Ramsey

December 20, 2018November 24, 2018

{Treaasure Box} Amner Caroline (Ramsey) Flock Death Certificate

Amner Caroline (Ramsey) Flock (1840-1933) is my 3rd great grandmother. She passed away in Enid, Oklahoma while living with her daughter, Adeline Martha (Flock) Tharp. I have written about the final resting place of Amner and her husband John Flock. You can read about it here.

After I transcribed the death certificate, I noticed two items that needed further analysis. The first was the birth date for Amner Caroline. It was listed 1841 on the death certificate. This did not match with the date of 1840 I have in my software. The next box on the death certificate listed that she would have been 92 years, 3 months, 4 days old at death. I also noticed that my genealogy software said Amner Caroline would have been 92 years old with a death date in 1933. I found an online date calculator and input the death date and subtracted the 92 years, 3 months, and 4 days. Sure enough, the answer it calculated was 1840. The person who filled out the death certificate made an error in the birth year.

Also, the informant is listed as Addie Thorp. The name Addie is a nickname for Adeline Martha Flock. A closer look proved her last name was misspelled. Addie Flock married Frank Tharp in 1897 in Oregon. All records in Oregon use the Tharp spelling. Addie had followed some of her siblings to Oregon before her marriage. After her husband left her a widow, Addie moved into the same home as her mother in Enid, Oklahoma.

Amner Caroline (Ramsey) Flock Death Certificate

Amner Caroline Flock Death Certificate, 4 March 1933, registration district no. 24250, Primary Dist. no, 2401, Enid, Garfield, Oklahoma. Bureau of Vital Statistics, Oklahoma State Board of Health, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

May 14, 2017

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day! A few years ago I wrote a post about my direct maternal line. There are many mothers in my family tree and I would like to thank each one for making my being here possible! I want to revisit some of these incredible women today since I have verified a couple more generations. Including myself, I can illustrate 9 generations of women in my direct maternal lineage.

**Effie Flock** 1866-1939, mother of 4 children.

**Amner Caroline Ramsey** 1840-1933, mother of 12 children.

Jane Berry (1803-1870), mother of 10 children.

Margaret McSpadden (1780-1863), mother of 12 children.

Sarah Jane Whitesides (1754-1826), mother of at least 6 children.

I do not have photos of Jane, Margaret, or Sarah Jane. While the earliest photo was taken in 1826 or 1827, camera photography was not common until the 1880’s.

December 17, 2015December 13, 2015

When It Starts To Make Sense

At the beginning of the month, I had the opportunity to present with another member of my local genealogy society to a local breakfast club. Our topic was “Getting Started With Researching Your Family.” During the presentation I realized I do not have any of my ancestors added to my watchlist in FamilySearch.

Last week, after adding all direct ancestors and their siblings to my watchlist on FamilySearch, I was taking a look at the family of John F. Flock and Amner Caroline Ramsey. I noticed that I did not have death dates for several of their daughters. The shiny blackhole was calling my name again.

Did I jump in? Of course! I started by reviewing each daughter’s details page. The key was to notice that Laura Flock had marriage information added by another researcher. Using the married name, I was able to locate a gravestone on FindAGrave. I was excited to see Laura’s memorial page had been linked to some of her siblings. I suddenly had married names for several of the other daughters.

Along with many new facts to add to the family tree, there was an obituary added to the memorial page at FindAGrave for Elsie Clara Flock. The obituary stated that Elsie and her husband had moved to Fall River, Kansas about 1910. And it all started to make sense!!

I had always wondered why Effie Flock and Abraham Strickler had moved to Fall River, Kansas. Now I have a clue, Effie and her family moved at the same time as her little sister, Elsie, and Elsie’s family. I am still not sure what enticed the families to move such a distance. Maybe someday that little piece of information will float to the surface.

Effie and her daughters left Fall River only a couple of years later after Abraham passed away. Elsie remained in Fall River, Kansas until her husband passed away in 1938. Elsie then moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado.

I started by adding people to my watchlist to see what facts were getting added/changed to people I am related to. I ended up adding more information because another researcher had done just that. The one marriage fact opened up a whole can of new facts about the family. I have heard people voice concerns about others being able to make changes in FamilySearch. This is just another example of why it is a great idea. Distant cousins have different information then I do, together we can paint the fuller picture of our ancestors.

May 11, 2014May 19, 2014

My Maternal Line

Happy Mother’s Day! There are many mothers in my family tree and I would like to thank each one for making my being here possible! I want to dedicate today’s post to my direct line of mother’s who helped to make up my mtDNA.

