More Organization

I am continuing my quest to get organized.  I have gone through some documentation I found on the Internet in reference to the Modrell Family and created Family Group Sheets for everyone.  I also have a copy of the Scott/Mayes book that descendants have compiled.  The only issue with both sets of information, is that I don't know where the documentation came from since most of the information provided does not contain sources for the information.  I will be compiling those Family Group Sheets for the Scott/Mayes families as well.  Once finished, I will be able to find holes in the information I have from both sides of my family and continue my search to find the necessary documents that back up the information provided, and will then be able to provide sourced and documented evidence since much the information is from unknown (to me) sources.

Family Group Sheets help me to see the big picture since the parents and children are listed as well as birth, marriage and death dates, and room for place information on each event and a 2nd page for miscellaneous notes (such as Census information, all source documentation for information provided on 1st page, name of hospital/nursing home for birth or death information, etc).  Family Group Sheets are truly a great source of information.  If you have any missing areas, you see at a glance which documents you need to find to complete the information for each family group.  There should be a sheet for each person as both a child and parent (if they are a parent) or spouse or partner (if living with another individual).  The form I have is in a Word Document so I can change form fields if needed when I have a "Partner" situation instead of "Husband/Wife" or "Spouse/Spouse" for same sex marriages instead of "Husband/Wife".  It can be customized for whatever situation I come across.

I have saved the form I use to Google Docs and by clicking this link you can see the form I am speaking of.  I can't remember where I got this form, but I found it somewhere on the Internet.  There are a lot of forms out there and you can google Family Group Sheet and add Word Document or Excel Document for those forms that are fillable on the computer.  Ancestry.com and Family Tree Magazine also have many free documents which can be downloaded and used by anyone.

Another set of very helpful forms that can be found on the Internet are the Census Forms that date back to the first census in 1790 with readable column headings so you know what information was asked.  When I provide census images and information on my blog, I will provide the information for each column, but that information won't mean anything if you don't know what the headings are (which reflect back to the questions asked by the census taker).

I also need to put tab dividers in my binder to divide each family surname in an effort to make it easier to place information I find.  Then, I will need to create a Table Of Contents for each section so I don't duplicate the documentation I have (which has happened many times before with my complete and total disorganization).  The key will be to remember to update the Table Of Contents when I find new documentation to add to a specific person or family.

I will be back to providing family information in blog posts shortly.  Thank you for being patient during my respite from "searching for ancestors"!

Correction To Grandma Scott

One of my cousins pointed out to me that I had the spelling wrong on one of the names associated with the Pall Bearers (referred to in the post as Escorts) in an earlier post titled "Grandma Scott".

I have corrected that post and wanted to provide the information separately for those who may have seen the earlier post and also noticed the misspelling.

To set the record straight, I looked back at the Funeral Brochure for Cora Viola (Main) Scott and the name is actually spelled wrong there, which consequently led to me misspelling the information on my blog post.

The correction is as follows:  I had "Living Alvarez" as an Escort and it should be "Living Alcaraz".

Please see Grandma Scott (posted on May 12, 2015) for the complete post and to see that the above information has been updated.  I do apologize for the error, but I was typing what the Funeral Brochure stated and as we all know, we as humans are not perfect and we do make mistakes.  In the genealogy world, we are used to names being spelled wrong which leads us to search in records for many variations of each surname - and we still find new variations just when we thought we had it all down pat.

Thank you cousin for pointing out the misinformation, and I do apologize to you and the rest of your family for this mistake.

Organization

I am taking a short respite from by blog while I organize my documents.  Why you ask?  Well....

I realized when I spent over 12 hours writing this post about Perry Eneau that I did not have all my ducks (uh...docs) in a row.  I had to look in several places to find the different pieces of information that is referred to in that post.  I now have all that information together, despite the fact that some of that information may be tossed out as I work through that brick wall - although, I have worked with that information for about 5 years and still have not come to any conclusions.  I know there is a missing piece of information that I will find someday that will make all that information come together and my brick wall will tumble!  How I look forward to that day!!

I have spoken before about the fact that I absolutely love to read.  I read two (2) genealogy magazines (Internet Genealogy and Family Tree Magazine) as well as History Magazine.  History Magazine provides me with information about Military Conflicts, Weather Disasters, Heroes and Heroines, Villains and Outlaws, and much more that I can then relate to my ancestors during their lifetime. With each magazine, I mark articles as I read them that have information which I may need later (websites, international research, etc.) and I then tear those articles out and throw away the rest of the magazine.  Those articles are then separated according to content and placed in a page protector which is then placed into a binder.  I have binders for: International Research, State/City Research, Specific Record Categories (Census, Obituary, Church, Land, Military, etc.), History Articles, Specific Website Tutorials, and the last one has miscellaneous articles broke down by category (organization, photo identification, social media/apps, etc.).

