Elmer,

You're not going to find Edward-Edwin on SSDI. Social Security wasn't established until the 1930s, and he died in the 1920s.

When I looked at the images for the 1900 and 1920 census, and enlarged them to make them readable, his name really does look like Edwin, down to the dot over he "i" and everything. In 1900 this is the Edwin Schermerhorn b. probably in Quincy, Adams Co. IL in Oct. 1899 to Cornelius and Mary Schermerhorn, with a sister Cornelia. Is this the person you're talking about? In the 1920 census, Edwin, again clear when enlarged enough to read clearly, is living in Jackson Co. MO. He's 21, married to Mildred, 19, no kids. Does that sound right? Do you have other documents that call him Edward?


In the 1900 census, his parents are shown with parents born in Germany. In other words, they cannot be descended from the Dutch Schermerhorn family that settled in New Netherlands in the 1600s. The only possibility of that is if this is another error in the census. To be certain, I would look for his parents in an earlier census. There is no 1890, so look for him in the 1880. Someone earlier in the thread provides the name.

However, it looks like your real interest isn't in the Schermerhorn family, but rather the Camren family in all its different spellings. I see from your many postings that you are looking far and wide for this family. I have no relationship to them, so can't help directly.

The next stage is to look for each family in census data back each census from the one you already have. Do one family at a time and work backwards. That is, look for the 1930 first, as its the most recent now available. (In 2012 the 1940 census will begin to be released.) Once you have the 1930 census for each family, then look for the 1920, then the 1910, etc. For Ancestry indexes, if it doesn't appear on first search, or if too many do, I find it easier to hunt by looking for the oddest name in each family. Cornelius is very common among the Schermehorns so searching on him may give you too many. Every member of the household was listed beginning in 1850. Before that just the head of the household is given by name, so it gets harder.

In my grandparents' family, for instance, I couldn't find them one year. So I searched on Orpha, the eldest daughter, because all the other family members had common first names and the last name was ordinary too. Sure enough, up they popped. If you don't have Ancestry and have to ask for help, be sure you ask for a specific year, with a state or region if you can guess, and all the names you can guess, with ages if you can guess from any information you already know; at least birth order if you know that. For instance, the 1920 will tell you what to look for in the 1910 and, maybe, 1930. Each census will give you info you can use to look for the one before that. Eventually you will hit a brick wall, where there isn't enough information to go back further, or you get to the 1850 and the head of the household is young enough that you don't know whose household he will have been in in 1840 because you don't know his father or mother. Then take the next family and start again, making copies of all the data you've gotten, and keeping lists so you don't have to do the work over again. Keep track also of where and who you got the data and when, especially if you got it from somebody else. Keeping track of sources is very important, as you've already learned. You'll probably find that some of those censuses contradict each other at least a little--ie Elizabeth on one census, Lizzie on another. If the ages and places of birth match, it's probably the same person. Probably I'm preaching to the choir here, given the number of queries you've posted!

A few states, mostly Midwest, had census "midterm," mostly years like 1865. I've found one ancestor that way that I couldn't find a regular US census for on either side of it. That's one possibility if you get really stuck. State Rootsweb census lists are good sources for those. I have a list of which states had those censuses, and which years.

Cemeteries are wonderful clues too, and their data usually comes closer to being primary than does the census. My brother spent an afternoon in a cemetery taking pictures of many Waggoner graves and all the others in its section. We were able to put them together in family groups and solve some mysteries about who was related to who that we hadn't been able to figure out in several years of just having the names. I'd given him the plot numbers I'd looked up online, but even those weren't as helpful as seeing them laid out "in person." I'd found someone to do the same in a cemetery halfway across the continent, with the same sort of helpfulness. That one even cleared up names, birth and death dates I hadn't been able to find anywhere else. In both cases cemetery workers were hugely helpful. They were proud of their cemeteries.

All this will give you ideas of what you need to find official copies of, as in the marriage, divorce, death, and birth records you're seeking now. Remember that for genealogical purposes you DO NOT need certified copies. In many states these days the general public, meaning anybody more removed than grandchildren, can no longer get certified copies. In states where people more removed than grandchildren can't get ANY copies, go after those first.

Any other questions? what census data would you like me to look up on Ancestry? I'd be happy to look if you'll let me know what you need. I've already got the 1900 and 1920, waiting for your email address to send to.

Doris