4 Genealogy Qestions and Answers

Sue B. wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy with several questions:

How do you know who to include in a tree?  Should I just include blood relatives?  I currently have 2500 people in my tree and it is growing daily.  I am using mostly ancestry and lan-opc.org.uk and sometimes familysearch.org to search for information.  My tree is in ancestry because I can move anything I find there to my tree.  I am not sure if I should transfer my tree from ancestry to somewhere else in case I opt out of ancestry.  Can I transfer all pictures, ancestry records, parish records and documents if I move my tree?

These are great questions and hopefully my answers will help not only Sue but any other genealogists who are struggling or floundering slightly. So let's take them one question at a time.

Q: How do you know who to include in a tree?  Should I just include blood relatives? 

A: There is no right or wrong way to research your ancestry. Each genealogist must decide on what suits them, or how much time and energy they want to put into their genealogy. But there are some things to remember before you make your decision. For example it is often the case that when you are stuck on finding an ancestor's parents or some other information, searching another son or daughter may provide the solution to your brickwall.

Q: I am using mostly ancestry and lan-opc.org.uk and sometimes familysearch.org to search for information. 

A: This isn't a question but I'm going to respond anyway. It seems you are searching mainly in Lancashire England. I would also suggest your branch out and use Find My Past and British Newspapers sites. They have excellent UK records.


Q: I am not sure if I should transfer my tree from ancestry to somewhere else in case I opt out of ancestry. 

A: I would have a backup copy of my tree on my computer even if you never opt out of Ancestry. My suggestion would be for you to find a genealogy program you like and keep your tree there. I like Family Tree Maker but you may prefer a different program such as Legacy Family Tree, Roots Magic, etc. If you google "genealogy programs for family tree" you will see many results and can read up about each of them.

Q: Can I transfer all pictures, ancestry records, parish records and documents if I move my tree?

A: If you are moving your tree from Ancestry, the answer is "no". You will have to save (download) each document manually to your computer and save it on your hard drive. Be sure to label each file so you can easily find it again. I suggest creating a folder for each surname and putting the appropriate files in there. If you are using Family Tree Maker on your computer you can add Media Files easily to each ancestor.

Here is an example of how I create my Genealogy Folders on my computer drive:

I like to name my files as Surname_First Name_Year_Type of Record. That way the documents fall into alphabetical order and chronologically for each individual. Every genealogist has their own method that suits them.

 I've given you my suggestions. Now it's time for my readers to weigh in with theirs. I'm sure there will be many different ideas and answers and I'm looking forward to reading them.

Finding Nancy Longstreet Part 1

Lisa B. posted on a Facebook group about her ancestor Nancy Longstreet  

"Olive Jane Fisher married Joseph Rose (also born Ontario) and they married and lived in Michigan. Olive was born in St Ann's, Ontario, 3 Apr 1858 (no birth record found) to George Fisher and his wife Nancy Longstreet (Fisher). I have verified Nancy's maiden name by the marriage and death certificates of one of their other children, son George Fisher Jr. Also Nancy Longstreet is listed on several other children's marriage records. The Brick-wall - I simply cannot find the parents of Nancy Longstreet. She appears to have been born in Ontario in 1822 (possibly St Ann's) according to census records. In 1851 she is 31 years old, married, but has 20 y.o. Abigail Longstreet living in the household. This may be a sister or cousin. I have seen references to John Longstreet, b NJ in 1796 (moved to Ontario) as Nancy's father, but I have found no proof of that. There are plenty of census records on him, but nothing that lists Nancy. Any suggestions would be welcome!" 

I was intrigued. I love a challenge! So off I went on a hunt which became more and more convoluted with each record I found. Spoiler alert: I found Nancy Longstreet's father but you'll have to wait until the end of my story to find out who he was.

My first step was to gather as many records as I could find for George Fisher and his wife Nancy Longstreet (Fisher). I needed to analyze each record carefully, one at a time as I found them. Analyzing each record usually leads to more clues and ideas for further searching.

I started on Ancestry.com with census records. Sometimes relatives lived nearby families so I wanted to know who lived near George and Nancy in 1851. And I wanted to know who was in their family group, as well as ages of each person.

In 1851 they were in Gainsboro, Lincoln County Ontario

George Fisher, 35
Nancy 31
David 12
George 7
Maria 5
Calvin 2
Abigail Longstreet, 20

This census gives us some approximate years of birth. However it is important to note that the 1851 census was taken in 1850, so this throws off the approximate birth years.

George Fisher, 1816
Nancy 1820
David 1839
George 1844
Maria 1846
Calvin 1849
Abigail Longstreet, 1831

The location of births for each individual is given as "F". That representation was unknown to me so that meant a search to find out what instructions the census takers were given in 1851 for recording place of birth.

A quick trip to AllCensusRecords soon revealed the following instructions for 1851 census takers:

Place of birth. Those born of Canadian parents were denoted with an ‘F’ 

This tells us everyone in this family was born in Ontario.

Another clue we should follow is "Who is Abigail Longstreet?" She could be Nancy's younger sister. She could be a niece, a cousin, or married to a relative of Nancy. There is also the possibility that she is not related and the surname is a co-incidence. 

