My biggest brick wall in my genealogy has always been my great grandfather, George M. Rogers. My hope is that by writing this out, I will get new ideas as to other places to search. I also hope that anyone else out there looking for George will be able to connect with me and we can share information. I'd also be happy to take any suggestions or comments - I am here to learn!
Back Story
I know very little about George and the few stories I have from family members haven't helped me at all - and truthfully, I am not even sure if they are true. Unfortunately, my dad's side of the family does not talk much about family and no one seems to know much. There aren't many older people alive on my dad's side of the family - only my aunt and my dad.
George's Story
George M. Rogers was born about 1882 in James County, Tennessee (Sources 1-5)
I don't have George in the 1900 Census. My guess is that he might be in Tennessee (he was born there) or Arkansas (he enlisted into the army in Little Rock, Arkansas.
However, I have George enlisting in the Army in Little Rock, Arkansas on the 7 of November 1904 (Source 3). His occupation before signing up is listed as farm hand, which makes me wonder if his family lives on a farm. Here is where it gets interesting though: under the remarks section of his enlistment record, it says "Disclid Nov 6, 07 at Fort Mott, NJ ???????". I can't read most of what it says in this section, so if anyone wants to help me out by telling me what this section says I would greatly appreciate it (click here to see the image on Ancestry.com)
George reappears in 1908 by enlisting in the army in Missouri. (Source 4)
George then appears in the 1910 U.S. Census at Fort Casey, King County, Washington. He is a soldier. (Source 2)
George reenlists into the army in 1911 in Missouri. According to this source, he is honorably discharged on Sept 26, 1914. (Source 5)
I believe George served in WWI (that is what I've been told by family members and I have some old notes my grandma wrote that correspond to this). But I have yet to find a service record for this. However, I think it will just take me longer to find his service record since his name is so common.
I have not been able to find George in the 1920 census. To be honest, I have no idea where he would be.
I believe George married my great grandmother, Julia Margaret Morris around 1923 (Source 1).
George and Julia's daughter, Nancy Jean Rogers (my grandmother) is born on 13 Dec 1924.
George, Julia, and Nancy appear on the 1930 U.S. Census in Seattle, King, Washington (Source 1).
My Goals andQuestions to be Answered
- When was George born exactly?
- Did George have any siblings?
- Find George in the 1900 U.S. Census.
- What was the names of George's parents?
- Find a marriage record for Julia and George.
- Where is George buried?
- When exactly did George die?
- Why was he in Arkansas when he first enlisted with the military?
- He was a postal worker in 1930 - are there any records that come from this?
- Did he serve in WWI?
- Did he recieve a pension for his service in WWI (assuming he served)?
Closing Notes
As you can tell, I do not have much on him. I know I have not exhausted all avenues of possible records - which is half of the reason I wrote this post. I wanted to lay everything out - be able to see what I have and what I don't in an attempt to lead me to other possible sources. Still, if anyone has any ideas, suggestions, or comments I would love to hear them. I am open to everything.
To be honest, I think George intimidates me because he has such a common name and so little is known about him. I need to break this cycle of fear and learn to face these brick walls head on.
Sources (source notes in italic):
Source 1: 1930 U.S. Federal Census
1930 U.S. Federal Census, King County, Washington, population schedule, Seattle, Block Number 5439, enumeration district (ED) 189, Sheet 1B, Line 76, dwelling 25, family 25, George M. Rogers; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 23 August 2009); National Archives and Records Administration, T626.
Note: George is married to a Julia. George and Julia have a daughter named Nancy J. - Nancy is my grandmother.
Source 2: 1910 U.S. Federal Census
1910 U.S. Federal Census, King County, Washington, population schedule, Fort Casey, Coupeville Precinct, enumeration district (ED) 3, Sheet Number 9B, Line 69, dwelling 253, family 256, George M. Rogers; digital images, Ancestry (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 23 August 2009); National Archives and Records Administration, T624.
Note: Lists all soldiers as being part of "85 d Company" on the left side of the columns.
Source 3: Army Enlistment - 7 Nov 1904
Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94, "U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914," digital image, Ancestry, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 23 August 2009), George M. Rogers, enlistment date: 7 Nov 1904, number 1454; citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls.
Note: enlisted in Little Rock, Arkansas by Capt Wallace for a period of 3 years. He was born in James County, Tennessee. He is 22 years and 2 months old. His occupation is farmhand. He has blue eyes, dark brown hair, and tan skin. He is 5ft, 7 1/2 inches. He is in regiment G.J. E. Artry
Source 4: Army Enlistment - 7 Aug 1908
Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94, "U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914," digital image, Ancestry, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 23 August 2009), George M. Rogers, Enlistment Number: 1568, Enlistment Date: Aug 7 1908; citing Original data: Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls.
