Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Research the Collateral Lines


Collateral Ancestor
Definition: An ancestor not in the direct line of ascent, but of the same ancestral family.

I've been having a bit of trouble with my maternal great grandmother, Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen.
I can't seem to find her parents' names. I ordered her death certificate and came up empty. As I was searching the 1900 census, I found Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Borgreen living in Belt MT with their small children. I scanned up and down the page and was very surprised to find a listing for Andrew Felt and family living right next door to them. I noticed that some of Andrew's children had been born in WY. I knew that Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Borgreen had lived in Rock Springs WY and the census showed that a few of their children had been born there. I also noticed that Andrew immigrated to the US, from Sweden, one year before Great Grandma. It became almost obvious to me that they may be related and their close age made me think that perhaps they were siblings. I thought that maybe Andrew would have some of the answers I was not able to get from Great Grandma. So I began to track Andrew and family through time. Below is a timeline for Andrew and his family and my sad version of source citations. I have all sources clearly sited in my records but I'll spare you the details here. 

I have yet to find evidence of Andrew's death. I do know that he was living in 1920, so can narrow my search a bit with that information. My goal is to find the place of death and order his death certificate. Hopefully there will be something of use there. I'll also do some city directory searches and newspaper research. I found a land patent for Andrew and maybe that will help me track him a bit farther. Heritage quest, which I use for census research, doesn't have the 1930 census up yet. I know that Ancestry.com does but am not ready to subscribe again, just yet. Maybe after the holiday bills are paid, I'll renew my subscription for a couple of months. I'd like to see if any of the Felts are listed on the 1930 census. But I can wait a little bit for that.

Timeline for Andrew Felt

1874 Andrew Felt born in Sweden1
Married: 1
1887 Son Axel born in Sweden1
1889 Married in Sweden to Celia 1   Selma (Paulson) 6i  Thelma (Paulson) 6ii
1890 Immigrated to US1
18891 (1890) 6i  Son Victor born in Rock Springs6ii WY1      
1893 Son Elmer born in WY1
1895 Daughter Agnes born in WY1
1899 Son Andrew born in MT1
1900 Family is living next door to Gust and Jennie Borgreen in Belt MT1
1902 Daughter Mary was born in Cascade County MT2
1907 Andrew received a land patent in Cascade County4

1910 Family is living in Cascade County MT2

1910 Andrew and Victor are working in a coal mine2

1910 Census lists Axel as a cripple2
1911: 26 Jan 1911 Victor married Maggie Defoe (sic) in Belt MT6i
1913 Victor and Maggie are living in Wisconsin3
1913: Son, Charles, born to Victor and Maggie.3
1915 Victor and Maggie are living in Wisconsin3
1915: Daughter, Selma, born to Victor and Maggie.3
1918: 23 Nov 1918 Axle died & buried at Pleasant View Cemetery Belt MT5
Between 1920 and 1925 Victor divorced Maggie3, 6ii
1920 Andrew Felt family living in Cascade County MT3
1920 Living at home Andrew, Selma, Elmer, Mary3
1920 Andrew is a farmer3
1920 Elmer is a farm laborer3
1920 Victor is living in Anoka County, Minnesota with wife
         Maggie and her parents3
1925: 17 Dec 1925 Victor married Elizabeth Bann in Great Falls MT6ii
1957: 4 Feb 1957 Victor died and is buried at Manchester Cemetery5


11900 Census
21910 Census
31920 Census
4Land Patent
5 cemetery listing
6iMontana marriage index ref# 4716
6iiMontana marriage index ref# cn12609

Alternate surname spellings:
Felt1
Felts2
Feldt3



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