Who were the parents and relatives of Vera Mildred Ferguson?  She was
believed to have been born in the county or township of Steuben, New
York in 1896.  Her mother may have been Ermina Jones.  Perhaps she
lived in Remsen, New York prior to leaving for Illinois in mid
twenties. May have been a registerred nurse and administrator of a
hospital during WW1.

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Clarification of Question by jack1425-ga on 21 Oct 2002 09:58 PDT

Her maiden name was Vera Mildred Ferguson and her married name was
Mildred Ferguson Ferguson as supposedly married Leodard Cuthbert
Ferguson (born 1898 in Hammond NY.)assume before bith of first child,
Roger Oaks Ferguson, in 1925.
May have lived in Remsen 1900-25, prior was born 1896 county of
Steuben NY. but time there unknown.
Moved to Freeport, Illinois mid 1920's.
Large family with one brother James and a sister that became Ruth
Warren after marring Carl, a school teacher.

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 21 Oct 2002 10:05 PDT

Jack --

The information on Freeport will be helpful.  I was in error above --
it's the 1930 Census that's just been released, so you can see that
finding her in Freeport is a liklihood.

Before I go dashing off to the National Archives, let me doublecheck
to make sure that you HAVE NOT checked census records yet.  They're
available nearby in Seattle for me, but will take 2-4 hours worth of
research.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Clarification of Question by jack1425-ga on 22 Oct 2002 19:50 PDT

Her life in Freeport is well known, but it is before she got there
which seems the mystery.  I suspect she was related to leonard
cuthbert ferguson and so there was no marriage.  Lots of pages have
been turned but very little information on her.  Thought a registry of
nurses may have something but coming up empty myself on anything her
side of family.  And running a hospital with 250 employees, it would
seem she would have left more of a trace.  Thought bith place of first
born and cirtificate may give some insight.  Agian, he was Roger Oaks
Ferguson, one time mayor of Monrovia ca. died 1978-9.  She was in
Remson or Remsen (both correct) NY. 1900-20 as LCF meant her while
going to Hammilton college near by.  Known as "Milly" by one person
just found. Her father supposedly died from alchohol when young and
had large family. Good Luck Om!

Jack --

Mildred Ferguson's parents were:

Otis B. Ferguson, born August, 1859 in Connecticut
Ermina M. Ferguson, May, 1862 in New York

Their children were:

Francis M. (Fanny), born June, 1885, in NY
Mary, born June 1887, in NY
Gary D., born January 1893, in NY
Mildred, born September 1896, in NY
Percy James (James), born August, 1898, in NY
Ruth E., born 1902, in NY

The information comes from the 1900 and 1910 Census.  Names in
parentheses indicate a difference in how they were listed between the
two.  The Census is from Steuben Township in Oneida County, NY.

Here's what else the 1910 census has to say:
*  Otis is a dry goods grocer
*  Both Otis and Ermina can read and write
*  they owned their home (with no mortgage)

Going to the NARA archive here and looking for the family on Census
microfilm collections obtained the data.  Should you ever wish to look
these records up directly at a National Archives record center, you
will need to know the following:
Soundex for Ferguson is F622 (it's a code to sound out names that are
alike)
The 1900 data is on microfilm roll T1062-230
The 1910 data is on microfilm roll 1052

I've tried scanning the photocopies so that I could post them to a
website but they're illegible after yet another copy.

For an idea what data was collected for each census, see these forms
at the Ancestry.com "Census Forms for Printing" page:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~barlow/genforms.html 

If anything is confusing, please ask for a clarification if you need
to before rating this answer.

No Google search strategy for this one.  Just good old-fashioned
legwork.  A similar search can be done for the family going forward to
1920 or later, if you have a good idea where they are located.

Best regards – and I hope we found family for you!

Omnivorous-GA

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Request for Answer Clarification by jack1425-ga on 10 Nov 2002 12:41 PST

omnivorous, your answer is fresh and almost complete.  Mildred's
mother's maiden name is all that is left for completion of this
question or did you mean it was "Ferguson"? Please consider taking
what you've learned and answerring the other questions about family
history posted.  How do the "Fergusons" and "Cuthberts" tie together
in "Lawrence Ferguson Cuthbert"(his mothers maiden name)?  What was
the relationship of "Leonard Cuthbert Ferguson" to "Mildred Ferguson"
prior to thier supposed marriage (about 1923-25) and were they in fact
married (the big one)?  Look foreward to your responses.

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Clarification of Answer by omnivorous-ga on 10 Nov 2002 13:15 PST

Jack –

I'm glad that you posted the note: I was wondering if you'd seen the
family information.  As you know, I used Census information – which
doesn't show maiden name.  Places to find that would be:
* birth certificates of any of the kids (see the comments re: NY Vital
Records Section in question #90837)
* death certificate for Ermina

RE: Cuthbert/Ferguson links.  I don't know how to show Lawrence could
be born a Ferguson, then adopt the Cuthbert name – short of finding
his mother and a second marriage (with adoption by the stepfather).

