Sunday Search: Piercing Through The Foliage

Caleb Pierce, Margaret Hughes, Isabella Pierce, and Noah Pierce -
Census - 1870 

If you are researching your family tree to try and find a connection to a celebrity or a historical figure, you are most likely going to be very disappointed. This is not the reality for many of us and while I have been lucky enough to uncover some fascinating lives and those who participated in different events throughout the history of the United States, this is far from discovering a celebrity (historic or otherwise) as is commonly defined these days. However, this is my family and they are historical figures for me as they are my direct connection to history.

John Hallman - Death Certificate - 1957

However, not only family lines have led me to historic events. In fact, I have recently been researching a line on my father’s side that is simply a common story of much of the families in this county. Starting with my great grandfather, John Lewis Hallman (1894-1957), I have traced back an additional four generations. While I have written about my great grandfather before, I hadn’t researched much beyond that generation especially on his mother’s side.

Margaret Hughes - Death Certificate - 1919

My second great grandmother, Isabella Pierce (1869-1901), was born in Delaware County, Pennsylvania to Caleb Pierce (1840-1912) and his Irish bride Margaret Hughes (1842-1919). While the family didn’t have much money they seemed to have enough as Caleb left a modest estate to his widow upon his death. What was particularly interesting about this generation is that I was completely unaware of the Irish roots on my father’s side until this discovery.

Caleb Pierce - Death Certificate - 1912

Caleb Pierce, my third great grandfather, on the other hand, was not as fortunate as his daughter. Growing up the son of a laborer, he aspired to step up a rung (a common thread throughout much of my family, and apprenticed to become a Blacksmith which provided for his family but almost certainly contributed to his early demise as well. However, it was his father, Noah Pierce, my fourth great grandfather, who seemed to not be able to catch a break.

Noah Pierce - Census - 1880

Noah Pierce (1805-1880) was raised with next to nothing to the point that he is listed with his siblings in the “Poor School Children Records” of Chester County as needing assistance to pay for basic school supplies (his father, my fifth great grandfather, Caleb Pierce is also listed). He spent his life as a laborer doing what he could to support his family. By the 1870 census he is listed as living with his son. By the 1880 census (where he is classified as “Defective, Dependent, or Delinquent”) he is listed among those residing at the Chester County Almshouse.

So, as you can see, this is not a lineage filled with heroes and people of note. This is my family, these are the people that worked hard and did what they could to support their family. Every generation trying to move forward a little bit at a time. And this is what genealogy is all about… it is our jobs as family historians, to remember our past no matter how fascinating or mundane it may seem to others. All of these ancestors make up who we are and each play a role in making us who we are. Sometimes we find stories of heroic actions while other times we find the facts about a family struggling to find a way to get by. The common thread is that each succeeded in bringing about the next generation and keeping the family tree alive. Without them, all of them, there wouldn’t be a family to research.

Finding Life In Death

Death Certificate of Sarah Hansel (?) Myers.

Every so often I log on to Ancestry.com to check and see if any leaves shaking on the tree. For those of you unfamiliar with the site, this means that there is new information or documents available for review. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the information is correct or adds color to that particular ancestor but there are times when interesting discoveries are made. However, I learned early on that you can’t simply rely on the quivering foliage so, when I have a few minutes here and there, I do a general search of the site to try and find other information (especially when the spelling of the surname is a little different or flat out incorrect).

This week I have noticed that a lot of the Pennsylvania Death Certificates are now listed. I don’t know when they were digitized but I am just noticing them now. While the time frame is a bit of a hindrance (currently only 1906-1940 certificates are listed) there are still plenty of documents that I have been finding. Everything from the tragic deaths of children to the inevitable passing of aged ancestors, the causes run the gamut. These are a great source of information not just about the departure of a relative but they can, most of the time, also be a great way to confirm or correct other generations on your tree… sometimes, like a document I sent to my wife, they can provide the names of the parents which was previously unknown information.

As for my tree, it has been a means of correction and confirmation. The death certificate above lists both parents including the mother’s maiden name which is different from that which I previously had listed on my family tree. And it is not a simple adjustment in the spelling… Davenport is nowhere close to Hansel. This doesn’t mean that I will be correcting it right away but it gives pause to continuing work on that particular branch. Obviously, some more work and verification needs to be done before I change or continue with the tree as is.

These documents are also a means to confirm residence, family health problems (that may have made it across the generations), longevity, and occupation. Sometimes it is a matter of confirming many of those things at the same time. One such document added to the long list of railroad workers in my family while another verified the service of my great great grandfather in the Philadelphia Police Department… I just didn’t realize that he spent 54 years on the force.

In the end, while the primary purpose of these documents was to record the death of the family member, there is more life in them than some people realize… definitely more than what can be found in most census records. All of the information is there and it could lead to some interesting discoveries and answer questions or doubts that you may have had about your family. Just goes to show that we need to read the documents rather than just attaching them to an ancestor.