Genealogy

What Can You Expect from Professional Research?

13 Nov By Dwight

Perhaps the main question asked about professional research is the cost and what can be expected. It is important to understand when you hire a professional, you are purchasing time and expertise – not results! Genealogy is knowledge based. You are seeking an answer to some question, so the results are intangible. There are no guarantees, unless the line has already been researched and the information is available. Otherwise, the answer to your question only avails itself if records exist, ancestors appear in those records, and the researcher is skilled in their craft. There is no crystal ball in this profession, only hard work.

How much does it cost to hire a professional genealogist? There is no uniform pay scale and professional rates vary from around $25 to $100+ per hour. What a professional charges does not necessarily translate into the skill level of that researcher.

All genealogist typically work in blocks of time; usually, 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. With difficult cases, I tell prospective clients to consider 20 or 30 hours at a time. That way, both the client, and the researcher are protected. If more time is needed, that can be discussed once the initial time is exhausted and everybody knows what he or she are up against.

A genealogist should provide you with some type of a calendar of sources consulted and whether the results were positive or negative. A footnoted research report is standard. The calendar and report provides you with proof as to how your funds were utilized. This also allows the researcher to pick up efforts again if you as the client decide to reorder.

It is also standard for the genealogist to provide you with copies of pertinent documents. These are usually linked into the footnoted report by way of a document or reference number.

Genealogy can be a very intimate experience and you want to make sure you form a business relationship with someone you trust. As long as the researcher informs you what to expect, then you as the client will not have unrealistic expectations. For example, if the Irish Catholic parish register you need only begins in the 1820s, then don’t expect the lineage to be extended back into the Middle Ages. Not going to happen! As long as you, as the consumer, know what to expect, then there should be no surprises.

If you would like help with your genealogy please call 385-214-0925.

The Blended Family

26 May By Dwight

When studying a family unit in the census, it can be easy to miss a “blended family.” A blended family denotes his children, her children and, possibly, their children. Blended families can be obscure if civil or church marriages are incomplete,destroyed or non-existent in an area. They also may be uncertain when death records and tombstones are absent. Here are some tried and tested clues to consider:

Among the Irish, a man could marry three times and all of his wives may be named Mary. Noting the ages of the various Marys or gaps in the children’s ages can provide more evidence.

Gaps in the ages of the children are a giveaway. However, historically there was a high rate of infant mortality, this can also explain gaps with no blended families involved.

Common-law marriages can conceal the presence of a blended marriage. This occurred with some regularity in bygone times. When it is not obvious, how do you know if you are looking at a blended family when the paper trail makes it look otherwise? Which children belong to whom?

In the case of children from blended families, with what surname do you see them listed in the census schedules? They may all be under the stepfather’s surname, making it look like they are his biological children. If the father dies and the stepmother remarries, then his children may be under the name of her new husband. Be careful and never assume anything.

If two children in the same family have the same first name, (ex. two Thomases or two Catherines) but a few years apart in age, this may be a clue to a blended family. One of the Thomas children may be a stepson.

While these principles may appear as common sense, it’s important to remember blended families can be complex. This is especially true when civil or church marriages are not evident. Happy hunting!

If you would like help with your genealogy please call 385-214-0925.

They Said Nothing More Could be Done. Oh Really…

12 Dec By Dwight Leave a Comment

A professional genealogist friend commented to me; “I contacted the [blank] Heritage Centre and they said nothing could be done because the church registers didn’t go back far enough.” I said, “Oh really!” I proceeded to learn more.

It turns out the Catholic immigrant family had children born in the 1820s. So the centre was correct there would be no further church registers. However, they found one child christened; probably the last one. I asked if the christening record provided a townland (address) where the family was living in the parish, as well as sponsors (godparents) names. The answer was yes.

If the centre staff meant there were no further church registers, then they stand correct. If they meant no further records at all, then the staff was incorrect. I’ve worked with most of the genealogical centres in Ireland and Northern Ireland by now, and the majority are informative and helpful. They’ve helped me find all kinds of non-church records from which to continue my search.

In this case, I told my friends they had to look at their pre-church records Irish research in a similar fashion as one would do Southern United States research or African American slave research. In the case of Southern US, church registers may or may not exist. So you may build a lineage while never looking at church registers. This means looking at land, tax, probate, voters, or anything else you can get your hands on to build a case. In the case of African American slave research, you look for the slave by researching the plantation records kept by the owner.

Irish research is a combination of both strategies. The landlord papers, called “Estate Records” may contain leases and rent books. This can document your family in the townland. When these have not survived, then you go to any other record you can get your hands on. This takes digging to see what is even available.

So my friends left encouraged their research wasn’t finished. The point is once there are no more church registers, then think in terms of what else may be available.

