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How do You Determine the Associates of Your Ancestor?

28 Dec By

On the recent Salt Lake Christmas Tour, I had the chance to consult a few times with a very knowledgeable woman trying to identify her ancestor’s associates in Augusta County, Virginia prior to 1790. This was no small task. She needed this original cluster of people so she could see who was from Ulster and if her ancestor may have known them there. However, she needed to first move the pack from Augusta County back into some unknown county in Pennsylvania. Remember, this is frontier and very dangerous. Families did not travel alone.

It was in Pennsylvania, she was most likely to identify the original group from Ulster. So we put our heads together and began brainstorming what we could use to reconstruct her ancestor’s neighborhood and associates from Virginia to Pennsylvania.

We came up with land records. Whose land did her ancestor’s land adjoin in Augusta County? That is accomplished by studying the county deeds. Court cases were discovered. With whom was her ancestor involved in court cases? That could help. Then I looked at the published tax lists and realized that the years we needed were divided by district. This in effect divided the county by geographic areas, preserving the theoretical “neighborhood” in which her ancestor lived.

Our solution for her continued efforts was to see where her surname was found in Pennsylvania in the land grant and published tax lists. Then those lists were compared with the residents being taxed in her ancestor’s Augusta County, Virginia tax district. During that time period, was there a common pattern of people coming into Augusta County, Virginia from a particular county in Pennsylvania? That would solve the Virginia to Pennsylvania part of the research.

Once the Pennsylvania county was identified, then she would have townships in which to work. That would automatically help identify her ancestors “neighborhood” and theoretical associates from Ulster geographically within the county. Then she would start the entire process over again. However, this time looking for the original cluster of families who arrived from Ulster along with her ancestor. To identify where some of the group came from would in effect identify from where her ancestor hailed. That’s a good day in frontier American research!

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

 

 

When to Jump Over the Water in Your Research

21 Dec By

I just finished consulting with the participants of the wonderful Salt Lake Christmas Tour that comes every year to the Family History Library. It’s been a wonderful experience for more than 20 years.

This year, from teaching classes and consulting non-stop all week, I found myself giving the same advice: “Don’t be so quick to jump over the water in your research.” This principle applies to Catholic and Protestant immigrant research. By way of illustration, I will focus on an early Scots-Irish example.

If tracing a family from Ohio back to Ulster, one must realize that there were possibly stops along the way. The people in the 1700s and early 1800s were on the frontier and traveled in clusters or packs, as I like to call them. It was dangerous times, and families did not travel alone. To eventually find a place of origin in Ulster, research needs to consider the entire pack. To find out where one in the pack was from would be to discover where your ancestor originated. This is great if groups of Ulster Scots families traveled together; however, the stops along the way must be considered.

The theoretical Ohio family in 1810 may have been in East Tennessee by 1800, North Carolina by 1780 and only then back to Ulster sometime in the 1760s. In this case, the original Ulster pack of associates breaks down along the way. If you do not know where in East Tennessee, then trace the frontier group (the pack) from Ohio back to East Tennessee first. Then identify that same or somewhat different group of people, including your ancestor, back from East Tennessee to North Carolina. If that is where the original group settled from Ulster, then it is in North Carolina where you begin to reconstruct the original Ulster pack of immigrants.

If you do not already have a place in Ulster already, then you need to refrain from trying to jumping from Ohio directly back to Ulster. Customarily, the straight jump over the water approach will not work. Identifying the original group of immigrants in North Carolina, and then tracing them back to Ulster is typically how it works.

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

 

What Can You Expect from Professional Research?

13 Nov By

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.

How Do You Find a Qualified Professional Genealogist?

5 Nov By

As a professional genealogist, I have to hire other professionals in the field. So the advice I’m giving you is from personal experience. How do I find researchers with whom I can trust?

I find that if a library refers a list of researchers to me, I then do some research of my own. I look at the researcher’s website, credentials if applicable, and areas in which they feel comfortable working. I send e-mails with my initial inquiry and then I judge how the genealogist responds to me.

