What to do when you have little or no info on someone?

Question

Hi again everyone! My current situation is this: I've finally found the name of my great-grandfather, Ray Parker's father. His name is Julius Parker. The problem I have is I know nothing else. No birthdate (just the estimate I made on here, which could be very wrong), no birth place, no death date, etc. I know his wife was Cora Johnson, and she was born in Tennessee.

How does one find anything out with such little information? I'm glad to have gotten through the brickwall I had originally, but this one is maddening, lol.

Edit: I forgot to add that Cora is listed as widowed in the 1900 Census, but listed as divorced in 1910. So I am honestly not sure what happened to Julius!

Answer 1

I think you set up the profiles perfectly - with your assumptions and your known references. Keep digging and something will come up.

If you absolutely know Ray's father is Julius, I would add the source as you (or your mother or father), rather than have an unsourced profile.

Answer 2

Julius Parker

United States Census, 1920

Name:	Julius Parker
Event Type:	Census
Event Year:	1920
Event Place:	Cleveland Ward 11, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States
Gender:	Male
Age:	45
Marital Status:	Married
Race:	Mulatto
Race (Original):	Mulatto
Relationship to Head of Household:	Head
Relationship to Head of Household (Original):	Head
Birth Year (Estimated):	1875
Birthplace:	Tennessee
Father's Birthplace:	Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace:	Tennessee

Household	Role	Gender	Age	Birthplace
Julius Parker	Head	M	45	Tennessee
Lucy Parker	Wife	F	45	Mississippi
George Hunt	Boarder	M	25	Mississippi
Mary Hunt	Boarder	F	27	Mississippi

District: 217 , Sheet Number and Letter: 9A , Household ID: 155 , Line Number: 18 , Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) , Affiliate Publication Number: T625 , GS Film number:

Comments

Interesting possibility, but here is their marriage record from 1918 (note that Julius says that he was married once before, but he is now a widower). He lists that he was born in Brownsville, Tennessee and that his parents are Richard Parker and Emma Gill: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDGJ-YDD Here is his death record from 1934: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X6QR-4P8 The thing is - both records list that he was black. All of your records for Robert C. Parker list that he was white. As such, I can't imagine that this is the same Julius Parker.

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I have not put down a Robert C Parker but a Julius Parker listed not as white but

Mulatto.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaMulatto is a term used to refer to a person who is born from one black parent and one white parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed white and black ancestry in any proportion:

 

Sorry, I see someone has put down a Robert C. Parker.

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Sorry - I didn't mean to say that you (Chris) had stated anything about Robert C. Parker.  Instead, I was referring to Ashley's Ancestry profile for Robert C. Parker, which contains several Census documents in which Robert is listed as white.

Answer 3

Well - there is one way that could possibly give you some answers - but it will cost you $27.

 

Looking at your Ancestry profile for Robert C. Parker, I noticed that he appears in the Social Security Death Index.  This means that he applied for Social Security (and given his age and work history, he probably applied in the mid-1930s), which means that you can obtain a copy of his SS-5 application, which is the form he filled out to apply for Social Security.

This page does a nice job explaining the value of the SS-5 for genealogy and explains how to obtain a record:

http://genealogy.about.com/od/online_records/a/ss5_request.htm

Given that Robert was born in 1890, this puts him over the age of 120 years old - which means that the Social Security Administration will send you his entire record.  Applicants had to state a specific birthplace in order to be approved, so at minimum, you could see the specific birthplace he listed (along with the parents he listed).

Just to give you a sense of the value of this record, here is one for a man who was born in 1870.  I had no other records listing his parents - but this SS-5 application led me to find him easily in both the 1880 and 1870 census:

http://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Flippen-13

Answer 4

Kingsport Times Nov 19 1929

NewspaperARCHIVE.com

Text:	".... What writer used the nom de fanity as he answered his request that the strikers permit the cotton to be unloaded. JuliusParker, bookkeeper for the mill, testified Hoffman "egged them on" when strikers..."
Date:	Nov 19 1929
Publication:	Kingsport, Tennessee, United States of America

 

