RootsTech: In Person, Live-Streaming or thru Social Media--something for everyone

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The Zombie Genealogist's Blog

Rootstech 2018 runs February 28th - March 3.  If, like me, you can't be there in person, don't fret.   Several of the presentations will be Live Streaming.  Check the Schedule and also be sure to check the #RootsTech and #NotAtRootsTech hashtags on social media to keep up with all the happenings.    Also check out LDC: The Zombie Genealogist 's  #NotAtRootsTech Survival Guide 2018 Edition    Lots of GREAT ideas and there are badges.  💖💖

Luranie Jane Cook Williams Death Record

Against all odds, I found the death certificate of Luranie Jane Cook Williams, sister of my Great Grandfather, William Green Cook. I'd never actually seen the copy of the certificate though I'd visited where she is buried and seen her stone.  My clues were from the Index although the index listed Puruline as her Mother's name and lists the burial place as Rees.  It's actually Rover on the certificate with the actual cemetery name not included. I was not expecting her to be in Davidson Co.TN. Neither the Tennessee, Deaths, and Burials Index, 1874-1955 or the Index of the TN Death Records 1908-1958 was in agreement on all the information I had but they were both close enough that I knew I needed to check the original record

The incorrectly transcribed items are noted with an arrow and the corrections are shown in RED.  Her gravestone lists the year of death as 1923 which added to my confusion.



Luranie's brother, Gideon Cook is the informant for the information on her death certificate. He was a Civil War Veteran, a Veterinarian, and known as "Dock" Cook. I believe that Gideon's family must have always referred to W.C. Cook as Clifford Cook because he is listed as C Cook here and on Gideon's Death Cert as Clifford Cook.

Her husband George W. Williams would die 6 months later(July 1924) Luranie & George are buried in the Simpson Cemetery in Rover, TN. Luranie has always been hard to find because her name is never spelled the same consistently. Even the Cook researchers never spell it the same. How do we ever find the documents we need. Persistence!

One of my favorite Ancestry Databases

One of my favorite databases at Ancestry.com is the U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.
In the 1990s when I was just beginning my research, I didn't give much thought to directories.  I had imagined they were just like phone books.  Wrong!  There is so much more in a directory.   Don't believe me?  See my blog post from June of 2017--In Praise of City Directories.   If you are an Ancestry subscriber(or your local library has access) you can browse to a directory of interest and see for yourself. I used the 1940 Nashville Tennessee City directory this past week a great deal.  In an effort to save time I found the start of each section and made myself an index of sorts using the image number.  This is something I'd recommend doing for any directory you will be browsing thru frequently.   Browse the directories. There is so much that isn't indexed.  I've noted the image numbers along with the pages for the directory I used last week and I'm including the outline below in case it would be of use to any others who are researching in that area and time period.

Nashville, Tennessee, City Directory, 1940
R. L Polk & Co. Nashville City Directory 1940 [Images 1-748]

• The Alphabetical List of Names pg 37-1040 [Begins on Image 17]
• The Buyers' Guide pg 1-76 [Begins on Image 538]
• The Directory of Householders, including Street and Avenue Guide pg 1041-1273 [Begins on Image 578]
• The Classified Business Directory pg 1353-1444 [Begins on Image 698]

Finding Cousin Ruth in the 1940 Federal Census

This post is a continuation of my previous post about my Dad's paternal 1st Cousin, Margaret Ruth Thompson Cooper.  If you haven't read that earlier post and click on her name in the previous sentence.  I'm going to refer to her as Ruth because that is what my family always called her.  On Ruth's death certificate it lists her legal residence as 129 6th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee.  I'd never been able to find Ruth thru a search of the census so now that I had the address where she was residing in 1941(and also listed there in 1940 directory as mentioned in the earlier post), I took that information and went looking for the Enumeration District for that address using the Steve Morse Census Tool.
From locating the address on a Google Map earlier I could see that the intersecting street was McGavock which narrowed it down to 2 Enumeration Districts.  I then browsed to the first of the two districts mentioned which had 12 pages and read those looking at the Street names.  Nothing...on to the next Enumeration District.  About halfway thru the 20 something pages, I find the address.  Margaret Ruth Thompson Cooper is listed as Margaret Moore.  No wonder I couldn't find her.  This is really odd to me because earlier in the directory for 1940 she is listed under last name Coopermore and the only one listed at the address in the directory. In the Census there are 4 other women who are in their 20s living at the same residence. Three of those women are divorced and one is widowed.   Some answers but more questions.  Are all these Margaret Cooper's the same person?

Newspapers.com - The Tennessean - 30 Mar 1941 - Page 31

A few thoughts 

1. I know from the information on the Death Certificate that the person listed is Cousin Ruth.  Her parents' names, place, and date of birth are exactly as they should be.  Too, we have her maternal 1st Cousin as the informant.  The residence on the Death Certificate and the census are the same so it seems likely that it was her.

Snippets from Tennessee, Death Records, 1908-1958 Ancestry.com 2011 Provo UT

From TN Death Certificate of Margaret Ruth Cooper who died March 22 , 1941

2.  She's listed as divorced in the census AND on the death certificate.  Her former husband B. V. Cooper remarried in 1939.

