Converting Stonewalls to Brick Roads

The footsteps of ancestral relatives are sometimes lost in the sands of time. Researchers may not be able to track a lost or forgotten relative, and the situation creates a stonewall that prevents understanding a family history. Even existing documentation regarding such a relative can be misleading, at times.

Stonewalls need to be changed to a brick roadway that leads to understanding the history of a lost or forgotten relative. Documentation is the best tool to use to change a wall into a roadway. But some documentation can be confusing or misleading. Research experiences teach that there is a hierarchy of reliable family documents. The three most reliable family documents are marriage records, birth records, and probates of estates (especially a Proof of Heirship). Census records hold a strong middle position in this hierarchy. However, always study the actual image of a census page rather than just using the transcript of a family located on a page; indexing errors are very possible. The bottom tier of family documentation includes death certificates and obituaries; however these last two types of documentation still hold great value. Their problem is that they are created by someone other than the person of interest; informants of this category of documentation may not fully know the history of a deceased relative. The “Rule of Three” is recommended to eliminate any “stonewall” – try to locate three different documents that establish a fact about your ancestor.

As one of many LSCGG volunteers, I recently hit a stonewall in my family research. An obituary for Mrs. Della Marie nee Dickason Smith was published on 17 May 1976 and listed her five sons and two daughters: those named children were David Huffer, Lloyd Huffer, Mrs. Peggy Shirar, Mrs.Tootie McIntosh, and three “sons” at home (Larry, Lynn and Dale Burton).

Research helped find marriage records for two marriages of Della; her first marriage was to John Francis Huffer on 21 July 1928; her second marriage was to Merle George Smith on 12 August 1945. The Della Huffer and Della Smith families were easily tracked in federal censuses from 1930 to 1950. However, none of the censuses listed any of the Burton “sons.” Since all three of the Burton brothers were born after the 1950 census was enumerated, other types of documents needed to be located to resolve the issue of the names of the parents of Lyle, Larry and Dale Burton.

Approaching this stonewall from the position of the Burton “sons,” an obituary was located for Larry Devon Burton on a Find-a-Grave posting; that obituary transcript stated that Larry Burton was raised by his grandparents, Ralph and Peggy Shirar. Earlier research had already confirmed that Peggy Shirar was Elsie Marguerite Huffer, daughter of John Francis Huffer and Della Marie Dickason. The Find-a-Grave posting for Elise Marguerite “Peg” nee Huffer Shirar has a transcript of her obituary; that obituary does not show any of her daughters having married a Burton.

The “evidence” stated in the obituaries (mentioned above) seems to be “cloudy” at best and, perhaps, in complete error.

Fortunately, the obituary transcript on the Find-a-Grave posting for Larry Devon Burton states that his parents were Raymond and Phyllis nee Myers Burton. Thus, a new avenue was opened for investigating the history of Raymond Burton and his wife, Phyllis Myers.

An obituary for a Raymond C. “Tex” Burton was located on newspapers.com. This Raymond Burton died 02 March 1980 in Clinton County, Indiana. That obituary states that he was born in Texas about 1922; unfortunately, the informant for the obituary does not name Raymond’s parents, but does list his three children, Lynn, Larry and Dale Burton, as residents of Frankfort, Clinton County, Indiana. In addition, another informant for the death certificate issued at the death of Raymond Burton did not know to whom Raymond had been married or the names of Raymond’s parents; this informant claimed that Raymond was a native of Texas who was born 09 May 1921.

Randy Hallock, another LSCGG volunteer and IT manager, located a transcript of the marriage record of Raymond C. Burton and his bride, Phyllis Jean Myers on familysearch.org. This couple was married 03 November 1951 in Cass County, Indiana. Information regarding the issuance of a marriage license is provided by the groom and the bride; thus, such information should be fairly accurate (if there was no lying on the part of the groom or bride). Raymond gave the information about his birth and his parents to the county clerk: (1) he was born on 19 May 1925 in Mount Carmel, Illinois; (2) that his parents were Albert Burton and Elsie Smith; and (3) this marriage was his first.

Both Albert Burton and his wife Elsie Smith died before the 1930 federal census was enumerated. Prior census information reveals that their oldest child was a son named Kenneth Howard Burton who was born 19 January 1909 in Edwards County, Illinois. Like a very loving sibling, Kenneth is found as head of household in the 1930 and 1940 censuses providing care for many siblings, the youngest of whom is Raymond Burton.

A check of the 1950 federal census found a lodging of a Raymond Burton with the family of Roy Myers and his wife, Ruth Livingston, in Union City, Clinton County, Indiana. This Raymond Burton was recorded as a 28 year old man born in Texas and was divorced from a wife. Not surprisingly, one of the children of Roy and Ruth Myers was a 16 year old daughter named Phyllis J. Myers.

A set of two published obituaries, following the death of Phyllis Myers Burton in Tippecanoe, Indiana on 13 April 1993, were located on newspapers.com. Strangely, one of the obituaries states that she had been married to Raymond C. Burton, who was deceased, and had no immediate survivors! The other obituary does not state the name of her husband but does state that she was survived by three sons, Larry, Lynn and Dale, all residents of Frankfort, Indiana. These two records do reinforce the placement of an obituary in the lowest tier of document reliability.

It remains unclear as to why the informants for the obituaries published at the deaths of Della Marie nee Dickason Smith and of Larry Devon Burton made the claims of family relationship that each did.

My “stonewall” regarding the exact relationship between the three Burton brothers and Della nee Dickason Smith has only partially been demolished. I am also still puzzled by the nickname that Raymond C. Burton used for many years of his life …. “Tex”!

Respectfully,
Jim Keating, LSCGG Volunteer