Leylan Leitton Timbrel

One thing I have always known about my Grandpa Jake (Jacob) and Grandma Jennie, is that they only ever had one child that survived past infancy.  We knew next to nothing about their other children, except that Grandma Jennie gave birth to four boys with only my Grandpa Lesile Timbrel surviving.  I have found no other records of the other three boys except this one record.  The record of the birth of Leylan Timbrel.  I think he might have passed when they moved on to Nebraska or even Colorado.  I don't know how long this precious baby lived.  I do know that he was born in Mahaska County, IA on 14 Sep 1883.  And as far as records in that county he did not die there.  I will keep looking for these other boys and try to find more about them.  One problem might be Nebraska, it is such a hard state to search in.  Maybe someday they will open up their records or I will find better resources or dare I say it...make a trip there. In the meantime, I will keep my eyes and heart open to these boys.

Birth Record for Leylan Leitton Timbrel

Familysearch.org sfm: 977579

In Color

Well, I am a country girl...through and through.  I have always loved country and probably always will.  My kids take after me as Johnny Cash is a regular here.  But a few years ago, Jamey Johnson came out with a song that really just spoke to me.  And most likely to a lot of genealogist out there.  I thought I would share it with you my faithful readers aka my family lol.  Love this song!!!

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

In Honor

Today is Memorial Day...A day to be thankful to all those that have come before us, that were willing to serve to protect our right of freedom.  In honor of this day, I am spotlighting one of my service ancestors.  Theron James Witherspoon.  He is my Great Grandpa Jesse Burrows half brother.  I don't know a whole lot about Theron but I know that he served during WWII.  He enlisted on March 10th, 1941.  He was a private in the Army.  From what I have been told Theron was on the front lines and seen hard action.  I wish I knew more about where he served.  Theron had a hard time adjusting to civilian life after his service.  It was so hard for him that he ran away from his family shortly after returning home.  He may have rode the trains for a long time.  One night, he showed up at Grandpa Jesse's house, saying he just had a feeling it was time for him to come home.  As far as I know he never married or had children.  I am grateful to my Great Grand Uncle Theron Witherspoon.  And to all the men and women who sacrifice so much for all of us.  Thank You!!

Look and then look again

I love the U.S. Federal Census records.  Without them, genealogical speaking, where would we be....with a whole lot of relatives lost.  I know that unless someone was moving at the time of a census, they are most likely listed there.  Census takers were paid by houses.  So even if someone didn't want to be included in a census they usually ended up on one anyways.  Even if the census taker had to get your information from a neighbor or relative.  So knowing all this, I knew that I should be able to find Isaiah & Florence, plus their children Mable, Dott, Claude and Leila in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census.  And that I should also be able to find Isaiah in the 1910 Census.  As of yet, I was missing those census.  The thing to remember about census searches is that sometimes there is such a thing as "too much" information.  After hours of searching through city directories I had come to the conclusion that Isaiah was probably in Salt Lake City in 1900 and in Tacoma, WA in 1910.  In fact, I was sure that he was in Tacoma in 1910 as I had found a City directory for Tacoma for 1910 and he was listed there.  So why then could I not bring him up in the U.S. Federal Census?? Because his name was transcribed wrong. He was transcribed as Alexander Timbert.  As for the 1900 census, the reason I was unable to find him is because he made himself 10 years younger in that census and told the census taker he was born in 1863. Hmm...wonder if I could get away with that.....