We can also come up with an estimated year of marriage, based on the ages of Nancy's children. This is only a "best guess" since we don't know if Nancy had other children who may have died before this 1851 census. But based on this census alone, we might want to look for a marriage record before 1840.

Next up: It's time to decide what research route to take next - more census records? Look for Abigail Longstreet to see how/if she fits into Nancy's family? Look for a marriage record? Marriages in Ontario did not have to be registered until 1869 so we would have to look for church records if we decide to take that path next. What would you do? Keep following this series to learn what I did next. 

Here are the links to all 5 parts of this series

https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-1.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-2.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-3.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-4.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-5-end.html 

Part 2: Breaking Down That Brick Wall

Part 1 published on November 23 introduced the 30 year search for a county of origin for my Irish McGinnis Family. We continue with Part 2

Breaking Down a Brick Wall

Still unable to find a death date for the one remaining brother (Hugh) who was born in Ireland, I set my research aside. Then the breakthrough - two amazing women who have written several history books, spent many years going through newspapers to gather obituaries for people who had lived in Puslinch Township.  Doesn't sound impressive? It is. "A Celebration of Lives: Obituaries of Puslinch Township Wellington County Ontario" was published recently as a two-volume set consisting of 1,408 pages. There are over 6,500 obituaries. It's impressive.

An Obituary Reveals a County

It had limited printing but I managed to get the last copy. Of course I skipped right to the "M" pages and unbelievably there it was - an obituary for my Hugh McGinnis of Hespeler. His obit stated he was born in Co. Down Ireland.  I know an obituary is only as reliable as the person giving the information but it is another piece of evidence. I wish I could find his death registration but still no luck, even with now knowing the month and year and location of his death.

This morning I scrolled through every image on Ancestry.com for a period of 12 months from his death with no success. His death is not there. But I have the obituary and that thrills me! It adds to the growing weight of clues.

Potsdam New York Gives More Clues

Second wonderful item - Hugh's wife was born in USA circa 1810. Due to finding other bits and pieces of clues, including finding her parents' and siblings' names, I found a record in 1830 in Potsdam New York which I was pretty sure was her family. Pretty sure, but not positively proven, so not good enough for me.

Did I mention that one of Hugh's brothers married one of his wife's sisters? The finding of the Potsdam record was important because I know that Hugh (and probably his siblings) was in America before 1831. This would give me more locations for searching if my theory about Potsdam was correct.

And there it was in my new-found obituary book. The obit for Hugh's wife stating that she was born in Potsdam New York in 1810!

A Theory is Proven

I love it when a theory becomes fact. Proven fact. I don't care how long it takes, I refuse to give up! And the moral of my story is that you should never give up either. You never know when that little tidbit of information will fall into your hands. Maybe it wasn't available when you first began your research. New data is being found and transcribed all the time. Who knows, maybe the piece you need is waiting for you right now.

Review Your Older Research Notes

So stop reading this blog post and go back and look over your earlier research! Is there a clue there? Something you couldn't find 10 or 15 or more years ago, but  maybe now you can? What are you waiting for???!!

Breaking Down That Brick Wall, Part 1

For more than 30 years I searched for a record showing where my McGinnis family came from in Ireland. I don't mean the town or village (although that would be nice), I mean the County. There were family tales that it was either Armagh or Down and that the family arrived in Upper Canada (present day Ontario) during the potato famine.

The Known

My McGinnis roots stem from a large family group that arrived in Puslinch Township, Wellington County Ontario circa 1831. At that time Ontario was a wilderness called Upper Canada and was very sparsely populated.

As anyone who has searched for ancestors in Upper Canada can testify, genealogy records pre 1851 are few and far between. There are no census records (they didn't begin until 1851), no vital registrations (they didn't start until 1869) and church records are sparse.

Catholic Records

If, like mine, your ancestors were Catholics in Ontario you're in for a challenge, as Catholic church records as most are in the hands of local priests who have them locked securely away. The public is not allowed access even to older records in the mid 1800s. There are a few scattered Roman Catholic Church records for some parts of Ontario available on FamilySearch but they are not indexed. There are none for Wellington County where my Irish Catholic ancestors settled.


Newspaper Records

There were few newspapers in that time period for Ontario. Of the few that were published, not many have survived. Those that survive for the area I need are not indexed. So an approximate date of an event is a necessity in order to hunt for an obit or other record.

Ships Passenger Lists

Ships passenger lists arriving in Canada were not archived until 1865. There are many substitute ships passenger lists but my McGinnis don't show up on any. Don't get me wrong - there ARE some records for this early time period in Ontario - tax and assessment records, land records, and a few other miscellaneous record sets. But every local area has different records that have survived.  So it's a long process to find out what records exist and where they are kept.

The Known

Back to my Irish family who arrived from somewhere in Ireland circa 1831. I have land records for them. I have tax and assessment records back to 1833. I have death records. I have marriage records. I have some Catholic Church records of baptisms in the 1840s. I have  Catholic Church burial records for many of them. In fact with my 30 plus years of research on all branches of the original McGinnis settlers, I've got an entire filing cabinet drawer full of relevant documents.

