Miscellaneous Records

Have you visited a Register of Deeds office? If so, did they have Miscellaneous Records books? My first experience with Miscellaneous Records was in the Ford County office. And those books contain a wealth of information ranging from military discharge papers to affidavits confirming someone’s identity.

When it comes to my Crawford research in Dodge City, those affidavits help confirm identities, especially when initials were often used.

Affidavit of H. B. Bell
Sworn 5 Nov 1918
filed 15 Jan 1929

States
he was well acquainted with Abraham L. Crawford patentee of lots 3 and 4 and S1/2 NW 1/4 S3 Twp 27 R25 Ford County Kansas filed 6 Dec 1894 Recorded Vol. C page 12.
A. L. Crawford gave mortgage on above lands
That the said Abraham L. Crawford and A. L. Crawford are identical.

Ford County Kansas, Deeds, Miscellaneous Book J page 222; H. B. Bell, 5 November 1918; Register of Deeds, Dodge City Kansas.

Affidavit of H. B. Bell
Sworn 18 Jan 1929
Filed 18 Jan 1929

that for 35 or 40 yrs was personally acquainted with James H. Crawford of Dodge City, who is named as grantee of George W. Reighard in a W.D. dated 22 Aug 1883 recorded Vol D page 151
…
further states that James H. Crawford was a large property owner in Dodge City, Kansas especially as to property south of the Arkansas River
…
said James H. Crawford frequently executed deeds as J.H. Crawford
…
further states that during the residence of said Crawford in Dodge CIty and in the month of June, 1908, when he died, there was no other J.H. or James H. Crawford and J. H. Crawford appear in the records of Register of Deeds of Ford County Kansas or in any other public record of Ford County with relation to any property whatsoever in Dodge City that the said names apply and refer to one and the same person, to-wit: James H. Crawford

Ford County Kansas, Deeds, Miscellaneous Book J page 224; H. B. Bell, 18 January 1929; Register of Deeds, Dodge City Kansas.

Affidavit of Warren V Brown
Sworn 26 Jan 1948
Filed 27 Jan 1948

acquainted with William N. Crawford named as grantee in WD executed by James H Crawford and E J Crawford his wife Aug. 20, 1888 recorded Vol 6 p 197
… and also with W. N. Crawford who with his wife Katie is named as grantor Vol 36 p541
… that he knows that William N. Crawford and W. N. Crawford are one and the same
… acquainted with John E Crawford named as grantee QCD 27 Aug 1907 vol. 1 p 182
… and with J. E. Crawford grantor QCD 26 Jan 1909 vol 1 p348
… that John E Crawford and J. E. Crawford are one and the same.

Ford County Kansas, Deeds, Miscellaneous Book 1 page 503; Affidavit of Warren V Brown, 26 January 1948; Register of Deeds, Dodge City Kansas.

While the use of miscellaneous records may vary from county to county, they are a source worth investigating.

1950 Census

I had this post scheduled for later in March. However, it’s now a post for Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge.

It’s Saturday Night – 

time for more Genealogy Fun! 

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to:1) The 1950 United States Census will be available to search on 1 April 2022 – less than three weeks away. How have you prepared yourself to search it? Have you found 1950 addresses of your family members and persons of interest? Have you identified the State, County, Town and Enumeration District? Have you made a table of your findings so you can systematically find everyone on your list? What will you do with the information you gather?

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Are you ready? Do you know where your ancestors may have lived in 1950? While others have been preparing for quite some time, I have to admit I haven’t. I haven’t spent much time on this task for several reasons:

• My ancestors were living in Dodge City, Emporia, and Yates Center at the time.
• I learned to use census records by scanning microfilm to locate the desired family. Thus, I can do this again.
• All of my ancestors were living in Kansas which means that in addition to information from the 1940 census, I also have information from Kansas census records for various years that provide street addresses. (Kansas City and County Records, 1919-1961)

On my dad’s side of the tree, my living ancestors were all living at 911 Second street in Dodge City, Kansas in 1950. Thus, I can use Steve Morse’s “Viewing 1940/1950 Enumeration Districts in One Step” site to locate the map for Dodge City.

