Online Resource Pass 1900-1920 - 23 April 2026

Scope

This pass covers free/public online resources for 1 January 1900 through 31 December 1920, focused on direct family people plus existing leads or close collateral where a public artifact might prove a relationship, add media, or improve an already-known record image.

Repo guardrails completed before searching:

  • Ran python3 scripts/agent_preflight.py: zero validation errors at start.
  • Read INGEST.md, repo_rules.yaml, 01_people/INDEX.md, 02_sources/INDEX.md, 03_events/INDEX.md, and the active Ponceby, Armstrong/Seem, and Iacofano research queues.
  • Duplicate checking used direct rg across 02_sources/, 04_views/, and media_manifest.yaml in addition to 02_sources/INDEX.md, because the generated source index was already stale by two newer Iacofano directory source files.
  • No source records were created, no person records were updated, and nothing in 05_raw/ was edited.

Search Matrix

Lane Targets and variants Public-resource focus
Ponceby/McKinnon, Boston to Edmonton Walter George Ponceby/Pownceby, Margaret Mac Kennon/McKinnon, Donald Edwin Ponceby, Catherine Mackie Horne; variants Ponceby, Pownceby, Pounceby, Poncely, Mac Kennon, McKinnon, MacKinnon Boston vital records/directories, Canadian WWI records, Alberta/Edmonton context, Peel Prairie Provinces, public newspaper searches
Armstrong/Seem/Hill, Wood County Thomas Herman Armstrong, Orpha/Effie/Epha/Alpha Hill, Paul Edward Armstrong, Lola Louise Seem, Samuel Henry Seem, Minnie Eva Darrow; Jeremiah/Mary only where 1900-1920 results affect Thomas/Paul WCDPL newspapers, Ohio death index/county follow-up, FamilySearch census/marriage gates, Ohio Memory/media
Iacofano/Yaciofano/Laurenzo, Cleveland John/Giovanni Iacofano, Mary/Maria Laurenzo/Iacofano/Yaciofano, Albert, Anna, Biagio, Joseph; variants Iacofano, Iaciofano, Yaciofano, Jaciofano, Laurenzo, Lorenzo FamilySearch census anchors, Cleveland public city directories, Chronicling America/Ohio Memory context, naturalization/residence blockers