I have searched all 9 children of the immigrant McGinnis settler down several generations. I've hunted for obituaries and death records in particular, praying for a mention of a town or county in Ireland.  Nothing.

However there was one son for whom I have not been able to find a death record or obituary. I knew he died between 1881 and 1891. I knew where he lived. But nothing could be found.

Family Lore & DNA

Family lore from descendants of his branch claimed Belfast as his place of birth. Family lore from my branch claimed Belfast as the place of birth of my great-grandfather's sister.

I had my brother's DNA done. We linked in with McGinnis families near Belfast. I contacted a descendant of one of the two known sisters from Ireland. She had early photos and on the back of one was written, in period handwriting, "Katesbridge Ireland" Katesbridge is in Co. Down and not far from Belfast.

This was all pretty exciting for me as it definitely gave me enough clues and pieces of circumstantial evidence to hesitantly proclaim that PERHAPS my Joseph McGinnis was from Katesbridge or Belfast in Co. Down. Perhaps.


Part 2 to be posted on November 25th. Breaking Down That Brick Wall

Breaking Down A Brick Wall

Angus C. asked Olive Tree Genealogy about the parents of his 2nd great-grandparents, Kenneth Roderick McKenzie and Hughenia Ross 

Kenneth Roderick McKenzie October 1839 Boularderie, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia died 26 June 1916 North Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Hughenia Ross 1835 Boularderie, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia died 8 May 1869 Boularderie, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia In both cases for Hughenia Ross and Kenneth Roderick McKenzie I have not been able to find any information about their parents, where they were born or died is totally unknown to me. Any help and guidance you can give me to break through either (or both) my "brick walls" would be greatly appreciated.

A quick search of Nova Scotia Historical Vital Records using Hughenia's full name gave no results but using their "starts with" choice in the search engine, and only typing in HU provided this entry for a Hughessie McKenzie, died 1869 in Baddeck, Victoria County She was listed as born in Boularderie to John Ross, a farmer and Robina McKenzie. The informant is named as Kenneth R. McKenzie and her date of death matches what Angus C. sent me as well as her burial record which I found with a quick search online.

Her burial is recorded with her husband in Man O War Point Cemetery, Boularderie Island, Victoria County, Nova Scotia.

 Kenneth R MacKenzie, merchant, d June 26, 1916, age 83 his wife Hughenia Ross d May 8, 1869, age 33, their youngest child John Knox MacKenzie d Mar 21, 1869 age 4 mo.

A newspaper article extraction found on Ancestry.com revealed the marriage of Hughina and Kenneth, with much more detail. Angus C. can now send for the full article to see what, if any, other clues are found in it.

Continue reading this article at Using Search Engine Tools Provided to Find an Ancestor

5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Genealogy When it has Stalled

Ah, the proverbial brick wall. We all hit it at one time or another. You've searched every single document you can think of but you simply can't get past a certain time period or event for an ancestor.

Maybe you can't find Grandmother Mabel on that 1850 census but you have her in 1860 and you know she is hiding somewhere!

Perhaps Great-grandfather James is keeping his Irish origins hidden and you can't go any further unless you can figure out where in Ireland you need to look!

That's when you need to jumpstart your genealogy research. You need fresh ideas, fresh eyes and you need to be rejuvenated.

Here are 5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Genealogy:

1. Revisit and review old research
Take out all your research on that brickwall ancestor. Go over it again. Read it carefully, analyze it, see if there are clues there you might have missed the first time around. I've written about my own reviews of old research and the new clues Ive found at Why Review Old Genealogy Research? and Everyone Makes Mistakes: Why You Should Review Your Research Notes 
 
2. Switch to a different ancestor
Sometimes it's time to set Grandmother Mabel aside for a bit and work on someone else. when you are ready to go back to the puzzle of Grandmother Mabel, you may find that fresh eyes will make all the difference in the world.

3. Find a genealogy buddy who will brainstorm with you 
I always brainstorm with my husband when I have a challenging genealogy mystery. It's beneficial to have someone approach the mystery with a different outlook. Often that person comes up with something that you didn't think of.

4. Make a chronological timeline of your ancestor's life events.
This is one of the most helpful ways to organize your thoughts and see at a glance where the holes are in your research. Making a timeline for one of my husband's challenging ancestors I noted that I had his baptism record, immigration record, marriage record, births of children, death of his wife and then his death.

However I did not have a record of land he might have purchased or rented and that sent me off a hunt for those records. To my surprise there was mention of him selling his land to his wife for $1.00 then buying it back two years later. That in turn led me to think about what happened in those two years? Why had he sold the land and then bought it back? Long story short, eventually I found out he had gone to jail in that time.

5. Take a break
Yep that's right. Sometimes it's time to say "Enough!". Put your genealogy aside and go for a walk, or out for lunch with friends, or to a movie. Do something relaxing such as read a book, or visit a museum....  do something completely different, something that is fun for you. You'll come back to the puzzle refreshed and eager to get at it again.