Carnival of Irish Heritage: My Key to Ireland

For over 25 years I have searched for information on where our McGinnis family originated in Ireland.

Family lore spoke of Belfast as their origin. Two branches of the family shared the same memory - that someone in the distant past had come to Canada from Belfast. But no proof of this could be found.

The McGinnis family was a large one - 7 sons and 2 daughters found so far, plus their father, came to Ontario Canada circa 1834. I have spent years hunting down every son and daughter, their spouses, their children and their grandchildren. I have searched for gravestones in hopes of finding an inscription with a town or even county of origin. I have searched for obituaries. I have searched for burial and church records. Nothing in the 4 generational search I've conducted has given me one iota of a clue except for "Northern Ireland" as a place of origin.

I had my brother scrape his cheeks for a Y DNA test - and found that we connected with McGinnis families in Castlewellan, Co. Down Ireland. Castlewellan is not far from Belfast so the family lore was looking good, but I wanted more. I wanted an exact location and I wanted proof!

This year, another McGinnis descendant, Annie Tobin, sent me copies of several early family photographs that her aunt had recently left her. One was of Sarah Tobin nee McGinnis. Sarah was the sister of my 2nd great grandfather Joseph McGinnis. On the back in period handwriting was written the town where Sarah was born - Katesbridge in County Down Ireland. I cannot tell you how excited I was to finally learn where my Irish roots began.

I learned that Katesbridge is a hop, skip and jump to Castlewellan. So far I've not found any existing church records but I'm planning a trip to Ireland in the spring and will visit the village where my McGinnis ancestors lived.

Ancestors Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Carnival of Genealogy - 64th Edition - Walking In A Winter Wonderland

The description for this Carnival was "Show us those wintertime photo(s) of your ancestors or family members and tell us the story that goes along with them. Winter is here! Let's record it and celebrate it!"

This photo was taken in Guelph Ontario during one of my great-grandmother's trips from Ramsgate England to visit her son and daughter (my grandmother) in Canada. That's my great-grandmother Sarah (Stead) Simpson in the middle. She has her sensible boots and cane as well as what looks like a very warm winter coat. Of course the hat is for fashion as it does not even cover her ears.

The woman on the left is my Grandmother's daughter, my aunt (Great-Grandma's grandaughter Lillian (Fuller) Bonar) and on the right is my Grandmother's sister-in-law Cordelia (Cook) Simpson. I don't know why they went out into the snow and cold that day unless it was to go for a walk but they seem to be dressed in their Sunday best.

1911 UK Census Launches Jan. 13/09 - more counties!

Dear family historian,

We wanted you to be the first to know that the 1911census.co.uk website launches officially tomorrow.

We have added many more of the counties that were unavailable on the beta site over Christmas, including Lancashire, Essex, Kent, Yorkshire (West Riding), Nottinghamshire and Herefordshire. We continue to scan the remainder of the census and will make the remaining counties available as soon as possible. A full list of the counties available at launch, and those still to come, appears at the end of this email.

We expect the site to be very busy at first, and so we have taken a number of measures to make sure that as many people as possible can get their searches completed successfully. The first is that we have deliberately restricted some of the search functions on the site, meaning that the search is not as flexible as it will be later on. Secondly, we are only allowing users to download original pages, rather than view them directly on the website.

Obviously, we will 'unlock' the powerful search features and switch on image viewers as soon as possible after launch and let you know by email and via the blog when we have done this.

During launch, if the site becomes exceptionally busy, we will also restrict the number of new people entering the site. We want to allow the people who are already using the site to complete their searches rather than make the site impossibly slow for everybody. We have built the site to withstand a very large (but not infinite) number of visitors, so if you find that you are not being allowed in, please bear with us. Real-time service updates can be found on our blog, which we advise you to check frequently for the latest news.

Finally, we know many of you are as excited as we are to see the remaining counties that will become available over the coming months. However, we cannot give you specific launch dates for these remaining counties - we are continuing to scan the census into the spring and anticipate that the census will be complete by this summer. Rest assured that by staying signed up to our newsletter and checking the blog, you will be the first to know of all new developments.

Thank you to all those who participated in the beta period and we wish you the very best of success in using the 1911census.co.uk website to broaden your family history research.

