And still they’re eluding me.
So, today’s research: I got emails back from the Clermont County Public Library and the Ohio Department of Health. First, the *very* nice librarian at Clermont County confirmed that Thomas COOK and Rachel HILL were married on 5 March 1852 in Clermont County, but said that the record contains no information about their parents. I’m not sure why I thought that would be helpful in the first place, being that I need to establish a link between them and who I think is their son.
As for the Department of Health, they haven’t offered uncertified copies of death certificates since 2003. My bad. So, I’m sending off a request for Benjiman Smith COOK’s death certificate along with a check for $16.50 (ouch). I’ll wait and see if that’s helpful before I go and drop over $30 on the other two certs for Ben’s siblings. I’m pretty much just trying to establish where they were all born, and Ben is the oldest sibling I don’t have a death record for. (We’re assuming that the birthplace listed on the death cert is marginally correct, and that I might be able to someday locate birth records from that information. I haven’t had a lot of luck with his older two siblings, though.)
Tonight I mainly spent by looking up census records on Thomas’s and Rachel’s respective families and figuring out how they might have hooked up. From what I can tell, their families lived mighty close to each other for quite a while. Now, Thomas and Rachel got married in 1852, when he was 20 and she was 19 (I think). They had at least 5 kids: Isabelle Kate, John, Comadore (?!), Harvey, and William.
William’s older sister Isabelle married John HILL sometime between 1870 and 1876. As far as I can figure, their parents must have died just about that time, too, because William was living with Isabelle and John HILL in the 1880 U.S. Census, at the age of 12. I haven’t been able to find their brothers John COOK or Harvey COOK, and I believe Comadore died young (before age 10). Leave it to them to throw me a curveball, eh?
I think my problems would be solved if I could find William’s marriage record to his wife Ella, and if that record states who his parents are. I know from the census that they married in 1895. I just don’t know exactly where. Could be Clermont County, could be Butler County, could even be Warren or Montgomery (although I think those are less likely). I’d have to request the record from the county, since the state of Ohio doesn’t hold marriage records from before, jeez, looks like 1949? Wow.
So, yeah. The counties I need wouldn’t be at the Ohio Historical Society archives, so I’d have to contact the counties directly. If it’s in Butler County, I might be able to get it from the Butler County Records Center & Archives — looks like they’ve got marriage records from as far back as 1847, and parents’ names were listed beginning in 1894. Just in time.
If the marriage took place in Clermont County, it looks like I’ll have to write the County Clerk for the record. No big deal, though. Looks like they have marriage records beginning in 1801? Hmm. I’ll have to write them and see.
That’s been my evening. Man, tomorrow I need to take a break from this and work on my podcast. Can’t believe the marathon genealogy-fest I’ve been having this week. And I’ve barely even used any of Ancestry’s resources, which was the reason for this binge in the first place.