On this Day: What were your ancestors doing? – 52 Ancestors #10

October 30, 2019October 29, 2019 / cathmary1030 / 1 Comment

So, today is my birthday, and taking a hint from other #52Ancestors posts (here, here and here), I wondered what were my ancestors doing on 30 October 1919?

And immediately the question arises — which of my ancestors were alive 100 years ago today? Let’s see…

This is my dad’s side. Dad, obviously, was not yet alive; his mom was approaching her 12th birthday. His dad Cassius was almost 15 and therefore was in high school — the first family member to attend and graduate. Both of Cassius’ parents were alive, but none of his grandparents. Margaret’s father William was alive; William’s parents were deceased. Margaret’s mother Eileen had died, but her grandfather Charles was still alive in Athea, Co. Limerick, where he was a farmer, living with two of his younger children.

Dad_Ancestors

On my mom’s side, both her parents were alive, and living in the Healdsburg, Sonoma, California area. Each was 5 years old. Both sets of their parents were living. I don’t know if Giuseppe Diamantini’s parents were still alive back in Fano, Italy, but possibly not as they would have been born no later than, say, 1852, if not earlier.

Maria Bolognesi’s parents were dead, and Hazel (Englehart) Holst’s mother had been deceased over a decade. Peter Holst and his wife Caroline, and Sam Englehart, who crossed the Great Plains to California with his family as a little boy were both still living. Sam was in Healdsburg, living in the house his late sister had bequeathed him, and working odd jobs. Peter and Caroline were in the hills just outside Healdsburg, growing grapes and running a small but thriving winery.

Mom_Ancestors

So, in summary, this is the count of my ancestors alive 100 years ago today.

0 – parents

4 – grandparents (ranging in age from 5 to almost 15)

7 – great-grandparents

4 – great-great grandparents

Peter Nicholas Holst’s father reportedly lived to at least 97 years of age; based on Peter’s birth year, I estimated Peter (Sr.) to be born c 1822, and died c 1919 — so he might have been alive on 30 October 1919. He would have been living in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein (Germany now and at the time — but Denmark when he was born).

Part I – My dad’s side

My father’s father

Name: Cassius Dempsey

Born: December 1904 in San Francisco

Age: 14

Occupation: high school student

Location: San Francisco, California

Children: None at the time

Did I know him? Yes. He died when I was 31 years old. I did not see him often, though, as we lived in Florida and Texas in my childhood.

What was going on in his life at the time? He was likely in school, and he possibly worked odd jobs after school. He likely heard about the Chicago “Black Sox” throwing the World Series, and could have played sports at school, or with the neighborhood boys.

Y-Line Haplogroup: Haplogroup information keeps changing as the science gets better and the data set grows. Obtained from one of his grandsons, and depending on how you label it, it’s either R-ZS8379 or, further downstream (per http://ytree.net today) R-BY11707. Closest relatives all have the Molloy surname; historically, the Irish clans of Molloy and Dempsey came from the Co. Offaly area.

mtDNA Haplogroup: Unknown at this time.

My father’s paternal grandparents

Name: William John Dempsey and Mary Erma Lamburth

Born: 1869 and 1867, respectively, both in San Francisco

Age: 50 and 52, respectively

Occupation: Storekeeper (pump company), and housewife, respectively

Location: San Francisco, California

Children: 7 children; 6 living on 30 October 1919

Did I know them? No. William died about 6 months after my father was born. Mary died while my father was still in high school.

What was going on in their lives at the time? He was likely in school, and he possibly worked odd jobs after school. He likely heard about the Chicago “Black Sox” throwing the World Series, and could have played sports at school, or with the neighborhood boys.

Y-Line Haplogroup: William’s haplogroup was R-ZS8379 (or, more recently) R-BY11707.

mtDNA Haplogroup: Unknown at this time for either William (who had only brothers) or Mary.

My father’s mother

Name: Margaret Colbert

Born: January 1908 in San Francisco

Age: 11

Occupation: student

Location: San Francisco, California

Children: None at the time

Did I know her? Yes. She died on my 22nd birthday. I did not see her often; the last time was in summer 1976, when I was 14.

