by Paula Stuart-Warren, CG

Many of us have someone in the family tree who just disappeared–maybe for a few years or “forever.” The reason may never be clear, but some knowledge of the family dynamics and of the history and economics of the time might help. Back in 2005, I did an article on this topic. That article covered some records to use in looking for missing ancestors. Today I am offering some specific reasons why family members may have disappeared.

Land
The ads that appeared in older newspapers promised inexpensive and fertile land. Did Uncle Harry succumb to one of these ads while his wife Annie did not? The U.S. Homestead Act of 1862 enticed many to move “westward,” but the rest of the family may not have followed.

Land colonization companies and railroads enticed settlers westward in both the U.S. and in Canada. Check out the Saskatchewan Homestead Index that covers land purchases from 1872-1930. Use the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s website for more searching. Advertisements in newspapers all around the world promised the perfect lands and eager people traveled to these places. What was appearing in the newspaper in your ancestor’s home town? Did your Indian ancestor move because of a treaty that took away their land?

Gold Rushes
Talk about eager people–the various gold rushes that occurred in the U.S. and other countries attracted a wide variety of fortune seekers. Again, the family may not have followed the seeker. The most talked about rush is the California rush in the late 1840s, but others occurred in Alaska beginning in 1849, with the most famous ones in the 1890s.

The Yukon area of Canada also drew 1890s rush fever. Colorado drew seekers in 1858. South Dakota’s Black Hills drew fortune hunters in the 1870s. Check out some overland routes to the various rushes at the Overland Trail website. I had a cousin leave Scotland for the gold fields of  Australia in the 1850s.

Railroads
As the railroads moved westward, there was an explosion of advertising. They had land to settle and in turn those settlers would utilize the rails for travel and for shipping goods. Another part of the westward expansion was that railroad workers often followed the rails. Hobos moved further west along the tracks. Follow the railroad routes via maps in many books and also at the Library of Congress website. Checking indexes and records in places along a route leaving the old home town might yield details on a missing relative.

Family Dynamics
Did the birth of the twelfth child create a crisis that caused either mother or father to leave? Did the judgmental and vocal mother-in-law living with a family cause a split? A loss of income, of the home, post-war stress, an illness in the family, or some other issue may have resulted in a family member “running away.”

The oft told story is that, “No one ever heard from Uncle Harry again.” Don’t let this stop you–a probate record, an obituary, or a photo album of some relative might mention Harry. The local news columns might mention Harry having returned for his mother’s funeral and then moving westward again. There might be just one relative that Harry kept in touch with and that relative’s descendants might have some clues. This is just one more reason for doing “whole family research.”

A granduncle of mine abandoned his family. A wonderful completely searchable website of newspapers from a city where my maternal grandfather’s family resided for many years recently yielded many stories about the granduncle and his problems with the law as a young child. I do have some stories from my mother that show these problems continued into adulthood. I have already backed up most of these with research in court records. Could his actions have been the result of him being very young when his father died?

Religious and Ethnic Concerns
Did the person feel that the religion of the family was too strict? Or perhaps when a pastor moved on, part of the family followed? Was there ethnic prejudice? Did a Black or Indian ancestor feel that moving to a new place would lessen the hassles of everyday life?

Hollywood
Did the burgeoning movie industry of the early twentieth century draw your relative to California? I have relatives who moved to the Los Angeles area between the 1910 and 1920 censuses. So far, I haven’t found a movie industry connection, but was it just the aura of that era?

Wanderlust
Plain and simple–some people just can’t stay put. We will never know the reasons why an ancestor fit this profile. Was it an emotional factor? Was it due to an inability to deal with everyday life? Was it the sense of adventure, the thrill of finding and living in a new place, then moving on once “too many” people settled there?

The Weather? Health?
Today folks in the northern climes of the U.S. and Canada travel south in the winter to avoid the cold and snow. Some went to the Hot Springs area of Arkansas (or one of many other areas with mineral springs) for the health benefits that were advertised. The weather in some climates may have promised better health or cures for some disease.

Economy?
Might the bleak job outlook in an area cause someone to go to the big city to work? In Minnesota folks from rural areas did–and still do–travel to the “cities” to get work (the cities being the “Twin Cities” of St. Paul and Minneapolis).

Hope for These Searches
With the wealth of information now available online in the form of databases and online newspapers, we have now have a better chance of finding elusive relatives. I have been able to follow some elusive relatives thanks to Ancestry.com and might never have found that one Minnesota man in Arizona without it. Don’t give up the search, keep checking for more information within the records of the other relatives and don’t forget to check back to see what new items are online.

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Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, a Minnesota resident, is a professional genealogist, consultant, writer, and lecturer who is frequently on-the-road. She coordinates the American Records Course at the annual Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. She writes for several periodicals including Ancestry Magazine. Comments and additions to her columns will reach her at [email protected] or via her blog www.PaulaStuartWarren.blogspot.com. She regrets that she is unable to answer individual inquiries due to the volume of requests. From time to time, comments from readers may be quoted in her writings. Your name will not be used, but your place of residence might be listed (i.e. Watertown, Wisconsin).
      
Appearances by Paula Stuart-Warren, CG
(I enjoy meeting fellow genealogists at these events so please introduce yourself as an Ancestry Weekly Journal and 24/7 Family History Circle reader. Many of you do take me up on this suggestion!)

• 03-06 September 2008, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference 
• 12-13 September 2008, Tampa, Florida
  Florida Genealogical Society of Tampa Fall Seminar