I also use binders for my genealogy research.  I have a binder for my proven family members and another for my possible family members.  Once I find a document that confirms their relationship, those documents are then moved into my proven family member's binder.  Despite the number of years I have been conducting research, I only have up to some of my great-grandparents confirmed. Many people have hundreds of names by now, but I want to be careful and make sure my family really is my family and not people that others have linked to my family with no proven sources. There are too many stories out there of unconfirmed family members and I started this research wanting no part of that.  I don't want living family members "thinking" they are related to someone just because I decided to take the word of someone else, instead of finding the information that would prove/disprove that family relationship.

I want to include a Family Record Sheet for each family, as well as a Research Log for each person. That way, I will have information at the touch of a finger for everyone who is related to each other and how they are related, as well as a log for each person showing the searches I perform and whether or not I am successful in finding anything.  I also want to keep a running list of the documents/information that I need to find in order to provide more information about each ancestors life.

Please bear with me as I find a place for everything and put everything in it's place.  Who knows if I will get the entire task completed, but I hope to get the majority of it done so I can concentrate most of my time and energy on what I love doing most - "Searching For Ancestors"!!

Census Sunday (Scott, Guy Calvin)

This is the 1940 Census for Guy Calvin Scott.  Below the image is the information for each of the columns.  Guy Calvin Scott is my grandfather on my mother’s side.  My mother is listed as daughter.

For Occupation – this census states he is a tractor man for the W.P.A. (columns 28 and 29).  W.P.A. stands for Works Project Administration.  I need to find out more about what that means.  My understanding is that the government put people to work in different occupations, but I need to confirm that by doing some research on the Works Project Administration and what Tractor Man consisted of.

Column 27 states duration of unemployment in weeks for Guy Calvin Scott was 96 weeks.  Since he wasn’t working, is that what constituted him working for the W.P.A.?  Column 30 states GW which indicates Government Work.  Again, need to research this.

 

1940 US Federal Census
Guy Calvin Scott Family, Howard, Bates County, Missouri

State - Missouri; County - Bates; Township - Howard; Incorporated Place – Blank; Ward of City – Blank; Block No. - Blank; Unincorporated Place - Blank; Institution - Blank; Supervisor's District No. - 6; Enumeration District No. – 7-13; Enumerated By Me On – April 15, 1940; Sheet – 4B; Enumerator – Paul Jennings.

Line No.54

Column 1 - Blank; 2 - Blank; 3 – 97; 4 - Rented; 5 - Blank; 6 - Yes; 7 – Scott, Guy C; 8 - Head; Code - Blank; 9 - M; 10 - W; 11 - 47; 12 - M; 13 - No; 14 - 8; Code – Blank; 15 – Kansas; Code - Blank; 16 - Blank; 17 - Same House; 18 - Blank; 19 - Blank; 20 - Yes; Code - Blank; 21 - No; 22 - Yes; 23 - Blank; 24 - Blank; 25 - Blank; Code - 2; 26 - Blank; 27 - 96; 28 – Tractor Man; 29 – W.P.A; 30 - GW; Code - Blank; 31 - 19; 32 - $486; 33 – Yes; 34 - 86

Line No. 55

Column 1 - Blank; 2 - Blank; 3 - Blank; 4 - Blank; 5 - Blank; 6 - Blank; 7 – Scott, Cora V; 8 - Wife; Code – Blank; 9 - F; 10 - W; 11 - 42; 12 - M; 13 - No; 14 - H-2; Code – Blank; 15 - Missouri; Code - Blank; 16 - Blank; 17 - Same House; 18 - Blank; 19 - Blank; 20 - Yes; Code - Blank; 21 - No; 22 - No; 23 - No; 24 - No; 25 - H; Code - Blank; 26 - Blank; 27 - Blank; 28 - Blank; 29 - Blank; 30 - Blank; Code - Blank; 31 - Blank; 32 - Blank; 33 - Blank; 34 - Blank

