Category: Research Tips

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Where to get started with your genealogy research: Part III (B)

The following blog posting is the last in a series of recommendations and tips for getting started in your genealogy research with emphasis on researching your Cosgrove family lines.

Part III (A) offered recommendations that included joining discussion boards and social media sites, searching for naturalization records, and understanding naming and immigration patterns to help uncover key information that may enable your ability to link your Cosgrove family line back to a particular place of origin in Ireland.

Part III(B) continues with several additional tips and recommendations. All of our tips and recommendations are meant to supplement, and not replace, the general recommendations you often find in Irish genealogy guides.

6. Cemetery Records.

I have found Cemetery records to be invaluable sources of information. Nearly every cemetery is managed a city or town hall or by a church or temple. Not only can they tell you the exact location of a family member’s grave site, but they may also offer copies of any records that exist (depending on their policies, the additional information could be free or you may need to pay for it).

I had once such instance occur when a cemetery office worker called me after receiving a letter I had sent requesting for the location of several graves in the cemetery. He gave me the plot #s for each grave site and offered to email me additional information that I had not requested, all for free! Included in the information was a record of a family member who was originally interned in a different cemetery a few years earlier whose remains the family had relocated to the family plot at this cemetery….. I likely would never had discovered that her remains had been moved to a different cemetery if the person had not voluntarily given me the additional information!

Also, physically visiting cemeteries may be very help. In some instances, surviving family members of deceased Irish immigrants would sometimes list the county or village in which the deceased was born along with the date of birth. Sometimes parents names were listed on the gravestone too. These may be rare occurrences, but it is something a genealogist and family historian should definitely explore nonetheless!

7. Consider Irish-specific websites to supplement your searches.

There are several genealogy sites based in Ireland that people should consider checking out to see if they may hold records pertinent to their research. One such site I would like to recommend is Rootsireland.ie (http://www.rootsireland.ie). The site, like any other genealogy site, is imperfect and it requires a subscription (if considering this, wait for their periodic sales to buy one!). However, many experts in Irish genealogy consider it to have the best records collections for Irish births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. I can tell you that the quality of records collections vary significantly from county to county and from parish to parish. For some family lines, I haven’t had any luck finding records…..for my Cosgrove line, I found a ton of very relevant records for Limerick City. Also, the Irish government has established the Irishgenealogy.ie (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/) site. The site is free, but has a much more limited records collection than found on Rootsireland.ie, though exceptions do exist (for instance, Rootsireland has a very limited collection of online records for County Kerry whereas Irishgenealogy.ie has a few more).

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has searchable records collection on its website that covers the six Northern counties of Ireland ( https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/public-record-office-northern-ireland-proni/search-archives-online ). If you have ancestors who may have been from the six Northern counties and you could not find their records on either Rootsireland or Irishgenealogy, you may want to look at the PRONI site.

8. Consider British Records Collections

Over the centuries, many native Irish moved to Scotland, England or Wales. Sometimes the moves were temporary before they eventually moved to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, U.S. or another country. Some settled permanently in Britain or spent several years there before moving back to Ireland. Unlike Ireland, the British countries have robust census records too so if you are aware that your Irish ancestors may have re-located to Scotland, England, or Wales, you may be able to find them in one of those countries’ census records. You may also find records for births, marriages, deaths, and baptisms there as well. Also, many native Irish served in the British military during the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s, so military service and pension records may prove to be an invaluable source of genealogically relevant information. British land records and court records may prove useful, though I am told access to them may be difficult depending on the person or institution that holds them.

9. Use the Griffith’s Valuation records with caution.

Griffith’s Valuation records are a great census-substitute for the 1830s-1860s time period for Ireland. If you can locate an Irish ancestor among its records, then fantastic! If you can’t, do not despair! If your ancestor did not rent or own land during the time that the data was collected (he year the data collection occurred varies considerably across the 32 counties), then he or she would not appear in the Griffith Valuation records. When I compared Cosgrove marriage, birth, and baptism records to the Cosgrove names in the Griffith’s Valuation records, there are considerably more Cosgrove families that existed according to the vital records collections than Griffith’s Valuation records would suggest. So while Griffith’s Valuation is a great source of information, it is not complete and all encompassing. Its only one source of potential information. If you don’t have any luck finding the family you are looking for, consider other potential sources of information.

10. Do not be shy to mail a letter!

Yes, envelops, stationary, and postage stamps still exist! When I discovered the records collection on Rootsireland.ie that pertained to what I believed was my Cosgrove family, I used the records to build out the family tree to present day. I found several living ancestors (which was a challenging endeavor in itself) for a couple of my 2nd great-grandfather’s siblings. I mailed a letter to one of the living descendants and within a couple of days received a phone call. The cousin was VERY generous with her time to copy some records that belonged to her great-grandfather (the brother to my 2nd great-grandfather). The records she provided were personal records not available on any website, which included some military service records that listed her great-grandfather’s place of birth as Limerick. The records also included the same birth date as I had found in the records from Limerick City. Gaining access to records only in the possession of the family helped contribute to the validation of my research findings.

