Author Topic: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?  (Read 6311 times)

Offline CR

  • I am sorry but my email address i not working
  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 139
    • View Profile
Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« on: Thursday 04 December 08 10:07 GMT (UK) »
Hi all,

I hope some of you good people can point me in the right direction. I am searching for my Grandfather Walter Reynolds between 1923 and about 1930 (or possibly later). I have been all over the world looking (via this site and others).
The family story had it that he went to Australia after the birth if his son, my father, and died in a mining accident before they could join him. I had everyone on the Aus section here searching high and low for him (heartfelt thanks to all of them). No one could find any trace of him. I was also manually searching the passenger lists at Kew and also Had no luck.
Then, when the passenger lists were published on line, I found him Yipee!!,, On a passenger list to Canada  :o. He travelled alone and landed in Quebec on 19th July 1923 headed for Windsor, Ontario.
So ding ding, round 2. I got some help and paid research done in Canada expecting to find him no problem now.... Wrong!
All I have come up with so far as an absolute certainty is that on 1 August 1923, just weeks after arriving in Canada, he crossed the border into the US.
According to the US Dept. of Labour Immigration Service form that I have, he was  heading for Painesdale, Michigan to the Copper Range Co. who I think paid his passage.
From there the trail goes cold again.
I can't find him in the 1930 Census so I am looking at the possibility that there is some truth in the family story that he died (possibly in a mining accident) before or during 1930 when his wife remarried in Cornwall declaring herself widowed.

So, I'm looking for pointers to resources that will fill in the gaps. Is there a Death recorded between 1923 and 1930 that could be him. And/or are there any mining records that will show his employment and possibly injury/death in an accident. Of course I can't rule out the possibility that he lived beyond 1930 and settled out there possibly starting another family.

Any pointers greatly appreciated. I have posted all the data I have on him below.

Regards
Clive

Name:  Walter REYNOLDS[1]
Sex:  Male
Father:  Charles REYNOLDS (1849-1902)
Mother:  Frances BUNT (1853?-aft1901)
Birth   4 Nov 1894   ,,Camborne, Cornwall, England(*2)
Census   31 Mar 1901 (age 6)   ,Tuckingmill, Camborne, Cornwall, England(*3)
Occupation   Dec 1922 (age 28)   Tin Miner Below Ground(*4)
Residence (1)   9 Dec 1922 (age 28)   ,Weal Genny Square, Cambourne, Cornwall, England(*5)
Spouse   Lilian Maud KEAST (1898-1957)   
Children   Robert Charles REYNOLDS (1923-1990)   
Marriage   9 Dec 1922 (age 28)   ,,Redruth, Cornwall, England(*11)
Emigration (1)   19 Jul 1923 (age 28)   from ,,Camborne, Cornwall, England to ,,Windsor,Ontario,Canada(*6,7)
Emigration (2)   1 Aug 1923 (age 28)   from ,,Windsor,Ontario,Canada to ,,Painesdale, Michigan, USA(*8)
Cornwall: Reynolds, Tippett, Keast.
Devon/Wales: Tatchell, Morgan.
Essex: Purrott, Young.

Offline jorose

  • Global Moderator
  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • ********
  • Posts: 9,741
    • View Profile
Re: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« Reply #1 on: Thursday 04 December 08 11:51 GMT (UK) »
http://www.lib.mtu.edu/mtuarchives/miningcompanyhistory.aspx
 - Michigan Tech Archives seem to have some records for the Copper Range Company; they might not contain names of employees but worth asking.

http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-4645_4702---,00.html
http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-4645_4939-13695--,00.html
 - about ordering death certificates from MI. I know there are indexes for some of the earlier deaths but it seems there aren't any online for the 1920s.

http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17449_18635_20684---,00.html
 - some naturalization indexes are also online,  you could check through them for signs he became a US citizen.

