Confusion is Inevitable
Brick walls in genealogical research are inevitable. Families tend to remember some things that are not actually factual. Over time, stories may become embellished (I have plans to tell a story later that my great grandfather told his children that seems to be greatly exaggerated). Often things just weren’t talked about. Details changed as different people shared their memories of events and by the time several generations passed no one knew what really happened. People moved; names were changed; multiple people had the same name; there are multiple spellings for the same person; people remarried; records were lost or never existed; records haven’t yet been digitized or are otherwise unavailable.
My grandfather Malcolm McLeod was the son of John McLeod and Sarah Jane Liggett. John’s parents were Malcolm McLeod and Mary Stewart McLeod. Mary has been one of my brick walls. Malcolm’s wife was named Mary but I was only able to find her maiden name Stewart in John’s California Death record.
California Death Record
| Name | John McLeod |
| Gender | Male |
| Birth | Sep 7 1863 Canada |
| Death | May 23 1942 San Bernardino, California, USA |
| Father’s last name | McLeod |
| Mother’s maiden name | Stewart |
In the 1920 census, it says that John’s mother was born in Canada and that she is Scottish. Finding more information is proving to be very difficult. Mary Stewart and/or Mary McLeod are extremely common names. I am also struggling to find more information on her husband, Malcolm McLeod. Malcolm McLeod is also a very common name and I am having trouble matching anything new with what I do have. I think his father was also named Malcolm McLeod and his mother may have been Mary Chisholm. If so, they were both born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada. I do know that my branch of the McLeod’s lived in Canada until they emigrated to the United States in 1902 when they settled in San Bernardino, California. (According to the Manifest of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission – Port of Sumas, Washington, Seattle, passengers were required to provide the name and address of the nearest relative or friend in the “country whence alien came.” John McLeod gave the name of John Stewart who was a cousin (possibly Mary’s). John’s final destination was given as Del Rosa which became part of San Bernardino.)
Another brick wall I have is identifying the Vandyke ancestors before they settled in the United States (New Jersey, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana). Vandyke has had many spelling throughout the years: Vandyke; Van Dyke; Van Deyck; Van Dijk. My 4th great grandfather, Dominicus Van Dyck was born in 1761 in Neshanic, Somerset, New Jersey. The Harlingen Dutch Reformed Church records show his baptism on March 22, 1761. His father was Dominicus Van Dyck and his mother was Marigreita Cock (Cook). Beyond that I know very little.
One of my research goals is to learn more about my ancestors before they immigrated to America (the Netherlands; County Armagh, Ireland; Bitburg, Germany; Baiersdorf, Germany). I’m really not sure what records are available and how easy they are to use.
A more current brick wall is that of my father’s aunt and uncle, Freddie and Jacque Williams, and their children. As a child, I understood that Freddie and Jacque had two sons who were born with muscular dystrophy. Every year we would watch the Jerry Lewis telethon and it would have significant meaning because of the family connection. (I never knew the sons’ names and now I question if there were two sons and if anyone had muscular dystrophy.) Freddie and Jacque later adopted twins who were born in 1955 in Germany. Freddie, Jacque, and the twins came to visit us when we lived in Bartlesville, Oklahoma (they were living in Salinas, California at the time) and Sandra and I became pen pals for a couple of years. Imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that one of Freddie and Jacque’s sons, Richard Williams, died in 2020 at the age of 77. He had four children and multiple grand children and great grandchildren. His obituary lists his parents, Freddie and Jacque, but does not list any siblings including the twins. I have only found death notices for Freddie, Jacque, and Sandra – no obituaries. If there was another son, he was probably born in Wichita in the 1940’s. I am hoping that when the 1950 census is released on April 1, 2022 that I might be able to gather more information.
When I joined the genealogy club at our community, I was surprised to learn that a couple of members had been researching their ancestors for over 20 years and one man had been involved for 30 years. Now that I am actively researching, I have discovered that the more I find out, the more there is to learn. New records are continually being released and people often point me in new directions. And so the journey continues.