I believe I will be able to go back another couple of generations but need to get the research completed before I will claim my ancestors. This is the line I have proven so far:

Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), I have not been able to locate a photo for Jane Berry. Her death in Appanoose, Iowa in March 1870 makes the likelihood of any photo taken pretty small.

February 15, 2014

DNA Away

My Christmas present to myself this year was a DNA test. Not sexy to the average person but thrilling for a genealogist. I did my research and decided to get a mtDNA test done with Family Tree DNA. The test arrived this week and my DNA sample should reach Texas on Monday. My results should be ready in approximately six weeks.

A mtDNA test looks at the women in your direct maternal line. I am not expecting anything too mind-blowing. I have researched my maternal line back to my g-g-g-g-grandmother, Jane Berry. I am expecting to see the British Isles as the major DNA line. I am keeping an open mind because anything is possible!

The biggest reason I am doing this test is to see what exactly you get when you have a DNA test done. It works out great for me that the Marin County Genealogical Society is hosting Katherine Hope Borges at the March meeting. She will be presenting “I Have DNA Tested – Now What?”

If my DNA test goes well, I will be testing the DNA of my Mom’s cousin. There is a family story of an illegitimate child forced onto a new bride in 1867. The story continues that the mother of the illegitimate child was Jewish. My mom’s cousin is a direct female descendant. I am hoping that a mtDNA test for her will either prove or disprove the family story.

DNA away, just waiting to play!

April 11, 2013April 3, 2013

Treasure Chest Thursday – Caroline Flock in Enid, Oklahoma

Caroline Flock is my great-great-great grandmother. She was married to John F. Flock and they had 13 children together. They met and were married in Iowa and later moved to Kansas and then Oklahoma. Both Caroline (full name Amner Caroline Ramsey) and John F. Flock are buried in the Enid Cemetery, Enid, Oklahoma.

I have found a set of entries for Caroline Flock in city directories at Ancestry.com. In 1926, 1928, and 1931 Caroline is listed as living at 227 W Mulberry Avenue, Enid Oklahoma. She was listed as the widow of John in all of the entries. I know that she is living with her daughter, Addie, during this time. Addie is listed separately in the city directories under her married name, Tharp. Addie had moved to Oklahoma from Oregon after her husband, Frank Tharp, died.

Using Google Maps and Zillow I believe I have found the spot where 227 West Mulberry Avenue used to be. The last numbered house on the street is now 225. Just West of #225, on the corner of West Mulberry and North Washington, there is a driveway that leads to the side yard of 1714 North Washington. I think that the house used to be on the corner but has since been removed and a new house built facing North Washington.

March 21, 2013

Treasure Chest Thursday – Jane (Berry) Ramsey

I am back again for another set of documents from my Ancestry.com shoebox. This week I will be focusing on Jane Ramsey. She is one of the few 4th great grandmothers I have identified on my family tree.

I had two documents that had been saved to my shoebox. This was a first round of searches after identifying Jane Berry as the mother of Amner Caroline Ramsey. I made the connection from A. Caroline’s death certificate. The first saved item was the Ramsey family in the Iowa State Census in 1856. They were enumerated in Washington Township, Appanoose County, Iowa with the last name Ramsay. (A common name variation) Jane is listed second on the list just under her husband Joseph. She is 52 at the time. Also listed are most of her children: Robert, Sarah, Caroline, Joseph, and William.

The 1856 Iowa State census is fascinating because it has many questions about the land the families were working. The Ramsey family was living on 140 acres. Sixty of these acres were improved land for farming. They harvested 100 bushels of spring wheat, 300 bushels of oats, and 1000 bushels of corn the prior year. They also sold 24 hogs for $75 and 7 cattle for $45.

The second item in my Ancestry shoebox was the 1870 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule. Jane died the same year as the census so she was listed in the mortality schedule with more information.

Jane Ramsey passed away 18 march 1870 in Washington Township, Appanoose County, Iowa. Her husband is found in the 1870 census living with his son Robert a few short months after Jane’s death.

A bonus of saving these records to my computer is that I noticed in the right hand column of the image reader a list of suggested records on Ancestry.com. One of the suggestions was an entry at www.FindAGrave.com. I checked it out and it seems to be my Jane. I have saved the information to my computer. I have also contacted the person who maintains the memorial because I think we may be distantly related.

I checked my digital files and found that I already had the 1850 and 1860 federal census enumerations for the Ramsey family. I need to make a research plan for this family. There is a lot of information that I do not know about them.