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I posted the wrong image. Trying to do more than one project at the same time.
I have never used Ancestry before.
Ancestry | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records and search at the top between trees and DNA > entered the data we know.
Here is what we get after entering "exact" info.
Your Search for F. Wilson returned zero good matches.
Well if we use the sliders and go away from "exact" we get over 12,000.
The only exact data that it accepts and still gets results are Wilson and death year of 1954.
We need the first name but only have the initial. Glancing at the N.C. death records and there are about 70, none of the names fit. And we do not know the place of death.
We went to s.s. death index and did see 2-3 with first name matching our initial. We clicked on the link and we get the sign up for free trial or pay link. But we are already logged in.
There are people on the people forum easier to find in many cases than F. Wilson, death date 1954, known location in 1927 of South Carolina. That is all we know.
I can guess only at birth and death locations. I can isolate their "at least" age in 1927.
Might even be a female, not sure.
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It sounds like your problem is that you don't have enough information about F. Wilson to narrow down the results because Wilson is such a common surname and the first initial F is too vague. If you narrow the name down to "exact" you get no results because he most likely was not recorded on records as just "F. Wilson" but by his full first name.
Unfortunately, I don't think this is anything to do with Ancestry, it would probably happen with any search engine. Where did you get the info that you have?
Since you know where they lived in 1927, have you tried the city directories? Do you have a more specific location than South Carolina?
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Seeing a list of every person who died in the USA in 1954 and the last name of Wilson would be great.
I think we could start with 2-3 of those 50 states and likely be right.
That's not possible since available death records depend on the state - not all death records are available online or on Ancestry.com. Even if this were possible, you'd still have thousands of results to sift through. And how would you even know when you found the right person? There must have been hundreds of people with the first initial F and last name Wilson who died in 1954 - without more information, I'm not even sure what good a list like this would do.
Your location says Colorado, so you're not too far from Salt Lake City.
Lol, it may look that way on the map but due to the Rocky mountains, it would take 9 hours to drive there. It would cost more in gas to drive there, plus staying at a hotel because I'm not trying to drive 9 hours there and back within 24 hours, then it would to just order the microfilm and have it shipped to my local Family History Center, which is a 5 min drive from my house. The only reason I would need to go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is if there's something there that is not available to ship to my local FHC. And the only other reason I would recommend it to someone else is if they don't have a Family History Center near them.
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My wife and spent 5 days at the Family History Library there in 2014. We probably looked at 150-200 microfilms while there (many were indices to tell you other films to see). You can print any of the microfilm and fiche items, and have access to the books that pop up in the Family Search searches online. It was well worth the trip, with no charge for anything at the library and very helpful folks. My wife was looking at Austrian records and the person who helped her spoke German and could read old German. You can do your homework online before you go and hit the ground running when there. It's a day drive from here, and we may go back this fall.
I've worked with German and Italian records on microfilm at my local FHC - since a short term loan is about 60-90 days, it means I get 2-3 months to work on translating (usually only need a few days though), so there is no rush to get everything done in one trip.
Lol, it may look that way on the map but due to the Rocky mountains, it would take 9 hours to drive there. It would cost more in gas to drive there, plus staying at a hotel because I'm not trying to drive 9 hours there and back within 24 hours, then it would to just order the microfilm and have it shipped to my local Family History Center, which is a 5 min drive from my house. The only reason I would need to go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is if there's something there that is not available to ship to my local FHC. And the only other reason I would recommend it to someone else is if they don't have a Family History Center near them.
It's 8-9 hours one way for us, from here at the south end of the Rockies. We started out using the local FHCs here (we have 3), but after waiting for the microfilms to arrive and finding that some online descriptions were a little lacking, we decided to go to the source. We went with a print out of 50-60 films to review and ended up looking at over 150. One led to another, etc. With more time, we would have certainly reviewed more. They also have maps and other items on microfiche, which I don't think are otherwise available.
The SLC hard copy library contains all the publications that are not available online (which still seems to be nearly every one I attempt to read). I spent nearly a day in there alone. The folks at our local FHCs were also helpful, but we were told that the materials vary greatly amongst the FHCs (with no centralized inventory that I can find).
We stayed at a hotel literally next door to the Library, which allowed us to optimize our time (and take noontime breaks to go to free pipe organ recitals across the street at the Tabernacle).
It's 8-9 hours one way for us, from here at the south end of the Rockies. We started out using the local FHCs here (we have 3), but after waiting for the microfilms to arrive and finding that some online descriptions were a little lacking, we decided to go to the source.
