{"id":26003,"date":"2017-10-12T11:17:21","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T15:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=26003"},"modified":"2017-10-13T14:56:32","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T18:56:32","slug":"using-search-variations-to-find-missing-information-about-a-relative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/using-search-variations-to-find-missing-information-about-a-relative.html","title":{"rendered":"Using Search Variations to Find Missing Information about a Relative"},"content":{"rendered":"

My cousin Henry Hamilton Starbird was born in Gray, Cumberland, Maine, in February 1816, and he married Hope P. Cobb on 30 November 1845 in Westbrook, Cumberland, Maine. I recently wrote about my search to find Henry\u2019s correct death date<\/a>, because his obituary and headstone listed two different dates. But Henry isn\u2019t the only mystery in this family \u2013 I had virtually no information about his wife Hope, so I decided to do a little digging to see what I could find about her heritage.<\/p>\n

From my notes, I know that Hope was born in Westbrook, Cumberland, Maine, on 24 June 1820, and died in Gray, Cumberland, Maine, 24 April 1873. I did not have the names of her parents or anything about family beyond her husband and child\u2019s names.<\/p>\n

I began by searching GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> for \u201cHope Cobb\u201d in Maine newspapers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This search did not produce any useful results, so I tried again, this time with Hope\u2019s married name: Starbird.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This search yielded two interesting records. The first was a probate notice listing Hope as the executor of her husband Henry Hamilton Starbird\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Daily Eastern Argus (Portland, Maine), 11 September 1867, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yes, that is her.<\/p>\n

The second was an obituary for Hope P. Starbird from April 1873.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Portland Daily Press (Portland, Maine), 28 April 1873, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far, I had not found the names of her parents \u2013 so I turned to FamilySearch and typed \u201cHope Cobb\u201d and her birth year, 1820, into the search bar to see if there may be another record for Hope with her parents listed.<\/p>\n

\"Vital<\/a>
Source: FamilySearch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is interesting; I found a second listing for \u201cHope Cobb\u201d \u2013 a Hope Pike Cobb was born in Windham, Cumberland, Maine, in 1820, which is a neighboring city to the birthplace I had listed for Hope: Westbrook, Cumberland, Maine. According to FamilySearch, Hope Pike Cobb\u2019s parents were Timothy Cobb and Betsy Hawkes. Are these the parents of the Hope Cobb in my family tree?<\/p>\n

Sounds like a reasonable theory. I\u2019ll keep searching until I can be confident about Hope\u2019s heritage.<\/p>\n

Genealogy Tip:<\/em><\/strong> Try searching for different variations of your ancestor\u2019s name in GenealogyBank and other record sources to find pieces of information that you may have missed before.<\/p>\n

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