11. Electoral or Voting Records.

I made an earlier recommendation in Part III (A) about finding your ancestor’s naturalization paperwork to see if he listed a place of origin back in Ireland. Some project members have had a challenging time locating the naturalization paperwork. While I was helping one project member locate the naturalization records, I discovered a voter registration record for her ancestor. The ancestor had immigrated from Ireland to a State on the East Coast and eventually moved to California. The Californian voter’s registration record listed her ancestor’s place of naturalization, which was a specific location back in the State on the East Coast. We couldn’t find the record online, but I suggested she contact archive offices in the area to see if they had a paper copy or a copy on microfiche should could examine. Nonetheless, the voter’s record provided critical information that helped validate some of her earlier assumptions and more than enough information to find the record at a State or Federal archive.

12. DNA testing.

I plan on writing a series of blog postings about the DNA testing for genealogy in the near future. However, in the meantime, I would recommend that a person consider two types of DNA tests available for genealogy: Y-DNA testing and autosomal DNA testing. Ancestry, 23andMe, MyHeritage, and Family Tree Finder are the most reputable testing companies available in my opinion. All offer autosomal DNA testing for genealogy. As a consumer, each company has its pro’s and con’s (I have tested with Ancestry, 23andMe, and LivingDNA and transferred my AncestryDNA test results to Family Tree DNA and MyHeritage). I would offer several pieces of advice when deciding whether to purchase a test from one of them:

  1. Understand why you want to do a DNA test and how you believe the results can contribute to your genealogical research goals.
  2. Always read their Terms of Service BEFORE purchasing a test! Take time to understand how they safeguard and may use your DNA results. Make an informed decision.
  3. Understand the limitations of autosomal DNA testing. DNA you inherit from your ancestors is diluted as it is passed from each generation. For instance, you only inherit (in theory) 50% of a parent’s DNA, 25% from each grand-parent, 12.5%, 6.25% from each 2nd great-grandparent, 3.125% from each 3rd great-grandparent, etc. These are the theoretical averages of inheritance which may vary slightly from person to person (even among siblings). Thus, if your research suggests you and another person may share 4th great-grandparents, the odds are not in your favor that you would share any DNA with that person because the small amount of DNA you each inherit from the shared ancestral couple may not be large enough to match. Second cousins and closer are thought to always share some level of DNA….after that, the odds begin to drop substantially (there is usually a 50% chance 4th cousins who share 3rd great grandparents will share DNA).
  4. Avoid LivingDNA for the time being. While LivingDNA is considered one of the Top 5 testing companies for genealogy, I and others have had very poor results. The company has admitted that they have had issues and are working diligently to fix them. For instance, they have strict matching criteria. So while I have over 30, 000 DNA matches on AncestryDNA, I have ZERO at LivingDNA. Plus, my ethnicity estimates are wildly off the mark, more so than any other company in my opinion. I am hoping that they make improvements soon, as their vision is great, but the results thus far have been very poor in my opinion.

Family Tree DNA, YSEQ, and Full Genomes Corporation (FGC) are all reputable and quality commercial companies that offer Y-DNA testing for genealogy. Only males are eligible for Y-DNA testing because we carry the Y-Chromosome. Y-DNA testing is an option to explore a specific surname line in your family tree. Since males tend to inherit their father’s surname and Y-DNA across generations coupled with the fact that the Y-DNA has a slow mutation rate, you can use the results in an attempt to find other genetic surname matches dating back several hundreds of years, much further back than the limits of autosomal DNA testing and usually further back than many records go. As long as you have a male family member (father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, etc.) alive willing to do a Y-DNA test for a particular surname line (the male must carry the surname as his last name), then Y-DNA testing may be an option worth exploring.

However, Y-DNA testing is without its challenges and disappointments. First of all, while an entry test usually costs around $100, more advanced and beneficial testing options cost several hundreds of dollars, which usually puts them out of the reach of many genealogists. Second, the results are only useful to your genealogical research if other people who share your surname and DNA from a common ancestor have tested as well. While some people will have at least one or more surname matches among their DNA match lists, some people don’t have any. The testing population for Y-DNA tests is significantly smaller (and I mean significantly smaller) than those that have conducted autosomal DNA testing. While I always encourage people to consider Y-DNA testing, I am quick to point out that you may have to wait months or a few years before you have a relevant surname match. If you have a very common Irish name such as Ryan or Walsh, you are likely to have relevant surname matches among your match lists. If you have the Cosgrove surname, you may not have any at the moment. Someone has to test first, so why not you? That is what I told myself and it has worked out well for me as a result!

