Missing Sibling

As mentioned in the earlier blog postings when adding up all the children from the 1870 and 1850 census for the Drown family there is a total of nine. Clark's obituary said he was from a family of ten; because this could not mean a family totaling ten persons this must mean a family with ten children. In order to explain the process in how this child was found a few pieces of information must be pointed out.
In the 1870 and 1850 censes the parents names where Calvin and Janet Drown. Different family trees compiled by decedents of  Clark Drown have listed Clarks Parents as a Calvin Drown and Janet Baxter. Nettie Drown, the sister of Clark, her death record said her mother was Janet Baxter. Searching for Calvin Drown and Janet Baxter reveled a death recrod for a Alvin Albert Drown. In the death record for Alvin his parents were listed as Calvin Drown and Janet Baxter alvin was born and died in Ohio. Alvin age at death was 77 years old. His birth date was listed as the 13 of August 1850. It is most likely that Alvin had not been born yet when the census taker came and recorded the family in the 1850 census. But because just assuming that is not enough as mentioned in the the blog post Two Census Part 2 there needed to be more evidence to show that Alvin is part of this family.
In 1870 Alvin was not living in the household of Calvin and Janet Drown. He would have been 20 Years of Age. There is a Alvin Drown working as a Farm Laborer in the 1870 Census living in the same place as the Drown family in 1870. Alvin is listed only seven pages way form his family in the census record. this places Alvin very close. However there is even one more fact that is worth mentioning to anchor Alvin to this family even more. In 1910 Alvin is still living in the county he was born in and in which the family lived in in 1850.  In the 1910 census a brother is living with Alvin named Charles. This is that same brother that moved around each ten years and shows up living with multiple family members in the Drown family.
This information along with the parents listed at Alvin death and his birth place are strong evidence that shows that Alvin was one of the ten children to Calvin and Janet Drown. Make sure that as you continue to do your research on your family that you are crossing you "T's" and doting your "I's" making sure that your research is completely correct and accurate.

Two Census Part 3

In order to understand this blog post a reader will need to read all past blog post to understand the methodology of this research posses. Clark E. Drowns obituary said he was the last living of a family of ten; that he moved to Nevada with a brother Calvin. He was married in North Dakota in 1882, the witnesses to his marriage were H. G. Wright and Nettie Wright. In the 1870 census his younger brother is Charles drown. All these things come together to prove that these two family's in the two different census are indeed the one family. 
First Clark's marriage in 1882 with witnesses H.G. Wright and Nettie Wright. In the 1850 Census there is a child named Samantha Antoinette Drown. Samantha marred a Henry Gilbert Wright on the 24 of September 1868. Some of there children are recorded as being born in North Dakota. this puts them in the right spot to be witnesses at Clarks wedding. Also when following them through there life in the census. in the 1880 Census they Henry and Nettie are married living together and living with them is a Charles Drown who is a brother in law living with them; Charles is the younger brother of Clark in the 1870 census.  
Second if you find Charles in the 1880-1930 censuses he is live with family members found in bolt the 1850 and 1870 census. 
Third Clark moved to Nevada with a brother Calvin. The youngest child in the 1850 census is a Calvin A. Drown.
Fourth the second oldest sibling in the 1850 census also moves to Nevada and lives in South Fork near Clark.
Last if you follow all the children in the two census to there death Clark out lives all of them. 
All these things are strong evidence showing that these two family's are one family. it is research such as this that makes for strong connections in linking family's together and making sure that is accurate and correct. 
one more thing that need to be addressed. When totaling up the children in both census you get a total of nine children. Clarks obituary said he was the last of ten. because we have proven the two family's are one we see this is referring to children. So the question now is what of the missing child? In the next blog post this last will be reviled.  

Two Census Part 2

A earlier blog post helped set up why the examination of the 1870 Ohio, Trumbull, Mesopotamia, United States Census and the 1850 Ohio, Portage, Nelson, Unites State Census; These two census contain two family's with parents listed as Calvin and Jennet Drown. However none of the children in each family match. That is not one child from one family is found in the other but the parents are the same. The leaves the question are the parents the same people in the two census. 
There is a twenty year span in between the two family's and some would say that they are the same; that the children in the 1850 had moved out on there own and that the children in the 1870 census are the children who had been born within the last twenty years and were still living at home in 1870. Tho this idea is very possible it is not enough to prove that this is the case. 
As researchers in the Genealogical fielded it is not enough just to assume these things. When doing research prof of these things is needed. In the next blog post direct evidence will be given as to how these two family's in the 1870 and 1850 census are related. 

Podcast

The podcast bellow is of Denece Drown sharing some of her memory's of her grandfather Clark E. Drown. 

http://jaredtolman.podbean.com

Two Census Part 1

This blog-up to this point-has gone over the marriage and death of Clark E. Drown. This post will show the parents and siblings of Clark E. Drown. Showing Clark’s family is not as easy as finding them in one census; it will take more than one to show the family of Clark Drown.  Clark shows up in all of the Nevada censuses from 1880 to 1930. He was born in 1854. The only other time Clark is found in a census outside of Nevada is in the 1870 census.

