugh Vore, Mary Vore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In <a href="http://www.bonesandbranches.com/2011/03/whatever-happened-to-rachel-shiflet.html">my previous post about Rachel Shiflet</a>, I noted that not much seemed to be known about the background of this young foster child among the Vore children. Rachel is said to have arrived in the Vore home in October 1910. The sense that my grandmother, Esther Lavina, had about Rachel’s past was that she came from an unfit home, though apparently little was said about it.<br />
<br />
The <dfn title="Occurring every ten years">decennial</dfn> US Federal Census had been conducted in April of 1910, prior to Rachel’s arrival at the Vore home. So by searching that census, I hoped that I might find Rachel living with her birth family—which would be truly ideal.<br />
<br />
<div class="googleMapRight"><iframe frameborder="0" height="300" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=sodus,+michigan&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sodus,+Berrien,+Michigan&gl=us&t=h&ll=42.900113,-85.858154&spn=2.414358,3.295898&z=7&iwloc=A&output=embed" width="300"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=sodus,+michigan&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sodus,+Berrien,+Michigan&gl=us&t=h&ll=42.900113,-85.858154&spn=2.414358,3.295898&z=7&iwloc=A&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></div>The 1910 Census does, indeed, list a two-year-old Rachel V. Shiflet in the rural community of Sodus, in Berrien County, Michigan (about ten miles from Bainbridge, where the Vores lived). Rachel is listed as the daughter of Frank E. Shiflet. Also listed are Frank’s wife, Emma N. Shiflet, and three other, older daughters (Ila, Elizabeth, and Maud). And with some brief study, we learn some other interesting things about this family that help to paint a fuller portrait of Rachel’s early home life:<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnr2p-hUKBUQdjKrWu_drVaANGtL9uRKnJJnYpJp2uUzLriZnbp_ISM8R9VvLVrsou3QtJ4Ef5Tirp7ZILfwPhUZOgMejSvW3WroaVHuo2wJWqYMlKrH_wkFXmu0QS6DWDNKgKr1q1Vc/s1600/1910+United+States+Federal+Census14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9wff_zEFOF5d76h7HmKXTumJ1c2_ODbHV_DzWqPCnsfv4YyS-KBSqMzaUVZnp0XRsR8DOveKQEKsW1G6OxUGq8XdXUfbl0ogOm7EksfgG3HRPB_A-lhgrW-zYsDuC9RhQV6bRw-IYwQ/s320/1910+United+States+Federal+Census14_Small.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1910 US Federal Census for Sodus, Berrien County, Michigan.<br />
From Ancestry.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<ul><li>Frank and Emma had been married for 26 years, and this was the first marriage for both of them. So it is relatively safe to assume that Emma was also Rachel’s mother.</li>
<li>Emma had given birth to ten children, eight of whom were still living.</li>
<li>Rachel was the youngest child living in the household at the time.</li>
<li>Frank was a mason and cement worker.</li>
</ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>So now we have a glimpse—a snapshot—of what is almost certainly Rachel’s birth family. We do not gain any clarity on what conditions in that family might have brought about a need to remove her to another home for that ten-year period. In fact we see what might seem on the surface to be a stable home: parents, married for many years; a father, seemingly gainfully employed. But the census alone provides very little detail from which to draw any substantive conclusions. And because of their sensitive nature, most likely any records of Rachel’s foster care that survive would be sealed.<br />
<br />
In my next and final post about Rachel, I will explore what I found out about her after she left the care of the Vore family. Where did she live? Did she marry? And did she have children?</div>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-48521864790929926612011-03-28T22:35:00.000-07:002011-03-29T21:40:33.234-07:00Whatever Happened to Rachel Shiflet?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YQvVq9cHv1GeuW8A9EnjAmumHRJmlEoCFFFsnkUn4CWLKCmst7HZzMw6u5GSIXxwPX-b4mY9UPXd63aGRTPKZv-Ldk1Ys2Ozifblj76r-FND-jzBv-5ChhIyOttzJfNKV3wF32xjAtI/s1600/20090726025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YQvVq9cHv1GeuW8A9EnjAmumHRJmlEoCFFFsnkUn4CWLKCmst7HZzMw6u5GSIXxwPX-b4mY9UPXd63aGRTPKZv-Ldk1Ys2Ozifblj76r-FND-jzBv-5ChhIyOttzJfNKV3wF32xjAtI/s1600/20090726025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YQvVq9cHv1GeuW8A9EnjAmumHRJmlEoCFFFsnkUn4CWLKCmst7HZzMw6u5GSIXxwPX-b4mY9UPXd63aGRTPKZv-Ldk1Ys2Ozifblj76r-FND-jzBv-5ChhIyOttzJfNKV3wF32xjAtI/s320/20090726025.