Line No. 56

Column 1 - Blank; 2 - Blank; 3 - Blank; 4 - Blank; 5 - Blank; 6 - Blank; 7 – Scott, Tommie L; 8 - Son; Code – Blank; 9 - M; 10 - W; 11 - 18; 12 - S; 13 - Yes; 14 – H-3; Code – Blank; 15 - Missouri; Code - Blank; 16 - Blank; 17 - Same House; 18 - Blank; 19 - Blank; 20 - Yes; Code - Blank; 21 - No; 22 - No; 23 - No; 24 - No; 25 - S; Code - Blank; 26 - Blank; 27 - Blank; 28 - Blank; 29 - Blank; 30 Blank; Code - Blank; 31 - Blank; 32 - Blank; 33 - Blank; 34 – Blank

Line No. 57

Column 1 - Blank; 2 - Blank; 3 - Blank; 4 - Blank; 5 - Blank; 6 - Blank; 7 – Scott, William G; 8 - Son; Code – Blank; 9 - M; 10 - W; 11 - 13; 12 - S; 13 - Yes; 14 – 6; Code – Blank; 15 - Kansas; Code - Blank; 16 - Blank; 17 - Same House; 18 - Blank; 19 - Blank; 20 - Yes; Code - Blank; 21 – Blank; 22 - Blank; 23 - Blank; 24 - Blank; 25 - Blank; Code - Blank; 26 - Blank; 27 - Blank; 28 - Blank; 29 - Blank; 30 Blank; Code - Blank; 31 - Blank; 32 - Blank; 33 - Blank; 34 – Blank

Line No. 58

Column 1 - Blank; 2 - Blank; 3 - Blank; 4 - Blank; 5 - Blank; 6 - Blank; 7 – Scott, Jason; 8 - Son; Code – Blank; 9 - M; 10 - W; 11 - 11; 12 - S; 13 - Yes; 14 – 5; Code – Blank; 15 - Kansas; Code - Blank; 16 - Blank; 17 - Same House; 18 - Blank; 19 - Blank; 20 - Yes; Code - Blank; 21 – Blank; 22 - Blank; 23 - Blank; 24 - Blank; 25 - Blank; Code - Blank; 26 - Blank; 27 - Blank; 28 - Blank; 29 - Blank; 30 Blank; Code - Blank; 31 - Blank; 32 - Blank; 33 - Blank; 34 – Blank

Line No. 59

Column 1 - Blank; 2 - Blank; 3 - Blank; 4 - Blank; 5 - Blank; 6 - Blank; 7 – Scott, Leona Frances; 8 - Daughter; Code – Blank; 9 - F; 10 - W; 11 - 5; 12 - S; 13 - Blank; 14 – Blank; Code – Blank; 15 - Missouri; Code - Blank; 16 - Blank; 17 - Same House; 18 - Blank; 19 - Blank; 20 - Yes; Code - Blank; 21 – Blank; 22 - Blank; 23 - Blank; 24 - Blank; 25 - Blank; Code - Blank; 26 - Blank; 27 - Blank; 28 - Blank; 29 - Blank; 30 Blank; Code - Blank; 31 - Blank; 32 - Blank; 33 - Blank; 34 – Blank

Perry B. Eneau Obituary

According to his death certificate, Perry B. Eneau passed away on July 14, 1955 at St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri of Thrombophlebitis due to gangrene in his left leg.  He is buried at the Ashland Cemetery, St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri in Lot F-11, Location 2W, according to the cemetery record.

I have two (2) newspaper clippings for Perry B. Eneau.  Both are from unknown newspapers which I someday hope to identify.

Perry B. Eneau

The body of Perry B. Eneau, who died last night, is at the Meierhoffer-Fleeman funeral home.

Mr. Eneau, 82, died at his home, 418 North 29th street.  A lifetime St. Joseph resident, he had been a gardener at the William Albrecht home until six years ago and prior to that, for 35 years, had been an employee of the old Noyes-Norman Shoe Co.

Mr. Eneau is survived by his wife, Mrs. Carrie A. Eneau of the home; a daughter, Mrs. Harry Modrell, Dearborn, Mo.; two half sisters, Mrs. Sophia Wiscamb, Denver, Colo., and Mrs. Priscilla Lavelette, Colorado Springs, Colo.; a grandson and a great-grandson.

Eneau Services

Services for Perry B. Eneau will be held Monday at 1:30 p.m. at the Meierhoffer-Fleeman chapel, the Rev. E. C. Hunt officiating.  Burial will be in Ashland Cemetery.  Mr. Eneau, a lifelong resident of St. Joseph died Thursday night at his home, 418 North 29th street, at the age of 82.

