McKenzie or Mackenzie

Been following my McKenzie or Mackenzie line lately. Spelling seems to vary from record to record and person to person. If interested have a look at entries with the McKenzie tag. So far we have Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and of course in Scotland.

Thomas Allingham of Sracreeghan, Glencar, Killasnet Parish, Co. Leitrim, Ireland

A while back I posted on my 3rd great grandfather.  This post on Thomas Allingham of Sracreeghan, Killasnet Parish, Co. Leitrim, Ireland has been updated at Thomas Allingham of Sracreeghan, Glencar, Killasnet Parish, Co. Leitrim, Ireland on the glencardotorg.wordpress.com website.

Ancestry Day

Yesterday I attended the Ancestry Day sponsored by the  Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Ancestry.com. You can Try Ancestry.com and get 14 Days FREE!

The event was held in the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  I thought it well worth the admission charge and the trip.  (I live about an hour away.)  Juliana Smith and Lisa Arnold of Ancestry.com gave excellent talks on what is available on Ancestry.com and how to best use it.  Several speakers discussed the holding of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and how to use those. I learned quite a bit and look forward to using it.  And then of course it was good to be in a room with several hundred genealogists.

 I have been using Ancestry for several years and still learned more about it. I would guess a newcomer to Ancestry would learn quite a bit too.  I am a new member of Historical Society of Pennsylvania.  So it was good getting on overview of some of their holdings.

Thomas Allingham Sracreeghan, Killasnet Parish, Co. Leitrim, Ireland

I've been trying to figure out this family.  Ruth Allingham is my 2nd great grandmother and I know many of her descendants but certainly not all of them.  Her father Thomas would be my third great.


Thomas Allingham was born in about 1798 and was a farmer in Sracreeghan, Killasnet Parish, Co. Leitrim, Ireland. This part of the parish seems to also have been called Glencar or Glenlough. He had 3 children that we know of but I think there must have been more. Elizabeth Allingham was born about 1826 and married John McBrien around 1861. Ruth Allingham was probably born in the 1830s and her marriage to Matthew Greer is discussed on my Greer page . John Allingham was born in 1861 and by 1883 had moved to Miltown Malbay, Co Clare (some records spell it Milltown Malbay).

Thomas Allingham died on 2 Aug 1883 at age 85 and was a widower. His son John was present at his death in Sracreeghan (or Sracreghan). John's residence is given as   Milltown Malbay, Co Clare on the death certificate.

What I do not know is if there were more than 3 children. I also do not know if all 3 of the known children had the same mother.

John Allingham was a constable in the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), later a Sergeant in the RIC, and then a Clerk of the Petty Sessions. He married Sarah Martin of Dublin (while a constable) and they had at least 6 children (Florence Elizabeth, Robert Carson, Annie E., Eveline Mary, Dorinda Jane, and Edward Victor). Robert Carson Allingham and Edward Victor Allingham were casualties of WWI.

As of now, I think John Allingham enlisted in the RIC in 1879 in Leitrim, was promoted to Sergeant by 1893, and retired from the RIC in 1904. In 1904 he was elected Clerk of the Petty Sessions in Miltown Malbay. Census records show his family in Miltown Malbay, Clare in 1901 and 1911.

A good source for Allingham information is RalphInLA's Allingham pages. More information about John Allingham is on his Find A Grave Memorial.

I would like to hear from anyone who might have information on any of these Allinghams.

More about volunteer indexing

A few weeks back I wrote about volunteer indexing at Family Search. Family Search provides a wonderful free resource to the genealogy community by providing free access to many of the records held by the LDS. By the way, here is my post earlier this month.

Now that I've done a few sets of records. I can tell you a bit more about my experience. As I said then you can do it at home on your computer. It involves installing a small program from FamilySearch and that it easy to do. They start you off with some small batches of fairly simple records. You download an image of the records to be indexed.

Then when you are ready, you get to choose from a variety of projects with various levels of difficulty assigned. So far I've stuck to beginner records and there are several ongoing projects at that level. They are not hard but sometimes the handwriting is difficult to decipher. If you consider a batch too difficult or unclear, you can return it.

My understanding is that 2 indexers do each record and if they disagree, a third more experienced indexer looks at the record. So I don't worry that if I am wrong on something, the index will be wrong. My work is checked one way or another.

Last week I looked at 1871 English census records and at WW1 draft registration records.

This is a great way to contribute a little bit of time to make it better for all of us in the genealogy community.

Indexing at FamilySearch

I decided to do it. For several years now, I've been using FamilySearch. It has been great. I've found census record, births and baptisms, and much more. I have had a paid subscription to Ancestry off and on over the past few years and that has been great too.

