Madness Monday: Anna May Sanderson

Outside of a small genealogy project in elementary school, the first time I was introduced to finding your family history was when a woman contacted my grandmother and all of her sisters in regard to Charles and Anna May Sanderson (my great-great grandparents). She believed they Anna was her grandmother and had been married prior to being with Charles, had 3 children, then left them, married Charles, changed her name and left Canada for Buffalo.

Unfortunately, my family decided not to pursue it at the time. Luckily my grandmother saved everything and I have been trying to figure out if she was correct. I have also been in contact with her to exchange additional information. I wanted to see if I came to the same conclusion.

Information I originally had:

• Anna May Sanderson died in Buffalo, NY the 29 Apr 1928
• According to her death certificate she was born 17 Jun 1881 in Burlington, Ontario and her parents are William and Unknown Sanderson both of Burlington. Informant was her son, Hobson Whitehead.
• Her obituary is as follows:

WHITEHEAD-In this city, April 29, 1928, Anna M. Whitehead (nee Sanderson), wife of the late Charles H. Whitehead and mother of William H. and H. Whitehead and Mrs. Raymond Gross; sister of William Sanderson and Mrs. Freeman of Burlington, Ontario, and Gertrude Sanderson of Galt, Ont. Funeral from residence of her son, H. Whitehead, 1971 Baily avenue, Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. Friends are invited to attend.

• Her (assumed) brother William's obituary as follows:

The funeral of William H. Sanderson was held from Southall's funeral home on Friday afternoon last. Reverand C.F. Heathcote officiated and the pallbearers were: William Abbs, Hobson Whitehead, Carl Jennings, Samuel Parkin, Herbert Risk, and William Whitehead. Interment took place in Greenwood Cemetery.

Hobson and William are Anna's children. According to William Sanderson's tombstone his wife's name is Sarah A. Douse.

The search:

• With her siblings names I searched ancestry for a female Sanderson and male Freeman, William Sanderson's and Gertrude Sanderson's marriage record. I found Mary Jane Sanderson and Samuel Freeman and William Sanderson and Annie A. Doucet. The parents on both of these were John Sanderson and Mary Alwood. I then checked Elizabeth Ann Sanderson and Wilmur Lawrence's marriage record, which had the same parents listed. There were no other records with the same parents.
• I then asked a RAOGK to check to find a marriage record for Anna May and William Whitehead, as I have been unable to find one. She too was unable to find one.
• Looking at Canadian census records for John and Mary Sanderson to try to find Anna May.