Doppelgangers

It seems to come up far too often when I am doing family history research, two individuals are confused within genealogical records as the same person, doppelgangers in a sense.  A few years ago, I was working on the family of John Marsh and Catharine Leavell of Ohio and Indiana. They had several children, one son was named Henry C Marsh, who was born about 1844 in Indiana.  

On Ancestry.com I found a family tree with Henry C Marsh, son of John Marsh and Catharine Leavell.  Henry was from Indiana and listed as being in a Private in the Civil War. I looked at the Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865, and there is a Henry C Marsh, born about 1862 in Indiana.  Henry served in the 12th Indiana Infantry. He was from Clark County, Indiana, which is on the southeastern part of the state. He is also listed as a wagonmaker.

U.S. Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865, Indiana, 2nd, Vol 4.  Ancestry.com

The Marsh family I was looking at were farmers and lived in Cass County, Indiana.  Henry’s two brothers served the 20th & 99th Indiana Infantries in the Civil War, which had soldiers from Cass and surrounding counties.  

So something is not quite right that Henry, who is fairly young, takes up an occupation different from his father and brothers and joins a regiment in a county almost 200 miles away.

A quick check of the U.S. Census records shows two Henry Marshes in Indiana in 1860.   One in Cass County (farmer) and the other in Clark County (carpenter). Two men with the name name, born about the same time in the same state.  

1860 U.S. Census, Utica, Clark County, Indiana, p 37. Ancestry.com

1860 U.S. Census, Adams Township, Cass County, Indiana, p 215.  Ancestry.com

It can really tangle up your family tree if only take a quick glance at a record and assume it is referring to a person you are researching.  The distance between the two counties and the occupations listed should have raised a red flag even though the names matched and there were similar dates of birth.

Note: I do not use other’s posted family trees as evidence in family history research.  I use this example as a point of reference that people can be too quick to judge that a document refers to an individual.  The owner of the tree did want that military connection to his family, but it just wasn’t there.

U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

In May of 1917, the Selective Service Act was passed.  It authorized the President to increase the national army through conscription.  There were three draft registrations.  The first on June 5, 1918, all men in the U.S. between the ages of 21 and 31 were to register with their local draft board.  There was a second draft registration a year later for those who had turned 21 after the first draft registration with a supplemental registration on August 24, 1918 for those had turned 21 after June 5, 1917.  The third and final registration was expanded to include men between 18 and 45 years of age on September 12, 1918.

The approximately 24 million draft registration cards (NARA Microfilm publication M1509) have been microfilmed and are indexed on a several sites; which encompasses almost 25% of the population of the U.S. in 1918.  Indexed and searchable copies of the record group are available on Ancestry, Family Search, and Fold3.

How are these records useful in your family history research?

They contain details about the individual that may not be found anywhere else: date and place of birth, physical description, street address, employer, name and residence of closest relative, and signature.

As with all records- look on the back and the record before and after!

WWI Draft Registration Card for Morton Henry Dague

Local resources

There are a number of excellent resources for family history research in and around Naperville.  

• Naperville Family History Center                                                                                                1320 Ridgeland Rd, Naperville, IL  60565  630-505-0233                                                    The hours vary, but they are almost always CLOSED on Sundays & Mondays.  Call to verify the hours as they are dependent upon the availability of volunteers.  They have a number of databases that are available to access via the computers including Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Fold3, NewspaperArchives, Fold3, etc.  They have a selection of books, including maps, local histories for various parts of the world.  The records for the Archdioces of Chicago are also housed at the FHC on microfilm.  The volunteers have a range of experience including, Italian research and slavery records.
• Naperville Public Library                                                                                                              The library has a number of databases that can be accessed while at the library, including Fold3, HeritageQuest, and the Chicago Tribute Historical Archive (1849-1989).  The Library Edition of Ancestry.com is available from home computer with your Naperville Library Card number.                                
• Wheaton Public Library                                                                                                           225 N Cross ST, Wheaton, IL 60187 https://www.wheatonlibrary.org/browse/genealogy        They have a large genealogical section of their library encompassing Civil War History, local records, and reference information.  I have found a number of books on German immigrants that were useful in a research project I was working on.