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After a hiatus I am finally back to blogging. The holidays and starting a new job after being at home for 12 years has kept me very busy. I am adjusting my routine to fit in my blog writing. Bear with me as I get back on track.

In this post I will discuss surprising, somewhat soap opera like, scenarios you may encounter when doing research. We may all want to think our family trees will be drama free with cut and dry marriages, families, and lives. This is not always the case. Be prepared for unexpected revelations. I have often seen other researchers dismiss trails of facts because they believe it is not possible for certain events to happen. Just like us today, our ancestors were not perfect and pure.

George Bader Senior and Junior in Portland, Oregon.

Here is one such scenario in my family.

My 2nd great grandfather, George Bader, was born in 1859. In 1880 he married my 2nd great grandmother, Mary Kearns. Neither had been married before. Their first child and my great grandmother, Anna, was born in Indiana in 1881. The rest of their 8 children were born in Illinois. Sometime after August 1881 and before March of 1883 they moved just over the border to the south side of Chicago. Their last child together was born in Illinois in 1895.

This is where is gets interesting. On the 1900 census (five years after their last child was born) my 2nd great grandmother, Mary, is now living back in Indiana with all of her children. She is listed as married but George is not with her but her single sister is now living with her. She also eventually sends one child off to live with her brother and another child to live with another sister. Considering this, she seems to be struggling and needed help caring for the children.

Mary listed here in 1900 in Indiana without George Sr. Her sister, Hannah is living with her.

“Is George dead?”

Logical question to most people and the obvious belief. No, he is not deceased. He is still living in Illinois in 1900. Now you may think he is just working and living there to provide for his family back in Indiana. Again, no. The evidence does not support that.

George is living with a widowed woman named Elizabeth Johnson. He is listed in the 1900 census as a boarder of Elizabeth Johnson. His marital status is listed as being single (not divorced or widowed). The age/year of birth matches, place of birth, and general area where he lived with my 2nd great grandmother all match. It is him. This Elizabeth Johnson has a few kids living with her including a George Johnson born in 1897 in Illinois (a few months before Elizabeth Johnson’s husband dies).

George Sr. listed here as a boarder and single. George Jr. is listed as a Johnson/Johnston.

Skip ahead to the 1910 census. George is still living in Chicago with Elizabeth Johnson as a boarder. However, this time he is listed as married and the child, George Johnson, from the 1900 census is now listed as ‘George Bader’ son of George Bader Sr. Whoa! wait a minute. He goes from being Elizabeth Johnson’s son to the son of her boarder. Could just be an error on the census takers part, right? That is what I thought in the beginning. That is until I found the birth certificate for George Junior.

George Sr. still living with Elizabeth as a boarder but now George Jr. is a Bader and not a Johnson.

Birth record leads to more confusion…

After much digging for George Bader Jr.’s birth certificate and coming up empty I took a shot in the dark and looked for a birth certificate for George Johnson and to my amazement I found it. Same birth date and listed Elizabeth Johnson and her deceased husband as parents. So confused.

George Bader Jr. birth record. Correct birth date and same address on census record.

Still believing an error occurred on the 1910 census I went to the 1920 census. I could not find either George in Chicago so I expanded my search nationwide looking for George Bader and George Bader Jr. with what ages they should be. I finally found them–in Portland, Oregon. They were together living with one of Elizabeth Johnson’s daughters. On this census George Sr. is listed as ‘widowed’ which makes sense because he never divorced my great great grandmother and she died in 1912 from cancer.

George Sr. and Jr. now living in Portland with Elizabeth’s daughter, Mary (after she had married and been widowed).

I am awfully confused at this point. Was Elizabeth Johnson the mother of George Jr. like the birth record says? But then why would George Jr. go with Senior and leave Elizabeth behind in Chicago? Were George Sr. and Elizabeth Johnson having an affair and that is why my great great grandmother moved back to Indiana in 1898?

In the 1930 and 1940 census George Sr. continues to live with George Jr. and his family in the Portland area until his death in July of 1940.

Basically after my great great grandmother left him he appears to have never lived with her again or even see his children again. He lives with Elizabeth Johnson for around 12-15 years and then heads to Portland with George Jr. and one of Elizabeth’s daughters.

I had my suspicions that George Sr. had an affair with Elizabeth Johnson (while her husband was alive) and the birth record for George Jr. was just listed as Elizabeth and her husband’s. Then after her husband passed away it was easier to say the child was George Sr.’s. Simply listing George Sr. as a boarder with a son didn’t raise suspicion in an age where this was highly frowned upon.

Elizabeth Johnson in the middle with George Sr. on the left and George Jr. in the back left. Taken in Portland when Elizabeth visited.

I am not alone in my assumptions and research.

This all seems so out there I always doubted my findings. Then several years after my research began I came in contact with a distant Bader cousin. She had done her own research and had come to the same conclusion. However, growing up she always heard that Elizabeth Johnson had run a brothel in Chicago. She had also heard that family members believed George Bader Jr. was not Elizabeth’s child but rather her daughter’s child. This is controversial because Elizabeth’s daughter would have been only 14 at the time (and George Sr. would have been 39). My relative said Elizabeth’s daughter, Mary, and George Jr. were always extremely close and Mary was the one who moved out to Portland with George Senior and Junior.

When you put the pieces together it all seems to fit. A sad, soap opera like scenario but many of the facts are there. Will I ever know the 100% truth? Probably not. To this day I cannot be sure that Elizabeth Johnson is the mother of George Bader Jr. I truly do not think her husband was the father because right after he dies George Jr. takes on the Bader name.

