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Tag Archive for Research Note

Ancestry.com Replies to “Those Oldies But Goodies”

May 23, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

After having posted about “ancient research aids,” I got a very pleasant email from John Bacus, a product manager on Ancestry.com’s search engine. He pointed out the “location filters” on the search engine. They are located just under the location box in each search box, just as the name filters are just beneath the name boxes. These filters,allow a user to restrict to the exact place specified, to a specific county, or a county and adjacent counties, or the particular state, among the “granularity options.” So even with new search, it’s possible to query the number people named Johnson in Clay County, Missouri, on the 1930 census.

I think these filters work well. I had been overlooking them for awhile–quite embarrassing since I was in the first group of bloggers shown these features before they debuted! I encourage you to try them with various levels of granularity and see the results produced.

No comments Ancestry.com, Research Note

Research Note: The SSDI (Part II)

May 6, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

This article is about the Social Security Death Index, not Social Security Disability Insurance.

In our last post we learned a few things about the Social Security Death Index. First we found out that the government doesn’t use the term SSDI; this term is used by nongovernmental concerns to describe the product that they derive from the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File. These nongovernmental entities receive the DMF from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), a bureau within the Department of Commerce. Individuals may purchase the DMF directly from NTIS in a variety of forms. And here’s a handy link to understanding the architecture of the DMF, if you are technically inclined to explore the infrastructure of the product. You can use the information to construct your own custom queries of the DMF.

We also discovered that 90% of the information in the DMF, and thus in the SSDI, comes from “first party” reports; that is, from private individuals (usually family members or potential beneficiaries), funeral homes, nursing facilities, etc. The Social Security Administration adds these reports immediately into the DMF. The DMF has coding that indicates verification or proof of death. On some versions of the SSDI this comes out something like this: “V = verified (family member contact)” and “P = proved (death certificate observed).”

There is always the issue of accuracy of a product like the SSDI or the DMF. Numerous studies have been done on this issue over the years. The main concern is not that someone who is dead will be left off the SSDI; that happens all the time, usually because of the lack of a report of death. The greater public concern is that someone who is alive will be listed as dead on the DMF. Statistically the occurrences of this error are rare but they are frequent enough and the consequences severe enough to warrant close scrutiny by the SSA. The consequences include termination of Social Security benefits, loss of the ability to get credit, even the loss of a job.

And an even greater consequence of erroneous death reporting is identity theft. That’s because the SSDI or DMF contain personally identifiable information on individuals. That’s not such a big deal if you’re dead, but if your date of birth and Social Security number are published while you are alive, well, you can imagine what might happen.

In early 2009, the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration reported on the sources of DMF errors. See the table below.

Source: Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Sources of Erroneous Death Entries Input into the Death Master File, Audit Report No. A-06-09-29095, 4 Feb 2009

These data should relieve the anxiety of those who are concerned about first party reports. The fact is there simply no incentive to to erroneously report a death to the SSA, and only the worst of motives for doing so deliberately. In fact, one might suggest that in some cases there is a greater incentive not to report a death to the SSA. Doing away with first party reports is not among the solutions to the error problems with the DMF. As the SSA IG observed:

SSA would have to turn away widows or other family members who visit a field office to report a death until it receives “official” notification from the State before initiating or terminating related benefit claims. SSA would also have to stop processing death reports received directly from other non-State sources, such as funeral homes, postal authorities, etc. . . . .

Eliminating first-party reports of death information would delay the processing of claims, increase erroneous payments, and cause public relations problems.

So how does the SSA keep the DMF accurate and up-to-date? One way that’s taken on greater prominence is the use of the Electronic Death Registration system (EDR). The system allows states to report deaths directly to SSA. While states do that presently, EDR enhances the accuracy of the reporting by allowing the states to verify the Social Security number online before the report is sent. The preceding table seems to indicate that EDR reporting is significantly less error-prone than other forms of reporting. The SSA has undertaken other internal steps, including new technology and training, to reduce staff errors in death report inputs.

Another important fact is that subscribers to the DMF who publish the data are contractually obligated to correct and update the data as they get new data from NTIS.

How do you report an unreported death? Call the SSA toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. You need to have the deceased person’s Social Security number when you call.

