My Most Frustrating Research Challenge, for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (on Sunday)

Randy's suggestion for genealogy fun this past Saturday was to write about our most frustrating research challenge.  I chuckled when I saw "fun" and "most frustrating research challenge" in the same sentence.  Who but a genealogist/family historian would consider frustrating research to be fun?  (It is, isn't it?!)  There are probably some people with other hobbies and professions who might but I don't know who.

I can't decide which ancestor presents the most challenging research.  It could be Henry C. Meinzen, whose place of origin and parents' names I've yet to verifiably discover; or it might be William Doyle, son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Laws) Doyle, whose absence of a birth record leaves his connection to his parents in question; or it may be the other William Doyle, a coal miner who died in 1838, whose parents I've been unable to discover.

Henry Carl (or C.) Meinzen, in brief
Henry is my great-grandfather, my mother's paternal grandfather.  He and his family were easily found in the 1870, 1880, and 1900-1920 U.S. Census records, living in Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio.  He was born in either Hannover, Prussia, or Germany (depending on the census year), in 1837.  According to his naturalization documents, he immigrated in 1866 and became a naturalized citizen in 1871.  He married Elizabeth Armitage in 1870.  He died in 1926, in Steubenville.  All information on his death certificate comes from what I consider hearsay because it was passed along from him to his children.  His death certificate gives his father's name as Carl Meinzen. 

Now come the interesting parts.

• There is a Graves Registration Card for Henry C. Meinzen.  It indicates that he served in the Civil War from August 11, 1862, to August 10, 1863, in the U.S. Navy as a Seaman on the ships "Cairo" and "Brilliant."  All information on the card corresponds correctly to known information about Henry but I have been unable to locate any information about him serving in the Civil War.  If this information were true, it suggests that he arrived in the U.S. four years earlier than he states on his naturalization record.  I have found no evidence anywhere to verify this information or his service in the Union or Confederate military.  
  
• There is an immigration record at the Castle Garden website for Ernst Meinzen with information that corresponds exactly to Henry's information -- all except the first name.  The age, arrival date, and destination could all be Henry's information.  I've found no immigration record for Henry or Heinrich Meinzen.  I continue to wonder if Ernst and Henry could be the same man.  I've not found an Ernst Meinzen born in 1837 or thereabouts, in Ohio.  Did Henry change his name or decide to use a name other than the one he used in Hannover/Prussia/Germany?  A new start with a new name?  There were no ID cards in the 1870s....
  
• A somewhat distant cousin told me the story of three Meinzen brothers who travelled together from Germany, arriving by train in Ohio.  Henry decided to stop and stay in Steubenville, Ohio.  Truth, or is it the three brothers myth? 
  
• Henry's sister, Sophia (Meinzen) Kropp, arrived in the U.S. in 1887, along with her husband and several children, and settled in Steubenville, Ohio.  Neither her death certificate nor obituary mention her mother's name and her death certificate tells me that her father's name is Deidrick Meinzen.  Of course, it's possible that it was Carl Deidrick or Deidrick Carl, or that the informant for the death certificate misunderstood the question, but there's no way to know until I find further information.
  

William Doyle, in brief
William is my great-grandfather, my father's paternal grandfather.  Family records tell me that he was born in Bedlington, Northumberland, England, in March, 1873, and is the son of Andrew and Elizabeth Jane (Laws) Doyle.  I've found an immigration record, have reviewed U.S. census records, have a death certificate, an obituary....  But nowhere in British records have I been able to find a birth record for William Doyle, born March 3, 1863.  Not in civil records or church records.  Doesn't that seem strange?

William Doyle, in brief
This William is my third-great-grandfather, the grandfather of the William Doyle, above.  This William was born about 1802; married Martha Reay in 1825; and died in 1838.  I have a church marriage record (which gives names and date of marriage) and a civil death record (which gives his age as 36 years).  Neither record names his parents, his birth date, or the location of his birth.  If only William Doyle weren't such a common name!

These are my current, and long-time, research challenges.  To be honest, research on these three has been laid to rest for several years.  Perhaps it's about time I pick up where I left off and research some more!

Thanks for the fun, and the push, Randy!

--Nancy.

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