Breakthrough!
I have been searching for a client's grandmother FOREVER. OK maybe that's not entirely true, but she's been a big focus of our search since we started. Debbie (client) was told grandma's name was Valentine Poole and she came from England. That's all we knew.
Now this family doesn't share secrets. No one talks. It's all a big ol mystery. I love those.
I knew "Valentine" was married to Debbie's grandfather, David George, and I knew he had a son, Edward David George. We knew David had died around 1980 and was buried in Florida. Let the search begin.
I searchedandsearchedandsearched.....
I found a record hit that was a maybe. You'd be surprised how many David Bryants there are. One married a Dorothy Valentine, and I wasn't even positive enough to save the record onto his file, but I kept it in memory, just in case.
I searched ancestry many times for Valentine Poole, David Bryant, Edward David....all nothing. I hit family search, it usually wields me much better results faster, but no luck.
So I'm hitting Debbie up for more info. She says she was told David had a daughter, possibly out of wedlock named Betty. I put her on the tree, and did some basic searches. Still nothing.
So today I was searching Familysearch.com again. I tried, on a whim, for Betty. I got three possibles, one with a Vossie and David Bryant and I ALMOST sent Debbie a message.
AND THEN I FOUND IT.
a 1940 Census from Detroit Michigan of all places. Definitely nowhere I'd searched before. It shows:
George E Bryant
Dorothy V Bryant - England(I did a little happy dance there)
Edith Betty Bryant - Michigan
Edward G Bryant - Michigan
As soon as I pulled that record and brought it into Ancestry the floodgates opened. Thirteen hits on George Edward. A 1930 census in Detroit. A Marriage record between he and Dorothy Valentine in Canada...with her maiden name, Farraday.
Pictures of George, his headstone, his first wife, Ellen. HIS PARENTS. George was born in Bristol, England. Ironically, my own brick wall, my husbands grandfather Henry Simpson, was also born there. George has nine siblings, all still in Canada. And I haven't even opened all the hints yet.
They kept a long naming tradition it seems. His father is George Edwin. Clearly the name David is wrong, its George Edward, too many of his records use that name, none have David. Since that was a word-of-mouth name I'll dismiss it. GEORGE EDWIN BRYANT HAS 77 HINTS.
Y'all, you don't even know. The only thing that could possibly make me more excites is if A) it had been Henry I'd found, and B) I had an Ancestry world membership and could actually save all these records.
Now this family doesn't share secrets. No one talks. It's all a big ol mystery. I love those.
I knew "Valentine" was married to Debbie's grandfather, David George, and I knew he had a son, Edward David George. We knew David had died around 1980 and was buried in Florida. Let the search begin.
I searchedandsearchedandsearched.....
I found a record hit that was a maybe. You'd be surprised how many David Bryants there are. One married a Dorothy Valentine, and I wasn't even positive enough to save the record onto his file, but I kept it in memory, just in case.
I searched ancestry many times for Valentine Poole, David Bryant, Edward David....all nothing. I hit family search, it usually wields me much better results faster, but no luck.
So I'm hitting Debbie up for more info. She says she was told David had a daughter, possibly out of wedlock named Betty. I put her on the tree, and did some basic searches. Still nothing.
So today I was searching Familysearch.com again. I tried, on a whim, for Betty. I got three possibles, one with a Vossie and David Bryant and I ALMOST sent Debbie a message.
AND THEN I FOUND IT.
a 1940 Census from Detroit Michigan of all places. Definitely nowhere I'd searched before. It shows:
George E Bryant
Dorothy V Bryant - England(I did a little happy dance there)
Edith Betty Bryant - Michigan
Edward G Bryant - Michigan
As soon as I pulled that record and brought it into Ancestry the floodgates opened. Thirteen hits on George Edward. A 1930 census in Detroit. A Marriage record between he and Dorothy Valentine in Canada...with her maiden name, Farraday.
Pictures of George, his headstone, his first wife, Ellen. HIS PARENTS. George was born in Bristol, England. Ironically, my own brick wall, my husbands grandfather Henry Simpson, was also born there. George has nine siblings, all still in Canada. And I haven't even opened all the hints yet.
They kept a long naming tradition it seems. His father is George Edwin. Clearly the name David is wrong, its George Edward, too many of his records use that name, none have David. Since that was a word-of-mouth name I'll dismiss it. GEORGE EDWIN BRYANT HAS 77 HINTS.
Y'all, you don't even know. The only thing that could possibly make me more excites is if A) it had been Henry I'd found, and B) I had an Ancestry world membership and could actually save all these records.
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