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Author Topic: Researching my Irish heritage  (Read 71193 times)
shankdee
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« Reply #90 on: July 12, 2009, 11:49AM »

They say it is an all-engrossing hobby...one of my second cousin's wives  decided to research his family tree....
she did quite a bit of work...found out we had an ancestor called Christian Shank...but now that this thread has got me revved up again, I will go back to her and find out more...this post from MAGGIE...was so revealing about the life and times of those in the earlier centuries...where computers were in the shelves of heaven's knowledge, waiting to be revealed to mankind...I read that Thomas Flanagan...
"THE YEAR OF THE FRENCH"  novelist says you must always use ANY kind of record when writing a historical novel...insurance records are great...burned up in a fire...and the furniture listed will give you an authentic pic of those times, etc...all kinds of records and archive and descriptions, programmes, brochures, pamphlets-any scrap of evidence of earlier times is helpful....

shankdee
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Maggie
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« Reply #91 on: July 12, 2009, 12:57PM »

.....Just the different surnames alone in my ancestry will lead you all over England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The only location that has been pin-pointed is one of the Channel Islands.

The Channel Islands are great to visit, and have an interesting history.
Do you know which island your ancestors were from?

The largest occupied islands are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm.
Three small islands are Jethou, Brecqhou and Lihou.

Those different surnames in your family can tell a lot about where they were from.
For instance, names such as Ambler and Smales are usually found in Yorkshire.
Illingworth is from Lancashire.
Some names of Viking origin are still found around East Yorkshire, where the Vikings landed.
Norman names are more common around South East England, where the Normans landed.

The name Washington is from the town of Washington in Tyne and Wear, Northeast England.
George Washington's ancestors lived in Washington Old Hall.



 
« Last Edit: July 12, 2009, 01:03PM by Maggie » Logged
Maggie
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« Reply #92 on: July 12, 2009, 01:32PM »

They say it is an all-engrossing hobby...one of my second cousin's wives  decided to research his family tree....
she did quite a bit of work...found out we had an ancestor called Christian Shank...but now that this thread has got me revved up again, I will go back to her and find out more...

Regarding Christian Shank.....you may find this link interesting.
It's in a book about the History of the Leitersburg District, Washington County, Maryland.
Don't worry about the German Language, it is translated below the list of names.
There are more bits about Christian Shank on following pages, so persevere.
Scroll back to page 136, and start reading under "Millers Mennonite Church" up to "Reformed Mennonite"

http://books.google.com/books?id=0vnvwvIicacC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=Christian+Shank+History&source=bl&ots=egaXIqhvpb&sig=ArbH320vytHvDpq6buIN3L-ML4s&hl=en&ei=DTRaSt3JKI6EmQftsc3lAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2

Just by reading a few pages, you will learn that a house built in 1820 by Henry Shank was used as a Mennonite Meeting House. There are other mentions of Henry and his wife.....Henry, who lived in Antrim Township, died in 1875 and left $500 to the Congregation. There is also a mention of Frederick Shank.

Quote:
"but this can not be positively stated John Barr Jacob Miller and John Strite all of whom were Mennonites located in the District prior to 1800 and Christian Shank in 1812. Among the most prominent and numerous Mennonite families in the adjacent Districts were the Shanks, Newcomers, Hoovers, Bachtels, Hoffmans, Weltys and Eshlemans."

Research is very rewarding, but it takes time and patience. You have to be prepared to spend time reading documents, finding clues and digging back.
What I have found is that many people are impatient....that's why so many of them pay Ancestry.com and other businesses to do the research for them.
It's much more fun, and more accurate, to do it yourself.

I can understand paying someone if you really don't have time and don't know where to start.
I can understand the Companies charging big bucks, they have to do a lot of work. They don't have a magic formula, you have access to the same information they do, if you know where to look.

All I did to find out about the Shanks was put "Christian Shank" in a Google search.

A comparison: yesterday I saw a lady in our local Publix buying cubed ham in a shrink-wrapped pack.
Next to the cubed ham were ham steaks and other cuts. I compared the price......she had just paid 3 times the price to have someone cut up a bit of ham for her..... Roll Eyes Roll Eyes Roll Eyes


« Last Edit: July 12, 2009, 01:55PM by Maggie » Logged
shankdee
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« Reply #93 on: July 12, 2009, 01:51PM »

Oh, thanks, Maggie, you have some good resources...my own grandpa EZRA Shank was born in IOWa IN 1867...TWO YEARS AFTER Appomatox... so about HIS parents, we know very little...except his mother was Nancy Hunter from Ireland.

I will pursue when time allows..


shankdee
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Anderpaw
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« Reply #94 on: July 12, 2009, 03:07PM »

Abraham Le Maistre (my mom's ancestor from her dad's side of the family) was born on the Isle of Jersey in 1636. Apparently there is research that shows the Le Maistre family in France as early as the late 12th century.
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Maggie
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« Reply #95 on: July 12, 2009, 05:07PM »

Abraham Le Maistre (my mom's ancestor from her dad's side of the family) was born on the Isle of Jersey in 1636. Apparently there is research that shows the Le Maistre family in France as early as the late 12th century.

