Jack Ferris - Looking for my maternal grandfathers family .

Question

My grandfather, Jack O Ferris (wikitree/Ferris-2389) was born 14 Feb 1897 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. He ran away from home at a young age. On his social security application it shows his parents names but I can't find anything on them. I have a lot of hits thru Ancestry DNA that must be his family connections, but no one will answer my plea.

Can you help.

Thank you

Pat Bradbury(Thompson-47238)

Comments

Patricia, why don't you edit the title of your question and add your grandfather's surname? And also add the surname as a tag.

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Hi Patricia, Welcome to WikiTree!  The time frame makes it look as though we should be able to solve this!  I will poke around a bit.

BTW, I second what Edie said, and also it would help if you connect the question to Jack's profile rather than your own profile.  Put Ferris-2389 in that field at the bottom of the question, instead of Thompson-47238

Cheers

Shirlea

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meanwhile, for others who want to help, here's a link to Jack's profile

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ferris-2389

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Thank you -done

Answer 1

Contact Mary Elizabeth Pond,,"Biological Family Tree, She has

mother and father listed.She on Ancestry.com.See what she knows.

Comments

She is my half sister

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Patricia also has a very good tree for this family on Ancestry.  Jack is elusive before his marriage....

Answer 2

Here is Jack in 1925; he and Cosma  are in Los Angeles and have registered the birth of their son Name: Thomas William Ferris

Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 27 Apr 1925
Event Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
Event Place (Original): Los Angeles
Gender: Male
Father's Name: Jack Ferris
Father's Birthplace: New Mexico
Father's Age: 28
Father's Birth Year (Estimated): 1897
Mother's Name: Cosma Belvilla
Mother's Birthplace: Missouri
Mother's Age: 20
Mother's Birth Year (Estimated): 1905

Other information in the record of Thomas William Ferris
Name: Thomas William Ferris
Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 27 Apr 1925
Event Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
Event Place (Original): Los Angeles
Gender: Male
Father's Name: Jack Ferris
Father's Birthplace: New Mexico
Father's Age: 28
Father's Birth Year (Estimated): 1897
Mother's Name: Cosma Belvilla
Mother's Birthplace: Missouri
Mother's Age: 20
Mother's Birth Year (Estimated): 1905

Digital Folder Number: 005588373
Image Number: 02752

 

 

Citing this Record
"California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGLW-R8TF : 27 September 2019), Cosma Belvilla in entry for Thomas William Ferris, 27 Apr 1925; citing Birth, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, California State Archives, Sacramento.

I would have added this to the profile for you, but the privacy level is not open for that.

Comments

Thank you

This is my mothers family.

How do I get the ref on his page?

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See if these instructions explain it for you:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Sources#How_to_Add_Sources_to_Profiles

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I know you have all the sources documented thru Ancestry, but the images are behind a paywall, so the FamilySearch images are more available to all.

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I remember that it seemed difficult at first, and i kept forgetting to save my work like we used to have to at the beginning of word processing, but it doesn't take long till it becomes easy.

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I usually type some narrative into the bio, then set up the <ref>  </ref> tags where i will want the source referenced, then use the Research menu item in the drop-down menu from the profile's name-number to search FamilySearch, then use the clipboard tool in FamilySearch to get the data into my clipboard, then just CtrlV it in between the <ref> and the </ref>.

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I changed the privacy level so you can and it.

Thanks so much for your help

Answer 3

Here is Jack's registration of death.  I know you have this info, but this will be an easy way to source it on his profile.

Name: Jack O Ferris
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 22 Mar 1967
Event Place: San Bernardino, California, United States
Birth Date: 14 Feb 1897
Birthplace: New Mexico
Gender: Male

 

Citing this Record
"California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPN7-S8K : 26 November 2014), Jack O Ferris, 22 Mar 1967; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.