The take away….

The take away here is that not everything is what it seems. As a genealogist we have to deal in facts. The facts in this case tell me that my great great grandparents split up but never divorced. They tell me that my great great grandfather had an illegitimate child. The facts also lead me to believe the birth record was a lie. George Junior was not the child of Elizabeth’s husband (and possibly not even Elizabeth). He was not born in a hospital but rather at home and it is a birth record…not a certificate. Elizabeth also, according to census records, had a total of 18 children but only less than half survived and she had her ‘Own Income’. Running a brothel could be a possibility.

I will keep searching, trying to find anything to support the theories. Key take away here is: Don’t assume your family was perfect or that just because something seems odd means it isn’t true. Just like people today, our ancestors had flaws too. Embrace it and accept it as just a part of your family history.

By now, if you have started on your ancestry journey, you have accumulated some research materials and documents. One of the biggest hurdles a family historian can come across is how to organize their information in the most efficient, sensible way. Organizing straight out of the gate is crucial. Genealogy research can snowball and before you know it, you are surrounded by documents, pictures, notes, books, etc.

Being unorganized means you could spend extra time looking up information you already have or spending too much time looking for a record you know you have somewhere buried in your pile. Everyone has their own method for organizing. Some prefer that most, if not all, of their research be on their computer. I am all for this, but it is critical that you have a backup…and a backup to your backup. I have everything I can on my computer via downloaded documents or scanned documents and pictures. However, I also print a good majority of my records out and have hard copies and/or originals. I also have all of my information on a disk or flash drive and have given that to a relative. That way should anything happen to my computer or my home then I have someone else who has all of my records.

Computer records

Keep records together in one main file. Underneath that one main file, divide records into even more files. For example: I have a folder called “Jen’s Ancestry” and in that file I have more files under headings such as “Holmes Family Census Records” or “Kuhn Family Photos”. If I need to divide out even more than I may even have sub folders under those headings.

Be consistent with naming your files. When you accumulate a ton of files you can still get lost in your computer files searching for that one census record. Label your files any way you want, but stay consistent. I find that labeling files with a last name followed by a first name and then type of file and date (if applicable). For example: an 1870 census record for my ggg grandfather, Charles Holmes would read HolmesCharlesCensus1880.

If I am labeling a picture with multiple people in it I may save the file under a couple different folders or I will save the picture under the head of the family that represents the majority in the picture.

Utilize Excel spreadsheets. I use Excel to keep track of obituaries, census, death, and marriage records. I have one spreadsheet for obituaries and keep track of each and every obituary I find. I record the name, date of obituary, and source (newspaper name and place, or online source). When I wonder if I have an obituary for a certain person it is easiest for me to open the spreadsheet on my computer and in a few seconds see whether I have that record or not. This is even faster than searching through the folders on my computer.

Hard copies

In collecting data you will certainly have hard copies…whether they are original or copies. Binders with tab dividers often work best. Again, you can experiment and see what works best for you. You might find have file folders works best instead. Test of different methods if need be. I use binders and divide out my family into sections. Often how many binders I have is determined by how much information I have on each family. As you can see in the picture above of my binders I have a “Kunze” binder. That family used to be combined with another family because I had very little information my Kunze side. Now that I have more data, I decided to separate that family out and create a new binder for it.

Inside I have dividers for “Birth Records”, “Marriage Records”, “Death Records”, “Family Histories” (military, newspaper articles, stories of their lives), and “Pictures”. A few of my binders have a couple of other categories including “Maps” and “Other Sources”. The category “Other Sources” is mainly just family trees or information from people online that I have yet to verify. This keeps notes separate that I have not confirmed to be true.

Genealogy software

Lastly, but probably the most important, is software to keep you organized. I personally use Family Tree Maker. When I started my research two decades ago, genealogy was not nearly as popular so the choices were limited. About 15 years ago I went with Family Tree Maker and have stuck with it since then. I have been curious if I should upgrade, but Family Tree Maker has been a great tool for me thus far.

I did find a great link that compares 2018 genealogy software that is worth checking out if you are still wondering what to use. Top 10 Reviews has a handy chart to compare the software out there.

I am constantly using my software and I would be lost without it, so do your research first and figure out what is best for your needs. I may do a further review of genealogy software in the future. However, I am not familiar with most of them so I feel your research would be as good as mine. I have heard good things about Family Historian and Legacy.

Family Tree Maker is easy to use. I can easily add a source and attach photos and documents. I can print out different versions of family tree charts/pedigrees. There is also a relationship calculator in Family Tree Maker. You can click on an individual, go to “Calculate Relationship”, find yourself, and hit “Calculate” and it can tell you exactly how you relate to that person in your tree.

Find what works for you

In the end, it all comes down to what works best for you. Not all methods work for every genealogist. My husband has very few binders. He has all of his information on the computer. Me? I prefer hard copies. Hard copies also make it easier for me to take one or two binders to my parent’s house and share with relatives at family gatherings. They can easily pass them around and look through them.

Believe it or not- I do not have a laptop (just my desktop). Crazy for a genealogist, I know. I am hoping to get one soon. It would make going to libraries and doing research outside my home so much easier. However, if you do not have one either don’t despair. If I have done it for 20 years without one then you will be fine. Just have dedicated notebooks and stay organized while away from home.

Keep different ways of organizing a priority and your research will be much more streamlined and less time consuming.