But FamilySearch is free and I appreciate it. While on the site looking at all those free records (and there are more each year), I noticed they were looking for volunteers to index. No time commitment. You don't have to say whether you can work an hour per week or 10 hours per week. You don't have to go somewhere to see the records. You can do as much or as little as you like and do it from home.

So next time you are at FamilySearch.org looking at those free records, notice the Menu across the top of the page. Look for the item that says "Indexing" and pick it to learn about the indexing projects going on and how to be a volunteer.

It's easy and painless and your chance to pay-back all the volunteers who have helped index the records you use.

Archibald Greer - Occupation

I was looking at Matthew Greer's Marriage certificate which I wrote about yesterday. And I was trying to read his father's occupation. Here is a the part of the marriage certificate that has that:>

It looks like Rank on Professor Farmer. So does that mean he is a Professor and a Farmer or a Professor of Farming. Or perhaps it says he is a Professional Farmer. If so, how does that differ from an ordinary farmer (see Thomas Allinghams's entry).

If anyone wants to see the whole certificate, here it is. Because my scanner was smaller than the paper,it is in 2 overlapping pages. Oddly, the last column is not supposed to be occupation but that seems to be what is there.

Any suggestions welcome.

Matthew GREER of Sligo, Ireland - son of Archibald GREER

Matthew GREER was probably born in Scotland around 1816. The first we know of him was having a child in Scotland. But he later lived in Ireland and it is certainly possible that these Greers were living in Ireland but Matthew had moved to Scotland for some reason and then moved back.

William GREER was born c 1849 in Scotland according to his death certificate. William's mother was Jane BURKARD and his father was Matthew GREER.

Next thing I know, Matthew is a widower, living in Sligo, Ireland and getting married again. (I assume that Jane had died but there certainly are other possibilities.)

On 23 Feb 1854, he married Ruth ALLINGHAM of Glencar in the parish church of Glenlough, Co Leitrim. He is listed as a shoemaker on the certificate. His residence is Sligo. He is listed as a widower. His father is listed as Archibald GREER. Ruth's father is Thomas ALLINGHAM a farmer in Glencar. Glencar lake straddles the Sligo / Leitrim border. It is close to the road from Sligo to Manorhamilton.

Unfortunately the marriage certificate just listed both Matthew and Ruth as being of full age. So I have nothing that indicates when Ruth was born. And only an estimate of Matthew's birth year from his a death certificate.

I have a death certificate for Matthew who died 29 Jan 1875 which gives his age as 58. On the certificate his residence is Ballinode, Sligo and his occupation is letter carrier. Both that residence and occupation are also found in birth certificates of his children.

The known children and birth dates are: John (c 1860), Jane or Jennie (c 1861), Elizabeth or Lizzie (16 Oct 1862), Letitia (27 April 1866), Sarah (30 March 1868), Ruth (14 Jan 1870), Rebecca (29 Aug 1872) Matthew (24 Sept 1874).

I’d love to hear from anyone who think they may be connected to this family or has answers for either of these questions:

1. Leticia’s 1866 birth certificate gives place of residence as Ballinode Cottage in the Parish of Calry. Has anyone heard of Ballinode cottage?

2. The child Matthew birth certificate shows a residence of Rath Quarter, Sligo but the death cert of the father is 4 months later and shows a residence of Ballinode. Looking at a map of Sligo it looks like these 2 places are close together but not the same.
Is it more likely that: they lived in Ballinode for the births from 1866-1872, moved to Rath Quarter for the 1874 birth and then back to Ballinode; OR the places were very close together and Ballinode and Rath Quarter may have been used for the same place?

Irish deeds

If you have ancestors who may have owned or leased property in Ireland you may want to check out the Registry of Deeds Index Project. There are over 70,000 records indexed now and more to come. The index is searchable by name, location, and various other ways. This is a real resource for those of us with an interest in Irish genealogy.

Free Immigration Collection at Ancestry

Periodically Ancestry allows free access to part of their records for a limited time. This week (thought Sept 5), you will find free access to their Immigration Collection. Have a look.

Irish Gleanings

I ran across a new website today called Irish Gleanings at http://sites.google.com/site/irishgleanings/.

It is extracted information from hundreds of Irish migrants derived from US State Department records at the US National Archives.  You might find a place or date on that elusive ancestor.

The site is well worth a look and I have add a link to it to my Irish Genealogy links page at http://www.jackreidy.com/genealogy/irishlinks.htm

My Book Addiction: Review: Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

My Book Addiction: Review: Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Surnames

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

I update this page regularly during the year as I  run across new pages.  If you are interested in a specific surname (or Irish surnames in general), it may be worth your time to check the page now and then.