How do you correct an error in the SSDI? Go to the nearest local field office of the SSA and take proof of the correct information with you. If it is verified by the SSA, the correction will appear as soon as possible in a weekly or quarterly update to the DMF.

No comments Research Note, Resources, SSDI

Research Note: A Bit of Info about SSDI

May 4, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

A poster on the APG public mailing list recently asserted that she had come across an error in the date of death listed for a person on the SSDI. She questioned how this could happen when the entry was supposedly verified by a family member. In response another poster said that as far as she knew, the Social Security Administration does not accept death reports from private individuals.

Unfortunately, the second poster’s information that SSA does not accept death reports from private individuals is incorrect.

it is useful to understand what we refer to as the Social Security Death Index is and is not. For the best understanding of just about anything, an old rule that we baby boomers learned in the 1960s applies: go right to the source and ask the horse!

As a result of a [1980] Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, SSA maintains a record of reported deaths known as the DMF. The terms of the related consent judgment required that SSA make available to the [public], the SSN, surname, and date of death of deceased numberholders. As of June 2007, the DMF database contained detailed information on more than 82 million numberholders. SSA provides DMF data to the Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS). NTIS, in turn, sells the DMF data to customers we broadly categorize as follows: (1) Federal, State, and local government customers; (2) industry customers including financial, investigative, credit reporting, and medical research organizations; and (3) public customers, including genealogists, individuals, etc. Customers can purchase the complete data file for $1,725 and subscribe to monthly electronic updates for another $2,600. The electronic updates provide subscribers with DMF additions, corrections, and deletions.

[Source:Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Quick Response Evaluation:Sources of Erroneous Death Entries Input to the Death Master File, Audit Report Number A-06-09-29095, February 4, 2009 (available at http://www.ssa.gov/oig/ADOBEPDF/A-06-09-29095.pdf)]

The DMF is not available directly from SSA. That which we civilians refer to as the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) is one of the commercially repackaged versions of the DMF that a vendor has obtained from the NTIS.

The DMF contains nearly 89,000,000 records of Social Security recipients who have passed away since 1936. Most of these records date from 1962 to the present.

Each year SSA adds more than 2 million records to the file. The records include both beneficiary and non-beneficiary records and verified and non-verified data. Sources of death data are: family members; funeral homes; States, Federal agencies (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Veteran’s Affairs, etc.), postal authorities, institutions and internal sources from SSA’s payment records. Ninety percent of the file includes reports from family members and funeral homes.

[Source: Ray Wessmiller, Using Audit Software and the Death Master File to Catch Crooks, Newsletter of the Information Systems And Audit Control Association – National Capital Area chapter, September 2002, available at http://tinyurl.com/3jajwhm.

As depicted on the chart below, SSA receives most death reports from funeral homes or friends/relatives of the deceased. SSA considers such first party death reports to be verified and immediately posts them to the DMF.

[Source: Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Benefit Payments in Instances Where the Social Security Administration Removed a Death Entry from the Beneficiary's Record, Audit Report Number A-06-07-27156, June 19, 2008, available at http://www.ssa.gov/oig/ADOBEPDF/A-06-07-27156.pdf].

So indeed most death reports come from private individuals. In our next post will talk about how the SSA verifies DMF information and how you can correct errors if you find them in the SSDI.

2 comments Research Note, Resources, SSDI

Finding Federal Court Records for Free [Mostly!]

January 7, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

“Court records” can mean literally anything of public interest filed with the courts. But some of the juiciest stuff is to be found in criminal cases and civil lawsuits. Ron Arons has an excellent book out called Wanted:US Criminal Records–Sources & Research Methodology. He describes the state and federal repositories for these records. I’ve used his book several times in the last year to successfully find criminal records for ancestors that I have been researching. I highly recommend Ron’s book.

There is however, a slight chance for the lucky among us, that we could find certain federal criminal records and civil lawsuits relevant to your research online–all free (or almost free), courtesy of good ole Uncle Sam.

Back to Basics

Whether you’re using Ron’s book, or you’re trying to find certain records online, it helps to remember your basic civics. The United States has two systems of courts: the federal courts established under the Constitution of the United States, and the state courts established under the constitutions and laws of the various states. We are concerned here with the federal courts. The Constitution says that the judiciary of the United States shall consist of “one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” The “inferior courts” include 13 courts of appeals and 94 district courts (and some other critters known as “Article I courts,” but we will take those up at some other time).