A professional may come back and decide not to take on your case. That is to be respected if it is outside their area of comfort. However, in your initial letter of inquiry, always mention that if they were unable to take on the case would they recommend someone.

If a professional tells me what realistically can and cannot be done, I am most appreciative. If the researcher shares with me local sources that I was unaware of; then I am practically sold. If they assure me they will not duplicate my research already done, then I’m ready to write the check out.

There are organizations, which will certify genealogists. Among them are the Board for Certification of Genealogists and The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists . As stated above, archives and local genealogy societies typically have lists of researchers, even if they are not allowed to recommend anyone specific. These can all be excellent resources.

It is important to remember, just because a researcher has received credentials through a reputable organization, like the ones mentioned above, this does not guarantee that person has a regular caseload of clients or the experience to do your research. These types of organizations do not provide work, only credentials to those who pass their rigorous tests. The amount of work a professional actually does, hone their skills and provide them with valuable experience.

Sometimes, I find “word of mouth” is the best way to find a trustworthy genealogist. If I need something in England, for example, I ask other professionals who they use working out of a particular record office. That method has worked well for me. I don’t have to worry about the qualifications of that researcher as they have already been tried and tested on another colleague of mine.

If I cannot find a trusted researcher by “word of mouth” then I’m left with the list of researchers furnished by an archive, library or genealogy society. Still not a bad option as I would doubt respectable libraries and archives would want people on their list who are less than professional.

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

 

The Speaker’s Perspective

3 Oct By

On August 11th I had the privilege of presenting two classes at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus. This is the state archive. In other words, it was no small gig!

L to R: Liz Plummer, Tom Rieder, Lisa Long, Amanda Rindler
L to R: Liz Plummer, Tom Rieder, Lisa Long, Amanda Rindler

There were about 150 in attendance. My topics were were “Getting Your Irish Ancestors Over the Water” and “Beginning Irish Research.” From my perspective, I was impressed at how professional the staff at the archives was and how they did everything possible to take care of my needs. So from the speaker’s relationship with the hosts, I rate them very highly. The group in attendance was comprised of all levels of family historians. They ranged from novices to professional genealogists. That makes any speaker squirm a bit as a balance has to be struck between not being too technical or insulting.DSC_0605_resize

This group was a bit complicated because in addition in the audience were a number of staff from the Genealogy Department of the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society, both of whose members spent their time to help advertise my classes. On top of that were some of the movers and shakers of the annual Dublin Irish Festival, held in Dublin, Ohio, outside of Columbus – also family historians.

So how does any speaker evaluate the needs of such a diverse class of participants? Not easy. My first task was to try and balance a little bit of everything in the two hours allotted. If I had to venture an educated guess, a typical Ohio class would consist of up to 50% to 75% Scots-Irish Protestant needs verses the rest Irish Catholic needs. So 1700s Scots-Irish research had to be considered along with 1840s and 1850s Potato Famine immigrants.DSC_0612_resize

DSC_0604_resizeMy observation was that the class was very well prepared. What I did notice was many came expecting me to give them that one magic answer to solve their research problems. That was not necessarily going to happen as Irish and Scots-Irish research can be very complicated. From my teaching experience, I have learned sometimes by just listening to the questions asked and the answers given, the smoking gun may actually present itself.

DSC_0616_resizeAll that being said and done, it was a marvelous experience and the class was very top notch. The diversity in the class actually brought the discussion up a level. My hope is I struck a balance and ignited some new strategies in the minds of the researchers to help them address their particular issue. As I remind classes, I can feed them sources all day long, but unless they know strategies on what to do with those sources, their research may just remained blocked. While at times Irish research can be as simple as “pushing a button” it is just as often just not that simple.

I hope you enjoy the pictures graciously sent to me by the Ohio History Connection.