I haven't had that problem with the descriptions myself. As long as I have ample time to explore the roll, which I always do, I'm quite happy with the arrangement of waiting for shipping. It's far more convenient for me than driving 9 hours there and back. Maybe if I ever come across something I really need that isn't available for shipping I will think about going there - I do have an old friend who lives near there and I wouldn't mind meeting up with her to catch up (I wouldn't impose on her for a place to stay though). But that hasn't happened yet.
But to be honest, if I was going on my own, which I likely would be since my husband has no interest, I'd rather fly. I live in Colorado Springs and there's direct flights from COS to SLC, so it would be much quicker and easier than driving 9 hours on my own, there and back. If my husband was with me, we might make an adventure of driving through the mountains together and sharing the driving but that would be much less fun on my own.
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The folks at our local FHCs were also helpful, but we were told that the materials vary greatly amongst the FHCs (with no centralized inventory that I can find).
The materials at FHCs due vary greatly, because they are small and can only hold so many materials, but in my experience, the vast majority of collections are available to order/ship from the catalog to your local FHC. To me, it just seems silly to spend so much time and money making a trip to SLC if you can get the same materials ordered on film. If you're finding a lot that's not available to order, fair enough, but I haven't come across that yet.
According to the website, the only information available on Ancestry free until Sept 6 are the "occupation records".
I did not notice that.
I was getting results but the wring names, locations, etc.
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Originally Posted by PA2UK
Unfortunately, I don't think this is anything to do with Ancestry, it would probably happen with any search engine. Where did you get the info that you have?
Since you know where they lived in 1927, have you tried the city directories?
The details came from a district organization.
This is all they have: F. M. Wilson, year of death 1954, location Rock Hill, S.C. 1926-1928. The 26 to 28 might not be inclusive so I used 1927. Occupation: clergy
The library and history center only have one city directory and it is from 1918 to 1936 and it's 1926. Wilson is not listed. No phone books before 1950. We've solved 21 out of 31 and down to the 11 that have nothing but a date and initials and least name, same as Wilson. I have not looked in the census since we do not know the birth locations but we can make a very educated guess in N.C. or S.C. Death place likely the same.
The other 21 were easy and now down to the harder ones.
I did not notice that.
I was getting results but the wring names, locations, etc.
The details came from a district organization.
This is all they have: F. M. Wilson, year of death 1954, location Rock Hill, S.C. 1926-1928. The 26 to 28 might not be inclusive so I used 1927. Occupation: clergy
The library and history center only have one city directory and it is from 1918 to 1936 and it's 1926. Wilson is not listed. No phone books before 1950. We've solved 21 out of 31 and down to the 11 that have nothing but a date and initials and least name, same as Wilson. I have not looked in the census since we do not know the birth locations but we can make a very educated guess in N.C. or S.C. Death place likely the same.
The other 21 were easy and now down to the harder ones.
Ancestry doesn't have directory records from Rock Hill, but since you have the death year, have you tried looking for an obituary? Ancestry doesn't have a huge amount of newspapers, so I'd look for a website that carries South Carolina newspapers during 1954, especially Rock Hill.
There's a Floyd Monroe Wilson Sr and Jr in Ancestry in Fort Mill SC which is right next door to Rock Hill SC, but the death date for Sr is 1941 rather than 1954.
Also, none of their records of which there are a substantial amount reflect Rev or Clergyman. Per Sr's obit, he was a devoted member of a Baptist Church, but he was a farmer and/or a merchant. Maybe he was a part time clergyman or one in his youth and he gave it up?
They are both on Find-A-Grave.
Are you sure of the death date? Perhaps these are relatives. Find-A-Grave has a list of Sr's kids.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blondy
There's a Floyd Monroe Wilson Sr and Jr in Ancestry in Fort Mill SC which is right next door to Rock Hill SC, but the death date for Sr is 1941 rather than 1954.
Also, none of their records of which there are a substantial amount reflect Rev or Clergyman. Per Sr's obit, he was a devoted member of a Baptist Church, but he was a farmer and/or a merchant. Maybe he was a part time clergyman or one in his youth and he gave it up?
They are both on Find-A-Grave.
Are you sure of the death date? Perhaps these are relatives. Find-A-Grave has a list of Sr's kids.
Good find.
I'd suggest looking at the 1920 census, in York County, & Cherokee Country, SC, & Gaston & Cleveland counties in NC. If that doesn't work, try Mecklenburg County NC & any other SC counties adjacent to York.