Note: enlisted at Jefferson Bks, Missouri by Capt Gregory for a period of 3 years. Born in James County, Tennessee. Age: 25 years, 11 months. Occupation: Clerk. Blue eyes, dark brown hair, fair skin. Height: 5ft 6 1/2 inches. Regiment: C.A Remarks: "Dis Aug 6, '11 at Fort Casey, Washington
Source 5: Army Enlistment - 27 Sept 1911
Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94, "U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914," digital image, Ancestry, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 23 August 2009), George M. Rogers, Enlistment number: 1905; citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls.
Note: Enlisted Sept 27, 1911 in Jefferson Bks, MO by Capt Bryan for a period of 3 years. Born in James County, Tennessee. He is 29 years and 1 month old. His occupation is a soldier. He has blue eyes, dark brown hair, and medium fair skin. He is 5 ft ?in tall. Regiment 8 Inf Q.M.C. Company H. Hon Dis Sept 26 1914
9 comments:
Elyse,
Your one item on George Rogers,
should read "Dischd" not "disclid".
This means "Discharged", the date he was released from military service.
Good Luck,
Dave Stanton
Washington Death index. There is one George M. Rogers in King County, Washington. Birth date is off. Looks as though wife's name is a nickname.
http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#c=1454923;p=2;t=searchable
If you know more about your g-grandmother Julia, it might be easier to find out more about George! If you know when she died, get a copy of her obituary to help lead you to more information.
From context, I would guess that "Disclid" is probably a hard to read "Dischd" abbreviation for "Discharged",
especially when you note that he enlisted in 1904 for three years and enlisted again in 1908.
That the text is hard to read, and the other enlistments do not seem to give the name of a commander, but some army division,
makes me wonder whether the "Artry" in "G.J.E. Artry" might be an abbreviation for "artillery".
You give his birth as "about 1882", but using the data available, you can do a lot better than that.
If he enlisted on 1904 Nov 7 and was 22 years and 2 months old, he was born around 1882 Sep, James County, Tennessee.
His age of 25 years and 11 months on 1908 Aug 7 also suggests 1882 Sep.
His age of 29 years and 1 month on 1911 Sep 27 suggests 1882 Aug.
So he was probably born in the latter half of 1882 Aug.
If all three intervals are correct, he was born between 1882 Aug 7 and 1882 Aug 27 (not included).
That is an interval of just 20 days, in a county that had a population of about 5000 people (says RootsWeb page).
Estimate replacement by next generation in 25 years: 5000 births in 25 years is 200 per year, is less than 11 per 20 days.
That makes me suggest looking through all the birth records for that period; that are probably just one or two dozen records.
However, the RootsWeb page for James county notes that "Records for the county are hampered by two courthouse fires, the first in Jan 1890 and the second in Mar 1913.".
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnjames/
It also notes that "After the county was disbanded, the records were sent to Hamilton County."
So they should know what records are and aren't available.
I searched WA records (at http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Search.aspx) but couldn't find a marriage for George and Julia or variations of their names. But I also noted that there were a total of 9 marriages in Pierce county (was Julia living in Tacoma?) for the decade 1920-1930, so clearly the records are incomplete.
WA Death records on familysearch labs also have a George M. Rogers d. 29 Aug 1956, Ft Steilacoom, Pierce county, WA, estimated b. 1882. If that might be him, you could ask the state library for an obituary search at http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/Obituaries.aspx -- they offer this as a free service, and they're really friendly and helpful.
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/get-service-records.html
Try to obtain his full military service record from the MPRC in St. Louis, ive persoanlly never done it but it could reveal if he served in WWI
i searched Veterans Gravesites with that information and no luck
Good luck,
Jake Fletcher
davewv and TamuraJones are correct: "Disclid" is actually "Disch'd" which stands for discharged. And I add my voice to those encouraging you to apply to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis for his service record. You can get the form you need from that website.
I also think that "G.J.E. Artry" means he was in an artillery unit. The Q.M.C. in that last enlistment record you cite could be Quartermaster Corps, which deals with supply.
Good luck.
Thanks for telling me that "disclid" is actually "Dischd" - discharged makes much more sense.
Thanks for the suggestion about checking out FamilySearch for his death information. I am ordering his possible death record next week (I want to make sure it is him).
I also used the Ask-A-Librarian request to see if maybe I could find George's obituary. Although honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if one didn't exist for him.
I can't find the obituary for Julia and according to my aunt she can't remember one being made - but I am still looking just in case.
Once I figure out some more information about George's military record, I am going to request his documents (I want to get as much information so the search for his documents will be easy when I request them).
I really appreciate all of the suggestions and I plan on writing an updated post with more information as I obtain it. I am really really hoping to break down this brick wall.
Hi Elyse, great blog. I hope you continue to find more luck in your search for records of your great grandfather. His level of detail is about the same as what I have for my own great grandfather, so it's heartening when I see others in a similar situation come closer to breaking down those walls.
Cheers,
John
In the US Army Record of Enlistments, what does the frequently-used abbreviation, "h & f" (lower-case letters) mean? "Health & Fitness?" "Healthy & fit?" "Hands & feet?" (still has all 4?) Other?
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