To figure out which Enumeration District I need to access, I am relying on previous knowledge. From personal experience, I know that 911 Second is the southwest corner of the intersection of 2nd avenue and Elm Street. I also have deed records indicating that this is lot 7 of block 47. When I enlarge the map of Dodge City, and locate this intersection, I find that I need to look in ED 29-15.

When it comes to my mom’s side of the tree, my grandparents were living in Emporia while my great grandfathers were living in Yates Center and Neosho Falls. Since my grandparents tended to move around a lot, I need to pin down their probable address in 1950. A search of the Ancestry database, U.S. City Directories 1822-1995 for the surname BRILES living in Emporia, Kansas provides the information needed. In both 1949 and 1951, my grandparents were living at 924 Constitution.

A search of Google helps me put 924 Constitution on a map.

From the Google map, I figured out that Constitution Street is two blocks west of Commercial street. Commercial street is highlighted in blue on the enumeration map. With my previous knowledge of Emporia’s streets, I knew that 9th avenue was north of 6th avenue (which is also highlighted in blue). Locating those two streets on the ED map, I learn that ED 56-16 is the one that I need to use to locate my grandparents.

For my great-grandfathers, it appears that I will have to do more scanning of pages. My great grandfather, Charles Mentzer, was living in Neosho Falls. Since, the town is not separated from the rest o the township, I will need to scan the entire township (ED 104-7) to locate Charles.

My other great-grandfather on my mom’s side was living in Yates Center at the time. When I enlarge the ED map of Woodson County, it appears that Yates Center is in 4 different EDs but there is no map of the town showing which portions of the town are in which ED.

Thus, it appears that I will need to scan several EDs to locate Edward G. Briles. Since I would have a lot of MENTZER cousins living in Woodson county, scanning these various EDs will help me locate them while locating my great-grandfather.

To help me make sure I scan all of the townships where my MENTZER cousins lived, I can use a search of the Ancestry database, Kansas, U.S., City and County Census Records, 1919-1961 for the MENTZER surname between 1948-1952. The results from this search will allow me to create a checklist of cousins I need to find.

Besides these MENTZER cousins, I would have an aunt living in Emporia and great aunts and uncles on my ‘to-do’ list. Using information I have already compiled on these individuals, I can use the same process described above to identify the appropriate Enumeration District. Besides my Mentzer cousins shown above, I quickly created a list of ancestors and their siblings that will need located in the 1950 census.

• Herbert Mentzer — ED 16-19 in Coffey County, Kansas
• Leon Crawford family (including his mother) – ED 29-15 in Ford County, Kansas
• Helen Horton – ED 29-16 in Ford County, Kansas
• Myrtle Jones – ED 29-18 in Ford County, Kansas
• Esther Noll — ED 29-6 in Ford County, Kansas
• E. O. Briles family — ED 56-16 in Lyon County, Kansas
• Letha Doolittle — ED 56-31 in Lyon County, Kansas
• Gladys Green – ED 56-31 in Lyon County, Kansas
• Edward G Briles – EDs 104-14 to 104-17 in Woodson County, KS
• Glen Briles – EDs 104-14 to 104-17 in Woodson County, KS
• Lulu Cope – EDs 104-14 to104-17 in Woodson County, KS
• Charles Mentzer – ED 104-7 in Woodson County, KS
• Leslie Mentzer – ED 104-7 in Woodson County, KS

My to-do list will contain some great aunts and uncles living in larger communities. If the above process does not help me locate them easily, I will just wait until those cities are indexed to do my search.

Branding

In the early days of Dodge City, not only did cattle come into town from Texas, but many of the local land owners raised cattle. Without fences around their land, these herds of cattle were allowed to roam freely, becoming mixed in with other herds of cattle.

Then in late spring, the cattle men would conduct a round-up to gather all of the cattle and separate the herds. The post, 1878 Cattle Drives, discusses this process.

It was the work of only a few hours to “cut out” and separate the cattle and start the herds back to their ranges again. Every animal is known by its brand, so that ownership is easily determined, and those that have drifted miles away during the winter storms and become a part of other herds are picked out in a few minutes, claimed by the owners and started back to the range.

