Mystery Monday - George Lake Barrett

My son is named after his 2nd great grandfather, George Lake Barrett.  When I began doing genealogy, the Barrett line stopped with George.  That was extremely disappointing since it is the surname my son will carry on.  I started looking at censuses and they showed a lot of possibilities, but no good leads.  I felt like Lake had to be a maiden name and hoped that it might help me out - it didn't seem like the kind of name someone would have pulled out of the hat randomly but I knew nothing for sure.  Then I located, through a complete fluke, his death certificate!  I don't remember what I did to get it to come up - I have tried since then and it appears to be hidden well.  Thank goodness I remembered to save it!

I finally knew his parents and immediately went to find them in other trees to see if I could get any new information.  That is when the mystery began.  George was not listed as one of John and Frances Lake Barrett's kids on ANY of the other family trees I found.  Why?  Why weren't they acknowledging him as a son?  Then I started looking at their evidence and discovered quickly what had happened.  George Lake Barrett was born in 1876, so he was, obviously, not listed in the 1870 census that was taken for the family.

None of them had the 1880 Census listed.  The 1890 Census is no more (ho, hum), so there is no way to see him with the family in that one!  By 1900, he was married, which meant he was no longer listed with the family.

And there you have it - no wonder the rest of the family knows nothing about him!  Where is the 1880 Census?????  I cannot locate it anywhere.  I have even tried looking through some censuses page by page, but am not 100% what all I have looked through.  I now understand why people keep track of every document they go through, although I have yet to figure out the best way to do it.

So - the mystery continues.  Where do I look?  What do I do?  If you have any ideas, I would love any suggestions you might have.

Our Line of Barretts:

Lake Hawthorne Barrett

Ronald Hawthorne BARRETT (father) - Jenna Aldridge Barrett

Ronald Alan BARRETT (grandfather) - Nancy Susan Beskid

Walter John BARRETT (great grandfather) - Rodgers Elizabeth Dantzler

George Lake BARRETT (2nd great grandfather) - Jeannette Van Zandt/Van Hecke

John BARRETT (3rd great grandfather) - Frances Lake

Walter BARRETT (4th great grandfather) - Hariett Boardman

Going Digital!

OK - I am already off to a pretty pitiful start, but trying to begin a new blog in May when I teach was probably not the smartest thing to do.  Live and learn!

So.... today's topic:  making things digital!  Let me begin by saying that I am a little OCD - well, actually more, CDO.  It is like OCD except that the letters are in order, as they should be! (I can't remember where I heard that one, but it continues to be one of my favorites!)  I digress.....  As I was saying.  I began doing my research by printing out the census forms and family sheets provided by ancestry.com and writing in the information on the sheets to keep track of what I had found.  I then tried to keep it all organized in notebooks.

Problem #1:  I kept messing up what I was supposed to be writing and it drove me crazy, but using pencils with erasers was not really an option because pencil marks can smear and rub away over time.

Problem #2:  To say that many lines of my family (as well as my husband's) have been in specific parts of South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia for a very long time would be an understatement.  Because of this, I was finding many different family members living near each other in a number of censuses.  I wanted to note this, but then found myself trying to figure out where to file the censuses?  I wanted to store each one with all of the families listed (I have a notebook/file for each surname), but then that meant writing it a second time (or third, fourth, etc.), and then what happens if I realize there are more people on the page that have a connection to the family - how can I keep up with making sure I add all of the new information to all of the copies I have made.

That is where making things digital entered into the equation!  I spent A LOT of time making a word document copy of each of the .pdf census files that Ancestry provides for us to print and use.  All of that time was completely worth it, though!  I now have a file for each census year in my dropbox account and whenever I am researching a census, I open up the blank file, type in the information I need to have, save the information as a new file listing the state, county, city and page numbers and voila!  I have a digital copy of everything I want and can print it as many times as I need.  I now only have to type things once, and can make as many copies as I want for as many surname notebooks as I need.  Saving them into my dropbox account also allows me to have access to them when I go do research, without carrying 3-4 bags of notebooks, which is what I was doing before.

Now here is my gift to you (for reading this LONG entry!).......  I am attaching the files I have made for you to use, that is, if you want them.  I am completely new to this, so if for some reason you are not able to open the files, feel free to email me at accioancestors@gmail.com and I will gladly send them to you via email.  Also - I have not finished all of the census forms, so I will continue to update this post as I complete the last couple.

One note that will help you when using the forms:  If a name/number you have to type in is too long, try shrinking the font size for that box.  This should work. If it doesn't, feel free to email me and I will be happy to help you figure out how to make it work.

1790:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1790%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%20Form%201.docx

1810:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1810%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%20Form%201.docx

1850:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1850%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%20Form%201.docx

1860:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1860%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%20Form%201.docx

1870:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1870%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%20Form%201.docx

1880:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1880%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%20Form%201.docx

1900:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1900%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%201.docx

1910:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1910%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%201.docx

1920:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1920%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%201.docx

1930:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1930%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%201.docx

1940:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82367952/1940%20United%20States%20Federal%20Census%20Blank%201.docx