Last month I received an email from the president of our local chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists - he'd gotten an email from the Black Diamond Police Department, requesting our help. I volunteered for the case, since I live in Maple Valley, just a stone's throw away from Black Diamond.
In January someone turned in an urn of ashes that was found in the storage area of the basement of the Black Diamond Bakery. The urn was labeled with the birth and death dates for Helen C. Morrison, who died Sept. 19, 1977.
In January someone turned in an urn of ashes that was found in the storage area of the basement of the Black Diamond Bakery. The urn was labeled with the birth and death dates for Helen C. Morrison, who died Sept. 19, 1977.
“Helen Morrison”, Record-Chronicle, 23 Sept. 1977, p.4
When I met with Sergeant Brian Lynch, he gave me the photo of the urn (being stored in his evidence locker), and the obituary he'd obtained from the Seattle Public Library. With the clues given in the obituary, I was fairly sure I could come up with the names of some living family members that we could give the ashes to.
I have been doing genealogical research for a long time, but I have never seen a case like this one where there were so many errors in the records.
I began with Helen's daughter, Ruth Kurtti. I found her cemetery record on Find A Grave, and her gravestone indicated she'd died in 1979; however when I checked Ancestry, I found that her actual date of death was 13 Jan 1980, as given on the Oregon Death Index. I found the death date for her husband, and emailed the Astoria Public Library for their obituaries. Those obituaries gave the name of their surviving daughter.
Next I decided to investigate Helen's sister Charlotte Balloway, only to find that on Washington Digital Archives there was no such person. Figuring from the obituary that Helen's (and Charlotte's) maiden name was Cook, I looked for the marriage of Charlotte Cook - and soon found that Charlotte Cook married John Galloway in 1917 in Snohomish County.
Looking at the 1920 census of Snohomish County, I discovered that Charlotte Galloway was born in Iowa, and that her father was born in England and her mother in West Virginia. The 1900 census of Wapello, Richland County, Iowa revealed that "Ellen" was born in October 1891, not 1880.
I have been doing genealogical research for a long time, but I have never seen a case like this one where there were so many errors in the records.
I began with Helen's daughter, Ruth Kurtti. I found her cemetery record on Find A Grave, and her gravestone indicated she'd died in 1979; however when I checked Ancestry, I found that her actual date of death was 13 Jan 1980, as given on the Oregon Death Index. I found the death date for her husband, and emailed the Astoria Public Library for their obituaries. Those obituaries gave the name of their surviving daughter.
Next I decided to investigate Helen's sister Charlotte Balloway, only to find that on Washington Digital Archives there was no such person. Figuring from the obituary that Helen's (and Charlotte's) maiden name was Cook, I looked for the marriage of Charlotte Cook - and soon found that Charlotte Cook married John Galloway in 1917 in Snohomish County.
Looking at the 1920 census of Snohomish County, I discovered that Charlotte Galloway was born in Iowa, and that her father was born in England and her mother in West Virginia. The 1900 census of Wapello, Richland County, Iowa revealed that "Ellen" was born in October 1891, not 1880.
1900 U.S. census, Wapello, Iowa, Richland population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 137, sheet 12A, p.334 (stamped), dwell. 259, fam. 265; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 Feb 2012); citing NA microfilm T623, roll 463.
Then I started looking for census records here in Washington that might include Helen and her children - William, Charles and Ruth. I soon found them on the 1920 census of Earlington, near Renton:
1920 U.S. census, King, Washington population schedules, Earlington, enumeration district (ED) 15, sheet 3A, p. 171 (stamped), dwell. 54, fam. 55; digital image; Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 15 Feb 2012); citing NA microfilm T625, roll 1924.
On this census, Helen's husband was listed as Columbus Morrison. That led me to their marriage record (in 1908 in Seattle), and to his 1951 obituary in the Seattle Daily Times.
From the census records I figured that Ruth Morrison was born about 1909, William about 1912, and Charles about 1914. My next step was to look for Washington Death Records - and found that a William E. Morrison (born about 1912) had died in Renton on 10 December 1985 and Charles L. Morrison (born about 1915) had died in Issaquah on 6 April 1981. A trip to the Kent Library to look at their South King County newspapers yielded this obituary for William:
From the census records I figured that Ruth Morrison was born about 1909, William about 1912, and Charles about 1914. My next step was to look for Washington Death Records - and found that a William E. Morrison (born about 1912) had died in Renton on 10 December 1985 and Charles L. Morrison (born about 1915) had died in Issaquah on 6 April 1981. A trip to the Kent Library to look at their South King County newspapers yielded this obituary for William:
"William 'Ed' Morrison", News-Journal, 13 Dec 1985.
"Charles L. Morrison", Seattle Times, 7 Apr. 1981, p.D6.
After exploring some online directories, I was able to determine that Barry Morrison probably still lived in Kent. I sent this email to Sergeant Lynch: Here’s the information:
Junetta C. Brown, age 64, lives in Seaside or Cannon Beach, Oregon.
She is the daughter of Ruth Morrison Kurtti, who was Helen C. Morrison’s daughter.
Barry J. Morrison, age 65+, lives on SE 227th Pl. in Kent. He is the son of William “Ed” Morrison, who was the son of Helen C. Morrison.
Leonard E. Morrison was living in Kent in 1986. He is the other son of William “Ed” Morrison, son of Helen C. Morrison.
From this information, Sgt. Lynch was able to contact Barry Morrison, who was astonished to learn that his grandmother's ashes were in the evidence locker at the Black Diamond Police Department. On Tuesday, March 6, we met with Barry and his family to formally turn over the ashes, and celebrate a successful conclusion of a puzzling case!
Junetta C. Brown, age 64, lives in Seaside or Cannon Beach, Oregon.
She is the daughter of Ruth Morrison Kurtti, who was Helen C. Morrison’s daughter.
Barry J. Morrison, age 65+, lives on SE 227th Pl. in Kent. He is the son of William “Ed” Morrison, who was the son of Helen C. Morrison.
Leonard E. Morrison was living in Kent in 1986. He is the other son of William “Ed” Morrison, son of Helen C. Morrison.
From this information, Sgt. Lynch was able to contact Barry Morrison, who was astonished to learn that his grandmother's ashes were in the evidence locker at the Black Diamond Police Department. On Tuesday, March 6, we met with Barry and his family to formally turn over the ashes, and celebrate a successful conclusion of a puzzling case!
L to R: Claudia Breland, Sgt. Brian Lynch, Barry Morrison with his granddaughter and wife. Photo courtesy of The Voice of the Valley, c.2012.
Helen Morrison with her grandson Barry, age 2 years. Photo courtesy of The Voice of the Valley, c.2012.
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