New Ross DNA cousin connections

Experiencing genealogy excitement is a feeling that only other genealogists can appreciate. I've recently had some of more of those feels, when I heard back from a woman I had messaged on Ancestry.

I had discovered a previously unknown 2nd great uncle, Thomas William Ross (b abt 1814 in Scotland), mentioned here, who had gone to St Vincent in the Caribbean in the 1800s. On Ancestry, I found two other trees that mention him. I contacted both tree owners, and heard back from one of them. My newest DNA cousin tells me that it is her family's belief that Thomas fathered a child while in St Vincent, and that he is her 3rd great grandfather. DNA testing that shows that in addition to African DNA, she also has British and Irish DNA.

Off I went to start research of St Vincent records, only to quickly screech to a halt. Genealogy research of St Vincent records is very challenging. Much hasn't been digitized, and there is also the reality that record keeping was less than complete there in the 19th century.

My newest DNA cousin thinks that Thomas returned to Scotland in the 1860s, but I can't find any trace of him in Scotland's People, or looking in the UK's BMD census records. So far. It may take time, but I'm very hopeful that I'll eventually find out whatever happened to great great uncle Thomas.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to finding out more about his likely descendants, that sprang from the child he is believed to have fathered in St Vincent. While I'll work on establishing some contact with the St Vincent Archives, I hope to get more information from my latest DNA cousin and will try not to ask too many questions all at once in my excitement.

If you're a descendant of my ancestor great uncle, please contact me, using the email link to the right on this page.

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Surnames A-Z: L-M

A 2017 Facebook meme had people listing their their mother's maiden name, father's surname, maternal and paternal grandparents' surnames, and sometimes even a few more generations back. By any norms, a bit too much information in this cyber age. 

Just think how many security questions ask for your mother's maiden name. And let's not even get into having that information on your Facebook wall, especially if you have your settings set to public (instead of friends only). You don't do that, do you? 

In a series of posts, I'm listing my direct ancestors' surnames, starting with "A" and going through to "Y" -- I have no direct or indirect "Z" ancestors. So far. 

We may share a surname, but this doesn't necessarily mean we're related, but if you think we are, please contact me using the email link on the right side of this post.

My "L" surnames:

• (de) Lacey
• La Zouche
• Langdale
• Lappadge
• Layton
• Leonard
• Linnell
• Linton
• Lockhead
• Logan
• Lombard
• (de) Louvain
• (de) Lusignan
• Le Despenser
• Lyman

My "M" surnames:

• MacMurrough
• Mahieu
• Marshal
• Matheson
• Mayhew
• McDonald
• McKenzie
• McLaughlin
• McLean
• Mendall
• Milvin or Melvin
• Montacute or Montague
• Moor or Moore
• Morrison
• Mortimer
• Mowbray
• (de) Multon
• Munn
• Musters

The never ending story continues....

© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Caroline family descendants in Chicago

The family name Caroline confuses some, who think that it is a given name. It's also a surname though. The original Irish is Carolan. My forebears seem to have used the Caroline spelling even before they left Ireland in the early 19th century.

Three sisters, some of my 1st cousins 3x removed Granby-born Caroline cousin ancestors sought new lives in Chicago, which was, and remains to this day, a great Irish town. I first wrote about those Caroline cousins here.

The first of my cousins to settle in Chicago was Mary Jane Caroline (1843-1921), who seems to have arrived there about 1880, with her Irish-born husband, Michael Healy (1838-1905) and their five surviving children. Two more children would be born in Chicago. Michael reported his occupation as a carpenter.

Here is Mary with three of her grown sons in the 1920 census in Chicago.

There were no published notices when either Mary Ann died in 1921 or Michael died in 1905.

It seems likely that Mary Jane's younger sister Rose A. Caroline (abt 1855-1926) travelled with them as an unmarried young woman, as she also starts to appear in Chicago from about 1882.

They were joined in about 1885 by their eldest sister Elizabeth Caroline (1847-1906), her husband Thomas Robinson Hale (1851-1906) and their only son, Frank. Yes, both Elizabeth and Thomas died in 1906. Here they are in the 1900 Chicago census.