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>When my paternal grandmother, Esther Lavina Vore, was ten years old, a little girl named Rachel Shiflet (or Shifflet) came to live with the family under circumstances that were apparently never explained clearly or completely to my grandmother or her siblings. Rachel’s decade-long presence in the family is briefly recorded in a family history written in 1984 by my father’s cousin, Clarice (Vore) Dodge:<br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<blockquote><i>In the early 1900’s Jesse [my great grandfather] and his wife, Lavina [my great grandmother], adopted (although probably not legally) Rachel Vera Shiflet (b. January 7, 1908) in October of 1910 while they were in Bainbridge, Michigan. Rachel stayed with them until a few days before Christmas in 1920. It is not clear just why Rachel came to live with them as not much was related to the Vore children other than the impression was that Rachel’s home was not a fit place to bring up a child.<span class="Apple-style-span"><sup>1</sup></span></i></blockquote><br />
Sure enough, twelve-year-old Rachel’s presence with the family is enumerated in the 1920 United States Federal Census, with her relationship recorded as “Foster Daughter”. Apparently the person providing the household information to the Census enumerator knew little about her birth family, as the birthplace of both her father and mother is recorded simply as “United States”.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi14EJVi2dCGFSfqqwDk14e8fjnbm-LwHp9VJsC_XMJI7NNOoFuw3IJow304t9q7MsMY5ia5dOkKIdo_zgmMzO1zoA4PFzAlEse-ADR4acUAnbkpEJtacr-kRmzHEr1-f8wYsnJvInYS1s/s1600/US+Federal+Census%252C+1920+-+Rachel+V.+Shiflet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi14EJVi2dCGFSfqqwDk14e8fjnbm-LwHp9VJsC_XMJI7NNOoFuw3IJow304t9q7MsMY5ia5dOkKIdo_zgmMzO1zoA4PFzAlEse-ADR4acUAnbkpEJtacr-kRmzHEr1-f8wYsnJvInYS1s/s400/US+Federal+Census%252C+1920+-+Rachel+V.+Shiflet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
From what little is written about Rachel in the family record, it appears that her departure was as sudden as her arrival, and that little if anything was known of her life thereafter. The mystery gives off a curious scent of adventure to the family historian. Where did Rachel go, and what became of her? And where, exactly, had she come from? I’ll reveal more of what I found in my next post.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">1. Dodge, Clarice (Vore). “The Vore Aylard Bond: A Union of Four Families.” MS. 1984. Digitized Copy. Privately held by James A. Aylard, California. 2011.</span>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-36886693999135281232009-10-07T22:50:00.000-07:002011-03-27T21:52:43.139-07:00Redux: Technical Details: How I Captured Archive Records DigitallyDuring my trip to Ohio and New York two weeks ago, I made virtually no paper photocopies or prints, and yet I came home with a considerable array of records. Traditionally, information-gathering of this nature would have resulted in numerous photocopies from books and documents, as well as prints from microfilm, costing a small fortune in the process (most archives charge between 25 and 50 cents a copy for letter-size prints, and as much as $2 a copy for 11 x 17 inch documents).<br />
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Instead, I captured source records, whenever possible, using either a digital point-and-shoot camera or my portable Canon flatbed scanner. Instead of paying with wads of bills and pockets-full of change, I paid only in hard-drive storage space, which is a cheap and renewable resource, no doubt saving tens or hundreds of dollars in the process.<br />
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Since this was my first research trip, my efforts to capture data digitally were somewhat experimental. I found that while I could easily capture loose-leaf letter-sized documents using my flatbed scanner, it was very difficult to get large volumes to lay flat enough on the glass to get a clear scan, especially since flatbed scanners have a fixed focal range that poorly handles object depth.<br />
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For legal-sized documents, my flatbed scanner worked reasonably well, but since its scanning glass is only slightly larger than a letter-sized sheet of paper, I had to scan each document in two passes: the first pass to capture the upper three-quarters of the document; then, after rotating the document 180 degrees, a second pass to capture the remaining one quarter, and allowing a bit extra for overlap.<br />
