campion

Yes I am but haven't done any for ages------I have 1 famous Ancestor--well he was an InLaw---Captain James Cook the circumnavigator

damaquilts

Sounds like Jack is your man.
I want to find 1 just one horse thief or something in my Coryell family. It seems they were all pretty staid and average middle class for what ever time period they were in. lol

fabric=fun

This thread caught my eye - just started some family searching in July and . . . .
I couldn't believe how addictive it is!

Do you think there is a link between Fabricholic and Geneaholic, lol?

Yes, I am dividing my time these days!

gaigai

I had to split my screen, so I can address this, LOL. OK, here are my (never to be humble, but not definitive) thoughts about Jack/Joseph.

You should have birth records (county, whatever) showing Joseph P. (Joe) Barber is the son of James & Mary Jane. You should also have marriage and divorce records for Joe and Maxie and marriage records for Joe and Emily. BUT you must also have some actual documentation or link of some kind that shows that the Joe that is married to Maxie and Emily is the SAME Joe Barber who is the son of James and Mary Jane. Joseph Barber is not an uncommon name, and I would suspect that there are several (yes, even with the same birth date) in California. You should also have records of the families, including siblings of James (Mary Jane). It was common for names to repeat.

In my Bevington line, there were Thomas, Henry and James. Each one had sons named Thomas, Henry and James, and each of their sons did too, so when it comes to separating who belonged to whom, it can get hairy!! My gr-grandfather Michael Dobmeyer had a cousin, Michael Dobmeyer, with the same birthdate. Same small county in Ohio. What do you have that links the Joseph Barber who was married to Emily with James & Mary Jane and Joseph and Maxie? Because I promise you, name and birth date is NOT enough. Do you have any kind of will, or land records that name children, wife's maiden name, parents, etc.? And have you tried to find a birth record for Jack Barber in Canada? Canadian records can be excellent!! Remember in French Canada, Jack=John=Jean. You should also get copies of the complete military hospital record and search it for ties. There may be something in the record that points you in the right direction. Until and unless you have something that links Joe and Jack, I have to agree with your sister, that there is a good possibility they are not the same at all.

For example, I struggled for more than 10 years looking for the parents of my gr-gr-grandfather Edward LaMarche. I knew he was born in Quebec, and came to the US. Family stories said his family was wealthy, and that he was disowned when he decided to stay in the US, and that his name was "DE Lamarche". The problem is that the surname Lamarche is as common as Jones in Quebec, and further complicated by the fact that in Canada, Lamarche is not an original name. It is what is called a "dit" name, or alias/aka. There were about 12 different surnames it could revert to. Plus Canadian records link through marriage records. But my Edward married in the US. I did find a Lamarche researcher who had every single available record of Lamarche marriages in Quebec, but that didn't help me. I needed to know Edward's parents names. I had a copy of the Naturalization Index information, which listed him as Edward Sr. (I am descended from his son Edward) with wife and children. All the information from the actual document was listed on the index page, so I never took the time or trouble to get the original document, which had not been microfilmed. Well, after about 10 years, just to complete what documentation that was available to me, I sent away for a copy of the original naturalization record, just to have it. After all, it wasn't going to give me any new information, but it would help complete my records/documentation for that person. The genealogist who copied the record for me, included a little note that said "BTW, I noticed that while the index lists Edward as Sr., the actual document shows him as Edward Jr. Obviously the person who compiled the index misread Jr. as Sr., since he had a son by the same name". And EUREKA!!!! There it was!!!! What was really funny, was what I had just researched, literally the same week. I had found a photo of "Grandpa Edward's brother, in Montreal, who was a doctor". From the photo and date it was taken, I could guestimate an approximate age for him. I then contacted my Lamarche expert and asked him to name all Lamarche MD's. He gave me three names. I then traced each of those persons ancestry back at least two generations and compared dates. Only one was the right time-period. His father's name was Edouard!!! When I went looking for the birth record for MY Edward, I found him. He was baptized "Joseph Marie Edouard Dufaux dit Lamarche". Knowing this information, I have found more links.

So, it can get incredibly complicated, but I LOVE IT!!! Good luck!

Charlee

I wish I had Ancestry International...I can't access the Canadian records.
Joseph Pleasant Barber has Canadian ancestry...his grandmother was Marie LaFlesh, who was born in Ohio according to census reports, but her father was French Candian...they were quite proud of that ancestry...

I am (personally) positive of Jack being our Joseph...but do realize that I need to document...

gaigai

Hmmm, you SAY you think Jack and Joe are the same person, but your arguments say differently. If there is an ancestry for Jack that lists parents who are French Canadian, it is VERY unlikely that Jack and Joe are the same person. If you had absolutely NO information on Jack, that is one thing, but when you actually have a parent's name and location, then logic would tell you that they are different.

You have two different options for accessing Ancestry and other records. First, try your public library. Many libraries have Ancestry available from their computers. The other thing is to go to

www.familysearch.org

On the tabs at the top, there is one that says "Library". Cursor over it to bring up a drop-down menu, and chose "Family History Center". That will take you to a locator screen, where you can find the nearest Family History Center (FHC) to you. The LDS FHC's are open to everyone. They will have Ancestry on their computers, and you can order microfilm for use there at the FHC. Also on the FHC site are some actual records.

Try to locate Jack P. in census records prior to 1920-30. If you find him in a census in Ohio, while your Joe is on one in California, that is pretty positive proof they are not the same person.

Joan Rosemary

I have been doing gaeneology on and off for several years now. When I started I had no knowledge of my Mothers family as she died when I was only 2. Once I started I managed to go as far back as early 1700's. It is like being a detective. Great fun very enlightening and worthwhile.
Great to understand where you are from.
Joan

eeraemore

I totally love this stuff and have since I was a kid. I became addicted when I was in college - when the "internet" was discovered. It can consume hours....and it did. I developed my own three step internet genealogy rehab program (kidding). I think I've gotten most of my lines back to dead ends -- some in the 1500s, most to the 1700s, except for the dead ends.

French Canadian roots have been a challenge. Lots of people with the same name, and I don't know the birth location of my "lost dude," born 1820s in Canada or upstate NY. Unfortunately, he is the origin of my maiden name.

The most challenging was the Lithuanian side. Family said I would never find anything out about my g-grandmother, Dorothy Adams, b. about 1890 or so, in MD or WV, with "Russian" roots. Well, I did - shocked even myself. Adams = Adomaitis. Turns out, Dorothy married young (15 or so), and her mother had three marriages and family was huge....kinda dysfunctional, which could be why she never shared details with her son (my grandfather). But, I have not gotten farther back past her parents (b. 1850s-1860s, Mariampol, Suwalki, Lith) -- without spending lots of money for a private researcher in Poland/Lithuania. Darn! Maybe some day.

I've had a subscription to ancestry.com since the 1990s, but does anyone have a sub to the European ships part (like, the ships TO Europe). Dorothy's half-sister (Josepha Levanovich) went to the UK in the 1930s, would like to know why. I have her on a return ship, next to a Hollywood moviemaker that she later married (William Lawson Harris, father of John Derek!). Wonder if it was their "honeymoon" or something.

Grinster

Marsye I have missed you. Good to see you!!!

Grinster

I have been learning so much about my ancestors and have been addicted to this for about 4 years. I am trying to find my link for the DAR via my Southwick or Cummings ancestors. My fathers family is from Switzerland and his parents (Abrahamson) were originally from Sweden and settled in Minnesota. So much to do and so little time!