Here's what I probably can do:
1.	find Lawrence Ferguson Cuthbert in Hammond, NY in 1910 and possibly
1920; see WHERE his parents were born.  We might be able to find other
Cuthberts in the same county for 1910.
2.	find Leonard Cuthbert Ferguson in 1910; 1920 in NY.  Possibly
locate parents and census information.
3.	find Vera and Leonard in Freeport, IL in 1930.

Here's what I can't do with the resources available:
1.	PROVE that Vera Mildred and Leonard were married.  The closest that
Census documents will get us is a marriage year (data from the 1930s
shows at what age each was married).  Census documents would indicate
their marriage status but my own grandparents report DIFFERENT
marriage status for the 1920 Census, and obviously only one can be
correct.
2.	sort out the Lawrence name change.  I think the secret to find out
if his mother remarried.  That will be a difficult task.  Best chance:
get Lawrence's death or birth certificate.

The minute that you have birth, death or marriage dates established,
the best route is usually a state's vital records section.  Barring
prior research by a family member, little of this information is
likely to be on the Internet.

Two final notes here:
* if you'd like me to proceed on the 3 tasks above, please let me know
* I have photocopies of the 1910/1920 census material if you'd like
them sent

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Request for Answer Clarification by jack1425-ga on 11 Nov 2002 22:09 PST

Jacks back after computor problems and stuff.
Lawerance Ferguson Cuthbert didn't have his name changed if that is
how it seemed. I do want to know how Ferguson became his middle name. 
He was born to a Willam Ferguson but it is his mothers' maiden name
that may hold the answer, right?

As for Mildred, without her mothers' maiden name seems your answer is
little shy of 100%.  What can you do to finish it? How could I help?

How to discover about Mildred and Leonard married or not?  What if
Otis (Mildreds')and Daniel (Leonard's) dads were related?  If they
carried on deception, when would they have had to show ID? Lets figure
a way for you to get this, OK?

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Clarification of Answer by omnivorous-ga on 12 Nov 2002 03:40 PST

Jack --

Here's what I would recommend:
1.  to find Ermina's maiden name.  This has all been non-Internet
research, using Census information.  I can't go any further.  However,
if you have Mildred's birthday, it's an easy matter to get her birth
certificate from the State of NY; that should list her mother's maiden
name.  Eponine's comments to your question on genealogy tell how to do
it.
2.  Regarding proof of marriage: the only proof is the marriage
license.  But we can get married in any state, making that difficult. 
Logical paths:
  -- children's birth certificate
  -- census (tells you what they claimed)

The only place that I can help you is chasing Census records, as that
is what I apparently have better access to.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Good work in difficult area, thanks agian.  Consider other questions posted too.

Jack --

You may find some information about Vera if there's been someone doing
genealogical research that crosses her line.  If not, a researcher may
be able to use Census archives or other sources to help.  A couple of
things they'll want to know:
1.  is Ferguson her maiden name?  was there a married name?
2.  when did she live in Remsen, NY?
3.  census data was just released for 1920, so it's doubtful there's
much about Illinois -- but do you know where she lived in Illinois? 
Any idea what hospital (or even what type of hospital) in Illinois?

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

11-14-2002

DEAR JACK1425-GA:

To get some more input of a genealogical nature, you should seriously
consider posting your query on the www.rootsweb.com website, click on
MESSAGE BOARDS, and then find the message board for ST. LAWRENCE
COUNTY, NY and ONEIDA COUNTY.  You would get some input from
professional genealogists in that area who would be more familiar with
the type of information you are looking for and would get excellent
results to help you overcome the dead-end you seem to have reached.

SINCERELY,
4keith-ga

I don't know if anyone cares anymore, but, to the best of my
knowledge, Leonard Cuthbert Ferguson and Leonard Ferguson Cuthbert
were first cousins.  Leonard Ferguson Cuthbert was the son of William
S. and Martha Cuthbert while Leonard Cuthbert Ferguson was the son of
Daniel A. and Mary Cuthbert.  William S. and Mary Cuthbert were
brother and sister and children of William Cuthbert and Mary
Cunningham.

Correction: Leonard Cuthbert Ferguson and Leonard Ferguson Cuthbert
were first cousins.  Leonard Ferguson Cuthbert was the son of William
S. and Martha Cuthbert while Leonard Cuthbert Ferguson was the son of
Daniel A. Ferguson and Mary Cuthbert.  William S. and Mary Cuthbert were
brother and sister and children of William Cuthbert and Mary
Cunningham.

mandeville-ga or others, Q#75759 is still of interest, what proof is
thier they were married? jack1425