While YSEQ and FGC are great companies, I tend to recommend Family Tree DNA for Y-DNA testing, mostly because FTDNA sponsors DNA projects for free on its site. You can join as many different types of DNA projects as you want for free as long as you meet the projects’ membership criteria. Each project administrator, who is a fellow DNA tester who has volunteered to set up and manage a DNA project, is allowed to set their own membership criteria. So don’t be surprised if you are either denied membership or you are removed shortly after joining if the project administrator feels you dont meet their criteria. It is what it is. I should know, I have been removed from two projects myself (rolling my eyes). Having said that, I allow anyone to join the Cosgrove surname project as long as their either carry the surname or one of its known variants or if they have a Cosgrove family line in their family tree. I try to be inclusive as opposed to exclusive.

If you already purchased an autosomal DNA test with Ancestry, 23andMe, or MyHeritage, FTDNA will allow you to transfer a copy of the test results over to its site for $19 (you are transfer a copy of the results so in essence you will retain your original results and benefits with the company you tested with and gain access to another list of matches as well as access to the projects at FTDNA).

Conclusion

So that wraps up the three part series on “Where to get started with your genealogy research.” Its taken me 10 months to complete this series, so I apologize for the delays. I spent my Summer and Fall conducting a lot of research for our Cosgrove one-name study. I hope you learned one or two points along the way that will be of help in advancing your research and attaining your goals. If you have any ideas or insight you would like to share, please do so in the comments section below!

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Where to get started with your genealogy research: Part III (A)

Introduction

I wrote two previous blog postings on how and where to get started with your genealogy research. The first blog posting stressed the importance of establishing goals for your research endeavors and interviewing living family members as the first two steps in your research journey ( https://cosgrove.one-name.net/?p=20&preview_id=20&preview_nonce=2090fcdf33&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=30 ) . The second blog posting stressed the importance of organizing research efforts and storing the information you collect early on in your research opposed to waiting until you have accumulated an Everest-sized mountain of documents (both physical and digital) ( https://cosgrove.one-name.net/?p=40&preview_id=40&preview_nonce=bb14e07eee&preview=true ).

This third blog posting will focus on some recommendations on different techniques, websites, and records collections that you can use to help you research your Irish family lines. My goal is to provide my readers with ideas and recommendations that differ from, yet complement, the traditional Irish genealogy research techniques you often read about in reputable books and websites.

Researching Irish families is a tricky and often frustrating journey for most genealogists, especially those who descend from Irish immigrants (regardless of where their Irish immigrants eventually settled: US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or another country). The reason Irish genealogy research is so tricky and frustrating for those of us who descend from Irish immigrants is most of our Irish ancestors simply listed “Ireland” as their place of origin on most of their adopted countries’ records, such as census records, death certificates, etc. Knowledge regarding the ancestor’s place of origin did not survive past a generation or two after his or her passing. Many of us who identify as descendants of the Irish Diaspora yearn to know, often with great passion, where our Irish ancestors originated. Its not enough for many of us to know that we are of Irish descent…..we want to re-establish our family connections back to a specific county, city, or town where our ancestors lived……and if we are lucky enough, where our distant cousins still reside. This is the “Holy Grail of Irish Genealogy.”

Countless books and websites have been written that specifically address Irish genealogy research methods. They all address the challenges and frustrations I discussed above. However, I feel like many of the methods and recommendations that they offer, which are very similar across the various references themselves, suggest that critical pieces of information on your ancestors’ places of origin can be simply found in vital records, passenger lists, or census records. My experience and those I often engage with suggest that such information is NOT found in these records, though exceptions do exist as they always do. Instead, I have complied a list of techniques, records, and sources that are not often discussed in great detail (or not at all) in books, blogs, and other sites that have been helpful to both fellow project members and myself over the last few years.

Recommendations

The following recommendations are proven techniques that others and I have used to break through our brick walls. Its rare that a single recommendation alone with provide you with the missing piece of information you are struggling to find. Typically, you will need to employ a combination of different methods as well as to collect information from across several different records and sites to provide the irrefutable evidence required to confidently link your Irish ancestor back to a place of origin in Ireland. So lets get started!

Tip #1: Develop a hypothesis to guide your research.

Often times, family historians and genealogists jump head first into their research without taking a moment to develop a hypothesis to help focus and drive their research efforts. A solid, testable hypothesis will help you identify and understand the types of information you need to either prove or disprove the hypothesis. This is critical to help focus your research efforts and help you identify reputable and credible sources of information to examine…..without such focus, its easy for us to expend a significant amount of time, and sometimes money, on aimless research endeavors.

Tip #2. Use forums, discussion boards, and social media to network and collaborate

My own brick wall into my Cosgrove family line was, in my opinion, significant. I examined every record collection I could find on Ancestry.com, American Ancestors, Find My Past, and Family Search. I even had a couple of seasoned researchers visit the Massachusetts State Archives and other records depositories in hope of uncovering records that may not have yet made it onto the internet. They didn’t have any luck.