The best way to study this pyramid is from the bottom up. Each state and territory, as well as the District of Columbia, contains one or more federal judicial districts. California for example, has four federal judicial districts: the Northern District, based in San Francisco; the Eastern District, based in Sacramento and Fresno; the Central District based in Los Angeles; and the Southern District, based in San Diego. Each of these districts has a district court, which may consist of one or more district judges, and usually one or more “subordinate” judicial officers, known as magistrate judges. These are the trial courts in the federal system: the courts of first instance. These courts are where federal judicial matters generally are first commenced (with some exceptions not relevant to our discussion here). These courts are where witnesses are heard, juries are impaneled, verdicts and judgments reached and entered.

The 94 district courts are organized into 12 judicial circuits. Each judicial circuit represents a court of appeals. For example, the Ninth Circuit, the largest of the 13 circuits [okay, now, is it 12 or 13? We'll get to that in a minute.] hears appeals from the district courts in the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, as well as from the courts in Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. Most of the circuits are identified by numbers 1 through 11. We get to 13 circuits by including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit*, which is like the other circuit courts of appeals, except that it hears appeals only from the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia; and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which is a specialized court with jurisdiction over patent cases, claims against the federal government, certain trade disputes, and other issues. There are no district courts permanently nested within the Federal Circuit.

The graphic below shows the whole U.S. federal court system with which we are concerned.

The circuits are color-coded and within state borders, faint gray lines are visible which denote the districts within the state. For example, the close-up below depicts the 11th Circuit, comprised of the federal district courts in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. The 11th Circuit’s main office is in Atlanta, but the appeals court has locations in each of the three states. You can also more easily see the district lines. Georgia, for example, has U.S. District Courts in its Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts.

And of course at the top of the heap is the United States Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of the United States presides not only over the Supreme Court, but is also the head of the entire federal judiciary.

Over the years, and perhaps especially during the tenure of the late Chief Justice Rehnquist, the judicial branch has made tremendous strides in unifying, modernizing, and streamlining its procedures, and access to its records by the public. One of the Rehnquist-era innovations is called PACER, which stands for “public access to court electronic records.”

PACER is a great tool for finding relatively recent federal criminal, civil, and bankruptcy filings, especially those since 1990. PACER can be found on the judicial branch’s homepage, www.uscourts.gov or on its own page, www.pacer.gov. Literally anybody in the world with an Internet connection can access PACER; you do not have to be a lawyer or a judge or in any way affiliated with the courts.

Here’s how PACER works: when attorneys file papers with the court, the papers are scanned, digitized, and organized into case files. Most federal courts have or require electronic filing of case documents. The files are posted in the Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) system. PACER is essentially a public portal search into CM/ECF. We will demonstrate PACER’s search functions.

But first, a couple of caveats about federal court records and PACER. The federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. That is to say that the Constitution and Congress define e the powers of the federal courts. So, for example, you’ll find no divorce cases, no small claims cases, and generally no probate or juvenile cases in federal courts. You may find personal injury cases, but only if the opposing parties are from two different states aand the amount of money at issue is greater than $75,000. You can find federal criminal cases, bankruptcy cases, cases brought against the federal government and cases brought by the federal government against companies or individuals.

The second caveat is that most courts’ electronic records go back a very limited period of time, most commonly to the 1980s. However, many courts have case documents back into the 1950s and even the 1930s.

Using PACER

Go to the PACER homepage at www.pacer.gov. You can also reach it by clicking on the “Court Records” tab on the United States Courts web site [www.uscourts.gov]. Once at the PACER homepage, go to the “Register” tab. You will want to register for “Case Search Only.”

Anyone with access to a computer can register for a “case search only” account. There is no registration fee. However, if you download pages from PACER, the fee is eight cents per page. But the government has a policy of not invoicing the fee unless and until the fees reach $10 in any one calendar quarter; for most users, therefore, many searches will be free. You do not need a credit card to register. But if you do input credit card info, you will receive your password electronically; without a credit card, you have to wait for the Pony Express to arrive.

Once you have your PACER login and password, click on “Find a Case.” You will have two choices here: you may either search the entire PACER locator,or you can search individual court web sites, if you have an idea where the records you seek might be.

