In the post “real people not just names”, I considered matters such as the education, diet, clothing and entertainment of my ancestors. I need to go further. I am also interested in what they believed. Not just about religion. Did they think that the earth was flat? Did they hold with folk tales about the…
All posts by Keith Stanley
Real people – not just names
Developing a deeper understanding of relatives can be quite important in tracing their movements. For example, if you own land then you are likely to stay in one place. If you are a tenant then moving is easier. Indeed, you may be given no choice by the landlord. Many tenant farmers were evicted when their…
Benefits of sharing
A distant relative shared some information about the early days of the Kelly and McHugh ancestors in America. This took place a few years ago. I learnt that members of the family ended up in Marshall, Michigan. Some stayed there, whilst others (e.g. Patrick McHugh and his wife Catherine Kelly) moved south to Missouri. Susan…
Susan Kelly revisited
Having drawn a blank on both Theodore Kelly (see ‘The wrong Theodore’) and John Kelly (see ‘Thank you Thomas Cromwell’), I have looked again at Susan Kelly. Susan married Jeremiah Cronin in Michigan in the late 1850s, just prior to the establishment of a central recording system for the State. She stayed in Marshall, Calhoun…
Thank you, Thomas Cromwell
I have become well used to the absence of records in Ireland. Only fragments of 19th century census returns have survived. Practicing Catholicism was illegal for many years. This is a powerful disincentive to the keeping of records. Even in the subsequent period, there are many gaps in parish records, and a knowledge of Latin…
The wrong Theodore
The 1880 (American) Census shows Susan Cronin (nee Kelly), her husband Jeremiah and six children living in Marshall, Calhoun, Michigan. Staying with them are Anna McHugh (daughter of Susan’s sister Catherine) and two other members of the Kelly clan. Jessie Kelly was 10, born in Nebraska. Both her parents were both born in Ireland. As…
More on DNA
I am posting this in the hope that someone will either confirm my theories or tell me that I am completely wrong. If I share a single 3 cM segment of DNA with someone, then there is a 97% probability that it is due to random factors. Turning it round, there is only a 3%…
Looking for faint stars
It seems that most of the DNA evidence that I have at present is like trying to identify very faint stars on a dark night. You know that they are there, but you cannot be certain exactly what you are seeing. Is it a star, or a figment of your imagination? We want to discover…
Double checking – part 2
This is the second post (see Double checking – part 1 for the rest of the story) following up, and correcting, my post titled ‘Definitely related’ (Dated September 2020), in which I recorded the following: John (born 1866, son of GGF John) is staying in Dewsbury with Catherine (b 1851-1857 – his half-sister) at the…
Double checking – part 1
In the post titled ‘Definitely related’ (Dated September 2020), I recorded the following: John (born 1866, son of GGF John) is staying in Dewsbury with Catherine (b 1851-1857 – his half-sister) at the time of the 1891 census. He married Catherine (or Kate) Delaney in Dewsbury later that same year. She was born in Ireland.…