The Dodge City papers provided a way for the local cattle men to register their brands by publishing images and information about the owner in the papers.

The Dodge City Globe (Dodge City, Kansas) 4 Nov 1884, page 8 available on Newspapers.com

After round-up, these cattle men had to brand the young calves in their herds. With a large number of cattle needing branded at the same time, these owners were in the market for anything that could speed up the process.

Thus, James H. Crawford’s installation of a ‘branding device’ appears to have been the solution.

About ten thousand head of cattle have been branded this season at the Crawford corrall, on the south side of the river, in the Parker machine. The capacity of this machine is about four hundred head of cattle daily. The price for branding is from seven to ten cents a head. This week one thousand head of Mathers cattle have been branded there. The machine is about twenty feet long and will hold from four to six head of cattle at a time. It is just wide enough for the passage of a full grown animal. When the cattle enter the machine they find on the bottom a wooden frame crossed by iron rods about six inches apart. when the machine is full the frame is elevated by pulleys operated by a horse. The legs of the animals are between the rods and presently the rods strike their abdomens and lift them from the ground, their bodies resting on the rods, with their legs swinging underneath. While in this helpless condition the branding irons are applied. It requires five men to work the machine.

Kansas Cowboy (Dodge City, Kansas) 27 Sep 1884, page 5 available on Newspapers.com

Ford County Soldiers

While looking for news of my grandfather, Leon Crawford, during World War I, I came across the following article identifying the Ford county men serving during World War I.

Where Soldiers of Ford County Are

C. E. Smith Has Helped to Revise List of Ford County Men in Military Service

What is perhaps the most complete list of Ford county soldiers that has been made here, has just been prepared by Clyde E. Smith. Mr. Smith was asked by the local chapter of the Red Cross to mail to all of the Ford county soldiers some printed information that was available regarding the insurance which the government is offering to the men in the army. It was not known which of the Ford county men had taken advantage of the government insurance, so in order to get one of the letters to every man that could be reached Mr. Smith made a special effort to get as complete a mailing list as possible.

The letters urging the boys to take advantage of the government insurance were forwarded to the following soldiers:

Truck Company No. 3, 42nd Division, 117th Ammunition Train, American Expeditionary Forces, via New York:
Captain E. C. Theller
Clark Bruington
Otto Falkner
Sgt. Noble T. Foster
Jack Hale
Sgt. Clarence Hoyt
Leonard Hill
Lee E. Josephson
Calvin H. Lambert
Horace Pettijohn
Charles Russell
Sgt. H. L. Schall
Earl L. Woodward
Ed Horn

Corp. Jackson Schall, Hdq. 42nd Division, 117th Ammunition Train, American Expeditionary Forces, via New York.

Corp. Roy Bainbridge, Caisson Co. 2, 42nd Division, 117th Ammunition Train, American Expeditionary Forces, via New York.

Wagon Train, 42nd Division, 117th Ammunition Train, American Expeditionary Forces, via New York.
John P. Little
Lyle K. Samples
Louis E. Skililngton
Thos. A. Underwood
Earl E. Vance

Company B, 110th Military Police, Camp Doniphan, Ft. Sill, Okla.
Captain J.R. Gary
Lieut. Wm. T. Hale
Lemuel L. Anders
Phinas C. Anders
Frank E. Arrington
Bernard M. Askew
Wm. L. Bailey
Charley Brentlinger
Oscar Ditch
Claud D. Dowdy
McKinley Downing
William L. Dye
Robert E. Engan
Earl D. Evans
Cress B. Evans
Wm. J. Foster
Lloyd H. Gillian
Allen Hole
Martin Hole
Jess C. Holmes
Thurman O. Hudson
George W. Johnson
Howard L. Johnson
Fred A. Jones
Robert F. Judd
Charles F. Knowlton
Albert W. Kunz
Ira Mallonee
Walter W. Mapes
Jay J. Mason
Jes McDowell
John L. Miller
John E. Miller
Fred E. Miller
Fred H. MIller
Floyd P. Myers
Lee B. Otto
Herbert S. Page
Frank Parker
Elwood Pendleton
Jim W. Perry
Robert C. Reeves
Carl A. Robert
Alexander W. Robertson
Charles C. Rockstrom
Elzy Sibert
Guy W. Snyder
Addison D. Stafford
Austin L. Tuttle
Martin S. Rapp
Paul Wallace
Libe E. Watson

F. K. Baldridge, Sanitary Detachment, 110th Military Police, Camp Doniphan, Ft. Sill, Okla.

Harold Balderston, Ft. Omaha, Neb.