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For large documents, I found that using the digital camera in macro mode (which allows the lens to focus to within a few inches of the target), taking multiple images as I moved across the width of the page, worked reasonably well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jsVRRpZ26Nx_E88NqFp2y1zR_KphCMHVB4nL0t4bE-ToPWxenE43dBdBZ41hyKvB-9nIffIC1b12EeLiQLsY6EMLnmpHkemqRDYfkzYvq96ewskX-8HZoHMivyO4X2UR_RvE5KkxCgIV/s1600-h/IMG_4481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jsVRRpZ26Nx_E88NqFp2y1zR_KphCMHVB4nL0t4bE-ToPWxenE43dBdBZ41hyKvB-9nIffIC1b12EeLiQLsY6EMLnmpHkemqRDYfkzYvq96ewskX-8HZoHMivyO4X2UR_RvE5KkxCgIV/s200/IMG_4481.jpg" width="200" /></a>The problem I faced when I got home was trying to find a way to stitch these multi-image source documents back together. That effort is still ongoing, and I am learning techniques through experimentation with different software packages.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVptnZkwr9ik9NuDD47oHsa0-zvdYLHNs9AbWFaSJ8eTTo_rBQU4VUMbOq2rM0GVAiEfp_ErpeVm-o7oR2hVRJf5_LHP1KpiV2MQgq-9jupR461fTPWLdDyleaHsxYFS-l9dpGufgA1n1/s1600-h/IMG_4482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVptnZkwr9ik9NuDD47oHsa0-zvdYLHNs9AbWFaSJ8eTTo_rBQU4VUMbOq2rM0GVAiEfp_ErpeVm-o7oR2hVRJf5_LHP1KpiV2MQgq-9jupR461fTPWLdDyleaHsxYFS-l9dpGufgA1n1/s200/IMG_4482.jpg" width="200" /></a>For the legal-sized pages, scanned with my flatbed scanner, the work is fairly simple. The digital images are straight, have a common focal range, and a fairly consistent amount of overlap. <a href="http://windowslive.com/Desktop/photogallery">Windows Live Photo Gallery</a>, a free tool downloadable from Microsoft, has a simple yet remarkably intelligent stitching capability which melds the two halves of legal-sized documents back together with no sign that they were ever anything but a single scanned image.<br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovJdsLZFlG6KPIx36SWej2nZ3d7APM4Fv3HxI7ijPehNaBZn12bHo7xCxpfEGs3ty8fiJhVfNgyAnfpujutJZBIHlGxN-VirpiaPzzXLY3OoglKy0a5YaYnOJDf2NvKJijdM1-ebN3j-b/s1600-h/IMG_4483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovJdsLZFlG6KPIx36SWej2nZ3d7APM4Fv3HxI7ijPehNaBZn12bHo7xCxpfEGs3ty8fiJhVfNgyAnfpujutJZBIHlGxN-VirpiaPzzXLY3OoglKy0a5YaYnOJDf2NvKJijdM1-ebN3j-b/s200/IMG_4483.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
For the images I took with the digital camera, however, the problem is much tougher. As I swept across a page taking multiple images, invariably my focal range would change slightly, as would the camera angle, lighting, and amount of overlap between snaps. For this task, I have been using some more-advanced stitching tools in <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/">Adobe Photoshop Elements 8</a>. These tools allow me to reduce or eliminate variations in camera angle and even the small amount of "fish-eye" effect introduced by the camera's macro processing. To see an example of this, the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5I4hj8sCa43XLApPFiOX8fdYf29GfxJEferz6sUPkNhpvNCV_dbsBRch-G883BGvtYeLf4qESX3DOvWnAgHzfSFjqSdlD7dL8WD5S4kfYv_C2LNZR1xAgUxEbRq__G3Oekd24KUNSiFWE/s1600-h/AYLARD,+William+-+Death+Entry+-+1886-Feb-18.jpg">death entry for William Aylard</a> in my <a href="http://aylardfamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/william-aylard-he-died-from-diabetes.html">previous post</a> is actually a compilation of three separate camera images that have been "normalized" by Photoshop Elements.<br />
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I have included the three component images here so that you can compare (both these component images and the composite image in my previous post have all been reduced in size). After merging, I crop the resulting image to eliminate the mismatched areas along the edge of the merge. The result is reasonably convincing, I think. And as I work with these techniques more, I can use my gained experience to take better original images next time, ensuring better results with a smaller time investment, and even more saved cash.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #323232; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><i>I have republished this post from my previous blog, </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #323232; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">Aylard Family Research</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #323232; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><i style="font-style: normal;">.</i></span>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-89646953529049542542009-10-07T22:07:00.000-07:002011-03-27T21:48:58.272-07:00Redux: William Aylard’s Cause of Death ConfirmedWhen I was in Medina County, Ohio, a couple of weeks back, I spent the better part of two days in the vault of the Probate Court. The County maintains birth, marriage, and death records, among other types of records, that were created prior to centralized records mandated by the state government in about 1908. Many of these county-maintained records span the period of time when our Aylard ancestors lived in Brunswick.<br />
