Surname Unknown - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Re: Trying to find the maiden name

deeflint01 — 2019-03-12 13:54:25Z

I would start by trying to order the marriage record for John Beckingham and Mary. That should have her maiden name.

Re: Trying to find the maiden name

sueco79 — 2019-02-16 18:05:23Z

sorry, yes it is the 1939 register of England and Wales, and they lived in Bethnal Green, Hackney

Re: Trying to find the maiden name

mi2early — 2019-02-16 17:27:09Z

It will be easier for someone to help if you'll say where in the world the couple lived and married. When you say 1939 census by any chance do you mean the 1939 Register of England and Wales?

-- board admin.

Trying to find the maiden name

sueco79 — 2019-02-16 16:27:28Z

William Collier married on 24th November 1951 to a Mary Ann Louisa Beckingham (widow) on the marriage certificate the father's name is missing. I know that Mary was born on the 2nd March 1886 and died on 21st September 1972. I have managed to find her on the 1939 census and she is married to John Beckingham. I would really like to find out Mary Ann Louisa's maiden name, any help would be much appreciated.

Re: Maternal grandmother's maiden name seems to be STRUNK

ilovetype — 2018-01-07 16:31:38Z

Following up from 3 years ago ... the reference to Beverly is what has brought all of this together for me. I was pretty confident about who Betty/Elizabeth was, but I was unable to connect to anyone from the Strunk family, despite my attempts at reaching out to several people. Then just recently I found a member connection with the same "Betty" as me ... and it connect me to other Strunks. In just the last 2 days, I have found someone who knows my grandmother's sister, who is still alive. I'm actually surprised I've found any one still living from that time ... we'll see what happens.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

LDeckter — 2014-11-15 16:31:38Z

Jeffrey,
Her children's death (and possibly birth) certificates should have the maiden name of their mother.

Re: Mother's maiden name unknown. (advice)

carobradford — 2014-10-23 17:33:31Z

Then you need the certificate. Make sure you get it direct from the GRO at www.gro.gov.uk. Third party suppliers will charge much more than the statutory £9.25 fee.

Do please let us know what it says!

Caroline

Re: Mother's maiden name unknown. (advice)

genealogist1515 — 2014-10-23 15:00:41Z

Birth index. He was born in 1939 in London.

Re: Mother's maiden name unknown. (advice)

genealogist1515 — 2014-10-23 14:59:55Z

Thanks for replying. It's just in the index for his birth.

Re: Mother's maiden name unknown. (advice)

mi2early — 2014-10-22 20:10:35Z

"On my grandfather's BMD record" -- which record? Birth, marriage, or death? Please provide much more information, including names, dates, and where in the world your grandfather lived so that someone can help you.

Re: Mother's maiden name unknown. (advice)

carobradford — 2014-10-22 20:09:52Z

That's an odd one. When you say "BMD record", do you mean his birth certificate? If so, who was the informant? Was it the child's father (who surely would have known his own wife's maiden name), the mother (who would have been expected to know her own) or someone else (who might not have done, though it would have been odd for the registrar not to have sent them back to ask!).

Caroline

Mother's maiden name unknown. (advice)

genealogist1515 — 2014-10-22 18:14:07Z

On my grandfather's BMD record, under the mother's maiden name is 'unknown'. Does this mean he was orphaned? That they couldn't read the name? That his mother didn't give her name on the birth certificate? That her actual surname was 'unknown' ? Please could I have some advice?

Maternal grandmother's maiden name seems to be STRUNK

aurina — 2014-01-16 21:46:59Z

not related
post your mothers name, maiden and married,husbands name, siblings, step aunts name and names of those who raised your mom so we can try to help u
meanwhile, u can get a trial subscription to newspaperarchive., and unless you have dial-up, you can do a fast one day hunt for the family and find a lot. meanwhile, i used my subscription to read the obit-the unreadable name-mr/mrs edgar strunk. another article indicates that the strunks had a daughter beverly who wed an angle, if this is the correct edgar strunk family
Stroudsburg Pocono RecordWednesday, January 24, 1968, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
- - pounds 9 ounces and has been named Chris Ann. Older children are M r s Jennie Staples, 17; Harold, 17; Edgar, 15; Steve, 13 and Jori Lynne, 8. Mrs. Angle is the former Beverly Strunk, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Strunk of 420 Main St., Stroudsburg