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

Unveiling the Secret Society

13 Jun By

Sometimes we give up looking for records especially if they are not easily accessible on the computer. Below I will present how understanding the context of an organization can lead to all kinds of amazing finds. Once the context is understood then the records seems to fall into place. The example chosen is the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (HOGD), which included some very powerful and influential Irish members.

In the late nineteenth century, the HOGD arose as the most influential Western Occult organization in Great Britain. During this period, it was common for people to explore mysticism and occultism through various lodge-type organizations. Occult during this period simply meant hidden as opposed to apocalypse which meant revealed. The modern popular usage of “occult” as satanic or evil was not how members of these organizations understood their activities. They were simply seeking secret (hidden) knowledge.

The Context of the HOGD

Founded in 1888, the HOGD emerged out of the late nineteenth century occult revival. They were a secretive society. Their influence can still be felt under the surface of any number of New Age, and metaphysical groups.

Some of the more notable Irish members include Sarah Allgood (1879-1950), Irish stage actress and later film actress in America; Maud Gonne (1866-1853), revolutionary and actress; Bram Stoker (1847-1912), author of Dracula; John Todhunter (1839-1916), Irish poet and playwright; and W.B. Yeates (1865-1939), Irish poet and writer. Another, of Irish descent, was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), author of Sherlock Holmes, doctor, scientist and Spiritualist.

To understand the philosophies rooted in the old HOGD would be to indirectly understand more about your ancestors.

The HOGD as a Secret Society

HOGD was founded by three men who were Freemasons and members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. They created the Golden Dawn system. This magical lodge had initiations. Women were admitted as equals with men. Its foundation document was the Cipher Manuscripts which outlined the rituals and teachings merging Hermetic Qabalah, astrology, occult tarot, geomancy and alchemy. Members would progress through orders based upon the teachings they had completed.

The founders claimed to be in contact with the Secret Chiefs, who formed a cosmic spiritual hierarchy and oversaw the affairs of humanity. Thoughts about whether these Secret Chiefs were human, supernatural personages or simply symbolic representations seems to have varied among the membership.

Lodges were established in England, Scotland, France and the United States. Its high point was the mid-1890s when the HOGD was well established in Great Britain, drawing several hundred members from all classes in Victorian society. However, by the end of 1899, dissatisfaction with leadership arose, and in 1901 the original Isis-Urania Temple in London, founded in 1888, withdrew and became independent. Others would follow and splinter groups would be formed with the original HOGD imploding. No temples from the original chartered lineage survived past the 1970s. Several organizations have since revived the Golden Dawn teachings and rituals.

Early Membership

Because the HOGD attracted such influential people; researchers and historians have been fascinated with the organization. This is where academics have done the foundational research for the genealogist. There is no shortage of articles online or published about the HOGD, all of which will mention names.

Sally Davis is compiling biographies on the members of the HOGD. She draws from and expands on R.A. Gilbert’s The Golden Dawn Companion (Northampton: The Aquarian Press, 1986).

Gilbert lists members in the original HOGD or its many daughter Orders between 1888 and 1914. His HOGD membership list is taken from the administrative records and its Members’ Rolls. Basically it is a large parchment on which all new members signed their names when they were initiated. This information is now in the Freemasons’ Library at the United Grand Lodge of England. Records were kept by this secretive society and they are deposited in a major London repository. Davis’ additions tap into many records used by the average genealogist.

Conclusions about Secret Society Research

The HOGD seems to have been founded in the right place and at the right time. It collected the currents of late nineteenth century Victorian society. HOGD, academics and researchers have completed the legwork for the genealogist. The family historian, with a context for what the organization was all about, will be able to intelligently finish biographical sketches. Being able to document the HOGD early membership proves it wasn’t so secretive after all!