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From family sources, I knew that William Aylard, my great-great grandfather, had died on 18 February 1886. I located his death entry (they didn't create death certificates in those days) in the Probate Court vault and found that he had died of diabetes at the age of 72.<br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5I4hj8sCa43XLApPFiOX8fdYf29GfxJEferz6sUPkNhpvNCV_dbsBRch-G883BGvtYeLf4qESX3DOvWnAgHzfSFjqSdlD7dL8WD5S4kfYv_C2LNZR1xAgUxEbRq__G3Oekd24KUNSiFWE/s1600-h/AYLARD,+William+-+Death+Entry+-+1886-Feb-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5I4hj8sCa43XLApPFiOX8fdYf29GfxJEferz6sUPkNhpvNCV_dbsBRch-G883BGvtYeLf4qESX3DOvWnAgHzfSFjqSdlD7dL8WD5S4kfYv_C2LNZR1xAgUxEbRq__G3Oekd24KUNSiFWE/s400/AYLARD,+William+-+Death+Entry+-+1886-Feb-18.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #323232; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><i>I have republished this post from my previous blog, </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #323232; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">Aylard Family Research</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #323232; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><i>.</i></span>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-85288006473083657542009-09-24T18:03:00.000-07:002011-03-27T21:47:17.407-07:00Redux: Palmyra Mysteries: More Questions than Answers?In my last post, I described my visit with my father’s cousin (or my first cousin once removed!), and the wealth of family photographs that he shared with me. Following that visit I drove north to Wayne County, to research William and Sophia Aylard’s life there in the 1850s.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4JX24Adoxc6Tt3BMWVxCDaITGU8EaNCHCCKHSMCHrsf8_P6Ryi_bPtS1dBSRcJKDmEXyMfnzIuGHIxogQUUB_a9t94grpwrYoA5zWtEGqCYpKJ_TlVqtjD5jvqe1vCNH0gAJwwlBYYia/s1600-h/New+York+State+Census,+1855+-+Wayne+County,+Palmyra+-+p.+45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4JX24Adoxc6Tt3BMWVxCDaITGU8EaNCHCCKHSMCHrsf8_P6Ryi_bPtS1dBSRcJKDmEXyMfnzIuGHIxogQUUB_a9t94grpwrYoA5zWtEGqCYpKJ_TlVqtjD5jvqe1vCNH0gAJwwlBYYia/s200/New+York+State+Census,+1855+-+Wayne+County,+Palmyra+-+p.+45.jpg" /></a><br />
It appears that my ancestors left a light footprint in Palmyra. One resource I was eager to see was the 1855 New York State Census for Palmyra, as I knew William and Sophia were likely to be listed in it. I was pleased to find, in fact, that they are. The quality of the microfilmed copy that I was viewing was poor, and it appeared that the original document had probably suffered considerable wear-and-tear, and perhaps water damage. Additionally, the census taker recorded the family surname incorrectly, as Allard.<br />
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The census lists William (age 40) and Sophia (32), Sophia’s son, David (13) and William’s two surviving children by his previous wife, Sarah (11) and William (7). It also includes the couple’s two mutual children, Harriet (“Hattie”), age 1, and Mary Jane (“Jennie”), two months old. One curious tidbit that deserves further investigation: the census lists the family as residents of Palmyra for two years, meaning they had apparently arrived sometime in 1853. Most reliable information I have indicates that the family emigrated from England in 1851, so the census suggests that they lived somewhere else for two years. Where? I have not seen any information to determine an answer, although my best guess would be somewhere else in New York state, possibly New York City, or perhaps even somewhere in Canada, depending on their migration path. If I can ever locate the ship records for their Atlantic crossing, that will almost certainly shed light on the question.<br />
