Notable Woman: Anna Sperry Cox

Occasionally I tend to focus on some of the notable women in my family history. This is the story of one of those women.  This is the story of Anna Grace Sperry Cox.

Anna "Annie" Grace Sperry Cox was my maternal grandmother Jean Cox's grandmother.  She was born 19 August 1866 in Lower Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania as the eldest child of William Sperry and Ellen W. Robbins.  Her paternal line of Sperrys had been landowners in Montgomery County since before the American Revolution, and the Robbins line also were owners of land around the county.

Anna grew up in the household of her maternal grandmother, Margaret Whiteman Robbins, who was left a small estate upon the death of her husband, Jonathan.  However, that land was whittled down by orders of sale that were called for by creditors, as Jonathan left the family in debt.  By 1890, the family was living in the borough of North Wales, likely in rented quarters.

On 7 May 1890, Anna married William James Cox, who was three years her senior, in Flourtown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She was seven months pregnant at the time,so the marriage was probably due to necessity.  The couple was wed by Rev. J. D. Dietrich.  He had been the pastor at the Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Whitemarsh Township in 1884, but appears to have also been a famous dairy farmer and botanical lecturer in Flourtown around the time of the couple's marriage.

William James Cox and Annie G. Sperry marriage record from Montgomery County Archival Records Department, Norristown, Pennsylvania. 

Two months later, on 2 July 1890, the couple's eldest son, William Oscar Cox, was born in Philadelphia.  However, his birth was registered until the family was settled in Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, though why the birth wasn't registered in Philadelphia remains a mystery.  Adding to further confusion is the fact that Elizabeth Newton Cox (who is the subject of her own blog post) was registered as the natural daughter of the couple in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, but was raised by William's parents.  Even more confusing is the fact that daughter Ellen W. Cox was born just two months prior to Elizabeth, her birth being 14 May 1893, however her place of birth was Indiana.  So did William and Anna give up Elizabeth to be raised by her grandparents and then adopt Ellen later, were the girls actually twins, and just reported with differing birth dates and locations, or was there some other incident at play?  One may never know.

What is known is that William James Cox, like his father William Newton Cox, was a moulder and ironworks laborer.  Also known was he was a hired strikebreaker, and traveled around Ohio working in ironworks that had active strikes.  On 15 July 1891, while the young family was living in a boarding house in Salem, Ohio, William and his father, among others, were involved in an altercation with strikers after leaving a saloon.  Ten strikebreakers and two strikers were arrested and charged with drunkenness, rioting and fighting.  William himself was fined $5 for his part in the fight.  One can imagine how Anna felt when she heard about her husband involved in a drunken brawl.

In 1893, around the time of Elizabeth's birth that still is shrouded in mystery, the couple were being evicted from their rented rooms at 916 Sycamore in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio.  It is not known if William was working as a strikebreaker here, but the family did not reside in the area long.  By the time the couple's last child, Jesse Meyer, was born on 14 September 1895, Anna was residing in her mother's home at 114 North Second Street in North Wales, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  It is not known if William lived here too.

It is around this time frame that the story of Anna Sperry Cox takes a sordid turn.

Divorce is not as common then as it is today (since it was much harder to get a divorce before no fault laws were established) but it did happen.  It is very likely that it happened to William and Anna, although it is also just as likely that the couple did not officially divorce, but rather William deserted the family and started a second family.

Sometime between Jesse's birth in 1895 and 1899, William just took off, leaving Anna to raise their three children, Oscar, Ellen and Jesse, alone. Anna and the children continued to live with her mother, Ellen Robbins, in the house on 114 South Street, supported by the meager means of the older woman and the labor of Anna's brother, Jesse Sperry.  It is not known exactly why the couple split, though speculation done by the couple's descendants (including whispered conversations heard by Anna's grandchildren later) indicate the marriage was never a happy one, and the stress of the itinerant lifestyle and no money likely compounded the problems to the point where William felt trapped.

William, in the meantime, married Miss Emily Towers on 29 November 1899 at Christ Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  Emily, who was only seventeen at the time, needed the permission of her mother to marry, and that permission was granted.  William was listed on this marriage application as having never been married, which obviously was not true.  This clue also leads me to believe that he knew he was committing bigamy by marrying another woman while still wed to Anna.

