Have you ever been stumped while doing genealogical research? You’ve hit a brick wall and just cannot find the obituary or birth record, etc, of the person for whom you are researching? Consider looking at the collateral people or the “fan club”, those individuals who appear in a record along side the relative that is being research. A collateral person could be a relative living in the same household or a neighbor listed in the census who has the same name or perhaps a person who is mentioned in the same news article as the person. The following case study exemplifies how using collateral people can help break through that brick wall.
CASE STUDY
It has always been known that the parents of my maternal great-grandma, Ida Victoria (Bates) Eivins, were Mathew and Cynthia (Bentley) Bates of Story County, Iowa. I determined years ago that Mathew immigrated from Tyrone County, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) to “West Canada” (now Ontario) where he married Cynthia Bentley. The couple soon moved to Story County, Iowa where they farmed and raised their 13 children.
I have wondered for years about the parentage of Mathew and Cynthia. Mathew’s obituary, that I ordered from the local library, gave me a couple of clues. Specifically, he had a brother, Samuel, that lived in Nevada, Iowa, and two brothers, Joseph and William, that both lived in Brooklyn, New York. A brother and a sister were also living in Ireland. But there was no mention of his parentage! I then ordered Samuel’s obituary, which contained the same information regarding their siblings. Next I turn to FamilySearch.org to search for Joseph and William Bates in the US Census for Brooklyn. I find a couple of Joseph Bates and William Bates. How do I know if they are the brothers to Mathew and Samuel?? At the time I was researching this line there was not very much online so I “put a pin in it.”
Years go by… one Sunday afternoon I discovered that the Story County, Iowa newspapers had been scanned and were available online. I searched for Mathew and came up with a few results, including a couple of interesting news items but nothing to help identify parentage. My search moved on to Samuel. Samuel was the county recorder and his name appeared in over a hundred news items. Hmmmm… what to do? The weeds were over taking over my flower bed. I really should weed or dust or so something productive, right? NOPE, I needed to read through these articles! So down the rabbit hole I went. As minutes and then hours ticked by, I was able to find some promising leads.
“A sister-in-law of Mr. Samuel Bates from New York city and a niece of Mr. Bates recently from Europe, arrived here last week on a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Bates. The niece expects to become a part of the family of Mr. and Mrs. Bates in the future.” [1]
" Mr. Samuel Bates started Monday night for New York city. He took his niece, Mary Manley with him who will hereafter live with Mr. Bates' brother, in New York.” [2]
“Mr. and Mrs. Chatterly of New York city, have been spending a few days with their relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bates.” [3]
"J.T. McKee of Bridgewater Dakota, stopped over Sunday as the guest of Samuel Bates, of whom he is a relative.” [4]
"Mr. Samuel Miller, a law student of Kings Inn, Dublin, Ireland, and a correspondent of the Farmers Gazette of that place, is stopping for a few days with his uncle, Mr. Samuel Bates of this place.” [5]
The names Chatterly and Manley sounded familiar, remembering them from a search I had performed of the two brothers living in New York, so I turned to FamilySearch.org again and searched for the brothers, Joseph and William. Several documents I discovered linked the Chatterly and Manley individuals with the Joseph Bates:
1865 New York State Census: The Joseph Bates household included Sarah Chatterly, Joseph Bates, Susan Bates (wife), Ellen Bates (child), Walter Bates (child), Frederick Bates (child), Harvey Chatterly (child), and Mary Chatterly (boarder)
1875 New York State Census: Walter Chatterly is living with the Joseph Bates family and is listed as a brother-in-law. Additionally, Willie [William] Bates is listed as a brother to Joseph. Joseph, William and Walter are all employed in the insurance industry.
1892 New York State Census listing for Joseph Bates. Among those listed in after Joseph included Susie Bates (presumably his wife), Alick Bates (presumably his son), Kahl Bates (presumably another son) and, low and behold, Sarah Chatterly (age 73, presumably the mother-in-law), and Mary Manly (age 27).
In the 1900 Federal Census, Brooklyn, New York, Joseph (age 67) is listed with his family who consisted of Susie (wife, age 57), Frank (son, age 27), Alex (son, age 22), Carl (son, age 18), two servants, and Sarah Chatterly (mother, age 81).
Joseph’s probate records indicated that his last will and testament were signed by W. T. Chatterly and F. P. Chatterly.
These documents and the newspaper articles lead me to believe that that Joseph and William Bates in Brooklyn were, indeed, the brothers of Mathew and Samuel Bates living in Story County, Iowa.
