history – Laurie L. Kearney

Ruth Batson: Mother – Educator – Civil Worker

December 16, 2025December 16, 2025 lauriekearney

In a telegram to The Women’s Business and Professional Club, Florence and Sam Castleman regretfully declined an invitation to a luncheon honoring Ruth Batson. They closed the telegram saying:

“…you are paying tribute to a woman who has given her heart, her strength and her militant spirit in the true tradition of Harriet Tubman.”

Ruth M. Batson (1921-2003) was an African American woman and a lifelong Bostonian who stood up for her beliefs. For more than thirty years she championed fair and equal education for Boston’s school children and for the civil rights of African Americans. On printed flyers and in newspaper advertisements for her 1951 Boston School Committee campaign, Batson lists “Mother – Educator – Civil Worker” as her three most important qualifications for this committee. These characteristics propelled her into a life of public service where she fought for a better education for children and for the African American population of Boston. The core values she learned as a young child would became a motivation for her tireless work for justice.

In order to bring Ruth Batson’s story forward, we must start by looking backward. In 1975, a series of articles in The Sunday Boston Herald Advertiser appeared regarding the desegregation of the Boston Public Schools. The reporters, Alan Eisner and Frank Thompson, credit Ruth Batson as the person who initially championed changes in Boston’s School system. Batson, indeed, stood before the Boston School Committee in June of 1963 to read a statement from the NAACP demanding changes to be made to the Boston Public School system (2). A cohesive fight to attain Civil Rights spread through out the nation movement a decade earlier, so what was Batson doing before she stepped onto the public stage in 1963?

The December 28^th, 1950 edition of The Boston Traveler (3) reported that members from a group called “The Parents Federation of Greater Boston,” headed by Ruth Batson, held a protest at Boston’s City Hall attempting to talk to Mayor John Hynes regarding the deplorable conditions in the city’s schools. With in a few short months, Batson ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the Boston School Committee. By 1953 Batson had approached the NAACP for help with this issue and found herself the chairman of the Public Education Sub-Committee of the NAACP Boston Branch. At a time when most American women were content to be a wife, mother and homemaker, Batson stepped out of this traditional female role to speak out and advocate for much needed changes to Boston’s public schools and for civil rights long before there was a “movement” to speak of in Boston.

Ruth M. Batson continuously worked in some capacity for almost thirty years to bring about changes to the Boston Public School system. She started out a young mother trying to improve her children’s neighborhood school and ended up improving all the schools of Boston. This exhibit focuses on Batson’s work regarding the desegregation of Boston Public Schools. A brief biography establishes the foundation of Batson’s belief system and demonstrates her motivation to fight for change in Boston’s public school system. This biography reveals the many components of her life and put into perspective her family, interests, and a varied career fighting for education and civil rights.

The remaining three parts of this exhibit explore Batson’s direct work regarding the desegregation of Boston’s schools. The first explores her work on the Public Education Committee of the NAACP Boston Branch. Her work included gathering information on the condition of Boston schools, advocating for parents and children, and finally becoming a spokesperson to call for necessary changes in the schools. The second focuses on Batson’s career at the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO). She was involved with this program from its inception, helping to develop it from an idea to a thriving program. She started out on a steering committee and went on to become its executive director. The last looks at Batson’s involvement working behind the scenes during the early days of forced busing. From her job at Boston University and as a committee member at Freedom House, she worked to support children and families during this turbulent time.

Her Story: Early Influences

Fighting for Good Schools

One Week in June

METCO

Committee Work

Epilogue: Always Working

Sources:

Ruth M. Batson, The Black Educational Movement in Boston: A Sequence of Historical Events; A Chronology, Batson, Ruth M. (Boston: Northeastern University, School of Education, 2001)
Alan Eisner and Frank Thompson “The Anatomy of Boston’s School Crisis,” The Sunday Boston Herald Advertiser, Boston, MA; August 10, 1975; section 5, page 1.
“Hynes to Run for Mayor Again: City Head Tips Hand in Seeking to Calm Group Irate Over Schools,” The Boston Herald Traveler, Boston, MA; December 28, 1950; page 1 and 32.

