I'm looking for a family named Joseph H. Lewis who was married to Lulu Lewis (Obrien) they had a son named Sylvester H Lewis who got married there to Clara E Harris.
I need information on Sylvesters's parents if you have anything about them.
Thank you

Hi,
I found Joseph and Sylvester in 1900 in Almota, Whitman Co., WA.
Joseph, b. IN June 1859, divorced, fruit farmer.
Sylvester W., b. KS Dec 1890.

I found Lulu's marriage certificate to A. J. Morrow.
A. J. Morrow of County of Spokane married Lulu C. Lewis of Spokane County March 15, 1906 in Spokane. One witness was W. F. O'Brien. Source: Washington State Digital Archives. You can print a copy of the cert by going to this web site.

I searched Ancestry, FamilySearch and Washington Digital Archives and didn't find anything else about Lulu or Joseph. The Whitman County Genealogical Society, www.rootsweb.com/~wawcgs/res.htm does research for a reasonable fee. Successful Searching!

Since you have only posted in Spokane Co and Pend Oreille Co, and only on this family, let me first suggest: When you post, post what information you have on those being researched. Their dates of birth are ALWAYS important, otherwise a researcher must start from scratch. Identify if you already have census information, obit information etc. It saves a lot of explanation and research time. And...before you can find information on the parents, you MUST fully explore the child or the grandchildren.

The Washington Archives:
http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/default.aspx
has an image of the marriage certificate for Sylvester H. Lewis and Clara E. Harris, marriage 3 July 1913 in Spokane.
Click on above link, enter his name.
In the next window click on their names.
In the next window view the image on the right.

--The information matches that which you identified. Lulu born in Kentucky, Joseph in Kansas. Sylvester was living in Newport, WA, which is in Pend Oreille County. He was born in Kansas.

--This site has two listings for a Lulu Lewis marrying in Spokane County, one in 1896, one in 1906. There is NO proof either is the same person as being married to Joseph Lewis. There is no date of birth, place of birth, etc.

The 1900 Census for Almota, Whitman Co., Washington
Joseph Lewis (Middle initial covered), born June 1859 in Indiana to father born in Virginia, mother in Ohio
Sylvester, born Dec 1890 born in Kansas to both parents born in Indiana.
--While census enumerator mistakes were common, this census shows both parents of this Sylvester born in Indiana, the marriage record for Sylvester shows as above.

The 1920 Census for Spokane, Spokane Co, WA
Sylvester H. Lewis, age 27(29?), born in Idaho to both parents born in US
Bessie E, age 27(29?), born in Wisconsin to both parents born in WI
Donald, born in Idaho
Merle, born in WA.

The 1930 Census for Opportunity, Spokane Co, WA
Sylvester H. Lewis, born in Kansas to both parents born in Kansas
Bessie, born in Wisconsin to both parents born in WI
Donald, 14, born in Idaho
Merle 11, born in WA
Loraine (sic) 9, WA
Jeanne E, 1, WA

At this point, there is not enough clear data to prove this family.

Family trees posted on Ancestry.com, if you have ancestry:

1. http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/person.aspx?pid=-1701239553&...=
This tree posted by "DougCampbell1954" shows Henry Sylvester Lewis obrn 1891, died 8 Apr 1958 in Spokane. He was married to Elizabeth Clara Harris 1889-October 5, 1958 in Spokane. No parents identified for Henry. I sent a message through Ancestry for this person to read this thread.
Merle Lewis, son, born 1919 in Spokane, died 17 Sep 1993 in Spokane.
--This person had a second family tree, no additional data on parents.

The World War I draft registration image database shows Sylvester born December 8, 1892. I've found about half of the year of birth wrong by one year in this database. He was "probably" born 1891, in what appears to be Whitechurch, Kansas.

Since Sylvester was born in Kansas, do you have research in Kansas to identify his birth, birth certificate, parents or their marriage information? In this research, we have "Lulu O'Brien", but no information as to her place of birth, date of birth, siblings, etc. Basically, because of this, we can not identify if any of the Lulu Lewis marriages are her's or another of that name. We can't identify if she died, or other factors. Again, identify what you know about a person.

If you do not have an obituary, you can try to obtain Sylvester's, his wife Elizabeth's, or his son Merle's. All in Spokane:

--- The Washington State Library has a free research service, the ask-a-librarian program, where they will look for information in the archives, in this case the newspaper microfilm for an event, such as an obituary. They will look up to an hour and send you the results. Contact them at: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/ask.aspx . Depending on the amount of requests, it could take up to a couple of weeks. I'd suggest individual requests for each person.

Ron Bestrom

Thank you for your information. I do know about the listing of Sylvester Lewis with Elizabeth as they are my grandparents. The information on Sylvester is so mixed up. My mother said he was born in White Fish Montana about 1898. But I found out that he was born in Kansas, White church which I have not been able to find information. Since White Church is not around anymore and that most of the records burned down that had the 1890 information. On his marrage Cirt. He put down Joseph H. Lewis and LuLu C. O'Brien as his parents. Father born in Kansas and LuLu born in Kentuckey. I just like the information on LuLu C as I think that is his mother that she remarried. My grandfather didn't talk much about himself. He did work at the Grand Cooley dam and invented the paint that they put on the generators. He was a painter in Spokane before his death. I have lots of information on my grandmother but hardly anything on my grandfather side. I don't even know that he had brother's and sisters. The ones I could ask are all dead or they don't know anything.

This may be a long shot: since your Granddad worked as a painter on Grand Coulee Dam, try the Painters Union. They may have some info on him. I don't know how long they keep their records, or what they do with the old ones, but it may be worth a shot.
They are IUPAT - the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. Any local should be able to help you find an address.

thank you I will try.