1940 census reveals an elizabeth, possibly your "betty", if this the correct edgar
:1940 Ward 1, Stroudsburg, Stroudsburg Borough, Monroe, Pennsylvania, United States
father:Edgar Strunk age 37 died1974 in E Stroudsburg, Monroe, Pennsylvania
mother:Martha Strunk age 35 b abt 1904 died 1982 in E Stroudsburg, kids all born pa
findagrave has them in Mount Zion Cemetery Sciota Monroe CountyPennsylvania, Strunk, Martha E Sayer b. 1904 d. 1982
sonCharles Strunk17
Son Thomas Strunk16
Son George Strunk 13
Daughter Elizabeth Strunk15
Daughter Vivian Strunk12
Daughter Minnie Strunk11
Daughter Beverly Strunk 7
Father Charles E Strunk72

Lebanon Daily NewsSaturday, October 25, 1969, Lebanon, Pennsylvania

FATAL ACCIDENT Richard Levitz Ann yille Fire Company and George Miller First Aid and Safety Patrol examine the wreckage of the Daily NEWS Photo car in which Walter Osborne Manheim RD 3 was killed Friday night in a onecar accident on Route 934 near Annville
Lebanon Daily NewsTuesday, October 28, 1969, Lebanon, Pennsylvania

...home Elks service at 7 Walter C Osborne Military funeral services were held this morning in St Lukes... ...Episcopal Church for Walter C Osborne Anna Molesavich Osborne Manheim RD 3 Officiating was Rev

this may be "your" minnie
Stroudsburg Pocono RecordSaturday, March 01, 1969, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

Taylor St., East Stroudsburg, died Friday afternoon on admission to the General Hospital of Monroe County. Born in Stroud Township, he was the son of John and .Minnie Strunk Christian. He was of the Methodist faith. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Bernadine Rinker Christian, and eight

of coarse, to be sure, you should send for junes death cert, birth cert, her fathers marriage cert. have you tried that yet? world wide web portal.health.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/genealogy_requests/14125
and you could attempt to contact one of the strunks and see if this is your family.
ancestry familytree has minnie Death22 Apr 2002inEast Stroudsburg

Charles E Strunk
Birth2 Aug 1922inPennsylvaniaDeath29 Apr 1994inStroudsburg

Thomas E Strunk
Birth24 Feb 1924inPennsylvaniaDeath10 Oct 2007inKunkletown, Monroe, Pennsylvania

Re: Maternal grandmother's maiden name seems to be STRUNK

ilovetype — 2014-01-15 20:25:43Z

Wow, thanks so much for all that info! It does seems that this is the right family, but there is still very little to go on and less about my MGM. But at least I have a last name now and other family members too.

Re: ISO Maternal grandmother's maiden name

ilovetype — 2014-01-14 20:23:56Z

My Mother: Sharon Ann Osborne. Married David Rapp Kreiser in 1968. They divorced ~1975; she married again a few years later; divorced again and married again around 1988-89, but don't know what her last name would have been.

Sharon's sisters: June E. Osborne (biological, died in 1965); Nancy Wagner (step-sister). Nancy's mom, Anna Molesavich, married Sharon and June's father, Walter C. Osborne, presumably sometime around 1950. Walter adopted Nancy and she took the Osborne name at that time. Anna and Walter never had biological children. All families lived in the Lebanon/Manheim/Palmyra/Myerstown area - they're all in fairly close proximity.

From what my step-aunt Nancy told me, Sharon and June's mother abandoned them when the girls were very young - less than 5YO. Walter was unable to care for them himself, so each girl was raised by a different aunt (one of his sisters), probably until he married Anna (she became Anna Sholly after Walter passed in 1969). I know for certain that Carrie Osborne Antanies (passed in 2004) was one of the aunts who helped, but Nancy wasn't sure of the other who helped - maybe Clara Osborne Shafer (passed in 2002). I remember her mentioning the name Betty, but she knew nothing else about her. I never ever remember my dad or his mother mentioning "Betty," so the only maternal grandmother I "knew" was Anna.

Thanks and I hope someone gets further than I've been able.