The second marriage seemed to be a happier one for William.  He and Emily went on to have four children; Viola, William Charles, James Newton, and Mary Elizabeth, before William passed away 12 February 1913 in Danville, Pennsylvania as the result of a hunting accident.  But that's a story for some other time...

Anna, in an act of defiance or strength, or however one wants to interpret it, continued to insist she was still married until William's death in 1913.  On both the 1900 and 1910 census enumerations, she stated she was married, despite the common practice of deserted women trying to hide their status by claiming widowhood.  Grandson Jesse Cox later stated that even mentioning his grandfather William was considered taboo when he was a child, thus furthering the conviction that the couple never did divorce and Anna remained a deserted woman for the remainder of her life.

Anna continued to live with her brother Jesse, housekeeping for the confirmed bachelor as well as raising her children.  By 1920, Jesse Sperry had purchased a home at 142 Swartley Street in North Wales, and the family moved there.  Son Jesse continued to live with his mother and uncle after he wed, supporting the family as well. Anna lived in this house until her death, as son Jesse inherited the home upon her brother's death.

Anna Cox's memorial card and obituary; Personal collection of the blogger

On 7 February 1953, Anna Grace Sperry Cox died at the home at 142 Swartley Street in North Wales from coronary thrombosis, contributed by atherosclerotic heart disease.  She was 86 years old.  Her obituary stated that she was the widow of William James Cox, which was one last dig at the husband who deserted her.  (On a side note, Emily Towers Cox passed away in 1946, leaving Anna as the last surviving wife as well).  She was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Ambler, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania near her parents, siblings and daughter.  As of this post, her grave is not marked by a headstone.

Sources Used
"1870 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 January 2017), Entry for Margaret Robbins and household, Year: 1870, Census Place: Gwynedd Montgomery, Pennsylvania, Roll: M593_1377, Page: 394B, Image: 406530, and Family History Library Film: 552876.

"1900 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2016), Entry for Ellen Sperry and family, Year: 1900, Census Place: North Wales Montgomery, Pennsylvania, Roll: 1444, Page: 9B, Enumeration District: 0257, and FHL microfilm: 1241444; citing : United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

"1910 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2016), Entry for Anna Cox and family, Year: 1910, Census Place: North Wales Montgomery, Pennsylvania, Roll: T624_1378, Page: 6B, Enumeration District: 0128, and FHL microfilm: 1375391; citing Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"1920 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 December 2016), Entry for Jessie Sperry and family, Year: 1920, Census Place: North Wales Montgomery, Pennsylvania, Roll: T625_1605, Page: 8A, Enumeration District: 152, and Image: 354; Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"1930 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 December 2016), Entry for Jessie Cox and family, Year: 1930, Census Place: North Wales Montgomery, Pennsylvania, Roll: 2084, Page: 20A, Enumeration District: 0112, Image: 41.0, and FHL microfilm: 2341818; United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

"1940 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 December 2016), Entry for Jesse Cox and family, Year: 1940, Census Place: North Wales Montgomery, Pennsylvania, Roll: T627_3583, Page: 16B, and Enumeration District: 46-161; United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.

Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "1880 United States Federal Census," database online with images, Ancestry.com Operation, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 January 2017), Entry for Jonathan Robbins and household, Year: 1880, Census Place: Gwynedd Montgomery, Pennsylvania, Roll: 1157, Family History Film: 1255157, Page: 142C, Enumeration District: 007, and Image: 0691; Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"A Series of Set-Tos," The Salem Daily News (Salem, Ohio), 17 July 1891, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 January 2017).

Cox, Jesse M. jr., (West Chicago, Illinois) to Kelley Wood, letter, 7 April 2005; Cox Family Collection, privately held by Kelley Wood-Davis. [address for private use], Norwalk, Iowa, 2020. Letter answering questions sent to Cox by Wood. owned by recipient.

"Marriage License 1885-Present," database online with images, Lackawanna County, PA - Public Access System (http://www.lpa-homes.org/LPA_Public_Inquiries/Views/LPA_Views/LPAXX01D.aspx : accessed 17 May 2017), Entry for William Cox and Emily Towers, marriage date 29 Nov 1899, record number 0052-00175, license number 19975; citing Lackawanna County Courthouse records.

