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Trying to trace death record for John Wilson born 1837 England. Died between 1910 and 1920 US census in Washington. Appears with wife Martha on 1910 census, but 1920 census shows Martha as a widow.

First name(s) John
Last name Wilson
Relationship Father
Marital status Married
Gender Male
Age 73
Birth year 1837
Birth place England, United Kingdom
Race White
Immigration year 1866
Spouse's first name(s) Martha
Spouse's last name Wilson
Spouse's birth place England
Father's first name(s) -
Father's last name -
Father's birth place England
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Mother's birth place England
City/township Lowell
County Snohomish
State Washington
Record set Us Census 1910
Category Census, land & surveys
Subcategory Census
Collections from Americas, United States

First name(s) Martha
Last name Wilson
Relationship Mother
Marital status Widowed
Gender Female
Age 71
Birth year 1849
Birth place England
Ethnicity American
Race White
Can write Yes
Can read Yes
Father's first name(s) -
Father's last name -
Father's birth place England
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Mother's birth place England
Immigration year 1870
City/township -
County Lewis
State Washington
Record set Us Census 1920
Category Census, land & surveys
Subcategory Census
Collections from Americas, United States

Martha died in 1921 and I have various death/burial related records for her,

Name Martha Willson
Gender Female
Age 73
Estimated Birth Year 1848
Death Date 02 Dec 1921
Death Place Camano, Island, Washington
Father William Willson
Mother Esther Caswell
FHL Film Number 1992761
Reference ID rn 40

I am hoping to find a similar record for John to establish his parentage and track him back to England. Martha is my 2x great aunt and my usual process is to add basic BMD and parentage for those who "marry in" wherever I can. However, I have little experience with US records so am struggling in this case.

I believe I have a complete series of US census records for the couple, these do not always agree in terms of year of arrival in US, but they are consistent in terms of John's age and the fact that he was born in England. The couple moved around the country until some time in the 1880's, they appear on a local census in Washington in 1889 and in various parts of Washington after that.

Can anyone help?

There's a photo of Martha's gravestone here:

https://tinyurl.com/m2fs9khk

However, John's not mentioned on it.

I can't see any record of his death.


As her father's name was William Wilson, clearly a Wilson married a Wilson.
Martha is on 39 trees on Ancestry.
None of the public ones mention John.

Two say she married Francis Boys; one says she married William John Franks.
No proof offered for either.

A woman named Martha Wilson did marry Francis Boys in 1867 in Sleaford, Lincs - They're in Wisconsin in 1880, so I can see how the confusion has arisen - but clearly his wife is not your Martha..

Yes, I am aware that there are trees with differing information.

There are also trees that have John Wilson as married to Martha Boyd.

I haven't been able to find a marriage for John and Martha, but I have found a number of marriage and death records for various children. Whilst they are not all in agreement, most of them have mother as Martha Wilson, with Wilson as her maiden name.

When the death cert came up I originally thought "my" Martha had died a spinster, but then I found a findagrave and a church record (she was buried in the Lutheran Cemetery) which says she was married to John Wilson.

As an extra element, one of the people who has John as married to Martha Boyd happens to be a DNA match to me. The details she has for Martha Boyd's parents etc. don't tie in with anyone I am aware of being related to, different part of England for starters. As a result I'm more confident than I might otherwise be that John Wilson married "my" Martha Wilson.

I see them in Wisconsin in 1870 , where daughter Elizabeth was born c1869 - do you have them earlier than that?

Assuming the most often stated year (1856) of immigration given for John is correct, they must have married in the USA, given Martha's age.
If the other stated year 1866 is correct, they must have married just before emigrating - and there's no such marriage on FreeBMD - or else just after they arrived in the USA.
Or perhaps they didn't marry at all.

Martha Boyd (parents Francis and Charlotte) married Robert John Cheetham in 1865, so she can't be the right Martha.
Anyway, she's in all the subsequent UK censuses, and is still in England in 1939, at the age of 92, living with her son John and his family.
She died there in 1940.