Creating A Online Presence – How To Attract Visitors

March 18, 2024 lauriekearney

The beautiful Fred Holland Day House, the home of the Norwood Historical Society

A few years ago, I was asked if I would join the Board of Directors of a local Historical Society. I became part of a dynamic group of people, each who bring a special interest or ability to the table, and together, I think we make a pretty good team. We have a beautiful old Victorian House that is our society’s headquarters, and we are always trying to come up with novel and interesting ways to physically bring people in our doors. Those that come to visit often say, “I grew up in this town and this is the first time I have been here.” Honestly, from being an active member of a couple of other local historical societies, I know this is a refrain heard over and over again. It seems our culture values the places and people who keep history alive in town, but they rarely have anything to do with that local history. When COVID hit, we, like everyone else, had to shutter our doors to guests. Although our physical home was closed, we still wanted visitors, so we went virtual.

This Day in Norwood History. A fun graphic created by George Curtis.

One member of our Board of Directors created a daily posting he called “This Day in Norwood History.” Part of our collection contains bound copies of our local newspapers, going back for several decades. Taking a cue from today’s date, he looked through our collection for interesting newspaper articles with the same date. He usually selected a short article that may have featured a business or a person or a location. He transcribed it and posted it to our home page, then linked that posting to our Facebook page….of course he included a picture to catch someone’s eye. The response was incredible! Our Facebook post was shared and shared again. People often started threads discussing their memories of topic posted, and the traffic to our home page increased tremendously! We were reaching not only local folks, but those who had moved out of town settling in far way communities.

Another local historical society where I volunteer did something similar. They thought it might be fun to photograph items from their collection, and post them on their Facebook account asking people if they can identify what the item was and/or what it was used for. This was an excellent way to not only show off their collection, and to spark conversations, but an even better way to attract virtual visitors. Another take on this is posting local places long gone, and asking visitors if they know where this place was…and what is there now. Sparking a memory often will engage people, and bring you virtual visitors, who if in the area may physically walk though your doors someday.

A fun Game from the Walpole Historical Society’s Facebook page.

Today, so many historical societies struggle finding ways to share a their history and trying to engage people. Using the internet effectively a small society can potentially reach millions of people. Yes, using social media like Facebook, Tik Tok and Twitter (now X), can reach a large amount of people, but your society wants to have their robust own home page. One that offers visitors online exhibits to peruse, history article to read, and a place to join or buy society swag. Using social media will catch the attention of interested people, but linking those posts to your society’s home page will bring in virtual foot traffic and educate the public on your unique history.

Initially “This Day in Norwood History,” was planned to be a program we were going to run during COVID, it has been wildly successful, and is still going today! The “What is this Item” the other historical society was doing, continues but at a more sporadically. Mostly because they are fun and engaging…which I think is exactly what history should be!

Making Timelines and Charts and Dive Deeper into History –

March 18, 2024 lauriekearney

I am a visual person. Sometimes when I am researching someone, whether it is a genealogical search or a historical search, I find it can be extremely helpful to make a timeline or some sort of chart to help me with my search. When you lay out the events and facts of someone’s life, without the clutter of your writing or notation of your sources, you can see the simplicity of someone’s life, and that may lead you to finding more information on that person.

This chart incucludes events for Loyd’s life as well as historical event and a spot for his daughter to add memories

Recently, I went to the movies with a bunch of friends to see The Boys in the Boat, which was about the University of Washington’s rowing team during the depression. So many of these young men came from families that were especially struggling during this era. Some came on scholarships, some worked to pay for their education, but through their participation in the crew, they found themselves on an equal playing field…or river in there case! This story really got me thinking about my friend’s father Loyd. During the depression, his family also struggled, he went on to work in the CCC, and eventually took those skills to Washington, where he put them to use. I thought Loyd might be a good subject to write about. I filled out the tree I had on my friend’s family, paying careful attention to her dad, trying to find as much documentation as I could on his life. As you build a tree on Ancestry, a timeline is created on the profile page, but as I looked at it, I could not clearly see the story I was hoping to tell. So I opened a new Microsoft word document, and began to create my own timeline on Loyd. By considering some to the events that happened in his parents and sibling’s lives and knowing Loyd was living with his family, I was able to add new events to his life. One of the things I see missing was his voice. I sent my timeline to my friend, leaving a column for my friend to enter her dad’s stories.

