Talk about paperwork

So I wanted to go back to Amos and keep working on him.  I went as far as I could with his 2nd wife and him, but I wanted to know more about his 1st wife Amy F Timbrel and their child whom he had left behind.  While looking at Amy I found that her last name was Mitchell and that I had a marriage date for her and Amos.

Before I go any farther in my story of Amy let me tell you what I have had in my "collection" since last fall.  In August, I ordered microfilm from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT.  It was birth, marriage and death records from Mahaska County, Iowa, from the time they started keeping records to the beginning of the 1900's.  I worked from August 2011 to March 2012, combing through all these records.  I made copies when I ran across my family or anyone connected to my family.  But after spending 2 days a week and endless hours going through the microfilm, I just didn't have it in me to come home to sort and organize my new finds.  Call it laziness, sloppiness...whatever but I was done.  So I spent 8 some odd months accumulating this massive amount of information.  I stare at it everyday and everyday I leave it be.  I figured when I got desperate enough I would go deal with it.  WELL, today is that day.  :)

I pulled out my stack of papers last night and took one look at it and said "I'll deal with this tomorrow", apparently that's my solution to this mess. LOL.  I had some last minute stuff to get ready for my cousin's graduation this weekend (insert YAHOO!! for my cousin Trevor Brown's great accomplishment of making it through high school) so I spent a good portion of the day working on that.  However, I still had this pile of papers taunting me on the table.  I started tackling it tonight.  WOW!! I have my work cut out for me but it will be so worth it in the end.

Now the Mitchell family was never on my radar while I spent hours perusing all these records.  But as I now go through them all again, I am so lucky that I am finding them on records with my other family.  These records sometimes have up to 40 names or more.  It takes time to go through each sheet.  But I will make it.

So you may not hear from me for a while for two reasons:
1. I am leaving on Thursday to go home to Gabbs for Trev's big day.
2. When I am home (here I mean) I will most likely have my head buried in a mountain of paperwork....and loving every minute.

I will see you next week sometime! ;)

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Page 1 of Amos & Amy's Marriage record

Page 2 Mahaska County, Iowa 28 Mar 1897

Just a day...

So two things happened today worth a mention.  One, I received the information I had requested from the Santa Cruz Genealogical Society.  They were very, very helpful. Even doing some searching on ancestry.com, in case I didn't have a subscription.  Only problem is that it didn't tell me who Alexander I. Timbrel's parents were.  They did tell me more about his daughter and a possible other daughter.  Unfortunately,  they do not match up with the kids I have for Isaiah and Florence.  So while, this still could be my guy, chances are pretty low.  I will have to think about whether or not I want to pay for his death certificate, which would (hopefully) have his parents listed.

Also, I heard from the Josephine County, Oregon volunteer today.  And she was able to get me the obit's I was wanting for Amos, Permelia, and her 2nd husband Charles Vanarnam.  The closest thing to a clue was in Permelia aka Myrtle's obit., "surviving are friends John and Minnie Freeman." I tried to see if they were still living but no luck there.  I emailed my lady back and am anxiously waiting to hear from her.  Maybe they are still alive and listed in the phone book.  But really, I am not holding out much hope.  Myrtle passed away in 1981 so its probable that they have passed too.  I was really hoping for a maiden name for Myrtle which could have confirmed or denied my theory that Myrtle and Amelia Fuson (Amos' marriage in Denver) are one and the same.  It fits but I need the proof. 

While I am waiting for obits for Florence Timbrel and Guy Gwynne Jr.'s obit, which I sent away for today.  I went back to Amos M. Timbrel's first wife Amy Mitchell Timbrel and their son together John Cecil Timbrel and started working on them.  One thing I noticed is that Cecil, as he went by that later in life, started adding two "l's" to the end of Timbrel.  So instead of "Timbrel" it reads "Timbrell".  It's curious because it just depends on the person whether there was two or one "l's".  For instance, all records for my 2x Great Grandfather Jake show just the one "l".  And that is how it has been spelled for all his descendant's.  I have not seen a real line in the family as to when or who spells it that way.  It just seems to be certain people spell it different.  I had heard a story by another family member that they heard that sometime back when, the family got into a fight and one part went on to spell it "Timbrel" and the other "Timbrell".  I have no proof for that though.  I love those family stories though, they make it all interesting.