“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”

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.

       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.

        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