I'm new to the whole genealogy thing and I'm stuck. Help?

Question

My great great grandfather "Dubois Simerson" was born in 1821 in New York. Died 20 Jan 1865 in Nashville, TN. He spent most of his live with wife Alice and kids in Douglas, Marquette, WI.

How do i find who his parents are? The older census just tells the number of children are in the house in different age ranges(no names). Any other suggestion? Thanks

Answer 1

That's where it gets tough. The next step is to go back census by census and look for the same family name. You should be able to find his family by looking for the family name in NY. Sometimes that requires looking for wills and land records. Wills are probably the best source singe they generally have a lot of detail.

Answer 2

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, "moromons", have the worlds largest geneology site and information. It's paramount to their religion. Call the church in your area, and they will help you. They have seasoned pros who work in the geneology centers and they can find that for you in a jiffy. You don't have to be a member to use their facilities.

Answer 3

Being stuck in genealogy is standard operating procedure, and the game is figuring out where the records might be.

Overall.. prior to 1850, you are right concerning the census. You CAN use them comparitively to figure which might be the parent, or also who lives in the county.  If 3 of the 5 names only have girls, you go by elimination process. You also can check to see if those guys live past 1850, sometimes they wind up living with the kids.

Pre 1850, court records are the main source for solid documentation.  Look for land records where he has witnesses (often brothers or brothers in law). Look for wills in the county where he was raised.. he can be named in a will, or (again) if not named, you might figure he didn't belong to that guy.  (Might.. it does not always hold true).  If his mother lives with him in 1860, a widow.. then you run all the marriage records for the early period to see which wife matches the name you have. Pray her name isn't Mary.

Have you worked www.usgenweb.com yet? You want to check the county where he lived, as well as the one that he was raised in. The later one might tell the county that he came from. Watch for possible siblings. He died somewhat young.. no guarantee that his parents died before him. If you know he was affiliated with a certain church.. then cross your fingers for a church baptismal record in NY.  Remember to "milk" all his kids documents, not just your own line.  One of his children could have a bio published in a county history, stating "his grandfather was the first mayor in such and such a town".  

Obviously, you always will 'work' the online databases to see if you cannot pick him or relatives up that way. However.. I always suggest that a high percentage of families will NOT be online, and you need to know how to milk offline records. Don't overlook simple googling it.  Put his name in quotes.. and then use the county name (wife's maiden name, anything distinctive), and you might find an independent website that has info about him.

Answer 4

Have you tried signing up for genesreunited.com? This is a very helpful site for message boards etc. So many people are able to help in so many different ways!

Also rootsweb.com is a wonderful site too - I recommend genesreunited the best!

Answer 5

(Be aware it seems like some records use the "Dubois" spelling and others the "Debois" spelling.  For example, when Alice (Isaac C. STEVENS, Guardian) applies for a Civil War Pension, the 'Debois' spelling is used.)

I checked the 1830 U.S. Census for NY (ancestry.com) and there were only 3 families w/ the surname SIMERSON -

David Simerson Boonville, Oneida, New York  

William Simerson Middlefield, Otsego, New York  

Henry Simerson Blenheim, Schoharie, New York

Although no names are given for wives or children, David had no children between the age of 5-10 and your gggrandfather would have been 9 years old.

Of the other two choices, only Henry has a child in the exact category age-wise. While William has one child in the 10-15 age category.

Perhaps, the actual town/county locations will have a meaning to you and be the final clue?

I noticed that Dubois SIMERSON died of disease during the Civil War. 44th Regiment, Wisconsin, Infantry -  The 44th Wisconsin suffered 1 officer and 57 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 58 fatalities.

I don't know if you explored that aspect of his life or not.  But, if you want to see your gggrandfather's name and perhaps those of some other relatives (there are other SIMERSONS from Wisconsin), go to: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/s...

I know I haven't been able to take you back to that earlier generation other than 2 possible first names for his father, but that is the best I can do at 1:00 in the morning my time. :)

Could Alice have re-married?  There is an Alice SIMERSON who marries in Marquette County, Wisconsin on 14 January 1872. No grooms are listed, unfortunately.

Source: Wisconsin Marriages, pre-1907 (ancestry.com)

Wishing you well on your quest...

Answer 6

I had the same problem...Gr Gr Gr Grandfather born in NY in 1785.  If you know the county, that can narrow down your search.  I went through the links on NYGenWeb Project and actually received lots of info from bible records and from sending a query to a lookup volunteer.  It's worth a try, here's the link:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nygenweb/

Now, the catch is moving on to the next generation (~1750 in another state)...it is endless.

Good luck!

EDIT:

Another option is the message boards.  For instance, here's one to look into:

Re: Simerson - New York, NJ & Eau Claire, WI

chrisschneidewind1983  (View posts)  Posted: 27 Sep 2006 4:34PM GMT  

Classification: Query

Surnames:

I have traced my simerson family back to the portage area and have found a dubois simerson born in 1821 and died in 1865 i will check on a possible connection between the two

http://boards.rootsweb.com/thread.aspx?m...