Then I stumbled upon Family Tree Circles (https://www.familytreecircles.com/). It is a crowdsourcing forum where you can post questions and issues regarding your genealogy research. Fellow members will offer advice and suggestions for you to explore. In my case, a person provided a significant amount of search results using my 3rd great-grandparents’ names as the search criteria. Apparently, they tweaked the search parameters in a way that I had not thought of yet . While I could easily dismiss 98% of the suggested records the person provided due to wrong time periods or locations, there were a small handful of records that I myself had overlooked during my own research that eventually has profound impacts on my ability to break through my brick wall. The small handful of records he or she provided me led to my own discovery of some very critical records. Another bonus about Family Tree Circles is its free to set up an account!

I know many people despise Facebook, but there are several Irish Genealogy Groups on the site that are well managed and helpful. Traditional genealogy groups for most, if not all, of the 32 Counties exist as well as DNA specific groups for all of Ireland and many of the Counties. Word of caution though, the group administrators for the traditional genealogy site have little to no patience for DNA discussions…..they will immediately direct you to join a DNA group if the topic comes up…..make sure you read the group rules because most are tightly enforce!

In addition to county-level groups, there are general Irish genealogy groups as well. It was in one such group that I posted a question, mostly out of frustration, on where I could search for a marriage record for my Cosgrove-Dunn ancestors in Limerick City. I had explained that the record I ordered from the Latter Day Saints was only a marriage index and did not offer any credible information I was hoping it would. A kind gentleman conducted a record search at Rootsireland.ie and found a transcription of my 3rd great-grandparents marriage record……it was the one record that proved instrumental in tearing down my brick wall!

Several of the major genealogy sites, such as Ancestry, have discussion boards available that you can participate in as part of your subscription. Some discussion boards focus on a specific surnames, geographical location, and families. It doesn’t hurt to post a question, though it could be a VERY long time (ie, months and years) before anyone responds to it. I subscribe to the Cosgrove and Clifford discussion boards on Ancestry.com and offer advice whenever I can to people who have posted questions or issues.

Tip #3. Locate your ancestor’s naturalization paperwork!

Personally, I believe it is uncommon to find a census record or vital record (i.e., marriage record of some type) that lists an ancestor’s exact place of birth in Ireland. Often times, you will only see the word “Ireland” in the column for place of birth/origin. If you are lucky, you may see a county listed in the entry. However, I have had much different luck finding a place of origin on naturalization records. Here in the United States, we have two types of naturalization records that genealogists may want to review: Declaration of Intent and the Petition for Naturalization. I have had several ancestors list a county of origin back in Ireland on either one or both types of naturalization records, which allowed me to focus my research efforts into a specific county as opposed to across all of Ireland. I found about 25% of my naturalized ancestors listed their counties of origins on their naturalization records, which is a significantly higher percentage than what I found on other records (less than 5% on census and vital records).

Tip #4. Expand your understanding of immigration patterns.

There is much to learn about immigration patterns. I cannot possibly explain them all in this blog entry. Immigration patterns are important because Irish immigrants tended to live in neighborhoods and cities where family and friends from back in Ireland now lived. If you can determine where your ancestor’s fellow Irish neighbors lived in Ireland, you may have discovered your own ancestor’s place of origin. Plus, it was not uncommon for merchants to recruit Irish natives from specific geographic areas to travel together on chartered ships. In other words, if several immigrants listed County Wexford as their place of origin on the passenger manifests, then there is a possibility that your Irish ancestor(s) came from County Wexford as well. There are a few things to keep in mind when searching for your ancestor’s immigration records:

  • They could have first arrived in Canada before eventually moving to the United States. Two out of my eight Irish family lines who immigrated to the United States first arrived in Canada and actually lived there for a few years before eventually moving to the States.
  • Even though they may have lived in a port city, that doesn’t mean that is the city they arrived in. Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Charleston, and New Orleans were some of the more popular ports where Irish immigrants first arrived. Since my Cosgrove line lived in Boston, I reviewed countless passenger lists from Boston line by line in hopes of finding the specific ship and date they immigrated to the United States. Long story short, they had arrived in New York City and eventually made their way to Boston a few months after their arrival. Painful lesson learned that I am glad to share with others.
  • Be aware that your ancestor may have had a different name or spelled the name differently than the one he or she used once had lived in the States for a while. It took me two years of research to realize that my 2nd great grandfather, John Patrick Cosgrove, was actually named Patrick Michael Cosgrove on his baptism record from Limerick. Once I made this discovery, I was able to quickly locate his passenger list under Patrick Cosgrove. Included on the passenger list were his parents and several of his siblings….right names and ages…plus the names matched the surviving children who did not die in infancy.
  • Also, be aware of surname variants. While some families’ surnames were spelled the same way from record to record with some level of consistency, others were not. I have seen countless examples across all of Ireland where the surnames Cosgrove, Cosgrave, Coscar, Cosgriff, and others were used interchangeably from record to record…..and even on the same record (father’s last name was spelled Cosgrove and the child Cosgriff on one of my own family’s birth records!). So while your family may have the last name Cosgrove today, they may have immigrated with the last name Cosgrave, Cosker, or Cosgriff instead!