So how was I able to overcome these transcribing errors?? Remember "less is more" sometimes...in this case that's what I needed.  For the 1900 Census I knew that he was still going by Isaiah.  So that's all I put in the search box...Isaiah Timbrel, living in Salt Lake City, UT.  And voila, up he came. :)  For the 1910 census, I had put in Alexander with no last name, living in Tacoma, WA born abt 1853.  I was also looking for his wife Mae/May, daughter Beulah and step daughter Nettie.  Leaving out the last name helped me to locate them there.  I did a similar thing while looking for Florence (Isaiah's first wife) and their children.  I usually always go look at the children if I am trying to find out more about the parents.  I had so far been unlucky in tracking them that way.  But I did notice that Mabel had a "hint" for 1900.  There was a Mabel Timbrel working as a servant in Grand Junction, CO.  She was 18 at the time, and I am thinking there is a pretty good chance that this is my Mabel.  And most likely her Mom isn't far away from her.  I think maybe she is in Grand Junction and I just never found her there.  And it's not that far of a stretch.  If the family was living in Grand Junction and Isaiah has to leave for work or whatever reason he leaves, Salt Lake City is not that far away.  I enter in Florence, Mabel, Claude, Dott, and Leila with no last names or birth information, living in Grand Junction, CO.  And there they are... Florence, Mabel, Claude and Leila Trimbril.  Missing is Dott.  I am not too surprised by this though as I have found no other record for Dott other than a Nebraska State Census from 1885.  I think that Dott has passed away as a small child but that will be another story.  I notice two things about this record, one, Florence is listed as Wd (widowed) and two, she says she has only given birth three times and has three living children.  I know this is wrong but I am ok with it.  The first thing, she might have actually believed that Isaiah was dead at the time or she no longer choose to claim him.  Even though in the 1920 census she says she is married.  And to the births, losing a child....I just could not imagine having to go through that, so it's not a far stretch to say that she probably just didn't want to talk or admit to it.  Everything else matches though, names, births, places of birth, and places of birth for parents.  I am pretty sure this is my family I have been looking for.  :)  Mark one for Mindy.

Transcribing errors happen...it's a part of life.  So we get used to it and find ways around it.  I give high marks to all indexers.  I think it's wonderful that they are taking their time to work on getting these records indexed.  So if it takes me a few hours or days or even weeks, I am ok with that.  Because it's a hard job to index.  And they do the best they can and that's really all we can ask for.  If you don't believe me go ahead and head out there and give it a shot....the 1940 census still is being indexed. ;)

Isaiah Alexander Timbrel

So after doing more research I have decided to call it....Alexander and Isaiah are one in the same person.  The more I look into these two individuals the more I realize that one life ends and the other begins.  I can't find anything on Alexander Timbrel before 1920.  Of course, I can't find anything on Isaiah Timbrel after 1880.  Which leaves about 40 years in between.  The 1890 US Federal Census was burned in a fire in 1921, so that leaves that decade out.  I still have not been able to find him in 1900 or 1910 though.  I will keep looking for those years.  Two reasons why I am going to say they were the same person:
1. Jacob Timbrel is listed as his father on his death certificate.  I know that Jacob Timbrel is a family name but it looks like there was only one Jacob Timbrel that would fit the time frame for being his father and that is my Jacob Timbrel.
2.  I set up a memorial page for Alexander I Timbrel on findagrave.  And requested a photo of his headstone.  Richard Stauff is a volunteer in the area and within minutes had claimed the request, and within a couple hours had the photo posted.  Thank you Richard!  The cool thing about Alexander's headstone it says IA Timbrel.  Interesting.... I love it!
I am going to combine the two on in my tree and see if I get some new findings.  I will keep trying to piece together Isaiah Alexander Timbrel's life and try to learn more about him.  And maybe in the process find some living relatives. :)

Isaiah Timbrel

Just a little update on my research for Isaiah Timbrel....I sent off for a copy of Alexander I Timbrel's marriage record from Washington State Archives and received it sometime last week, I think. (Being sick doesn't help with the memory)  Sadly, all it stated was that A I Timbrel married Mae O'Herr.  No mention of parents or how many marriages either had had.  So here is where we stand with Alexander...I have his death certificate, which lists Jacob Timbrel as his father, I have his marriage record to Mae O'Herr in Tacoma, WA.  I have an obit and directory's for Santa Cruz, CA.  It's time to get creative.  I really do believe that Alexander and Isaiah are one in the same.  And his death certificate stating his father as Jacob Timbrel really do lend to the conclusion, but I need more proof. 

I searched for possible military records, thought about social security and quickly dismissed it (there was no Social Security number listed on his death certificate, plus SS had only been around for a few years when he passed).  But I will not dismay...I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.  I will call the cemetery office in the morning and see if they have any information on file.  I will also request a photo of his headstone.  I will soon have access again to newspaperarchives.com and genealogybank.com (I am in a group for these subscriptions but they are currently experiencing difficulties) and will search for any newspaper articles relating to his wedding to Mae. 

Since Ohio didn't make requiring birth & death records a law until the late 1860's trying to find a birth record for my guy is out of the question also.  It would be nice to know if Isaiah's middle name was Alexander.  I will have to find my answers elsewhere. 

Gut feelings have been known to be wrong...especially mine. :)  So I will keep at this fellow.  I must prove it now, I am invested.  He haunts my thoughts everyday.  It may take me awhile though but I will figure him out.