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

 

 

 

The Irish Hell-Fire Clubs

4 Feb By

The infamous Hell-Fire (Hellfire) Clubs is a fascinating and bizarre topic and has direct applications for genealogists. Trained historians have plowed through many of the same sources genealogists do in order to reconstruct the history of the Hell-Fire Clubs. This makes understanding how historians identify pertinent documents and then utilize them can provide lessons for all family historians. Plus, it’s a great story!

What Were the Hell-Fire Clubs?

So what were the Hell-Fire Clubs? They were secretive brotherhood organizations which ritually acted out and practiced anything counter-culture to their time period. They were founded by freethinking, living on the edge, Protestant elite gentry. The clubs were intended to counter the heavy hand of the established Protestant Church in every opposite way possible. Prostitution, sex, orgies, drinking, blasphemy, dark occult practices, and any other type of cultural depravity were accepted. Combine all that with rumors of Satan worship, homosexuality (illegal at the time), murder and human sacrifice and the Club’s reputation as a type of “holy other” would be solidified. By the 1770s the Hell-Fire Clubs had disbanded, but their influence remained in other groups such as the Pinkindindies and Cherokees.

Locations of the Irish Hell-Fire Clubs

The first Irish Hell-Fire Club was founded in 1735 in Dublin at Mount Pelier. There were three additional “regional” Hell-Fire Clubs in Ireland: Askeaton, County Limerick; Grangemellon, County Kildare and an unspecified location in the Midlands. However, there were other meeting places, such as Doonass, County Clare. Research shows these were rendezvous points for similar groups. The ruins of the Dublin Hell-Fire Club, is a tourist attraction. More can be found on the Abandoned Ireland website.

The Definitive Work on the Irish Clubs

The definitive work on the Irish Hell-Fire Clubs is Blasphemers & Blackguards: The Irish Hellfire Clubs, by David Ryan. An article by the author can be found on the Writing.ie website.

One fascinating aspect of this book is the author takes some of the same sources we would use in genealogy and reconstructs the history of a very secretive and forbidden society. For the family historian it demonstrates what can be done with sound logic, limited records and not being timid with controversial subject matters. Most of his research was conducted at the National Library of Ireland. His sources include private manuscripts, estate papers, print files, printed sources, newspapers and biographies. To use these sources to reconstruct a secret society is nothing short of amazing. We as family historians can learn much from such authors’ research by the manner in which they crafted their stories.

Additional Hell-Fire Club Information

To round out the story of the Hell-Fire Clubs, the English counterpart provides a rich supply of history and research. The best known is the elaborate Hell Fire Caves, which is a major tourist destination, located in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.An interesting commentary on the Hell-Fire Clubs comes from the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and the Yukon website.

A Word of Warning

A word of warning on topics such as the “Hell Fire Club.” If you are looking for history, be careful what you place in the search engine. You may get more than you bargained for, as all websites are not historical!

If you are seeking professional assistance with your genealogical research you may call us at 385-214-0925.

 

Calculating Event Dates to Prove a Link

6 Nov By

I could not find the marriage in Massachusetts for an Irish immigrant couple around 1859 or early 1860. I knew their first child was born on 9 December 1860. To make matters worse, I found a 12 October 1856 marriage of a couple with the same first and last names, but they were some 25 miles away from where the first known child was born. Since Irish Catholic names can be common, I had to wonder if this was even the right couple? The 1856 marriage also listed the bride’s father with a different given name.

I developed a strategy on the spot. I looked for children of the 1856 couple. In this case, the birth and death databases on FamilySearch were very helpful. They showed the 1856 couple had a child die on 14 August 1858 and they had a second child born and die on 28 September 1859. No civil births were registered.

Now that I had this information I had to figure out just how it all fits together and if the couple married in 1856 was really the ones I was looking for. To accomplish this I chose one of the many calculating databases on the Internet. You would typically use these in calculating birth dates found in death records and tombstones where it states someone died on a date, being so many months and days old.

