Brothers

I concentrated on the Boone County, Iowa area hoping to find Oliver's father. The only clue I had was Orlow. I found a listing for O.G. Oviatt which could be Orlow. In the index books I also found listings for additional Oviatt's. My plan was to check each of the names with the hope of  finding a connection somewhere, somehow...

O.G. Orlow was living with his brother, Andrew - this could be Orlow since the age and birth state matched.

1860 Census, Boone, Iowa; Roll: M653 312,Page: 319,Family History Library Film: 803312.

A few houses from Orlow was a listing for John P. Oviatt. Children did not always show up in the index books which made it difficult to target the name Oliver Oviatt. I was fortunate that Oliver was born around 1858 so he would probably show up in the 1860 Census.

BINGO... Oliver found - living with his father, John P. Oviatt and his mother, Elizabeth Oviatt. THRILLING!

I spent a great deal of time analyzing the data; carefully transcribing the information such as age, sex, place of birth and occupation. In addition to the facts shown above the 1860 Census also showed value of estate owned which is represented by the $2000 and $500 - value of real estate and value of personal estate.What seems modest today was substantial 150 years ago.

For many years researchers worked without indexes to most of the censuses. Slowly, over the years, indexing was completed for the earlier census records. Of course these indexes were published in books, not on the internet! The government provided a "soundex" index for some of the censuses 1880 and later, which is available on film. Now there are online and CD indexes to the censuses. 

The online census indexes are easy and convenient, but they contain errors and problems. Sometimes the book index or soundex is just what you need to find your ancestor in the census. If all else fails and going through the census page by page in the area where you think your ancestor should be is the only way to uncover them. Book indexes can be found at major genealogy libraries and are quite straightforward to use, although you have to watch for indexing problems. Using the soundex can be trickier, although again technology has come to our rescue and there are online aids. If you are going to use any post 1870 census records--and unless you and all your U.S. ancestors died prior to 1880  those records are essential.

Back to 1880

My next search was to see if I could find Oliver with his parents in the 1880 census. My excitement was bubbling over when I spotted a listing for him in Boone County, IA. Searching the record I discovered he was listed as a nephew in the home of Orlow Oviatt. Since the last name was the same logically this must be his father's brother. Okay - not as much luck as I had hoped for but definitely another clue.

1880 Census,  Cass, Boone County, Iowa; roll T9 328, Family History Film 1254328, Page: 212.4000, Enumeration District: 13

Being new to family history research I knew there were other types of records available but I decided to stay with the census data (for now, anyway). Later I did expand my research to birth, death and regional records. My next step was to check to see if I could locate Orlow Oviatt in the 1870 census - hoping for further connections.

More excitement - he was listed in the 1870 census. My enthusiasm was quickly dashed when I found him residing in the household of Job B. Vernon. His occupation was listed as Farmer. Could there was a connection between the Oviatt's and Vernon's?  In my research since I have not found any link between them - he was probably working the farm with Job Vernon.

In genealogy there is a technique called "cluster" genealogy, which is the practice of branching out beyond one's ancestor to research individuals and families that are connected in some way. Often people in the same location are linked either by family or marriage so the connection with the Vernon's was plausible.

Had I been more intuitive and educated on Cluster Genealogy I may not have missed a valuable connection in the 1880 census that I had just transcribed. Later on I came back to the 1880 census looking for additional ancestors. On the same page that listed Orlow I discovered a connection to the Hurst family. Oliver Oviatt's wife, Roxie is Roxanne Hurst. William Buck is the nephew of Leander Hurst, the grandfather of Roxanne and Melinda Williams is her aunt. It truly is a small world.

At the time I had no idea that William Buck and L.B. Williams would be a connection.

EUREKA - Oliver Oviatt found

Unlike internet research of today a location as well as a name was needed to begin. I knew that my father was born in Iowa, and felt pretty sure that my grandfather was also born in Iowa. Since he was born in the mid 1880's the logical place to start would be the 1890 census.

Sadly, most of the original 1890 population schedules were destroyed or badly damaged by a fire in the Commerce Department in 1921. Records enumerating only 6,160 individuals—less than one percent of the schedules—survived. Unfortunately, Iowa data was lost, which meant I needed to start with 1900.

