Even professionals can learn new tricks. I have been researching a Rosa Lee Corker who appears on both the 1920 and 1930 U. S. Census as the daughter of Gordon Corker and Alene Daniels Corker. [i] When Alene dies in 1942, it is Rosa Lee Duncan who is the informant for Alene’s Death Certificate. [ii]
Rosa has a daughter, Sarah Lee Duncan who was most likely named after Alene’s mother, Sarah. [iii] Rosa remarries in 1948 several months after her daughter, Sarah Lee marries a William Thomas. Researching William and Sarah Thomas would be extremely difficult due to the popularity of those names and I was in Macon contemplating a strategy.
My friend, and the Genealogy Librarian at Washington Memorial Library in Macon, Ms. M. Jackson suggested I obtain the marriage applications as well as the marriage certificates. I had never thought about obtaining the application. However, it will typicaly list parents’ names and whether they are still living or not.
In Bibb County, Georgia, where Macon is located, the cost for a certified marriage license is $30 but I did not need a certified one, just a copy. That was $1 per page. The application would take several days to get in, however, it came in the following day. Again, $1 per page.
To my surprise, Rosa Lee was never a Corker. I learned that Alene had married a Holly Myrick who was Rosa’s father. Holly died and she then married Gordon Corker. It further states that Rosa’s first marriage to James Duncan ended in divorce because of infidelity.
So now we have another tool in our arsenal in researching our elusive ancestors.
[i] 1920 U. S. Census, Bibb County, Georgia, population schedule, Macon City, Supervisor’s District 6, Enumeration District 23, p. 7 A (inked), Family 161, Dwelling 166, 317 Harris Alley, Household of Willie Brenn and 1930 U. S. Census, Bibb County, Georgia, population schedule, Macon City, Supervisor’s District 8, Enumeration District 11-10, p. 2B (inked), Family 49, Dwelling 58, 220 Division Street, Household of Gordon Corker, image, www.Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed 3 April 2022), citing NARA T625, roll 23 (1920) and T626 roll 23.
[ii] Bibb County, Georgia, Georgia Department of Public Health, Certificate of Death, File No. 498, Alene Death Certificate, Alene Corker, Bibb Probate Court, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.
[iii] Bibb County, Georgia, Application for Marriage Licenses, Sarah Lee Duncan, Bibb Probate Court, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.