A section of Mrs. Simons’ obituary, naming her children (who I knew) and her brother (his name here proved this line)

Another time I found making charts helpful was trying to work out the life of my husband’s great-great-grandmother, Mary Ellen. She was someone who had been a brick wall in my family research for almost twenty years. This was a woman who came to California as a new bride, leaving her history (and family) behind in Ohio. My husband’s Granny knew more about her grandmother’s life in California, but did not know anything about the family she left behind. She had a few stories to tell that I thought might lead to a familial find. The turning point for this search occurred with a distant cousin posted images of the family bible on line. This posting started to pull the pieces of Granny’s stories together with primary sources I had found. I made several charts that compared and contrasted the information I had. Through this process I could clearly see the family connections and was able to draft, I thought, a rather compelling argument as to who was Mary Ellen’s Ohio family. Approximately two years after I felt I found Mary Ellen’s family. One of the historical newspapers I subscribe to, digitized a newspaper with Mary Ellen’s obituary, which named her siblings….and by golly, I was right!

Time line for Hannah, a free woman of color who lived in Walpole a long time ago.

Recently, I was looking for information on how my town handled their indigent population around 1800. As I was going through town records, and recording my findings in a chart, which I intend to use for comparing and contrasting the towns management of their poor, I found information regarding a person I had previously studied. She was a free person of color who married a formerly enslaved man and lived in my town. Church records and town records mention her from time to time, and local history books give her a passing mention. I decided to put all the primary sources into a chart (town and church), and what that chart showed me was that this woman lived here for many years and was frequently harassed by the town fathers. Shameful.

Graphing the fact you find on your ancestors can be extremely helpful with your genealogical researching. Give it a try. I think you will like it!

FamilySearch FamilyTrees

March 17, 2024 lauriekearney

FamilySearch is one of the best sites out there for researching genealogy. They came online almost twenty-five years ago, with a simple format that basically coughed up lists. Originally this included some census records, a couple of databases and their International Genealogy Index (IGI), which is a database that included many primary records as well as many undocumented sources. Over the years, they have continued to update and improve their website eventually doing away with the IGI and now offering digitized records. About eleven years ago, they added a family tree component to their page, which is basically a crowd-sourced tree. So if you realize that the tree you are adding to is NOT your tree and that anyone can add whatever they like to the tree….even if it is not accurate information about your grandfather – Then go ahead and add to it!

A section of my family tree fan chart on FamilySearch

I initially was apprehensive about contributing to the tree. So apprehensive in fact, that I did not even look at it for almost ten years, mostly because wrong information drives me wacky! I can fix it of course…but someone can fix it back too. But eventually I thought why not. At least I could enter the information that pertains directly to me. I’ve added picture of ancestors, and some stories too, I have even added to branches of family lines to the tree that I am researching.

The tools FamilySearch has to help edit, merge and attach sources to your tree

If you do not want to buy an Ancestry membership, then I would recommend keeping your tree on your computer, so do not rely on the FamilySearch tree to keep your research; mostly because someone can change it. Consider the FamilySearch tree as a clue and not fact. Do your own research and find your own documents (proof). The FamilySearch tree initially seems easy to use, first you will have to sign up for a membership. It’s free (I love free!), and therefore, they will not ask you for a credit card. The tree also has ways of attaching sources to it, which is nice as it helps prove the line. There is also a way to change information, delete people (or move them to another branch), and merge duplicate records, but I admit it is tricky to do. The learning curve is huge, and you will make mistakes. When I get stuck, I stop trying to fix it and hope someone will come along who knows how to fix my errors…I also imagine them cursing me out!

I think the FamilySearch tree is worth a try. It is a great source that can point you in a new direction…or confirm you are on the right track. But keep in mind just as easily it can be right…it can be wrong! Think of it as a clue and not fact…it is just another tool in you toolkit.

Walking Tours – Takin’ it to the Streets

March 17, 2024 lauriekearney

An announcement card for the Walk Around the Park, Nowood, MA

I apologize if now you have the Doobie Brothers stuck in your head, and well this discussion has nothing to do with the Doobie Brothers, and everything to do with developing walking tours. Finding and creating an informal ways to share local history can and will attract participants and draw attention to you local historical society can be challenging. One program that many people seem to enjoy are walking tours. I have been lucky enough to research, write and offer several walking tours for a local church and a couple of local historical societies. All tours were well received and many people have asked if they will be run again as they either want an encore presentation or were unable to make the scheduled tour.