What was going on in her life at the time? She was probably in school, and lived at home with her 2 older sisters, her younger brother, and her widowed father. (She was just shy of her 4th birthday when her mother died.) Her paternal aunt Nan, her paternal uncle Jack, and her maternal aunt Margaret lived near enough that she probably saw them regularly.

mtDNA Haplogroup: W1c (inferred, based on her son’s test, and grandchildren of her daughter)

My father’s maternal grandfather

Name: William Cornelius Colbert

Born: January 1877, near Athea, Co. Limerick, Ireland

Age: 42

Occupation: Teamster – municipal works (not sure what that means; it comes from the 1920 census)

Location: San Francisco, California

Children: 4 children; all living on 30 October 1919

Did I know him? No. William died in October 1931, before my grandmother even married, let alone had her children.

What was going on in their lives at the time?

Y-Line Haplogroup: Unknown at this time.

mtDNA Haplogroup: Unknown at this time.

My grandmother’s maternal grandfather

Name: Charles Houlihan

Born: about 1832, probably Co. Limerick, Ireland

Age: about 87

Occupation: Farmer

Location: Athea, Co. Limerick, Ireland

Children: 5 children; at least 2 living on 30 October 1919 (in U.S.). 2 more living in Athea as of 1911 who could’ve been alive in 1919.

Did I know him? No. Charles died in 1924. In fact, my grandmother never knew him either.

What was going on in their lives at the time? The daily life of farming in a rural community. From the census taken in 1911, I know that he was Roman Catholic, and that he was able to read and write, both in English and Irish.

Y-Line Haplogroup: Unknown at this time.

mtDNA Haplogroup: Unknown at this time.

To be continued, with my mother’s side…

William Colbert, First of 13 children : 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, #7

February 12, 2019October 28, 2019 / cathmary1030 / 2 Comments

Prompt for 2019, week 1 — “First”.

My great-grandfather, William Cornelius (aka Willie) Colbert, was the eldest of 13 children. He was baptized on 31 January 1877, in Moanlena, Mahoonagh Parish, Co. Limerick, Ireland, to Michael Colbert and Hanora Josephine McDermott.[1]

william colbert baptism record_mahoonagh parish_limerickgenealogy

William had 7 sisters, and 5 brothers, one of whom was Con Colbert, who was executed on 8 May 1916, after the Easter Uprising.[2]

Sometime in 1890 or early 1891, the family moved from Moanlena to Athea, as William’s youngest two siblings, Dan and Bridget, were baptized at Templetathea West, Athea parish, Co. Limerick. Williams’ mother Hanora died in childbirth with the last child born, Bridget, on 17 Sep 1892.

As a young adult, Willie became attracted to a young dairy maid named Eileen Houlihan, daughter of Charles Houlihan and Anna Carmody, also of Athea, Co. Limerick. The story goes that William’s father Michael wanted no part of William being involved with Eileen, so Michael paid the passage for Eileen to go to San Francisco[3], where her older sister Margaret had immigrated to in 1897.[4]

As one might suspect, that got Michael nowhere, as Willie soon headed to San Francisco himself. I found a passenger record for a William Colbert from Athea, who traveled to New York from Queenstown on the SS Etruria in July 1899, at the age of 22[5]. That fits with what I know of my great-grandfather. It also fits with the stated immigration date given on the 1910 Federal Census.

nyt715_76-0252

Here is a zoomed-in look at the same record:

passlist_zoom

However, what doesn’t fit William is his stated final destination: the home of his sister Maggie Collins, at 513 Hicks Street, Brooklyn, New York. While William did have a sister Margaret, she was only 15 and living in Ireland in 1899. And given that Eileen’s sister Margaret was already in San Francisco for roughly 2 years when Eileen traveled to the U.S., Eileen had no reason to stop in Brooklyn either. In other words, Margaret Houlihan was not Maggie Collins/Cullins. Finally, William was aiming to meet up with Eileen, so why delay in Brooklyn? Long story short, this may or may not be “my” William Colbert. Some facts fit, some do not.