Charles Bill, Co. A, 43rd Inf., Camp Pike, Ark.

Sgt. Frank R. Bogan, Q.M.E.R.C., American Expeditionary Forces, Somewhere in France

Lieut. Eugene J. Broderick, First Prov. Regt., Camp Gordon, Ga.

Btn. Sgt. Major Lloyd E. Brown, 6th Battery, Camp Stanley, Texas, care R.O.T.C.

Leon Crawford, 14th Co., Anti-Aircraft Bat. of San Francisco, American Expeditionary Forces, via New York

Marion Crawford, Bat. D, 14th F. A., Ft. Bliss, Texas

Adlai O. Cullen, 24th Aero squad, Kelly Field, South San Antonio, Tex.

Wm. A. Davies, U.S.S. Pittsburg, New York City, to Postmaster

Lee Elliott, Co. A, 5th Field Bat. S. C., Ft. Leavenworth, Kas.

Raymond A. English, 89th Division, Hdq. Troop, Camp Funston, Kas.

Howard Eash, Hdq. Co., 137th Inf. Camp Doniphan, Ft. Sill, Okla.

Carl F. Etrick, M. O. T. C. 45th B.M., Ft, Riley, Kas.

Maj Gordon L. Finley, 362nd Inf. Camp Lewis, Wash.

Vernon Fleming, 3rd Co. Recruits, Ft. Baker, Calif.

Midshipman John Gingrich, U.S.A. Naval Academy, Annpolis, Md

George Gingrich, U.S.A. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.

Sgt. George Gould, Co. C, 1st Bat., S.C., Ft. Leavenworth, Kas.

Theordore F. Hobbs, Ft. Omaha, Neb.

Ben Hobble, 9th Co. of Los Angeles, Reservation t. Ft. Mac Arthur, Calif.

Fred E. Enderson, S.Q.R.C.T.C., Student Camp No. 4, Camp Sam B. Morse, Leon Springs, Texas.

J.W. Hubbard, Co. F, 18th Engineers Railway, American Expeditionary Forces, France

Frank Harbet, 36th Anna St., san Francisco, Calif.

Leon Lantz, Batt. A, 18th F. A., Ft. Bliss, Texas

John Lighter, Co. D, 3rd Engineers, Ft. Shafter, Honolula, H. I.

Fred Lighter, 20th Inf., Ft. Douglas, Utah

Allen Myers, 49th Aero Squad, Mineola, L. I.

James Madison, Hdq. Co. 43rd Inf. Camp Pike, Ark.

Louis Miller, Co. C, 1st Field Bat., Little silver, N.J.

Sammie Neuman, Camp Harry J. Jones, Douglas, Ariz.

Ulin Nickerson, Co. A, 5th Field Bat. S.C., Ft. Leavenworth, Kas.

Ernest M. Olson, Hdq. Co., 137th Inf., Camp Doniphan, Ft. Sill, Okla

Clyde Orebaugh, Co. E, 11th Inf., American Expeditionary Forces, Paris, France, via New York

Earl Orebaugh, U.S.S. Huntington, New York City to Postmaster

C. A. Peebles, Jefferson Barracks, Mo.

Ray M. Reeves, Medical Dept. U.S.A., Ft. Leavenworth, Kas.

Robert W. Ramsey, 7th Reg. 86th Co., U.S. Marine Corps, Guantanamo, Cuba

Dr. Claud R. Riney, 616 Napa St., Naval Hospital, Vallejo, Calif.

Lieut A. H. Riney, 23rd Engineers, Camp Meade, Md.

homer sharp, Bat D, 14th F. A., Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Charles W. Smith, Co. F, 13th Railway Engineers, American Expeditionary Forces in France, care Adj. Gen. Washington, D.C.

