Please know that you can right-click on the images posted here, (or left-click, depending upon the configuration of each mouse), in order to enlarge the image on a separate page, and make it easier to read, or to easily download it to a desktop, or other computer, where it may be better analysed using Adobe Acrobat (or “whatever”).

And know that, at the moment, at least, this page is dedicated to Sherman Ebbert, or “BRICK WALL,” as I fondly call him. Sherman may have been born in 1867, in Illinois, and it is said that he married Laurenda Rosalind (Laura) Schuchard on September 29, 1891, at Zumbro, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA. If constructing this blog results in nothing in addition to our capturing of records registering his birth and that marriage, it will have served its purpose well.

“Sherman,” by the way, is occasionally spelled as one of five variations, namely Scherman, Schermann, Shearman, Shermann and Shermon. And we have found "Ebbert" to be spelled in a surprising number of ways.

Oh, well!

Sherman and Laura had four children who survived until adulthood. They were Walter George Edward Ebbert (1892-1954), Elmer William George Ebbert (1894-1975), Alice Ella Ebbert (1895-1940) and Earl Lewis Ebbert (1897-1969). Because of their connections to Saskatchewan, I have given this site the name that it has.

Many will be very grateful to the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those people, or to others, for particulars concerning Sherman Ebbert, and that will be especially so if evidence is provided that will satisfy those of us who are truly concerned about ‘doing’ genealogy and family history properly, that being no small feat, given that genealogists generally apply much higher standards, concerning admissibility of evidence, than do the judges and legal beagles who frequent our courts of law.

Thanks for visiting this page, folks. I've provided a few finding aids on the margins of it, hoping that you'll enjoy using those should you decide to join us in our search. I'll be pleased if some of you will provide links to finding aids we might use with respect to Minnesota and Illinois genealogy.

Thanks for any contribution you may make to this page. Cheers! Do have a happy day!

Post Script: Sadly, Blogger does not provide an opportunity to present what is and will be posted in a reversed chronological order. But I do think that most who chose to study this site carefully will take the most from it by studying the oldest posting, first, and, step by step, working towards the most recent entry that may be found. I apologize for any inconvenience that doing so may cause for you.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Was Sherman Ebbert a bigamist?

Was Sherman Ebbert a bigamist who used that assumed name so he could more easily marry Laurenda Schuchard, and more easily hide that embarrassing truth?

I must be quick to point out that no evidence has been found, to date, that even remotely suggests that was or wasn’t so.  It’s the apparent complete lack of evidence about Sherman and his siblings, if any, and about his parents, that provokes the question.

And I know it is ‘way to soon’ to be asking that question --- probably.

But I ask, now, with hopes that doing so might inspire those who wish to defend his honour to do the research to discount that possibility, and in order to “sew a seed,” as some might say.  I’ll try to explain that by asking another question.

Could it be that the only evidence that ever will speak to my premature ‘bigamy theory’ will be DNA evidence arising from tests requested by a descendant of Sherman and Laurenda?

Now ... there’s a thought!

My very vague understanding is that Y-chromosome DNA tests explore the DNA of male descendants, and those are generally done within the context of a surname study, and Autosomal DNA tests explorer the DNA of both male and female descendants, and those look for genetic matches with close relatives who have also had that testing done.  I share all of that, to be corrected if I am wrong.

So ..........

This particular Brick Wall experience is the first I’ve had that invites any thinking about DNA evidence, and I sure wish, now, that I’d paid more attention to all of that in a few classes I’ve taken that spoke to these matters.

Oh, well!

For the moment I’m left with this thought.  Genealogists who are ‘worth their salt’ must generally collect, from all available sources, all reliable evidence there may be before making any final determinations, and DNA testing is one type of record that, given the circumstances, should be considered.

What do you think?

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