When he arrived in Canada, and when he went over the border, did he have anybody else with him? (Maybe other employees of the CRC?)
Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline CR

  • I am sorry but my email address i not working
  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« Reply #2 on: Thursday 04 December 08 11:57 GMT (UK) »
When he arrived in Canada, and when he went over the border, did he have anybody else with him? (Maybe other employees of the CRC?)

Many thanks for the links, I'll check them out. As far as I know, and there is nothing on the documentation to suggest otherwise, he was traveling alone.

Regards
Clive
Cornwall: Reynolds, Tippett, Keast.
Devon/Wales: Tatchell, Morgan.
Essex: Purrott, Young.

Offline shellyesq

  • Moderator
  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • ********
  • Posts: 13,618
    • View Profile
Re: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« Reply #3 on: Thursday 04 December 08 13:47 GMT (UK) »
Also on the site jorose linked to: 

http://www.lib.mtu.edu/mtuarchives/directories.aspx  - Some city directories in the area

http://www.lib.mtu.edu/mtuarchives/research_services.aspx  - local researchers, including one who has access to death, naturalization, and mining employment records


Offline CR

  • I am sorry but my email address i not working
  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« Reply #4 on: Thursday 04 December 08 20:29 GMT (UK) »
Many thanks Shelly. Plenty to get me started here.

Regards
Clive
Cornwall: Reynolds, Tippett, Keast.
Devon/Wales: Tatchell, Morgan.
Essex: Purrott, Young.

Offline trish251

  • RootsChat Leaver
  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *
  • Posts: 9,156
    • View Profile
Re: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« Reply #5 on: Saturday 13 December 08 15:32 GMT (UK) »
Clive

I am no help in this part of the world - but I do hope you find him - it was one of my first searches on RC - how I really wanted to track him down   ;D

Trish
Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline CR

  • I am sorry but my email address i not working
  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« Reply #6 on: Saturday 13 December 08 17:04 GMT (UK) »
Hi Trish,
Long time no speak. It's good to hear from you  :)
Yes we are both a long way from Michigan  :D  but I remember you and the others in Aus working so hard to find him out there for me. I really felt quite guilty when I discovered that he didn't even go to Aus  :-[. Thanks for the good wishes though  :-*

As an update: I have had a kind soul in Painsesdale doing some research for me. I made contact with him through the link http://www.lib.mtu.edu/mtuarchives/research_services.aspx  that Shelly posted (many thanks).
He searched local records for the Copper Range co. that ran the local mining industry and the County death records but could find no sign of him.
This old fella is certainly proving elusive  ::)
To be honest I'm not sure where to look next. I have tried ancestry and the IGI across all the USA and Canada and can find no death record for him. It appears that he didn't die, neither did he work. So, how the h*ll did he live?  :P

Does anyone out there know where he may have gone or what he might have done if he didn't end up working for the Copper Range Co. in Painesdale?

Regards to all
Clive

Cornwall: Reynolds, Tippett, Keast.
Devon/Wales: Tatchell, Morgan.
Essex: Purrott, Young.

Online Erato

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 6,743
  • Old Powder House, 1703
    • View Profile
Re: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« Reply #7 on: Saturday 13 December 08 17:18 GMT (UK) »
Did that mining company have mines in other locations?  South America?
Wiltshire:  Banks, Taylor
Somerset:  Duddridge, Richards, Barnard, Pillinger
Gloucestershire:  Barnard, Marsh, Crossman
Bristol:  Banks, Duddridge, Barnard
Down:  Ennis, McGee
Wicklow:  Chapman, Pepper
Wigtownshire:  Logan, Conning
Wisconsin:  Ennis, Chapman, Logan, Ware
Maine:  Ware, Mitchell, Tarr, Davis

Offline CR

  • I am sorry but my email address i not working
  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Cornish tin miner in Michigan, US. Where to look?
« Reply #8 on: Saturday 13 December 08 17:39 GMT (UK) »
Nice thought Erato, I'll have to research the company and see. :)
Cornwall: Reynolds, Tippett, Keast.
Devon/Wales: Tatchell, Morgan.
Essex: Purrott, Young.