"One of the core tenets of Mormon faith is that the dead can be baptized into the faith after their passing. Baptism of the dead evolved from the beliefs that baptism is necessary for salvation and that the family unit can continue to exist together beyond mortal life if all members are baptized.
"Mormons trace their family trees to find the names of ancestors who died without learning about the restored Mormon Gospel so that these relatives from past generations can be baptized by proxy in the temple. For Latter-day Saints, genealogy is a way to save more souls and strengthen the eternal family unit." (Source: PBS.ORG)
As a result, the Mormons collect records from around the world. They are microfilmed and stored in a climate-controlled repository that is inside a mountain. Everything of interest to a genealogist - Church registries, Censuses, Civil registrations of births, marriages and deaths and more.
You don't have to visit Utah and you don't have to be a Mormon to see the films. Find a nearby LDS Family History Center by clicking on the following link: FHC. When you are ready to view a particular film, go to that center and fill out a few cards and it will be loaned. There is a charge of a few dollars to cover postage. After a week or two, you will be notified that is available. The center has microfilm readers that are free to use.
The main site to begin searching is at http://www.familysearch.org. We can search the library catalog by selecting "Search" from the pull-down menu and selecting "Library Catalog". When the new page appears, we then select "Key Word Search". When the dialog box opens we enter the name of Babe Ruth's first Baptism Church - "St. Peter the Apostle, Baltimore". We see that they have records available from 1872-1901 on "CD-ROM no. 1240". Not all church records are available for viewing especially if they have Baptisms going up until recent times.
1900 CENSUS
We have already finished with Ruth's vital records. Let us scope out his life with Census data. The U.S. Census takes place every 10 years in years ending with "00". Censuses beginning with 1850 listed every person by name along with their age, sex, race and place of birth and occupation. By the time of the 1900 Census additional items were added such as the place of birth for each individual's parents, the number of children that a woman had, the number of years of marriage, immigration year, etc. In urban areas the street number and name were included.
We will view the actual census image by using the pilot site at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/. Under the pull-down menu of "Search Records" click on "Record Search Pilot". In the center of the page is a world map. We want to click just above it on "View all Collections". On the next screen click on "1900 United States Census". A dialog box appears. Fill in First Name: George, Last Name: Ruth, Place: Baltimore, Maryland and select "Search". The third name down is George H Ruth born 1871. Click on his underlined name. Over to the right is a brief summary. Better yet, let us look at the actual image. Click on the document image on the far right. If you have a cable connection, it appears instantly, DSL takes about ten seconds, and a land-line seems forever.
The display that appears has a slide called a "Zoom". Adjust the Zoom until the document is readable. You can also choose to print the entire page. Examine the fields at the top of the census - Location, Name, Relation, Personal Description etc. Position the cursor over the center of the image. Press the left mouse button down and move the mouse. This will move the image. Let go of the button and the image will stop. Use this technique to move the viewing area to the bottom left of the image.
Georhe H Ruth is the 38th item down. He is living at 339 South Woodyear Avenue, which is a block west of the B&O RR Mount Clare Shop. The next two sets of number are for the census taker to total the number of dwellings and number of families. We learn that George is the Head-of-household, white, born Jan 1871, 29 years old and married for 6 years. He and his parents were born in Maryland. His occupation is a "Lightning Rod Agent". He can read and write. He owns his house free of mortgage.
George's wife, Kate was born July 1874, 25 years old. So far, she had 3 children but only 1 is still alive. She was born in Maryland but her parents were born in Germany.
George, junior was born Feb. 1895.
Living with them is a family named Brundig. Living next door at 341 is John A Ruth who is also a lightning rod agent.
Censuses have a lot of useful information in rounding out a person's life. We must be guarded in accepting information such as name spellings and birth dates. The census taker generally spells the names as they sound to him. Sometimes the family is not home and a neighbor gives estimates to the ages and names of the occupiers. Also, if the questions seem too private, people will lie.
Click on the image to the right to see the lower half of the Census sheet.
Next time we will take a look at some other free and pay-for sites as we explore the 1910 - 1930 Censuses.
LINKS
Mormons
Mormons on PBS
FamilySearch.org
FamilySearchPilotSite
Nearest Family History Center
Pioneer Day
NEXT POSTING: More Non-Vital Records
Copyright 2008 BabeRuthGenealogy
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