My great-grandfather, John H. Sullivan’s oldest sister, Mary, married another Sullivan, James Sullivan. She was born on 1 November 1843 in County Cork to Jeremiah Sullivan and Mary Sheehan.[1] She came to the United States with her family when twelve years old, first settling in Providence, Rhode Island, and then moving to Calumet, Michigan.[2]
On 8 May 1870, she married James Sullivan at Hancock in Houghton County, Michigan. James was two years older, also born in Ireland, and worked as a miner.[3] Houghton County is in the upper peninsula where much copper and iron mining was done. This was the same work that Mary’s father had done in Ireland.
In 1877, James and Mary moved to Holt County, Nebraska, where James acquired a homestead.[4] He was one of many from Michigan who settled in the area near O’Neill. In 1890, he cultivated ten acres of wheat, twenty acres of oats, thirty-five acres of corn, and five acres of potatoes. He had built a cottage the previous year. He was “now enjoying the prosperity he deserves,” as reported by the reporter named RHC.[5]
They continued to live on the one hundred and sixty acres until James’ death. Besides farming, he served as a county commissioner and was a long-time county clerk.[6]
What’s Next?
Now to learn more about his possible prosperity, I would
like to locate deed, probate, and tax records. However, these are not available
in the FamilySearch Catalog. Very few records are on their catalog site
for Holt County in Nebraska. I checked the Image tab at FamilySearch,
but only census and court case files of land entry case files that were canceled,
relinquished, or rejected are available. I had hoped that more records had been
digitized.
In Holt County, it is the Registrar of Deeds who is responsible for the filing and storing of deed records. Their email is holtregofdeeds@holtcountyne.gov. I could start with her and see how to access the deed index. Nebraska also has a website with online deeds, but Holt County is not included.[7]
For court records, I would need to contact the County Clerk of the District Court. No email was listed, only a phone number.
For tax records, the County Treasurer takes care of that. Her email is treas@holtcountyne.gov.
Before contacting them, I would also check any county historical society or archive and the state archive, to see if they might have historical records. These county officials are busy with current duties and might not want to take the time to search for my historical requests.
There is a historical society. Though their website does not mention what records they have, there is a contact form I can fill out to ask. https://holtcountyhistory.com/contact-us.
At the state archives site, they have governmental records
and this website lists what they have for various counties. https://history.nebraska.gov/collections/government-records/county-government-records/.
There is a 20-page document for Holt County that lists what has been given to
them. No records from the assessor or treasurer are there. They do have minutes
from the county board of commissioners’ meetings on microfilm. They also have
films of deed records. But there are no
court records except for some naturalizations.
I wonder if I could get FamilySearch to go to Lincoln and film some of these records.
#52 Ancestors: Week 37: Prosperity
This is my sixth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
[1]
State of Nebraska, certificate of death, no. 7802, Mrs. Mary Sullivan, 1910,
Holt County.
[2] “Death
of Mrs. Sullivan,” The Frontier (O’Neill, Neb.), 22 Sep 1910,
[3] “Michigan,
U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9093)
> Registers, 1868-1886 > 1868-1875 > 1870 Monroe-1871 Jackson >
image 563 of 632, p 289, no. 280, James Sullivan-Mary Sullivan, Houghton
County; citing Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital
Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan.
[4] “US,
Homestead Records (NE), 1863-1908,” Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/650/us-homestead-records-ne-18631908)
> Nebraska > Dakota City; Niobrara; O’Neill > 29 North > 11 West
> 20 > James Sullivan (1743), final certificate no. 1743, James Sullivan,
Niobrara Land Office, approved 29 Oct 1883.
[5] “Among
the Farmers,” The Frontier, 19 June 1890, p. 5, col. 3.
[6] “Death
of James Sullivan,” Holt County Independent, p. 1, c. 6.
[7] Nebraska
Deeds Online, https://nebraskadeedsonline.us/.
Sounds like you still have more research to do.
ReplyDeleteIt might need a road trip!
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