Let’s first try the PACER nationwide locator. On this page, we can see that we have the choice of which types of cases, we want to search: appellate, bankruptcy, civil, criminal, or multidistrict litigation. This last category is very rare and so we won’t go into that.

Let’s look for criminal cases involving one of my family names, Sanford. we can search all courts, if we want; or we can be more specific. Recalling that the Sanfords were primarily in the South, and more Texas, we’ll want to search the circuit that includes Texas. Looking at our map of the federal judiciary, we see that Texas is in the Fifth Circuit. So we’ll start there. We scroll down to the Fifth Circuit, under “Region.” Then we type the name Sanford in the party box, and click search. Caution: do not check the “exact match” box unless you have included a complete name consisting of at least a first and last name.

View video demo

Our search reveals 30 records of criminal cases involving parties with the name Sanford in the courts of the Fifth Circuit. In the column headed “Court,” there is a code which tells us, which court in the Fifth Circuit that particular case is pending. The code is easy to read: the first two letters are the state abbreviation and the second two letters indicate the district in the state where the case is pending. For example, the first case on the list, that of Andreko Deshan Sanford, is pending in the court identified as “msndce.” that means the Northern District of Mississippi. Going back to the US courts page, we can ascertain that the United States District Court for Northern District of Mississippi sits mainly in Oxford, but has branches in Greenville and Aberdeen.

We were looking for Texas Stanfords so we can proceed in one of several ways. We can filter these results by court by going to the filter tab, and selecting courts that began with “tx.” Or we can start a new search. This will take us back to the first page of the Pacer case locator. We’ll go under the criminal tab again. Under “Region,” we’ll scroll down to Texas without indicating a specific district.

View video demo

A search for “Sanford” this time yields 19 records in all U.S. District Courts in Texas.

For purposes of illustration, let’s choose the case of Misty Sanford (I do not know her to be one of my Sanford relatives, but who knows?). We click on her case number and we get the following page:

There is a variety of information available on this page, but most people are going to be interested in the documents in the case. To see the documents in the case, do not go to “View a document,” unless you already know the document number [most likely you won't know the document number, because you will not have seen the docket]. Instead, go to “Docket Report” and see this page:

There’s no need to enter any additional information on this page, simply sort by the drop-down menu to “Oldest Date First,” then click on “Run Report.” The following page appears:

This shows us a summary of the case against Misty Sanford. She’s charged with cruelty to animals, unlawful entry and failure to register her pets; not exactly the crimes of the century. If we scroll down further, we come to a list of documents in the case. At this point in her case there only two documents. Before we look at them, notice the box at the bottom of the page. It tells us that we’ve been charged eight cents for viewing the current page. Remember we won’t be actually be charged for this, unless our charges in this calendar quarter exceed $10. And furthermore, if a document that we pull up exceeds 30 pages, we only get charged for the first 30 pages.

The documents are numbered with hyperlinked numerals. For example, document number one in this case is called the information. This is often the first pleading in a federal criminal case. When we click on this document, we get the following page:

Note that since the document is four pages long, we been charged $0.32 for pulling it up. Click on “View Document” and a PDF version of the document appears.

We said earlier that the most common cases were from the 1980′s and 1990′s. If you are interested in the records of a specific court, check out the tab labeled “Court Information” at the top of the Pacer case locator page. A pop-box will appear giving dates of the earliest cases in that court’s electronic file.

Some of the older cases do not have the actual documents scanned in. Instead they have textual descriptions of the contents of the records. This is where you want to get Ron Arons’ book and find out where the actual records are kept.

2 comments Court Records, Courts, Law, Research, Research Note, Research Tip

Research Note: Don’t Overlook the Simple Way

May 3, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

Chris Dunham at The Genealogue has made genealogical “challenges” a somewhat regular feature of his blog. These are quite interesting, fun, and test one’s rapid research skills. I enjoy them a lot, because I always learn something, either about the particular subject or about some research resource I may have not known about before. I always have to work fast if I want to post an answer because the East Coast folks have a time zone advantage!

Sometimes, a Challenge is so complex or obscure that it takes days and many folks working to figure it out. Sometimes they are disarmingly simple.