Clifford Stone, Co. D, 2nd Balloon Squad, Aviation Supply Depot Barracks No. 22, Garden City, L.I.

Harold E. Stone, Co. D, 2nd Balloon Squad, Aviation Supply Depot barracks No. 22, Garden City, L.I.

Austin Tuck, Ft. Joseph E. Johnson, Jacksonville, Fla.

Sgt. Carl Turner, 14th Co., 164th Depo Brigade, Camp Funston, Kas.

Charles W. Trubey, care Hospital, Ft. Logan, Colorado

Clifford Tester, Hdq. Co. 13th Inf., Camp Doniphan, Ft. Sill, Okla.

“Bugs” Waltrs, Co. D, 2nd Balloon Squad, Aviation Supply Depo Barracks No. 22, Garden City, L.I.

James Warren, Co. B, 7th Reb., U.S. Engineers, Ft. Leavenworth, Kas.

Wendell Westley, Hdq Co. 137th Inf., Camp Doniphan, Ft. Sill, Okla.

James Wright, 33rd Aero Squadron, American expeditionary Forces care Adj. Gen., Washington, D. C.

Don Yandell, Balloon Co. A, Aviation Field, Ft. Sill, Okla

Dale Young, Hdq. Co., 137th Inf., Camp Doniphan, Ft. Sill, Okla

Ralph G. Nevins, Co. No. 4, Q.M.C., Camp Joseph Johnson, Jacksonville, Fla.

Herchel Beals, Ft. Baker, Calif.

Block 27 E, 9th Receiving Co., Q.M.C., Camp Joseph E Johnston, Jacksonville, Fla.;
Ralph H. Burnett
Paul Russell

Camp Joseph E. Johnston, Receiving Co. S., Jacksonville, Fla:
Charles Eckles
John Jones
John Masterson
Cy Sprecker
Harry M. Starks

Camp Joseph E. Johnston, Jacksonville, Fla;
H. M. Christensen
Clarence Skillington
John Maholland
Frank Palmer
Richard Robinson

John W. Foley, Co. 16, Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Mo.

Ernest A. Burtner, 1st Co. Engineers Repairs, Troop Depot, Ft. Leavenworth, Kas.

Crawford ThruLines Question

I like Ancestry’s new ThruLines feature!

Unfortunately, it is pointing out one of my frustrations with my DNA results. I have several verified second and third cousin DNA matches on my Crawford line but we never got a DNA circle for my 3rd great grandfather, Nelson G. Crawford. When Ancestry released ThruLines, I was hoping to locate some fourth cousins thru one of Nelson’s other children.

However, the ThruLines for Nelson G Crawford only includes DNA matches going thru my 2nd great grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford. It does not include any lines going thru the siblings of Washington Marion Crawford.

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When I looked at the ThruLines for my 4th great-grandfather, James Crawford, matches are shown for descendants of Nelson’s sister, Polly Crawford and for all of the matches thru my 2nd great-grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford.

Since Washington Marion Crawford had five siblings that lived to adulthood and had families, I expected to find ThruLines thru at least some of those siblings. Thus, I am wondering why ThruLines hasn’t helped identify any fourth cousin Crawford matches.

I have several theories:

• My fourth cousin descendants of Nelson G. Crawford haven’t done a DNA test thru Ancestry
• These 4th cousins have done a DNA test but either don’t have a tree or haven’t connected their DNA test to their tree.
• The trees for my 4th cousins Crawford matches don’t go back far enough to connect to my research — in other words, I haven’t done enough descendancy research
• Nelson’s middle name is different on various trees causing  trees to not ‘match’
• My tree is wrong

I’m hoping that I have enough evidence to disprove the theory of an incorrect tree. But, I will continue my search for documentation of Nelson G. Crawford and his family.
To help other researchers, I have researched many of Nelson G. Crawford’s descendants. My information regarding Nelson can be found

• on my Ancestry ‘Heartland Genealogy‘ tree
• in my online copy of my RootsMagic data
• in a 4 generation descendancy report for Nelson G. Crawford

If you are a Crawford researcher with family in Preble County, Ohio, Warren County, Indiana or Ford County, Kansas, please contact me. I would love to see how our research might connect!