Have I found an ancestor who made a big mistake? No. Have I made a big mistake in my research? Yes, if you call skipping a generation. I briefly hinted about this in Week 1 blog posting labeled “In the Beginning”.
How did
that happen? It’s because the family
loves using the same name! In this case,
it is Caroline Maynard.
Christopher “Kit” Maynard and Eva Shockey had 12
children. The oldest was born in 1836
with the youngest being born in 1860.
The youngest was named Caroline Maynard.
My ancestor was Caroline Evie Maynard and she was
born in 1865. At the time, I didn’t know
who her parents were. So, I used census
records to make that determination. I
used the 1870 census records and searched for “Caroline Maynard”. I found one but the birth date was off by a
few years. I was told that quite often
census records had the wrong ages, so I wasn’t too concerned about the
discrepancy. So, I thought her parents
were Christopher & Eva. WRONG! I later discovered that her parents were
George Washington Maynard and Sarah Caines.
George & Sarah had a total of 9 children, with
the oldest being born in 1857 and the youngest circa 1877.
Caroline had married Booker Keesee and the marriage
documents did not indicate who her parents were. Although, I should have realized that the G W Maynard listed on the document for where the marriage was to take place would be the father.
When I pulled the 1870 census for George and Sarah,
I discovered that Caroline was listed by her middle name “Eva”. No wonder I made that mistake!