Who Are The Parents?

Perry B. Eneau is a man that has confused me to no end.  The brick wall with him is so tall I can’t even see to the top.

Perry was born August 15, 1872 in St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, according to his death certificate.  He married Carrie A. Young on October 28, 1898 in St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, according to his marriage license.  They are the parents of Maxine W. Eneau (my paternal grandmother).

I believe Perry was actually born with the last name of Heneault, which was shortened at some time to Eneau.  I don’t know when, why or how.  I find records under both names and his siblings and possible parents records always refer to Heneault (with various spellings, never Eneau like his records).

I need to look at the christening record from Immaculate Conception which is indexed at FamilySearch.org that shows his name as Perier Eduardum Eneau, however, I have a note handwritten by my father (Jerry Eneau Modrell), which states his name is Perry Baptiste Eneau with the same date of birth as above and also states he was born in the French Bottoms of St. Joseph, Missouri.  His death certificate and marriage license both show his name as Perry B. Eneau, as well as his obituary and tombstone.

His death certificate states his parents are Stephen Eneau and Victoria Lavelette.  There are several issues with this theory:

·         Victoria Lavelette married Xavier Lavelette on January 7, 1879 and they had no children (still trying to figure out if they were related – cousins maybe?).  This is according to FamilySearch.org, so will need to look at the record for this to see if there is any additional information.

·         Stephen Eneau married Victoria Didlo November 29, 1883 which is 11 years after Perry was born.

·         Victoria Didlo was born January 18, 1865 which puts her at 7 years old having Perry as a child which is not likely to have happened.

·         Stephen Heneault obituary from the Catholic Tribune states he leaves a brother, Perry Heneault in St. Joseph.

·         Victoria Didlo obituary from the Catholic Tribune states she leaves two (2) sons, Edward and David.

His christening records states his parents are Stephano Eneau and Victoria.  Again, only the above records and issues were discovered.

The 1880 US Federal Census states he is the son of Sylvester Henault and Lucinda Henault.  Following is a synopsis of the information found on Sylvester/Lucinda:

·         Sylvester Henault was 56 years old in the 1880 Census which would have put him at 48 years old in 1872 when Perry was born which is more likely than 7 year old Victoria.

·         Lucinda was 59 in the 1880 Census which would have put her at 51 years old in 1872 when Perry was born – is that likely?  I am not sure.

·         The 1900 US Federal Census shows a Sylvan Eneau living with his daughter, Victoria Richart. Most likely her maiden name was Eno, was she the Widow in the 1880 US Federal Census?  Was she married before Richart?

·         The 1880 US Federal Census shows a Victoria Eno as a widow living with Michael and Priscilla Lavlett.  It states Delia and Edward as daughter and son respectively, supposed relationship to head of household, however, Victoria Lavelette and Stephen Heneault were parents of Delia according to her marriage license to Julius Henry on September 9, 1918, not to mention Victoria Didlow (who married Stephen Heneault) also had a son named Edward.  Are these the same women?  Due to supposed age at birth of children, I doubt it, but I can’t find any other references to a Victoria Heneault, Eno, or Lavelette.

So, as you can see, I am so confused.  I can’t seem to find a record that will straighten all this out and provide me the information I need to move forward (or backward in the case of genealogy).  If anyone out there has any ideas, please feel free to let me know.

Sympathy Saturday

Following are the newspaper notices of the deaths of my father’s parents.

Harry Modrell

            Harry H. Modrell, 78, formerly of the 400 block of N. 29^th St., died Thursday afternoon at a Kansas City medical center following an illness of several months.

            A native of St. Joseph, he had lived most of his life here prior to moving to Grandview, Mo., in 1972.

            Mr. Modrell was an industrial engineer, having worked for Swift & Co. in St. Joseph and Pratt & Whitney in Kansas City before retiring in 1972.

            He was preceded in death by his wife, Maxine W. Eneau, in 1967.

            Survivors include one son, Jerry E. Modrell, Grandview, and two grandchildren.

            The body is at the Meierhoffer-Fleeman funeral home.

St. Joseph Gazette, January 22, 1982

Mrs. Maxine W. Modrell

            Funeral services 3 o’clock Tuesday afternoon, Meierhoffer-Fleeman chapel, the Rev. Arthur W. Ballard officiating, Internment Ashland Cemetery.

St. Joseph Gazette, September 18, 1967