I had started another blog several years ago at http://myfamilyresearchadventures.blogspot.com/, but when google plus ended some how I messed things up and now it is very difficult for me to get into that blog to post. So I decided to start a new blog that I can get to easier.

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Studying the book "Mastering Genealogical Proof"

Over the next few weeks I will be participating in a study group on the following book.


Thomas W. Jones, Mastering Genealogical Proof (Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 2013). [Book available from the publisher at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/mastering_genealogical_proof , also available
in Kindle format through Amazon.com]


Since some how I have messed up my Google Drive I will be posting my homework here.



Chapter I Homework:

1) Genealogy is the study of ones ancestors.
2) In my own words; the 5 parts of the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) are:

  1. Searching in as many different types of records you can think of and/or locate.
  2. Citing all the records you find in a way that you or someone else can go back and locate the records in case the originals or images get misplaced.
  3. Look at the records you have found and determine how accurate each record is and then compare the information and determine the best conclusion to the genealogical question.
  4. Reasonably explain any and all information found in the records.
  5. Write up your conclusion in a way that others will understand.
3) The proofs explain why I came to my conclusions. The proofs are there so others can understand my thinking and reasoning.
4) A conclusion is complete. A partial proof indicates a work in progress.
5) You have to first decide on what you want to know.






Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Proof Summary - How many children did Minnie Estella Miner Huyck have?

How many children did Minnie Estella Miner and Charles Alonzo Huyck have? Also, was there a baby born in the 12 years between Gladys Mae, born in 1898 in North Dakota, and Pearl, born in 1910 in North Dakota?

On 15 July 1888, Charles Alonzo Huyck and Estella May Miner (also known as Minnie Estella Miner) were married at Shell Lake, Washington County, Wisconsin. [1]
The known natural children of Charles Alonzo Huyck and Minnie Estella Miner (The name she went by through most of her life. And also the name on her delayed birth certificate recorded 1939)[2]

Name
Birth Date
Birth Place
Informant
No. of children born to this mother
Children still living
Lucy Mary[3]
26 Aug 1894
Lorain, Polk, Wisconsin
Mrs Julia A Latson
Not given

Gladys Mae[4]
9 Nov 1898
Oberon, Benson, North Dakota
mother
4
2
Pearl[5][6]
12 Jan 1910
Rich Valley, Benson, North Dakota
John Crawford
6
3
Kenneth Charles[7]
19 May 1911
Rich Valley, Benson, North Dakota
H R Thurber MD
6
4
Velva Wynetta[8]
8 Feb 1916
Esmond, Benson, North Dakota
mother
7
4

Looking at just the birth certificates of the known natural children of Minnie Estella Miner Huyck, it appears she had 7 children with 4 living past childhood. Kenneth Charles birth certificate states differently, but it is possible that the doctor was not aware that Robbie Joe was adopted and not a natural born child. The two delayed birth certificates, Gladys Mae and Velva Wynetta, are signed by their mother, Minnie Estella Huyck.
There are two additional records that would give us the number of children this mother had. They are the 1900 and 1910 censuses.

Census
Number of children born
Number of children living
Robbie Joe listed as
1900[9]
4
2
Adopted son
1910[10]
6
3
son

Even adding the information from the 1900 and 1910 censuses, we still come to the conclusion that Minnie Estella Miner Huyck had 3 children that died at a young age. This includes Pearl who was born and died in January 1910 (which was before the 1910 census). We can also conclude that there is not a child born between Gladys and Pearl since both Gladys’ birth certificate and the 1900 census indicates that there were 2 children born and died before Gladys’s birth in 1898.
So now what about these 2 missing children can we find any information on them?  Yes, additional information has been found.

