Long before I became interested in genealogy, my father had been searching for his Irish ancestors. His great grandparents, Ned Brennan and Mary Fahey Brennan, emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1861, the year the American Civil War began, but not much is known about whatever family they may have left behind. Dad knew of one sister of Ned Brennan, Mary, who remained in Ireland, married James Clooney, and raised a family there, but he didn't know anything about Ned and his sister Mary's parents, or if there were any other siblings. Mary Fahey's widowed mother, sister and brother accompanied her to America, but nothing is known of the family prior to that. Dad even went to Ireland to see what he could find, but there is nothing in his records that shows whether he found anything new.
Since I have taken over the search, I have gathered much information on Mary Brennan Clooney and her family by searching the 1901 and 1911 Irish census data. But since that is the only census data available to genealogists (all census information prior to that, and some after that, burned in a 1922 fire in the public records building as a result of a revolution in Ireland, or was destroyed intentionally by the Irish government for a variety of reasons.) So during the time that my ancestors would have lived in Ireland there are no census records.
There is one "census substitute" which was a survey of land ownership and tenancy called "Griffith's Valuation" conducted in the early 1850s for the entire country. The names of all landowners (mostly English citizens) and their tenants (heads of household only) are recorded in this survey. There are also records in some Roman Catholic parishes of baptisms, marriages and deaths, but there are huge gaps in the records. For some reason, the records in Irish churches were not well maintained, which combined with the destruction of census records, makes genealogical research in Ireland nearly impossible.
About five weeks ago, I contacted a genealogical service in Ireland to ask them to do a preliminary search to see if there were any other existing records that might be used to find any Brennans or Faheys in Queen's County (renamed County Laios after Ireland became independent from Britain) around the time my ancestors emigrated, as well as in the decades prior to their departure. I just received their report, and the picture isn't hopeful.
They did list a few more places they could look for information, so I will probably commission them to look further. And I am waiting for some mircorfilm to be delivered to the local Mormon church from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Within a few days I may be able to search myself in the registers of Roman Catholic churches in the area where my ancestors lived. In the meantime, I remain in contact with a third cousin in Ireland, a descendant of Mary Brennan Clooney, and keep hoping that he will uncover a lost family Bible, or remember some piece of information he heard from his grandparents that might lead somewhere.
I know my father's ancestors lived in Ireland for hundreds if not thousands of years, and it is incredibly frustrating to be unable to find out anything about them. I am holding onto hope that my researchers in Ireland may find some small key that could open what now seems like a locked door. Whether or not that happens, I know I want to visit Ireland soon. If I can't know more specifics about my family, at least I can walk where they once walked, see the land they once called home, and imagine what life was like for them hundreds of years ago.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Frustrating Day at the Library
Last week I traveled to the Carlsbad Library, about 30 miles away, to check out their genealogy collection, which I'd been told was quite extensive. Indeed, I did find a large number of books and microfilms, most of which are not relevant to my research. The one collection of books in which I'd hoped to find relevant information bore the promising title: Germans to America: Lists of Passengers Arriving in U.S Ports.
The collection contained two sections. Section I dated from 1850 to 1892 and Section II from 1840 to 1847. There are 73 volumes in the collection, with millions of names. I was only able to search through about 20 of the volumes, and could find no record of any of my German ancestors. First, I looked in the index of each volume to find the name of one or more ancestors. Then I looked up the passenger list to check for the correct ages. There were many names that matched my ancestors' names, but none of the ages matched. Furthermore, I could find no family members on the list, even when I knew some had come with their families. Since I checked all the volumes that matched the time frame in which I knew these ancestors came to America, I'm probably not going to find the information I need in this collection. I've already checked other databases online, the family history center in Utah, census records from 1900 and beyond that list the date of immigration, and any naturalization and death records, which sometimes list immigration dates, with no success.
At this point, I may simply have to accept the fact that I may never find the exact date of immigration of some of my ancestors.
