The Tiniest Clue
The Informant
The Informant, Louis G. Bauer, on this Death Certificate proved to be an important clue to discovering another branch of this family. View Certificate
As genealogists we love finding the big breakthrough records. Wills. Estate Distributions. Vital Records. But sometimes the tiny clue found in the everyday records of our research subjects’ lives becomes the key to discovering unknown relationships. Such was the case with a “Card of Thanks” found in the Indianapolis Star on 19 October 1911.
Frank, or Francis, Marion Bauer died 16 October 1911 in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. Frank was only 38 years old and had been working in the Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Home. Frank’s obituary published in his home town paper “The Marshall Republican,” in Saline County, Missouri, read:
"Frank Bauer - Mrs. R. S. Reed informed us of the sad news of her brother's death, Frank Bauer, who died of typhoid fever at the Deaconess Hospital in Indianapolis, Ind., after a two weeks' illness on Monday, Oct. 16th at 1:00 p. m. Mr. Bauer was born in Indianapolis but came with his parents to Saline and resided near Salt Springs until about four years ago. Had he lived till yesterday he would have attained the age of 39 years. He was employed in Flanner & Buchanan's undertaking rooms at Indianapolis. He was taken down with a severe case of typhoid fever and everything possible was done for him without avail. He was surrounded by numerous cousins and friends who did all they could for him. He is survived by the following brothers and sisters: Wm. E. Bauer, of Boise, Idaho; Mrs. R. S. Reed, of Marshall; Mrs. Levi Hagan of Leavenworth, Kansas; Henry C. Bauer of Cornelius Ore.; Mrs. C. Ryland Carter, of Boise, Idaho."
Source: "Frank Bauer Death," Death Notice/Article, Marshall Republican, Marshall, Saline, Missouri, 19 October 1911, Article detailing Frank Bauer's Death in Indianapolis; online images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : downloaded 22 October 2013), Historic American Newspapers.
The obituary revealed no new information about Frank, but one line was important: “He was surrounded by numerous cousins …” Who were these cousins?
A “Card of Thanks” was published on the 19th October in the Indianapolis Star:
"CARD OF THANKS—We wish to express our sincere thanks to Mssrs. Flanner & Buchanan and employes(sic), the Rev. Mr Lewis the Winnamac Tribe of Red Men, friends and relatives for the kindness shown us during the illness and death of our beloved cousin, Frank Marion Bauer. LOUIS BAUER AND FAMILY."
Source: "Death of Frank Marion Bauer," Card of Thanks, Indianapolis Star(Indianapolis, Indiana), 19 October 1911, Card of Thanks from Louis Bauer Family for help in Frank Bauer's Death; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : downloaded 20 February 2014).
Who was Louis Bauer? Research found three men named Louis Bauer living in Indianapolis at the time of this event. One of these men was a known cousin to Frank, and at first, it was supposed that this was the Louis but a review of Frank’s death certificate revealed a new piece of information: The informant was “Louis G. Bauer.” The Louis Bauer that was cousin to Frank used the middle initial “F” in his name and was unmarried. If the informant on the Death Certificate was the same person that had published the “Card of Thanks,” it was not a known relative. The address listed on the Death Certificate for Louis G. Bauer was “727 N. Davidson.“ This didn’t match any known relatives.
After a great deal of additional research it was discovered that Louis G. Bauer’s wife, Lydia Berner, was the daughter of Gottieb Berner and Margaretha Bauer. Margaretha Bauer was the sister of Frank’s father, Conrad Bauer—she was Frank’s aunt. Margaretha had immigrated to the U.S. from Baden arriving in New York on 18 May 1850 with her parents and five siblings, but after her arrival I was unable to find her in any records in the U.S. She was lost.
Researching Louis G. Bauer and finding Margaretha and her family helped me to be sure that her brother, my Great Grandfather, was in fact the same person that was on the ship with Margaretha coming to the U.S. in 1850. It would have been easy to have overlooked or ignored the clues left on the “Card of Thanks” and Death Certificate.
How many important clues go unnoticed? How often do we fail to recognize these tiny clues that can lead us to big breakthroughs? I hope we will all pay more attention to the seemingly tiny clues that are scattered through the records of our ancestors.
SOURCE LIST:
"Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011", database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 6 September 2016), No. 192, Frank M. Bauer, 16 October 1911; Citing Indiana Archives and Records Administration, Indianapolis, Indiana.
"Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011", database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 16 October 2016), p. 177 (printed), Record Number 985 (stamped), Lydia B Bauer, 3 May 1948; Citing Indiana Archives and Records Administration, Indianapolis, Indiana.
"New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 21 July 2013), manifest, Victoria, London, England to New York, New York, arriving 18 May 1850, p. 5, lines 223-231, including George Bower, Frederick Pristra, Barbara Bauer, Margaretta Bower, Eva Bower, Conra[sic] Bower, Max Bower, Francis Bower, Frederick Bower; citing National Archives microfilm publication M237, Roll 088.