My Trails into the Past

The ship list for the arrival of the Jerry and Mary (Sheehan) Sullivan family has been elusive. The common name is not helpful. They had nine children. One would think with that many children, the ship list could be found, but all the names of the children are common as well, so searching for them makes it difficult, too. One of the strategies I use when trying to solve a tough problem is to review previous research with a distinct focus. My research question is “When did the Jerry & Mary Sullivan family arrive in the U.S.?” Review Census Records The first census that Jerry and Mary were enumerated in was in 1870 in Franklin Township, Houghton County, Michigan. Four children lived with them: Jeremiah, 12; Daniel, 11; Peter, 10; and Michael, 9 months. All are born in Ireland except Michael. This suggests they came to the U.S. between 1861 and 1869. [1] The 1880 census in Moran Township, Todd County, Minnesota, has three of the above children living with them: Daniel, 20, Peter, 18, ...

One cannot begin to research our German ancestors in Germany unless we have a clue to their German hometown. This is because there is no country-wide resource in Germany that covers German-speaking areas in Europe. We have our U.S. Federal Census that helps us locate where in the country our ancestors might live. There wasn’t even a German state until 1871. Before that, there were small independent kingdoms, principalities, duchies, bishoprics, and lands. When we know the hometown, then we can research in records in that location. But first, we must discover the hometown name in U.S. records. Ship Arrival List One place to start is locating a ship arrival record. I found a record that might name my great-grandfather, Johan Anton Hork. A Joh. Hork appeared on the SS Idaho from Liverpool on 5 November 1870. He was 27 years old and from Germany. [1] Johan Anton Hork was not found in the 1870 census, so this is a possibility I have found a good match. However, no exact location of his ...

Researching our family trees brings me great joy when I find extended cousins. The best way to discover these third, fourth, and even fifth cousins is to put your genealogy out there. I do that by having a tree on Ancestry and by writing about family on my two blogs. I have two trees on Ancestry. One is private and is a complete tree that I uploaded several years ago. The other tree is a public tree of my direct lines to be used for DNA matching. I should probably upload a new private tree because I have made changes and additions. I have also uploaded a direct line tree for my husband’s DNA matching. Cousin Bait I primarily use Ancestry to access the wonderful records and only occasionally look at other members’ family trees. But that can be a mistake. Looking at their trees helps you connect with cousins, cousins who might have photos, documents, letters, and other interesting items about the family. Back in 2019, I reached out to a member who had Davey names in her tree. I a...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment tonight from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1) Which of your ancestors was the LAST immigrant to your current country?  When did they arrive?  Where did they arrive?  Why did they migrate?    Here’s mine: The last ancestor of mine to arrive in the United States would be my paternal great-grandmother, Anna Maria Gleeson , who came to the United States perhaps in 1879 from Canada with her parents, John Gleeson and Margaret Tierney, and her nine siblings. They settled in Dakota Territory in Davison County. Now, where they came in is a mystery. Four of the family filed Intent to Naturalize and gave conflicting dates and places of immigration. Name Immigration  Date Immigration  Place Date of  Intent Age at  immigration Age at  1 st paper ...

Vincent Sievert, with his wife and son, sailed from Hamburg to New York City aboard the Bark Johanna Elise in 1850. From there, they traveled to Joliet, Illinois. Two years later, his two sister and one brother came with their families and settled nearby . I became curious about how my ancestors moved from one place to another. There are many things to take into consideration when trying discover how they traveled. What was the distance between the two places? Where there any barriers between the places, such as mountains, rivers, or even the ocean? What technological advances have been made for transportation? What kind of ships? Where there railroads? Was canal or river travel the common method? Knowing about the history and geography of the area is important. I like to locate maps to show the topography and gazetteers to discover the infrastructure of the area. Where there train stations? Were there stagecoach line between local cities? However, I have not located a local gazetteer...

This is my fourth year working on this year-long 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. When thinking about genealogy beginnings, the arrival of immigrant families to America could be a beginning of our family history in the United States. For some of my lines, I know who the immigrant ancestors are. Their arrival in the 19 th century were documented by ship arrival records. For others, who were here before the American Revolution, I have no idea of their beginnings. Three-eighths of my children’s ancestors fall under this category. They include my mother’s southern ancestors and my husband’s Gorrell, Wollam, Shotts, and Bishop ancestors. But I can write about the other five-eighths of their ancestors. My father’s ancestors arrived here from Ireland, Canada (who were Iris...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's Saturday Night again - time for some more Genealogy Fun !!     Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has given us another assignment: Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 1)  Tell us about one of your immigrant ancestors.  Where and when did they come from, how did they migrate, where did they land, where did they settle? 2)  Share your immigrant ancestor information in your own blog post, on Facebook, and leave a link to it in the comments. Thank you to Linda Stufflebean for suggesting this topic. I haven’t written about Martin Gleeson, my 3x-great-grandfather. He was born in Ireland between 1787–1891 and died in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada on 9 October 1859. [1] He married Ann Gleeson, sometime before 1821 if they married before the birth of their first known child, Michael Gleeson, who was born about 1821. [2] She does not appear in any r...