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Archiver > FERGUSON-DNA > 2008-02 > 1202987664


From: "Peter Ferguson" <>
Subject: [FERGUSON-DNA] Fw: FERGUSON-DNA Digest, Vol 3, Issue 42
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:19:35 -0000


Patsi,

Once the bug attacks it can be all consuming , but it keeps me awake during
the day !!
I wish I had been interested whilst my father was still alive , but the
subject just never arose.

Just for the mental excersise, I dug around a bit for you to see if there
are records which you could obtain to further your knowledge. The following
are only pointers , potentially to gaining the necessary detail to establish
James Henry's parentage. I am in UK with no experience of actually obtaining
documentation, nor do I know how much detail is recorded on BDM's, passport
applications, immigration records , censuses etc.
I have not spent any money, but to gain full info requires [probably] a
modest outlay. Please do check any quoted references are correct before
sending for any certificates.

Working backwards:-
US Census 15.4.1910 has
James H aged 52 - so born abt 1858
Robert W aged 23 - so born abt 1887
Arthur J aged 19 - so born abt 1891
Brbara E aged 17 - so born abt 1893
Vera M aged 14.-so born abt 1896.

New Orleans marriages has:-
James H Ferguson aged 26 & Margaret Hunter on 7the July 1883 Orleans Vol 10
Pg 58

Margaret Ferguson + [ presumbably nee] Hunter died aged 46 on 20 Jan 1908
Another Ferguson death caught my eye = Adolph C Ferguson died 20 Apr 1908
aged 3 months [ exactly 3 months to the day after Margaret]
Assumption = she died in childbirth - certs would confirm.

New Orleans births has:-
Robert Walter b 6th Aug 1885 Vol 10 Pg 26
Arthur John b 29 Jun 1889 Vol 96 Pg 591
Barabara Ella b 18 Jan 1892 vol 93 Pg 998
Veronica Margareth b 27 July 1895 Vol 109 Pg 69.
These names are spelled exactly as per the transcriptions I found.. I did
not find the Adolph referred to above in these birth records - perhaps this
was not registered before death.

SSDI records found:
Vera Ferguson born 27 Jul 1895 died Sept 1983 New Orleans.
I checked other New Orleans deaths available online and I made a note of an
Arthur J Ferguson died 1937.
Somewhere there are burials, but this might not be too easy now after their
devastation - uncompehendable to those of us not involved. Certainly,
records do still exist.

Listed @ www.thistleand bee.com - in connection with WW1
Robert Walter Ferguson b 6th Aug 1880, white -New Orleans
and Arthur John Ferguson b 29 Jun 1889, caucasian Louisiana - New Orleans

The same site seems to record some locations from census data: - the
heading states birth locations, but this doesn't fit - see below.
Arthur J age 36 Union 4-Wd; Bernice 1920
James H age 44 Orleans 9-Wd New Orleans 1900 - wife not found but may be
in the records
do age 52 do do do 1910

ancestry.com has a fair bit worth following up:

It shows 3 passport applications - one for James Henry F - father also James
Henry, & 2 others , one of which is just James H Ferguson
There is a record of a James F b abt 1857 arrival @ New York.
If he arrived US before 1880 census, James might be the James F aged 22,
carpenter b Scotland living with many others in digs or something in Queens
NY City.[records for his later life should show if occupation likely]
Ellis Island site doesn't cover arrivals this early

New York Passenger lists 1820-1957 includes a Vera M Ferguson b abt 1896 &
also a Vera Marie Ferguson b abt 1897, travelling through

Immigrants 1871-1881 show 2 James H F's:-
Thru Ontario Canada &
New York ex Liverpool via Queenstown Ireland.
but elsewhere in the site I found
James H Ferguson arrived 1880 Port Huron, Michigan as "Primary Immigrant"
[ I like the look of this one best for some reason.]

I have recently had cause to look at the system for a cousin of US
immigration via Canada, and the record keeping is fairly date specific, but
various records were made & are , I believe, still accessible.
see:- http://www.theshipslist.com/Research/canadarecords.htm#1919 to get an
idea of the situation.

Re Margaret [Maggie] Hunter, 1880 census has a likely target - Maggie aged
19 ,daughter of Maggie Hunter born Ireland abt 1830, with hersister Barbara
b abt 1857 LA ,& brother John b abt 1859 LA Laborer. -It might be worth
following through forwards from these to find living who might have info.
Likely to be correct lot as the Fergs named a daughter Barbara.
I may have calculated wrongly , but:-
Using the actual dates we have for her, Maggie was born between 21 Jan & 7
Jul 1861
Using the actual dates we have for him, James H was born between 8th |Jul
1856 & 7th Jul 1857.

Another source of info might be naturalisation papers, but others will have
to help there.- they look as though they are State specific.?

Surely, one or more of these records, if obtained, will identify his
parentage. Just for the hell of it, I blindly took a peek @ Scottish records
which identify a few potentials worth more investigation.- but only after
his parentage has been established.:-
1871 Scottish census has a James H Ferg aged 11 father James H Ferg living
in Lanarkshire
1861 census has [probably the same man,] but James H ferg this time.
This census also has a James Henry Ferg, and 2 other James H fergs around
the same birth timescale.
1881 census is missing "my guess" man, but has another James F aged 24 =
born the right year.


Some websites I used:-
http://rootsweb.com/bub/usgenweb/la/orleans/ - what an excellent resource !
www.ancestry.com - I cannot afford to subscribe to all the pay sites which
exist, so more details are available .
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ - I may have actually accessed these
records elsewhere !
www.thistleandbee.com - inevitably new to an Englishman.
www.familysearch.org - in this excersise , more for the Scottish elements
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ - another pay site to get at the detail.

Good luck with your further research and I hope this lot helps not hinders
matters !

Peter
UK

> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:52:33 -0600
> From: "Patsi Ferguson" <>
> Subject: Re: [FERGUSON-DNA] Digest, Vol 3, Issue 37 - Patsi & Douglas
> To: <>
> Message-ID: <004901c86e58$72f18f30$>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Colin, Whoa. What a nice surprise. Colin, do you want us to go thru you so
> that you can filter and put it in your bank of knowledge or do you want us
> to go directly to one another. I hate for anyone else to find out how
> ignorant I am.
> For Peter:
> I, Patsi, am Doug's mother, so not a real Ferguson. Yes, they were in
> the 1910 census. And the reason I'm not telling you more is that I know no
> more. All the relatives who might know are deceased, and those of us left
> didn't get into this in time. But do have a picture of James Henry
> Ferguson, taken I know not when. The generation after James
> is Arthur John Ferguson, Sr., born in New Orleans in 1899.
> My apologies for my lack of knowledge. Doug, by the way, is 53 years
> old
> so we're not talking about an infant here. He is just not interested.
> Patsi
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> [mailto:] On Behalf Of Peter Ferguson
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 6:01 AM
> To:
> Subject: [FERGUSON-DNA] Digest, Vol 3, Issue 37 - Patsi & Douglas
>
> Colin,
>
> Their match to mine @ 12 prompted me to search & compare names, but I have
> so little info to work with.
> They also match @ 12 with Joseph Clarence.
> Do they have any more info ?
> Is the family already in US for 1910 census, maybe by then he a widower
> with
> 4 children ?
> Is it their intention to upgrade ?
>
> Peter






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