Tip #5. Don’t be overly reliant upon search engines on popular genealogy sites.

Many people may not be aware how search engines on sites like Ancestry or Find My Past function. Long story short, in order to search for a record, the company itself has to upload an image of the record (lets say a marriage register) to the site. Then, volunteers (people like you and I) will transcribe the information listed in the record into the website’s database. Once saved, the information typed into the database is now searchable. So if the person correctly transcribed my ancestors’ marriage register, the image of the record should appear in the results along with any transcribed information based on the names, locations, and dates I typed in the search fields.

Assuming the record exists first and foremost, and that it is uploaded onto a genealogy site, a successful search will be reliant upon whether the person conducting the transcription 1) could read the penmanship to accurately record the information, 2) did not make any errors such as omissions or spelling errors, and 3) the record itself contained important and accurate information needed to make the transcription possible. For three months I searched for my a death record for one of my Cosgrove family members in Massachusetts. Only five records appeared in the results and I never bothered to look at the actual digital images because the search results listed different names (other than Cosgrove) than what I had typed into the search engine. One day, out of shear frustration and boredom, I clicked one of the records and looked at the image. I was shocked to find out it was the record I had been looking for! The penmanship on the actual record was poor…..while I could make out hand written last name “Cosgrove,” the person who transcribed the record wrote Cognan based on how the writing appeared. In their defense, I could see how they could make the determination it was Cognan and not Cosgrove based on how poorly the name was written on the record. Cognan was the name that came up in the search results, not Cosgrove. Once I was aware of this issue, I did not hesitate to physically review records even if the names on the search results were different than what I had typed in….you never know.

I found a similar issue with city directories. I know I had a particular family line that lived in Bridgewater, MA for decades. However, their names were not appearing in search results in the city directory collections. I started to manually look through the city directories page by page and found them. When I looked at the transcriptions, the record was mislabled…..the volunteer listed them under “Brockton” as opposed to “Bridgewater.” So my specific search criteria of “Kerr”, “1912”, and “Bridgewater” was in theory correct, though failed to appear at all in the search results because their records were transcribed under “Brockton” and not Bridgewater. I found a treasure trove of city directories for multiple family lines once I figured out manual reviews were required.

I also found out that while Ancestry and FamilySearch records collections overlap, that does not mean they have the same identical records in those collections. I had two instances where both sites had two identical passenger lists’ records collections, but one had the record I was looking for pertaining to my Cosgroves and the other site did not. Conversely, the second site had the passenger list for my Cliffords and the first site did not. I only discovered this by manually looking through each individual passenger list for the given month of the families’ respective immigration to the US as opposed to relying on the search results. Since I knew the month and year they immigrated, the manual search was bearable….and very fruitful.

If you are absolutely confident that a record exists for a specific person at a specific time and place, you may either want to physically visit the archive where the record is maintained or conduct a manual search of the record collection on the website (or multiple websites as I have found was needed) as opposed to relying on the site’s search results.

Part III(B) will include several further recommendations to include searching British records collections, cemetery records, and electoral records.

I would love to hear from readers on any recommendations that might be out of the norm that have lead to their successful discoveries of information that helped break down the brick walls in their research.

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Where to get started with your genealogy research: Part II

Introduction

In Part I of this blog series on “Where to get started with your genealogy research,” we discussed the importance of speaking with living family members and setting goals and scope for your research prior to actually starting it.  Part II focuses on preparing for the inevitable task of storing both physical and digital evidence that you will collect during the course of your research. 

You will want to put some thought into how you plan to store and manage information, photos, and other items prior to starting your genealogical journey for a couple of reasons.  First, you want to preserve the information and items you collect so they are available to future generations to use and enjoy .  Just as you have become an aspiring family historian, there will be other family members in future generations that may inspire to follow in your steps.  Instead of starting from scratch like so many of us have to do when we first begin, your family’s future historians can leverage your genealogical research as a starting point when they begin their own journey.   Sharing your compilation of family heirlooms, histories, records, photos, etc. can be just as fulfilling as making their discoveries.  Thus, it is imperative that you take the time to plan on how you will safely and securely store your family history.