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Apart from the 1855 Census, almost no documents that I reviewed in Palmyra list the family. I searched the available microfilm records for three of the major, long-standing churches in the Palmyra area to see if they recorded any awareness of the family, especially birth or baptism records for the four children born there (John and George Henry closely followed their two older sisters before the family moved to Ohio, where the remainder of their children were born). I reviewed records for the Episcopal, Methodist, and Baptist churches, and found not one mention of a single Aylard. There are other churches in town whose records are not available on microfilm in the Wayne County Historian's office, and it is conceivable that the family might have attended one of those churches, or perhaps a smaller, alternative church. However, William's past involvement in the distribution of alcohol tends to suggest some limits on the types of churches that might have interested them. (As an aside: it was quite striking how much of the church business recorded in the minutes I read involved the disciplining and expulsion of members for various offenses, including having fellowship with other churches! Denominational loyalty was taken very seriously!)<br />
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It is interesting to note that Palmyra is, in fact, the purported birthplace of the Book of Mormon. I stayed in a hotel that was within walking distance of the hill where Joseph Smith claimed to have found the golden tablets from which the Book of Mormon is said to be derived. However, Smith and the nascent Mormon movement had left Palmyra long before our Aylard ancestors arrived there, so I do not think that connection had any bearing on their decision to live there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNtDrG0mmIvUzKM81A59KkRSn4KgLdbZ29Srm0S7r1pc619Lh6DF6t7SdtcdnmAxmt1UNla21nZr0wWQvBR7qnQt_PYcNKE7tVePgSJSU1vDN7HIwo8q2-peUqMVSoxF5FWQNRGbgWjQ/,-William---Canandaig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNtDrG0mmIvUzKM81A59KkRSn4KgLdbZ29Srm0S7r1pc619Lh6DF6t7SdtcdnmAxmt1UNla21nZr0wWQvBR7qnQt_PYcNKE7tVePgSJSU1vDN7HIwo8q2-peUqMVSoxF5FWQNRGbgWjQ/,-William---Canandaig.jpg" width="200" /></a>Perhaps a more significant connection had to do with alcohol. William is listed in an 1851 business directory for Soham, England, as a retailer of ales. His official employment was that of a carpenter, but apparently he ran some kind of pub on the side, too. Not long ago I discovered advertisements in 1858 editions of the Buffalo News for a William Aylard selling "McKechnie's Fine Canandaigua Ales and Liquors". William's son was too young to have begun such a business, and the only other William Aylard that I know of who was living in the United States at the time was a painter living in Cleveland, Ohio, who always used his middle initial: William H. Aylard. My great-great grandfather seemed the likely candidate for this business. And Canandaigua is the name of a town and a lake located just southeast of Palmyra, so that seemed to firm up the connection. During my recent research, I discovered that McKechnie, in fact, originally produced his Canandaigua Ales right in Palmyra! This lends further credence to my theory that William Aylard was trying to ship these products the one-hundred miles from Palmyra to Buffalo, almost certainly relying on the Erie Canal. Palmyra was a lock port along the canal, and Buffalo was its western terminus. Whether the distribution of alcohol was his motive for moving to Palmyra, or whether it simply blossomed once he saw what looked like an opportunity, I am not sure. But it seems that he was likely more motivated by the sale of alcohol than by the attendance of church, based on my preliminary research.<br />
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<i>Friday is my last day of research, as I will fly back home to California early Saturday morning. I spent most of the day today (Thursday) in the vault of the Medina County Probate Court where many of the records of births, deaths, and marriages are stored from the era before the state took over this record-keeping in the early twentieth century. I will provide more information on my findings there in a future post.</i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #323232; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><i>I have republished this post from my previous blog, </i>Aylard Family Research<i style="font-style: normal;">.</i></span>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-1852594763699432972009-09-21T18:50:00.000-07:002011-03-27T21:46:47.556-07:00Redux: New York Post: Family Research in the Empire StateThe setting sun, muted in Midwestern haze, bathed an endless patchwork of square fields in a soft orange glow as my plane descended from cruising altitude. Only the occasional river slithering carelessly across the landscape seemed to defy the uniformity below. As the plane arced out over Lake Erie in its approach to Cleveland Hopkins International, whitecap standard-bearers lead a formidable armada of waves far below. I wondered what my ancestors would think: the wild frontier that once lured them westward with the promise of open land, now mastered, just a few short generations later.<br />