ISO Maternal grandmother's maiden name

ilovetype — 2014-01-14 18:51:39Z

Until recently I knew little about my mother's side of the family. But through Ancestry I found my grandfather's obituary, which has led me to answers to some of my questions. One of things I did not know is that the woman my mother knew as a mother was not her biological mother. I managed to contact my step-aunt, who told me my bio grandmother's name was Betty, but there's nothing else I can find on her; she abandoned my mom and her younger sister when they were young. My bio aunt passed away in 1965 and her grandparents are mentioned in the obituary, but I think the OCR process messed up their last name (common on newspaper sites) and now it reads as a name that doesn't seem real (Fitrunk). Here is the text from her obit:

"Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon Pi,, Saturdiy, February 6, 1965 Orientals Wont Mora Movits DEATHS and FUNERALS Miss June E, Osborne, 20, Is Taken By Death Miss June E, Osborne, X, (daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Osborne, 30 David Drive, died Friday evening at the Werners- Ville State Hospital. She worshipped in the Melii- Odist faith. In addition to her parents she la survived by two sisters, Sharon, of Alanwood, and Nancy, wife ef James Wagner, Cleona; a grandmother, Mrs. Catherine Molesavich , Annville; and grandparents Mr. and Mrs. fitrunk, Stroudsburg."

You can see that the above text is all over the place, accuracy-wise. I know that "i' and "l" and "m" and "n" are commonly mixed up in OCR text, so that broadens my options for the surname, but I honestly have no idea what it's supposed to be and none of my searches have given me anything else to go on - no marriage or birth announcements that mention "fitrunk."

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

deeflint01 — 2014-01-14 17:19:13Z

As listed earlier, ancestry doesn't use wild cards. Simply type in the name the way you think it is spelled and similar sounding names will also pop up.

Re: knoxville pa, randall martin, fred thurber

jeffreymgeorge — 2014-01-12 17:40:07Z

Wow, that is awesome. That is definitely the right Nathaniel. From what I've found he moved in with his Thurber in-laws after the death of the his wife. Or at least that's what the clues I've seen look like. Yet, with all of the information out there on Nathan, I still can't find any piece of evidence to link him to any particular woman as his wife. I know her name was Frances and I have suspicions about who she was, but in doing my due diligence I'm looking for anything that refers to his wife's maiden name or any record of him getting married. Thanks for these sources and pieces of data. They will be very helpful in trying to fill in the blanks in this part of my ancestry.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

lauriejohnson658 — 2013-12-27 01:51:09Z

Hi Jeff,

As you proceed on with your genealogy research, you will find that some search engines are more forgiving than others. Ancestry.com doesn't seem to like wildcards and it shows other names that really have nothing to do with your search parameters...and too many results and you become frustrated and think you are doing something wrong.

Most of the time when I am using Ancestry.com, I have my settings on "EXACT MATCHES ONLY." If I don't have any luck with those parameters, then I change my settings to soundex and get more results, and more results mean more scrolling!

When I typed in the name "Nathaniel Wagoner" with EXACT MATCHES ONLY, the entry for the 1892 census showed up.

Also remember that because your name is now spelled "Wagner" does not mean that it has always been that way. Census takers, clerks and other officials spelled names how they sounded to them. The most educated citizenry were the ones that recorded "Official Records" and if the populace didn't know how to read or write, how were they going to tell the "officials" their name was incorrectly spelled. Sometimes you just have to pretend you don't know how to spell!

Good luck with your searches.
Laurie

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

lauriejohnson658 — 2013-12-26 23:53:33Z

Hi Jeff,

Search under "Nathaniel Wagoner"...they are living in Bath, Steuben County, New York.

Laurie

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

lauriejohnson658 — 2013-12-25 17:15:46Z

Hi Jeffrey,

Do you know where your great-grandmother married? The reason I recommend getting your great-grandmother's marriage record is "theoretically she is the one providing the information" when she got married, and most likely she would know what her mother's maiden was. Once you get your great-grandmother's marriage record (hopefully) it will list her mother's surname and the search MAY be easier to locate the record of your great-great grandfather's marriage record. The problem with getting your great-great grandfather's marriage record is you don't have a date, nor a surname for her, or a location...makes searching difficult and costly.

In New York, the marriage records are $22.00 and they will search in 3 year increments if you don't have an exact date but a time frame, say 1880-1883. However if you don't have the exact date and if they have to do a wide search, the cost goes up exponentially.

I hope this helps,
Laurie

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

lauriejohnson658 — 2013-12-25 11:01:12Z

Hi Jeffrey,

Not related.

Do you have your great-grandmother's marriage record? If not, I would highly recommend purchasing a copy as it MAY contain the information you seek.

Merry Christmas,
Laurie

Re: Lorraine's last name was??

mceili — 2012-12-16 16:01:20Z

Is Ronald Tapley a descendent on Lorraine's? If so do you know how I may contact him?

Re: Lorraine's last name was??

bari_burke — 2012-12-16 07:40:36Z

Ronald Tapley of South Florida lives in Virginia Beach,VA.

