Flora's Search Essay

I started my search to answer this question by viewing the 1900 derivative census. I thought I found the answer to this question because I saw the name Flora appeared on this census. However, I took a closer look and saw it stated Morgan Bright was the head of the household and mentioned Sallie E as what appeared to be the sister. I knew something wasn’t right since I just found indirect evidence along with secondary information. Another thing that didn’t match up was when it said, Morgan Bright was born in Georgia and the Mother was born in Alabama. I never was told who the Mother was in the first place. As a result, I knew then I was just getting started in the search for her parents.
I then viewed the 1910 derivative census, which contain secondary information and listed George W. Sloan …show more content…
In the derivative death certificate that had primary information and stated Flora as Mary Self’s middle name. I classified this as primary because her daughter E.M. McCary was Informant. I knew this was her daughter because she was mentioned in newspaper clipping of her parents 50th wedding anniversary and under the picture it mentioned three daughters, Mrs. Elbert McCary, Mary Corner and Mrs. Early Reynolds. Another piece of important information that I found were the parents of Flora Sloan. Flora’s father was Edgar Sloan and her mother was Ida E. Bright. It’s the same Ida Bright that was listed in the 1880 census. E.M. McCray would have known her grandparents. As result, I strongly believe Edgar and Ida Sloan are her parents because they were listed on the death certificate. I did a search on Ancestry to prove my hypothesis and enter Flora Self Sloan. I listed her father as Edgar and mother as Ida Bright and spouse as Marvin Self. I then got the results, I was hoping for which were that Edgar and Ida Bright were in fact her parents! I found this information in the Alabama, Deaths and Burials Index,