Using the calculated birth dates, I then used the death fields and put in that “birth date” and calculated 9 months to get the date the child was conceived. This process provided a time line of this family chronologically:

  • 12 Oct. 1856: Marriage of the parents I was wondering about, which was documented.
  • 11 Feb. 1857: The first child was conceived according to the calculation.
  • 11Nov. 1857: The first child was born according to the calculation.
  • 14 Aug. 1858: The first child dies and this is documented.
  • 28 Nov. 1858: The second child was conceived according to the calculation.
  • 28 Sep. 1859: The second child was born and died and this is documented.
  • 09 Mar. 1860: The known ancestor was conceived according to the calculation.
  • 09 Dec. 1860: The known ancestor was born and this is documented.

Everything fit perfectly which provided the evidence the couple married on 12 October 1856 was the same as the parents I was looking for at the 9 December 1860 birth. Now I could begin the process of researching the parents some 25 miles from where I had originally documented them.

If you would like help in researching your Irish Immigrant ancestor, please call us at 385-214-0925.

 

 

Genealogy as a Science and Art Form

23 May By Leave a Comment

Many people debate whether genealogy is an art form or a hard science. While perhaps a trivial question; how we view the answer does to a large degree affect how we approach our research.

Genealogy as Art Form

For those who see genealogy as an art form, they would “read between the lines” and look for what is not obvious. This approach has its strong points with difficult research, such as Irish, Southern United States, African American, and any number of other specialized areas. In these cases the records often do not cooperate with our research needs.

Genealogy as Hard Science

For those who view genealogy as hard science, they would take the paper trail and with skill and fortitude, pull every last piece of evidence out of what is available. While they may still “read between the lines,” the emphasis in on the record itself, not the possibilities held between the lines. In cultures which have good records intact, the hard science approach works well.

Both Approaches in Moderation

In my opinion, both approaches are correct if used in moderation. If taken to the extreme you can actually come to wrong conclusions or completely halt research in its tracks. On one hand, records are essential; if there are none or at least very few, we are forced to lean towards the art form approach. When records are extant, then we have hard science. It all sounds pretty simple. Yet it is not.

I have found that sometimes too many records can hinder research just as much as not enough records. At that point you may need to combine art form with hard science. The massive archive of British Army records comes to my mind as an example of too many records.

What I suggest is every situation has to be judged on its own merits. Then take the approach which best fits the context you are working to recreate. Don’t get so stuck on “art form” verses “hard science” that you miss what is right in front of your face.

If you would like help from a professional genealogist Click Here.

Looking at Every Resource as an Opportunity – (Part 2)

2 May By Leave a Comment

In Part 2 of this blog, I would like to discuss how to keep an open mind in your research. Often we discount a research technique because we failed to see it as an opportunity.

Keep your Mind Open and Sights Broad in Research

If you keep your sights broad in approaching any genealogy research, I can guarantee that you may learn more than you anticipated. In turn what you have gleaned can be utilized in your Irish and Irish immigrant research. What is important to keep in the back of your mind is that Irish research is among some of the most difficult of any ethnic group. That in itself can open up new and innovative ways to approach your research.

Comparing Irish Research and American Slave Research

For example, if you find that someone is giving a class on American slave research prior to 1865, then by all means attend that class. You just might learn more in an African American class than in an Irish class! The reason for this is the two have some eerie similarities in how you approach both the history and the records. Pre-1865 slave research is just as difficult as Irish research prior to when local parish registers begin. In both cases, you have to identify, and then access, the records of the family who had immediate control over the local population. In the case of slave research, this would be the owners of the slaves and the plantation they lived on. In the case of the Irish, it would be the local landlord and the family’s estate papers. At that point, the principles are exactly the same: 1.) Who was the owner or landlord; 2.) Does the family plantation or estate records survive and if so where are they deposited; 3.)  Do these family papers make any mention of the people under their care and control?

I do highly suggest you keep all options open in your research and look for what may help you in Irish research.

If you would like assistance in “thinking outside the box” in your research Click Here.

 

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