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee; Roll: m-t0627-03972; Page: 6A; ED: 99-42

3.  Why is the name/word "more" or  Moore listed in both the directory AND the census?

Very odd unless she was married to a Moore and divorced sometime in between her 1st marriage and 1940.  Also to have the word more added on the end of her surname Cooper in the directory is odd.  She is noted as the person who gave the info for herself in the 1940 Census.  

4.  I think my next plan of action should be to look at the other four persons enumerated with her and see if I can determine any connections.  

5.  Additionally, I need to find her divorce records from B. V. Cooper.  

An Address--Past and Present--Ruth Thompson Cooper

My Dad's paternal 1st cousin Margaret Ruth Thompson Cooper passed away in 1941 from tuberculosis.  I have a digital copy of her death certificate which lists her address as 129 6th Avenue S, Nashville, Tennessee.  On seeing the address and noting that the certificate said she had been sick for 6 months I had thought the address was probably a hospital or one of the sick houses for those with TB.  So I went looking thru the 1940 Nashville City Directory for that address. I found her listed but her surname has the word "more" added to the end of it.  I checked the abbreviation key page and didn't find "more" listed.  If it is a boarding house and there are more people why are their names not listed? Odd.

I was curious to see what is in that location today so I checked the address on Google Maps.   Today that would be near the Ryman Auditorium, Bridgestone Arena and not far from Nissan Stadium.  She is listed there in the 1940 and 1941 directory.  In the 1938 directory,  she is listed at 107½ 4th Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee.  The 4th Avenue address is only a few blocks away and is closer to the Ryman Auditorium.  Given this information, it seems that this was a neighborhood she had live in for at least 4 yrs.

Google Map for 129 6th Avenue South, Nashville Tennessee

Margaret was listed as Mrs. in her last two directory entries.  She had married in 1933 in Williamson Co TN to Burgess V Cooper.  I haven't found her divorce yet but Burgess remarries in 1939 and she is listed as divorced on her Death Certificate.The informant on her Death Certificate was her cousin J. W. Cook, son of her maternal Uncle Clarence Cook.  There were many from my family who died of TB within the 1920 to 1945 timeframe.  

I've not been able to find her in the 1940 census but with the information obtained from her Death Certificate I know she was still alive and the city directories tell me where she is living.  I really need to do a bit more digging and get her story out.  I feel like I have just scratched the surface. 

Notes: 

Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Death Records, 1908-1958 [https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2376]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. TN Death Cert of Mrs. Margaret Ruth Cooper (Davidson Co. TN 1941)

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2469]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Browsed to the TN--Nashville ---1940 listing Nashville, Tennessee, City Directory, 1940

Image 115 of 748 (listed alphabetically by surname)
Image 673 of 748 (by street address)


Google Maps Address 129 6th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee(accessed 2/22/2018)

Sorting and keeping track of DNA matches

 I use the MedBetterDNA browser extension(available for the Chrome Browser) so that the notes section is visible from the match list without clicking thru to the match page.  My genealogy goal for this weekend is to finish sorting thru the 2nd page of my DNA matches at AncestryDNA and identifying thru which of my grandparents we connected.  I'd already had some of them done as I like to make notes on new matches as they come in but had about 20 to finish.  I'd finished the first page of matches earlier in the week.  I do this by checking to see if they match my Mom's kit and looking at the shared matches.  I have DNA share links to view results for a few close cousins from each side and that helps when trying to find the connection.  You can click thru to View Match and click on that matches name to go to the profile where you can click on Select DNA Test and select any of the other tests which you have permissions to view to see if they match. Also clicking thru to the match page helps because sometimes they do have a tree but have not linked it to their DNA.  Use caution because sometimes there are many trees not attached and you may not be able to identify the tree containing the DNA match.  Also, remember that shared matches tab only shows those matches which you share at the 4th cousin level or closer.  Use the Select DNA Test from the profile page when you start getting down to the cut off amount for 4th cousins to check other profiles.


My first page of matches had a total of 50 matches.  Three of those were people who I tested so I didn't count them.  Two of my matches matched me thru 2 grandparents.  On page 2(which also contained 50) of my matches, I have one match which I have not yet been able to narrow down.  I can tell that she is a paternal match but don't know for sure which of my Dad's parents her line is thru.  I use hashtags to identify each of my 4 grandparents  #PGF #PGM #MGF #MGM

I also try and keep track of my top matches on all the testing sites where I have a copy of my DNA results.  I do include the 23&me ones which are uploaded to GEDmatch as I am not at 23&me.  I also use GEDmatch amounts if I have them and don't include anything less than 7 cMs.  This allows me to see how many of my matches have uploaded or tested at a site which has a way to get those amounts.  Also, it shows me how many segments I could likely identify if the Ancestry testers were to upload to one of the sites which have a chromosome browser(MyHeritage, GEDmatch or FTDNA).

I use Google Sheets to keep track of my top matches.  I've omitted the Gedmatch #'s and Username/Alias column in the view of my Top Matches Spreadsheet(seen below)



I normally only add matches which share 50 or more cMs with me.  I do make an exception for the unknowns 40 cMs and up.