Identifying Irish Origins Through Intermarriage

9 Nov By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Irish intermarried with various ethnic groups. Sometimes to find Irish origins, you have to explore the other group.

For example, in the American Southeast, the Scots-Irish intermarried heavily with the Catawba, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and the Muscogee (Creek). If the geography and time period was right for intermarriage, then research tribal records. Remember, tribal membership is determined through a documented lineage. Within that lineage, often in a compiled family history, the Ulster branch may be documented.

The same principle applies to the Maori of New Zealand. They are very mixed-blood with both Catholic and Protestant Irish. Another plus for Maori research is large numbers have converted to Mormonism which almost guarantees additional genealogies.

Even stranger, the Scots-Irish were kidnapped during tribal raids in New England in the mid-1700s, and taken to Quebec. There are entire books written about the kidnapped, their conversion to Catholicism, adoption into the tribes, their native names, and those who eventually returned to New England. Upon returning, they spoke French and a First Nations language (some broken English), finding New England Protestant culture very alien to them.

Sometimes, intermarriage is as simple as an Irish Catholic marrying a German Catholic. In some parts of North America there was hostility between the two groups (example: Cincinnati, Ohio). In other areas, the intermarriage was common place. It may be within a German Catholic record birthplaces in Ireland are preserved.

You will find Scots-Irish Presbyterians marrying German Baptist Brethren (now Church of the Brethren). They settled among each other in the Mid-West and on the frontier in Virginia and Maryland in the mid-1700s. Once you realize your Anabaptist ancestors were really Scots-Irish, with a Germanized surname, this directs your research into Brethren record for an Irish birthplace.

As odd as any of these strategies sound, they do work. This is thinking outside the box.

Clogher Historical Society

22 Oct By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Clogher Historical Society (CHS): www.clogherhistory.ie is a quality organization with a focus on research, history and preservation for counties Fermangh, Monaghan, South Tyrone, parts of South Donegal and West Louth. Keep in mind this geographic area crosses the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. County Fermanagh and South Tyrone are today in Northern Ireland.

The CHS boundaries are the Roman Catholic diocese of Clogher. Their core membership is from counties Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tyrone. However, they have an international membership also. They not only promote the history of the Clogher Diocese, but also worldwide immigration links from this region. The diocese boundaries actually cover County Monaghan, most of Fermanagh, parts of south and west Tyrone, south Donegal with small parts of counties Cavan and Louth.

The CHS publishes the reputable Clogher Record which can be found in many libraries worldwide. The CHS website has a link to an article index to the Clogher Record: www.clogherhistory.ie/Clogher-Record-Index

As a professional genealogist, I have used the Clogher Record for many years. Also, recently I was in need of some estate papers for a local landlord. I contacted the CHS and they found exactly what I needed and where these papers had been deposited. I was very pleased. I referred my question to them because I knew if they didn’t know the answer, they would know who would know the answer. Their help revolutionized this case I was working on!

I would recommend support of the CHS. It has been in operation since 1952, and has had time to research and publish some incredible findings.

Did Grandma Do Original Research?

7 Sep By Dwight Leave a Comment

In this third of our series using the fictitious grandma, I want to explore the concept of original research. By this I mean, what kind of sources was grandma using when she wrote her family history book?

The question “Where did she get that?” is standard. If grandma relied on previously compiled research, this means you have to trace that source. Perhaps she used a genealogy book written by someone else. Perhaps she found a genealogy collection or at least family file at a public library. What we do know is that when she wrote the family history in 1965, she wasn’t using the Internet and probably not a lot of microfilm either!

If grandma’s book begins with a sweeping history of the surname complete with coat of arms and crests, then she has drawn from someone else’s work. These published histories are dime a dozen with mostly irrelevant introductions. Even if you find the first part of her book somewhat irrelevant, then what did the rest of the book? Was it an accurate source when grandma was studying it?

As far as original sources, as the decades progressed, grandma may have had access to microfilm. You see microfilm dating back to the 1950s. However, consider microfilming efforts really becoming widespread by the 1960s and 1970s. In my research, I still use microfilm originally produced in the 1950s and 1960s, but the vast collections would come in the decades later as the technology was perfected.

So always question what grandma had access to in her research. You may find it was a combination of her efforts and a previously published book. Yet, you may find she plowed through the microfilm combining that with what she had available to her at the time.

Did Grandma Have Access to Current Material?

6 Sep By Dwight Leave a Comment

In this second part of exploring the basics of previously compiled family research; I want to question the when and where of our fictitious grandmas research. This can affect the accuracy of what she has compiled and left for the family.

If grandma did her research fifty, forty or even thirty years ago, then she was limited to snail mail. She wrote tons of letters, hoping someone would write her back. She made dozens of phone calls trying to tap into the right person with the answers she needed. In the world of e-mail, text messaging, and unlimited long distance phone calls, what took her 30 years would now take a fraction of the time.