Answer 4

Here is Jack and Cosma and family in 1930.  Notice that the informant told the census taker that Jack is younger than he claims to be on other docs

Name: Jack Ferris
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1930
Event Place: Los Angeles (Districts 0001-0250), Los Angeles, California, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Race (Original): White
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Head
Birth Year (Estimated): 1902
Birthplace: New Mexico
Father's Birthplace: United States
Mother's Birthplace: United States
Sheet Letter: B
Sheet Number: 26

 

Household	Role	Sex	Age	Birthplace
Jack Ferris	Head	M	28	New Mexico
Cosma Ferris	Wife	F	25	Missouri
Ethel M Ferris	Daughter	F	7	Colorado
Jacqueline M Ferris	Daughter	F	6	California
Thomas W Ferris	Son	M	4	California
Robert D Ferris	Son	M	0	California

District: ED 142
Sheet Number and Letter: 26B
Household ID: 634
Line Number: 95
Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number: T626
Affiliate Film Number: 138
GS Film Number: 2339873
Digital Folder Number: 004950129
Image Number: 00585
 

Citing this Record
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCVC-JGM : accessed 22 December 2019), Robert D Ferris in household of Jack Ferris, Los Angeles (Districts 0001-0250), Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 142, sheet 26B, line 100, family 634, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 138; FHL microfilm 2,339,873.

Answer 5

Jack and Cosma's wedding https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/61366/TH-1961-25807-34636-24/900124652?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/163928258/person/222154624248/facts

Answer 6

Several trees have the same parents you show, but, I would say that they are probably not the parents based on "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M99V-MCQ : accessed 22 December 2019), Thomas Ferris, Campbell Township, Warrick, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 148, sheet 4B, family 75, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,411. Looks like they lived in Indiana and no son named Jack in 1900.

Comments

We have no information on his parents or other family members.  I got their names from the application form. He never spoke about his family other than saying he ran away from home and he called to come back and his father said no.

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Oh what a dilemma………..what do I do now.

His headstone shows his birth year at 1897.  I have a death certificate with birth year 1897. Do I change the birth year back to 1897?

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Then New Mexico might be the first place he remembers living, yet not be where he actually was born.  He might not have had opportunity to clarify this information with family members.  He also might not have been enumerated in 1920 -- single young men not living at home seem to be the easiest to miss.

How old was he when he ran away?

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I wouldn't change it back until you find a birth registration.  Most likely he was born in 1902.  We can discuss this in the bio. Have you looked closely at his WW2 Old Men's Draft Registration? What year was that card filled in?

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A person is not initially a first hand source for their own birth info.  They are not in a position to know without asking someone who was there in the role of parent, doctor, older sibling etc. The person's own testimony 20 years later is not as reliable as eye witness accounts at the time.  There are lots of memorial inscriptions which are wrong by a year just because someone did the math wrong, or it was misremembered, or there was a reason to appear younger or older.

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February 14,1897

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age about 15 or 16

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So sometime between 1937's SS application and 1940's census/1942 Draft, Jack started saying he was born in 1897 instead of in 1902.  Did he have an opportunity to find his birth certificate, either by sending away for it or having a relative send it to him? Did he have the opportunity to talk with a family member and check a few facts?  Did adding a few years to his age bring some benefit?

Edited to add: it's just part of my method, to speculate on what set of circumstances could make all the known facts fit into the same picture. I'm not expecting you to know the answers to those questions.

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Since he ran away as a teenager, he should be living at home on at least one census, 1910.

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Hi Patricia!

It’s a good puzzle!

I don’t have much more time for it this evening, but I will make you a little list of things I would do if I had time:

Read the entire 1910 census of Las Vegas, New Mexico.  Make note of any families called Ferris, Faris, or anything remotely similar (Taris, Paris, Favis).  Build their family groupings and their trees until you are sure they aren’t your relatives.  Watch for names that could have some connection to Phaizal.

 Remember that Jack could be a nickname for James or even Jacob.

 Read the 1920 census of Denver for the area that Cosma’s family is living in.  Somehow, they met in 1920 or 1921.  Again, watch for strange name variants that have managed to foil the indexing and Ancestry’s powerful search engine.

 Try other censuses if you have time—if Jack was born in Las Vegas New Mexico in 1897, he could be there as a 3 year old on the 1900 Census.

Research the economy of Las Vegas New Mexico.  Was there a reason for an influx of new people around the turn of the century?  Where did they tend to come from?  Where did they tend to go? What were most people working at?  Wasn’t there a war in the area around that time? (Sorry, I’m a Canadian with mostly British roots and don’t claim much of a grasp of US history)

 Watch especially for Farris men with painting or contracting experience.  Jack could have picked up this skill entirely independently of his family of origin, or he could have got his start working under his dad.