A snapshot of the Swedeville walking tour, Norwood, MA

In the summer of 2022, the town of Norwood celebrated their 150^th anniversary. A celebration committee was formed a couple of years in advance, and had planned some amazing year-long activities. Our historical society also wanted to offer opportunities to celebrate this anniversary, and we decided to offer several walking tours focusing on some of the ethnic neighborhoods that helped the town grow. These neighborhoods were established around 1900, and were home to so many people who came to Norwood in search is good jobs. A sort of chain migration occurred, as they told friends and family members of the wonderful opportunities Norwood had to offer. As I was researching these neighborhoods, I found it so fascinating how these new Americans shared their culture with their children in a variety of social organizations, churches, and celebrations. We offered seven tours over seven weeks over the summer on Tuesday nights. Every Tuesday, the number of attendees grew as people began talking about our tours. The last tours we gave had 50 to 60 participants!

A brochure was made of the History of Slavery in Wapole for people who would want to take a walking tour by themselves.

A couple of years ago a local church began to explore the history of slavery in their church, with an eye towards reparations. I was asked to research a man who was enslaved in their town. This research led me to ask myself who else was enslaved there and what did their lives looks like during their enslavement and after (assuming they experienced freedom). First I had to identify people who had been enslaved in town, but the enslaved traditionally do not leave a lot of records behind. So I started with looking for wealthly residents and pulled wills, deeds and local published histories. As I was finding these people and the people they enslaved, I realized they all lived in walking distance of one another. I automatically thought writing and giving a walking tour about this history might be well received by the church and other interested people, but more importantly, I thought it was a wonderful way for people to learn about this history.

Currently, my hometown is celebrating its 300^th anniversary. A friend, who is a member the Board of Directors of our historical society, and I are planning to present six walking tours of our local cemeteries over the course of the year. I’ve been working on the research part and I think we have selected several great topics. So instead of giving a similar tour of each cemetery, we have selected an over arching theme for each tour. Some themes we will be discussing are founding families, early industries and wars that have affected Americans. By taking these themes and tying them into people who are buried in the cemetery we will create a walking tour that is more than “here is a grave of a person….AND here is another grave of a person,” hopefully it will be a tour that presents local history in a unique way.

The Rural Cemetery, Walpole, MA. Theme will be early industries in Walpole

Some of my take-ways from the tours I have given, is to try to keep it around 1 hour to 1½ hours long. If they are too long, you will loose people. I have a couple of tours I know if are offered again, need to be edited. Also, have an idea regarding the physical length of the tour. If you cover a lot of area, let people know, that way they can judge if it is the right tour for them. It is also important to do a dry run of your tour, think of it as a dress rehearsal. On my slavery tour I just walked it, and I found the non-stop walk was about 55 minutes. I lopped off one stop on the tour, which gained be 15 minutes, and I shorten my talks at a couple of stops and hoped I was in the 1½ hour range. The other part I think is important is to share the presentation with another presenter. With the neighborhood tours, I had someone else helping me. One tour was of a swanky neighborhood filled with beautiful Victorian homes, my co-presenter was an architectural historian who offered a perspective that was not in my wheelhouse. In another neighborhood tour my co-presenter was someone who’s grandparents came to Norwood and helped established this neighborhood, her parents grew up there and she did too! She offered personal stories about the lives of the neighborhood residents, which sparked a great deal of conversation among our attendees.

Walking tours are a wonderful casual way to share local history. It is through this kinds of low-key presentations, that will engage participants. They often feel free to ask questions or share memories. Walking tours are really an enjoyable way to teach local history!

Using Census Records to Maximize your Genealogical Research

March 17, 2024 lauriekearney

Census records are extremely helpful went researching your family. The census has been taken in the United States every ten years since 1790, and they contain a wealth of information. When I first started using online databases to help in my genealogical research, I loved census records, especially the 1850 census and those that followed it! This is because they list every one in the home. The more I delved into my genealogy I felt it was important to assemble the whole family, not just my direct ancestors. I have discovered that sometimes documentation does not add new information regarding a direct ancestor, but knowing your direct ancestor’s siblings may lead to the clue that opens up an ancestral line. Also, in the home may have extended family, grandparents, aunt and uncles, as well as cousins, all of these connections can be the clue you need to find more information on your line.

