Emma L BAUMGARTEN 1896-1970 married William F ZIELKE

   ZIELKE
William F. Zielke, veteran of World War 1, June 10 [1966], beloved husband of Emma, nee Baumgarten; dear father of the late Gilbert; fond grandfather of Mark;... read the rest of his obituary in the Chicago Tribune, 11 June 1966 on Newspapers.com.
   ZIELKE
Emma Zielke, nee Baumgarten, of Brighton Park, beloved wife of the late William; loving mother of the late Gilbert; dearest grandmother of Mark; dear sister of Walter (Emily) Baumgarten and Marie (William) Schrader;... read the rest of her obituary in the Chicago Triune, 10 December 1970 on Newspapers.com.

Emma L Baumgarten is my second cousin two times removed. I do not like the expression "removed." but that is the technical wording. The whole Baumgarten family has been a series of twists and turns. It appears that each generation has the same names recycled over and over again. Emma presented a different problem. Beside Emma L, I also have Emma Emelie in the same generation. Now back to Emma L and my confusion with her family. Emma was born 9 July 1896 in Lockport, Will County, Illinois. In 1919 according to the Cook County marriage index, Emma married William F. Zielke of Chicago. This should be simple, just find an Emma and William about their age in the U.S. census in Chicago.

Who would have planned for two different Emma's marring two different William's. Naturally, I only found one in the beginning in the 1930 census, so attached the wrong census to my family. My family was married in 1919, the other Emma and William were married in 1911.One family, the one I wrongly added to my tree, had five children. The correct family had only one son, Gilbert.
It has taken several full days of research to finally correct my mistake. I was able to find Zeilke obituaries on Newspapers.com. What are the odds of two Emma and William Zeilke would be raising families in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois at the same time.

My lesson is to always look for more than one source for information. Question my own research. Do NOT believe trees or census, these are only hints. AND apologize to the Zielke family for adding the wrong people to my Baumgarten tree. If it were not a question from a cousin, I would not have found this mistake. We all need to work together!!! Any suggestions for my tree, see Roots Digger family tree (under construction) on Ancestry.com. happy tree climbing and roots digging, Selma

Lester Daniel CAPPS 1878-1947 & 4 wives

   Why start a Do Over or Work Over? Mistakes!!! Read EVERY document. How much was missed or misinterpreted because I did not completely glean every paper. My example: Lester Daniel CAPPS born 1878 in Iowa and died 1947 in South Dakota.
   If only census records were searched, Lester would have had one or maybe two wives and two children. Without looking closer, possibly his children would be linked to the wrong wife. Let us start working back as we do in genealogy. US census for 1940 has Lester and Kathryn only. US census for 1930 has son, Chauncy and his wife Joan. Lester's wife is Mabel. In the 1920 US census, Lester, Mabel and two children Edna and Chauncy. In the 1910 US census, Lester, Stella and two children Edna and Chauncy. Remember, the census enumerator asks about the relationship to the head of the household, not to each other.
   Let us look further, again starting from the most recent and working backward. On 29 October 1836, Lester married Kathryn Krudwig Nichols. This was his fourth marriage and her second marriage. WOW! Three more marriage records to find! Thanks to Ancestry this task has been completed. On 26 November 1930, Lester married Emma Wood, number three. On 9 October 1915, Lester married Mabel Hall, number two. Mabel is listed as divorced; Lester is listed as widower. About 1901, Lester married Stella Mae Mitchell, number one. according to the 1910 US census, Stella and Lester had two children, Edna and Chauncy. Stella Mae Mitchell is the mother of Edna and Chauncy. If I had stopped with the 1920 and 1930 census, I would have guessed wrong, assuming Mabel as their mother. This accounts for the four wives. So far, I have not found any other children for Lester.
   What is my connection to Lester? Lester Daniel CAPPS is brother-in-law of my first cousin twice removed. This is on my paternal ELSNER line. For my tree, see Roots Digger family tree on Ancestry.
   How come I am chasing this far out? Lester's wife may be a DNA match. Also, I have found newspaper articles on other family members that have given me clues.