The 1911census.co.uk team

Counties available at launch:

Bedfordshire
Berkshire
Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire
Cheshire
Cornwall
Derbyshire
Devonshire
Dorsetshire
Essex
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Herefordshire
Hertfordshire
Huntingdonshire
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
London
Middlesex
Norfolk
Northamptonshire
Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire
Rutlandshire
Shropshire
Somersetshire
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex
Warwickshire
Wiltshire
Worcestershire
Yorkshire West Riding

Counties not available for launch but coming soon:

England:
Durham
Cumberland
Northumberland
Westmorland
Yorkshire – East Riding and North Riding

Wales:
Anglesey
Brecknockshire
Carnarvonshire
Cardiganshire
Carmarthenshire
Denbighshire
Flintshire
Glamorgan
Merionethshire
Montgomeryshire
Monmouthshire
Pembrokeshire
Radnorshire

Other:
Isle of Man
Channel Islands
Royal Navy
Overseas Military Establishments

Toronto Ontario 1861 Census Transcriptions

The Old Census Scribe has a new blog online called Toronto 1861 The Blog description states:

A progress history of transcribing a big Canadian city census from 1861, including my method and organization, and the social and geographical details of the area at that time.

The Old Census Scribe has been making a transcription of the 1861 censuses of Toronto and York Township over the past few years. With the New Year she has decided to write a blog, outlining her progress and also looking at the people who made up Toronto in the 19th century.

At present, the transcription (not proofread!) is complete for St James's, St David's and St Lawrence's Wards, and for York Township. You can ask for lookups via the "comments" feature on the blog if you leave your e-mail address. The comments are moderated, and lookup requests will not appear on the blog. But she will answer your requests as soon as she can.

The Things I Thought I Knew But Don't

My mother, who will be 93 this year, underwent a serious operation yesterday. She was given two days to live without the operation but the surgery was risky and she was not expected to pull through. Thankfully the surgery was sucessful and she is recuperating in Intensive Care.

The night before her operation I could not sleep for worrying about the outcome. So I got up and started writing down the facts for her obituary. I hear you gasping but those of you who follow my blog know that I urge all genealogists to write their own obituaries or at the very least write down the facts that they want to have put in their obituaries. You can read about writing your own obituary at Writing Your Own Obituary or How to Really Creep Yourself Out

As genealogists we want to get the facts correct. We want future descendants to have lots of detail - how often have we been frustrated by an ancestor's obit that states "she came to America with her parents" Arrgh! Why could the obit writer not give a year? How about adding the names of her parents??

So I thought what better time to write my mother's obit than now, because if she does not make it through, it will be much more difficult to write her obituary while in a grieving period.

It was as I was writing down the basic facts that I realized there were things I did not know. That surprised me because as the family genealogist and keeper of the documents and photos, I thought I had a good handle on writing a biography of any of my ancestors, but especially my mother or father!

I know the basic event facts - birth, marriage and so on. But I realized I don't know where she went to school. I don't know where she lived growing up in Guelph Ontario. I don't know when my step-father died. That last one makes grimace in embarrassment as a genealogist! But I simply can't remember except as a 5-8 year time frame. I didn't mark it down anywhere (ouch!).

It may be too late to ask mother as she is suffering from dementia. I'm hoping I can find the information I'm missing by asking her 86 year old sister but who knows! Now I'm kicking myself for not asking my mother more questions when I had the chance

Are You My Grandfather?

9th Edition of Smile For The Camera: Who Are You - I Really Want To Know?
Are you my grandfather who died before I was born?

I know this picture was taken in Guelph Ontario circa early 1930s.

I know that the two individuals in the front, on the left are my Uncles Roy McGinnis and Joe McGinnis. Joe was born in Guelph in 1925 so that helps date the photo slightly.

I don't know who the man on the far right (front) is.

I think the man standing on the left in the back might be my grandfather McGinnis who died in Guelph in 1937 and who I never knew!

I think the man on the right wearing the hat might be his brother Henry McGinnis.

Does anyone recognize these 3 individuals?

