One thing that I have been able to do, with some success, is find information about his children. I have ten of them recorded. Of the ten, I have been successful finding sufficient records for five of them. I wanted to share some insights to how I found information for these. Maybe I can work backwards and find more information for William and Sarah.
According the 1880 census, William's youngest daughter, Celestia, was born in Arkansas in 1873. At the time her and her family were living in Graves County, Kentucky. That's were, until recently, the trail ended for her. Naturally, I would spend the vast majority of my energy looking for her in Kentucky.
A few weeks ago I was contacted by a guy through a message on Ancestry that asked if I had information on a Selestia Garner whose maiden name was Morris. He said that she was born on 20 Jan 1874, possibly in Kentucky. This immediately sounded good to me. Maybe this was my Celestia. I sent him the limited information that I had for her and he sent me his information. But, I still was not 100% convinced.
He also added that his died in Greene County, Arkansas in 1936. I was looking in the wrong place. This was making more and more sense to me. Sometime prior to the 1870 census, William moved his family to Arkansas. However, by 1874 (Celestia's birthday), the family was back in Kentucky. Over the next few years, some of the children moved back to Arkansas. Celestia's older brother, Jasper L., was one of them. I found him several years ago. He and his wife are buried in, you guessed it, Greene County, Arkansas. Why didn't I think of looking for Celestia in Arkansas a long time ago? I wish I would have!
When I do my research, I have to have facts. Some people are satisfied with possibilities, but that's not me. I want some proof. Sometimes that proof costs a little bit more money. But, to me, it's worth it. I went to VitalChek and ordered a death certificate for Selestia Garner. A few days later, I received the certificate in the mail and, sure enough, Celestia and Selestia was the same person. Her DC lists her father and mother as William Morris and Sallie Goad. Money!
What did I learn for this experience? Several things. First, when you run into a dead end, look to where siblings moved. Selestia wasn't born in Arkansas, so she really didn't have any connections there except for the fact that her older brother lived there. It turned out that's where she was. Second, messages and message boards work. Don't be afraid to send messages, even when you don't have a lot of information. The person who messaged me had very little information. He had a birthdate, maiden name, and a wrong place of birth... that's it. But, I was able to piece things together and in the end it really helped both of us out. Sometimes it ends good like this; more often it doesn't. But, it's always worth a shot. Last, sometimes you have to spend a little bit to get the answers you need. I place a lot of stock in death certificates. I have found that they rarely have incorrect information. Whereas census and other records are often wrong. In this situation, the death certificate sealed the deal and provided the answers that were needed.
While sometimes you have to pay for the good stuff, sometimes you can get lucky and find the information for free. My #1 free go to is FindAGrave! I love that website. I find as many family connections through email from FindAGrave as I do through Ancestry. I also just learned that if you need Texas death certificates, FamilySearch is your place to go. A lot of times I think that if it's not on Ancestry, it's probably not out there. I'm learning more and more that that's not true. Ancestry doesn't have very many, if any, Texas death certificates, but most of the ones that are available can be found for free on FamilySearch.
