Ancestry Magazine

In response to my request for orphan heirlooms (any item that’s strayed from the hands of the family of origin) to rescue, I received the following from Barbara Corotto of California:

“My mother was a genealogist who lived many years in Iowa. When she died, I started through her papers and was able to donate some research files to the Napa Genealogical Society. However, there was one fairly small stack of papers that didn’t seem appropriate for that approach. I tried to contact people in Des Moines with the surname [listed on the papers], but never got a response to my “out of the blue” messages on answering machines. I would love to ease my conscience by passing along this small file to you. I would give anything to receive such little bits from some of the lines on which I’m working. The names are Chrisman and Clinkenbeard. What do you think?”

How could I resist a name like Clinkenbeard? I was on the case.

Of Rain Goats and Mary Christmas
Barbara sent the package and I sifted throug h the haphazard collection that included a certificate of John W. Clinkenbeard’s Civil War service; a tribute of honor to John Randolph Chrisman who was killed in World War II; a 1904 wedding announcement for Eva Clinkenbeard and John L. Lacey; a newspaper clipping about a 1944 wedding in Chicago; and—what’s this?—a letter from Oakland, California, dated 27 December 1909, written in school-boy scrawl and thanking “Dear Obo” for the “rain goat and rain hat” and hoping everyone had a “Mary Christmas.”

All of the items were precious to some family, but this letter absolutely had to be returned to someone who could appreciate it. It was signed, somewhat illegibly, Eugene Jarvis. There was also a bit at the front edge of the name that looked like the letter A, but appeared to have more to it. I wasn’t quite sure.

Starting with the Census
I took advantage of the fact that the letter-writer had stated his date and location—1909, Oakland, California—so I could search for him in the 1910 census at Ancestry.com. I limited my search to anyone with the surname Jarvis residing in Oakland and was presented with about a dozen choices. One caught my eye because the birthplace was Iowa, and based on all of the other documents, this family clearly had Iowa connections. I clicked to view the image, and, ta da, there was ten-year-old Eugene A. Jarvis with his mother and father, Nellie G. and John A., all Iowa-born.

Detouring through the WWI Draft Registration
Seeing that the letter-writer had been born around 1899 or 1900, I thought that he just might have slipped into the World War I draft registration, so I searched on Eugene Jarvis. This time I had about two dozen possibilities, but once again, one stood out because the registration had taken place in Des Moines, Iowa. I viewed the image for Albert Eugene Jarvis. Was it him? Yup, his nearest relative was his mother, “Nellie.” So now I had his full name and exact birth date: 2 October 1899. This might prove handy.

What’s the Iowa Connection?
Now I was curious. How did this Jarvis family connect with the Iowa Clinkenbeards? I tried the obvious and guessed that Clinkenbeard had been Nellie’s maiden name. A search on Nellie Clinkenbeard turned up a hit at Ancestry.com in OneWorldTree for Nellie Gertrude Clinkenbeard born in Polk County, Iowa, in 1878 to John W. Clinkenbeard and Sarah F. Randolph. It all fit—the timing; the John W. from the Civil War; the Randolph name appearing again in John Randolph Chrisman; the G in Nellie G., for Gertrude. Clearly this was Nellie’s birth family. Based on a comment in the letter about Gramma, I surmised that “Dear Obo” was probably one of Nellie’s siblings, mostly likely her sister Cuba. Albert Eugene or Eugene Albert had probably been writing to his aunt to thank her for his Christmas gifts.

Forward March
With that mystery solved, it was time to march forward. I went to the 1930 census at Ancestry.com and looked for anyone named Jarvis born in Iowa within a year of 1899. In the middle of the dozen or so candidates was Eugene A. Jarvis, living in York, DuPage County, Illinois, with his wife, Bertha. I clicked to see the image and was rewarded with the detail of a six-year-old daughter. I love finding youngsters in the 1930 census because they offer the prospect of a person who can be found today. Wouldn’t she be delighted to receive this letter of her father’s?

Another Detour
Sometimes I’m too curious for my own good. I like to know my targets as human beings, and I can’t resist the temptation to get a sense for them as people rather than data. So I took a little time to explore Illinois newspapers in the Historical Newspaper Collection at Ancestry.com, as well as the Chicago Tribune historical archives (available through membership in the Godfrey Memorial Library). I had hoped for an article or two, but found instead piece after piece about A. Eugene Jarvis. The little letter-writer grew up to be an award-winning architecture teacher.

Back on Track
After that, I went on to determine what became of Albert Eugene/Eugene Albert. I went to the Social Security Death Index and looked for people with the name of Jarvis who had been born on 2 October 1899, as indicated on the World War I draft registration entry I had found earlier. The dates don’t always mesh, but I thought it was worth a try. Bingo. He was there, and he had lived a long life, passing away in his 90s in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. And yes, it was the right fellow—A. E. Jarvis with a social security number issued in Illinois. I then checked for his wife, Bertha, and found she had passed away in Oak Ridge in December 1999.

Getting Close
1999. Only a few years ago. Could I find Bertha’s obituary? After trying a few of my favorite newspaper sites and striking out, I decided to see if Oak Ridge, Tennessee had a newspaper online. A quick entry at www.newslink.org led me to its online newspaper where I did a search on Bertha Jarvis. There was her obituary, including the married name of the six-year-old from the 1930 census. I was getting so warm.

The Home Stretch
I now turned to two of my favorite resources for finding the living: U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993–2002 and U.S. Public Records collections, both at Ancestry.com. By “working” these two collections, I could tell that Bertha had resided with the daughter for a time in the 1990s. I tried the phone number given. After several attempts, I reached the daughter’s nurse. I explained the reasons for my call and she promised to pass on the information.

Returning the Treasures
Several days later, I received a tentative phone call from the daughter’s daughter. It all sounded rather peculiar to her (really, wouldn’t we all be surprised?). I asked for her e-mail address and sent her a scanned image of her grandfather’s childhood letter. Convinced, she replied with her mailing address.

Although I didn’t outline it here, I also located another branch of the Iowa Clinkenbeard’s—the line descended from Aunt Cuba/Obo. I made duplicate sets for both branches of the family, giving the original letter to Albert Eugene’s granddaughter and the rest of the originals to the other branch.

Back Where They Belong
How did the family react? The following note sums up their reaction:

Dear Megan:
We send you our heartfelt thanks for going to such lengths to track our family down. We’re thrilled with the treasure trove of historical documents you have discovered and shared with us. Seeing Grandfather’s original letter is like having a Christmas reunion with him!

One more orphan heirloom back in the right hands, thanks to Barbara Corotto.

Who’s Next?
If you have something you’re just itching to return, contact me at megan@honoringourancestors.com or go to www.honoringourancestors.com, click on the Submissions menu, and select Orphan Heirlooms. There you’ll find a form where you can share whatever details you have and attach images of the items. I can’t reply to every submission, but keep your eye on this column. Yours might be next.

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak is co-author (with Ann Turner) of Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree and other books. She can be reached at www.honoringourancestors. com.