Repositories Checked

Repository Exact query or browse path Date range Targets URL Disposition Repo duplicate check
WCDPL Digital Newspaper Archives Source-review of existing WCDPL viewer paths; automated GET search with k="Thomas Armstrong" "Orpha" and d=01011900-12311920 also tested but returned an ASP.NET error from the public route 1900-1920 Thomas Armstrong, Orpha Hill, Samuel Seem, Minnie Darrow, Lola Seem, Ponceby variants https://wcdpl.advantage-preservation.com/ Duplicate/negative. The 21 September 1906 Wood County Democrat Thomas Armstrong/Orpha Hill notice is already represented. No new clean Ponceby/Seem/Hill hit was exposed by this pass. Existing source-wood-county-democrat-marriage-license-notice-for-thomas-armstrong-and-orpha-hill-1906; no new 1900-1920 target string in 02_sources, 04_views, or media_manifest.yaml.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress LOC collection API checks with dates=1900-1920 and fa=location:ohio / fa=location:massachusetts; browser-like batch checked Ponceby, Pownceby, Poncely, Thomas Armstrong, Orpha Hill, Samuel Seem, Lola Seem, Iacofano, Iaciofano, Yaciofano, and Laurenzo 1900-1920 Ponceby/Pownceby/Poncely, Armstrong/Seem/Hill, Iacofano/Yaciofano/Laurenzo https://www.loc.gov/collections/chronicling-america/ Negative/no artifact-ready item. Ponceby/Pownceby returned zero in Ohio and Massachusetts; Iaciofano returned zero in Ohio and Massachusetts; Iacofano/Yaciofano returned zero in Massachusetts. Broad common-word searches returned large noisy result sets or timeouts and were not page-localized into a target artifact. No LOC/NDNP artifact for these in-window targets found in repo or manifest.
FamilySearch 1900 United States Census Collection-level check and repo review of known census gaps; public agent path remains account/image gated for target household browsing 1900 Ponceby/McKinnon, Samuel and Minnie Seem, Thomas/Orpha Armstrong, Iacofano variants if present https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1325221 Human-input blocker already represented for signed-in/browse census work; no new public image captured. Existing HIR-20260423-020 and HIR-20260423-021 cover Armstrong/Seem census images; no new source created.
FamilySearch 1910 United States Census Collection-level check and repo review of accepted/contextual census sources 1910 Cleveland Iacofano/Yaciofano variants; Armstrong/Seem households https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1727033 Duplicate/context. The current Cuyahoga/Cleveland township page is already a negative/context source for Iacofano; stronger target images remain signed-in/manual browse work. Existing source-census-cuyahoga-cleveland-township-1910; existing HIR-20260423-014, HIR-20260423-020, and HIR-20260423-021.
FamilySearch 1920 United States Census Collection-level check and repo review of image-backed 1920 anchor 1920 Yaciofano/Iacofano household; Armstrong/Seem households https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1488411 Duplicate for Iacofano/Yaciofano. The accepted 1920 Yaciofano census already anchors John/Mary/children at house number 2025. Existing accepted source-census-yaciofano-household-1920; no duplicate source created.
Ohio Death Records Index Queue and index review for in-window death targets; no known direct-family 1908-1920 Ohio death candidate emerged from this pass 1908-1920 Armstrong/Seem/Hill, Jeremiah/Mary only where affecting Thomas/Paul https://resources.ohiohistory.org/death/ Negative for this 1900-1920 window. Later Ohio death-index targets are already represented or queued outside this date range. Existing later OHC sources for Minnie, Samuel, Thomas, Jerry, and Mary; no 1908-1920 duplicate or new target.
Ohio Memory Public web/domain check for target surnames and Wood/Cuyahoga media context 1900-1920 Ponceby, Iacofano, Thomas Armstrong/Wood County, Samuel Seem https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/about-ohio-memory Negative/no artifact-ready media. Public search results were generic CONTENTdm pages and did not expose a target photo/clipping. No Ohio Memory target artifact found in repo or manifest.
Boston Public Library city directories guide plus Internet Archive directory text Internet Archive advanced search: collection:(bostoncitydirectories) AND (Ponceby OR Pownceby OR "Mac Kennon" OR McKinnon) 1900-1920 Walter/Pownceby, Margaret Mac Kennon/McKinnon, Donald Edwin Ponceby https://guides.bpl.org/directories/citydirectories Negative. The Boston city-directory text query returned zero results. Existing Boston vital records already cover the 1901 marriage and 1902 Donald birth; no directory source created.
Massachusetts Archives vital records Repo and collection-context review of public Massachusetts vital anchors 1901-1902 Walter Pownceby, Margaret Mac Kennon, Donald Edwin Ponceby https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/archives/collections/vital-records.htm Duplicate/already represented. Boston marriage and Donald birth artifacts are already in the repo. Existing source-marriage-record-for-walter-pownceby-and-margaret-mac-kennon, source-boston-marriage-register-entry-for-walter-pownceby-and-margaret-mac-kennon, source-boston-birth-register-donald-edwin-ponceby-1902, and source-birth-record-for-donald-edwin-ponceby.
Library and Archives Canada WWI personnel records Repo review of LAC personnel-file item and service-number path 1916-1917 Walter George Ponceby, regimental no. 231409 https://www.canada.ca/en/library-archives/collection/research-help/military-history/first-world-war/fww-personnel.html Duplicate/already represented. The LAC service file and attestation/CVWM records already cover Walter's WWI service and death. Existing source-lac-wwi-service-file-walter-george-ponceby, source-attestation-paper-walter-george-ponceby-1916, and source-canadian-virtual-war-memorial-walter-george-ponceby.
Provincial Archives of Alberta vital statistics Repo and index-context review of Alberta vital-statistics targets 1900-1920 Ponceby/Poncely, Catherine Mackie Horne https://provincialarchives.alberta.ca/how-to/find-birth-marriage-and-death-records Negative for this window. Known Alberta Ponceby/Horne targets are 1924 and later, outside this pass, and already represented or queued. Existing Alberta marriage/death index sources and HIR-20260423-004/HIR-20260423-005; no 1900-1920 artifact.
Peel's Prairie Provinces / Internet Archive Internet Archive advanced searches for Ponceby AND (collection:peel OR collection:ualbertalibrary OR creator:"Peel") and (Ponceby OR Pownceby OR Poncely) AND (Edmonton OR Alberta) 1900-1920 Ponceby/Pownceby/Poncely, Edmonton/Alberta https://www.library.ualberta.ca/peel/how-to-use-this-collection Negative. Both text queries returned zero results. No Peel/IA Ponceby artifact found in repo or manifest.
Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery, City Directories of Cleveland CONTENTdm API searches for Iacofano, Iaciofano, Yaciofano, Jaciofano, Laurenzo, and Lorenzo in collection p16014coll29 1900-1920 Iacofano/Yaciofano/Laurenzo variants https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/search/collection/p16014coll29/searchterm/Iacofano/field/all/maxRecords/50 Positive candidate lane. See Candidate Finds. Direct rg found no existing 1911-1918 CPL directory source or media entry for item IDs 31572, 23661, or 26108.