Re: Women & unknown married names

jmking1216 — 2012-10-15 16:03:48Z

Honestly, it depends on the state and what they put out there (birth, marriage, death certs). I paid for the full ancestry membership this time, and I think it has made a difference. I seem to be able to connect people a lot easier than I did last year. If you want to give me a name and dob. location of birth I can see what I can find.

Re: Women & unknown married names

jmking1216 — 2012-10-12 20:21:10Z

What time period, because I have found several through ancestry.com's marriage licenses.

Re: Women & unknown married names

AGHatchett3rd — 2012-09-25 02:38:27Z

One way is to check the obituaries of their siblings. Many times they are listed as relatives under either their married or maiden names.

Re: Celia, maiden name unknown, b. NC

mi2early — 2014-01-07 13:31:40Z

You will probably receive more help on the North Carolina board. Let me know if you'd like your post moved to that board.

Re: EMILY b. 1880c IRELAND emmigrated to ENGLAND and married JOHN MATTHEWS

mi2early — 2014-01-04 15:29:25Z

Where did they marry? Where did they live? Have you obtained any of the babies' birth certificates? If the babies were born in the UK the birth certs will give the mother's full name.

See http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm for a very useful BMDs tutorial.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

willieroe1 — 2013-12-25 01:40:15Z

So have you searched the 1910 Census for a Nathaniel Wagner, age about 65, born in New York?

knoxville pa, randall martin, fred thurber

aurina — 2014-01-12 01:15:44Z

did your nathaniel wagoner serve in the civil war? because this info pertains to that nathaniel wagoner. and have you serdhed his pension records for spousal info?

this doesnt solve your puzzle, but it is fun if above is "your" nathaniel
www.fultonhistory.com has free newspaper archives. i found one blurb on a nathaniel-and followed it to see if he was "yours" Nathaniel Wagoner of
Westfleld, Pa., spent last week
at tlfo home of his niece, Mrs.
Randall Martin. He left Monday
for Meridian to visit his daughter.—
so search mrs randall martin, you find that she is fred thurbers daughter. he lives in knoxville pa.careful many people of the same name in those newspapers-but in the wrong cities. and yes- think "less structured" if u have no birth cert, no soc sec number, no drivers license, no credit card-your birth date, name, etc can be a lot more fluid. u can be who ever u want. optical search engine sometimes confused by ink blobs, wrinkles, fading, mis -set type etc- search carefully, creatively.
here is one
Corning NY Evening Leader 1921 Feb-Oct 1921 Grayscale - 0026.pdf
...at thw home of his father. Murray Met- calf.—Mrs. Fred Thurber of Knox- ville, Pa., and brother Nathaniel Wagoner, of Westfleld ...
obit of nathaniels niece shows she is his sisters daughter-
Deceased's maiden
name was Lena Caroline Thurber
and she was born May 11, 1881
at Lindley, N. Y., the daughter of
Fred and Alice Wa(gner) thurber (the parenthesis were there in the original-which would have, of course, skewed the search) corning paper dec 19, 1934
Corning NY Evening Leader 1934 Oct-Feb 1935 a Grayscale - 0676.pdf
...they have resided in this place. One son Carl T. Martin; her fath- er Fred Thurber of Cowanesque; one brother, George Thurber of Horseheads; one sister, Mrs. Su- san Morton, of Westfield ...

remember-married women were usually "mrs randall martin" or "mrs r j martin" until abt the 1920's. not mrs lena martin unless a widow.

Corning NY Evening Leader 1953 Grayscale - 0472.pdf
...COWANESQUE. Pa. — Carl T.
Martin, 53, died at the Robert
Packer Hospital in Sayre, Friday
following an illness of one week. The son of Randall J. and Lena Thurber Martin, he was born in Knoxville. January 14. 1900. He ...

then i went to joyce tice wonderful site-
NATHANIEL WAGNER
Nathaniel Wager, aged 81 years, died April 10, at the home of Mr. And Mrs. Sylvester Bell, in Westfield. The funeral was held Wednesday, under the auspices of the Masonic order, of which he was a member. He was also a member of the Baptist church and of the G.A.R. He served four years in the civil war. Rev. Mr. Mathews, of Harrison Valley, officiated; interment at Knoxville. He was a brother of the late Mrs. Fred Thurber, whose funeral was held May 10. (The Agitator: Wellsboro, PA, May 20, 1925) http://www.joycetice.com/obitcemt/riverobtt.htm
Inscription:
CO. D 157 NY INF CIVIL WAR (he is in the veterans census 1890)

Burial:
Riverside Cemetery
Knoxville (Tioga County)
Tioga County
Pennsylvania, USA
findagrave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=wa...;

so marriage record may be with baptist church-there are still lots! of things not online-may need to search film, fiche, libraries etc

Re: Celia, maiden name unknown, b. NC

madaheth195 — 2014-01-07 14:34:13Z

Thanks for suggestion...I copied it to the Unknown NC board, but would also like to leave it here.

