Two Years of Blogging

Today is my blogiversary!  I have been blogging for two years.  I thank all of my readers for their feedback and support.  I am glad that I have helped many of you uncover your roots.  Your questions help me to view the facts from a different angle.

Blogging inspires me to continue my research, always looking for the next lead.  I have been inspired to visit places in order to have something fresh to write about, and in doing so, often I have found wonderful records to assist my research.

Since starting this blog, I have joined genealogical societies and explored my genealogy through DNA testing.  It has been great learning about DNA and sharing this experience with you here.

I hope to inspire you to research well and often to uncover your own roots.

Baby Before Marriage 1892

When looking for a marriage certificate, the general rule is to take the date of birth of the first known baby and work backwards.

A couple surprised me.  Otto Lutter and Martha Klindt were married in 1892 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, eight months after the birth of their first child!  [Otto and Martha were the maternal grandparents of the elusive James Kittson.]  Now this requires more research . . .



First came baby . . .



Then came the marriage.

You will find a free index of births, marriages, and deaths for New Jersey at Family Search.  You will not find the actual certificates online because New Jersey restricts access.  As you use this index keep in mind that the year may be off by one.

Time to Stop Looking

William Walling Winterton and Katherine Dunn had two children in the 1890s in Monmouth County, New Jersey.  I located the birth certificate for their daughter, Laura, or at least I think I did.  The child has no first name.  This was not unusual, but the birthdate on this birth certificate is consistent with other documents about Laura, so this is likely her birth certificate.

Birth certificate for Baby Girl Winterton, born 30 September 1891
in Matawan Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Their next child, a son named William Gladstone Winterton, used a birthdate of 24 April 1898 on various documents.  I cannot locate a birth certificate for him.

William Gladstone Winterton
Age 8 in 1906

Ancestry.com has released United States Consular Registration Applications 1916-1925.  William Gladstone Winterton applied for an extended stay in India for an engineering job and was denied for lack of proof of United States citizenship, that is, his birth certificate.

Reading this mention about a document that I am still looking for one hundred years later is a bit haunting.  Maybe I can stop looking for his birth certificate?  He couldn't find it.