This past Friday and Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a Family History Expo in Mesa. I learned so much more about research, the analysis of that research, where to look for ancestors, and the organization of all the data in such a way that it will give you clues as to where to search next. I have been using a new program called Legacy Family Tree since PAF which is the LDS Church program is not being updated. Legacy is one of four programs that is certified by the Church to use with newfamilysearch. What this program can do is fantastic in helping one become organized and ensuring that all sources are recorded accurately and in a manner that is of real value to anyone looking at your research. My only problem is I need 10 day weeks to have the time I need. Right now I'm trying to make digital copies of all the sources I have used over the past 45 years of research. That means a lot of scanning and going online looking for copies of censuses, birth and death certificates, land records, wills and anything else that is an indication of a person's life and significant events in his/her life.
Now if you read all of the above, then you will be rewarded with the exciting part. I have been looking off and on for over 40 years for Isaac Newton Haws born in 1844 as a child so I could discover who his parents and siblings were. He was my great grandfather. He was a carpenter and while working on a roof he fell and was so seriously injured he died. My grandfather was born 8 months later, so he never knew his father. According to a family Bible Isaac was born in Ohio so that is where I have been looking for years and have found little that I could make positive connections with.
This is the only picture of Isaac Newton Haws that I know of. Well back to my story, last night I was searching in FamilySearch.org in the pilot records section. This is a compilation of all the indexing work that thousands of people are doing. Thousands of new records are coming online on a weekly basis. (Thanks, Christian and anyone else who may read this blog and is doing indexing, for all your work in indexing.) I typed in the search bar simply "Isaac Haws born 1844" to see what I would get. In a long list that popped up was the US Census record in Indiana for 1850. I thought well Indiana is just west of Ohio and people emigrated westward in the 1800's so I decided to check it out. This is the family I found: living in Moral Township, Shelby, Indiana.
John Haws, 28 years old, a carpenter, born in Pennsylvania. The Haws family tended to all be carpenters, Isaac was a carpenter and my grandfather Haws was a carpenter as were my uncles--a connection.
Wife: Sarah, 26 years old, born in Ohio. Isaac was supposedly born in Ohio--a connection.
Child: Isaac, 6 years old, born in Indiana,
so he would have been born in 1844--a connection, according to the family Bible Isaac was born on Oct 13, 1844. The date at the top of the census was Oct 14, 1844. The day after Isaac's sixth birthday. Is the birth place incorrect in the census or in the family Bible? Could be?Child: Lawis, 2 years old, could be Lewis which is a family name--a connection Child: Eliza, 1 year old.
I just have a real strong feeling this could be our Isaac with his family. More searching needs to be done but it is a strong lead especially after so many years of dead ends. There is a John Brown Haws, who some feel may be Isaac's father, but some things just don't ring true with him for me.
This is Isaac Newton Haws family about twenty or more years after his death. Margaret Isabelle Rue, his wife, is seated in the middle. In the back row is left to right: Albert Nathan, Isaac Newton (my grandfather, named after his father); in the front row is Lewis Rue and Anna Laura. There was another child, Lula who died three months prior to her father at a year and a half old. Can you imagine what Margaret went through that year of 1875? My heart aches for her and her trials. What an example of endurance she is to her posterity. Her husband died in February, a daughter died in July and then a little son was born in October. We need to find these ancestors!
This is Isaac Newton Haws family about twenty or more years after his death. Margaret Isabelle Rue, his wife, is seated in the middle. In the back row is left to right: Albert Nathan, Isaac Newton (my grandfather, named after his father); in the front row is Lewis Rue and Anna Laura. There was another child, Lula who died three months prior to her father at a year and a half old. Can you imagine what Margaret went through that year of 1875? My heart aches for her and her trials. What an example of endurance she is to her posterity. Her husband died in February, a daughter died in July and then a little son was born in October. We need to find these ancestors!