"Marriage Licenses," The Scranton Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania), 30 November 1899, page 3, William James Cox and Emily Towers, both of Dunmore, are listed as having obtained a marriage license; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 15 May 2017).

Memorial card and obituary for Annie Sperry Cox, died 7 Feb 1953, in Dorothy Cox Ritter Memorial card for Mrs. Annie (Sperry) Cox, 1953, privately held by Kelley Wood-Davis, [address for private use], Norwalk, Iowa, 2017. photocopy of original. Photocopy of original mailed in 2002 to Kelley Wood-Davis by Amber Arinsburg Kostic, granddaughter of Annie Cox, daughter of Dorothy Ritter and first cousin once removed of Wood-Davis.

"Ohio Births and Christenings, 1821-1962," online database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 January 2017), Entry for Lizzie Cox, 16 Jun 1893; citing Hamilton, Butler, Ohio, Butler County (Ohio) Birth and death records, 1867-1908, Birth records v. 1-2 1867-1893, page 151 ; FHL microfilm 355,799.

"Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003," database online with images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2017), Entry for William A. Cox, 02 Jul 1890; birth; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 931,592; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDYX-M8R); citing County courthouses, Ohio.; Birth record listed in Birth and death records, 1867-1908 (Columbiana County, Ohio); Birth records v. 3-5 1878-1905, page 45; image 299 of 815.

Orphan's Court, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Register of Births 1893-1900, Book 1893-1896, page 81; Entry for Meyer Cox; FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TN-K962-3?i=55&cat=321969: accessed 26 Dec 2016); image 56; FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah; FHL microfilm 925501.

"Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 January 2017), Entry for Annie Sperry Cox; died 7 Feb 1953; certificate number 16581; Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 015751-018450; citing Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 January 2017), Entry for Ella Cox; date of death: 24 Aug 1906; certificate 76389; Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 075251-078670; citing Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

"'Squire's Squibs," Hamilton Evening Journal (Hamilton, Ohio), 19 May 1893, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 January 2017).

"U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2017), Entry for Jesse Sperry, born 3 May 1876; Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Montgomery; Roll: 1907293; Draft Board: 4; citing United States, Selective Service System. "World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918". Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.

"We Congratulate Cox," The Salem Daily News (Salem, Ohio), 18 July 1891, page 8; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 January 2017).

William James Cox and Annie G. Sperry, (7 May 1890), Application for Marriage License and Certificate of Marriage: license number 2569; Montgomery County Archival Records Department, Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Chasing the Elusive: The Curious Case of Elizabeth Newton Cox

Every so often I tinker with some of my more elusive members of my family tree.... I call these kind of searches "Chasing the Elusive" and decided I would blog about them in case anyone might have pieces for me.

One such curious family member for me is a maternal aunt (either great great aunt or great-great-great aunt) by the name of Elizabeth Newton Cox.

I'd like to start out by saying my Cox family has a great many skeletons in it.... which is likely why my maternal grandmother never talked about her family....

Elizabeth Newton Cox was born in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio on 16 June 1893, according to the entry for her in the Butler County birth registrations, which lists her as Lizzie (for the first and ONLY time).  Her parents, according to that registration, were a couple by the names of William Cox and Anna Sperry.  However, her baptism record from St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, (which gives her name as Elizabeth Newton Cox and even lists her as a year older) lists her parents as William Newton Cox and Isabel Fowler.

These parental names might not mean much to some, but to me, they are important.  You see, William JAMES Cox and Anna Sperry are my great-great-grandparents.  William NEWTON Cox and Isabel Fowler were William Cox's parents and Anna's in-laws.  If Elizabeth was indeed birthed by Anna, then why is Isabel listed as her mother in later records?  Even more curious is the fact that William and Anna had a daughter named Ellen who was just a mere two months older than Elizabeth and born in Indiana, according to documents collected (Ellen's death record, headstone dates, and the 1900 census).  Now while modern medical science does allow for delayed interval births on very rare occasions, that was not the case in 1893.

