Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver at Genea-Musing
Hey genealogy buffs – it’s Saturday Night and time for more Genealogy Fun! Play along with us and tell us about it.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to follow Chris Staats’ rules (from Freaky Friday: Random Research Reports) for picking a random person’s name and then doing some online research about that person. Here are Chris’s rules:1. Go to The Random Name Generator and click the red “Generate Name” button at the top of the screen (more than once if you want). Pick one of the names you see.
2. Go to Ancestry.com and enter your generated name in the search box on the main search page. [Randy’s add: If you don’t have Ancestry.com, go to https://www.familysearch.org/ and do it there – it’s free.]
3. From the results, your research target will be the first census result for your generated name.
4. Using whatever online resources are at your disposal, see what else you can discover about your random person and write about it. It can be a formal report complete with footnotes, or just a “research story” about what you tried, problems you overcame, or success you had. Maybe you want to create a research plan for practice?
5. Post about it on your own blog, or as a comment here at Genea-Musings or a comment on Facebook, Google Plus or Twitter.
Here is mine:
Owen Wilkerson
I didn’t read the directions closely. I didn’t pick the first Owen because he had a middle initial. Maybe it made my search easier and maybe it didn’t. Having said this, here is what I found on “My” Owen Wilkerson.
According to the 191o-30 Census,
Owen Wilkerson was born about 1888 in Kentucky.
In the 1910 Federal Census District 4, Washington, Kentucky, we find Owen at age of 22 single and the son of William A. age 60 and Ruth Wilkerson age 55. His probable siblings listed as sons of William, are John Wilkerson age 24 and Albert Wilkerson age 17.
In the 1920 Census we find Owen again at the age of 32 married and with children.
He and his wife Susie are found in Springfield, Washington Co.,Kentucky. Susie is listed as being 26 in 1920 Census she is listed as being born in Kentucky. They lived in a rented home. The following children are listed as theirs:
Edgar Wilkerson 7
Gracy Wilkerson 5
Raymond Wilkerson 2
Lee Wilkerson 0 [4\12]<— notation added to Ancestry record by other then the census taker.
I also found his brother Albert living with Owen and Susie in the 1920 census, with his wife and his child. Albert is listed as being 27 which is consistent with the 1910 census, his wife Dicie is listed as 20 and a daughter named Lily who at the time of this census is listed as 1. We also find living with Owen, his mother listed as 65 years of age.
On Ancestry.com I found The Powell Family, which includes what seems to be William, Ruth and family. This researcher has William Eliot and not William A. these look to be the same men. It is worth taking a look at.
According to the census research, we lose William somewhere between 1910 and 1920. The Powell Family site lists his death in 1912, I found his death in Kentucky death index 1911-2000 and Kentucky Death Records 1852-1953 Ruth’s is listed there as well as dying on March 14, 1920, the Kentucky Death Index and the Kentucky Death Records are used as sources for her death. Enumeration of the 1920 census was done on January 20, for this area so March is a reasonable time period for her death.
We find the little family again in the 1930 Census Owen age 42, Susie (Lulie as transcribed) aged 37 and the following children can be found residing with them:
Edgar Wilkerson 17 b. KY
Grace Wilkerson 16 b. KY
Raymond Wilkerson 13 b. KY
Lee Wilkerson 10 b. KY
Margrite Wilkerson 8 b. KY
J W Wilkerson 6 b. KY
Owen Jr. Wilkerson 4 b. KY
Henry Wilkerson 2 b. KY
With this bit of information a possible family tree for Owen would look something like this.
William E. (A) Wilkerson b. abt 1850 in Kentucky d. 28 October 1920 in Washington Kentucky. He married Ruth (to further research her name I would look at the death information, it might give her parents names also for marriage information) about 1870. Ruth died March 14, 1920 Washington, Kentucky
William and Ruth had the following children:
i John Wilkerson b. circa 1886
ii Owen Wilkerson b. circa 1888
iii Albert Wilkerson b. circa 1893 m. Dicie
ii Owen Wilkerson (William 1)
was born in 1888 in Washington, Kentucy m. Susie about 1908
again more research needs to be done to prove births, deaths and marriage.
Owen and Susie had the following children:
Edgar Wilkerson b. circa 1913 KY
Grace Wilkerson b. circa 1914 KY
Raymond Wilkerson b. circa 1917 KY
Lee Wilkerson b. circa 1920 KY
Margrite Wilkerson b. circa 1922 KY
J W Wilkerson b. circa 1924 KY
Owen Jr. Wilkerson b. circa 1926 KY
Henry Wilkerson b. circa 1928 KY
iii Albert Wilkerson (William 1) b. circa 1893 in Kentucky m. Dicie b. circa 1900 Kentucky m. circa 1918
They had a daughter:
Lily b. circa 1919 in Kentucky
A nice start for an hour search on Ancestry and Rootsweb, but certainly much is yet to be found. If I let my genealogy mind keep going, I will be working on this family all night!
On a side note I did find one of my husbands surnames living down the street from William Wilkerson……and here she goes running another rabbit 😀 Can you say GADD (Genealogy Attention Deficit Disorder!)
Happy Hunting!
Julie Hogston - Visit Website