The name Atalissa

Using Randy Seaver's genealogy fun, I wanted to do some research on my daughter's name: Atalissa. It is an unusual name, and we got it from the town in Iowa. So I researched people in Iowa with the name Atalissa on Ancestry.com. Thankfully Ancestry does not MAKE you put in a surname; Findagrave does make you put in at least a few letters of a surname.

http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-do-some.html

I found some census results, but then I thought I should concentrate on one person. So then I searched for girls named Atalissa born or lived in Atalissa, Muscatine county, Iowa. 

The most interesting result: Atalissa M. (Davis) Worrall born in November 1856 in Muscatine county, Iowa. According to some of the history of Muscatine county, Iowa, a Mr. William Lundy came to the county in 1847. While mining in California, Mr. Lundy was near a small village named Atalissa, named for an Indian queen of one of the tribes. Being pleased with the name he adopted it for the town in Muscatine county, Iowa. He also remarked that the first female child being born there and named Atalissa should be presented with a corner lot. That recipient was this Miss Atalissa Davis.

We find Atalissa (Davis) Worrall in the 1900 census in Muscatine County, Iowa, a divorced woman living as a boarder. From Iowa birth index and marriage index, I can tell Atalissa Davis married Jerome Worrall on April 21, 1881 in Muscatine county, Iowa, and they had a couple children: a John Lee Worrall born in May 1882, and an unnamed baby born in June 1884. In the 1885 Iowa state census we find Jerome and Atalissa Worrall living in Muscatine county, Iowa with a baby (unnamed) of approximately 1 year old.   

I can't find much else on what happens to Ms. Atalissa (Davis) Worrall after 1900, with what time I spent on it researching on Ancestry.com and Findagrave.com (my 2 favorite sites). Maybe I'll keep searching for fun. It's good experience for me. I know there are several sites I didn't try. Not really wanting to spend any money on this since it's not my relative and no one else is reimbursing me. Just not certain how much other time I want to spend on it. What I found was interesting to me and maybe some day my daughter will be interested, too. 

Saturday Genealogy Fun

Well it's Saturday and that's time for Randy Seaver's Saturday fun. See here for more info on today's "assignment": http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-do-some.html

First name I was given: Cary House
First census result: 1930 census in Brookfield, Linn, Missouri
Cary W. House, male born about 1861 (age 69) in Maryland, Widower, Roomer
Alonso Dickinson, head of house, 38 years old
Elda Dickinson, wife, 35
Five kids: Gilbert, Alberta, Alonso Jr., Eldon, and Nelda.

Can't really find any other results on this person. Maybe this is a transcription error. It looks like the name could also be Cory Hause, or similar names.

Second name I was given: Donna Watts
First census result: 1930 census in Havre, Hill, Montana on Kennedy Avenue
Donna E. Watts, age 42 (born about 1888), in Illinois, Single, Lodger
Ruth Robertson, age 39, head of "house"
Twenty other "lodgers" listed, and one 8-year old listed as a boarder

I also find Ms. Donna E. Watts in the Washington death index. She died 25 July 1975 in Des Moines, Washington, at the age of 87.
In 1920, I find her as a roomer in Cascade County, Montana.
In the SSDI, she is listed with birth date 19 January 1888 and death July 1975 with last residence in Seattle, King, Washington.
That's about it on Ms. Donna Watts.

This was a fun exercise and gave me a chance to use my research skills. It seems like good practice for someone like me, who would like to be a "professional genealogist" one day, maybe sooner than later.

1940 Census: Take 1

As many (or all) of you know, the 1940 Census was released Monday April 2 on archives.com. Monday was a busy day for me with a fussy baby and other things going on, so I found the site but didn't have time to search. As busy as the site was, that's probably okay.
So Tuesday afternoon (yesterday) I had some time and I found some family! Yippee! With no index, it takes some time to look through the images and the images take time to load. I found it easiest to download each page, look at it, then go to the next and download it. I'm not sure that these are true "downloads" as I don't see the 20+ files I went through in the download folder on my computer.
I tried my mom's side of the family first: I went to the 1930 census and found which enumeration district (ED) my grandma and grandpa were listed in. I went to the ED for my grandpa in Jefferson County, Nebraska and didn't find them. I did find my great-uncle, great-aunt and distant cousins in Jefferson County, Nebraska. No surprise to me at not finding my grandparents as they probably moved in 1940 since they were married in March 1940. So still need to do some digging on that side, or wait for an index.
Next I tried my dad's side: I thought his side might be easier because my grandparents on his side got married in March 1935. So I went to the 1930 census and found in which ED my grandparents were. Then I went to that ED in Cheyenne County, Nebraska to look for them. SCORE! On image (page) 1 (ONE!!) of this ED I find my great-grandparents and my great-aunt.
Hurray! I was so excited. I didn't capture a screen shot of that one but I should probably go back and do that.
I started scrolling to look for my grandparents and I find them with my uncle on page (image) 3!

There they are: Alfred and Mable Jorgensen in Cheyenne County, Nebraska! My uncle was lucky enough to be on one of the "token" lines so I'm sure Grandma (or Grandpa) had to answer more questions about him. But those questions about a child are not so interesting.

Can't wait for the index for Nebraska (and a few other states like Illinois for my husband's family). But till then in my free time, I will continue to research and browse. Feel free to share your stories and experiences with the 1940 census. We are all learning as we start from square one!