Elizabeth never shows up with William James Cox or Anna Sperry on any records other than the birth registration.  In the 1900 and 1920 census enumerations, she is listed as the daughter of William N. Cox, residing with him and Isabel in Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in the 1900 enumeration and with William in Danville, Montour County, Pennsylvania in 1920.  She has not yet been located on the 1910 census enumeration, an affliction a number of her siblings seem to share.

Even more curious is the fact that in William James Cox's obituary in The Danville Morning News on 13 February 1913, she is listed as his sister, Miss Bessie Cox.  She is also listed in both Isabel Cox's obituary and William N. Cox's death notices as a daughter of theirs.

So why was Elizabeth registered as the daughter of William and Anna on her birth registration, yet reared by William Newton and Isabel?  It is a question that may never be answered.

There is also the mystery of where she disappeared to after the 1940 census enumeration......

Let's start back at the beginning.

After her birth in Hamilton, Ohio, Elizabeth "Bessie" Cox next appears on the 1900 census, living in Lansdale, Pennsylvania with her parents, William N. Cox and Isabel Fowler.  William Newton Cox was a stoveworks molder and had been a hired strikebreaker, along with his eldest son William James Cox, which is why the family was in Ohio in the first place.  It appears the family moved around a great deal, as some of Bessie's siblings (or aunts and uncles?) were born in various counties in Pennsylvania.  One sister, Viola, was born in Ohio.   Bessie was the youngest of William N.'s children, and twenty four years separated her from the eldest son, William James, who also could have been her father.

*Another note here: for the remainder of this post when I refer to Bessie's parents, I am referring to William Newton Cox and Isabel Fowler, as those are the two that raised her.*

In December 1910, Bessie was baptized at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was confirmed a week later.  As previously stated, any attempt to locate her on the 1910 census has been fruitless as of yet, as she could have been living in a number of localities.  *Side note here... I am still working on her siblings' research as part of my FAN methodology in my "free" time, so as research on her siblings progresses, I may yet find her living with one of them.*

In 1913, she lived at 1413 Sanderson Avenue in Scranton with her father (and it assumed with her mother) as both she and her father were listed in the Scranton City Directory for that year.  In 1914, the family lived on East Market Street in Danville (it seems the family as a whole shuttled back and forth between the two cities), and in 1918, she was employed as a domestic and had lived at two addresses in Scranton; 1636 Penn Avenue and 615 New York Street.

1918 was the year she married for the first time.  On 10 June 1918, at the age of 25, Bessie married Alton Westcott (also spelled Wescott), a man just a year or two her senior.  It was the first marriage for both parties, and the couple was  joined in matrimony by Rev. John C. Matthes, who appears to have been a Lutheran minister.  In 1920, the couple resided with Bessie's widowed father in a rented home at 406 East Front Street in Danville, Pennsylvania.  The marriage was very short lived, however, as the couple divorced in October 1920 according to the marriage register of Alton's second marriage.  *Note here, I am also trying to locate divorce records for the couple... but since I don't know if divorce proceedings were done in Scranton or Danville (since they are located in two different counties) it has been slow going.*

Bessie appears to have resumed her maiden name after the divorce, as a newspaper clipping from The Danville Morning News on 22 May 1926 states the following:

"Evan Thomas, widely known local man, and Miss Bessie Cox, also of this city and well known, were united in marriage at 8:30 last night at the manse of Mahoning Presbyterian church. Rev. Theodore C. meek officiated, with the ring ceremony being used. [break] The newlyweds have taken up residence in a newly furnished home on East Front Street."

Evan Thomas was seventeen years older than Bessie and a widower with a few children.  An inquiry into accessing of the marriage license has been made via email to Montour County's Registrar's office, but has as of this writing gone unanswered.

The couple resided in the house at 321 Front Street in Danville until Evan's death on 23 August 1932.  Bessie continued to reside in the home for two more years before relocating to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania for a brief time, and then back to Scranton in July of 1935 to live with her sister's family.

1940 is the last year I can locate her.  In April of that year, she was enumerated on the Federal Census living with her nephew, William C. Grimes, at 416 Mahon Court in Scranton.  In August, The Danville Morning News mentions she (as Mrs. Bessie Thomas) and sister Ida (as Mrs. Floyd Grimes) were visiting her brother Lewis Cox on Railroad street.

