Elizabeth Evans and Tomas Albert Hersey were from Ontario, Canada. They were both born in Kingston, Frontenac County, Thomas A. in 1839 and Elizabeth in 1842. They were married in Kingston and lived in the Rideau Ward, somewhere northeast of the Princess Street kink. In about 1895 they moved to Los Angeles. They lived, died, and are buried together in Inglewood, California. Simple and straight forward, period. Finding the details of their lives was clean and clear cut.
Oho. Not so. Each day of searching brought something new; more clues, links, and facets to their story. While looking for Herseys I found the following hallmarks:
I found several caveats while searching:
Oho. Not so. Each day of searching brought something new; more clues, links, and facets to their story. While looking for Herseys I found the following hallmarks:
- Longevity
- Twins
- Huge numbers of offspring
- Nicknames
- Floating Middle Names: the infuriating habit of using middle names - sometimes for ill. They often changed willy-nilly, mid-decade or mid-life, from one name to another and back again.
- Save all work.
- Jot down all clues. They may never surface again
- The importance of the ancestor (were they an historical figure or pioneer or were they a ...nobody.)
- The number of Children the ancestor had. The more, the better. Other descendants will have done much of your work
I found several caveats while searching:
- Records have Mistakes.
- Name spellings change.
- Place spellings change.
- Place names and areas literally morph. Sometimes the poor ancestor didn't seem to know where he lived. Kentucky was once Virginia. Ontario land was part of France before it was part of England, before it was part of Canada. Ontario was once part of Quebec. Heck, the United States was once UN-united. The United States was part of England. Finland was once in Russia (no wonder, as I will explain later, that poor Biddy didn't know where she was from.)
- North, South, East, and West are relative in history. Ontario was once considered West Canada. Ontario was once considered Upper Canada. I'm sorry. When I look at the map now Ontario is Lower Canada to the East. Wrap my 707 Nor Cal mind around that. Look at that map! Upper Canada, West? Really, isn't Ontario near the East Coast in the lower part of Canada???
Most of all, people, present and past, made and continue to make mistakes. Some of their mistakes are ENORMOUS. If the ancestor is missing huge decades, look in the criminal and mental health records...
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