Kin and Konnections: A Family History Blog

In genealogical terms, getting married means adding whole new branches to the family tree.   Of course, I was excited when my new husband told me what he knew about his family and I began researching new family lines.   Unfortunately, sometimes the thrill of the chase gets in the way of sound research practices.   Boy, did I learn my lesson! It all started innocently enough.   I typed his grandmother’s first name and maiden name into Ancestry.com’s search engine.    Her last name is a bit unusual in the U.S.   When I found someone who had the exact same name and was about the same age living in California in the 1930 U.S. Census, I assumed I had found the right person. Instead of confirming with my husband’s family whether or not the information was correct, I kept going, hot on a trail.   Perhaps, it was because I found this family so interesting.   The census record included four generations of women, revealing three surnames to research. ...

ESTABLISHING THE FACTS After finding the articles about Agnes Tinkler, I wanted to know if this person was indeed family.   A search of the Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 database  on the Illinois Secretary of State website revealed the death of only one person named Tinkler in 1913 in Macon County: Alice Tinkler.   I obtained the death certificate from the state archives which confirmed that Alice was the daughter of my great-great grandparents, John Tinkler and Lizzie Wright and therefore, Agnes’s sister.   So,  the previously unknown family tragedy was true! Alice worked as a chambermaid in a hotel.   She was barely eighteen when she took her own life by taking carbolic acid on the evening of 13 May 1913.   The place of death was at the corner of Main and Prairie Streets, at or near the district known as the Wabash Shops in Decatur.   As for Charles, I don’t believe that he ever existed.   The newspaper must have misident...

Yesterday’s article raised several questions.   Is this Agnes Tinkler my relative or a member of one of the other Tinkler families living in Decatur at the time?   Who was Charles Tinkler?   Agnes’s only brother was Clancy and he was very much alive in 1913.   Another brother, Christopher, died in infancy before she was born.   Half-brother?   Her parents’ marriage record identifies their marriage as their first.   No half-siblings are known to exist.   From the Decatur Review, Saturday Evening, 17 May 1913, page 8 (Decatur, Illinois): NO MORE SHORTCAKE FOR AGNES TINKLER "Agnes Tinkler, the girl sent to jail for refusing to answer questions before the grand jury, had strawberry short cake and cream for dinner Saturday.   Her relatives brought the dainties to the jail and the girl had eaten before Sheriff Nicholson knew about it. Judge Johns told the sheriff not to make the girl's stay in jail any too pleasant, but the sheriff ...

I n the last few years more and more images from newspaper archives have become available online.   Generally, most of these can be accessed through various genealogy databases such as Ancestry.com, Genealogybank.com, or NewspaperArchive.com either on a pay as you go basis or via a subscription.   Some sites are free like Chronicling America from the Library of Congress. Often, family members appear in the news in relation to social events – a birth, a wedding, an anniversary, or a death.   Sometimes they are visiting relatives in another town and recovering from an illness.   Other times their names are included in legal notices regarding a parent’s estate or a lawsuit.   I have encountered a few instances where my relations are involved in something out of the ordinary.   Such is the tale of my great-grandfather’s teenage sisters, Alice, age 18, and Mary Agnes, age 14, in May 1913 in Decatur, Illinois.   From the Decatur Review, Friday Evening, 16 Ma...

There will be no new post today.  I am busy planning future stories.  Please come back next week for more blogs.

A few years ago, I obtained from the  National Archives and Records Administration  the civil war pension file for my ancestor, Christopher Tinkler (1834-1899)*, the first in this family line to be born in America.  In a family tree prepared by my great uncle Leslie Tinkler, Christopher's wife's name is given as Julia Carey.  Her name in the marriage record was Julia Ellen Carey.  It took some time to uncover her maiden name.  It can be challenging to find details about female ancestors.  Often the details of their lives are hidden in the records of their husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers.   Below is a transcription of an affidavit filed by Julia's brother, George Washington Kline, and sister, Lydia Ann (Kline) Nicholson, in support of Julia's widow's pension:   No. 707102   General Affidavit   Case of Julia A. Tinkler, Widow of Christopher Tinkler, Co. D 107 Ohio Infantry   ...

I promised to feature stories about ancestors, in-laws, and out-laws.  Here is the story about the adventures of a Tinkler cousin, Charles Castley Tinkler (1868-1949), and his young bride, Tillie Meier, that appeared in several Ohio newspapers in 1888: MRS. TINKLER'S RETURN. Completely Discouraged By Her Adventures With the Young Forger. CINCINNATI, Dec. 13.-A. H. Meier, of Mt. Lookout, who went to England after his sister Tillie, who eloped with Charles C. Tinkler, the young bank forger, has arrived home with the newly-made Mrs. Tinkler. It will be remembered that Tinkler and Tillie were married in Brooklyn by Justice Courtney, October 17, just before embarking for England. The young forger and his bride were caught in London by means of an intercepted letter that Tinkler wrote to William Hopkins, a friend in this city, and a son of the ex-cashier of the Fidelity bank, now at Columbus. Mrs. Tinkler seems very much worried and worn by her adventures, which rivals those of the ...