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Weird Findings

I came across the 1930 census that lists my husbands grandfather in the home of his father, both Clarence Mathieus, but the mother was listed as Elizabeth W. Her name was Gertrude Oliver Mathieu.

My other odd finding was discharge papers from the Confederate Army for a gentleman Jas. T. Colley. I also found stock certificates in his daughters names. I have no idea how the papers came to be in my grandmothers possession.

Have you come across any odd things you can't explain? Anyone care to help with and guesses as to the name differential?

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Permalink Reply by Deason Hunt on April 19, 2018 at 1:44pm

Hi Cindy. I subsequently tracked down my Marvin Hunt. He was the son of a first cousin of my grandfather Joseph Lafayette Hunt. Marvin's mother had died, and his father was living with his brother in that 1930 census. I know of no other details or reasons as to why Marvin was in my grandfather's home and listed as adopted. At least I solved the mystery from my standpoint. It is a perfect example, just like yours, as to why we should question facts from as official a source as the federal government if we have knowledge of other facts concerning the matter. At least we can explain what we found in a footnote to what the census has wrong. I'm glad you also came to a resolution of your confusing records from the census.

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Pirani on April 19, 2018 at 1:56pm

I found another odd one just today. A marriage record where Ancestry interpreted the first name as Jesse. However, if you follow the document and the handwriting throughout the document, you know it is not Jesse. According to how the writer wrote his or her letters, the name is actually Jepe, or Jep with a flourish on the end of the p. I suppose the person transcribing it for Ancestry couldn't figure out what the name was and guessed that it was Jesse.

Weird Findings

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