Irish Surname Page

Today I updated my Irish Surname Page which is at:
http://www.jackreidy.com/genealogy/surnames.htm

Many people have made WWW pages for those researching specific surnames. Sometimes the pages deal with specific families. Sometimes they are for everyone concerned with the surname. I am trying to compile links to those pages for Irish families.

Jack

URL Updated Jan 16, 2010 because I moved pages around in a general reorganization of website. I also updated the page today.

Michael Reidy New York 1905

I was looking at a film of the 1905 New York State Census and this caught my eye. Although this family is no relation that I know of, I thought it might help someone.
address: 316 W. 28th St, New York, NY
assembly district 9 election district 19
Name              relationship     age born     yrs in US occupation
Michael Reidy    head            38 Ireland      22        Railroad Foreman
Annie                 wife             35 U.S.
Erin                   dau              15 U.S.
Leila                 dau               13 U.S.

I’m posting this from http://www.jackreidy.com/genealogy/reidymisc.htm as a blog post might get more attention than something buried on a webpage.

URL Updated Jan 16, 2010 because I moved pages around in a general reorganization of website.
Jack 

National Genealogical Society Blog

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) has starting posting a blog at http://upfront.ngsgenealogy.org/  I see several advantages here.  The obvious one is that stuff is available immediately when posted instead of waiting for the newsletter to come out.  And if you are reading this, you may like the blog format better than a newsletter. Then there are comments on the articles which can add value to the articles.  Of course the advantage to the NGS is that by making this information more public, they may increase public awareness of the organization.

Reidy website

If you have Reidy (or some spelling variants), you may want to check out my website, the Gathering of Reidys, if you haven't visited lately. Lots of queries from other researchers interested in the name and some general information. It has moved and the new URL is: 

http://www.jackreidy.com/genealogy/reidy.htm

 

Also linked to it are lots of resources for genealogy in Ireland and Co Limerick (Ireland).  You should be able to get to these from my Reidy page but if you rather start a my main page, the URL for that is:

http://www.jackreidy.com/

 

URL Updated Jan 16, 2010 because I moved pages around in a general reorganization of website.

Emma Cash from Allegheny, PA

I'm trying to find out more about Emma Cash who we think was born in Allegheny, PA in about 1867. I believe that is now part of Pittsburgh. Her mother was Ellen Gow (probably from Ireland) and her father was Charles Cash (probably from Germany). She and Ellen Cash are listed in the Federal census for 1860 and 1870 in Westmoreland Co PA.

Extended free access

A couple days ago, I posted about free access for records at WorldVitalRecords.com between Aug 11 and 13. As it turns out this offer has been extended to Aug 18. I've been reading some list emails and some people say they've found useful stuff and some people have less luck. Worth a look, if you haven't tried it yet.

free access to genealogical and historical records

I just heard of free access to a lot of records for the next few days. I've already signed up and they don't seem to ask for much (your email address, name, telephone number, and a password). The offer was described in some detail in Randy's Genea-Musings at:
http://www.geneamusings.com/2009/08/worldvitalrecordscom-free-for-three.htm

Sign up for this if you have time to check out the free records at WorldVitalRecords.com between Aug 11 and 13.

FamilySearch - Cecil County Maryland

Wow! I am very impressed with the Family Search Pilot. Genealogy heaven you might say. Look it over - Federal Census, State Census, and more records. Limited now but the project is growing. I've just checked out American stuff because that's where I'm looking right now but they also seem to have many international records you can search.

A few days ago I noticed the Maryland, Cecil County Probate Records on the site. Since my wife has Frazer ancestors from Cecil county, I just started with a search by surname which turned up several records I wanted to look at. I read the will of her ggggrandmother, Emily Frazer. I did have a problem with 1 record so I emailed and heard back within a day. I was doubly impressed. Not only a chance to look at some very old ancestral stuff, but when I had a problem with one record (Emily's grandson), I emailed support and heard back the next day. Very impressive website and impressive support. Now to look at my Bouldens, Evans, and Scotts in that county.

Check it out:
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=home

Genealogy By Village

I just ran across any interesting website for genealogy. My initial finding was due to looking for something new for Irish (specifically limerick) Genealogy but this is useful for all villages in the UK and Ireland. The site is the CuriousFox http://www.curiousfox.com/. There is a function (near the top of the page) that allows you to search for locations or browse to the location of interest and see who is searching what names in that area. The site is supported by a modest subscription but you are welcome to look for free.

Improve your genealogy queries

I see genealogical queries in many places that could be much improved. You want to give enough information that someone working on the same family would recognize it and read the query. After all, what is the point unless you get potential relatives to read it.

A good title gets attention. For example if I was researching Emma MacKenzie who lived in New York around 1890 to 1920, I'd be very like to read a query that was entitled "Emma MacKenzie, New York, 1895" than something simply called "MacKenzie family". Gives enough in the title to make it interesting enough that your potential relatives will read it. People are busy and are unlikely to read further unless they have reason to believe your query is worth a bit of their time.

Try to keep it to the point. You can share details by email when someone writes you. Any given name unless it's really odd will most likely occur several times in an area so be sure to include facts like spouse, children and approximate dates. Remember that the potential relative that reads this may know either more or less than you do. Don't make the query so long that people give up before getting to the essential facts.

Welcome

This is a new blog for my interests in Irish genealogy. For time to time, I'll post something I think of interest or comment on another blog that has something I think helpful.