However, there are pit falls you need to watch out for, such as inconsistencies that may occur from census to census. These can include misspellings of the surname. This does not mean that your family changed the spelling of the name, but it is most likely it is how the census taker thought the name was spelled. Often, you will see a change in the place of birth column. One year you find your ancestor shows they were born in Vermont and ten years later it notes New York, or fluctuating age can be another problem with census records. These errors can be contributed to whoever provided the answers to the census taker, and they may or may not necessarily known the correct answer and simply guessed. In the case of countries, one year might say “Ireland” and in the following census “Scotland” or “England” might be recorded. This fluctuation can most likely be caulked up to the notion that people from certain countries of origins often experienced prejudice, and listing a more acceptable country of origin may have made things easier.

One sage genealogist once pointed out to me not to assume all the children in the home belonged to the two adults listed. So if four-year-old Tom Lynch is in the home of John & Sarah Lynch, who appears ten years later and ten years after that, it would be safe to think he was John & Sarah’s son, but when you pull the death certificate for Tom and discover the names of his parents were George & Abigail! After some research, you discover George and Abigail died before little Tom was two-years-old, you realize Tom was raised by his uncle and aunt! So be aware of these inconsistencies and your tree will be built on accurate information.

Useful information collected and noted in these census records, can lead to finding further information on your ancestors; this may include parents place of birth, language spoken in the home, number of years married, number of children born and number of children alive (today), and (if born in another country) when arrived in US, are they naturalized & year. This information can point you to ship manifests, naturalization records and more. In the case of the 1900 census, it can help to assemble a family, because the 1890 was destroyed, so there is a 20 year span between censuses, and if you see four children in the 1900 home and the mother states she gave birth to 10 children and six are alive, you may want to begin searching for birth and death records of the missing children.

Between 1790 and 1840 the US census record forms were more a check-off format. The form looks life graph paper or an excel spreadsheet. The rows contain ages (ex. Males 5-10, females 20-30), the first column was reserved to list the head of household. This is the only name listed and following that name, would be the number of people in each row category….2 males 5-10 and 1 female 20-30. It is just as important to study the information on these censuses as it is in the later censuses because they contain a wealth of information…but of course it can be a bit more tricky.

First locate your ancestor in the census and make a note of the number of people recorded in the home and where the family is living. If they never leave a particular town, well that is easy to follow, but if they move around, check maps and make sure the moves make sense. For demonstration purposes, we will study David Jordon of Maine. He was born about 1760 and died 30 May 1847 in Waterford, ME. He married twice, once in 1782 and again in 1785. Not all the names of all of his children are known. By studing the censuses we may be able to figure out how many children he had, total amount as well as number of boys and girls.

With this information, we can start to develop a skeleton outline of children born to David Jordan and his wives. Once a visual outline with number of children and their sexes is developed with these census records, we can start to search for records to fill in the blanks. David and his wives had:

By creating such a chart, we have an idea that we are looking for about 14 children born to David Jordan. Now we need to change “boy, born b/w 1782 &1790” to a name of a son. However, there are not any vital record entries for this family in either Gray or Albany, Maine, searching for documentation in less obvious places is required; published genealogies found on Google books, probate records and pension applications provided a source of information on this family. Then it was important to look at all these possible children to see if they note their parent’s names in their marriage and death records, and to check Find A Grave (.com) for gravestones to figure out birth order.

Documentation:

David applied for a pension (in 1820). Lists himself at 59, wife Temperance 57, children: Jefferson 16, Buckman 14, and Phebe 11.
Ruth (Jordan) Abbott’s death record list names of parents
Wales is noted as son in Proctor genealogy
Lydia (Jordan) LeBarron & Joanna (Jordan) LeBarron are noted in LeBarron genealogy
Afidavit filed to the Oxford County Probate Court 24 Aug 1847 by Obed Abbot (husband of Ruth) States David died 30 May 1847, leaving no widow, but these surviving children: Elijah Jordan, David Jordan, Calvin Jordan, Ruth Abbot, Jefferson Jordan, James Jordan, Wales Jordan, Russell Jordan, Lydia LaBaron and Joan LaBaron.

Page from David Jordan’s pension application naming the family he had living with him at that time.

Now with this information and the outline we created we can develop David’s family:

Children of David & first wife are:

David Jordan, born abt 1783 in Grey, ME; died 1868 Denmark, ME
Elijah Jordan, born 1785 in Grey, ME; died Oct 1860 Paris, ME.

