Just Keep Looking

Many years ago, I read the films for births, deaths and marriages for Wexford County, Michigan, where my ancestors lived from about 1878 forward. The films were of poor quality, and completely unreadable in some places. I found records for many of my ancestors, including the marriage of my great-grandparents, Jane “Jennie” Johnston and William Kaiser. But, search as I did, I could never find a birth record for my grandmother. I found her marriage record, and later got a copy of her death certificate from the county clerk, but a record from the time of her birth which named her parents eluded me. It was important to me, since my great-grandmother, died when grandma was young, and some accounts name a stepmother as the mother.

Last night, I was fishing around at the new Familysearch record search, and look what I found (click to enlarge the thumbnails):

The fifth record, date July 19, 1885, Winnie L Kysor, female, white, born in the city of Cadillac!

Parents: William Kysor, Jennie Kysor, residents of the city of Cadillac, both born Canada, he a laborer, her no occupation, recorded on June 1, 1886.

The Kaiser’s last name carries a spelling which I have never seen the family use, and the entry was indexed as “Minnie L. Kysor”. I have always know my grandmother’s name as Winnie Alice Kaiser, so the spelling caught me off guard. However, the other information, including the birthdate, parent’s name and birthplace match.

The records early Michigan records on the FamilySearch site are not the same records, or from the same films as I previously read. The films I read were of the local county books. The films on the site are returns, and may be a copy made made from local books. I am able to see that second page which contains the record is page 457, but I don’t know what the ledger name or number might be.

My next step will be to read the records line by line, to see if I can find a birth or death record for my grandmother’s missing sister, and Jennie Johnston’s missing death record.  I am also adding a review of the Wexford County films to my to do list, since I know the record is there, I may be able to find it.  You just never know.