After that little snip from the newspaper, she just seems to vanish into thin air.  While I have death records for almost all of her siblings (brother George remains a mystery as well, but I have a time frame of when he died), there are no records for a death for her on Ancestry or FamilySearch or any of the other databases I have searched. Perhaps she married a third time, or changed her name yet again?  At this point it's a mystery.

Granted, as I previously mentioned, I am still working occasionally on fleshing out her siblings and gathering more information on them.  Perhaps research on one of them will lead back to what happened to Bessie, and maybe even solve why she is listed in two differing documents with two differing sets of parents.  Perhaps with the increasing digitization of records, I may eventually find the piece that will solve her mystery.... or someone may know what happened who reads this blog one day.

Until then, she remains an elusive, and I will continue to chase her.

Sources:
"1900 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 January 2017), Entry for William M. Cox and family, Year: 1900, Census Place: Lansdale Montgomery, Pennsylvania, Roll: 1442, Pages: 6B-7A, Enumeration District: 0205, and FHL microfilm: 1241442; citing United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

"1920 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 January 2017), Entry for William Cox and household, Year: 1920, Census Place: Danville Ward 1 Montour, Pennsylvania, Roll: T625_1603, Pages: 9A-9B, Enumeration District: 49, and Images: 335-336. citing Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"1930 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 October 2019), Entry for Evan Thomas and household, Year: 1930, Census Place: Danville Montour, Pennsylvania, Page: 6A, Enumeration District: 0003, and FHL microfilm: 2341819; citing United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

"1940 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 December 2019), Entry for William C. Grimes and household (indexed as Gimes), Year: 1940, Census Place: Scranton Lackawanna, Pennsylvania, Roll: m-t0627-03685, Page: 14A, and Enumeration District: 71-103; citing United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.

"Aged Civil War Veteran Dies on Steps of Neighbor: William Cox, Aged 80, Dies Suddenly While Out for a Walk: Had Long Been Ill," The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 14 December 1927, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 29 October 2019).

"Death Claims William J. Cox," The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 13 February 1913, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 4 January 2017).

"Death Follows a Protracted Illness," obituary, The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 27 October 1916, page 1; obituary of Mrs. William Cox; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 5 January 2017).

"Evan Thomas and Miss Cox Wedded," The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 22 May 1926, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 29 October 2019).

"Marriage License 1885-Present," database online with images, Lackawanna County, PA - Public Access System (http://www.lpa-homes.org/LPA_Public_Inquiries/Views/LPA_Views/LPAXX01D.aspx : accessed 17 May 2017), Entry for Alton Westcott and Bessie Cox, marriage date 10 June 1918, record number 0140-00430, license number 930; citing Lackawanna County Courthouse records.

"Marriage License 1885-Present," database online with images, Lackawanna County, PA - Public Access System (http://www.lpa-homes.org/LPA_Public_Inquiries/Views/LPA_Views/LPAXX01D.aspx : accessed 29 October 2019), Entry for marriage of Alton Wescott and Irene Phillips, 14 July 1923.

"Ohio Births and Christenings, 1821-1962," online database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 January 2017), Entry for Lizzie Cox, 16 Jun 1893; citing Hamilton, Butler, Ohio, Butler County (Ohio) Birth and death records, 1867-1908, Birth records v. 1-2 1867-1893, page 151 ; FHL microfilm 355,799.

"Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985," online database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 January 2017), Entry for Elizabeth Newton and Ida Mary Cox; baptism 28 Dec 1910; St Luke´s Episcopal Church, Scranton, Pennsylvania; Reel 514; image 1161 of 1266; citing Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985," online database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 December 2019), Entry for Elizabeth Newton Cox; confirmed 8 January 1911 (indexed as a baptism); St Luke´s Episcopal Church, Scranton, Pennsylvania; Reel 514; image 1219 of 1266.

"Personals," The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 23 December 1916, page 7; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 8 April 2017).

"Personals," The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 1 June 1918, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 8 April 2017).

"Two Families Move," The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 13 October 1934, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 15 December 2019).

"Untitled," The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 1 July 1935, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 15 December 2019).