Jack

Reidy of Rock Island Illinois

I was looking for something else in Footnote (about my Reidys) and ran into this record in the 1860 census.No relation that I know of but thought it might help someone.



address: Moline, Rock Island Illinois


                         

Name	sex	age	born	occupation
Martin Reidy	m	35	Ireland	?? Carriage Maker
Marcella	f	35	Ireland	wife
John	m	8	NY ?
Ann	f	5	Do
James	m	3	Ill
Elizabeth	f	1	Do

Still Learning? see my Irish Genealogy Tips

Irish Genealogy Tips
These tips just point you in the direction of some good resources. In your case some may be helpful and some not so helpful.

1. Maybe someone has already done a good bit of work on your family but you don’t know it. Perhaps a third or fourth cousin you don’t know. Or there might be some people searching the same surname who are not closely related but may have some advice. One way to check that out is my  Irish surnames page

2. There are also mailing lists where you get emails on a topic which could be a surname or interest such as Irish genealogy or even as local as Co Limerick genealogy. Maillists work by sending a copy of each message to posted to all subscribers. Some lists are very small and some are large.
Generally on lists, it is good practice to subscribe and then just read messages for a week or 2 before you post. Get a feel for the list. And read the welcome message you get when subscibing. List owners often describe the type things that are allowed and not allowed on their lists. Mail lists are a very powerful way to get your message in front of many people who may be able to help. Make a good first impression. Learn the types of things that are unacceptable on the list, how people ask questions, etc.
Many lists are hosted by Rootsweb. You may want to check out the Rootsweb Maillists. There are 2 search boxes and you can search the archives for a name or term of interest. Or search for a maillist (Find a mailing list) by keyword. The keyword Ireland pulls up about 200 mailing lists out of the 30,000 or so lists at Rootsweb.

3. There are also many websites with good information.  See the web version of this for a list

4. This relates to all above. Let others know the names you are searching and the questions you have. Maybe you’ll find someone or someone will find you and they may know more (or less). The real power of the internet is not the records you’ll find online. There are some but not that many. It is the person-to-person sharing that goes on. It may be on very general matters or very specific but it only happens when people know about each other. Participate in a maillist list if you want. Also leave queries and register your surname interested when you can. You might want to explore Rootsweb. They have a very large web site with all sorts of resources. They are the online home of many genealogical societies (including the IGSI) and host many mail lists. And among many things you will find the the world’s largest surname interest list.

5. There is an amazing amount of information on the internet, most of it free. Just look at my search page for more information on searching options.

Most all of it’s a hobby (although it borders on obsession in many cases) so enjoy it.

Jack

Surname variations

Improper spellings and recordings of surnames are frequent. The results can be confusing and misleading. Although this is a common problem in Genealogy, and Irish Genealogy, I'll give an example for my name (Reidy) which may be more or less confusing than some.In various family records I've seen the name spelt as Reidy, Riedy and Ready. 

For example, READY is a common spelling variant of REIDY (derived from O'Riada) but it may also be used for REDDY (derived from O'Rodaigh). If you know something of the geographic origins of the family, that may help sort things out in a specific case as the O'Riada are a Dalcassian sept found mainly in the west of Ireland whereas the O'Rodaigh are based in Kilkenny. REEDY may be just a spelling variant but is often derived from Mac Riada (in Donegal) or Mac Conriada (in Derry). More details (and a fuller and more accurate explanation) can be found in MacLysaght's The Surnames of Ireland. Other surnames also seem to be mixed up with REIDY. To say the least, the situation is very confusing
To add an international dimension to the problem, there are similar or identical names with non-Irish origins. You will find several German/Swiss families named REIDY, RIEDY, or REEDY.

Griffith's Valuation online

Last night I ran across a blog post with new (to me) information on Griffith's Valuation. I would guess that most of us interested in Irish Genealogy know about this resource. But for those who don't, it is perhaps the most important set of records for most of us interested in tracing our Irish families to the mid 1800s. Check out this blog entry: http://irishfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/2010/01/griffiths-valuation.html . The link to search engine for an online version of Griffith's is well-worth the click.

I've added this blog http://irishfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/  to those I'll be following on a regular basis.

Registry of Deeds, Ireland

Those of us with ancestors from Ireland who may have owned or leased property should check out the Registry of Deeds Index Project. There are over 45,000 records indexed now and that number should grow. The index is searchable by name, location, and various other ways. So it is well worth a look if one of your interests is Irish Genealogy.

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