Ron,
Thank you for your detailed instructions. I am new to Land record searches and am excited to follow this trail. I have tried to find William B. Bloomer in US Census records but have not had much luck nailing down which William Bloomer he is before and including 1860. There seem to be several by that name. To add to the challenge there are also Benton Bloomers in the mix about his same birth year give or take a few. Without parents and siblings names I don’t know which if any are him.
I do know he was believed to have worked on the Erie canal in New York. He was also known as Captain Bloomer according to family legend. I do not know when he did that though or if that leads to records.
He was declared dead by mistake before the courts by his wife Nancy (Palmer) Bloomer in Lenawee Co., Michigan after she was shown a death notice of a William Bloomer, (a black man) who had died. She later married a Martindale fellow, only to have William show up very alive later on. Family legend tells of stolen money sent home to his wife and lost letters also sent home but not received. He is gone from his wife and family in 1860. I do not know if he served in the Civil War but think he went west for the gold rush instead as stated in family legend.
What I do not know is who his parents and siblings are for sure and how to track him before 1860 when he left for the west.
I have:
New York County, Letters of Administration Index, 1743-1875 (Barber Collection)
about Nancy
Name of Intestate: Nancy
Administration Date: 29 Nov 1824 (Date letters of administration was granted and recorded)
Administrator's Name: Wm Bloomer
Source Information:
Ancestry.com. New York County, Letters of Administration Index, 1743-1875 (Barber Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: Barber, Gertrude A., comp. Index of the Letters of Administration Filed in New York County From 1743-1875. Vol. 1-6. n.p.: n.p., 1950-1951.
This database is an index to letters of administration filed in New York County, New York from 1743 to 1875. A letter of administration is a legal document created usually in intestate estates (when a person dies without making a will), since no executor or administrator of the estate was named. The letter of administration names the person who is to be the executor or administrator of the estate.
***
Whitman Frontier Justice - Case Number: 447
Record Series: Frontier Justice
Collection: Whitman Frontier Justice
County: Whitman
Case Number: WHI-311
Cause: Collection, Promissory Note
Case Type: Civil
Start Year: 1880
End Year: 1880
Original Case Number: 447
County: Whitman
Date Comments: 1880
Party Name: William B. Bloomer
Party Type: Defendant
Party Name: William H. Darrough
Party Type: Plaintiff
Case Decision:
Comments:
Source: http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/A539535963C9A2...
***
1870 United States Federal Census
Home in 1870: Washington, Idaho, Idaho Territory
Occupation: Mill Wright
Year: 1870; Census Place: Washington, Idaho, Idaho Territory; Roll M593_185; Page: 108; Image: 220.
***
Washington State and Territorial Censuses, 1857-1892 about W B Bloomer
Census Date: 1889
Residence Whitman Co. Washington
***
1900 United States Federal Census
***
Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960 for Wm B Bloomer (only an indexed copy and hope to find who the informate was that to see if info was useable for parents names listed.)
Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
Janis Jones