In any case, Willie is not found on the 1901 Irish census, and by November 1901 he had met up with Eileen in San Francisco, as the filing of their marriage license on 7 November 1901 was recorded in the newspaper.[6]

williamcolbertmarriagelicenseinfo

William and Eileen lived fairly close to each other, as the image below indicates. It was a half-mile walk from one house to the other. (The addresses are based on the newspaper article above.)

mapwherewillieandeileenlivedin1901

William Colbert and Eileen (Houlihan) Colbert, my great-grandparents, ca. 1901

Their first child was Marie Honora, born 27 May 1902. She was followed by Anita in 1903, my grandmother Margaret in 1908 (click here for the profile on her), and William in 1910.[7]

In May 1905, two of William’s siblings, John Michael and Johanna (aka Nan), sailed together on the SS Campania from Queenstown, Co. Cork, Ireland to New York, and then traveled to San Francisco.[8] John and Nan are listed on rows 2 and 3 of the passenger manifest below, and state their brother William paid their passage, and their ultimate destination was his place in San Francisco. They, like William, would live the rest of their lives there.

nyt715_567-0464

William was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in June 1905; the records were destroyed in the Earthquake of 1906. In May 1929, he apparently submitted the necessary paperwork for his naturalization to be restored.[8a]

p13-10-court-williamcolbert

Eileen died in December 1911.[9] William remarried sometime after the 1920 census, in which he is enumerated as a widower[10], and before 30 August 1923, when his daughter Cornelia (aka Connie) was born.[11] His wife’s true name was Harriet H. (Maley) Buchan, a native of England, but the name given on the birth certificate for Cornelia was Dorothy O’Maley, a native of Scotland.

William with his youngest child, Connie, circa 1930

My grandmother and her brother William (aka Babe) knew the woman as Mrs. Buchan. Mrs. Buchan had a daughter Dora, roughly my grandmother’s age, and by tracing Dora’s passenger records, I was able to find a link to my great-grandfather’s San Francisco address, helping to tie the two families together even when personal information (names, birthdates) varied.[12]

The family is intact at the time of the 1930 census enumeration.[13] William is living with “Dorothy” (aka Harriet), and four of his 5 children: Marie, my grandmother Margaret, William, and Cornelia. Only Anita was not enumerated with the family.

William with unknown woman, possibly 2nd wife

William Colbert (in hat)

By October 1931, however, my great-grandfather was dead, his body found in the San Francisco Bay.[14] When I was first finding out more about my great-grandfather’s life, I asked my dad about William’s death. William died 18 months before my grandmother married, so Dad never him. He said that accounts varied.

I may have it wrong as to who said what, but my grandmother said it was suicide, one of her siblings said it was murder, and another sibling said it was an accident. (Or vice versa – maybe my grandmother was the one who said it was an accident.)

The idea that it might be suicide came from the fact that “Dorothy” (aka Harriet) had reportedly taken off to Shanghai, China, with little Connie, and Willie was going to go after her.

The idea that it might be murder came from the fact that my great-grandfather reportedly had a stash of cash with him (perhaps $5,000?) and that money was nowhere to be found when his body was retrieved.

Finally, the idea that it might just have been an accident was due to the likelihood that he had been drinking.

Potrero Point is close to the foot of 20th Street and the Bay.

At the time I first heard this story, roughly 25 years ago, I decided to just order his death certificate from Sacramento. And so I did. But the certificate is equally vague on the reasons leading up to Willie’s death by drowning, stating “whether accident-suicide or murder, jury unable to determine”.

p32-10-vital-williamcolbert-copy

A few years ago, I found the coroner’s report online at FamilySearch.org.[15] It’s not significantly different from the death certificate. Willie’s brother John was an informant in both cases. Willie’s car was missing, and while members of the family thought he might have driven overboard into the Bay, the car was later found to be at the intersection of Mason and O’Farrell Streets.

masonandofarrellstreets_googlemap

William was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, in Colma, California.[16] I cited the Find A Grave memorial, but I’m the one who created and maintains that memorial, so I am citing myself! The photo of the grave is one I took; what I have mislaid is the location of his grave. The cemetery office will have that information.