Kingsport Times Dec 16 1925

NewspaperARCHIVE.com

Text:	".... At the same time .JuliusParker was elected chairman of tho Board of Directors, a newly created ofl'icc. COUSYS AGREE ON QUIET SEPARATION! Mrs. Colby Sailed For Paris to! Join Not I Ask Divorce NEW YORK, Doc..."
Date:	Dec 16 1925
Publication:	Kingsport, Tennessee, United States of America

 

Answer 5

The Dunkirk Observer-Journal Nov 28 1889

NewspaperARCHIVE.com

Text:	"... JuliusJParker to Lucy O Parker land in Pomfrel II. JuliusJParker to Lucy H Parker land in Fredotiia 81. For the cure of the inflamation and congestion called "a cold in the head" there is more potency..."
Date:	Nov 28 1889
Publication:	Dunkirk, New York, United States of America

The Dunkirk Observer

 

NewspaperARCHIVE.com

Text:	"... in around the places they called home w ere irritable and hard to said Dr JuliusParker Sedgwick, of Minneapolis specialist on children s diseases in charge of the Caserne Today thc> are well and happy..."
Date:	Dec 14 1917
Publication:	Dunkirk, New York, United States of America

 

Answer 6

I could not find the 1940 census but he was in it.

 

Julius Parker

1940 United States Federal Census

Birth:	Circa 1875 - Place
Residence:	1940 - Place
Child:	Name of child

 

Answer 7

Annie Parker

United States Census, 1920

Name:	Annie Parker
Event Type:	Census
Event Year:	1920
Event Place:	Election District 3, Anne Arundel, Maryland, United States
Gender:	Female
Age:	21
Marital Status:	Single
Race:	Black
Race (Original):	Black
Relationship to Head of Household:	Daughter
Relationship to Head of Household (Original):	Daughter
Birth Year (Estimated):	1899
Birthplace:	Maryland
Father's Birthplace:	Maryland
Mother's Birthplace:	Maryland

Household	Role	Gender	Age	Birthplace
Julius Parker	Head	M	46	Maryland
Rache Parker	Wife	F	43	Maryland
Annie Parker	Daughter	F	21	Maryland
Jennie Parker	Daughter	F	18	Maryland
Blanche Parker	Daughter	F	16	Maryland
Earnest Parker	Son	M	13	Maryland
Gresburg Parker	Son	M	8	Maryland
Edward Parker	Son	M	7	Maryland
Maggie Parker	Daughter	F	3	Maryland

District: 9 , Sheet Number and Letter: 8B , Household ID: 196 , Line Number: 53 , Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) , Affiliate Publication Number: T625 , GS Film number:

Answer 8

Annie M Parker United States Census, 1920 Name: Annie M Parker Event Type: Census Event Year: 1920 Event Place: Part Republic, Calvert, Maryland, United States Gender: Female Age: 37 Marital Status: Married Race: Black Race (Original): Black Relationship to Head of Household: Wife Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Wife Birth Year (Estimated): 1883 Birthplace: Maryland Father's Birthplace: Maryland Mother's Birthplace: Maryland Household Role Gender Age Birthplace Henry Parker Head M 38 Maryland Annie M Parker Wife F 37 Maryland Mary T Parker Daughter F 14 Maryland Horris Parker Son M 11 Maryland Eloise Parker Daughter F 7 Maryland Virginia Parker Daughter F 4 Maryland District: 32 , Sheet Number and Letter: 8B , Household ID: 157 , Line Number: 54 , Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) , Affiliate Publication Number: T625 , GS Film number:

Answer 9

If this is your Julius he had 9 siblings. I cannot find this census maybe some can?

 

Julius Parker

1880 United States Federal Census

Birth:	Circa 1876 - Place
Residence:	1880 - Place
Parents:	Names of both parents
Siblings:	Lorenzo Parker and names of 8 more siblings

 

Answer 10

Julius Parker

Tennessee Deaths, 1908 - 1933

Death:

Day Month 1922 - Place

Julius Parker

Tennessee Deaths, 1908 - 1933

Death:

Day Month 1918 - Place

 

 

Julius Parker

U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI)

   

Birth:	July 23 1874
Death:	Dec 1937
Last residence:	USA