Uncover Your Past
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • Photo Gallery

Another mystery solved -- TWO sons with the same name!

5/13/2009

1 Comment

 

Census takers in early 20th century Canada no doubt had a difficult time of it. Imagine going door to door to visit the new immigrants who might not have been able to speak English and trying to communicate names, ages, dates of birth, etc. Considering so few of the newcomers could read, write or even spell their own name it is no wonder that ethnic names regularly got misspelled. I have been researching my family tree for many years and I usually take the detailed information in the Canadian censuses with a grain of salt. Often, it’s enough to find a family name in the correct location for me to verify a fact or family rumour.

Recently, however, I came across a record that literally made me stop in my tracks. Searching death certificates on the Manitoba Vital Statistics sitefor the family name “Sidor” I came upon a “Nykola (Nick) Sidor” who was sadly only eight years old when he died in 1903. The location put him in the same area as the Sidors in my family, so on a whim I ordered a copy of the certificate. (Vital statistics agencies are doing a wonderful job in providing old records online. As long as the birth certificate is over 100 years ago, the marriage certificate is over 80 years ago or the death certificate is over 70 years ago, the general public can search the records and order a copy of the original for a small fee. The genealogical info on these documents is well worth the cost.)

Not thinking anything would come of it, I checked the Canadian census listings again for this family for 1901, 1906 and 1911 in the Provencher District of Manitoba:

   1901 Nicola Sidor, son of Wasyl and Marie, age 6 born Dec 11, 1894

   1906 Nicola Sidor, son of Wasyl and Mariczka, age 2

   1911 Nicola Sidor, son of Wasyl and Anna (a new wife or another creative mistake? A mystery for another time), age 7 born Aug 1904

For years I just took for granted that the census takers got Nicola’s age wrong because he always showed up in the same family in the census. Or did he? Returning to the Manitoba Vital Statistics site I searched for a Nick/Nicola Sidor born ~1904. Lo and behold I found a record!

The death certificate (1903-06-003460) for poor eight-year-old Nykola Sidor states his address as Stuartburn 24-1-6E. He died June 9, 1903. Unfortunately, there are no parents’ names nor next of kin listed. Born in 1894 he would have been 6 for the 1901 census. The birth certificate (1903-06-140720) for Nick Sidor also states the residence as Stuartburn 24-1-6 and the parents are Wasyl and Maria. He was born June 30, 1903. This child would have been 2 for the 1906 census and 7 for the 1911 census.

Based on this evidence I can only conclude that were TWO Nicolas in this family. Stunned at having found an actual explanation for the disparate ages in the censuses I thought how grief stricken this poor family must have been. They lost their 8 year old son, and later that month when another son was born to them they named him after his brother. How very sad. And how very confusing for the genealogist.

1 Comment
Mary Schmidt
3/22/2013 21:47:40

Hi,
I have recently started digging up my roots and ran across your site on a random search. There were indeed two sons name Nick in this family. My grandfather was their oldest brother. My mom has a few notes from a visit with their sister, Rose that indicate this.
Also, the census records that i've found for 1916 show Wasyl and Mary Sidor in the same household, but their children are on the next page. They have the same household number but have been separated by a transcription error: All of the children have been listed as "Lidor".
I just want to let you know that your hunch was indeed correct.
Mary

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Why a blog?

    Family history just fascinates me.  And not just my own. There are many facts and people that have been lost to time. I really enjoy puzzles and sometimes I come across some really interesting mysteries in my genealogy travels. I'll post some of my musings here.

    Archives

    November 2015
    May 2015
    October 2012
    September 2012
    February 2010
    January 2010
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    May 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    June 2008

    Categories

    All
    Adoption
    Antrim
    Baby
    Baby Names
    Baby Talbot
    Ballyclare
    Book Review
    Canada
    Canada Census
    Cbc
    Census
    Children
    Conference
    Dreams
    Ellis Island
    England
    Erma Bombeck
    Family Heirloom
    Family Names
    Fathers
    Females
    Forensic Genealogy
    French Canadian
    Genealogy
    Genetic Strand
    Gilmore
    Gravestone
    History
    Immigration
    Interviewing Relatives
    Ireland
    Land Records
    Life
    Lily
    London
    Love Letter
    Memories
    Military
    Morehouse
    Netherlands
    Oakland Cemetery
    Ogs
    Old Port Of Quebec
    Ontario
    Patterson
    Photos
    Pond Mills
    Poppy Puppy
    Quaker
    Remembrance Day
    Resolutions
    Respect
    Royal Artillery
    Sawchuk
    Scanning
    Sedor
    Shewchuk
    Sidor
    Terry Sawchuk
    Walczak
    Walzack
    Websites

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.