Re: Looking for info on great grandfather
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In reply to:
Looking for info on great grandfather
Edward Johnson 3/13/10
Hello Edward;
I am not related to this family, but in attempting to assist, probably going to mention things you have already thought about.By reading your information, I am assuming that the daughter of Carl and Frances is your grandmother, still living, correct?
Researching for finding family and genealogy are two different things, and with that said, I've been down the same road, only doing both.It was my main goal at one time to research the family, children, and marriages and descendants of my ggg-grandparents Sheldon.My secondary goal was to find a living relative in each of the 5 lines who had children, and I have done that.It took almost 8 years, and two trips back east for research, but I did it and I have contact with people in each line.My question was always, "is there someone in your family who is your historian or genealogist?" and usually there was.These are the people to connect with because they have the greatest interest, and they most likely have information and photographs, and so on.
It took finding a long lost cousin of my father's still living in Battle Creek, Michigan, (she was b/d 1916 - 2004), and she was a wealth of information.She also helped me focus much of my research in Ohio, as she remembered visiting Wellington at one time in her childhood.She had our Family Bible in the hand of my gg-grandfather David F. Sheldon.She remembered my g-grandfather and my grandfather who passed away when my dad was only 1-1/2 years old.Those kinds of things opened a lot of doors for me.
The difficulty is that, for example and as you already know, there are quite a number of Carl Johnson names in the US Census in Chicago in 1930 who would have been born around 1905 (i.e. as you said married in 1935 at age 30).The reason I'm here in the Johnson forum is because my gg-grandfather Frank Milford Sheldon married Addie Vera Johnson and I understand the dilema of a very popular surname (again not related to your Johnson family).
You may have already done this, but here is the information on the marriage record:
Name: Carl H.B. Johnson
Marriage Date: 3 Jun 1935
Spouse: Frances
Marriage Location: Cook County, IL
Marriage license: {DFFC9551-9F3B-4647-8B16-5E63E9BD3818}
File Number: 1450399
Archive collection name: Cook County Genealogy Records (Marriages)
Archive repository location: Chicago, IL
Archive repository name:Cook County Clerk
I would start right there, and obtain a copy of the original record.You should be able to obtain a copy here. http://www.cookcountygenealogy.comhttp://www.cookcountygenealogy.com
You will need to identify your family, and a marriage record may give Carl's and France's parents' names.Do you know where Carl and Frances were born?Some carl Johnson names in the Chicago census in 1930 are b. Sweden, some b. other places.Knowing these little details can help you ID the family.
There was a Carl Herman Johnson b. 28 May 1905, with parents Carl Emil Johson (b. Sweden) and Susan Swanson Johnson (b. Sweden).However, this may or may not be the same Carl, because (a) there is only one middle name (without the second "B") and (b) there are a number of Carl Johnson names b. Illinois in about 1905 with parents b. Sweeden in the 1930 US Census, however...
I do find a Carl H. B. Johnson as a 'guest' at the Hotel Carling in the 1930 US Federal Census, Illinois > Cook > Chicago (Districts 1501-1750) > District 1601 > Page 27.He was b. About 1905 in Illinois, with parents both born in Sweden.He was an "Actor / Tenor" and "sings," but was unemployed at the time.
The 1940 US Census is scheduled to be released in 2012.
A marriage record might also give their birth dates.Knowing the birthdate of each of Carl and Frances may lead you to find them in the Social Security Death Index.The advantage of the SSDI is also finding the death date, and last residence.
Knowing the last residence of family members was a great key for me, because then I began to look up similar surnames in the white pages of the phone book in the same area via a place like www.dogpile.com -- I gained a lot by just making a phone call.I once called a Rowland family in Florida, and the lady who answered the phone was the second wife of a person I had been researching who was then deceased.She led me to the locations of his children, and one was living in Phoenix, Arizona just 15 miles away from my home.He was able to then ID people in some of my family photos from Wellington, Ohio, and also had family photos that were passed down to him from his father.
Also, does your grandmother have her birth certificae?This may also be a key piece of information, and by 1935 the documentation was much better than the 1800's and early 1900's.You would be able to tell where she was born, which is a key piece of information.I would also check cemeteries in that area, via www.usgenweb.net then select Illinois and then the county.Does your grandmother have a Bible?I would also take a look inside to see if any family information was recorded -- if she has a box of old photos, searching through those may help.
Also, you did not mention if your parents might have some information...if they are living, it might be worth the call.The more you can pin-point a places of birth-marriage-death, the quicker you can find your g-grandparents Carl and Frances.
Best regards -- I hope the above gave you some inspiration.
Jack Sheldon, Jr.
Mesa, AZ (formerly of Owosso, MI)
More Replies:
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Re: Looking for info on great grandfather
Edward Johnson 3/17/10
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Re: Looking for info on great grandfather
Edward Johnson 3/18/10
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Re: Looking for info on great grandfather