Question about sources
I'm looking at my family tree and one person in particular LRCR-VFM, Eva Nolan, has a bunch of sources that look to be incorrect but I'm not sure so I was wondering if someone would help me maybe figure it out? Part of the issue for me is that I have no information past her, like who her parents are, but I do have her daughters, Julia Anns, death certificate listing her and Midge (Nickname) as the mother and father. Could she have gotten married to someone else and had more children afterwards? I know her maiden name was Nolan with an "a" because of the death certificate. I also know her nickname as well, being referred to as Effie. You can message me or respond here. I'll respond as soon as I can. I really will appreciate any help.
Answers
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Hi @KayScott89 I've just had a quick look and I agree something looks a little muddled here, even just based purely on the overlap of children's births from the two marriages. I would say the 'e' vs 'a' in Nolan is immaterial, as minor spelling differences are common in records of the time. The E initial vs Isabell for the middle name is also interesting. Does Isabell come from her daughter's death certificate? I'll take a closer look now and see if I can help you figure it out.
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Hi again @KayScott89. So here's what's up. Eva Nolan did marry a second time to Monroe D Debter. The most helpful record in knowing this is the 1900 Census, where children from her first marriage to
Joseph Migeman Foster are listed as Monroe's step-children. I've attached the records for her second marriage to Monroe. She goes by the name "Evvie" in those.The confusion of children's birthdates not aligning/overlapping is because some of the children from Monroe's first marriage were added via a census record, with the contributor assuming that Eva was their mother. Presumably from a lack of contradictory information at the time.
I started to make the necessary adjustments, but as I like to leave detailed explanations for other contributors in the 'reason' section when making changes, I work a bit more slowly. Another contributor has seen your query and is wizzing through the changes, so to avoid confusion I've left them to it.
I hope that clears things up for you but if you have any more questions or need some help, do sing out. All best in your research.
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The Isabell came from two things: 1. Family Bible written in by my grandfather, Corley & 2. A paper with genealogy information that I found that I assume he also typed up and printed (he passed the year before I was born but it's not the same format my grandmother, his wife, would have used) .
Can things that were removed be re-added? I believe I may have removed something I shouldn't have and feel bad about it. I should have asked first and I hate I might have messed up someone's hard work.
Thank you so much for helping me with this. I wasn't sure what to do but I knew something was up when I started looking a bit closer. I wanted to make sure that someone with more knowledge took a look.
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That's interesting about where you found her middle name of Isabell. The primary place the E initial appears is her first marriage record and then much later in the birth record of one of the children from her second marriage. It's possible, even likely, that she wasn't in attendance herself on either occasion and those that were assumed that her nickname and full name were a first and second name, leading to the use of the E initial. Unfortunately Alabama births weren't officially recorded until 1881, so knowing definitively what her parents named Eva at birth is next to impossible. But given your grandfather is the source of Isabell and would have known her personally as a child, that's the next best thing.
The sources that were removed have been reattached. Don't feel bad about it. We've all made mistakes. It's an easy fix and you did exactly the right thing seeking a second opinion.
It's a pleasure to be able to help. A few things that popped for me that you may like to investigate more closely. The marriage license for her first marriage appears to have been issued three years AFTER she was married. The license is issued 19th November 1896, but in the next section it states the marriage was solemnised on the 19th Nov 1893 with an ink blot where something has been crossed out. It maybe human error, because this would mean the couple would have been 14 or 15 at the time they were married, but it is a curiosity. Also the Nolan man that appeared for Eva on the license seems to me to have the initials M J, which doesn't fit with any of her brothers or her father, so there maybe a missing family member. There is also a section that stating Eva was over the age of 18, but if the 1880 census is correct in saying she was 8 months old at that time, she would only have been 17. So it looks like some fudging was going on.
I think this may be Eva's death record with her name mis-transcribed. It lists her father as "Wash Nolen" which fits with the name her currently listed father went by (see his find a grave entry). You can view the original record via a FamilySearch center or affiliate library, or if you don't have access, there are wonderfully helpful people in the community here who are often happy to do a look up for you. Speaking of FindAGrave, there is a photo of Eva herself in her entry which is worth a look.
Looking more broadly, you may want to do a close investigation of Eva's paternal grandfather. I suspect he has been conflated with a few individuals and/or he is missing a spouse. It's also possible that a generation is missing between Eva's father Stephen Washington Nolen (2Z3N-MT6) and grandfather Stephen Nolen IV (MLY9-NR5). The latter's wife is too old to be Stephen Washington's mother and if you look at the change log another spouse, Elizabeth, has been erased. There are also 25 children born between 1805 and 1858 across three states, which seems unlikely. There was also another Stephen Nolen born about 1830, Georgia who lived for a time in Alabama and was married to an Elizabeth. He may be the missing generation and the individual with whom Stephen Nolen IV (MLY9-NR5) has been conflated.
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@KayScott89 I plan to visit my FamilySearch Center this week, and I've put the death record that @RaniM found on my list to retrieve.
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This is the front and back of a page my grandfather wrote on showing some more information. I thought maybe it would be easier to show instead of trying to explain. Also, I noticed they use Midge as a nickname for Joseph Midge Foster often. Looking at these, I'm pretty sure he also spelled a few things wrong lol Also in the Bible he has her name as Eva but on the paper he only refers to her as Evie.
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I can only speculate but they look to me like researcher's notes, that have been copied down from elsewhere or else or taken down as relayed to him. Which could explain the added annotations such as 'Isobel' and 'Midge', and if he were working quickly, any spelling errors. If these papers are much the same in content as what he wrote in your family bible, it may have been what he worked off in draft form and he simply chose to record Eva's full name rather than her diminutive in the bible itself as a more official record.
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@KayScott89
I'm at my FSC today, and I've retrieved the death certificate that @RaniM found. It is against the Community Guidelines to post it here. I will send it to you by private message. Look for a red number on the envelope at the top right.
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Thanks again for finding that record @Áine Ní Donnghaile.
One last thing @KayScott89, since I mentioned Eva's grandfather's profile being a bit of a muddle, I went back and looked more closely and untangled your Stephen Nolen's family. You can now find him here: PQ4L-671. Multiple individuals had been conflated into the one profile of the previously attached profile. Anyway, I hope this has all been useful for you and all the best with your research.
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Thank you!
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