Happy Birthday to my 3rd great-grandmother Elizabeth (Betty) Higginson

Happy Birthday to my 3rd great-grandmother Elizabeth (Betty) Higginson.

Betty was born 09 Jan 1788 in Lower Peover, Cheshire England. She married Peter Bell on 08 Oct 1809 in Lower Peover, and had several children before sailing to New York on board the ship Charles Joseph in December 1831. With Betty were her mother Frances Higginson and children Ann, Phoebe, Mary, Peter & Joseph. Little Joseph, the youngest, was 10.

Once in New York Betty and her headed to Sullivan County to join her husband Peter. In 1839 Peter and his family left New York and made their way to the wilds of Arkell, Wellington County Ontario where Peter purchased a farm consisting of 80 acres. The family settled there in December that same year. What a Christmas they must have had!

On 18 Sep 1855 Betty died and is buried in Farnham Cemetery, Arkell Ontario

Her tombstone reads

In Memory of Elizabeth wife of Peter Bell who died Sept. 18,1855

According to the "Annals of Puslinch", On October 11th, 1830 a small group of Englishmen among whose names were John and Thomas Arkell, T. W. Stone, John Oulton, John and James Carter, Chas. Willoughby, Peter Bell and Henry Haines, left England on a sailing vessel which took 14 weeks to reach New York. In the spring they wended their way on foot to their destination which became known as the settlement of Farnham, so named after their home town in England. The village was called Arkell and named in honour of one of the group.

To Believe or Not To Believe, That is the Question

Today I worked on some queries for my new blog Ask Olive Tree. There are some very challenging and interesting questions coming my way! As I searched immigration records for one query, I came upon a fairly common problem that I realized probably stops many researchers in their tracks. So I thought an explanation of what I encountered and the steps I took to try to resolve the issue might be helpful.

In searching for an individual who was known to immigrate from a specific country in a narrow time frame, there were no hits on his name. Using wildcards did not help
nor did widening the search parameters. So I searched just under his surname and also using wildcards. There were several hits of males arriving from the right country, of the right age and in the right timeframe. One that kept jumping out at me was a man whose first name was indexed as JOHN. I wanted a man whose name was GUSTAV. There were several JOHN, JOHANNES and so on, but no GUSTAV or anything similar.

But one entry kept calling me back and I finally decided to check the image. That doesn't sound like a big deal but I'm on dialup with an average connection speed of 30kbps and loading images takes quite a long time. But I believe in hunches and I believe in serendipity so I had to check.

One look at the image convinced me that the first name was not JOHN. The first letter did not look like a J to me, even in old hard to read script. The image on the left is the name. Ignore the first little "slash" as it is the number 1.

This is where it is helpful to compare. Don't believe what the index said! The indexer was human just like you or me and the lists are hard to read. Compare names and words on the image that you CAN read! Look for the name JOHN (recongizable as John) or look for a word starting with G.


I was lucky because the word GERMANY was large and readable on the page. The upper case "G" was identical to the first letter of the individual's name. See how the G drops below the line? Also note the large beginning swirl which starts the letter G. It is not the same as the starting smaller swirl of J.


I found the name JOHN elsewhere on the list and the formation of the Upper Case "J" was not the same as the first letter in the individual's name that I was looking at. You can see that the J does not go below the line.

So I was able to determine that the individual I was interested in had a first name starting with "G". It appears to me that it could very well say "Gustav". He also had the right surname, right age, came from the right country and was arriving in America in the right time period to be the individual I wanted. Is it my man? I don't know. I cannot prove that he is. But the point is that I can prove that his first name is not JOHN and it does start with G. It could be Gustav. It's difficult to say with complete certainty from the handwriting.

Where would a researcher go from here? That's a question for my Ask Olive Tree blog. I just wanted to point out that researchers should be very open-minded when researching indexed data that is difficult to read. Remember that the index can be very wrong so always check the original image for yourself.

Hudson's Bay Company Archives

The Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA), a division of the Archives of Manitoba, is home to one of Canada's national treasures - the records of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).

Founded by Royal Charter in 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) is the oldest chartered trading company in the world. Meticulous records were kept, leaving a legacy of information of tremendous significance documenting the growth and expansion of the Hudson's Bay Company in the vast territories of Rupert's Land, through the fur trade and exploration and the later development of a retail empire.