My excitement was hard to contain when I found a listing for Oliver V Oviatt in Boone County, Iowa. The listing referenced the number of the roll and the location of the listing. Being a "newbie" to the world of microfilmed data I quickly learned to thread the reels onto the reader and scan through to my desired page.

BINGO - there he was.

1900 United States Federal Census, Cass Township, Boone County, Iowa,  pg 29A, line 41

Photocopying the actual pages wasn't possible at that time. It was necessary to transcribe the data onto paper forms (only pencils were allowed - no pens). Care had to be taken to make sure the data was transcribed correctly. Each corresponding line had to be copied - tedious work, but none-the-less exciting. So much can be learned by analyzing each entry, each line and each mark. In today's genealogy world it is easy to become a lazy family historian. If the only form of research is importing data into a software program a connection can be missed.

It is now possible to download copies and save them directly onto a hard-drive or insert the image into a family tree. Don't misunderstand - this is fantastic if used in conjunction with traditional sources. I started using Family Tree Maker in the early 1990's (version 1) and have upgraded over the years. I thought about changing software platforms but decided to stay put. I believe I am using FTM 2010.

In addition to Oliver I also found Roxie, my great grandmother, my grandfather, Charles L and his siblings.

Wow - what a find! 

Little did I know that the "iceberg" loomed below. 

Oliver Oviatt, my first clue

Before the internet, census research consisted of a visit to a family history or a state library. Census information consists of  reels of microfilmed information housed in large filing cabinets. All types of data is cross-referenced in books that list names in census, birth, state and family records (if we are lucky). 

I soon found out that not all records are referenced and not all references are correct. "People" transcribe names and handwriting can be interpreted differently. In addition to this, census takers often spelled names phonetically which means Oviatt could be spelled Ovet, Oviet, Oviat (many variations). 

The process consists of hauling large books from shelves and thumbing through lists of surnames until... EUREKA!

The excitement of finding a link is thrilling!

I was fortunate to live in an area with access to the large family history library at the Oakland LDS church as well as the Sutro library in San Francisco.

The first step was my father, LeRoy Oviatt

My father, LeRoy Ellsworth (Roy) Oviatt was born to Charles LeRoy (Ray) Oviatt and Ruth Huxtable. He had one sister, Irene Lillian Oviatt. His parents divorced and Ruth remarried having one more daughter, Wilhelmina Sophia Werner, my father's half-sister.

My father, LeRoy Ellsworth Oviatt and my grandfather, Charles LeRoy Oviatt

.  Charles LeRoy Oviatt b. 20 Dec 1886, Madrid, Boone Count, IA, d.22 Jan 1983, Centralia, WA
       m. 01 Sep 1914 to Ruth Huxtable b. 23 Sep 1898, Plainville, WI, d. Jun 1975, Denver, CO
..  LeRoy Ellsworth Oviatt, b 22 Jan 1918, Sioux City, IA, d. 18 Jan 1990, Centralia, WA
.. Irene Lillian Oviatt, b 17 Nov 1919, Sioux City, IA

Charles LeRoy Oviatt 









My father had a note with the names Oliver and Roxy on a pad which served as my first clue. Being new to genealogy I started with a visit to the family history library at the LDS church in Oakland. This was long before access to information on the internet. I discovered the best place to start was the census data.
 

Who was John P. Oviatt?

I started looking into my past long before it became fashionable. A couple of years before my father's death he had become interested in finding his lineage which peaked my interest. I decided I would take up the challenge and continue the quest.

I started researching the Oviatt lineage shortly after my father's death in 1990. I found a few notes - bits of papers, with names scribbled on them - people who were unfamiliar to me. I fell in love with genealogy and research.

More than 20 years later I have answers, but also questions.  My quest has taken me from Centralia, Washington to California back to Iowa, over to Ohio and further east to Massachusetts and Connecticut.  The intensity of my research has varied depending on what was happening in my life – similar to surfing the waves on the beach.  At times I  float along while other times I ride the wave enjoying the experience of the search.

My plan is to share my journey and research with the hope that others might fill in the missing pieces. Together we might be able to solve this mystery. To start with I want to share what I have discovered - information that is substantiated by source information. In the genealogy world of today it is tempting to "log on", download, reprint and republish information that may or may not be correct. My early research has shown up in many family trees since the popularity of internet. I have furthered my research and expanded my own family tree. However, the father of John P. Oviatt still eludes me.