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And it was to better understand their movements that I came here: briefly to Ohio, at first, and then on to New York state. I did not expect to uncover any groundbreaking revelations, and so far I have not. But I hoped to begin to add some detail and color to the faint sketch of knowledge that I had. And I have gained some of that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4PkuVbTgnPpsQGo6S02Cb6fww3Toxw1EMnxLkjYhhL2KmarkkC3T71sqQCjmIFKOTZ1Fzonb-HH_Wwb7Zifp6wTY79eL1mJng-4agCrmFOUL0sghiWdGPZskpBcMmSU6FbKRAvwxHqjo/s1600-h/IMG_4089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4PkuVbTgnPpsQGo6S02Cb6fww3Toxw1EMnxLkjYhhL2KmarkkC3T71sqQCjmIFKOTZ1Fzonb-HH_Wwb7Zifp6wTY79eL1mJng-4agCrmFOUL0sghiWdGPZskpBcMmSU6FbKRAvwxHqjo/s200/IMG_4089.JPG" /></a>My plane arrived Saturday evening, and after an overnight stay near the airport in Cleveland, I trekked 350 miles across the southern shore of Lake Erie, through a tiny strip of Pennsylvania, and into the heartland of upstate New York. My destination that afternoon was the small town outside of Ithaca where my father's cousin, Dr. Stephenson, held a trove of photographs from the Barr and Vore side of my Aylard heritage. He also has a storehouse of knowledge based on at least a dozen years in which he dug into the dusty shelves of old documents and reels of microfilm to do the same sort of thing that I am doing now. And he had some firsthand knowledge, as well, having spent time with his Vore grandparents, who are my great grandparents.<br />
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Dr. Stephenson and I spent several hours scanning several large envelopes full of family photographs. Most of them had some level of identification associated with them, but others, sadly, did not. He thought his mother could have easily identified most of the mysterious faces that we could not. But as with many things, realizations such as this often come only when the opportunity is gone. Nonetheless, we scanned these anyway in the hope that perhaps one day I could identify some of them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbiAMpPnaHGVOgB19rTvAyzLmUGcmngoiV3qKzQ6jN_scr4eE09eCfqA1HVaLM3odAcSMAugbGd7oecbTAAoB5S7INeRH6sWEy-IaK09C-lm5wzFcHzXJHAh6VZUICM0gvxVaiIFx_-rV/s1600-h/FIELDS,+Calista+Samira.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbiAMpPnaHGVOgB19rTvAyzLmUGcmngoiV3qKzQ6jN_scr4eE09eCfqA1HVaLM3odAcSMAugbGd7oecbTAAoB5S7INeRH6sWEy-IaK09C-lm5wzFcHzXJHAh6VZUICM0gvxVaiIFx_-rV/s200/FIELDS,+Calista+Samira.jpg" /></a>One of my favorite photographs, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me, is one that I did not even conceive could have existed until just a few short weeks ago when I saw a copy of it in a PDF file that Dr. Stephenson had compiled nearly ten years ago. It is of my 2d great grandmother (my father's mother's mother's mother), Calista Samira Fields, who married my 2d great grandfather, John Hiatt Barr. Calista married John when she was barely nineteen, bore him five daughters and a son, and then died after a short illness at the age of forty-one.<br />
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After spending the night in Ithaca, I drove north through the aptly named Finger Lakes region to the small town of Lyons, New York, the County seat for Wayne County. My 2d great grandfather in my direct Aylard line, William Aylard, migrated to the small community of Palmyra, about fifteen miles down the road from Lyons. I spent most of the day there in the office of the County Historian performing research into the 1855 New York State census, and into church records for three of the major churches that existed in Palmyra when William and his growing family lived there. I will try to provide more information about this visit at a later time, as I plan to return there again tomorrow for further research.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #323232; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><i>I have republished this post from my previous blog, </i>Aylard Family Research<i>.