Help finding a Great Great Grandmother

+6 votes
204 views
Health issues (seizures) have kept me away from my computer and also my family tree research as well. I know my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and for the most part great great grandparents, and in some lines even much further out. But one empty space eludes me - my paternal grandmother's father's mother, so my GG Grandmother. There are conflicting names for her on a few different sources, and most people have his stepmother listed as his biological mother in their trees, but I know this is wrong, there is plenty of documentation proving who his mother is not, if that makes sense.  I about pulled my hair out just trying to narrow down my great grandfather's year of birth bc of conflicting documentation. Throw into the mix his father actually changed the spelling of their last name at some point, and possibly his own first name. Every time I think I am "close" to an answer, I just confuse myself and since my seizures I have been having memory issues as well. Basically I am a mess and I cannot remember what information have or don't have until I've read it 10 times and I could use any kind of help. I know I didn't include any useful information within this question, but I figured if you read it to the end and you think you can help me, you would know. :)
in Genealogy Help by Kimberly Skates G2G Crew (320 points)
retagged by Ellen Smith

Your looking for Lee Baughman (1899 - 1957) mother? I created his profile you can adopt. If I find any sources will try to help best I can smiley

Yes! That would be the one! I have been trying to work on adding the sources I do have available to me here this morning, but it's slow going. Many people have just put Emma Gilmore in that spot, but that is his stepmother, he was already an adult when his "father" married Emma. Lee married his step-sister Lillian, my great grandmother (who was a child when their parents married.) I suspect Lee was the product of an affair of some sort. Some people list his father's mother as his mother, and his father Levi, also went by the nickname Lee on some documents as far as I can tell and my brain just went kapoot just thinking about it.
Family search doesn’t list his mother yet however shows 10 sources for Lee
Family search does show Levi as Lee’s father as does find a grave so need a source for Lee’s mother. I did a quick obit search just didn’t find a obit yet

I’m thinking a good obit from that generation or era of a relative could shed some light on who the mother is. Also dna might help. I can see the dilemma laugh

I do have his stepmother, Emma's obit somewhere, cannot remember offhand if he is mentioned. There must have been some sort of falling out bc my Great Grandmother is listed as a stepchild of Emma's even tho she is biologically hers. Dern dead people and their secrets...
I have done DNA and have found a few Bachman/Baughman cousins, but unfortunately the people I have struck up conversations with seem to disappear into thin air when my Great Grandfather is mentioned. From all accounts even from his own children he wasn't a very nice man & it seems my Great Grandmother was more than likely forced into the marriage after she became pregnant, willingly or not. I believe their first son was born only a few months after their marriage, if I remember correctly.
Your not alone. My own research led me to orphanages and language barriers and multiple marriages and half siblings etc which makes it very challenging. The elusive source to tie it all together can be frustrating to find. Maybe a higher level of Wikitree skills out there will find something but a good start is to build the tree add the family you can source like you have done so far.
I watched a great documentary about a great-great-nephew trying to find his missing relative, Harold Heaven. It really helped me understand that I may never find the answers to my questions, and that's OK. But that doesn't mean I have to try to stop finding them. I have one Great Aunt remaining alive and all she would tell me is I will never figure it out. ARGH!!
On Find A Grave is listed an Obit on what is listed as Levi 's brother Henry, b 1857.  Take a look .  Lists Mothers name as Margaret Landis.  Might be a lead to follow for proof.

Henry Bachman was born on the 9th of April 1854 to Levi & Margaret (Landis) Bachman. In 1871 he married Phebe Severence, daughter of Walden & Elizabeth (Foreman) Severence, and she preceded him in death in 1887. After which he married her sister Anice.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/228543986/henry-bachman

That’s great! The more siblings the better I’ve found in my research of some ancestors as there is usually one that will have that missing piece of the puzzle yes

The Bachman/Severence families are so intertwined it boggles my mind! I have even reached out to the person that admins the tree for some NW Ohio Genealogy thing and have never gotten an answer. I do think the answer to my question lies somewhere within a Severence/Bachman connection. Sometimes I feel like the answer is probably so obvious its staring me right in the face and I'm just not connecting the right dots!

To follow up with Sandra’s response. 

Henry’s FindAGrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/228543986/henry-bachman

Shows mother 

See Margaret Landis Bachman her findagrave link

Margaret would be Lee's Grandmother, his father Levi's mother whose father was also named Levi.
Worth  checking on as a lead.

marriage of Lee, says he had been married once before
Lee Baughman

in the Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993
Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993

Name:     Lee Baughman
Gender:     Male
Age:     42
Birth Date:     abt 1873
Marriage Date:     10 May 1915
Marriage Place:     Lucas, Ohio, USA
Father:    
Levi Baughman
Mother:    
Margaret Laudis
Spouse:    
Ida M. Hicks
Film Number:     002132745
i
That’s correct. Margaret would be the grandmother. Definitely a mystery who Lee’s mother is

1 Answer

+10 votes

Kimberly, I am so glad that you are recovered enough to be back at work here, and also that you have gotten some answers about your great great grandmother.

WikiTree has a fairly new project called Accessibility Angels.  Their purpose is to assist members who have any problems using WikiTree.  You might want to click that link and ask for someone in the project to pair up with you to make it easier to do things on WikiTree.

by Gaile Connolly G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
I will definitely check that out! Thank you.

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