The collection contained two sections. Section I dated from 1850 to 1892 and Section II from 1840 to 1847. There are 73 volumes in the collection, with millions of names. I was only able to search through about 20 of the volumes, and could find no record of any of my German ancestors. First, I looked in the index of each volume to find the name of one or more ancestors. Then I looked up the passenger list to check for the correct ages. There were many names that matched my ancestors' names, but none of the ages matched. Furthermore, I could find no family members on the list, even when I knew some had come with their families. Since I checked all the volumes that matched the time frame in which I knew these ancestors came to America, I'm probably not going to find the information I need in this collection. I've already checked other databases online, the family history center in Utah, census records from 1900 and beyond that list the date of immigration, and any naturalization and death records, which sometimes list immigration dates, with no success.
At this point, I may simply have to accept the fact that I may never find the exact date of immigration of some of my ancestors.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Small World
One of the things I like the most about genealogy is finding distant relatives all over the world. Ancestry.com makes it easy to contact people who share some of your ancestors. As I've said before, in the past, I've heard from cousins of mine and of my husband, and I've reached out to a few distant relatives I've never met.
Just a few days ago, I contacted some Schulien relatives in Illinois when I came across their family tree that listed a common great, great, great grandfather. They responded and offered to answer any questions about the family. I'm also in regular touch with a second cousin in Ohio in the Schulien family (Hi Tim!).
Then, yesterday I received a message through ancestry.com from someone who is a distant relation on the Brennan side of my family. I responded to her and am waiting to hear back. Her message prompted me to do some work on the Brennan side to see how her family is connected to mine.
And now I have contacts in four European countries (Ireland, German, Croatia, and the Czech Republic) who have helped me or are in the process of helping me with my family trees. It amazes me how willing people are to help each other in the arena of genealogy.
Every day, the phrase "small world" becomes more meaningful. And as I've said before, if you go back far enough, we're all related to each other. Maybe that could inspire us to treat each other a little better than we sometimes do.
Just a few days ago, I contacted some Schulien relatives in Illinois when I came across their family tree that listed a common great, great, great grandfather. They responded and offered to answer any questions about the family. I'm also in regular touch with a second cousin in Ohio in the Schulien family (Hi Tim!).
Then, yesterday I received a message through ancestry.com from someone who is a distant relation on the Brennan side of my family. I responded to her and am waiting to hear back. Her message prompted me to do some work on the Brennan side to see how her family is connected to mine.
And now I have contacts in four European countries (Ireland, German, Croatia, and the Czech Republic) who have helped me or are in the process of helping me with my family trees. It amazes me how willing people are to help each other in the arena of genealogy.
Every day, the phrase "small world" becomes more meaningful. And as I've said before, if you go back far enough, we're all related to each other. Maybe that could inspire us to treat each other a little better than we sometimes do.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Ellis Island
As I've mentioned before, my husband's grandparents, Anton Eterovic and Madalena Yeseta, are both from the small island of Brac in Croatia. They came here in 1904 and 1905, and all but two of their siblings had already arrived or joined them at a later date.
Over the months I've gathered information on all but one of the siblings. All of Madalena's siblings came to America, married and raised families.
Anton's brother Joannes and sister Daniela remained in Brac and raised families there. His older brother Nicholas arrived in 1907, but I was unsure of the date of his wife's arrival as she and their two children didn't travel with him. I also had no information on a fourth sibling, the younger sister Maria.
So I returned to the records at Ellis Island where I had so far been unable to find a date of Maria's immigration, if in fact she had come to America. I tired all kinds of spellings for Maria and Eterovic, and finally found her. She had come with Nicholas in 1907, but her first name on the record that had been transcribed from the handwritten manifes was "Marifa." Now I know Marifa is not a Croatian name, and I also know that handwriting can be difficult to read, so I looked at the original handwritten document and I believe it said "Marija" which is the Croatian spelling of Maria. Since she listed her brother Anton as her contact in Los Angeles, I knew I had the right person.
Then I decided to try to find Nicholas's wife and two daughters, Antica and Maria. The name I had for his wife, Karlin, yielded nothing, so I tried the names of his two daughters. Eventually I found two passenger manifests in 1912 with the names Maria and Antica, ages five and six, which would have been correct. On both manifests, the mother's name was Dora. The information regarding next of kin and final destination matched, however, so I was sure I had the right family and either I had the wrong name for Nicholas's wife, or this was a second wife.
