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How to Find Them?
One question that is a hard one to answer regarding the actors in our family is trying to determine where are they at a certain point in time. As in William's case, I have found him only in the 1910 and 1920 census records, when he was already in his 60s and 70s. So, where else can you find them?
I have used the newspaper articles found on Genealogybank, Ancestry.com, Footnote, and a wonderful site: Old Fulton NY Post Cards, which is free, and has remarkable articles esp from the NY Clipper, the Variety of its day, mostly late 1800's early 1900s.
One of the difficulties is determining the name they were using at the time, as they may use different names through their working years. In William's case, he was found as W.A. Lavelle, Col William Lavelle, "Cal" Lavelle, which was probably a typo of Col.
Another issue: were they married? Sometimes you will come across articles regarding their spouses, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were living together or working in the same state.
It is great to find 'official records' such as birth, marriage and death records, but as I have found those records that should provide answers sometimes lead to only more questions.
So what other resources have you used to trace your actors?
I have used the newspaper articles found on Genealogybank, Ancestry.com, Footnote, and a wonderful site: Old Fulton NY Post Cards, which is free, and has remarkable articles esp from the NY Clipper, the Variety of its day, mostly late 1800's early 1900s.
One of the difficulties is determining the name they were using at the time, as they may use different names through their working years. In William's case, he was found as W.A. Lavelle, Col William Lavelle, "Cal" Lavelle, which was probably a typo of Col.
Another issue: were they married? Sometimes you will come across articles regarding their spouses, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were living together or working in the same state.
It is great to find 'official records' such as birth, marriage and death records, but as I have found those records that should provide answers sometimes lead to only more questions.
So what other resources have you used to trace your actors?
Views: 46
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kate Steere on
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As I have posted on one of my discussions on William, I have an interview that William gave before he left for Australia in 1912. In the interview, William gives a full biography, most of which is probably nothing more than a great storyteller and performer spinning a yarn, however, it gives a snapshot of William that I could not see from official records.
I would love to find some evidence to support his story of being a teenage spy during the Civil War, but even if totally spun from his imagination, it is a remarkable tale. -
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Permalink Reply by Myss Story on
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As part of my family emigrated from England to the Southern Pacific I have used two very good sites successfully in tracing theatrical performers: Papers Past, which has New Zealand newspapers and the Australian governments Australian newpapers beta site. Either site may mention theatrical events in Britain, although I haven't come across any American engagements noted.
That might seem useless towards searching American performances, but many actors crossed "the pond" to and from both Britain and the Australian countries and were commented on. Sometimes, if one learns what troupe an actor was in and when, it's easier to track the troupe or company's movements with those papers, and others. -
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