Candidate Finds

Repository Exact query or browse path Date range Target names/variants URL Result disposition Repo duplicate check
Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery, City Directories of Cleveland API search searchterm/Iacofano/field/all; page-localized via page OCR in Cleveland City Directory 1911-1912, item 31572 1911-1912 Iacofano; possible Cleveland same-surname collateral, not yet linked to John/Giovanni or Mary Laurenzo Page API: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/collection/p16014coll29/id/30162 ; page image: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/image/pdf/p16014coll29/30162/default.png ; page download: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p16014coll29/id/30162/download Artifact-ready public source, but low-confidence contextual relevance only. OCR text gives an entry for Iacofano Lorenzo, lab, r 1966 E 120th SE; visually verify before ingestion. Duplicate OCR text also appeared on pageptr 30163. No match for item 31572, pageptr 30162, Iacofano Lorenzo, or the address in 02_sources/, 04_views/, or media_manifest.yaml.
Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery, City Directories of Cleveland API search searchterm/Iaciofano/field/all; result item 23661, Cleveland City Directory 1914-1915 1914-1915 Iaciofano Search URL: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/search/collection/p16014coll29/searchterm/Iaciofano/field/all/maxRecords/50 ; volume API: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/collection/p16014coll29/id/23661 Candidate needing page localization. Targeted OCR checks of likely I/M alphabet ranges did not find the page; the volume-level public search still reports an in-window hit. No match for item 23661 or title/date in 02_sources/, 04_views, or media_manifest.yaml.
Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery, City Directories of Cleveland API search searchterm/Iaciofano/field/all; result item 26108, Cleveland City Directory 1917-1918 1917-1918 Iaciofano Search URL: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/search/collection/p16014coll29/searchterm/Iaciofano/field/all/maxRecords/50 ; volume API: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/collection/p16014coll29/id/26108 Candidate needing page localization. Targeted OCR checks of likely I/K alphabet ranges did not find the page; do not ingest until exact page image is located. No match for item 26108 or title/date in 02_sources/, 04_views, or media_manifest.yaml.
Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery, City Directories of Cleveland API searches searchterm/Yaciofano/field/all and searchterm/Laurenzo/field/all 1921, adjacent outside scope Yaciofano, Laurenzo Yaciofano search: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/search/collection/p16014coll29/searchterm/Yaciofano/field/all/maxRecords/50 ; Laurenzo search: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/search/collection/p16014coll29/searchterm/Laurenzo/field/all/maxRecords/50 Candidate for a later post-1920 continuity pass, not part of this 1900-1920 pass. Both terms point to Cleveland City Directory 1921 (Part 2 of 2), item 79290; Iacofano also points to 1921 Part 1 item 80987. No current 1921 Yaciofano/Laurenzo directory source found, but out of scope here.

