Edith M Tyler is my 1st cousin 2x removed who was
born Jul 22 1899 in Iowa, USA. She is the daughter of George H Tyler and his
wife Edith L Jones. George is 2nd great-uncle the brother of Great
Grandfather John Tyler. They are the sons of George William Tyler and his wife
Sarah Agnes Long.
I decided I wanted to search for the descendants of my Tyler
branch, and I was working on George H Tyler and found him in the 1880 US Census
for Ross, Franklin County, Iowa, USA living with his parents George and Sarah.
George is the third born child.
The suggested hints via Ancestry give me plenty to work on.
The first thing I like to do, is open each hint into a new tab. Then I sort the
tabs based on date, left to right, oldest to most current.
The first record is of George’s marriage record to his wife
Edith L Jones on 5 Feb 1896 in Cerro Gordo, Iowa, USA. It gives George’s parents’
names of Geo Tyler and Sarah Long along with Edith’s parents’ names of Peter
and Margh Jones.
I find an Iowa, Births and Christening Index record for
Hazel Blanche Tyler born 10 Jul 1897 in Lincoln, Cerro Gordo, Iowa, USA to Geo
Tyler and Edith Jones.
I find an Iowa, Births and Christening Index record for
Ethel M Tyler born 22 Jul 1899 in Lincoln, Cerro Gordo, Iowa, USA to Geo H
Tyler and Edith Jones. It gives me suggested records for Ethel, however we will
hold off for now.
The 1900 US Census record for Lincoln, Cerro Gordo, Iowa,
USA has the small family unit of George, wife Edith and daughter’s Blanche H
and Ethel M.
The 1905 Minnesota State Census has them living together in
Akron, Big Stone, Minnesota, USA.
The 1920 US Census record for George H has him listed as
Divorced, living in Mason, Cerro Gordo, Iowa with his widowed father, George
and some siblings, a brother-in-law and nephew.
First question, where are they in 1910? Are George and Ethel
still married?
The 1910 US Census was found using just first names and they
are living in Ortonville Ward 2, Big Stone, Minnesota, USA. Their last name was
missed transcribed as Syler. However, they are still living as a married
coupled with their daughters’ age 12 and 10.
Next question, where are Edith, Blanche and Ethel in the 1920
US Census? While looking for them, I did find a 1915 North Dakota, Territorial
and State Census with Edith, Hazel B and Ethel M living together. Listed
directly above Ethel is a man named George M Sturgis. Edith had a hint for the
1930 and 1940 US Census as Edith L Sturgis, this makes be look into these two
censuses a little more closely.
The 1930 US Census has Edith married to George W Sturgis and
12 year old Blanch E Hollister is living with them as a granddaughter. Wow, a
new person, so if a granddaughter, is it for George or Edith?
Tracing Blanch E Holister back to the 1920 census, I find
her living in Township 21, Corson, South Dakota with her father Albert D
Hollister and his wife Ethel M Hollister.
Following more hints I find Ethel Tyler marrying A H
Hollester in Corson, South Dakota, USA on 11 Dec 1916. I also find Ethel
Hollister’s Death Index for Walworth, South Dakota, USA on 7 Dec 1921.
The whole part of this exercise was to document my path to
Ethel’s death. When I started recording these entries, I had not found Edith
married to George and living with Blanche Hollister. I also, thought at first
glance that Blanche was some sort of mistake, because my brain was thinking
Blanche was a daughter not granddaughter. It wasn’t until I started following
Hints and investigating further, that I finally found Ethel’s marriage record
which leads me to her death record.
When I found Ethel’s birth record, I had many hints, however
following those hints at the time of her birth, weren’t helpful, because the
marriage index did not list her parents, her death index also did not list her
parents. It wasn’t until I could tie the surname Sturgis to Ethel’s mom who at the time was
raising her motherless granddaughter that I could finally come full circle and
make all the hints fit into place.
Now I need to enter all these facts and people, along with
my source citations.
