Author: Lisa Ferreira

Clearing Cache and Cookies

Delving into the records and researching the documents, can be a timeless task.  Timeless because one loses track of time.  It is important to take a break from researching a person, document or chasing leads.  These are the reasons why I take a break.

Your cache in your browser fills up and sometimes you just see the same stuff you have already seen – clear cache and clean up cookies too!

Some websites refresh quite regularly; usually every 24 hours.  There are websites which will suddenly upload a bunch of new data, making searches more productive

 

Double Irish

In researching the family history of the New England Settlers, there are several prominent families in many of our histories.  It gets confusing because the names seem to be repeated, and cousins share names.  Around the time of the Civil War and with the westward expansion of the territories, new names and DNA matches crop up.  In researching the Hadley tree I discovered that there was a new name, which was also quite prominent in early New England records, that of Gregg.   The Greggs and Hadleys were members of the Quaker Communities in Delaware and intermarried.  In researching the Greggs we ultimately end up with William “the Quaker” but their history precedes the colonies.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimorgan

And this is when I found that Nellie A. Hadley was a distant cousin to Luella Belle Burrus.  These two women were descendants of brothers; sons born to William “the Quaker” Gregg.

This finding is the reason for the Double Irish title on this post.  My father has a DNA match which is so close to someone living in Ireland, it appears that my father was only second or third generation American.  This has been a puzzle, but the DNA only gives a piece of the story.  What the DNA cannot tell us is how the centimorgans seem to get doubled up, giving the results which appear to be less diluted due to whom we descend from.  In some cases, when there are two descendants who share DNA their offspring end up with a “double dose” of DNA characteristics.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimorgan

Unbeknownst to my father’s parents, they were distant cousins sharing strands of DNA which gave him a “double dose” of the Irish.

The grandmother and great-grandmother came from two different areas of the United States; Luella from Texas who ended up in South Dakota.  Nellie from Iowa who went to Nebraska and then to Wyoming.

Records…Surprising Sources 2

A new found acquaintance of mine, someone who was new to my circle of friends, began discussing hobbies.  I mentioned that mine was in records research to support DNA matches.  I shared that through my research, I had discovered that my family (as are many) was descendants of the Gardner family in New England.  Her eyes lit up.  Her husband, she stated, was a Gardner.  In fact, his great grandmother had provided him with a book about the family history, and highlighted the relatives which he was descended from, and whom he was named after.

Her husband, graciously offered to let me read the book.  A short book, a fascinating read, gave me insight into our Gardner lineage.  The bonus was the genealogical records included in the last few chapters.  I discovered the mystery  behind the Widow Shattuck and was able to sort out the names and dates of birth of the Gardner family for our own tree.

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010027961

Records…Surprising Sources 1

In this computer age, and with the many various research tools on the internet, it is important to remember that past generations took time to write books.  Some of these books can be accessed at local, regional libraries.  One of our early forays was to a library in Canon City, Colorado.  We knew that we had family history from the Wet Valley in Colorado.  A relative who was a Fire Chief in Canon City, as well as family members who are buried there.  In the research section of the library was a written history of the area, around the time of the 1800s.  This was of particular interest to me, because of the oral tradition that Great Grandfather Powell had worked at a farm, as a hired hand.  In reading the book, I discovered his name was included in this document.  This was a fact that I relied upon when beginning the research on the internet.  I did find, that in fact he worked as a hired hand in his later years, but through the internet research I also found that he worked for CF&I.  I happened upon a pictorial history of CF&I at the Sangre De Cristo Arts Center in Pueblo, Colorado.  I was fascinated by the photos but the maps, oh the maps, showing all of the CF&I Company “towns” within Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico.  Suddenly, the pieces came together.  I had discovered records online which showed that Great Grandmother Patterson-Powell had died in a town named Berwind.  Living in Colorado my entire life, I had never heard of Berwind.  Yet, in this pictorial history and in the maps, clearly CF&I had a coal mine in Berwind.  http://scalar.usc.edu/works/mines-of-the-colorado-fuel-and-iron-company/berwind-coal-mine-el-moro-no-2

Great Grandfather Powell worked for CF&I, I went back to my research on the internet, and sure enough found the family at various mines up until his wife’s death.

 

Reaching Out To Others

Inevitably, while tracking down DNA matches, you will find a match that sends you reeling.  Reeling because suddenly there is a new name in your tree.  You found that match through the curiosity of a DNA match which shows you related to someone or some family with a completely different name than those you have been using from either family records or oral tradition.

While this is extremely exciting for you, and may actually be met with disbelief or awe in your family; before reaching out to the others – REMEMBER that the information you are asking them to share with you (or that you want to share with them) may actually be hidden behind a deeply held belief of “we never talk about that”.  Your inquiry may actually cause another DNA enthusiast pain and grief.  Be cautious and considerate.

Tell the other person your story, about how you have seen these DNA matches and that you are curious as to how the connection might be possible.  Ask them if they are willing to share.  If they are willing to share, go slowly and be gentle.

Consider their level of activity on the DNA site, if they are always logging in and spending time building and researching ( you can find this in the member’s site or their postings) they may be more open to your outreach.

If your DNA research is true and valid, you have your truth.  The other person’s  matches to your DNA may not yet be their truth.

Research Dead End Tips Part 2

This is a giant jigsaw puzzle, in which some of the pieces are hidden.  You may know an ancestor and their parents and then reach a dead end.  It is helpful to focus on the parents, their siblings, the children of their siblings and track the migration.  By researching these other “pieces” you may discover additional documents which assist in putting together a better picture of the exact piece you are missing.  The best example I have for this is in researching a tree where there is little information on the family due to a divorce which occurred, and subsequent remarriages.  In focusing on the parent’s and their siblings, building out their lines a discovery was made.  That discovery was a male child who took the last name of the second step father after reaching the age of 18.  Up until that discovery the “assumption” had been that he had died without children.  This discovery opened the door and allowed the sharing of information with the DNA connections who had a completely different last name than the family member I was researching.  Subsequent discussions, identified that this male child changed his name again after his second marriage; he married again and had at least one child with a different surname than that of his grandparents.