When Elizabeth died, there was just this small notice in the Chicago Daily Tribune:

Rose married Elmer E. Holden in 1886 in Chicago, she reported on a census. Here is Rose's 1926 death notice from the Chicago Daily Tribune. Here is one example where Carlin is used, although it is not a spelling that she used. And yes, she outlived both her sons.


Between the three sisters, they bore a total of 13 children, of whom 10 survived into adulthood. But of those 10, only three had children, and I've been unable to accurately trace those children.

Most of the Healy children, I found in my research, adopted the spelling Haley as they became adults in Chicago, making my research challenging. I imagine the name Haley sounded the way Healy was pronounced.

The bottom line is that the three sisters left few descendants beyond their own offspring. The trail ends. So far.

Like my Dougherty and McCorkell relatives who settled in Cincinnati, I'm left wondering what first drew my Caroline cousins away from Granby to Chicago.

The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Being a Plantagenent descendant isn't that special after all

I love being a Plantagenet descendant. I've said so before.

Wait. What? "...somewhere between 80 and 95 per cent of the living English-descended population of England shares some ancestry with the Plantagenet kings of the 14th century and before..."

That quote is attributed to British author Ian Mortimer in his 2006 book, The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. Yes, 12 years ago. And I only came across it now in a 2015 (Yes, three years ago. I know!) item, 5 things you (probably) didn't know about the Plantagenents on History Extra, the website of British History magazine and BBC World Histories magazine. 

I knew I'm one of millions of descendants, but between 80 and 95 per cent? Wow. 

Those five things? I knew three of the five things. Despite the many books I've read about my Plantagenets. 

But it turns out that being a Plantagenet isn't that special after all. 

Ian Mortimer's book is now on my "must read" list. 

The never ending story continues....







© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

The Ancients -- Edward III

(first published in early 2017) 

This is a post I've meant to get to. But yesterday I caught the November 2016 episode of the UK Who Do You Think You Are with Danny Dyer of EastEnders (no, I don't watch it). When the very entertaining episode aired it, was hailed by many, including The Guardian (!) as the best WDYTYA episode ever.

Anyway, it turns out that cockney Danny Dyer and I both descend from Edward III (1312-1377), along with millions of others, but still....another one of those Plantagenets. Edward III is my 20th great grandfather, and Danny's 22nd great grandfather. We share another direct ancestor, Henry "Hotspur" Percy (1364-1403), but that's another story for another blog post down the road. Danny is also a direct descendant of Thomas Cromwell, but I'm not, so back to Edward III.

Edward was only 14 when he ascended to the throne.

My descent from Edward is through his youngest son, Thomas of Woodstock (1355-1397)

Back to Danny. Watch the WDYTYA episode. It's a gem.

The never ending story continues.....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

Surnames A-Z: G, H, K, J, K

A 2017 Facebook meme had people listing their their mother's maiden name, father's surname, maternal and paternal grandparents' surnames, and sometimes even a few more generations back. By any norms, a bit too much information in this cyber age. 

Just think how many security questions ask for your mother's maiden name. And let's not even get into having that information on your Facebook wall, especially if you have your settings set to public (instead of friends only). You don't do that, do you? 

In a series of posts, I'm listing my direct ancestors' surnames, starting with "A" and going through to "Y" -- I have no direct or indirect "Z" ancestors. So far. 

We may share a surname, but this doesn't necessarily mean we're related, but if you think we are, please contact me using the email link on the right side of this post.

My "G" surnames:

• (de) Gael
• Gallion
• Gascoigne
• (de) Geneville
• (de) Ghent
• Gilmore
• Godfrey
• Goff
• Goodspeed
• Gordon
• Grandison
• (de) Grandmesnil
• Greenfield
• Griswold

My "H" surnames:

• (de) Haineault
• Harris
• Hart
• Hatch
• Heath
• Hewes
• Hinksman
• Hobart
• Hodgson
• Hopkins
• How
• Howes
• Hulins

My "J" surnames:

• Janes
• Johnson
• Judd

My "K" surnames:

• Kent
• Kingston
• Kirton
• Knowles
• Knox

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved