Well, what do you know! My last post suggested I might find Dr. Lee living near Herkimer, NY around 1880. Once I had an idea where she might be, it didn’t take long to locate her in the 1880 census.
This is why it is important to spend time tracking down other types of resources when doing family research. The contents of news clipping for the Kanistanaux family have provided many vital clues about the people in the family, their connections to each other, and where to look for missing pieces.
I found Dr. Lee in the 1880 census using Ancestry.com. First, I selected Census, then 1880. In the search box I entered Herkimer Co., NY as the “Lived In” location and used the setting “Restrict to Adjacent Counties”. The only other item was setting “Indian” as the race. I did not use any names, since I have already done name searches that did not discover her.
What do you know, there she is on the first page of results in Rome, Oneida Co., NY. If only they were all that easy. Oh wait, this wasn’t easy. It took me and Randy hours and hours of searching old newspapers to find the bits and pieces that brought me to this point.
If she had been listed as white instead of Indian, it would have taken much longer to find her!
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The Ne-Do-Ba Research Journal 