The records of the Hudson's Bay Company were donated to the Province of Manitoba in 1994. They form part of the holdings of the Archives of Manitoba and are administered by a distinct division, the Hudson's Bay Company Archives. In addition to the records of the Hudson's Bay Company, the HBCA has a significant collection of private records which includes the records of related and/or subsidiary companies (including the North West Company) and individuals [Source: Hudson's Bay Co. website]

You can browse the HBC Archives catalogue online, read biographies of some of the men employed by the Hudson Bay Company or request copies of records.

Ellis Island Missing (Cabin) Manifests, 1897-1903

Marian Smith starts off with "I was thinking..."

Marian has written on her new blog about those missing Cabin class passengers at Ellis Island, 1897-1903

Ellis Island Missing (Cabin) Manifests, 1897-1903

Ask Olive Tree!

Some of you probably know that I read and answer a lot of questions on various genealogy mailing lists. I've been doing this for years but I decided that starting in 2009 I would use a slightly different method.

Don't get me wrong, I am still going to respond to mailing list queries whenever possible. But I thought there was a better way to help other researchers, so I started a Blog called Ask Olive Tree.

AskOliveTree is a central place where I can post your questions and my answers, and where anyone dropping by can read them - and join in! Yes, anyone can leave a comment on any of the queries and answers on AskOliveTree.

Do you need help finding an ancestor? Do you have a genealogy question you would like to ask me? Do you want to know where to find certain genealogy records?

You can ask any kind of question from "How do I find my grandpa Harry on a ships' passenger list from Ireland to New York in the 1800s?" to "What's the Dutch name for Anna?" to "What does the British Bonus System mean?" (all of these are actual questions asked and answered)

If you want help finding an elusive ancestor, please be sure that you provide me with a concise (brief) summary of your ancestor with dates and locations. Tell me where you have looked and what you want to find out.

Basically I want to help - either by finding your elusive ancestor, or by directing you to the sources you need to find him/her yourself or by answering a question about resources or name and boundary changes or.... whatever!

The email address to use if you want to submit a question is askolivetreeATgmail.com (Be sure to replace AT with @ in the email)

So take a peek at my new site Ask Olive Tree, read a few of the queries already posted and then flex your typing fingers and send me a question.

Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King contain passenger names on ships

LAC (Library & Archives Canada, formerly National Archives of Canada) has the Diaries of Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King online as a searchable database.

Using various search terms I was able to find entries for ships and passengers and voyages that King took. Many American as well as Canadian names appear in these diaries.

For instance, one 'hit' on the search terms "Passenger AND Ship" took me to the following entries for a voyage he was taking. Below is just a brief excerpt from the diary entries for those few days, which I've outlined just to give you the idea of what can be found:

Sept. 27/99. Mentions he sailed 'out of Boston" at 4:30 pm while bugles played Auld Lang Syne.

Sept. 28, 1899 Mentions a Mr. Street, a manufacturer in Beford and his little boy; Mr. Clough, connected with telephone work in Providence; Mr. Sturmay of Coventry England

Sept. 29, 1899: Mentions a Boston family named Bossom, Mr. W. Evans Darby, Mr Barry the first Officer, Mrs. Campbell.

Sept 30, 1899 On the Atlantic Ocean en route to England.Speaks in detail of a young girl, 25 years old, who died on board and was buried at sea

Oct. 1, 1899. He mentions various passengers, including

Miss Welder, Miss Minshall, Miss Saunders, Miss Clough

a 'little girl' Pauline Bossom (presumably of the Boston family mentioned earlier)

Minshall of Bristol England

Mrs. Schlosser

Mr. Street, Mr. Callender of Adam Black and Co. Publishing House in London Eng; Mr. Morton

Search the Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King

South Carolina Death Records, 1821-1955 online

South Carolina Death Records 1821-1955 contains the following South Carolina death records: statewide death certificates, 1915-1955; Charleston City death records, 1821-1914; Spartanburg City death records, 1895-1897 and 1903-1914; and Union City death records, 1900 and 1913-1914.

