Monday, March 21, 2022

William (A.?) Bates, Research Report, the As It Is Series

Copyright 2022, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

This continues a series of posts, done in a very efficient (make that speedy fast) manner to share some research on the ancestors.  This is NOT intended to be the end all to end all report.  It's a work in progress, to show you what I have found, right or wrong. Kind feedback is welcomed via comments.

Let's begin:

Meet William (A.?) Bates:

First, William and his parents:


We have found him, or who we think is William, as plain ole William and then as William A. We are sure his parents are Newton and Phila. 

Now, let see him with parents and his only sibling:


It is important, in my research, to show and acknowledge his brother, Harold.  Because, frankly, who I really want the goods on, is Harold.   It's a messy story, but, Harold was married to my great-grandmother's sister, Leverta, or Laverta or, well, you know, several other spellings.  I have written about Leverta at least 3 times here on Reflections over the years.  

But, let's continue talking about William for now - - - 

William Bates
in the 1880 United States Federal Census
Name: William Bates
Age: 6/12
Birth Date: Abt 1880
Birthplace: New York
Home in 1880: Homer, Cortland, New York, USA
House Number: 13
Dwelling Number: 122
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's Name: Newton Bates
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Name: Phila Bates
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Occupation: At Home
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members Age Relationship
Newton Bates  37 Self (Head), piano tuner (in prior census reports he is a wagon maker, etc.)
Phila Bates  23 Wife
Harold Bates  3 Son
William Bates 6/12 Son

We have not found William on the 1900 Census. 

We believe it is very possible this is our William.  See intake cards, reference to father being piano tuner and uncle Robert Busby, uncle:

William A Bates
in the New York, U.S., Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1830-1920
Name: William A Bates
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Birth Year: abt 1880
Birth Place: Homer, Cortland, New York
Admission Date: 1907
Father's Birth Place: Homer, Cortland, New York
Mother's Birth Place: Cortland, Cortland, New York

On this form it has a lot of information, interesting to note that it says his father was a piano tuner and wagon maker.


On this form, it states that Robert Busby is William's uncle, and yes, I chased that down as well.  Robert is brother of Phila Bushby, William's mother.


This MIGHT be our William, I tend to believe so after reading the Almshouse admission data:

William Bates
in the 1910 United States Federal Census
Name: William Bates
Age in 1910: 30
Birth Date: 1880
[1880]
Birthplace: New York
Home in 1910: Cortlandville, Cortland, New York, USA
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Inmate
Marital Status: Single
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Native Tongue: English
Occupation: Farm Laborer
Industry: Almshouse Farm
Employer, Employee or Other: Wage Earner
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members Age Relationship
E Parks  43 Head
E Parks  42 Wife
H.D. Convern  56 Hired Man
E Convern  37 Sister-in-law
William M Marbel  47 Hired Man
M Marbel  35 Servant
G Sens  31 Nurse
L Sens  3 Daughter
William Bates 30 Inmate

At this point in my research, I could find no more references to William, no census past 1910, no Find A Grave memorial, nothing.  So, I started checking the State of New York death indexes, from 1910 through 1920, year by year.  I found any number of William Bates, some of whom I could eliminate, others, I could not.

Stymied, I went on a research tangent with Harold and the 6 ladies Harold named in his will, in addition to his wife, who sadly was living in an institution.  This involved a deep dive into a woman by the name of Eva Blakeslee.  And, I found this 1925 New York State census:

Wm Bates
in the New York, U.S., State Census, 1925
Name: Wm Bates
Gender: Male
Color or Race: White
Age: 46
Birth Date: abt 1879
Birth Place: USA
Residence Date: 1925
Residence Place: Salina, Onondaga
Relationship: Boarder
Assembly District: 01
Line Number: 32
Page number: 16
Household Members Age Relationship
Frank Baseslee  28 Head
Eva Baseslee  36 Wife,  *Its Blakeslee
Condetia Dunston 8 Stepdaughter (Step Daughter), *actually Melita
Nellie Dunston  5 Stepdaughter (Step Daughter)
Lester Eastman  32 Boarder
Wm Bates 46 Boarder

And again, I lost the trail.  William is NOT living with Eva's family in the 1930 census enumeration.

Back to the New York State death indexes starting in 1925.  When I hit the index for 1928, I did find this, which is very interesting:

William Bates, died 14 January, 1928, at Onondaga, certificate 5323.  Loaded with this possibility, I researched at Find A Grave again, and for an obituary at my two usual haunts, GenealogyBank and Newspapers dot com.  After no hits, I did also visit the great site Old Fulton New York Post Cards, where sadly, the search was also empty.

Am I sure this William in the Almshouse in the 1907 to 1911 era is the William I seek?  Newp.  Not positive, but those references to his father and uncle are quite convincing.

Am I sure this William with Eva on the 1925 is the William I seek? Newp.  Not totally positive, beyond a doubt.

Do I have any idea where William may be interred?  Newp.

We will note, that William is NOT named in the reference I have to his brother Harold's probate case, dated 1937.

Sigh.


* Disclaimers, I use Find A Grave, Ancestry dot com, FamilySearch, several newspaper subscriptions, free sites, such as Virginia Chronicles, Virginia Chancery Cases online at the Library of Virginia and more to research my ancestors.  I pay for subscriptions, full price.

** My judgements may or may not be correct.  Transcriptions may or may not have errors.

*** Links, URL's, for the most part will not be included henceforth on my posts, as so many of them change and then I have to come back and try to re-discover and relink.  Frankly folks, I have no desire to spend my limited time here on this side of the sod with those kinds of do overs.  As researchers, or just members of the internet community, sites such as Find A Grave are easy to find, some are free to use and with the information I am sharing with you, hopefully, you can duplicate the research/findings. That said, I have seen memorials at Find A Grave be removed.  If you have questions, I suggest you leave a nice comment for me. OR find the method I have outlined on my blog for contacting me.

**** I hope the usual happens, within hours, sometimes minutes, I do another search and something shows up.  Well, I can hope.

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