</i></span>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-22279566236827448132009-09-14T21:56:00.000-07:002011-03-23T21:58:06.337-07:00Redux: Records of Death for Two Aylard AncestorsFresh from the post: I just received three death certificates (technically, Certified Copies of Entries of Death) from the United Kingdom General Records Office (GRO) for some Aylard ancestors. I had purchased these over the Internet about two weeks ago.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKqokklYJ9SQi_xIKd-Zf8zyle48hOaj2scMib2xl9Sh5P8GQnpfZyyrZ2Hg4fLXXMm8HCbtfQoIx8bYKgnpHPW3cP2qycGGeEya0Ds6NoYODFjD0XysKO_8huJvesaf81CO3JdugolJj/s1600-h/AYLARD,+John+-+Death+Certificate,+1842-Mar-27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKqokklYJ9SQi_xIKd-Zf8zyle48hOaj2scMib2xl9Sh5P8GQnpfZyyrZ2Hg4fLXXMm8HCbtfQoIx8bYKgnpHPW3cP2qycGGeEya0Ds6NoYODFjD0XysKO_8huJvesaf81CO3JdugolJj/s200/AYLARD,+John+-+Death+Certificate,+1842-Mar-27.jpg" /></a></div>One certificate is for John Aylard, a younger brother of my great-great grandfather, William (my genealogy software tells me that John was my 2d great grand uncle). Like William, and their father (also named William), John was a carpenter. However, the certificate verifies that John died in early adulthood, at the age of twenty-one, on 27 March 1842 in Soham. His cause of death was recorded as "inflammation of the lungs." Cross-referencing archaic medical terms, this appears to have been what we would call pneumonia. I think it is not at all unlikely that William later named his first American-born son John in honor of his brother.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2h7UkqU8WwlhtbOAQlvsCK3b_GLyPCx65BsH0kUi1I7IkfMze9kVRrSwFH56-eYQsF5jEeZTU-vnGfdtxvGwMpIezA7Opku89faVKL9B1t0O2zBEAFOqtGG2XDeZBCRUtJrB50UWVFou/s1600-h/AYLARD,+William+-+Death+Certificate,+1840-Dec-29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2h7UkqU8WwlhtbOAQlvsCK3b_GLyPCx65BsH0kUi1I7IkfMze9kVRrSwFH56-eYQsF5jEeZTU-vnGfdtxvGwMpIezA7Opku89faVKL9B1t0O2zBEAFOqtGG2XDeZBCRUtJrB50UWVFou/s200/AYLARD,+William+-+Death+Certificate,+1840-Dec-29.jpg" /></a>The second certificate of note, and of more direct genealogical interest to me, is that of William Aylard — not William Aylard, my great-great grandfather, nor even his father; but my great-great-great-great grandfather! He lived to the respectable age of 81, dying on 29 December 1840 in Fordham. He, too, had been a carpenter, so clearly there was something of a family tradition in the trade. The certificate states that he died of Enteritis, or inflammation of the bowels.<br />
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The third certificate is particularly sad, of two-week-old Martin Aylard, who died of "Debility" (lack of movement) on 27 September 1840. I do not yet know his relationship to my direct line, if any, but the fact that his father is named William and that the family lived in nearby Kirtling may suggest a connection.<br />
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<b><i>Research note:</i></b> I am conducting an ongoing review of every Aylard listed in the Birth/Marriage/Death (BMD) indexes for England, beginning in 1837 when the keeping of official records was first mandated. I record these entries in a research log, and note particularly any listed in the district of Newmarket. This district contains the two small farming towns of Soham and Fordham from which my direct-line Aylard ancestors came. Every so often I will order copies of Newmarket entries, which usually prove to be individuals I know to be closely related. Those who are not, I am very confident, will eventually also prove to be closely related, though perhaps less so.<br />
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<i>I have republished this post from my previous blog, Aylard Family Research.</i>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2994998417141579099.post-750518855987558272009-09-12T15:09:00.000-07:002011-03-23T21:45:04.499-07:00Redux: Finding Family in Hammer and Nails, and a Pint of Beer<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsByaPCQqrsS1KvzwnBachoD4_yNhVYTGlLQDjEiv5mx-GNGO65G4rtRd0yservUa6upOk_o3GUgo2nBMYR2p9kxJEMhaStPcYmGaVB545sNqBKmqz9dYIh2o-qWQB-tWY85M_3TSa936/s1600/20090711002_Resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsByaPCQqrsS1KvzwnBachoD4_yNhVYTGlLQDjEiv5mx-GNGO65G4rtRd0yservUa6upOk_o3GUgo2nBMYR2p9kxJEMhaStPcYmGaVB545sNqBKmqz9dYIh2o-qWQB-tWY85M_3TSa936/s200/20090711002_Resized.jpg" /></a>William Aylard worked with his hands as a carpenter in the small farming town of Soham in Cambridgeshire, England, where he also tended a pub. Life in the quiet countryside was no doubt typically uneventful, but his life in 1851 was about to be turned upside-down.<br />