This census shows indirect evidence as to who some of Clark’s family members are. According to the 1870 Ohio, Trumbull, Mesopotamia, United States Census, Clark’s parents are Calvin and Jennette Drown. Clark is also listed with two other siblings. As mentioned in an earlier blog post, Clark’s obituary said he was ether one of a household of ten, or one of ten children. Because the obituary was not specific enough, we will have to use some methodology to figure out what is going on with Clark’s family.

No Drowns matching this family can be found in the 1860 census. There is a family in the 1850 Ohio, Portage, Nelson Unites State Census; the same parents in the 1850 census match the parents named in 1870 but none of the children match and the birth places of the parents do not match the 1870 census.  

( Note the indexer indexed the last name as Duron on the first page. Indexing the next page and the last three children, the indexer indexed them as Drown. The image clearly shows Drown as the last name for this family on both pages.)

However, the youngest son’s name is Calvin Drown. In Clark’s obituary it says that he moved to Nevada with “his brother Calvin”. Portage, Nelson, Ohio is also the birth place listed for Clark in his obituary. Clark was born in 1854, four years after the census was taken. This is strong evidence that this family could be the same but the proof of this will be examined in the following blog post.  

The Obituary

In this post, an extensive look at Clark and Marie Drown's obituaries will be done to help put together their lives. This will help find the correct siblings and parents of Clark Drown.

Clark died on the 30th of August 1942. A search in the Elko, Nevada Daily Free Press Newspaper resulted in a prominent heading announcing the death of Clark Drown. In the 1940s not every death made headlines. Only those who were in high standing in the community could have their obituary reach headline status in the local paper. 

The first paragraph in Clark’s obituary indicated why he received a headlining obituary. It said "prominent resident, rancher, died". The article later said that "at age 19 he came to the Lee community in Elko county to engage in ranching with his brother Calvin”. The U.S. Census for the South Fork region in Elko County indicated a C. E. Drown living with a brother by the name of C. A. Drown. The territory of Nevada became a state in 1864 and Clark’s obituary said he was 19 when coming to Nevada; Clark would have arrived in Nevada in 1873 or 1874 depending on the time of year. Clark was among the first settlers within the first ten years of Nevada’s statehood and was also one of the first ranchers in the area.  This helped him to become well established and profit from the sale of livestock, food, and trade. These are just a few of the reasons Clark had such a high standing in the community and received such a large headline at the time of his death. 

Marie Drown’s obituary said that she was a long time member of the Presbyterian church and Clark’s obituary indicated that his funeral would be held at a Presbyterian church. This is a good indication that the Drowns were Presbyterian. Clark’s obituary stated that he was “One of a Family of 10.” Unfortunately this also leaves the reader to wonder if the family consisted of two adults and eight children, or simply a family with ten children? Clark’s obituary also indicated that he was the last of all his siblings to pass away. 
Marie’s obituary implied that she and Clark were married in Michigan but Clark’s obituary clearly indicated that they were married in North Dakota; an earlier post goes over this in much more detail. There are several other pieces of significant information in Clark’s obituary such as his death date and birth date. The obituary is important because it is one of the only sources that gives his entire birth date and it also speaks of him going back to North Dakota to visit family. It also gives an account of the many times he moved within the state of Nevada after retiring, as well as some insight into his early dealings when he came to Nevada. Overall, obituaries are among some of my favorite sources because of the great insight and information they give. Don't forget to find your ancestors’ obituaries.

The Marriage

Clark Eugene Drown, married Eva Marie Kling, on 11 July 1882. When trying to find where the marriage took place, there are two conflicting issues. In Eva Marie’s obituary, readers are left thinking that Clark and Eva were married in Ionia Michigan; however; Clark’s obituary said they were married in Tower City, North Dakota. A search for a Marriage record in Michigan, for Clark Drown and Eva Marie Kling resulted in no such record. A search for their marriage in Cass County, North Dakota also resulted in no so such record. 

Tower City, North Dakota sits right on the border of Cass County and Barns County. Naturally one would look at Barns County as well for the record. A search for a marriage record for Clark Drown on 11 July 1882 in Barns County, also resulted in no such record. There is however, an Eva Marie Kling that has a recorded marriage in 1883 a whole year after the marriage took place.

It seems that the clerk filed the marriage a year after the marriage actually took place. The reason for this may be because of the way the marriage was recorded. Requesting a copy of the marriage certificate revealed that the marriage was never written down on a formal document, but instead was written on the back of a card. perhaps when the clerk or preacher wrote down the marriage it was on this card that got set aside or misplaced and that is why there was a delay in filing the record. Be sure to search far and wide during your research to make sure you do not miss some vital pice of information. Future posts will examine the marriage document and the information provided in it. This information will help to prove the family relationships for Clark Drown.  

The Man

Clark Eugene Drown, was born in Nelson, Portage, Ohio on the 12th of December 1854. He died in Elko, Elko County, Nevada on the 30th of August 1942. Clark was a Frontiersman who helped settle the frontier of Nevada in the early 1880s. His parents were Calvin A. Drown and Jennet Baxter; Clark was one of ten children. Clark married Eva Marie Kling, in North Dakota, in July of 1882 and they had nine children. The purpose of this blog is to explore the records Clark left behind in order to give a clear example of where he lived, what he did, and who he was. This blog will look at his life using historical documents and records he created in his lifetime. This blog will also help clear up uncertain controversy about the when's and where's of his life.