Children of David & second wife are:

Calvin Jordan, born 1787; died 20 Dec 1859 Portland, ME
son Jordan, born abt 1789; died young
Ruth Jordan, born 1791; died 29 Nov 1865 Albany, ME.
son, born about 1793; died bef 1810
Wales Jordan, born 9 Dec 1794; died 30 Jul 1877 Albany, ME.
Temperance, born abt 1796; died 1842.
Lydia Jordan, born 1798; died 8 Jan 1855 Harrison, ME.
James R Jordan, born 1800; died in Chicago.
Joanna Jordan, born 1801; died 18 Sept 1856 Lovell, ME.
Thomas Jefferson Jordan, born 9 Oct 1803;
Russell Buckman Jordan, born Aug 1806; died 5 Dec 1875 Andover, MA
Phebe Jordan, born 1809; died bef 1847.

Locating the probate record was a wonderful find! It confirmed what the various genealogies had to say and made it very easy to fill in the blanks. Knowing how to best utilize and analyze census records and then taking the kernals of information they provide and knowing where to look for new information may lead to answers. However, it make take years of searching to find missing ancestors, but don’t give up!

More Breaking Down Brick Walls: Where to Look Next

March 15, 2024 lauriekearney

So you think you have searched just about everywhere to find an elusive document that will prove a family connection. You know they come from a particular town in a particular state. You have searched every online database you could find, you’ve written to the town clerk and local historical society and you have not had any luck. Now you are totally frustrated and do not know where to turn next. I would suggest you take a break from your genealogy hunt and start a history hunt!

Having a working knowledge of the history of a certain area, immigration patterns, naming conventions, etc., can help you to break down a brick wall, or at the very least, it will help you to understand why your ancestors did what they did as well as put them into historical context. Having a better understanding of the big picture, can point you in a new direction to research, or to the archive that may have that elusive document in their collection.

The Establishment of States, Counties and Towns

Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, MA

I live outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Records here go way back, which is awesome, but knowing where to find them can be tricky! For instance, Norfolk County was established in 1793, being “set off” from Suffolk County. So if you are looking for land deeds, probate records or any other legal document for someone who lived in Norfolk County pre-1793, you will find it in Suffolk County. Then there is the added confusion of an old Norfolk County in Massachusetts. It was established in 1643 and was what is today New Hampshire’s seacoast. Records from this old county, which ceased to exist when New Hampshire was established in the early 1690s can be found in the Essex County Registry or Deeds in Salem, Massachusetts. The town of Norwood was established in 1872, for almost 150 years it had been the Village of South Dedham, which was a precinct of the town of Dedham. Records regarding people who lived in Norwood/South Dedham before 1872 can be found in the town of Dedham. Have you done research in the state of Maine? Knowing that it was established in 1820, being set off from Massachusetts, will point you to the Massachusetts State Archives to find documents on Maine pre-1820. Out west, many counties were established from larger counties, and much of Arizona, New Mexico, California and Texas at one time were part of Mexico. So it is important to learn about these geographical changes in order to find information.

The New York State Dutch

The Dutch settled in New York State. We know the original name of Manhattan was New Amsterdam, which was a city within the colony of New Netherlands. This colony encompassed parts of modern day New Jersey, parts of coastal Delaware and stretched as far north as Schenectady and into parts of New England and was originally settled in the early 1600s and by 1700, it became part of the English colonies. Some Records from New Netherlands can be found at the New York State Archives and records from the Dutch India Company can be found at the National Archives in The Hague, in the Netherlands. Most of these records are in Dutch, so a translator may be necessary. When researching New York Dutch it is important to keep in mind that when they came to the east coast of North America, they brought with them their Dutch customs. One of these customs was their patriarchal naming custom. In other words their surname was their father’s first name with “son” or “daughter” following (ex. Jansson or Jansdotter) by the mid-1700s they began to adopt the family name custom, their English neighbors had been using for hundreds of years.