Have you already seen this?
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/r/o/Ann-Brown/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0122.html

You might find this useful:
http://user.itl.net/~glen/CIResearch.html#faq4

« Last Edit: July 12, 2009, 05:09PM by Maggie » Logged
Anderpaw
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« Reply #96 on: July 12, 2009, 07:07PM »

Thanks for the info, Maggie. Unfortunately, I couldn't access those links through my cell phone. I'll have to wait until I can get on a PC.
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kathleen
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« Reply #97 on: August 23, 2009, 06:15PM »

alright....doing some research on my husbands family.

the Caseys and the Stewarts. Both are grandmothers of my husband Paul.

Casey's seem to hail from Kinsale Ireland.

Still working on the Stewarts. Stewarts orignally from Scotland.
But I am not sure which clan of Stewarts. Maybe the Gartnafurean group. Or the Alexander Stewarts from Londonderry. Either...several are kinda mean guys. It reads like a soap opera either way!


family.....
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Maggie
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« Reply #98 on: August 24, 2009, 05:55PM »

alright....doing some research on my husbands family.
the Caseys and the Stewarts. Both are grandmothers of my husband Paul.
Casey's seem to hail from Kinsale Ireland.
Still working on the Stewarts. Stewarts orignally from Scotland.

For your sake, Kathleen, I hope Paul is more "Casey of Kinsale" than Stewart of Scotland. Wink

http://www.clanstewart.org/History/FamilyHistory.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Stewart

The Stewarts and Campbells make the Hatfields and McCoys look like a friendly little brawl! Cheesy

Kinsale is a lovely little town......he should take you back to grandma's one of these days....
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shankdee
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« Reply #99 on: August 24, 2009, 06:21PM »

 ;)The Stewarts and Campbells make the Hatfields and McCoys look like a friendly little brawl! Quote (Maggie)

   I was always told it was the Campbells and the MacDonalds...in fact when my Scottish friend
   went to a week-end dance club in Scotland a man asked her to dance. While they were dancing
   he asked her  her name...she told him Barbara MacDonald...he stepped back, dropped her hands and
   said, "We should have finished every last one of you"..She stepped back and looked him in the eye
  and said, "Every other inch of you is a gentleman" and they parted...oh well...so much for dance night
  at the club.

shankdee
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Maggie
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« Reply #100 on: August 25, 2009, 11:51PM »

  I was always told it was the Campbells and the MacDonalds...in fact when my Scottish friend
   went to a week-end dance club in Scotland a man asked her to dance. While they were dancing
   he asked her  her name...she told him Barbara MacDonald...he stepped back, dropped her hands and
   said, "We should have finished every last one of you"..She stepped back and looked him in the eye
  and said, "Every other inch of you is a gentleman" and they parted...oh well...so much for dance night
  at the club.shankdee

Yes indeed, the Campbells and MacDonalds have carried on their feud for 317 years, since the massacre at Glencoe.
What the MacDonalds found so unforgiveable about the massacre was it was carried out under the pretence of hospitality, while the MacDonalds were sleeping.
However, the Campbells were also at war with the Stewarts...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Stewart_(Jacobite)
if there is one Nation whose people have fought each other as long as the Irish, it's the Scots. It's a Celtic thing......

Here 310 years after the massacre, the acrimony flared once again when a Campbell was put in charge of a new centre commemorating Glencoe:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1392533/Glencoe-Campbell-joined-by-a-MacDonald.html

Got to love this quote from Hector MacDonald, a Highland Historian:
"I have nothing against the Campbells but I wouldn't stay the night in the company of one."

A clan Map of Scotland, click on it to enlarge: (may take a few seconds to load)
http://www.scottishradiance.com/clanmapf.htm

« Last Edit: August 26, 2009, 02:41AM by Maggie » Logged
shankdee
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« Reply #101 on: August 26, 2009, 01:04AM »

 Wink  GREAT FINDS...and  I will come back to this and study your links, Maggie

     I am on my way to renew my Driver's license..


shankdee
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shankdee
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"We were all talking about you" said Lisa Kelly


« Reply #102 on: August 27, 2009, 02:19AM »

Wink  GREAT FINDS...and  I will come back to this and study your links, Maggie

     I am on my way to renew my Driver's license..


shankdee

Well, I am back...I never knew exactly why the man who asked Barbara Macdonald to dance said what he did,but
apparently it goes WAAAAAY BACK !! thanks for those links...I still want to read even more about the masscre..curious
as to why they turned on them and killed them while they were sleeping ! !!  That Clan map was interesting..
thanks for posting these links, Maggie.

shankdee
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shankdee
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"We were all talking about you" said Lisa Kelly


« Reply #103 on: August 27, 2009, 02:32AM »

 Shocked  http://www.heartoscotland.com/Categories/CampbellsandMacDonalds.htm

Here is another link I found...still want to read more, but that book on Amazon costs 35.00...That is how much I
spent on TAIKO...the book I am reading now about Feudal Samarai times...engrossing to say the least...

shankdee
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Maggie
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« Reply #104 on: August 27, 2009, 03:27AM »

Here is another link I found...still want to read more, but that book on Amazon costs 35.00...That is how much I
spent on TAIKO...the book I am reading now about Feudal Samarai times...engrossing to say the least...

You can buy a very good used copy for $4.60 on the Amazon site.
I have bought ex-Library books from Thrift Books on there, with no problems.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0750923741/ref=nosim/?tag=heartofscotla-20&link_code=as3&creative=373489&camp=211189

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