52 Ancestors,
in 52 Weeks
Week 19:
Preserve
Preserve the Records
My plan for this week was to write about my mother’s jelly recipes that won ribbons at the Indiana State Fair. But due to recent discoveries, I am pivoting. I now see this prompt as a call to action, “Preserve public records!” For genealogy researchers, public records are a surprising wealth of information. Particularly deeds, wills, probate, and other court records. This is another case where the use of “Full Text Search” has helped me to break down a brick wall.
Breaking Down a Brick Wall
My 3rd great-grandmother, Sarah Smith 1822-1846, [1] has been a brick wall for me. I wrote about discovering Sarah’s surname, thanks to a marriage record, for the week 2 prompt in 2019. Sarah married Samuel Gilbert [2] in 1843 in Richland County, Ohio. Discovering Sarah’s parents proved to be a challenge. I had resorted to researching every man with the surname Smith who lived in the same county, and adjoining counties, to Sarah and her husband in 1840. I wrote about that for the week 14 prompt in 2022. Despite researching more than a half dozen men named Smith, that effort led no where. Then, a few months ago, I read about the beta-test tool at Family Search for “Full Text Search.”
FamilySearch Labs
From the main page of Family Search, scroll down and find, on the right, a pop-down box titled ‘FamilySearch Labs’. Click the button for ‘View Experiments’ which will take you to their page of various experimental products. [3] The ‘Full Text Search’ product is in the center of the top row, select the button ‘Try It’ to turn on this experimental product. Currently the search is limited to just a few document types, for the US that is land and probate records. There are other experiments available, let me know about your success using them.
Family Search Results
For my search, I began with various combinations of “Sarah Smith” AND Gilbert. With those results I could then drill down on location and dates. For this ancestor I looked at Crawford, Richland and Huron counties in Ohio. Also, I considered dates from 1810 to 1850. The results included deeds filed in both Crawford and Richland counties in 1842 where Sarah Smith is selling land to Samuel Gilbert. This was shortly before they were married, and the land was the same for both deeds. (It may be the Crawford County deed is simply a later duplicate since Crawford was not formed until 1845.) This deed gave me a land description I could now search with: the west half, of the NW quarter of Section 17, Township 22, Range 20. This property is in Auburn Township of Richland County, and it is very close to the land that Samuel Gilbert owned in adjoining Crawford County at the time.
I have previously written posts about my Smith and Gilbert ancestors:
More Records
Using various combinations of the legal land description and surnames for my search, I had many more results to review. Ultimately I discovered a man named Jacob Smith sold Samuel Gilbert the same property in Section 17, but a day earlier than Sarah. I also found a man named Gasper Smith bought the property from a man named Decker in 1826. [4] What I did not find using the “Full Text Search” was the property being transferred from Gasper to Jacob and/or Sarah Smith. And how were all these Smith’s connected? Nonetheless, this was a far better lead than any I had previously for my 3rd great-grandmother’s family.
Estate Records of Gasper Smith
Turning back to Ancestry, I searched for a Gasper Smith who died after 1826 but prior to 1842 in Richland County, Ohio. This led to the discovery of estate papers filed in 1831 for a Gasper Smith who died in 1829 and named a wife as Mary. [5] The will mentions there are children, but no names. It also mentions the property is to be divided equally among the children, once the youngest ‘comes of age.’ These additional details enabled me to find a court record from 1830 where a Polly Smith is seeking her dower rights. [6] The information in the record clearly identifies Gasper Smith as the deceased and the Section 17 land. This record further names the children, including a Jacob and Sarah.
Conclusion
These preserved public records have enabled me to break down a brick wall. I now feel certain that the parents of my 3rd great-grandmother, Sarah Smith, were Gasper Smith, ca. 1785-1829, and Mary Polly. I still need to discover Mary’s last name, but there are clues in the records I have found. For example, she gives their wedding date and place in the court plea. Using the place name of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania and the time frame around 1814, I believe I have at least found Gasper’s father. A man named Jacob Smith left a will naming a son Gasper, in 1822, and a legacy of $800. I hope to find more preserved records to make further discoveries about my Smith ancestors.
SOURCES:
- Profile for Sarah Smith, ‘Osborn‘ family tree, Ancestry.com; https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/13493206/person/26119687041/facts
- Profile for Samuel Gilbert,Osborn‘ family tree, Ancestry.com; ttps://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/13493206/person/12164041102/facts
- Website, Family Search: Labs; accessed: 19 Aug 2024; https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/
- Full text search results for “Gasper Smith” in “1800’s,” “Ohio, United States records,” images, at FamilySearch; “Crawford, Ohio, United States records,” images, at FamilySearch; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLX-KSH1-9?view=fullText : accessed: 8 Sep 2024, image 57 of 553
- Probate Record, for Gasper Smith, Ancestry.com. Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998 [database on-line], Original data: “Ohio County, District and Probate Courts.”
- Court Record, for Gasper Smith, Ancestry.com, Richland Co., Common Pleas Court Records, 1823-1833; Gateway to The West, Vol. II [database on-line], image 461 of 1012.
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