I had a bit of fun searching South Carolina Death Records 1821-1955 and discovered that there are many deaths that occured in other locations in the USA, Canada and even Germany. The bodies were brought back to South Carolina for burial and thus ended up in the S. Carolina Death records database.

For example, Marie H Gamwell age 57 died in Toronto Ontario Canada in 1901 and her body was sent via Canadian Pacific Railway to Charleston South Carolina. Her cause of death, name of person being given permission to ship the body etc are given on the image.

These records are brought to us by Ancestry.com and Information generally listed in these records includes: name of deceased, death date, death place, age at time of death, gender, race or color, and death certificate number.

You can also search more South Carolina genealogy records at Olive Tree Genealogy

More Census Records Coming Online in 2009

Ancestry.com is bringing some great genealogy databases online in 2009. There's no set dates yet but here's the scoop on one topic area - census records.

The most complete online collection of state census records will be exploding with new additions — more than 10 million records and 50,000 images.

U.S. and World Deluxe Subscriptions will be able to see

Improved U.S. Federal Censuses,1790–1890
You’ll soon have access to even cleaner, crisper U.S. Census images that will create more accurate indexes — including thousands of previously unreadable names.

U.S. Native American Records from Southeastern States, 1850–1930

Track down your Native-American ancestors in original documents listing individuals and families from southern tribes.

World Deluxe Subscriptions will have access to

The Complete Canada Census

You’ll soon be able to search indexes from 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1916 to complete this invaluable collection of Canadian Censuses. This will make Ancestry.com the only place online to find the complete collection of Canada Census indexes.

Mexican Census

The 1930 Mexico Census — the only Mexican federal census available to the public — includes the names of about 16 million individuals. You’ll soon be able to search for your Mexican ancestors and their ages, birthplaces, occupations, religions and more.

Australia Electoral Rolls, 1901–1936

You’re getting 8 million new names added to the existing collection of Australian Electoral Rolls — an incredibly helpful tool in a country where voting is compulsory.

Meantime, you can search for your ancestors in the Complete US Federal Census Records online 1790-1930

Fannie Slaven Family Photo - Who is in the picture?

Fannie Slavens Family

This photo was tucked inside an antique Civil War Era Family Photo Album I purchased. Inside the album the inscription read "Sarah J. Taylor Album Presented by Thomas Taylor June 1871"

Can you identify anyone in this photo? For a list of other identified photos in this album, see Civil War Era Taylor Family Album with CDVs (Cartes de Visites)

St George Family History Expo 2009

St George Family History Expo 2009

February 27-28, 2009

St George, Utah

5th Annual Expo!

Are You in this Photo? Ajax Public School 1945

Ajax Public School 1945

Are you in this photo? The only person I can identify is Charles Bonar who is the young boy sitting behind the girl holding the sign. Charles is wearing a striped shirt and suspenders.

Ajax is in Ontario Canada and was a small village in 1945, built primarly to house workers in the Munitions Factory during WW2.

To see a larger image, please click on the photo.

Wisconsin Divorce Index, 1965-1984 online

Wisconsin Divorce Index, 1965-1984 are now online on Ancestry.com

This database contains an index to divorces granted in Wisconsin between 1965 and 1984. Information listed includes names of husband and wife, ages of husband and wife, divorce date, and divorce county.

1911 Irish Census for Antrim, Kerry & Down online

Library and Archives, Canada signed an agreement with the National Archives of Ireland in December 2005 and the two institutions have been working to make the censuses of Ireland for 1901 and 1911 accessible online, free of charge.

Library and Archives Canada's contribution included digitizing microfilm reels, linking images to the database and making the records searchable by name.

Irish-Canadian Documentary Heritage at Library and Archives Canada

"(Ottawa) December 22, 2008 - Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce that its partner, the National Archives of Ireland, has launched the next important phase of an 1911 online census research tool for the Irish counties of Antrim, Kerry, and Down. The census records for all counties for 1911 and for 1901 will be made available online throughout 2009."

Delaware Marriage Records, 1744-1912

Delaware Marriage Records, 1744-1912 are now on Ancestry.com

Information listed in this database may include: names of bride and groom, ages of bride and groom, marriage date, and marriage place. There are many early marriages in this set of records. Great news for those searching for ancestors in Delaware