"U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 December 2019), Scranton, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1913; page 160; "Cox Bessie, r 1413 Sanderson av"; citing a collection of directories for U.S. cities and counties

"U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995," database online with images, Ancestry.com, Scranton, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1918; page 163; "Cox Bessie, dom, 1636 Penn av". 

"Visiting Here," The Danville Morning News (Danville, Pennsylvania), 9 August 1940, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 15 December 2019).

Documenting Family Trees with Vital Records.... or not?

I belong to a number of genealogy groups on Facebook and via mailing lists.  Often, I read the following statements:

"I would like to locate a birth certificate for my John Doe, who was born around 1850 in Pittsburgh.  Can someone help?"

"I am looking for a marriage certificate for my ancestors Simon Johnson and Jane Doe, who married sometime around 1800 in Philadelphia."

"I need a death record for my great-great-uncle 2 times removed, who died in Western Pennsylvania around 1840.  Why can't I find it?"

(Yes, I know there is no such thing as an uncle 2 times removed.... and I use Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas as an example because I am most familiar with those records.)

The modern day notion that EVERYONE was issued a birth certificate, a death certificate, or a marriage licence is just that, a modern notion.  Many births, deaths, and even marriages were not registered by a civil government at all, and often the records may not exist even at a church level.  Often time, one may not find what they seek because they don't know the history of the area in which they are seeking and the history of vital records themselves.

BIRTH RECORDS

Let's start with birth records.

Before the United States were born (and in some places in the United States, long after the creation of the country), birth records were limited to baptism records done by churches (often with baptism dates standing in as proxy for birth dates since the birth date wasn't registered).  Some colonies, like Massachusetts, had implemented laws instituting the registration of births as early as 1639, although actually enforcing and following the law was a seemingly foreign matter since most births took place in private homes and ministers thought the idea of the government getting into the birth and baptism registration business was a matter to raise eyebrows at.

Philadelphia required births to be registered in 1860, but in practice not every birth was registered.  For example, my great-grandmother Julia Ann Vautier had ten siblings, and while I have registrations for nine of the siblings and my great-grandmother, the tenth sibling, Miriam Crosby Vautier, who was the fifth born child, doesn't appear to have been registered at birth. (Sister Laura's birth return is pictured below).

Laura Elizabeth (Vautier) entry, Return of Births in the City of Philadelphia 1860-1903, Doctor's Returns: Return of Births September 1890 for Mary Leichsenring, midwife, Philadelphia City Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Even though a number of high population cities had created some sort of registration of births to help track population, most states didn't even implement birth registrations as a whole until the advent of the 20th century.  An Act of Congress in 1902 created the permanent office of the Bureau of Census. In that Act on 6 March 1902 was included a provision that gave the Bureau the authority to create birth registrations and certificates.  Even the idea of having a semi-universal birth certificate wasn't fleshed out until World War Two, when people needed to prove their identities to be able to work in defense related plants and register to get social security. An example of one of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's birth records (for one of my great-uncles) is pictured below.

Pennsylvania, Birth Records, 1906-1910," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 January 2017), Entry for James Newton Cox, born 30 October 1906; certificate number 136053; citing Pennsylvania (State). Birth certificates, 1906–1908. Series 11.89 (50 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

So keeping all of that in mind, sometimes it is important to realize that the elusive birth record might not exisit because the birth happened in a place where either registration wasn't required or during an era when records just weren't kept.  One has to get creative when looking for records of births sometimes because civil registrations just don't exist.

MARRIAGES

The idea of civil marriage licenses, on the other hand, is practically an American invention.  Before the institution of marriage became a civil matter, it was a church matter (a point that some religiously minded people make when they argue that marriages in America should go back to being religious in nature only).  But America was a forerunner in making sure registrations were done civilly.

That same Massachusetts legislation that required births to be registered also required marriages to be civilly recorded, and for one reason or another, registering marriages came easier to the same people who balked at registering births.  Perhaps it was because unlike births or deaths, marriages joined (usually) unrelated people and their property together in legally binding contracts.

By the mid 19th century, most counties and states in the United States had some sort of marriage registration or another.  In 1885, ALL counties in Pennsylvania required marriages to be civilly registered, although the larger cities, like Philadelphia, had begun requiring registrations of marriages as early as 1860 or before.  My great-grandparents' marriage return is an example of what could be found.

