Second in a series on how I found my Civil War ancestor Arthur Bull.

In 1992, I made a road with my dad, Norm Charboneau, to Oneida County, N.Y. mainly focused on our Charboneau ancestors.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped in Lowville, Lewis County, N.Y. to see if we could find anything on our elusive ancestor Arthur Bull, who once lived with his family in nearby Lyonsdale.

Alas, we couldn’t even get in the door at the clerk’s office. It was swamped by locals seeking property maps related to New York State’s recently-passed Freshwater Wetlands Act.

Sigh. I tucked my copy of Arthur Bull’s 1880 U.S. Census entry back in my bag — a mystery to be solved another day.

Fast forward to 1993. Dad and I were on the road again, headed to Dolgeville, Herkimer Co., N.Y., the adult hometown of my great grandmother Eva Bull — Arthur’s daughter — and her husband Will Charboneau.

This time there was no crowd at the clerk’s office, and we left with many valuable documents — including a verified transcript of Eva’s 1941 death certificate indicating she was born in Great Bend, Susquehanna Co., Penna., and giving the maiden name of her mother, Mary Blakeslee.

We now had two new clues in the search for Arthur Bull! Next question: How to follow up?

After our trip, I found the Susquehanna County Historical Society and wrote to them requesting research help. (That’s right, snail mail. Remember, this was before the Internet.)

I included a copy of the 1880 U.S. Census entry for the Bull family and provided the new information from Eva’s death certificate — then I sat back and waited for a response.

Soon enough, the next clue arrived.

To be continued.

© 2014 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.