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Research in Other Countries => United States of America => Topic started by: Mrs Food on Wednesday 08 October 08 19:47 BST (UK)
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Hello
I am trying to clarify some information about a relative who emigrated to USA from UK in 1888. I have documentation of her arrival at New York 8th Dec 1888 aboard the ship 'Adriatic' from Liverpool UK. She then apparently travelled to White Sulphur Springs Montana and got married there on 16th December 1888. Would it have been feasible to get thru customs etc at Ellis Island, New York and then get across to Montana in 8 days??
Can anyone tell me if it is possible for me to look up whether this marriage did take place and if so obtain a copy of the cert? Also is it possible to look up same person's apparent death in Montana 10 yrs later?
Would be grateful for any advice.
Many thanks
Mrs F
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It doesn't appear that Montana had statewide vital registration until later than that time frame. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mtgenweb/vital.html If they were married in a church, maybe the church would have the records?
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Hello Mrs. F, you don't post any names so no way to assist your search more specifically so below are some Meagher Co., MT sites which may be of help.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mtmeaghe/
http://www.kindredtrails.com/MT_Meagher.html
Logic and taking a quick look at a map, I think it would not have been possible to have made the journey from New York to Montana in 8 days in 1888, it's around 2500 miles.
Added: Is it CLARA JANE DIX - BORN IN 1863, WEST HARPTREE, SOMERSET, ENGLAND (from your previous posting) you are still looking for or someone else ??
lissa
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I don't know how long it took to clear through customs, but if you assume she had 6 days to make the trip, with the railroad, I think it might have been possible. From NY she would probably have gone to Chicago, then West from there, probably on the Northern Pacific Railway. Assuming the train travelled about 40 mph, that would be about 960 possible in a 24 hour interval. Adjusting for stops and layovers, adjust that down to about 600 miles per day. There is also the Canadian Railway that would have skirted just north of Montana. I just looked at a website that said the Trans Canadian Railway was completed in 1885 and averaged 24 mph from Montreal to Vancouver (476 miles/day); but that had to go across the entire Rocky Moutains and most of the trip to White Sulphur Springs would have been across the plains. Looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pacific_Railway it shows the route of the railway. The problem would come in getting from Chicago up to Minnesota, where the Northern Pacific started. She could have gone west from Chicago and gotten off at town along the Mississippi River then taken a paddle wheeler up to Minnesota. Of course, this is all just speculation. She would have been one tired lady when she got off the train in Montana.
To digress, wasn't there a John Belushi movie in which his love, an eagle naturalist, had to catch the railroad at White Sulphur Springs?--"Continental Divide".
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Hi ALL
Many thanks for all replies
Lissa - yes it's Clara Jane Dix b 1863 Somerset UK.
She is supposed to have married a chap called Edward William Thomas 16th Dec 1888, White Sulphur Springs Montana. I did look at a map and wondered how on earth she would make it from New York in 8 days, it all sounds a bit odd to me so I'm trying to check it out for myself. I'm also trying to find records of births of 3 children born to this couple:
Edward William Thomas who I think she must have been pregnant with on the journey and born soon after the marriage
David John Thomas, apparently Sept 1889
Ethel Jane Thomas August 1893
Finally, Clara Jane Thomas (nee Dix) apparently died in Montana in 1898.
If anyone can shed any light on any of this I'd be very grateful!
Mrs F
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Hi Mrs F, I looked in 1900 for the husband and the children hoping to still find them together or separated -- but finding no really credible matches. There are some iffy ones but would seem to be really stretching to make a connection to the info you have.
Are you assuming that Clara and Edward Thomas knew each other in England and that he traveled to Montana ahead of her ?? Have you found him on a passenger list earlier in 1888 ??
The other factor in the time line of her "incredible journey" from NYC to Montana in 8 days was it was in December!!! I would think that weather across the Plains, Rockies, Canada would have had some bearing on the trip.
Sorry not to be of further help :(
lissa
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Hi again Lissa
Thanks for all your suggestions. I tried looking in the 1890 US Census but unfortunately the records for Montana were destroyed by fire! After Clara Jane's death in 1898, her husband remarried and the children from the first marriage did not like the new wife and left home apparently, the youngest child was 11 at the time!
I think Clara must have known her husband to be before she left UK, I can't see his name on the passenger list for the same ship but will look for him on an earlier one as you suggested. Would it be very difficult for me to find Clara Jane's death cert & order a copy?
Many thanks again
MRS F
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Hi Mrs. F, think info on certs is covered in the links given twice above and below.
Montana didn't start keeping records until 1907 and it wasn't comprehensive until 1920.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mtgenweb/vital.html
http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/statisticalinformation/vitalrecordsstatistics.shtml
Contacting genealogy or historical sources with local records from Church or cemetery may be your best outcome.
lissa