“Batty Brock and the Research Plan: The Search for the Marriage Record for Charles Beverly Brock Raymond and Marie Marguerite Richards”
“Batty Brock and the Research Plan: The Search for the Marriage Record for
Charles Beverly Brock Raymond and Marie Marguerite Richards”
So, the research
plan got a new section, involving researching in New Brunswick, their birthplace. My attendance at a class at the monthly JewishGen
meeting also made me realize I was missing a whole group of people in my quest: FAN’s:
Friends, Associates and Neighbors.
They were added to the plan, too.
as inspired by Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS
My fifth cousin, Carol, is in the process of identifying all
the descendants of her ancestors, Azariah Perkins and his wife, Elizabeth Moss,
of New Brunswick, Canada, of which she and I are two. She inherited the project from her mother. In the midst of her research, she saw my query
asking about another descendant, my great-grandfather William Samuel Winslow Raymond,
also of New Brunswick. Her question, “How
are you related to William? He never married
and had no children” and my answer, “He did marry in Boston in 1902 and had seven
children and I’m the granddaughter of the eldest!” sent us on a merry chase, which
included much sharing of information, photos and more research. I’m happy to say that it also led to a wonderful
friendship.
During this process, Carol asked the question, “Did Charles Beverly
Brock Raymond, William’s younger brother, ever marry and, if so, who was she and
when and where did the marriage take place?”
It was a great research question, one that Dr. Jones would have liked. That was about ten years ago. My reply was premature. If he did, I said, it will be easily found as
it was probably in Boston, where Brock was a lawyer for many years. So much for optimism! The usual sources revealed nothing. But the evidence found indicated that they were
married.
Somewhere along
the way, I remembered that I owned the Family Bible. Aha! I thought. This will have the information! I hauled it out and found Brock’s name along with
his birth, on 10 June 1875, written in his mother’s, Elizabeth (McLeod) Raymond’s
handwriting. His death was also recorded,
on 26 February 1943, in my grandmother’s, Elizabeth MacLeod (Raymond) Jennerson’s
hand. There was no information about his
marriage.
The 1920, 1930 and
1940 census all listed Brock as married, about 1918. Even though his wife’s name is listed as “Carrie”
in 1920, her name was actually Marguerite Richards. A Brick Wall panel I attended suggested that Brock
was married twice, first to “Carrie” and second to Marguerite. Land records showed that this was not true. Those records and his 1918 draft registration
narrow the time of his marriage between September of 1918 and August of 1919.
The usual suggestion
that we look up and down on the census pages yielded a reason for the wrong name
in 1920. There was an elderly couple living
next door who may have given incorrect information on behalf of Brock and Marguerite
and there was a “Carrie” living a few doors up, with whom Marguerite may have been
confused.
About 2/3 of the
way through all of this, with many more records considered, I attended the Seattle
Genealogical Society’s Fall Seminar in 2015 with Thomas W. Jones, PhD, etc. It was all about “The Research Plan” and, as part
of the seminar was a workshop, we had the chance to begin our own. Of course, Batty Brock (a nickname coined by Carol
in the midst of our frustration!) was the subject.
I asked the question,
“When and where were Brock and Marguerite married?” which was a shortened version
of the one Carol had asked. I then coordinated
and listed all of the records Carol and I had checked between us. It was a long list, pretty comprehensive, but
it made me realize that there were many records still out there that may yield clues. I made of list of those records and the researched
the places where they could be found. I brainstormed
and did online searching about other possible records groups worth checking.
Initially, when
forming a research plan, it is very easy to list the usual and obvious places to
check: FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, NARA,
the state archives where you are researching, local libraries and historical societies
and, for New England, the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. For me and my marriage record, none of the above
yielded any fruit. A visit back to Boston
and Brock and Marguerite’s home town of Abington, Massachusetts opened more avenues,
which were then listed on the research plan and checked. Again, nothing. But as I searched, possibilities continued to
come to the fore, most particularly, the Dyer Memorial Library, a beautiful, independent,
historical library in Abington. It yielded
some wonderful information, maps and the records of the town gossip. Even he knew nothing about Brock and Marguerite. After hours of digging, I had a bit of a realization: Brock and Marguerite were not married in Massachusetts,
even though all the evidence pointed to that fact. I also had to acknowledge that the timing, 1918
- 1919, was at the end of World War I and during the Spanish Influenza pandemic,
a reason they may not have registered their marriage - IF they were married.
According to research
methodology, if you don’t find anything in the place you expect, begin researching
in places less obvious. So the states surrounding
Massachusetts were added. Washington State
and Missouri were added, too, as Brock’s brother, William, my great-grandfather,
was an Episcopal minister and served in those states during the time frame in question. Could Brock have gone to William’s state of residence
to be married by his brother?
And on it goes. I have continued to recheck the obvious sources
as new records are always being added. And
now I am repeating everything I did in Massachusetts in New Brunswick. Another genealogy trip is in the works, as often,
on site research is the only way to find your record.
Stay tuned folks! When I find that record, we’re having a party! In the meantime, asking the right research question,
compiling the possible sources and keeping a log of what Carol and I have done,
has gone a long way toward figuring out where that record is (and isn’t!)
Kathleen MacLeod (Brown) Hanzeli
© 2019
Wow this is so fascinating! I found your story via Roots-L emails. Have you looked in the microfiche of the town where they lived at all? I know this might prove very very difficult, unless the library of this town has the microfiche catalog online. My tiny town of Orange, MA has their microfiche online. I am able to search it online and see the happenings of the area in various years. Good luck!!
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