Hankey or Hankinson?

Researching the 1841 birth of John Hankinson Appleton/Stockton Heath, Cheshire England stumped me when it came to identifying his parents and finding their census records. In 1864 he married Rosina Craghill and listed his father's name as William with his occupation as tailor. Generally this information, always collected on UK marriage certificates, is very helpful.  But I could not find anyone named William Hankinson in Cheshire nor Lancashire or any other likely spot.  I ordered several possible birth certificates for John based on free bmd listings, but the father's information never matched.

Know the In-laws: Who was William Austin's wife in Matagorda Texas?

In the Matagorda Texas 1860 census William Austin of New York (who had been living with his maternal aunt Amelia Ludington Hodges) was married to Mary E born 1838 in Virginia.  At the time they had three children under the age of 6. It caught my eye that there were 3 additional people in the household all with the surname Ives, aged 18, 14, and 8: Lucy, Charles and Walter. The older two were born in Virginia and Walter in Texas … could they be Mary’s siblings?

Know the In-laws: the elusive George Kempton

In tracing the family of David Depeyster Acker (1822-1888), I was trying to configure the family group of his second wife, Julia.  Their 1865 marriage record listed her as the widow Floyd but I was not sure how to find her maiden name. Her 1892 will provided what looked like a great clue -- one of the executors was listed as her brother and his surname was Outcalt.  But that was not her maiden name.

Over time and examining many, many documents I found that she was the daughter of Moses and Amanda Pomeroy and she had a younger sister named Lucy.  Moses died in 1834 and shortly thereafter her mother married John D. Outcalt and added two young sons to the family, John and Cornelius.  I found that Lucy married George Kempton in New York City in 1855.  So know I knew the surnames of everyone.