A few days ago, Chris’s Challenge #126 was set up about “Stephen and Emilie Preen, who lived in Newark, New Jersey, in 1900.” There was this link to a discussion thread about Preen family history. The Challenge was to discover Who was their very famous step-grandchild?
The link gave some important clues. [Don't look at the comments to Chris's Challenge #126 yet if you want to learn what I learned!]

The Challenge went unanswered for an unusually long time. I really didn’t have time to do it, but I took a shot anyway. I first used some of the clues in the discussion thread along with census records to determine the names of the Preens’ children. Then using census records and birth and marriage databases, I tried to determine their grandchildren. I had to check each of the children. A couple were quickly eliminated, and I soon focused on Sydney David Preen as the likely step-father. The somewhat unusual spelling of his first name likely came from the fact (found in the discussion thread and confirmed in census and passenger records) that Stephen and Emilie Preen had lived in Australia in New South Wales for several years. Indeed, their two oldest children, though not Sydney, had been born in Australia.

I then tracked Sydney to California and this made sense because perhaps the step-child was in the entertainment industry. Well, I wrestled with Sydney’s records for quite awhile before giving up, partly because, as I said, I really didn’t have time, and in part because I was now convinced that the answer could be found only by using some obscure database or research technique.

But the next day, I noticed in the comments that someone had come up with the right answer. Unfortunately, she didn’t describe how she got there. [Don't look yet!]. But I discovered that knowing what was in the discussion thread or even just the question itself, a good thinker could come up with the answer in just a matter of minutes.

Try it yourself. Take the information in the question itself and find the name of their famous step-grandchild in fifteen minutes. Go ahead, we’ll wait here.

–Fifteen Minute Interval–

Now, how long did it really take you to come up with John Wayne?

Here’s how to do it: Look up the names of the Preen children in the 1900 census. “Google” each one in turn. For Charles Preen, you’ll get about 98 hits, which you can click through quickly with no mention of anyone famous. For Albert Preen you get nine hits; again, not seeming to lead to anyone “famous.” Now for Sydney Preen, you’ll get five hits; again nobody of special notoriety. But then, the thinking researcher would decide that “Sydney” is not the only way, nor the typical American way, to spell that name for a male. So now you search Google for “Sidney” Preen, and guess what? The first two of five mentions refer to John Wayne’s autobiography. Time elapsed: less than fifteen minutes.

Lesson: don’t overlook the simple ways!

3 comments Chris Dunham, Genealogical Challenges, Preen, Research Note

Research Note: Historic Missouri Newspaper Project

November 11, 2007 Craig Uncategorized

Thanks to a link I found in the Genealogical Research Resources Group started by Denise Olson, I found myself at the Historic Missouri Newspaper Research Project. The project is a collaboration among several institutions in Missouri, including Lincoln University, the University of Missouri- Columbia Libraries, the Kansas City Public Library, and the State Historical Society of Missouri.

There are not a lot of newspapers in the project right now, but those that are there are rich in historical data. Additionally, I think the software base of the project, called Active Paper, allows easier and more efficient searching and retrieval than some commercial newspaper archives. Active Paper is a product of Olive Software, a seven year old Silicon Valley-based company.

I’ve found a lot of stories about my northwest Missouri ancestors in the papers in this project. The search function is so easy to use that I find myself spending hours playing with it!

One comment Missouri, Newspapers, Research Note

Research Note: On the Ground in Cemeteries

July 27, 2007 Craig Uncategorized

[Posted from Kansas City, Missouri]

I’ve spent several days in cemeteries on this trip and the following have proved useful:

1. Call ahead to ascertain the hours both the gates and the office (if there is one) will be open.

2. Stop by the office (if there is one) and interview the staff. Learn the history of the cemetery as well as its layout. Get a map if one is available.

3. Try not to go at the hottest time of day!

4. Of course, take a camera to record what you see.

5. Take a small pair of garden clippers to help clear away overgrown grass.

6. If you’re visiting a few specific gravesites, take some flowers or other memorial items to pay respects.

7. Of course, be respectful of the place and other visitors.

8. To aid other researchers, share your pictures on your own Web site or a site like Find-a-Grave.com.

9. Record specific directions to the cemetery and the gravesites visited.

10. Thank the staff for their help.

What other tips can you think of?

2 comments Cemeteries, Research Note

Some Info On Texas Birth and Death Records

January 18, 2007 Craig Uncategorized

I have written occasionally about my mostly positive experience getting Texas birth and death records. I recently came across this article at Genealogymagazine.com that adds some important information about researching Texas death records.

