Nancy Davis Bancroft Poorman Missing in a Census
Nancy Davis married Timothy Bancroft in Clay County, Missouri. Timothy died in 1834.
Nancy Davis married Timothy Bancroft in Clay County, Missouri. Timothy died in 1834.
Nancy then married John Poorman. John Poorman dies in the 1840s.
As I was researching more on Nancy's life and her children with Timothy, I searched the 1840 census. I could not find Nancy Poorman, Nancy Bancroft, or John Poorman. I had a negative search results. I had some evidence that she was not dead at this time. So I searched in the 1850 census and found her by herself with her children. She was still in Clay County.
As I was researching more on Nancy's life and her children with Timothy, I searched the 1840 census. I could not find Nancy Poorman, Nancy Bancroft, or John Poorman. I had a negative search results. I had some evidence that she was not dead at this time. So I searched in the 1850 census and found her by herself with her children. She was still in Clay County.
I went back to 1840 and still couldn't find her. It was very unlikely that she moved as she was in the same location in 1850, so why didn't she show up?
I then searched for her son Timothy Bancroft on the chance that he was still living with his mother and family. There she was, second on the list.
Nancy Foreman is listed as Nancy Poorman. All the Foreman's listed here are Poorman's instead of Foremans. The Bancroft children are fine.
Two items to learn from this.
1. If you can't find someone in a census who's name has changed and should be there, search for a child with the original name. In this case, that wasn't the issue but that could help in other situations.
2. If there is no other name to search what do you do now?
I then searched for her son Timothy Bancroft on the chance that he was still living with his mother and family. There she was, second on the list.
| Martha Johnson 24 Nancy Foreman 43 Eliz Bancroft 23 Presley Bancroft 20 Timothy Bancroft 19 George Bancroft 18 Juliet Bancroft 17 Malvina Foreman 16 |
Nancy Foreman 15 John Foreman 14 John J Johnson 13 Harvey Dillon 29 Marshal Cook 26 James Blake 22 George Buel 20 |
Nancy Foreman is listed as Nancy Poorman. All the Foreman's listed here are Poorman's instead of Foremans. The Bancroft children are fine.
Two items to learn from this.
1. If you can't find someone in a census who's name has changed and should be there, search for a child with the original name. In this case, that wasn't the issue but that could help in other situations.
2. If there is no other name to search what do you do now?It might be that it is spelled incorrectly. How do you find it?
Maybe it is spelled incorrectly.
There is a website that might help. Rhymezone
The site is for poets who need a word to rhyme. This also works for surnames!
This could be used in my example, or something similar or when trying to read handwriting and you know the ending but not sure about the beginning. This would list some ideas for you.
How this works
1. Go to the site.
2. In the Word box type in the surname. I typed in Poorman as shown below.
3. Click on the Search button.
The screen will appear as below.
You have a lot of words and not many surnames. No problem!
The options at the top of the screen have now changed.
1. At top of the white area is some hyperlinks.
Click on [Similar sound]. The words "[Similar sound]" are now black, as shown below.
The list automatically changes to match the new request.
More surnames have now appeared. But we only want surnames.
Note the right column called Categories. We just want the words that are categorized as Name.
Filter
1. Click in the filter box above Categories.
2. Type in Name.
A new list appears with just words categorized as a name.
Notes
I believe it is still good to look at all the words without the Name category filter. RhymeZone might not get all of the surnames.
Uncheck phrases but use all categories as another option of finding a name.
Start Searching
Fill in the surname
Review the list. Try the names where needed.
Fill in the Category
Review the list. Try the names where needed.
One fun addition
1. Move your mouse over a surname and pause.
If there is a famous person with the last name a small box appears with their history.
There is a website that might help. Rhymezone
The site is for poets who need a word to rhyme. This also works for surnames!
This could be used in my example, or something similar or when trying to read handwriting and you know the ending but not sure about the beginning. This would list some ideas for you.
How this works
1. Go to the site.
2. In the Word box type in the surname. I typed in Poorman as shown below.
3. Click on the Search button.
The screen will appear as below.
|
The options at the top of the screen have now changed.
1. At top of the white area is some hyperlinks.
Click on [Similar sound]. The words "[Similar sound]" are now black, as shown below.
The list automatically changes to match the new request.
|
Note the right column called Categories. We just want the words that are categorized as Name.
Filter
1. Click in the filter box above Categories.
2. Type in Name.
A new list appears with just words categorized as a name.
Notes
I believe it is still good to look at all the words without the Name category filter. RhymeZone might not get all of the surnames.
Uncheck phrases but use all categories as another option of finding a name.
Start Searching
Fill in the surname
Review the list. Try the names where needed.
Fill in the Category
Review the list. Try the names where needed.
One fun addition
1. Move your mouse over a surname and pause.
If there is a famous person with the last name a small box appears with their history.
Good News for on the road researching!
RhymeZone has an Apple and an Android app.
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