At first, I wasn't sure why the same names would show up on two passenger lists, one that arrived in January 1912, and one in February 1912. Then I looked at the original handwritten document for January and could see that the three Eterovic names had been crossed off. All I can surmise is that the three were scheduled to leave in January from Trieste, and either didn't make it in time on their journey from Croatia ("missed the boat" as the saying goes), or for some reason had to change their plans and take a later ship.
So, as often happens, one mystery solved leads to more mysteries. Though I know know that Maria Eterovic came to America with her brother in 1907, I can find no record of her after that. And while I have the date(s) of Nicholas's family arriving in America, I am still unsure of his wife's actual name, and whether he was married once or twice.
As a genealogist friend once told me, "Genealogy is not a sprint, it's a marathon." I agree.
Over the months I've gathered information on all but one of the siblings. All of Madalena's siblings came to America, married and raised families.
Anton's brother Joannes and sister Daniela remained in Brac and raised families there. His older brother Nicholas arrived in 1907, but I was unsure of the date of his wife's arrival as she and their two children didn't travel with him. I also had no information on a fourth sibling, the younger sister Maria.
So I returned to the records at Ellis Island where I had so far been unable to find a date of Maria's immigration, if in fact she had come to America. I tired all kinds of spellings for Maria and Eterovic, and finally found her. She had come with Nicholas in 1907, but her first name on the record that had been transcribed from the handwritten manifes was "Marifa." Now I know Marifa is not a Croatian name, and I also know that handwriting can be difficult to read, so I looked at the original handwritten document and I believe it said "Marija" which is the Croatian spelling of Maria. Since she listed her brother Anton as her contact in Los Angeles, I knew I had the right person.
Then I decided to try to find Nicholas's wife and two daughters, Antica and Maria. The name I had for his wife, Karlin, yielded nothing, so I tried the names of his two daughters. Eventually I found two passenger manifests in 1912 with the names Maria and Antica, ages five and six, which would have been correct. On both manifests, the mother's name was Dora. The information regarding next of kin and final destination matched, however, so I was sure I had the right family and either I had the wrong name for Nicholas's wife, or this was a second wife.
At first, I wasn't sure why the same names would show up on two passenger lists, one that arrived in January 1912, and one in February 1912. Then I looked at the original handwritten document for January and could see that the three Eterovic names had been crossed off. All I can surmise is that the three were scheduled to leave in January from Trieste, and either didn't make it in time on their journey from Croatia ("missed the boat" as the saying goes), or for some reason had to change their plans and take a later ship.
So, as often happens, one mystery solved leads to more mysteries. Though I know know that Maria Eterovic came to America with her brother in 1907, I can find no record of her after that. And while I have the date(s) of Nicholas's family arriving in America, I am still unsure of his wife's actual name, and whether he was married once or twice.
As a genealogist friend once told me, "Genealogy is not a sprint, it's a marathon." I agree.
A visit to the library
On Saturday, my husband Tony and I visited the Los Angeles Public Library. It was the only place I could find a book that would provide the proof I needed that Tony is descended from three Mayflower passengers.
After a two hour drive, and some very helpful librarians, I got my hands on the book. It was kept in a locked room – it's apparently that rare. As I pored over the various pedigrees, I realized the book had what I had hoped for – proof of my husband's Mayflower ancestors. But I found something else in the book I was not expecting to find. I found a photograph of my husband's great great grandparents. It had been taken when they were in their sixties, sometime before 1889, but honestly, in the picture they looked like they were in their nineties. (I don't think people aged well in the 1800s.) Still, it was quite a find.
After I made all the copies I needed, including a couple copies of the photograph, I began to browse through the stacks and found the following book: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and Van Wert Counties, Ohio. Since hundreds of my ancestors lived in Allen and Van Wert Counties, I decided to take a peek. The book was written nearly 100 years ago, and some of its pages were crumbling, so I carefully worked my way through the pages for names I recognized. I found three which gave me more information and names associated with some of my ancestors, though I ran out of time to search any further.
At home, I looked up the Ohio book on WorldCat and found that it's also in the collection at a nearby library, on microfilm, so I'll be heading there soon.
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