By the way, Texas (not surprisingly) has an “Heirloom Birth Certificate” available for your favorite Native Texan. It can be ordered through Texas Online. I’m getting one soon for my favorite Native Texan (who I’ll be writing about in this space very soon). I’ll let you know how that goes.

No comments Death Records, Research Note

Google Books

December 12, 2006 Craig Uncategorized

If you haven’t searched on Google Books, go there immediately (immediately after reading this post, of course!). There are tens of thousands of genealogy and history references available there. Controversy initially dogged Google books when first introduced; Google was accused of copyright violations in its program to digitize entire libraries. Much of the initial hubbub has died down and now Google is reaching accommodations with publishers and libraries around the world.

Search results on Google Books may provide more than just a title and author. If the book is in the public domain or if the publisher has given permission, there may be a “full view” of the book available and you may be able to download a PDF version of the book. By agreement with numerous publishers even those works not in the public domain may have a “limited view” available from which you can get a pretty good look at the contents of the book. With full view or limited view books you can perform searches throughout the book. Some books have only available a “snippet” view, which provides three pieces of text from the book. For every book, the search engine provides links to publishers and booksellers as well as to libraries where the book may be borrowed.

Here some of the things that I’ve found recently on Google Books that I really liked:

Runaway and Freed Missouri Slaves and Those Who Helped Them, 1763-1865 (2004) By Harriet C. Frazier

French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times (2000) by Carl J. Ekberg

The titles above are “limited view” books and are available at major booksellers. Then there’s this:

History of the Catholic Church Within the Limits of the United States (1888) by John Gilmary Shea. This is a 700+ page comprehensive treatment of the history of the church of until 1888, written by the preeminent American Catholic historian of the 19th century. It’s available from major booksellers for a mere $239. Fortunately, on Google Books it is a “full view” book.

One comment Research Note

Finding the LeJays: Parlez-vous Francais?

October 18, 2006 Craig Uncategorized

I have written before about the difficulty I have had finding the Lejay family. My great grandmother was Sylvia Lejay Gines and her mother was Syntrilla Brayboy Lejay. I believed that Sylvia’s father’s, and Syntrilla’s husband’s, name was Lewis. I know that they’re connected to both Louisiana and South Carolina. Finding records of them has been very difficult especially in the case of Syntrilla Lejay.

We know that an Isaac Lejay came to South Carolina in the 1680′s with his wife Madeleine Fleury. After that we basically lose track of the Lejays until the 1870 census of Louisiana. So what happened to them? Well, I didn’t really know, but finding out has been one of my research priorities.

Isaac Lejay apparently was one of many thousands of Huguenots who came to America, indeed specifically to South Carolina, in the 17th century. Some sources have said that can be difficult to track Huguenot descendents and other French surnamed individuals because the use of articles such as “le,” and “la,” fell into disuse for various reasons. if that’s the case then it would be difficult to distinguish a John Jay, who had Huguenot ancestors, from any John Jay, who may have been an Englishman. [The Founding Father John Jay was of Huguenot descent.]

Of course the novice researcher soon learns that variations in spelling become important in genealogical research. Looking for Lejays, for example, one might look for the spelling “Legay,”or “Legauy,” or “Lejau.” None of these particularly fruitful in my research.

Having run into what seemed to be a fairly thick brick wall, I recently put out in several media a request for help. a correspondent on the AfriGeneas forum gave me the clue I had been missing. he suggested trying the spellings “Legere” or “Legire.” I would not have thought of either of these. Another AfriGeneas correspondent explained the reason for this suggestion: “the name Leger or Legere (sometimes with an accent grave ` over the second “e” in the second spelling) [are both] pronounced l’jay in French . . . .”

In the 1880 census of De Soto Parish, Louisiana, there appears the household of Lewis “Legire” and his wife “Sintrilla.” Among their children is a teenaged “Silvia.” This appears to be the family I’ve been looking for. Living nearby is a couple named Edwin and Mary “Legire” who may be Lewis’s parents.

So had I known a little a bit about French pronunciation, this may have been a lot easier! Now I’m excited to find more Lejays hiding behind their francophone names.

5 comments Research Note