Second, you will inevitably need to refer back to the information and items during the course of your own research.  Thus, they need to be readily accessible to support your research requirements.   I lost count how many times I reviewed the same record over and over again only to find a previously overlooked piece of information that pointed my research into a new, and much-needed, direction.   I was able to easily retrieve these records for review because I established a file management system early on in my research that enables me to quickly search for and retrieve records, photos, and other types of documents.   If you wait too long to establish such a system, it will take a considerable amount of your time to organize the sheer volume of information and items that you have likely to accumulated over months and years, which will inevitably cut into your available time to conduct actual research!  Implement your storage system early on and be disciplined enough to use it on a consistent basis.

Recommendations and Tips

have broken down my recommendations and tips into three general topic areas: research journals and logs; storage of physical evidence; and storage of digital evidence.

Research journals and logs.  Many genealogists recommend maintaining a research journal and/or log for each family line you are researching.   A simple internet search can lead you to dozens of research log templates.   I keep my own logs on a basic Word document on my computer’s  hard drive.  It consists mostly of comments and questions I have about the current state of my research, hypothesis and theories to guide my research, information gaps I need to fill in order to solve problems and overcome brick walls, things to do lists, etc.  For instance, under my Cosgrove research log, I have a list of cemeteries I need to either contact or visit in the Watertown, Massachusetts area in hopes of finding where my 3rd great-grandmother, Theresa (nee Dunn) Cosgrove, is interned.  The log’s list of cemeteries includes their names, addresses, phone numbers, website addresses, and email addresses to the cemetery offices.  

I also maintain notebooks, or journals, for several family lines in which I can take notes when conducting research at libraries, archives, relatives’ homes, etc.  Sometimes when I travel, I don’t want to carry a laptop with me, especially when I travel by air.  Instead, I pack the notebook for the family line I plan to research during my vacation.  I also include a copy of my most current version of my research log and tuck it into one of the document sleeves that is part of the notebook.  I also have my ancestry files stored on my tablet, so I usually take that along as well since it is considerably lighter and more compact than my laptop. Thus, if I need to refer to a specific record, I can simply pull it up on my tablet. This technique makes for a convenient way to travel without feeling overburdened having to carry a laptop and other bulky items and materials on my trip.   Some people use apps on their phones or tablets, such as Evernote, to maintain their research journals and logs.  Regardless if you use a template, make your own, or use an app, the important thing is you have one AND YOU USE IT to help keep you focused and on track.

Physical materials.  Physical evidence is a bit more challenging to maintain, mostly due to storage space requirements.  If one were to write a list of the types of physical evidence and items that a genealogist could feasibly come into possession with during his or her research, it would truly be endless. Generally speaking, you will most likely come into possession of some type of paper documents (records, certificates, etc.), photos, and keepsakes, such as jewelry, that once belong to an ancestor.  A good rule of thumb is to store all of these items in a safe, dry place.  If at all possible, avoid storing physical items in basements and attics.  Basements tend to have high moisture contents, which could eventually lead to damaged papers and photos (think mildew/mold).  They are also prone to flooding depending on the quality of your foundation or location where your house was built.  Most attics lack sufficient environmental controls (heading, cooling, etc.) and their venting systems are designed to allow air from the outside to penetrate the space to help with air circulation, which could pose problems for your materials.  If possible, I recommend storing photo albums and document binders (for other types of documents such as birth and death certificates) on book shelves, in totes, or fire proof containers.  Try to keep the items and their storage containers about a foot off the ground if possible.

Many genealogists use quality three ring binders to store physical copy of records and other documents.  Depending on the scope of your research and the size of your family, you may need a small handful or a large amount of binders.  Large and well-documented family lines may require several binders.  Store paper documents in acid-free plastic sleeves in the binders.  I recommend having a filing system, whether you categorize the documents by record type (ie, census, birth certificates, death certificates, etc.) or by the person they pertain.  If you come into possession of loose photographs, ensure you store them in photo albums.  Modern photo albums (if made with acid-free materials) are a much better option for protecting old photos than the ones they may have been stored in over the last 50-100+ years.  However, do not attempt to remove the photos from their old albums if you think it may cause damage to the photos themselves!  Regardless of your decision, always TAKE DIGITAL PHOTOS of the older photos for safekeeping.    It is recommended to scan or photograph newspaper clippings as the paper that they are normally printed on either tends to breakdown or the ink fades over time.

Digital evidence.  For digital evidence, create a folder system on your computer’s hard drive to store the records, spreadsheets, written histories, digital photos, and other digital materials you will collect and make yourself over time.  For my personal technique, I created a master folder called “Ancestry Records” on my computer’s desktop.  Within the master folder, I created individual folders for each major family line (Cosgrove, Brown, Smith, etc.).  Within each family folder, I created sub-folders for each direct ancestor, and depending on the circumstances and details of each branch, I may make additional folders for their children’s generation(s). I also have miscellaneous folders for DNA test results, digital maps, digital books, and other topics that may not necessarily be connected to a specific family line.

