Veraldine Louise Small (1901-1990) case study using online public hints

Methodist Church, Lockport, Illinois. scanned by LAGHS from Ancestry.

MyHeritage sent me a DNA match notice for a possible third to fourth cousin. We shared 7 segments with the largest 27 cM. GV has only eleven people in her tree. That was enough! Small is our mutual surname. Veraldine Small (1901-1990) and Roy Chaney (1885-1966) show up in her tree.

Already in my Roots Magic data base, it is time to search for Veraldine Small in Ancestry. I did add Roy Chaney from the My Heritage tree. The 1930 US census enumerates Roy, Veraldine and Eugene Powers as a step-son. Searching for marriage records for Roy and Veraldine produced scanned church records by Lockport Area Genealogical and Historical Society of Lockport, Illinois. Roy Chaney and Veraldine Powers were married in the Methodist church on 20 January 1928. This search also provided baptism information for the Small family.

Roy and Veraldine had two daughters; one of these is my third cousin. What a thrill for me to talk on the phone with a new relative! We would not have connected if it were not for DNA, online trees, individual groups scanning records and companies opening up these records for all to access. My research is open to all on Ancestry as Roots Digger. This provides copies of documents, photographs and sources when available. I am in the process of updating a tree on My Heritage. My current My Heritage tree KampeSchuler2 is open to the public with Roots Digger under construction in the update process.

How am I related to GV?

3rd cousin

Veraldine Louise SMALL (1901 - 1990)
mother of GV

Annie May PEMBERTON (1880 - 1951)
mother of Veraldine Louise SMALL

Elizabeth SCHULER (1842 - 1915)
mother of Annie May PEMBERTON

John SCHULER (1815 - 1875)
father of Elizabeth SCHULER

John SCHULER (1841 - 1916)
son of John SCHULER

William John SCHULER (1871 - 1964)
son of John SCHULER

Mildred Louise SCHULER (1919 - 2008)
daughter of William John SCHULER

Selma Ethel KAMPE
You are the daughter of Mildred Louise SCHULER

Thank you to everyone who posts public trees! Thank you to My Heritage for your DNA matching program! Thank you to LAGHS, Lockport Area Genealogical & Historical Society for scanning area records! I have found many family clues that are not available elsewhere. Thank you to Ancestry for providing access to these records. Everything a family historian finds, every record, every tree should be used as a clue to dig, dig, dig! Verify as much of your information as you can. If it comes from a family story, that is your source! Where did you find that piece of information?

Veraldine Louise Small:

Name Veraldine Louise Small source: baptismal records, Methodist Church.  Ancestry.com. Lockport Area, Illinois, Church, Cemetery, and Other Records, 1811-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: Genealogical Records. Lockport Area Genealogical and Historical Society, Lockport, Illinois.

Birth: 2 July 1901 from a private tree, about 1902 is the date given in four US census records on Ancestry.

Baptism: 25 December 1905, Methodist church, Lockport, Illinois. R.H. Dollliver, pastor. Ancestry.com. Lockport Area, Illinois, Church, Cemetery, and Other Records, 1811-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Genealogical Records. Lockport Area Genealogical and Historical Society, Lockport, Illinois.

First marriage: Paul Powers (abt 1901- ) 15 August 1923. Cook County, Illinois. Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois Marriage Indexes, 1912-1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Private donor.

Second marriage: Roy Weldon Chaney (1885-1968) 20 January 1928 Lockport Methodist church, Lockport, Illinois. Ancestry.com. Lockport Area, Illinois, Church, Cemetery, and Other Records, 1811-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Genealogical Records. Lockport Area Genealogical and Historical Society, Lockport, Illinois.

Third marriage: Roy Littlejohn 21 June 1943, Cook County, Illinois. Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1930-1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Cook County Clerk, comp. Cook County Clerk Genealogy Records. Cook County Clerk’s Office, Chicago, IL: Cook County Clerk, 2008.

Death: 1990 Gary, Indiana, private information. My goal is to search further for a death certificate and or obituary.

See Roots Digger family tree under construction on Ancestry for more family details.