The 1870 census is the earliest I have John and Martha together. Census data has John as arriving in US in 1866 and I have an arrival that fits. I haven't been able to find an arrival for Martha, dates for her on census returns vary between 1866 and 1870, but clearly 1870 can't be right. The 1900 census includes a field for year of marriage, that indicates 1867. I've looked for a marriage in Wisconsin for them without finding anything, but given that they seem to have moved around quite a bit until the 1880's, they could have married elsewhere. I'm floundering around a bit because of lack of familiarity/knowledge of US records.

Which website are you using, Julie?

In this case I've looked at Ancestry, FMP & familysearch.

Have you googled the question? For some reason I can't post links so you will need to look yourself. but there seem to be several ways of getting it.

I've googled Washington Death records, but obviously didn't get whatever you did. What search term exactly did you put in?

ancestry suggests this is martha
in the 1861 England Census
View 1861 England Census


Name: Martha Wilson
Age: 12
Estimated Birth Year: 1849
Relation: Daughter
Father's Name: William Wilson
Mother's Name: Esther Wilson
Gender: Female
Where born: Digby, Lincolnshire, England
Civil Parish: Digby
County/Island: Lincolnshire
Country: England
Street Address:
Occupation:
Condition as to marriage:
View image
Registration District: Sleaford
Sub-registration District: Sleaford
ED, institution, or vessel: 2
Neighbors:
Household Schedule Number: 53
Piece: 2342
Folio: 34
Page Number: 32
Household Members:
Name Age
William Wilson 56
Esther Wilson 49
Martha Wilson 12
Edward Wilson 9
Sarah Wilson 6
Sarah A Wilson 3
Susan Carter 22

Name: William Wilson
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 1831
Marriage Place: Quarrington, Lincoln, England
Spouse:
Esther Casswell
FHL Film Number: 508026
Reference ID: 2:TSDZHB

daughter minni born kansas
Minnie M Wilson
Age: 17
Birth Date: Jan 1883
Birthplace: Kansas, USA
Home in 1900: Everett, Snohomish, Washington
Ward of City: 1
Street: Water Street
House Number: 122
Sheet Number: 1
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: 32
Family Number: 33
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Daughter
Marital Status: Single
Father's Name: John Wilson
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's Name: Martha Wilson
Mother's Birthplace: England
Occupation: Servant Paint & Family
Months Not Employed: 6
Attended School: 0
Can Read: Yes
Can Write: Yes
Can Speak English: Yes
Neighbors:
Household Members Age Relationship
John Wilson
63 Head
Martha Wilson
51 Wife
Minnie M Wilson 17 Daughter
John W Wilson
18 Son
Roy H Wilson
12 Son
Lelia M Wilson
7 Daughter

as was lizzie born 1869
edna winconson

susan iowa
gertie nebraska

if he arrived 1866 must have married btn 1866 and 1869

Maybe helpful??

https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/collections/titleinfo/472

In 1910 they're in Lowell, Snohomish, and in 1920 Martha's in Emery, Lewis.

Searching on the link above, in Snohomish County, brings up 22 John Wilson deaths 1910-20 in various bits of Washington..
In Snohomish particularly, a John H Wilson died in Edmonds, Snohomish in 1918.
In Lewis, a John Wilson died in 1910 "near Mineral", Lewis.

But there are another 20 deaths in other places in Washington.


EDIT:
But I see these deaths are also on Ancestry.
Sadly, not enough detail to identify your John.

Thanks ArgyllGran, I've looked at the 22 and nothing ties up anywhere close.

Maddie - yes, that's her. As indicated I've found the family on National US census data 1870 to 1910, plus Martha as a widow in 1920. What I can't find is a death for John between 1910 and 1920.

I found the same site as Argyllgran.