For surname lines, I further sub-divided each person’s individual folder into additional sub-folders according to the different types of records I collected for them (each record type had its own sub-folder): federal census; state census; city directories; vital records; baptism records; military records; immigration and naturalization records; etc.  Here is an example of directory of the folder system I use for my Cosgrove line:

  • Cosgrove Family Line
    • John Patrick Cosgrove
      • Federal Census Records
      • State Census Records
      • City Directories
      • Immigration and Naturalization Records
      • Vital Records
    • Joseph Cosgrove
      • Federal Census Records
      • State Census Records
      • City Directories
      • Immigration and Naturalization Records
      • Vital Records
      • Military Service Records
      • Professional and Social Organizations
      • Photos

Naming conventions for your folders are important too when you save digital records from websites.  Sometimes when you download an image of the 1900 US Federal Census record, the file’s name is not something clean and simple such as “1900 US Federal Census Record”. Instead, its usually gibberish of some sorts consisting of a long string of letters, symbols, and numbers intermixed.  Thus, take the time to think through a naming convention so every type of record you save follows an identical format (when possible). Something as simple as “year record type” may suffice:

“1900 US Federal Census”

“1865 Massachusetts State Census”

“1910 Birth Certificate”

Some people may add a specific ancestor’s name, location, etc to the file’s name.  I found this problematic because census records usually contained information on multiple members of a family unit and trying to add all of their names on a file’s name was too much.  Thus, I used a simple naming convention as listed above and filed copies of the records under each individual’s sub-folder according to the record type.   After several years of using this technique, it has worked very well and I have not had to modify it in any manner.  The important take away is to find a system that works for you and be disciplined enough to use it.  It makes storing and retrieving information so much faster and easier!

My final tip is probably one of the most important recommendations I can make: back up your digital files!  Just as I recommended you to take digital photos of existing photographs from albums, I strongly recommend that you back-up your digital files to avoid catastrophic loss of your family history.  Every record I save to an ancestor’s profile on a genealogy website, I also download to my computer’s hard drive as well.  I then back up the records a couple of times a month on to a thumb drive and a removable hard drive.  I also back it up to my tablet’s SD card as well. Thus, I have each individual file saved on the website, my computer’s hard drive, my tablet, a removable hard drive, and a thumb drive.   Thus, I feel reasonably safe that I am protecting my digital files from catastrophic loss.  Saving the files, if done routinely only takes a couple of minutes to do. 

I would love to hear about your ideas and recommendations that you have learned through your own research. Please post them in the comments’ section below!

My next blog posting will provide a short overview of the Irish origins of the Cosgrove surname.

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Where to get started with your genealogy research: Part 1

Introduction: Stepping off on the right foot with your research

When most people begin their genealogy journey, one of the first things they do is join a genealogy website.   There isn’t anything wrong with taking this as your first step in your journey.   However, I often recommend to people that they start their journeys by sitting down with living family members to discuss your shared family histories.    

Too often, people overlook the fact that some of the most critical pieces of information that they need to start their family trees often exist within their own homes or the homes of their grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.   For instance, I discovered that my late grandfather still has five first cousins alive today.  I was floored by this discovery.   I discovered one on Facebook and she in turn put me in touch with other cousins.  Each cousin provided clues that helped me at some point along my journey, whether it was pointing me in a certain direction with my research or, just as important, confirming research findings I had already made that I was unsure about.  One was even kind enough to show me the family plot at a cemetery where my great-grandfather and his parents were interned. Luckily, I discovered my cousins early on in my research and their support helped focus my efforts from the beginning.

In another instance, my paternal aunt and a second cousin both saved family photo albums that contained photos dating back to the 1870s along with other various family artifacts. I was able to use the photos and other documents to fill out my family lines and confirm existing research findings.  Each treasure trove of information was the result of me simply asking each relative if they had any information in their possessions that they would be willing to share with me!  I’m thankful for their support as well as for the fact that they have taken great care over the years to keep these family treasures safe for future generations (such as the photo above of my grandfather as a young boy with his father).

The other reason I recommend speaking to family members first before conducting any research (well, technically, “interviewing” family members is a form of research) is that the information you gain may help provide both context to the time periods certain family members lived as well as provide focus and scope for your research.   Genealogy means something different for each person.   Some people are content with identifying and documenting a couple of earlier generations while other people want to conduct deeper research into the lives of their individual ancestors.    Interviewing family members may motivate you to conduct more extensive research or may cause you to limit your approach and scope, at least initially as you begin.

Setting Goals and Objectives

Before you speak to relatives, take a moment to write out some tentative goals and objectives for your overall genealogical journey.   Are you only interested in making a pedigree tree in which you document up to your great-grandparents’ or 2nd great-grandparents’ generation?  Do you want to go further back in your pedigree?  Do you want to make a more comprehensive family tree that documents relatives from each family line as far back and as far forward (i.e., living cousins) as your research will take you? Are you interested in writing detailed family histories for each family line or particular ancestors?  Or are you limiting your research to focus on one particular family line?