Cite/link to this post: Cathy M. Dempsey, “William Colbert, First of 13,” Genes and Roots, posted 12 Feb 2019 (https://genesandroots.com : accessed (date)).

Citations
[1] Diocese of Limerick, Parish of Mahoonagh, 31 January 1877, baptism of William Cornelius, son of Michael Colbert and Honora McDermott.

[2] For a brief overview, see such sites as: https://ireland-calling.com/con-colbert-easter-rising-1916/, https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/easter-rising-hero-con-colbert, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Colbert, and https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4272.

[3] The story has come down to me through my father via his cousins, children of the late Anita (Colbert) Foley. The reasons for Michael’s resistance to Eileen Houlihan are unknown.

[4] Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1597, microfilm publication T715, 8892 rolls (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 5, 4 September 1897, SS Etruria, List B, page 54 (stamped), line 15, Margaret Houlihan; digital images, “New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7488 : viewed 21 October 2018), image 94. As noted on the manifest, Margaret’s ultimate destination being San Francisco, where her cousin Ellen Walsh lived.

[5] Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1597, microfilm publication T715, 8892 rolls (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 76, 30 Jul 1899, SS Etruria, List A, page 177, line 16, William Colbert; digital images, “New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7488 : viewed 30 January 2019), image 252.

[6] “Marriage Licenses,” San Francisco Call (San Francisco, California), 8 November 1901, page 13, column 3; digital images, California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, (http://cdnc.ucr.edu : accessed 30 October 2018).

[7] For additional sources on the children of William and Eileen, see Cathy Dempsey (cathymd) “Dempsey Family Tree” tree, Ancestry.com.

[8] Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1597, microfilm publication T715, 8892 rolls (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 567, 1 May 1905, SS Campania, List L, page 114, line 2, John Colbert; digital images, “New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7488 : viewed 30 January 2019), image 464.

[8a] Restoration of Naturalization Record, Judgement Book A-No. 2, William Colbert, 29 May 1929 referencing 27 Jun 1905,
Instrument in Writing, County Clerk, San Francisco; digital images,
FamilySearch (https://https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSM1-ZJTX?i=602&cat=612802 : accessed 18 Jun 2018)> img 603 of 883; citing San Francisco City Archives, San Francisco History Center, Public Library, San Francisco.

[9] California Department of Health Services, death certificate state file no. 11-034498, Ellien [Eileen or Helen] Colbert (1911); Center for Health Statistics and Informatics, Sacramento.

[10] 1920 U.S. census, San Francisco County, California, population schedule, Enumeration District 120, San Francisco Assembly District 23, page 2A, dwelling 25, family 25, William Colebert household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6061 : accessed 29 October 2018); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication T625, roll 135.

[11] City and County of San Francisco, California, birth certificate local registered No. 6057, dist. No. 3801, Cornelia Colbert (1923); City and County of San Francisco, Office of the County Clerk.

[12] For additional sources on William Colbert’s daughter Cornelia and her mother’s relatives, see Cathy Dempsey (cathymd) “Dempsey Family Tree” tree, Ancestry.com.

[13] 1930 U.S. census, San Francisco County, California, population schedule, Enumeration District 43, San Francisco city, page 16B, dwelling 355, family 365, William Colbert household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6224 : accessed 29 October 2018); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication T626, roll 195.

[14] California Department of Health Services, death certificate state file no. 31-061761, William C. Colbert (1931); Center for Health Statistics and Informatics, Sacramento.

[15] “California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G5FQ-9Z96?i=340&cc=1402856 : accessed 13 May 2015), Coroner’s Records > Coroner’s register, Oct, 1931 > image 341 of 428; San Francisco Public Library, California.

[16] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 31 January 2019), memorial page for William Cornelius Colbert (31 Jan 1877–21 Oct 1931), Find A Grave Memorial no. 10411679; citing Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo County, California, USA; Maintained by cmdempsey (contributor 46568461).

23andMe Ethnicity Update

February 7, 2019January 29, 2019 / cathmary1030 / 1 Comment

If you’ve tested at 23andMe, have you checked out your ethnicity results lately?

