Getting back into the swing of things

So I have taken quite a break in my own genealogy research.  Mostly because I work full time and had to choose work over the research unfortunately.  I've been slowly digging through the 1940 census records looking for my ancestors and have found several so far! 

Still haven't found my elusive Hazletts in the 1900 census, but I still hold hope that they will be found someday.

I make no promises, but am going to try to update here more often than I have in the past.  At least on the weekends when I am off from work and not buried in records/research!

Elusive ancestors in the 1900 census

My great-great grandfather, John Wesley Hazlett along with his parents and siblings continue to elude me in the 1900 census.

John Wesley Hazlett was born November 4, 1884 in Jewell County, Kansas.  He married my great-great grandmother, Mamie Kate Wallace on January 6, 1906 in Brunswick, Charition, Missouri.  According to the 1910 census they were living in Boons Lick, Howard, Missouri.  Since the 1890 census was mostly destroyed and he wasn't born until after the 1880 census, I thought I could find him around age 5 or 6 in the 1900 census... but so far no luck.

His father, William H. Hazlett (born November 18, 1846 in Ohio) and mother, Jessie Henderson (born October 30, 1856 in Eccles, Berwickshire, Scotland) were living in Jewell County, Kansas as of the 1880 census.  In the 1910 census, William and Jessie were living in Brunswick, Chariton, Missouri.

I have slowly been going through the census records for Chariton County, Missouri on ancestry.com but so far have yet to find them and searching for common misspellings of Hazlett hasn't yielded any luck either.  I still hold hope that this brick wall will come down and I will someday find where they have been hiding in the 1900 Census.

Death Certificate received!

Today's mail finally had what I have been waiting for from the State of Indiana.  My great-great grandfather, Arie Blom's death certificate!

There was a note attached to the receipt regarding the fact that many of the older records were printed on very porous paper and that due to the age and condition of the orginal document, the above certificate was the best reproduction they could make.

So, in addition to the ships passenger list, I now have a second source listing Jacob Blom as his father, but still no documentation of who Arie's mother was.

Small Brick Wall torn down

So I have been researching my great-great grandfather, Arie Blom Sr., and had gotten stuck on getting his death certificate.  I had sent away for it in the state of Illinois based on the following newspaper posting I found on Ancestry.com

So with the above article, I had decided to search in Cook County, Illinois for his death records since the article had mentioned Lansing as where his daughter and her husband were going to.  I also checked the date of the newspaper and looked up a calendar for 1943 and found according to the article his date of death was July 19, 1943.  

Well, I sent off for a copy of his death certificate from Cook County, and was surprised when I got a letter back stating no records found for the information I gave him.  Especially since I found an entry on interment.net for him and his wife buried at Homewood Memorial Gardens in Homewood, Cook, Illinois. 

I called Homewood Memorial Gardens and asked them to send me a copy of his burial record and the first one I sent was actually for his son, Arie Blom, Jr.   When I finally got the right record, I figured out why Cook County doesn't have a death certificate for him:

At the very bottom of the record, under remarks... "POD: Hammond, In.  No int order, too old".  So now, I am waiting for the State of Indiana to do their search and hopefully within a week or so I will have my great-great-grandfather's death certificate in my hands.

Absent no more

I had pretty much abandoned the blog for awhile because life just got in the way.

I am back now and am working on a post about my great-great-grandfather, Arie Blom Sr. that I am going to be posting a little bit later today.

Yes, I am alive!

It seems like it has been forever since I've written here.  Working full time has kept me busy and I haven't had much time for my genealogy research. 

Since my last mailbox waiting game post, I have received my grandfather's death certificate and my great-great-grandfather's naturalization documents.  I've been having a hard time trying to successfully digitize the naturalization documents as they are on larger paper than my scanner can handle.  I did take some photos of them with my digital camera but it's not as clear and sharp as it could be if I had scanned them.

I am still waiting on the death certificate for my great-great-grandfather.  Hopefully by the end of this week it will be in my hands. 

Update for the mailbox waiting game

So a couple of weeks ago, I sent off for a copy of my grandfather, Wesley John Blom's death certificate.  I also sent off for my great-great grandfather, Arie Blom's death certificate and naturalization documents.

I still have not heard anything back regarding the death certificates, however one of the checks I mailed off has been cashed so hopefully I will see the one for my grandfather soon!

I did, however, get a letter today from the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois's office regarding the naturalization documents.  They found the documents and were sending me a letter detailing the cost of photocopies and mailing fees, a total of $17.94.  So once again I am playing the waiting game as I mailed off the check this morning before going to the grocery store.  At least now I know the process a bit more so that when I go to order the naturalization documents of my great-great grandfather Henry J Moes, his wife Gertrude Hillegonds and Henry's mother Jennie, I will be better prepared.