Immigration Patterns

Knowing the paths immigrants took as they moved across North America is important, as well as knowing why they moved. I have run across records where someone recorded a New England groom marrying a Virginia bride in the early 1700s, and then of course this error is repeated and repeated in dozens of trees. Sure, there is a possibility this could have happened, but it is more likely there was a woman from New England who had the same name, and some researcher just clicked and accepted the name. With research, you can confirm these connections, some make sense and others do not. I had a family I was working on who lived outside of Boston, then someone shows they had a son move to New Jersey in the late 1700s. I thought this was an error, as most New Englanders either relocated to other New England states, or just kept pushing west through New York. With some study, I discovered this fellow indeed went to New Jersey. I tracked another New Englander from Vermont, through New York and finally Ohio over the course of thirty years. Many online trees had him coming from New Jersey. That is because his third (possibly fourth wife) Sabra (Mount) Vorhees (Look! There is one of those Dutch surnames!) was from New Jersey. Then he joins up with the Mormons and I further track him to a variety of Mormon settlements. Through careful study all his relocations make sense. Further, they can help confirm other familial relationships.

It is in the history of an area answers to genealogical questions can be found. So do not give up your genealogical searches….instead switch it up and look for the history. You never know what you will find!

Searching for Kearneys

March 13, 2024 lauriekearney

I married into the Kearney family almost thirty years ago, and since that time, I have been researching this family. Let me tell you it has been very slow going! First of all, my husband did not know his Kearney side of the family. This was due to the fact that his parents separated when he was an infant, and the adults involved in this generation basically had nothing to do with each other. As a child, my husband asked questions, but sensed it was a painful time in his mother’s life that she did not want to discuss. Enter the genealogist.

Marrying into the Kearney family…Rich and me on our wedding day

My mother-in-law knew how much I enjoyed family research. Over the years she would tell me stories about her family, so she was not taken aback when I asked about the Kearneys. And seeing as over thirty years had passed, she was ready to tell me what she knew…which honestly was not a lot; his parent’s first names (but not grandma’s maiden name) and the state where her ex-husband was born. However, as I was asking questions, she remembered that a few months after she and her husband separated, his father died and she attended the funeral. So she knew exactly where his family was buried. A phone call to the cemetery gave me the full names and birth/death dates of my husband’s grandparents. Folks I knew I could find in censuses! Woohoo!

Back then genealogical databases did not have a lot of information and often were rather clunky to use. Bit by bit, and over many years, I pieced together a rather full tree for the Kearneys, but knew very little about their life before they came to the US from Ireland in the late 1800s. Obituaries in Chicago newspapers filled in some of the siblings of my husband’s great-grandfather, Cornelius Kearney. It seemed they came from County Kerry as it appeared there are baptism records (and digitized on FamilySearch), but some of the dates were off. This lead me to question what I was finding, plus in all the United States records where Cornelius Kearney appears he says he was from County Cork. Within the last year or so, I not only found through document research, more of Cornelius’s siblings…. the ones who either died young, or never relocated to the United States, but I found Irish census records that show the family in County Cork. Cornelius’ youngest sibling was born there when Cornelius was about ten years old. Which means that when Cornelius was asked where he came from…. he said correctly, he came from County Cork.

Irish research is tricky. I am extremely lucky to have found records on this family. Lack of Irish records is largely due to Ireland’s Civil War, as the country’s archives were destroyed. This means Irish records are spotty, and often a researcher must rely on records at the village/city or county level; records like land records, dog license applications, etc.

Very recently, I decided to look at DNA to see if I could expand the Kearney line. Both my sons have taken Ancestry DNA and my husband 23 and Me DNA. Looking at their matches and figuring out how they fit into the family tree, I’ve been able to learn more about Cornelius’ siblings who stayed in Ireland…marriage, children (‘cause they are the DNA descendants who took a test) and from their trees I found the death date for some of these siblings. I should note that originally I found Cornelius was one of five siblings who came to the United States. Kerry church records show he was one of twelve children, one who died young.

The DNA also showed me a genealogical match to a Kearney branch who moved to New Zealand. Interestingly, someone from this branch reached out to me a few years ago. She had a theory that her great-uncle Patrick Kearney, married his cousin, Anna Kearney (Cornelius’ sister). She wondered what I had on my branch and if there was any truth that could prove her theory. Today I know that answer. My sons share DNA with this woman…. as well as another woman who is a second cousin to the lady from New Zealand. This shows that Patrick Kearney and Anna Kearney were cousins! When Patrick’s father married a second time, he listed the name of his father as Patrick…and Cornelius and Anna also have a brother Patrick. Further exploration is need with this line. One technique I did was to make a spreadsheet to record all the baptisms of Cornelius and his siblings, but I included the names of all the sponsors, hoping this will give some clues to other family members.