Next, I was able to find Joseph and William’s death certificates on FamilySearch.org. Both listed their parents as: Samuel Bates and Mary McKee. Mathew Bates’ obituary indicated that he was born in County Tyrone, Ireland [now Northern Ireland]. Even more specific was Samuel Bates’ obituary which pinpointed the town of Newtown Stewart, County Tyrone. With this information I was able to turn to a County Tyrone genealogy website (https://cotyroneireland.com) to find some excerpts from newspapers regarding the Samuel and Mary and their family. Wondering if the newspapers were online I found that they were at: The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk). I subscribed to the website and furthered my search finding the following:
Samuel Bates (Sr.) died on June 12, 1856 in Newton Stewart. He was characterized as “In him the poor had ever found a kind friend, and the afflicted a warm comforter. In his life were reflected the charity and humility of his Master; and he died, in the true sense of the term--a Christian.” [6]
An obituary for George Bates, which confirms his relationship as a son to Samuel Bates by virtue of the list of relatives included in the obit. George died August 6, 1890, age 55. [7]
MARTHA, eldest daughter of the late MR. SAMUEL BATES, Newtownstewart, was married to Thomas Miller on June 14, 1861 [8]
Death announcement of Mary Bates, widow of the late Mr. Samuel Bates died at the home of her son-in-law, Thomas Miller. [9]
I then went to the IrishGenealogy.ie website and has able to find the following:
A record for Mary Bates marriage to Charles Manley listing the bride’s father as Samuel Bates. The marriage date was May 14, 1858. [10]
George Bates married Fanny Speer on November 15, 1860 in Newtownstewart. [11]
A final newspaper article regarding Samuel Bates’ estate mentions Joseph Bates, George Bates, William Bates, Martha G (Bates) Miller and the children of Mathew Bates. [12] Further corroborating the connections.
The names of Manly (Manley), Miller, McKee and Chatterly found in conjunction with the Bates families in the Nevada, Iowa newspapers and then in the Brooklyn, NY and Tyrone County, Ireland newspapers and documents confirm that Samuel Bates and Mary McKee are the parents of Samuel, Mathew, George, Martha and Mary even though there are few “primary” documents available to substantiate the relationships. Had I not investigated the collateral persons I would still be banging my head on a brick wall.
In summary, when you are faced with a brick wall:
Notice the names of persons that are in close proximity in census records, on birth, death , or marriage certificates, or mentioned in the same newspaper article as the person being researched.
Utilize newspapers to help make connections. Be sure to search with the name, variations of the name, and with the first and middle initials.
If you are not successful in finding the connections, set it aside for awhile and come back to it at a later time. A review of your documents with fresh eyes may reveal clues that may have been missed previously and more documents may become available online.
Further information on the Bates family can be found at: https://www.lambeivinsancestry.com/bates
Information specific to Mathew and Cynthia Bates, please go to: https://www.lambeivinsancestry.com/bates-mathew-and-cynthia
Citations:
Nevada Representative, published in Nevada, Iowa on Wednesday, October 31st, 1877, Page 3 (Advantage Preservation; Nevada, Iowa)
Nevada Representative, published in Nevada, Iowa on Wednesday, March 12th, 1879, Page 4 (Advantage Preservation; Nevada, Iowa)
Nevada Representative, published in Nevada, Iowa on Wednesday, August 10th, 1881, Page 3 (Advantage Preservation; Nevada, Iowa)
Nevada Representative, published in Nevada, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18th, 1882, Page 3 (Advantage Preservation; Nevada, Iowa)
Story County Watchman, published in Nevada, Iowa on Friday, May 26th, 1893, Page 7 (Advantage Preservation; Nevada, Iowa)
Derry Journal, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, 18 June 1856, Page 3 (The British Newspaper Archive)
Londonderry Sentinel, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, 12 August 1890, Page 2 (The British Newspaper Archive)
Derry Journal, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, 19 June 1861, Page 2 (The British Newspaper Archive)
Londonderry Sentinel, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, 3 January 1871, Page 2 (The British Newspaper Archive)
Marriage record: Charles Manley to Mary Bates, 14 May 1858, Group Registration ID: 3274940, SR District/Reg Area: Strabane (IrishGenealogy.ie)
Marriage record: George Bates to Fanny Speer, 15 November, 1860, Group Registration ID: 3293150, SR District/Reg Area: Strabane (IrishGenealogy.ie)
Nevada Representative, published in Nevada, Iowa on Tuesday, May 6, 1902, Page 8 (Advantage Preservation; Nevada, Iowa)
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