Sorting Sunday - Missing Person and where to look

Do you have a missing person in your tree?  You may have a list of family  members with say 8 children and then you follow them through the census years then they go missing? Where are they? What happened to them? How can I find them? Here are some clues to follow.

First step is to evaluate the clues. Age & Dates - time in history then check the following;

• If the person is young when they disappeared there are a few things that could have happened.
• They died because of a serious illness.  Check the obituaries and cemetery records from the date you last found them in the census to the current census.
• If the family was poor, it is possible that they sent the child to live with another family member to care for them.  Check possible records with uncles and aunts. Check to see if they have older siblings that could have taken care of them as well after they moved out.
• If the family is really wealthy, check boarder schools to see if they sent them off to learn someplace else. 
• If they are marrying age, 15+ was the norm, then check marriage records to see if the person got married. This is more difficult if it is a female because of the name change.  If it is a farming or small community, you can check local church records. In the census you can scan for near by farms to see if someone with that same name and age is married to give you a clue.
• It is possible that the person can be in prison.  Check local prison records or newspaper articles to see about any problems. You can check court records too.
• The person may have become old enough to move out or go to college. Check local border records or apartment buildings that might be in the area.  
• Sometimes people can be borders at other farms during certain times of the year.  They could work the farms for jobs and live there as well.
• The person may be off at war. Check the date and if it was war time, check muster records to see if they enlisted.
• The person may have become a house servant.  Many people did this to make more money.  Many man servants or maids moved in with the family they served.  Check closer cities for their records.  Some become nannies and will take some of their siblings with them as well.

Just think outside the box when looking for someone. Many news items make the newspapers, so check local papers. Fires, anniversaries, wedding announcements, etc.