Ancestry doesn't have directory records from Rock Hill, but since you have the death year, have you tried looking for an obituary? Ancestry doesn't have a huge amount of newspapers, so I'd look for a website that carries South Carolina newspapers during 1954, especially Rock Hill.
Obituary is always the first thing I look for. Find A Grave. Locally the library has the newspapers. To date we have not looked much for this Wilson since the other 21 were found with little real effort or time. Now we zero in on the harder ones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blondy
There's a Floyd Monroe Wilson Sr and Jr in Ancestry in Fort Mill SC which is right next door to Rock Hill SC, but the death date for Sr is 1941 rather than 1954.
Also, none of their records of which there are a substantial amount reflect Rev or Clergyman. Per Sr's obit, he was a devoted member of a Baptist Church, but he was a farmer and/or a merchant. Maybe he was a part time clergyman or one in his youth and he gave it up?
They are both on Find-A-Grave.
Are you sure of the death date? Perhaps these are relatives. Find-A-Grave has a list of Sr's kids.
One of the names on our large list died during the year she was in our city. Many died fairly young. So, the one who died in 1941 could be the father and the one that died in 1954 could be the son. The 1954 is as accurate as we can get unless we find proof some other way. The organization that got the date for us is a trusted source and the only source. If the name was in the 1926 City Directory, we'd probable get the first name and spouses name. They are not listed.
It seems that 1926 book was published before they arrived.
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Originally Posted by southbound_295
Good find.
I'd suggest looking at the 1920 census, in York County, & Cherokee Country, SC, & Gaston & Cleveland counties in NC. If that doesn't work, try Mecklenburg County NC & any other SC counties adjacent to York.
We do not think they lived in S.C. before 1926 when they arrived in town. We think they left town in 1928. This is the pattern among the group.
The census can be searched with Family Search dot org. I was hoping Ancestry might be better. And even after the free ends tomorrow, I can search on Ancestry 8 hours a day using our library card.
They died in 1954 and they had to be at least age 22 in 1926 so the birth year has to be before 1904. Gigantic clue I know.
Also the first name not known and it might be a male or female, may or may not have been head of a household = lots of unknowns.
The census is something we have not needed on some of the others. We can spend alot more time on the census.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by howard555
Obituary is always the first thing I look for. Find A Grave. Locally the library has the newspapers. To date we have not looked much for this Wilson since the other 21 were found with little real effort or time. Now we zero in on the harder ones.
One of the names on our large list died during the year she was in our city. Many died fairly young. So, the one who died in 1941 could be the father and the one that died in 1954 could be the son. The 1954 is as accurate as we can get unless we find proof some other way. The organization that got the date for us is a trusted source and the only source. If the name was in the 1926 City Directory, we'd probable get the first name and spouses name. They are not listed.
It seems that 1926 book was published before they arrived.
We do not think they lived in S.C. before 1926 when they arrived in town. We think they left town in 1928. This is the pattern among the group.
The census can be searched with Family Search dot org. I was hoping Ancestry might be better. And even after the free ends tomorrow, I can search on Ancestry 8 hours a day using our library card.
They died in 1954 and they had to be at least age 22 in 1926 so the birth year has to be before 1904. Gigantic clue I know.
Also the first name not known and it might be a male or female, may or may not have been head of a household = lots of unknowns.
The census is something we have not needed on some of the others. We can spend alot more time on the census.
I named the 3 adjacent NC counties. Rock Hill is in York County. It's a border county.
The family group was somewhere in 1920. I'd look for them in 1920.
I'm a native of the Midwest. My people moved a lot, frequently from state to state. At the time of the Revolutionary War they were spread from Massachusetts to Georgia. When you are dealing with "movers" you need to establish their whereabouts on the censuses. That gives you a window. Your window with these individuals is 1920-1930.
I had a brick wall with a Scotch-Irish family in Indiana. I had them back to 1870 in a specific county. They were not in the 1860 index. I spent a year looking for them in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, & several other states. This was before online sources. Finally, I read that there was a problem with the 1860 census in the original county, because fairly recent immigrants did that census. I checked the 1850 census & found the family there. I then went through the 1860 census, page by page for the county, & found them in 3 separate households, with the name butchered 3 separate ways.
That's why I'm saying, make a window with the census. If you start with the 1920 census, you might be able to narrow it down. If all you have is one name of unknown gender that creates a problem. You've specified that there is a clergyman involved. If the family group is Baptist, there is a college in Rock Hill with some archives. You might want to look there.
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