First, a family story about why Robbie Joe was adopted. According to the family story, Minnie Estella Huyck had a child that died at a young age and so she and her husband adopted Robbie Joe. The story goes that the reason why Minnie Estella Huyck and her husband Charles Alonzo Huyck adopted the boy, which they named Robbie Joe, was because Minnie had just recently lost a young child and Robbie Joe’s mother had died about the same time. Thankfully, there was a formal adoption, which was not very common for the time period. The boy was born 26 December 1890 and had originally been named Joseph Smith Klinck Jr. On 24 January 1891 the Huyck’s filed a petition to adopt a baby boy in Polk County, Wisconsin. The petition was granted 4 February 1891 and signed by both the Huyck’s and Mr. Joseph S. Klinck, the baby’s father. In the petition Mr. Klinck states that his wife, the boy’s mother, was already dead. With the boy being less than a month old at the time of his mother’s death and the time period, there would have been a need for a woman to breast feed the child in order for him to thrive. This fact and the age of Robbie Joe at adoption lend credence to the family story that Minnie Estella Huyck had a young child at this time in order for her to properly take care of the child. The fact that there is no family record of the Huyck’s having a child born at this time that lived past infancy also adds credence to the story.[11]

Second, a note was found in a cousin’s genealogy papers after her death that leads to the possibility that Minnie E Huyck had a boy in December 1889 in Shell Lake, Polk County, Wisconsin[12]. Whether this is referring to the child born and died that lead to Robbie Joe’s adoption or not is unknown.

Third, in the Lorain Union Township Cemetery, Polk County, Wisconsin there is two listings for infant Huyck (Charlie’s child)[13]. Unfortunately, there is no record as to when the burials took place only a record of who is buried there.  Can one of these burials be Pearl’s? No, Gladys Mae, the second daughter told me that Pearl was buried in North Dakota[14]. Gladys would have been 12 at the time and would have remembered someone traveling from North Dakota to Wisconsin to bury baby Pearl.

Therefore, Minnie Estella Miner Huyck was the mother of 7 natural children. Four of these children lived to adulthood and had their own families and three that died young. Of these three that died young, one was a girl named Pearl (possibly remembered because of Robbie, Lucy and Gladys being old enough to understand what was going on). All we know of the other two is that they were more than likely born in Polk County, Wisconsin between 1888 (when Minnie Estella Miner and Charles Alonzo Huyck were married) and died before 1898 when Gladys was born.





[1] Charles Alonzo Huyck and Estella May Miner, marriage certificate, no. 23 (1888), Wisconsin State Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Health ,Wisconsin State Archives, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton

[2] Minnie Estella Miner, birth certificate (delayed but on a form for at birth registration), (birth 1872, registration 1939), Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Health, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton

[3] Lucy Mary Huyck, birth certificate, (1894), Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, Divisoin of Health, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton

[4] Gladys Mae Huyck, delayed birth certificate , no. 90 (birth 1898, registration 1942),North Dakota, State Department of Health, mother signed the delayed registration, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton

[5] Unnamed Huyck, female,  birth certificate, no. 00525 (1910), State of North Dakota, Bureau of Vital Statistics, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton

[6] Family Records obtained from Lucy Mary Huyck Baker, the oldest known daughter, names this child as Pearl even though the birth and death certificates names her as unknown Huyck.

[7] Kenneth Charles Huyck, birth certificate, no. 00579 (1911), State of North Dakota, Bureau of Vital Statistics, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton

[8] Velva Wynette Huyck, delayed birth certificate, no. 15987 (birth 1916, registration 1944 ), North Dakota, State Department of Health, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton

[9] "United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11666-59311-73?cc=1325221 : accessed 24 March 2015), North Dakota > Benson > ED 13 T.151-152-R.70 Fairview, T.141-R.71 North Fork, T.152-R.71 Pleasant Valley, T.163-R.69 Albert > image 15 of 33; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

[10] "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11551-47581-19?cc=1727033 : accessed 24 March 2015), North Dakota > Benson > Esmond > 0022 > image 22 of 32; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

[11] Robbie Joe Huyck; Adoption Papers; Charles A Huyck and Minnie E Huyck; 4 February 1891; Polk County Court, Wisconsin: Ole Larson County Judge: Recorded in Vol 3, page 121: copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton
[12] The note possibly originated from Harriet Hilditch, a younger sister of Minnie Estella Miner.
[13] Copyright (c), 2002,  Art and Betty Johnson, Frederic, Wi. <bjajohn@centurytel.net>    http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/polk/cemetery/lorain.txt : Block B Lot 15 Row 1: accessed 31 March 2015
[14] Interview with Gladys Mae Huyck Hanson in the late 1970’s; Date of interview not recorded; Interviewed by Betty-Lu Baker