Celia, maiden name unknown, b. NC

madaheth195 — 2014-01-06 18:24:36Z

Seeking maiden name of :
Celia, b. about 1799-1800, NC, married my gggrandfather, John B. Williford, sometime between 1818 - 1825, possibly in NC, TN, or KY, (basing that on birth of first 3 kids and possibly earlier children who may have died very young), then in IL by 1830. She died 1850/51 in Gallatin/Saline Co IL (gggrandfather remarried in 1851). They were members of Liberty Baptist Church in Gallatin/Saline Co, but church and cemetery records were lost. No probate file (I've been there and searched extensively). Guess it is also possible that she was a widow upon her marriage to John B., but can't find anything!
Do not know where in NC, TN, or KY, and there are no marriage records which fit later family (ie Williford probates, etc) This lady is not my gggrandmother but I'm hoping that discovering her maiden name may allow me to figure out my gggrandfather's parents!

Re: Women & unknown married names

eesmith60 — 2012-10-13 14:56:04Z

Back in the late 1800, early 1900's. I've had very little luck finding marriage licenses too. Almost all my family lived in New York. Maybe you can tell me the secret of your success? Many thanks for all your help.

Women & unknown married names

eesmith60 — 2012-09-24 12:48:46Z

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to locate info for female family members who may have been married but you have no idea to whom and there is no family left to ask? I've found many great aunts, cousins 1x removed, etc. and no way to gather further information. Thanks in advance, Emily

Re: Women & unknown married names

eesmith60 — 2012-09-25 05:49:19Z

That's a good thought. Thank you :)

EMILY b. 1880c IRELAND emmigrated to ENGLAND and married JOHN MATTHEWS

bobbi571 — 2014-01-04 15:23:58Z

Emily from Ireland, I estimate was born about 1884 in Dublin married my Grandfather in 1903?. These dates I have estimated from the only clue I have of this union and that is the 1911 census. The census also shows that Emily gave birth to 3 infants all deceased by 1911. Would somebody be able to give me any information about Emily. Thanks.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jonwarrn — 2013-12-27 14:55:06Z

Hi
They are there in Bath Town. You should be able to see them on Ancestry, if not then the 1892 NY is also on the Family Search website for free

"New York, State Census, 1892"
Name: Nathaniel Wagoner
Event Type:
Event Date: 1892
Event Place: Bath Town, E.D. 01
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Birthplace: United States
Birth Year (Estimated):1851
Citizenship Status: Citizen
GS Film number: 0512430
Digital Folder Number: 004369935
Image Number: 00023

Peter Baker still in Lindley, and son Samuel, no Mary or Frances, can't see Nathaniel's mother?
John

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jonwarrn — 2013-12-25 17:48:55Z

Hi
Just an idea as to who Frances might be, obviously you need to find a record to be sure.
As you said, Nathaniel Wagner is in Lindley, Steuben in 1880, with his mother Lucinda and step father. The marriage to Frances must have been not long after, so maybe they are close by?
What we know about Frances if the info from 1900 was accurate is that she was born in Pennsylvania and her parents were from New York
Well in Lindley in 1880, and indeed on the very same census page as Nathaniel, is a Frances Baker, born Penn and parents born New York. Daughter of Peter + Mary. Her age is transcribed as 13. In fact it says 23. As her parents are 73 and 68 she certainly can't be 13
The Bakers were living in Lindley in 1870 as well. This time Frances is given as 17 years old.
(I think in the 1892 NY census Nathaniel + Frances may appear as Wagoner? Where they are aged 41 and 30 and Jessie, 6. So not sure that these ages are always reliable)
Maybe Steuben could be the place to look for a marriage
John

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

MaidenAlana — 2013-12-25 00:09:11Z

Jeffrey,

Firstly, there are no 1890 Census Records. The vast majority of the 1890 Census was destroyed in a fire in 1921.

Secondly, if you want help with finding info regarding your great-great-grandmother, more information would be needed. Such as her name, who she married, where they married, and where they lived.

With the above information, maybe someone can point you in the right direction.

Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-24 23:23:39Z

I'm trying to figure out the birth name and parents of my great-great-grandmother. I have a few bits of information but in them she is always referenced by her married name. I know that she was married in ~1881 and had a daughter in 1885. She appears in the 1900 U.S. Census and her future husband appears in the 1880 census, but I can locate neither one of them in the 1890 census. By 1910 he is listed as a widower so she obviously died between 1900 and 1910 but I can find no record of that, either. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to find out more about this woman, such as her name before she was married?

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-25 00:52:16Z

I did not know that about the 1890 census. That's actually helpful as I was confused as to why these people just disappeared for 20 years.

Here is a summary of what I know about this set of great-great-grandparents:

Frances Wagner, the wife of Nathaniel Wagner, was born in May 1854 according to the 1900 census, and had been married for 19 years, putting the year of marriage around 1881. According to the same census she was born in Pennsylvania.

According to the 1880 census, Nathaniel was living in Lindley, New York. The next mention of him I have found was the aforementioned 1900 census, when he was living with his wife and daughter in Avoca, New York.

My great-grandmother, their daughter, Jessie, was born in either 1885 or 1886, in either New York or Pennsylvania, depending on which census you look at.

I've been hoping to find something that references the maiden name of Frances Wagner, but I've not been able to find any death records for her, nor marriage records for Nathan, or even birth records for Jessie. Since I have no maiden name I have no idea who to look for before her marriage to Nathan in the early 1880s. It's possible there was much moving back and forth across the New York-Pennsylvania border, but so far I haven't found any data on ancestry.com to fill in the missing information.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-25 01:50:35Z

Yes, he was already widowed at that time, which means Frances died between 1900 and 1910, but nowhere can I find a record of this death or even a grave. Of course, I'm sure the possibility exists that they never actually married and she is buried under her maiden name. However, I cannot find any records for the birth of their daughter, either.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-25 17:22:12Z

Thanks, Laurie. What you say makes a lot of sense. I'll do some review of my great-grandmother and see if there's something I missed. In all likelihood, however, I may have to end up going to the state and seeing if they have anything. Hopefully, they would be able to find something.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-25 16:04:00Z

No, I don't have that. Until I started doing this research my family didn't know much of anything about our history. Where would I purchase the record you mentioned? Why do you recommend getting my great-grandmother's marriage record? Wouldn't my great-great-grandfather's marriage record, if it exists, show the maiden name of the woman he married? I'm not opposed to spending a little bit of extra money if it will solve this mystery for me.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-26 22:48:37Z

What technique did you use to find them in 1892? I have tried both Nathan* Wag* and Franc* Wag* and neither of them show up in the ancestry.com search.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-25 21:41:56Z

Hi, John.

It never occurred to me to look at other pages of the census that listed them. Frances Baker, eh? That's interesting and something that I am going to look at. From what I can tell, after Frances Wagner died, Nathaniel Wagner went to Knoxville, PA, where he died. Nathaniel Wagner was the grandfather of my maternal grandfather. My maternal grandmother's father was named John Baker, and was born in Knoxville, PA. I'm thinking there might be some kind of link there. Thanks for pointing me in a good direction. I'm annoyed at myself now for missing this. You've done in a few minutes the kind of detective work that I've been trying to do for days.

Jeff

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-27 00:31:45Z

As I stated in my other post, if I was doing this without assistance I wouldn't be looking for Wagoner. I want to understand why Wag* as a last name doesn't return the Wagoner result. I want to be able to use what I learn through this experience on other searches, but I'm concerned that the database tools aren't reliable.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-27 00:29:35Z

My main concern is why when I use a wildcard search such as Nathan* Wag* for searching the 1880, 1892, 1905 results on ancestry.com I don't get him. Wag* would cover Wagoner and should return the 1892 entry so that I can link it to my tree. Either I'm not using the search tools properly or they aren't very effective. It's very frustrating, especially since you've already confirmed the data is there but I can't get it to come up.

Re: Trying To Determine Maiden Name

jeffreymgeorge — 2013-12-27 02:23:47Z

I suppose that I'm going to have to try to stop looking at this stuff from a 21st century perspective. As someone who does a lot of work with computer data for a living I instinctively expect something that's spelled one way at some point to be spelled the same way at a later time. Out of curiosity I decided to search for Nathaniel Wag* on FamilySearch. My first search using a wildcard there was successful, showing me Nathaniel Wagoner in the 1892 New York census, so I'll keep in mind your advice about using wildcards on Ancestry. Thanks for teaching me these things!