Duplicate / Already Represented Finds

Repository Exact query or browse path Date range Target names/variants URL Result disposition Repo duplicate check
Massachusetts/Boston vital records Existing Boston marriage-register and record-image sources 1901 Walter Pownceby, Margaret Mac Kennon https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/archives/collections/vital-records.htm Already represented; no duplicate source created. source-marriage-record-for-walter-pownceby-and-margaret-mac-kennon and source-boston-marriage-register-entry-for-walter-pownceby-and-margaret-mac-kennon.
Massachusetts/Boston vital records Existing Boston birth-register and birth-record sources 1902 Donald Edwin Ponceby https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/archives/collections/vital-records.htm Already represented; no duplicate source created. source-boston-birth-register-donald-edwin-ponceby-1902 and source-birth-record-for-donald-edwin-ponceby.
WCDPL Digital Newspaper Archives Existing viewer/source path for The Wood County Democrat, 21 September 1906, page 12 1906 Thomas Armstrong, Orpha Hill https://wcdpl.advantage-preservation.com/ Already represented; strongest in-window newspaper anchor for Thomas/Orpha in this pass. source-wood-county-democrat-marriage-license-notice-for-thomas-armstrong-and-orpha-hill-1906.
Wood County/Ohio birth records via existing repo sources Existing Wood County birth-register artifacts 1907 Paul Edward Armstrong, Thomas Armstrong, Effie/Epha/Alpha/Orpha Hill Local repo sources Already represented; no new public artifact found. source-birth-register-paul-edward-armstrong-1907 and source-birth-register-probate-court-paul-edward-armstrong-1907.
Ohio birth certificate/public image via existing repo source Existing Lola birth-certificate artifact 1909 Lola Louise Seem, Samuel Henry Seem, Minnie Darrow Local repo source Already represented; no new public artifact found. source-birth-certificate-lola-louise-seem-1909.
FamilySearch 1910 census / local source Existing Cuyahoga/Cleveland township 1910 source 1910 Iacofano/Yaciofano variants https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1727033 Already represented as context/negative; no target household identified on that page. source-census-cuyahoga-cleveland-township-1910.
Library and Archives Canada / CVWM Existing LAC personnel file, attestation, and memorial sources 1916-1917 Walter George Ponceby, Ponceby/Pownceby https://www.canada.ca/en/library-archives/collection/research-help/military-history/first-world-war/fww-personnel.html Already represented. Full LAC service file is already stronger than a new index-only hit would be. source-lac-wwi-service-file-walter-george-ponceby, source-attestation-paper-walter-george-ponceby-1916, source-canadian-virtual-war-memorial-walter-george-ponceby.
FamilySearch 1920 census / local source Existing accepted 1920 census image source 1920 Yaciofano/Iacofano household, John, Mary, Albert, Anna, Biagio, Joseph https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1488411 Already represented and accepted; no duplicate source created. source-census-yaciofano-household-1920.

Negative Searches

Repository Exact query or browse path Date range Target names/variants URL Result disposition Repo duplicate check
Internet Archive, Boston city directories Advanced search collection:(bostoncitydirectories) AND (Ponceby OR Pownceby OR "Mac Kennon" OR McKinnon) 1900-1920 Ponceby, Pownceby, Mac Kennon, McKinnon https://archive.org/advancedsearch.php?q=collection%3A%28bostoncitydirectories%29%20AND%20%28Ponceby%20OR%20Pownceby%20OR%20%22Mac%20Kennon%22%20OR%20McKinnon%29&fl%5B%5D=identifier&fl%5B%5D=title&fl%5B%5D=date&rows=20&page=1&output=json Negative; API returned numFound: 0. No Boston directory source created; existing vital records remain the anchors.
Internet Archive / Peel context Advanced search Ponceby AND (collection:peel OR collection:ualbertalibrary OR creator:"Peel") 1900-1920 Ponceby https://archive.org/advancedsearch.php?q=Ponceby%20AND%20%28collection%3Apeel%20OR%20collection%3Aualbertalibrary%20OR%20creator%3A%22Peel%22%29&fl%5B%5D=identifier&fl%5B%5D=title&fl%5B%5D=date&rows=20&page=1&output=json Negative; API returned numFound: 0. No Peel/Ponceby artifact found locally.
Internet Archive, general Alberta context Advanced search (Ponceby OR Pownceby OR Poncely) AND (Edmonton OR Alberta) 1900-1920 Ponceby, Pownceby, Poncely https://archive.org/advancedsearch.php?q=%28Ponceby%20OR%20Pownceby%20OR%20Poncely%29%20AND%20%28Edmonton%20OR%20Alberta%29&fl%5B%5D=identifier&fl%5B%5D=title&fl%5B%5D=date&rows=20&page=1&output=json Negative; API returned numFound: 0. No Alberta/Edmonton public IA artifact found locally.
Cleveland Public Library city directories API searches Ponceby, Pownceby, Pounceby, Poncely, and Mac Kennon in p16014coll29 1900-1920 Ponceby/Pownceby/Poncely/Mac Kennon https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/search/collection/p16014coll29/searchterm/Ponceby/field/all/maxRecords/100 Negative for in-window target entries. McKinnon returned common-name Cleveland directory hits, but they do not match Margaret Mac Kennon/McKinnon or the Boston/PEI lane. No in-window Ponceby/Mac Kennon directory artifact in repo or manifest.
Cleveland Public Library city directories API search searchterm/Jaciofano/field/all 1900-1920 Jaciofano https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/search/collection/p16014coll29/searchterm/Jaciofano/field/all/maxRecords/50 Negative; API returned zero results. No Jaciofano directory source locally.
Cleveland Public Library city directories API search searchterm/Laurenzo/field/all; Lorenzo review for date-bucketed in-window hits 1900-1920 Laurenzo, Lorenzo https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/search/collection/p16014coll29/searchterm/Laurenzo/field/all/maxRecords/50 Negative for a Mary/Maria Laurenzo in-window directory hit. Laurenzo results were 1921 and 1938 only; broad Lorenzo hits were not tied to the Mary Laurenzo/Iacofano target. No Laurenzo in-window source locally.
Ohio Memory Domain searches for Ponceby, Iacofano, Thomas Armstrong/Wood County, Samuel Seem 1900-1920 Ponceby, Iacofano, Armstrong, Seem https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/about-ohio-memory Negative/no page-specific target media surfaced. No Ohio Memory artifact found locally.

