I am so very frustrated with Ancestry.com at the moment. The 1860 census is a complete mess. The search engine shows various families, but when one goes to view the census it takes you to a completely different family in a completely different place. It is like this for the entire 1860 census. Of course, their customer service is not open on the weekends, so I have not been able to accomplish much without going through each census record page by page. It is very time consuming.
I have been recently working on the Pender and Haggerty families. I have been able to find some information, but not necessarily the information I am looking for. From what I can gather, there are two different Haggerty families in Wilmot in 1850 and 1860. The question is... are they related and, if so, how?
Showing posts with label Ancestry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ancestry. Show all posts
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
World Archives Project
I have just recently started keying in documents for the World Archives Project on Ancestry. I had joined in January 2009, but life obviously had gotten in the way. Last night I began keying in my first documents. I decided to start on the Pennsylvania U.S. Naturalization Records with the hope that perhaps I would come across some information I might need.
Sadly, the only immigrants I have encountered thus far are mostly of German and Russian descent.The earlier records must have already been keyed in as I am only transcribing records from the 1920's. On a bright note, I am anxiously awaiting the release of these records as I might be able to find some much needed information that I have been looking for.
They are currently sponsoring a World Record Challenge. Apparently volunteers have keyed in and arbitrated over a million records every ten days for the last month. Impressive! They have a Facebook group for those who frequent the social network site.
To join the project, click on the link above. One will need to download software, but it is definitely worth the time and effort to do so. The more records transcribed, the more information that will be available for all of us.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Irish Settlement
When I was twelve years old I was assigned a family history project. Little did I know that one simple assignment would ignite a lifelong passion.
The Irish Settlement, quite simply, is an area in northeastern Pennsylvania encompassing parts of three counties - Bradford, Sullivan and Wyoming. The descendants of these settlers gradually began to branch out and today they can be found all over the United States. It is not uncommon to find important information regarding Irish Settlement families in various newspapers surrounding the area.
Though John Kinsley is credited as the founder of the Irish Settlement and the small area of Stowell, Wyoming County, where he and his family lived is considered to be the original Irish Settlement, I cannot help but extend the name to the entire close-knit community of Irish settlers. These people lived together, worked together, went to church together, and frequently intermarried. They shared the same religion, values and hardships. It is interesting to note that many of these families emigrated together. Some first crossed paths whilst working the canals and coal mines, and later choosing to settle near each other.
Though I have been actively running a fairly successfully group on Yahoo for those who are interested in researching their Irish Settlement ancestors, I felt that branching out may assist even more individuals. Especially those who are not exactly aware their ancestor was part of the Irish Settlement. A relative of a descendant of John Bernard McKernan recently contacted me after finding a reference to JBM on my old Rootsweb tree. Their family had no information about JBM's origins and I had very limited information on JBM after he left Pennsylvania for Tennessee. One can only speculate why he left Pennsylvania. Perhaps the mystery will never be solved, but it will be interesting to put forth some theories nevertheless. The greatest bit of information though was learning JBM carried with him a photo album which is apparently in the current possession of his granddaughter. That is an invaluable piece of history.
The Irish Settlement, quite simply, is an area in northeastern Pennsylvania encompassing parts of three counties - Bradford, Sullivan and Wyoming. The descendants of these settlers gradually began to branch out and today they can be found all over the United States. It is not uncommon to find important information regarding Irish Settlement families in various newspapers surrounding the area.
Though John Kinsley is credited as the founder of the Irish Settlement and the small area of Stowell, Wyoming County, where he and his family lived is considered to be the original Irish Settlement, I cannot help but extend the name to the entire close-knit community of Irish settlers. These people lived together, worked together, went to church together, and frequently intermarried. They shared the same religion, values and hardships. It is interesting to note that many of these families emigrated together. Some first crossed paths whilst working the canals and coal mines, and later choosing to settle near each other.
Though I have been actively running a fairly successfully group on Yahoo for those who are interested in researching their Irish Settlement ancestors, I felt that branching out may assist even more individuals. Especially those who are not exactly aware their ancestor was part of the Irish Settlement. A relative of a descendant of John Bernard McKernan recently contacted me after finding a reference to JBM on my old Rootsweb tree. Their family had no information about JBM's origins and I had very limited information on JBM after he left Pennsylvania for Tennessee. One can only speculate why he left Pennsylvania. Perhaps the mystery will never be solved, but it will be interesting to put forth some theories nevertheless. The greatest bit of information though was learning JBM carried with him a photo album which is apparently in the current possession of his granddaughter. That is an invaluable piece of history.
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