Ellis Shaul --

OK,  now here is why you cannot take all of those trees on Ancestry.com as the absolute truth:

Member Tree	Name	Parents
LA_Wilds Family Tree Public Member Tree  1 source	Ellis Shaul Birth:  5 Nov 1855 - Herkimer, United States Marriage:  18 Jun 1882 - Madison, MI(Michigan) Spouse:  Catharine Dagan	F:  (Name Unknown) M:  (Name Unknown)
Moore-Mereness-Reuter Tree Public Member Tree Unsourced	Ellis Shaul Birth:  05 Nov 1855 (5 Nov 1855) - Herkimer	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Wyatt Family Tree Public Member Tree  1 source	Ellis Shaul Birth:  5 Nov 1855 - Herkimer	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Bailey Family Tree Public Member Tree 4 attached records, 5 sources	Charles Ellis Shaul Birth:  5 Nov 1855 - Herkimer, United States Death:  Iron, Michigan, USA Marriage:  18 Jun 1882 - Madison, MI(Michigan) Spouse:  Catherine (Kate) Dagen	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Al Coney FTM Public Member Tree  Unsourced	Ellis Shaul Birth:  1855	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Laurie Edwards Family Tree Public Member Tree 1 attached record, 2 sources	Ellis Shaul Birth:  5 Nov 1855 - Herkimer, USA Death:  Iron, Michigan, USA	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Carter Family Tree Public Member Tree  1 attached record, 2 sources	Ellis Shaul Birth:  5 Nov 1855 - Herkimer, USA Death:  Iron, Michigan, USA	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
LMBrown Public Member Tree 1 source	Ellis Shaul Birth:  05 Nov 1855 (5 Nov 1855) - Herkimer, USA Marriage:  18 Jun 1882 - Ludington, MI(Michigan) Spouse:  Catharine Dagan	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Shaul Descendants & their Ancestors Public Member Tree  1 attached record, 1 source	Ellis Shaul Birth:  05 Nov 1855 (5 Nov 1855) - Herkimer, USA Marriage:  18 Jun 1882 - Madison, MI(Michigan) Spouse:  Catharine Dagan	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Wyatt Family Tree Public Member Tree 1 source	Ellis Shaul Birth:  1855 - Herkimer	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Zachary's Tree Public Member Tree  1 source	Ellis Shaul Birth:  5 Nov 1855 - Herkimer, United States Death:  Iron, Michigan, United States	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Obenauf Family Tree Public Member Tree 2 attached records, 3 sources	Charles Ellis Shaul Birth:  5 Nov 1855 - Herkimer Death:  Iron, Michigan, United States Marriage:  18 Jan 1882 - Madison, MI(Michigan) Spouse:  Catherine (Kate) Dagen	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Faye Brady Family Tree 1st GEDCOM-can't open Public Member Tree  1 source	Ellis Shaul  Birth:  5 Nov 1855 - Herkimer, USA Death:  Iron, Michigan, USA	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Faye Brady Family Tree 2nd Public Member Tree 2 sources	Ellis Shaul  Birth:  05 Nov 1855 (5 Nov 1855) - Herkimer, USA Death:  Iron, Michigan, USA	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon
Faye Brady Family Tree 3rd Public Member Tree  1 source	Ellis Shaul  Birth:  05 Nov 1855 (5 Nov 1855) - Herkimer, USA Death:  Iron, Michigan, USA	F:  Madison Shaul M:  Cynthia Cahoon

Notice -- everyone claims Ellis died in Iron [County], Michigan.   No one has a guess as to date.   No one has a source of this information.   But, this was the only death information that existed on Ancestry.com.   [This is not a problem with Ancestry -- they are just reporting what data others have supplied].

I found this claim hard to believe for a number of reasons:

1. Ellis' family lived in the South West portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
2. Iron County is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
3. Kate, his widow continued to live in the Ludington area after the city directories noted she was a widow.
4. There was no record of Ellis' death or burial in Iron County or anywhere else in Michigan.

So, I just kept knocking at the brick wall.

I was 'googling' for information about on of my wife's relatives when I was shifted to Newspapers.com.   Given the opportunity for a free 7 day subscription, I pulled up the articles about her relative.   Then, as was my habit where ever I research, I plugged in Ellis' name.   BINGO.   Newspaper accounts about a refinery explosion in Findlay, Ohio in 1904.  Ellis did not survive.   The family was so poor, they could not bring him back to Michigan and his coworkers chipped in and paid for his burial in Ohio.  The wonderful researchers at the Findlay-Hancock Library provided me with even more news articles about the event and I know have a full picture of my great grandfather's demise.  

To complicate the searches, Ellis' surname was reported as Shaul [the correct spelling], Schaull, Shaw, and Shawl, all within a 3 day reporting period.   

So, continue to ask the question of any tree you find anywhere on the internet:  Where did you get this information?   Be sure you can retrace the steps.   

#Evidence #BrickWall #Genealogy #Update