Finding Nancy Jane
As many of us in the genealogy community know, the work that we do doesn’t all happen overnight. While some of us have been gifted documentation of our family history and some of us have had some fantastic luck in tracking down lines or have distant kin who can guide us in the right direction, that’s just not the case for all of us or for every situation.
And, as many of us in the genealogy community also know, all it takes is a single spark to pique our curiosity and carry us through even the most frustrating challenges.
Many, if not most, of our ancestors take gobs of patience and diligent work to coax out of the woodwork. The research and documentation that goes into searching for and proving each member of each generation takes time and temperance.
Luckily, we live in a time of great technology when tons (though not all) of files can be found online with the clickity clack of a few buttons. It all might take days or weeks or months, even, to track down that stubborn ancestor and break down that brick wall.
Sometimes, it even takes years… or in the case of my Nancy Jane, decades, to find the very best hiders with the most common names.
But the pure joy of finding that elusive ancestor? I’m not even sure there’s a proper word for it, but it’s similar to the single spark of a flame igniting a sparkler on a dark, summer night. The joy is almost palpable.
And so, in celebration of breaking down a brick wall, acquiring three new-to-me photos from a very helpful 4th cousin once removed, and finding proper documentation for it all, I thought I’d share my Nancy Jane timeline for posterity sake as well as in the hope that this tiny but very meaningful success might inspire you to never give up on that sometimes frustrating game of Ancestor Hide & Seek.
1997 - I was given a single (gorgeous) photo of my grandpa Phil’s mom, Una June, as a child. No other information was provided in my Grandma’s paperwork, family history, or memoir notes. With little to go on, I didn’t pursue Una June’s line any further for over two decades.
2019 - When I joined Ancestry alongside my DNA testing, I found Una June’s marriage certificate which was signed off on by her mom, Nancy J. Taylor because Una was, at only 16 years old, a young bride. This was my first clue to this next generation but I had no further luck in finding or proving Nancy J, especially with such a common name and no information on her husband.
2021 - When I went to visit my Uncle Kent and go through his family history paperwork, I found an old envelope addressed to my grandpa from his mom, Una June. In it was a single piece of paper that listed her parent’s names, Nancy J Russell and Charles Taylor, along with where they were each born. In Kent’s archives I also found a death announcement for Nancy and an older photo of Una June and her youngest daughter, Jane, in California.
Still, no further documentation could be found online despite multiple searches over the years.
2024 - Fast forward to last week when I got an Ancestry hint for a photo said to include a Nancy J Russell.
Excitement abounded but I’ve learned better than to simply blindly trust Ancestry’s waving green leaves. So, I reached out to the person who uploaded it, we’ll call him “J”, explained my relation and research history, and asked for any documentation he could provide to determine if our Nancy’s were the same person.
While I waited, spurred on by hope, I searched again for Nancy on Family Search and (finally!) found both a marriage registry for her and Charles and a Census that lined up with the basic information I had.
Then, last weekend, I heard back from J with not only the documentation on the uploaded photo, but further documentation and a second photo in which he was able to identify Nancy while reviewing his archives during our communication! Turns out J is a fourth cousin once removed and his line has been very thorough and consistent in the keeping of their family history. WooHoo!
The photos in the carousel directly above include many new-to-me kin who I’ve yet to familiarize myself with alongside my Nancy Jane Russell Taylor so for now I’ll point her out in the first two photos and explain the third.
Photo 1 - Nancy is in the back row with the dark skirt, white blouse, and black bow around her neck looking rather serious. This photo was taken about 1910.
Photo 2 - Nancy is, again, in the back row, fourth from the left, in the black dress (directly behind the man) looking much more relaxed and happy. There is not a date on this photo but Nancy Jane died in 1923 so it had to be before then.
Photo 3 - A marvelous surprise, Nancy’s mom, my 3x great grandma, Permelia Clark Russell. Permelia had 14 children and died shortly after turning 55. I do not have a date for this photo.
And so, this is all to say that sometimes the path is winding and sometimes our patience is tried, but sometimes, too, those brick walls can come crumbling down if we just stay diligent and hopeful and keep carrying that spark forward with us.
Even if it all takes nearly 27 years to uncover two more generations ;-)
Onward,
Melis