The Elusive Martin Isaic Spangler, Part III
Jun 3rd, 2008 by kenopoly
Sometimes you just have to go back to basics! 
I’ve posted a couple of times about “The Elusive Martin Isaic Spangler” and “An Update On Martin Isaic Spangler“. I’m sure that there are some folks who think that I must not have been searching for him very hard because it seems like since I posted it I have been finding all kinds of information about him! So, what have I done new? Nothing, I just went back to the basics!
I think that I have just become to dependent on Ancestry.com and it’s Texas Birth Index and Texas Death Index. I’ve come to the point that I think if it isn’t there it must not have happened! Shame on me!
So, what do I mean by back to the basics? Well, you take what you know and you work with that! It’s that simple. You don’t worry about what others have research and said there was nothing to find. You don’t worry that there must be a reason why they didn’t finish it! Take what you know and go!
So, I do know that the children listed under Martin Isaic Spangler are from the U. S. Census Records and are a starting point. I know that by following the Census Records I have been able to determine the names of at least 2 of the spouses, albeit the surname of one and the first name of another! I also have the name of another child’s spouse from what I gathered from my cousin. Most of the marriages are between 1920 and 1930 and therefore have no other Census Records.
I’m thankful for the FREE resources at Family Search Labs. Using the Texas Deaths, 1890-1976 database I input Oliver Ferguson and Ella Spangler as the parents and was able to find a couple of death records for Martin Spangler’s grandchildren. One of those was a Lois Marie (Ferguson) Glass, who died in 1972 in Bexar County, Texas. Using this information I was able to get an obituary for her. This shed a lot of new information. I will post a transcript of it later.
So, going back to the basics I have taken what I know of Martin Isaic Spanger from 12 persons (Martin, his wife and children and one son-in-law) to 48 persons and still building!
I’m waiting for a chance to be able to finally find someone I can contact and possibly learn more from. I’ll update more later!
