Anyone to help find a brick wall ancestor?
Hello! I recently started to do research on my 6th great grandmother, Margaret Mullen/Ann Margaret Mullins (GM9V-RXS), and I've looked everywhere for Information on her. The only records I can find, are her marriage records with Johann Christopher Richard/Reichardt (L7GP-95B) from 1785 that gives no information about her parents whatsoever. Many family trees on Ancestry show that she was born in 1763, and passed away in 1804 and that her parents here either Crouse or Conrad/conradt but for what I've seen people seem to confusing her with another one of Johann's wives. I was wondering if anyone is about to help find her parents or any close relatives? Thank You! :)
Answers
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Hello @AIE30,
Information from Ancestry can sometimes be highly problematic, with the "sources" often simply being other unsourced Ancestry trees. We may have some of that kind of information here.
The FamilySearch profile for Margaret's spouse, Johan Christopher Reichert, has three sources, none of which use that last name. While "Reichert" may be the name used by his immigrant ancestors, there's no evidence he ever went by that family name. Two attached records list his last name as "Richard." The other, "Register of Lunenburg settlers," refers to his baptism as the child of "Thomas & Ann Mary Richards." Other baptisms of his presumed siblings alternately list the parents' last name as "Richard." Also, it's my understanding that the first name -- in this case, Johan -- would often be more of a baptismal name for German-speaking Christians, and wouldn't really be used in day-to-day life. So, it appears that to achieve much in the way of results, one should search for records under the name, "Christopher Richard," rather than the name as shown on his profile. That profile name should probably be changed to "Christopher Richard," as well, in keeping with FamilySearch guidelines to use the name used in most recent legal records, and Johan Christopher Richard(s) added as a birth name.
There are only two sources for the profile of Anna Margaret Mullins, neither of which lists the name, "Anna," and both of which spell the family name as "Mullen." So, unless and until other sources emerge supporting the profile name as currently listed, that profile name should probably be changed to "Margaret Mullen."
A search for records for "Margaret Richard" yielded a baptism record and its duplicate currently attached to the profiles of "Catherine Margarit Richard" (GD3V-BV3), daughter of "Margaret" (GD3K-JZ6) and "Christopher Richard" (GD3K-V6H). These profiles were more recently created, and should be merged into the profiles currently named "Johan Christopher Reichert," "Anna Margaret Mullins," and "Catharina Margaret Reichardt," with appropriate profile name changes.
A full-text search for "Christopher Richard" in Nova Scotia in that era yielded some property deeds. I've attached a few that list his wife as Margaret. One such deed is from 1831, which is beyond the listed dates of death for both "Anna Margaret Mullins" and the supposed second wife for Christopher, "Anna Margaretha Crouse." The only source attached to the latter profile is a link to MyHeritage -- a pay site containing what is liable to be an unsourced family tree. One deed refers to Christopher and Margaret "Reichard," so that is another variant of the name to search for.
There are a number of unsourced profiles of children of Christopher Richard with both listed spouses, as well as some of his listed without any mother at all.
Vital information and relationships on FamilySearch should be supported with sources. So, you might want to merge the "Anna Margaretha Crouse" profile into Margaret Mullen's if no sources can be found for the former, and likewise delete relationships to alleged, unsourced children. Sometimes, however, unsourced information can turn out to be correct. It may be helpful, if attempts at finding sources fail, to then note whatever you change or delete -- either in reason statements (in the case of vital information that is changed), or in Notes or Discussions (such as when deleting relationships or merging profiles). Other users may be able to find appropriate sources using those leads.
As for finding more sources for Margaret Mullen, I would continue searching for her and Christopher Richard using various names (including her married name) in full-text search, or through the Catalog searches for Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. You might also try searching for other Mullens living in that area at that time, and perhaps be able to find her named in a will or court file. Also, try searching local histories or other books, either in the FamilySearch Books section, or on archive.org by searching "Text Contents," using various configurations of names, along with "Nova Scotia" or "Lunenburg."
Good luck!
AP
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