In a recent post[1], Judy Russell mentioned 23andMe’s latest ethnicity update, which somehow I missed completely!

Naturally, I had to go check it out, fearing a bit that my ethnicity percentages might be “messed up”. Even though I know they are estimates, 23andMe has for some time had the percentages closest to what would be expected by my family narrative. My dad is “all Irish”; my mom is “half Italian” due to her father being from Italy. Et cetera, et cetera.

23andme_ethnicity

Very little has changed in my ethnicity percentages. Here, I’ve noted in an Excel spreadsheet my former ethnicities per 23andMe (as of November 2018) and my current ones as of today when I reviewed the changes.

What is interesting, though, is that they seems to have taken a page from Ancestry’s “genetic communities” playbook, and zeroed in on specific areas in Ireland, Britain and Italy where my ancestors possibly lived in the past 200 years.

Let’s take a look. We’ll start with Ireland. On my paper trail, both my dad’s parents have Irish roots. My paternal grandfather’s family left Ireland, depending on the branch of his tree, around the time of the Famine and shortly after – say, the 1850 to 1865 range. My great-great grandfather, Patrick Dempsey, reportedly came from Kings County (now Co. Offaly) – per his obituary. I don’t have more details than that. His wife Hanora Hurley (or is it Hanora Riordan) – whom he married in the U.S. — may have come from anywhere in southern Ireland. Best guess is Co. Cork or Co. Limerick. On my grandfather’s maternal line, her father’s Lamburth ancestors likely came from England, while her mother Eliza (Landrigan) Lamburth came from the town of Garryrickin, Windgap Parish, Co. Kilkenny.[2]

My paternal grandmother’s father came from Athea, Co. Limerick, as did his father, while his mother came from Cooraclare, Co. Clare. My grandmother’s mother came from Athea, Co. Limerick, as did her father, with her mother coming from Beale, Co. Kerry.[3]

In sum, my Irish heritage on my Nana’s side is from the province of Munster, specifically southwest of Ireland, around the River Shannon, while my Grandpa’s Irish heritage is from the province of Leinster, specifically Co. Kilkenny and Co. Offaly.

And 23andMe’s ethnicity determination – for the moment at least – largely agrees.[4]

23andme_irishethnicity

County Kerry, County Clare, County Limerick and County Kilkenny are all in the top 10.

As far as Great Britain/the U.K. is concerned, I have no idea where my ancestors came from. My paternal grandfather’s Lamburth line, here in the U.S. since at least 1800, likely came from England but none of us researching this line have yet “crossed the pond”. My mother’s maternal grandmother’s Wright line has been here in the U.S. since at least 1730 or so; researchers on this line have not yet crossed the pond either. Here is what 23andMe estimates[5]:

23andme_ukethnicity Perhaps these areas could be clues, but it would be silly to jump ahead of myself and start researching Wrights and Lamburth/Lamberts over in England without knowing more about the family here in the U.S. in the 18^th century. The references to Scotland surprise me a bit, but could be related to the Gaelic / Celtic heritage of my Irish side.

With respect to Italy, my grandfather’s parents came from the province of Marche. My great-grandfather was from Fano, and my great-grandmother was from Sant’Elpidio a Mare[6]. Some of us in my family have even gone to Marche and met our living cousins – that’s a story for another blog post.

Here is what 23andMe estimates[7].

23andme_marche_ancestry Pretty wild, huh? Marche!! Still have to take it with a grain of salt – my brother’s estimated places of origin in Italy are completely different from mine – but still, right now, today, it “fits”.

[1] Judy G. Russell, “And still not soup…,” The Legal Genealogist, posted 27 Jan 2019 (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : accessed 28 Jan 2019).

[2] For sources, see cathymd, “Dempsey Family Tree“, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/17377380/family : accessed 26 Dec 2018).

[3] Ibid.

[4] 23andMe, Inc., “Cathy, your DNA suggests that 56.8% of your ancestry is British & Irish”, 23andMe.com (https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition_hd/british_irish/ : accessed 29 Jan 2019).

