How to Use a Family Tree to Determine Your Origins
You would think you would know your origins before you started your family tree.
Even if you are pretty sure about that, you will get surprises while on your search for your ancestors.
I was pretty sure of my origins as I had always been told that us kids were all Irish.
Our parents and grandparents and other ancestors were born in Ireland.
I cannot find them all yet as the records are not online.
The only sure way now to find your ancestors in Ireland is to visit or write the churches.
However, you must know the townland that your ancestors lived in.
Not so easy.
There are over 60,000 townlands in that small country.
Researching for my husband is a different story.
His father and paternal ancestors all came from Denmark and I am finding some of those online.
Someone has already put a family tree on the Mormon Church site.
I have not sent for those confirming documents.
The Danish site is now translated into English making that much easier.
His mother has a most unusual name.
It is a common noun, the name of a thing.
I could find no matches in the United States or Ireland where my husband said she came from.
I subscribe to several RootsWeb websites and newsletters and after about five years, some kind soul wrote that I was looking for a family with a similar name in County Cavan in Ireland.
There are people with the surname in County Cavan Ireland, so I called and wrote them.
I am still not sure they are the right folks.
Some of the family went to Australia, but several emails and letters to them have not been answered.
So far, I cannot find the great grandparents, but I think they came from Cornwall.
Another beautiful country to research.
The grandparents seem to have emigrated from Cornwall to County Cavan after 1829.
Cornwall censuses are online from 1841.
I did find records of two brothers born in 1829 and 1831 in Ireland.
When Ireland puts those church records online, maybe I will be able to at least find them all together.
The best thing to do is to find the whole family together in a census and so far I have not been able to do that.
There are many Cornish records online.
One I looked at was Cornish Mining Index.
None of the possible unusual name I was looking for but several of a close spelling.
You can see the name, place of birth, age and year.
Many volunteers have transcribed the Cornwall census and they are online free of charge for 1841-1891 with the 1901 census index only free.
I found many possible records with similar names.
Finding what occupation your ancestors used is very exciting.
You have to look up some of the words used such as trammer in coal pit and joiner who worked in wood and carpentry.
Part of the fun of genealogy is learning about the cultures of different countries where our ancestors lived.
Even more fun is traveling to them.
Try to learn everything possible about your family here in the United States before sailing across the sea.
When you have enough material to start the family tree, you will be able to readily see where you and your family originated.
Even if you are pretty sure about that, you will get surprises while on your search for your ancestors.
I was pretty sure of my origins as I had always been told that us kids were all Irish.
Our parents and grandparents and other ancestors were born in Ireland.
I cannot find them all yet as the records are not online.
The only sure way now to find your ancestors in Ireland is to visit or write the churches.
However, you must know the townland that your ancestors lived in.
Not so easy.
There are over 60,000 townlands in that small country.
Researching for my husband is a different story.
His father and paternal ancestors all came from Denmark and I am finding some of those online.
Someone has already put a family tree on the Mormon Church site.
I have not sent for those confirming documents.
The Danish site is now translated into English making that much easier.
His mother has a most unusual name.
It is a common noun, the name of a thing.
I could find no matches in the United States or Ireland where my husband said she came from.
I subscribe to several RootsWeb websites and newsletters and after about five years, some kind soul wrote that I was looking for a family with a similar name in County Cavan in Ireland.
There are people with the surname in County Cavan Ireland, so I called and wrote them.
I am still not sure they are the right folks.
Some of the family went to Australia, but several emails and letters to them have not been answered.
So far, I cannot find the great grandparents, but I think they came from Cornwall.
Another beautiful country to research.
The grandparents seem to have emigrated from Cornwall to County Cavan after 1829.
Cornwall censuses are online from 1841.
I did find records of two brothers born in 1829 and 1831 in Ireland.
When Ireland puts those church records online, maybe I will be able to at least find them all together.
The best thing to do is to find the whole family together in a census and so far I have not been able to do that.
There are many Cornish records online.
One I looked at was Cornish Mining Index.
None of the possible unusual name I was looking for but several of a close spelling.
You can see the name, place of birth, age and year.
Many volunteers have transcribed the Cornwall census and they are online free of charge for 1841-1891 with the 1901 census index only free.
I found many possible records with similar names.
Finding what occupation your ancestors used is very exciting.
You have to look up some of the words used such as trammer in coal pit and joiner who worked in wood and carpentry.
Part of the fun of genealogy is learning about the cultures of different countries where our ancestors lived.
Even more fun is traveling to them.
Try to learn everything possible about your family here in the United States before sailing across the sea.
When you have enough material to start the family tree, you will be able to readily see where you and your family originated.