Follow-up Queue

  1. Page-localize the Cleveland Public Library Iaciofano hits in Cleveland City Directory 1914-1915 item 23661 and Cleveland City Directory 1917-1918 item 26108. If a page names John/Giovanni, Mary/Maria, Random Road, house number 2025, or a known child/collateral, ingest one page image/PDF as one proposed source.
  2. Visually verify pageptr 30162 from the 1911-1912 Cleveland directory before any ingestion. Treat the Iacofano Lorenzo entry as low-confidence collateral unless later evidence connects him to John/Giovanni or Mary Laurenzo/Iacofano.
  3. Consider a post-1920 continuity pass for the 1921 Cleveland directory items: Yaciofano and Laurenzo both point to 1921 Part 2 item 79290; Iacofano also points to 1921 Part 1 item 80987.
  4. Keep existing HIR-20260423-014 as the residence/naturalization gate for Iacofano signed-in work; do not add a duplicate blocker for the CPL directory page-localization task because the current blocker already covers the broader 1915-1942 directory/naturalization lane.
  5. Keep existing HIR-20260423-020 and HIR-20260423-021 as the signed-in/county-record gates for Samuel/Minnie and Thomas/Orpha census/marriage/death images.
  6. Keep existing Ponceby blockers for Alberta registrations, Donald's AIR 79 record, and Gordon's Detroit/Ambassador Bridge admission. This 1900-1920 public pass did not expose a new Ponceby-specific human-input route.

Completion Notes

  • Each family lane has either positive, duplicate, or negative searches logged across newspapers, directories/census, and media/context repositories.
  • No new source record was created because the only new page-specific artifact is not yet tied to an existing direct person or lead with enough confidence, and the stronger Iaciofano directory hits still need page localization.
  • No 01_people/ updates were made from proposed or candidate evidence.
  • No new human-input blocker was added; all sign-in, paid, staff, ordering, and user-review blockers found here were already covered by existing HIR entries.
  • Final verification should rerun preflight after this log is added.

CPL Directory Localization Addendum - 23 April 2026

Volume Result Exact URLs Disposition
1914-1915 item 23661 Page-localized to pageptr 22176, page title Page 744, printed page 752. Visual review confirms Iaciofano John grocer 2025 Random rd SE with a continuation line - Lorenzo lab r 1966 E 120th SE. Page API: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/collection/p16014coll29/id/22176 ; Page image: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/iiif/2/p16014coll29:22176/full/full/0/default.jpg ; Page download: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p16014coll29/id/22176/download Ingested as one proposed city_directory source because the John line gives direct Random Road continuity with house number 2025.
1917-1918 item 26108 Page-localized to pageptr 24479, page title Page 818, printed page 830. Visual review confirms Iaciofano Lorenzo laborer r 1966 E 120th; no John, Mary, Random, or 2025 continuity appears on the localized page. A near-duplicate OCR echo also appeared at pageptr 24480; no second artifact is needed. Page API: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/collection/p16014coll29/id/24479 ; Page image: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/iiif/2/p16014coll29:24479/full/full/0/default.jpg ; Page download: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p16014coll29/id/24479/download Context only; do not ingest as a standalone source in this pass.
1911-1912 item 31572 Visually verified at pageptr 30162, page title Page 772, printed page 731. The image clearly reads Iacofano Lorenzo lab r 1966 E 120th SE. Page API: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/collection/p16014coll29/id/30162 ; Page image: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/singleitem/image/pdf/p16014coll29/30162/default.png ; Page download: https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p16014coll29/id/30162/download Context only; low-confidence collateral unless later evidence ties Lorenzo to John/Giovanni or Mary Laurenzo/Iacofano.
  • Variant-search disposition after localization:
    • Yaciofano still points only to 1921 part 2 item 79290.
    • Laurenzo still points only to 1921 part 2 item 79290 and 1938 item 47537.
    • No additional in-window 1914-1917 CPL variant pages required ingest after the page-level review.