[5] 23andMe, Inc., “Cathy, your DNA suggests that 56.8% of your ancestry is British & Irish”, 23andMe.com (https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition_hd/british_irish/ : accessed 29 Jan 2019).

[6] For sources, See cathymd, “Serafini_Diamantini1“ tree, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/19505554/family : accessed 29 Jan 2019).

[7] 23andMe, Inc., “Cathy, your DNA suggests that 12.6% of your ancestry is Italian”, 23andMe.com (https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition_hd/italian/ : accessed 29 Jan 2019).

How Complete is my Tree?

January 6, 2019January 6, 2019 / cathmary1030 / Leave a comment

Are you sure that the segment of DNA you share with your DNA match is due to your common 3rd great-grandparents Joe and Sally (Harper) Booth (that’s a fictional couple, by the way) — and not due to a common ancestor you may not yet have found? How complete is your tree?

Recently, Blaine Bettinger posted in Facebook’s Genetic Genealogy Tips and Techniques group, about the completeness of your genealogical tree being critical to accuracy in ascertaining the correct common ancestor with your DNA matches. He referenced a post by Amberly Beck (see here) in which she discusses the completeness (or lack thereof) of her maternal line.

Rather than looking at just my maternal line or just my paternal line, or even just looking at my whole tree at once, I decided to review my results by grandparent.

how complete is my tree

I “found” 9 ancestors last year on my maternal side without using DNA at all! Instead, I used DanishFamilySearch.com, a site which has been transcribing Danish census records, and allowing registered users to post their family tree information on their site, and the newly online Danish census records (in Danish, of course!) at familysearch.org

So, yay!, that was success for my grandmother’s line. I now know 4 more of my maternal grandmother’s 16 2nd great-grandparents, and 5 more of my grandmother’s 32 3rd-great grandparents.

As for my 3 other grandparents, there was no change in the past year. Not surprising, because I spent time on the BU Certificate course for 15 weeks (during which I spent little time on my own genealogy), and I also spent some time continuing to validate with DNA matches my Copple line (which is also on my maternal grandmother’s tree).

Meaning, as I build out collateral relative trees for my Copple ancestors and find I have — more accurately, my mother has — DNA matches with descendants of those collateral relatives (siblings and 1st cousins of my own ancestors), that is slowly strengthening the case that the DNA shared belongs to the Copple line and not some other unknown line. (Well, until I am able to build further back; the shared DNA may actually relate to, say, the wife of my most distant Copple ancestor, and not to him.)

I’ve done nothing really on my maternal grandfather’s line — I know the Italian town he came from and his grandparents’ names. I also know I would likely find records on their parents via the local Catholic church. As it would likely require assistance from a researcher over in Italy or a trip to Italy myself, it just has not been a priority for me. Perhaps someday.

Like my maternal grandfather, my paternal grandmother was a first-generation American. Her uncle was Con Colbert who was executed for his role in the Easter Uprising in 1916. Consequently, he is somewhat famous in the Republic of Ireland; therefore, some of his family history was researched by a professional genealogist for the centenary in 2016. So, I have a bit more on her kin than on my maternal grandfather’s kin. I’ve also been fortunate two years ago to find some of the baptismal and marriage records for her maternal line ancestors (also Irish) online — one such place is here.

I have a “brick wall” at my great-great grandfather Patrick Dempsey. Per his obituary, he was “of King’s County”. That’s now County Offaly, but that doesn’t mean he was born and baptized there. It may just mean he was from there last before coming to America circa 1850 or so. There are about a half-dozen potential Patrick Dempseys baptised in Co. Offaly when he was thought to be born (ca. 1830), but I have no oral history as to his family. Maybe his parents and siblings died in the Famine?

This year, I’d like to find out more about my paternal grandfather’s maternal grandparents: Anderson and Ermine (Farnham? Farley?) Lamburth — Grandpa Dempsey’s one line that has reportedly been in the U.S. since at least 1800. Of course, I’d also like to break the brick walls of my 3rd great-grandmother (aka my maternal grandmother’s great-grandma) Phoebe Harvey — or her mother-in-law Margaret (Blalock) Copple. We’ll see.

How about you? Do you have a particular line you’re thinking of researching next?