Then there are the new databases online. What took her years, now would take her minutes. When evaluating her past research, don’t be critical if you find errors in her work. Consider the time period she was working in and under what conditions. Her efforts cannot be compared to our efforts today. If she was researching before microfilm or photocopy machines; she is having to rely on someone else’s research.

Grandma did the best she could. Often her lack of sources or footnotes in her compiled family history is due to the times she lived. Even if she put “Correspondence to Ireland” as her source, then at least you know she was doing her best. If she put “Correspondence with Father Fahey in Saint Whatever Parish in County Cork, June 5, 1965” then this is traceable to the parish and you know the parish records did exist.

With the current technology, if you have to go back behind grandma’s research to document it, then so be it! You might find, she was more on the ball than you had thought. Then again…

My Grandma Has Done All of Our Genealogy

5 Sep By Dwight Leave a Comment

This is the first of a three part series using Grandma as our fictitious family member through which we can explore some genealogy basics.

As a professional I often hear people say, “My grandma has done all of our genealogy.” This is done with just as much pride in the genealogy, as it is love for grandma. As touching as this is, it must be realized that grandma probably has not done all of your genealogy. She did what she could.

I have found this to be more than lip service as people pull out grandma’s published work. Some are impressive. However, this still doesn’t mean she did all the genealogy. What she did was compile the genealogy on a particular branch of the family. If she is your paternal grandmother, then she would have little interest in your maternal side of the family which is not related to her.

Now saying this, if the published family history is footnoted or at least adequately sourced, then it may be she has researched a particular branch of the family tree to its logical conclusion. I won’t question her research as she obviously did a thorough job. However, this is not always the case. If you browse through her book and you find it’s not footnoted or sourced, and there’s a lot of hearsay then you need to take a much deeper look at her research.

My advice is that we need to continue to contribute to grandma’s work. Even though she may be just as professional as any professional genealogists; she may also be – well grandma!

American Hereditary (Lineage) Societies

27 Jun By Dwight Leave a Comment

Genealogies have been compiled by people wanting to join a particular lineage society. Most people have heard of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). This is a lineage society based upon service on the American side of the Revolutionary War. Societies typically see themselves as educators, historians and genealogists. They gather and preserve material for future generations to draw from.

There are hundreds of societies, each with different membership requirements. Yet, the common bond is genealogy. Membership is based upon an unbroken lineage from the applicant to an ancestor who meets the membership requirements. This has created a mountain of historical research, and a valid genealogical research tool for the rest of us. The Hereditary Society Community of the United States of America acts as an umbrella organization: – www.hereditary.us/about_hsc.htm Their website has links to the various societies.

The focus of a society can be immigration, time period, occupation, residence, religion or military service. Once you have determined how your ancestors fit historically in American history, then you can look for a lineage society which may have documented them.

Standards for lineage documentation have improved over the years. As with any genealogical material, lineage society papers are not always correct and must be tested for accuracy. The societies themselves monitor applications, often with a professional genealogist on their staff.

The papers for some lineage societies are on microfilm at the Family History Library. This makes research easy as you can study at the collections and applications for membership yourself.

Do not limit yourself to societies which may document an Irish immigrant. For example, if your Irish ancestor married a Norwegian, then you may want to look at any Norwegian societies to see if some mention is made about your Irish ancestor! Lineage society papers are an amazing resource.

Society of Australian Genealogists

10 Jun By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG): www.sag.org.au is an excellent genealogical organization. However, why would people outside of Australia even care?

Often in our research we plow through records only to see “Ireland” as the place of birth. Now consider this. In the nineteenth century, most immigrants had a relative who went to Australia, either as a convict or free. So to identify that ancestor, and begin using the Australian records is to open up an extra avenue from which to explore the question of Irish origins.

Sometimes I find it quicker to contact the SAG for the name of a genealogist for help rather than plowing through rolls of microfilm at the Family History Library. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many of them in the past. Like they have told me, it is common for the name of a county, parish and even townland in Ireland to be preserved in their records. This makes your Australian branch of the family very important.

The SAG members publish books and create databases. The SAG Library in Sydney has family histories and biographies, local and school histories, vital records indexes (civil registration), shipping records, probate collections, cemetery transcripts and burial registers, various commercial databases and indexes. Also at the SAG Library is a growing manuscript collection of more than 28,000 files. Within the files are family papers, pedigrees, photographs, certificates and research notes. Their quarterly journal Descent is recognized internationally for its quality.

From my personal experience, if you have a lost Australian branch, I would highly recommend contacting the SAG. They have a special Irish Interest Group: http://irelandhome.com.au

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