ArgyllGran - thanks for pointing out that the Martha Boyd on at least one tree out there couldn't be the right one. Have followed your tracks so to speak. Together with the volume of records with Martha Wilson as mother and wife of John, and the DNA link, it gives me assurance that the other tree is wrong. Now to tactfully tell my distant cousin she's got it wrong. I think the DNA match ought to put the seal on it, but some people don't react well to the news their research is wrong.

Unfortunately I still don't know exactly when John died or who his parents were, unless anyone else can come up with any suggestions.

The Martha Boyd question is probably the fault of Ancestry's "suggestions", which tend to lead the unwary on to a couple named John Wilson and Martha Boyd who were in Washington County , and who had a daughter Anna Eliza born in Wisconsin in 1872 (birthplace per 1910 census).

The daughter died in Snohomish, which is a further complicating coincidence.

Annie E. Ward
in the Washington, U.S., Select Death Certificates, 1907-1960
Name: Annie E. Ward
[Annie E. Wilson]
Gender: Female
Marital status: Married
Age: 67
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1872
Death Date: 8 Jun 1939
Death Place: Snohomish, Snohomish, Washington
Father: John Wilson
Mother: Martha Boyd
Spouse: Oscar Ward
FHL Film Number: 2023568
Reference ID: 211

Your John & Martha had a daughter Ida (per 1880 census ) in Wisconsin in the same year +/-1 as Annie's birth - and Ancestry suggests lots of links to Annie.
I don't see any other mention of Ida.

ArgyllGran - the death record for Annie E Ward is the only record that I have come across so far that has Martha as Boyd not Wilson. The inference I now have is that Annie and Ida are the same person. DNA evidence supports this I think. Since I started this post I have found 2 different DNA matches at 5-8th cousin level, both with trees that have Martha as Boyd, The 2 matches are direct descendants of different children of John and Martha, one of those matches is descended from Annie. I'm no expert on DNA, so might post on a separate board to clarify whether my thinking on this is right.

One of the matches has a death for John in Ontario Canada in 1912, but I found the actual record for that on familysearch and I don't believe its him - the age is wrong and it has that John as a widower.

I've reached out to both matches and had an inital response from one of them.

It's interesting that John is not named as Martha's husband on her death cert.

The informant is their daughter Minnie

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9JQ-7Z52?i=1875.

ArgyllGran - yes I noticed that, but the church record of her death does state that she was married to John Wilson and I've come across a few other US death certs that don't have all the fields completed, when the information would in theory have been known to the informant.

Still more to be done on this line, I live in hopes of being able to uncover more about John.

There are three possible immigration records, assuming travel in 1866 - but immigration dates vary from one census to another.
1900 says 1856.
All three men are labourers - but most men were in those days.

John Wilson
in the New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957
Name: John Wilson
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality: British (English)
Age: 28
Birth Date: abt 1838
Place of Origin: Great Britain
Departure Port: London, England
Destination: Great Britain
Arrival Date: 14 Aug 1866
Arrival Port: New York, New York, USA
Ship Name: Rhine


John Wilson
in the New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957
Name: John Wilson
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality: English
Age: 28
Birth Date: abt 1838
Place of Origin: England
Departure Port: Liverpool, England
Destination: England
Arrival Date: 27 Dec 1866
Arrival Port: New York, New York, USA
Ship Name: City of Boston


John Wilson
in the New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957
Name: John Wilson
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality: English
Age: 28
Birth Date: abt 1838
Place of Origin: England
Departure Port: Liverpool, England
Destination: USA
Arrival Date: 7 Aug 1866
Arrival Port: New York, New York, USA
Ship Name: City of Boston



Narrowing it down a bit, your John was born in February 1837, according to the 1900 census, which was correct re Martha's birth ( August 1848).


1910 census says John & Martha had been married for 43 years, and 1900 says they married in 1867 - therefore (if correct) after arrival in USA.


Not that any of that is any help!