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Stuck on John H Thomas - 1900

Stuck on John H Thomas - 1900

Posted: 1 Jul 2015 8:09PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Thomas
Hi, I'm doing some research for someone and I hit a wall on one of their grandparents... I didn't think I'd hit a wall on such a recent ancestor but the circumstances make it difficult. The name is John H Thomas. What makes it hard are a few things - His name is common, his marriage only lasted one census record, he was born in another state from that census record.

Here is the information I know on him:

Name: John H Thomas
Birth: ~1900 in Pennsylvania
WW1 Vet
Married Bessie Eva Cluck in 1927 in Seminole, Seminole, OK, USA
Lived in Shawnee, Pottawatomie, OK, USA in 1930 with wife and 2 kids (Edward J and Betty Jean)
Divorced from Bessie sometime between 1930 and 1940
Lived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1935
Lived in Shreveport, Caddo, LA, USA in 1940 as a lodger and was divorced

His parents are both listed as being born in Wales on the 1930 census
His occupation is Oil Field Work on the marriage application and 1940 census

The records I have are:

The marriage license application and license
The 1930 and 1940 censuses

I had a hunch that his dad's name was Edward because that's his only son's name, but that didn't result in anything. I'm not sure where to look in 1920, there's a lot of space between pennsylvania and oklahoma and there are 100's of John Thomases, there are even multiple who have parents born in Wales.

Re: Stuck on John H Thomas - 1900

Posted: 3 Jul 2015 9:05PM GMT
Classification: Query
His death certificate and any newspaper obituaries may confirm his parents' names and more exactly confirm his place of birth.

Unless his parents' obituaries state a town of origin in Wales, or they have very distinctive names, you will are likely to find it challenging to differentiate them from large numbers of other Welsh men and women of the same names. We Welsh struggle often to differentiate individuals; transatlantic migration is an even more problematic step to bridge: good luck!

Re: Stuck on John H Thomas - 1900

Posted: 9 Jul 2015 7:41PM GMT
Classification: Query
If you have his social security number (look for it on the death certificate), you can order a copy of the application that he filed to obtain that number. The application, a form SS-5, asks for the names of the applicant's parents.

Here is a link...

http://genealogy.about.com/od/online_records/a/ss5_request.h...

Hope this helps,

Scott

Re: Stuck on John H Thomas - 1900

Posted: 9 Jul 2015 7:53PM GMT
Classification: Query
Unfortunately, I don't have his ss#. The family lost track of him after the divorce - after that, he is a mystery. The only post-divorce thing I was able to connect with confidence was the 1940 census record. Basically, the only period I have information for him is between 1928-1940. The only reason I know he was born in PA and is a WW1 vet and has parents born in Wales are from his 1930 census.

Seems like sort of a lost cause at this point with the limited information.
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