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He was born in 1814 in a district of greater London known as Stepney (or Stepney Green, as it is recorded in one census document), although both of his parents were apparently native to Cambridgeshire some distance away. He was named William, as were his father and grandfather. Although born in London, William lived in Soham throughout his youth by all indications, and any connections to possible family in London are not yet known.<br />
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When in his early twenties, he married Ann Darnell, apparently in the months or years just before civil registration became mandatory in 1837. She gave birth to his first child, Ann, in the Spring of 1839. Before the end of that year, however, his wife died of the wasting disease then known as Consumption, which is now called tuberculosis. His young daughter went to live with his dead wife's parents.<br />
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A few years later he married his second wife, Fanny Levet. She gave birth to two sons, both named William (the first died in infancy), and a daughter named Sarah (likely in honor of both of their mothers who shared the name). In 1851, after nearly ten years of marriage, Fanny also contracted Consumption and died.<br />
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Whether Fanny's death was an impetus, or whether William fulfilled what had been a mutual intention is not known. But shortly after his second wife's death, he left England with Sarah and young William and immigrated to the United States.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWeY1Mzo1pucYeylut4cglT0SW9wXcraSqxV2my1D0eHfpbqnTz26TYdYkPhDYe_xAsZFo6UaC9aStkntUugUhB1qty8XeK_41vOqTo9shlf0CBZYHJ9hFTw-oENRRtv9ra7WxUDuSdbp/s1600-h/20090711005_Resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWeY1Mzo1pucYeylut4cglT0SW9wXcraSqxV2my1D0eHfpbqnTz26TYdYkPhDYe_xAsZFo6UaC9aStkntUugUhB1qty8XeK_41vOqTo9shlf0CBZYHJ9hFTw-oENRRtv9ra7WxUDuSdbp/s200/20090711005_Resized.jpg" /></a>Somewhere in that transaction, he married his third wife — my great-great grandmother — Sophia Barret. Sophia was also from Soham, and had given birth to one son, David, out of wedlock at the age of sixteen. (Family lore indicates that David's father was Sophia's employer in her role as a hired house-keeper. The degree of consensuality involved is simply not known; however, it appears that David bore his mother's surname until he later adopted that of his step-father, William Aylard.)<br />
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Family stories indicate that Sophia and David came to America aboard the same ship as William and his two children, and that she even tended to an apparently ill-stricken William during the trans-Atlantic crossing. Almost certainly, William and Sophia must have known each other long before they journeyed to the United States, having lived in the same small town all of their lives. Perhaps being aboard the same ship gave opportunity to renew or deepen an existing acquaintance. Or perhaps they knew each other well and were part of a joint plan to begin a new life in the New World.<br />
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Further research may yet show that many left Soham for the United States at that time as some surnames that appear in England census documents for Soham also later appear in United States census documents in proximity to William and Sophia. The couple — apparently married shortly after their arrival in the United States — settled with their blended family in the small community of Palmyra, New York, and there gave birth to several children, including my great-grandfather, John Aylard.<br />
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There are some indications that William may have attempted an alcohol wholesale and retail business in Buffalo, New York, for a short time, perhaps relying on experience he had gained by running his pub in England. However, by 1860, on the eve of the United States Civil War, William moved his family from New York to Brunswick, Ohio, where he and Sophia lived for much of the rest of their lives. William died on 17 February 1886 at 72 years of age, and Sophia died on 21 August 1889 at about 64 years of age.<br />
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<i>I have republished this post from my previous blog, Aylard Family Research.</i>Aylarjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440947193830946558noreply@blogger.com1