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Francois Kenneth Randall
Looking for info on my Grandfather a real man of mystery
Francois was born 14 Nov 1891 in one of three places per his marriage app to my grandmother he was born in Wilson, Michigan per his masonic records- our family Bible and his death certificate as well as his draft card he was born in Calgary Alberta Canada per his Obit it was Chicago, II I have written all three places with no records found.
He married Kathryn Anne Barden on 14 March 1914 in Indiana He lists his father as Frank H Randall born in France but living in Dawson,Ala??? cannot read the entire state lists his fathers occupation as Essayer which means the same as assayer Under part for mother it just says DEAD.
Francois died 10 Dec 1929 in Benton Harbor MI and is buried in Crystal Springs Cemetery Benton Harbor MI
Some other facts I'm pretty sure of
He worked for Pm Railroad
He taught swimming at the Chicago Young Mens Athletic Assoc
Any body got any ideas on finding a way to break down this brick wall? I've written to every state he had any connection to .
Francois was born 14 Nov 1891 in one of three places per his marriage app to my grandmother he was born in Wilson, Michigan per his masonic records- our family Bible and his death certificate as well as his draft card he was born in Calgary Alberta Canada per his Obit it was Chicago, II I have written all three places with no records found.
He married Kathryn Anne Barden on 14 March 1914 in Indiana He lists his father as Frank H Randall born in France but living in Dawson,Ala??? cannot read the entire state lists his fathers occupation as Essayer which means the same as assayer Under part for mother it just says DEAD.
Francois died 10 Dec 1929 in Benton Harbor MI and is buried in Crystal Springs Cemetery Benton Harbor MI
Some other facts I'm pretty sure of
He worked for Pm Railroad
He taught swimming at the Chicago Young Mens Athletic Assoc
Any body got any ideas on finding a way to break down this brick wall? I've written to every state he had any connection to .
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Linda Randall Markman on
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I hope I attached this right it is a scanned copy of the marriage app filled out by my grandfather
As for the Bible I saw the entry while visiting an aunt several years ago it was my grandmother's (Francois's wife) and the entry was in her handwriting. I also got a report from the Masonic Lodge he belonged to where it is stated his place of birth is Calgary Alberta Canada.
Now I do understand that clerks are not always careful but I did recieve a reply from Wilson Mi stating a search of Michigan birth records 1890 to 1892 indicates no birth record filed or registered for Francois Randall. The same results were obtainted from Chicago Ill I cannot find my copy of the reply from Canada but it to yielded no results found. Thats why I decided to see if I could track down Frank H Randall as maybe going through a side door would help in my search. - Attachments:
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marriageapfrancois.jpg, 706 KB
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I found another note in my research records
in the 1920 census it says Francois father was born in England and his mother in Ireland
I do not know who provided the info to the censustaker but the more records I find the more confusing it gets, I recall my father telling me once years ago that his father spoke with a French accent but then again my father was a young boy when his father (Francois) died. -
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It was quite common for couples wanting to marry to jump over to indianna for marriage Not sure why but according to my mother many Michigan residents around Berrien County went there
Kathryn has been fairly easy to research as her grandfather was Edwin Hurlbut a well known figure in his day. The Wisconsi Historical society provided me with several articles on him which include his roots. -
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Permalink Reply by Liz Loveland on
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Francois, have you tried contacting the US Railroad Retirement Board? The later they worked for a railroad, the better the records, as many of the early ones were destroyed legally before the USRRB started archiving them all instead. The more information you can provide the board, the more likely they'll find the file, but with a birth date, spouse's maiden name, and a railroad employer, they might be able to find it. (Having a death date too especially helps.)
Here are a few articles that helped me write my own letter to the USRRB:
http://www.genealogytoday.com/guide/railroad-employees.html
http://www.genealogy.com/rhonda120299.html (this was the most helpful to me)
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=897
http://www.rrb.gov/mep/genealogy.asp (their own article on the subject) -
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Linda: Oops, sorry I called you Francois! I wanted to add that the USRRB records that hadn't been destroyed contained some information I had been unable to find elsewhere (and still haven't seen elsewhere, even now that I have the info to input into databases), like the death date of one of the employees I was researching and what funeral home his family used.
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