A fork in the road can lead to gold

By DONNA MURRAY ALLEN
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 10, 2003

The next time you become convinced that an elusive ancestor was beamed down from another planet, try setting your sights on collateral relatives instead of the stars. Records pertaining to collateral kin can yield new clues that make it possible to find someone in your direct line and to distinguish between families with the same names.

In genealogical parlance, collateral relatives are siblings, aunts and uncles. Your direct line means you, your parents, your grandparents, etc. It's strictly linear.

For reasons I can't fathom, even seasoned "rooters" sometimes ignore relatives who are not in their direct lines. They think it's a waste of time. In reality, they are giving short shrift to potentially significant information.

One of the best resources is the probate records of collateral relatives. If they remained single or childless, all the better. Moses Johnson is a case in point. He didn't father any children, but he left a lasting legacy. He stated in his will that he wanted most of his estate to be divided between his siblings and those of his late wife, Elizabeth Grimm Johnson. It took almost a decade to settle Johnson's estate.

The resulting probate records provide a wealth of genealogical information for both the Johnson and Grimm families, in some instances spanning three generations. Of Moses' nine siblings, for example, only Samuel Johnson and Ann Murray lived long enough to inherit anything. His sisters, Mary Bowlby and Elizabeth Long had gone out West many years before and were never heard from again, which is one reason the estate was tied up in court so long.

As per the will, the deceased siblings' shares went to their children. Thus the records list every child of Jerry, David and William Johnson, Jane Mountain and Sallie Nicholson. The marital names of the sisters and nieces are especially helpful. And because money was involved, the records are quite accurate.

The Grimm family chart is equally detailed. Elizabeth Grimm Johnson had six siblings. Four were living at the time Moses Johnson's will went through probate.

Johnson's will helped clear the fog surrounding two Johnson families who lived in the area. Both husbands were named Tobias and both wives were named Mary. They were about the same age. So were their kids. Since probate records tend to be among the most accurate documents, Moses Johnson's estate documents proved which Johnson kids belonged to which couple.

George Murray never married. Never had kids. But probate records relating to his estate revealed plenty about his nieces and nephews. George left his worldly goods to his siblings and/or their heirs, including the "children of my late brother, Samuel."

The documents identify Samuel's children and show them living in West Virginia, which explains why Samuel seemingly vanished from Pennsylvania after the 1900 federal census. They also indicate that Samuel had married twice and that his youngest child was born to his second wife. George's will gave me better directions than a GPS.

Don't bypass single female relatives, either. Anna Shelley left an estate when she died in Burlington, N.J. Her mother, Catherine, and her sister, Ellen Martin, were named executors of her estate and as heirs. The paperwork shows Anna's other siblings had already passed on. Only her brother Charles had any offspring. Anna left equal shares of her estate to Charles' kids. Their names and addresses are given.

Investigating aunts and uncles is also a good way to establish where they were born. If children from the same family were born in different places, a migration pattern could emerge that might direct you to other counties or states.

Checking census records for collateral relatives can prove to be worthwhile. Catherine Murray dropped off the radar screen soon after she became a widow. But she didn't go far. She was discovered on the 1850 census living with her granddaughter's family. Without that bit of data, her whereabouts and approximate death date would have remained a mystery.

- Donna Murray Allen welcomes your questions about genealogy and will respond to those of general interest in future columns. Sorry, she can't take phone calls, but you can write to her c/o Floridian, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail her at rootscolumn@yahoo.com. Or visit her Web site: www.rootsdetective.com.

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