Charles W C Wood and Birdie B. Fielding Marriage License and Certificate, (23 April 1901), Allegheny County Marriage Licenses: File Number 13279; Department of Court Records, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania.

If a marriage record can't be located, don't despair.  There are other ways to find such records besides civil registries....... one just has to look.

DEATHS

Death records are in the same boat as are birth certificates.  Before the modern death certificate, churches kept records of burials, which often, like baptisms, stood as a proxy for a death date. Why people died often was a mystery before the advent of modern medicine, so death records were just merely records of when a person was buried.

In fact, the modern death record can be attributed to an English practice of issuing a Bill of Mortality when someone died, a practice that had roots in the Great Plagues of Europe in the 16th century.

Often, the same jurisdictions that required birth registrations at particular times in history also required death registrations, but the concept of a actual death certificate is about as modern as a birth certificate is.  Death records in a number of jurisdictions actually precede birth records, especially in large cities such as Philadelphia, which had a form of death registration as early as 1803, though there are gaps.  Below are two different jurisdictions for the same death of my ancestress, which demonstrate that even in death differing registrations could be made, recording facts in many ways.

"Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 July 2016), Entry for Sarah V. Fielding; died 4 October 1907; Certificate number: 95518; citing Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Sarah V. Fielding entry, Allegheny City Registration of Deaths, volume 15: page 95, Allegheny County City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Deaths were more likely to be recorded in earlier days than were births, given that death statistics were tracked with far more watchful eyes than were birth statistics.  Given that diseases and natural disasters wiped out a vast number of people in a relatively short amount of time, some sort of registration and acknowledgment of those deaths needed to be made.


NOW WHAT?

Something to keep in mind while searching for vital records.... especially in the early days of such vital record registering, some people were suspicious of the government getting involved in vital record keeping and as a result they purposely would not register their births, marriages, or deaths.  There was also the issue that not everyone thought everyone else was equal, and therefore did not count as being someone who needed a registration of a vital statistic.

Another thing to remember is that even the modern day system of vital records in the United States also relies on the fact that information being reported to whatever jurisdiction is being consistently reported by a number of people, including doctors, parents, registrants themselves, or funeral home directors. What happens if information isn't reported or is reported incorrectly?

Also, just because some counties, states or even countries have their vital records available for research doesn't mean the next county, state, or country will.  Different jurisdictions will have different rules on who can access their vital records and how one can access them.  For instance, only births from 1906-1913 and deaths from 1906 up to 1968 can be accessed for genealogical reasons via the Pennsylvania Museum Historical Commission.  Births and deaths before then (from about 1893 onward) are located at county level in Pennsylvania, and again, some cities (Pittsburgh, Allegheny City and Philadelphia in particular) can be found for years even earlier.

The best way to research whether or not vital records are available for a certain time or place is to use a search engine like Google, or FamilySearch's various free Wiki Research guides.

Some other good sources to help you find what you might be looking for:

• U.S. Vital Records Overview on FamilySearch 
• Finding The One: The Search For Vital Records on Ancestry.com
• A Guide to Using the Records of Civil Registration from Society of Genealogists at the National Family History Centre (Great Britain)
• Marriage Records : Types of Marriage Records for Family History Research on Thought.co

Sometimes, that elusive record won't be found, and that's okay as well.  There is more to genealogy than just recording birth, marriage, and death of an ancestor.

Sources Referenced to Help with this Research
Blakemore, Erin. "The History of Birth Certificates Is Shorter Than You Might Think." History.com. August 08, 2017. https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-birth-certificates-is-shorter-than-you-might-think.

Brumberg, H. L., D. Dozor, and S. G. Golombek. "History of the Birth Certificate: From Inception to the Future of Electronic Data." Journal of Perinatology 32, no. 6 (2012): 407-11. doi:10.1038/jp.2012.3.

Schulz, Katheryn. "Final Forms." The New Yorker, April 7, 2017. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/04/07/final-forms.

Siri, Michael J., and Daniel L. Cork. Vital Statistics: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2009. https://www.nap.edu/read/12714/chapter/1.

