Question

how do I find a person's parents after the death certificate provides none.

Comments

I have an obituary - no parents.  I cannot find a marriage although there was a marriage in Kansas but I do not believe this is the same couple.  Her birth date does not match up.

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Hi,

I had a look at the  marriage/Licence in Crawford, Kansas, United States (findmypast.co.uk) - the age for both parties was 23 years indicating a year of birth of around 1869 +/- 2 years either side.   No parents for either party were included on the document and it appears the bride and groom were residing in Pittsburg at the time.

Marriage licence date 22 July 1892 at Girard, Crawford, Kansas

Marriage date:  24 July 1892 at Girard, Crawford, Kansas- officiating minister Rev Ira Sanderson.

Elliott Adams of Pittsburg age 23

Ettie Morris of Pittsburg age 23

The 1910 Census records Ettie/Etta place of birth as Illinois.

"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKR3-K5S : accessed 19 September 2018), Elliott Adams, Otter Creek, Vigo, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 185, sheet 13B, family 291, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 384; FHL microfilm 1,374,397.

T

Answer 1

A birthdate of 1869 coincides with census records despite the date given on the death certificate. Also, the marriage year from census records coincides with the record provided by T Walker and they were living in Pittsburg in 1900 which is the place of residence listed for both on the marriage record and census records indicate it was the first marriage for both. That would lead me to conclude that her LNAB was Morris.

Comments

Even though I noted that the marriage record was likely correct, I latched onto a census record (it was very late and I made the mistake of not slowing down to review every detail in my haste to finish my answer).  Deb's conclusion that Morris was her LNAB is a better hypothesis.  Here's other data that supports that:

1895 Kansas census:

• Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1895 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: v115_35; Line: 27.  Index.  

In Pittsburg, Crawford, KS, there is a 25 y/o Etta Adams, born in Illinois, living with an Al?? Adams, born in Indiana.  The enumerator might have gotten his name wrong.  Living with them is a 9 y/o James Morris born in Kansas.  So you can take this info about another person, James Morris, and try to figure out where he fits by doing a search on him.

* "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMTD-G1T : accessed 20 September 2018), James Morris in household of Mary A Morris, Pittsburg city Ward 4, Crawford, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 87, sheet 15A, family 330, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,477.

Here in Crawford, KS, we have a James Morris, born in Nov 1883 in Kansas, living with a Mary Morris, age 49, a widow, born in Illinois.  His father was born in Missouri, what Etta reported on the census in the later years for her father.

So, the census record I noted is a red herring (it happens) and Deb's answer of Morris is the correct one.  I'm switching the best answer star to her.

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Thank you, Kerry. 

Answer 2

You should find and collect all of the evidence that is available, which will then frequently require some detective work to sort out.  The obituary in FindAGrave is misleading as it says she was a lifelong resident of Fontanet, IN.  You can rule this out pretty quickly with other evidence.  Even her death certificate is misleading because it says she was born in Indiana, but you know that's incorrect from other info.  This frequently happens because the info is supplied by someone who may not know the facts.

She lived during an era where U.S. census data is readily available and usually extremely helpful.  You want to search exhaustively to find every census record.  Here are the likely ones for her:

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMT6-WGM : accessed 20 September 2018), Etta F Adams in household of Elliot H Adams, Pittsburg city Ward 4, Crawford, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 87, sheet 13A, family 287, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,477.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKR3-K53 : accessed 20 September 2018), Etta Adams in household of Elliott Adams, Otter Creek, Vigo, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 185, sheet 13B, family 291, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 384; FHL microfilm 1,374,397.
• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF4P-XXD : accessed 20 September 2018), Etta F Adams in household of Elliot H Adams, Nevins, Vigo, Indiana, United States; citing ED 173, sheet 13A, line 3, family 277, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 467; FHL microfilm 1,820,467.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X41Q-JJT : accessed 20 September 2018), Etta F Adams in household of Elliot H Adams, Nevins, Vigo, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 56, sheet 11A, line 34, family 268, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 636; FHL microfilm 2,340,371.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V1BX-FLN : 15 March 2018), Etta Adams, Nevins Township, Vigo, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 84-69, sheet 7A, line 15, family 141, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1105.

Study these, and not just the index.  Look at the forms themselves.  You'll find discrepancies, but not enough that they appear to be different people.  The 1900 census will give you a big clue because they were living in Crawford County, Kansas and had been married for nine years.  That makes the marriage record found by T. Walker to be highly likely to be for them.

Another fact you'll want to look at in the census entries is her parents' birth locations.  This seems to change over time with her father morphing from being born in Ohio to being born in Missouri.  Frequently, the entry closer to the event is more likely to be accurate, so Ohio is what I'd suspect.

Now, since you don't know her birth name, you have to start searching creatively, entering parameters in different ways and on a variety of sites - FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, etc.  Then, you just hope to get lucky.  Unusual names like Ettie or Etta are your friend.  One nice feature of Ancestry.com searches is that they allow you to enter the birthplaces of the person's parents.  You'll be looking for census years between her birth and marriage years.  So, I did all of this and guess what popped out:

• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M644-JWC : 12 April 2016), Ettie F Castle in household of Isaiah M Castle, Illinois, United States; citing p. 24, family 208, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 545,686.

In the 1870 census, we find a 3 y/o Ettie F. Castle living with her father, Isaiah, born in Ohio, and her mother, Sarah, born in Illinois.  I'm not saying definitively that this is her or her parents, but it's good circumstantial evidence.  You can search for additional corroborating evidence.