These are just a fraction of questions a family historian may, and should, ask him or herself.  Answers to these questions will help focus your research and establish a scope for it and will help prepare you for interviews with family members.   Ensure you maintain some level of flexibility with your goals as the probability exists you will adjust these goals overtime.   Initially, my goals were to determine which direct ancestor from each family line was the first to immigrate to North America and to trace him or her back to their places of origin down to either the county or city/town level.  That was it…pretty simple in theory.  However, as I conducted more research, I became fascinated with the lives of many of my direct ancestors, great aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.  Thus, while my initial goals remained the foundation for my research, I added several more goals along the way, many of which were inspired by the research I was (and still am) conducting.

Preparations for Family Interviews

Ensure you take some time to prepare for the interviews.  First, draw up a list of potential family members to interview.  Second, assess whether you think the family members will be willing to discuss that particular family line’s history with you.  Some family members have zero interest in family history and may not want to take the personal time to engage in such topics.  Other people, unbeknownst to you, may have knowledge or experienced trauma earlier in their lives in which discussing family history may cause them to relive some painful memories.  So be prepared for some relatives to show little interest in your desire to learn about your family or for other relatives who may avoid such discussions because of personal issues they rather not think about let alone discuss. Regardless of the reason, respect their decisions. How you handle this initial rejection may bear fruit down the road if the family member eventually changes his or her mind and agrees to the interview at a later date. My final thought on preparing a list of family members to interview is to prioritize the older family members first. Life is short and time is precious. Take advantage of interviewing older family members while the opportunity exists.

Third, I strongly recommend preparing some questions ahead of time for your interview.  Having a list of prepared questions can help you stay focused and on track during the interview.  Plus it will give you some idea of how long the interviews may take. However, don’t take such a rigid approach to the questioning that you inadvertently discourage the family members who you are interviewing from sharing interesting stories or facts with you that may be outside the scope of your question list.   Also think through how you are going to record the information.  You can tape record the interview, videotape it, or hand-write the responses in a dedicated family history research notebook…or a combination of the three. 

Suggested Topics for Family Interviews

I always find it easier to come up with a list of topics and questions if I can see some ideas first, especially from others who have had great success interviewing their own family members. Here are some possible topics you may want to discuss with family members during the interviews.  Don’t limit yourself to discussing only past generations.  Ask family members about living relatives as well. You may not realize it initially, but you are actually building a network of living family historians that can assist you, mentor you, and guide you along your genealogical journey! Topics of discussion may include (list is not all inclusive):

  • Names of family members to include nicknames (sometimes you may find nicknames instead of legal names on records such as census records and city directories or listed in obituaries).
  • Dates and locations of births, marriages, and deaths (to include locations of cemeteries where families are interned).
  • Dates and locations of other important life events (baptisms, communions, engagements, graduations, etc.).
  • Residential address of ancestors (family homes, family vacation homes, etc.)(this is critical so you can use the information to verify you are looking at the right family when analyzing census record, vital records, or city directories).
  • Religion denominations of ancestors and the churches they attended.
  • Occupation(s) and specific names of employers (i.e., name of a company)for whom they worked for, businesses they may have owned, etc .
  • Education/training and specific names, dates, and locations of schools they attended.
  • Memberships to professional associations or social groups.
  • Military service.
  • Immigration paths (departure points, arrival destinations, ship’s names, family members accompanying them or following later (or who had arrived previously)).
  • Citizenship and naturalization (dates, locations, etc.).
  • Information regarding family dynamics to include:
    • Names of parents and children within specific family units/branches;
    • How many times an ancestor may have been married, the reasons why (ie, their first spouse could have passed away) and the children the ancestor had with each spouse;
    • Adoptions;
    • Divorces;
    • Illegitimate family members.
    • Ensure you collect information regarding years and places children were born or passed away (some families were transient for periods of time and knowing when and where children were born (and maybe passed away) may help you track them through various records at these locations.
  • Availability of family records and artifacts such as:
    • Family bibles that have recorded information on births, marriages, deaths, baptisms, first communions, etc.
    • Photo albums (remember to check the back of each photo as it may include names, dates, locations, etc.)(photo albums tend to contain other information other than photos to include letters, newspaper clippings, obituaries, funeral cards, etc. so don’t forget to ask if you can look through the albums).
    • Certificates (education, training, birth, etc.) and licenses (driver’s, hunting, occupational, etc.)
    • Military records (awards, discharge paperwork, promotion certificates, uniforms, etc.)
    • Immigration and naturalization records

As you can see, depending on how well memories are and the preservation of family artifacts over the generations, you may encounter a large amount of information simply by talking to family members!  Thus, you must prepare yourself on how you plan to manage, store, and use both physical and digital evidence that you WILL come into possession of during your genealogical research.  We will cover the topic of storage in Part II of this blog series.