"United States Death Records." FamilySearch Blog. January 17, 2019. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States_Death_Records.

"Unlocking the Past: Marriage License History." Marriage.com. October 30, 2017. https://www.marriage.com/advice/license/unlocking-the-past-marriage-license-history/.

"What Every Genealogist Needs to Know about American Marriage Records." Findmypast Blog. October 13, 2017. https://blog.findmypast.com/what-every-genealogist-needs-to-know-about-american-marriage-records-1785493041.html.

Rediscovering Grandmother

I have been doing online genealogy off and on for the past 18 years.  I started in 1999, when the online genealogy community was just starting out.  Now hundreds, thousands, millions of documents are at the fingertips of people willing to hunt them down with nothing more than an internet connection and something to type on.

Every few years I go over my own ancestors.... I clean up citations, I  re-examine the information i may have had lying around for years, discovering old letters that I cast away intending to read from forgotten relatives and stories that didn't have merit when I started coming to light in a new day and age as being based in fact due to one new piece of information or another.

As I do this renewal of interest into my ancestors' lives, I come across new information that has been posted to the wonderful wide expanse that has become the information highway.

One such piece of new information was my maternal grandmother's high school yearbook from her senior year at North Wales high School in North Wales, Pennsylvania.

My grandmother, Jean C. Cox

I will start off by saying this, I have never been close to my mother's mother.  While my cousins called her Nana, I stuck to the more formal "Grandmother" because she was virtually a stranger to me.  Part of it was due to family dysfunctions and history better left for a family therapist to untangle, but as a result, I always have felt an aloofness when it came to learning about her, as if she was too complex to discover.

She died right before I graduated high school in 1999, and I have no vivid memories of her, as we had only visited her a few times when I was very young.  Mom always called her family for Christmas, and I would say a few words, but she was never as  fond in my memories as my dad's mom, my Gram.

I had some stories, as my mother, my aunts and my mom's cousins all willingly have shared stories, but I didn't hold them close.  I dutifully wrote them down and struck them from memory, focusing more on my more lovable Grandpop, her husband.

My mothers parents - circa 1944 or early 1945.  

So when I stumbled upon her high school yearbook, it was like opening the door in the tree and tumbling into a veritable Wonderland of sorts.

Grandmother's senior year photo, from the 1941 North Wales High School Yearbook

It was through the yearbook that I re-discovered my grandmother's love for singing, as she sang a solo in the senior play and was a member of the Glee Club.  She had aspirations of being a vocalist, according to her write-up in the book, and no one seemed too surprised by that.

Grandmother with her glee club.  

In sharing my finds with my mother over the telephone, I read to her aloud from the yearbook.  She stopped me mid-sentence to remind me of a story I had written down so long ago and forgotten about, a story that was a mere sentence in my file on my grandmother.

 "As a young woman, she entertained troops as a singer with a band, lying about her age (saying she was 21 when in fact she was 18) in order to sing." 

I have so many questions about her life now.  I wonder what it was like for her as a young woman to tour with a band.... to throw off convention and lie about her age to do what she loved.  I wonder what made her give it up.  Was it marriage and the more conventional days as a housewife and mother in the post-WWII era?  Did she miss singing?

late 1955 or early 1956 - with my mom and Uncle Ernie

I will never know the answers to some of these questions, as she has been long gone - it was her death that sparked my interest in this trek into family history, and for that I will be forever grateful.  Perhaps one day I will find answers, and photos to go along with them, but for now, I live with the guess, with the surmised thoughts of "what ifs" and "what nows".... and I will continue to trek to rediscover not only my grandmother, but all of my ancestors.

Father's Day Tribute

As yesterday was Father's Day, here is a tribute to dads as they are seen in my family tree:

 (and I regret not doing this for Mother's Day with the mom photos I have)

I have chosen to not label these photos with names, but if you believe a photograph is of a family member as well, please do not hesitate to contact me!

My daddy and I, 1980

My grandpap with my father and siblings, 1964

My great-great-grandfather with his family, c 1886

My mom and her father and mother, 1977

My great-grandfather with his eldest son, 1905

My great-great-grandfather with his wife and some of his children, c. 1899

My great-grandfather with his wife and sons, 1941