Kearney DNA is also showing me relatives to Cornelius’ mother, Catherine Curtin’s family. Although I have not proven any line, it appears Catherine has relatives…either brothers or a father named Cornelius Curtin and Laurence Curtin. Catherine named two of her sons: Cornelius Curtin Kearney (my husband’s great grandfather) and Laurence Curtin Kearney.

You can see that by using DNA records one can grow a family tree, and not just find a missing DNA relative. I can see this is the start of something promising, but it is going to need a lot more research to prove anything. But I am up to it!

Where to Start, Where to Start?

March 13, 2024 lauriekearney

So, you think you would like to discover your roots and you don’t know where to start? Well that is easy! Start with yourself, your parents and your grandparents! Jot down birthdates, marriage dates and death dates (if you know them!). Then have a conversation with the older generations in your family. Having all this personal first hand knowledge is a great place to start.

With your notes firmly in hand, you are ready to begin to search in earnest! I recommend starting the FamilySearch.org site. They will want you to sign up for a free account. They do not ask for any payment information (i.e. your credit card), and they do not flood your email account with unwanted emails. FamilySearch is owned and operated by the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons). Part of their belief system is that families are very important in this life as well as in the after life, and by finding (and baptizing them as Mormons) long dead relatives, they all will be reunited in heaven. The nice thing about their website is that they have imaged thousands of original documents (primary sources). It is these primary sources that prove your line, some secondary sources or a story passed down for a few generations may be false! My great-grandmother told my dad and his brothers we were related to Pocahontas. When I was little, I thought that was pretty cool, and indeed it was one of those facts I went searching for when I first started researching my family. It took a while, but I found my great-grandmother’s grandmother maiden name was “Rolfe.” That was clearly where the story came from, but my Rolfes were in no way related to the family into which Pocahontas married.

One of the most important things you can do is to keep accurate records. Notes of your conversations, family group sheets, pedigree charts, when and where you researched (so you do not repeat your searches!). You can keep these records in a binder or invest is some genealogy software. (There is free software out there, but I would research it before you download it!). I often start a new search by opening a Microsoft Word document, and take my notes there before I start making a tree. I can also cut and paste links in this document, so if I go back and revisit this family, I can re-visit the links!

It is very important to Document, Document, Document! Keep track of all your sources. By doing so you can show your proof, you can return to your searches if you need to re-evaluate the accuracy of your source, and it will also prevent you from doing the same searches over and over again. Once on a genealogy Facebook page (consider joining one!), I came across a fellow who posted that he had just started tracing his family tree and had already managed to trace back to Adam and Eve. He most likely copied someone else’s tree, who did not have any sources. Genealogists on the page had to gently explain to him that this was very unlikely.

Evaluate your sources for accuracy. Very often some sources are questionable. I have seen people document a marriage, which occurred in the 1600s between someone in New England and someone in Virginia…although in theory possible, the distance would have made it difficult. In tracking that pesky Rolfe line, I found a Rolfe raised in Massachusetts in the mid 1700s, relocated to New Jersey. I thought this maybe untrue, but the more I looked, the more primary sources I found, and it turned out to be true! So, double and triple the sources, especially if you found the information on someone else’s tree. If it does not make sense, it is probably wrong.

Genealogy is a fun pursuit. I love to untangle a historical question. Sometimes the information comes to you very easily and other times it may take years before you find the next generation, but don’t give up!

So keep this in mind:
            Gather what you know.
            Research can begin.
            Accurate Records must be kept.
            Document your sources.
            Evaluate your sources for accuracy.
 
And you’ll have good GRADEs!

Google: A Wonderful Genealogical Research Tool

March 13, 2024 lauriekearney

Many years ago, long before genealogists began blogging, the best way to learn and grow online as a genealogist was to sign up to receive emails from professional genealogists. This is exactly what I did! One email I received intrigued me; it was on how to use Google to find genealogical information. At the time, genealogical databases were still in their infancy; GenWeb seemed to offer the most information, FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com were new, and Find A Grave had not been thought of yet. In fact, most of my research was done via snail mail! A free source of online information was welcome, and to date I use Google regularly to aid in my genealogical research.

Very often you will find scanned books that can be read online, local historical society’s websites that offer blogs on histories or genealogies, posted queries on old message boards, or a descendent family organizations that may offer a well researched genealogy.

I must admit, researching an unusual name is best, but don’t worry, if you have a common name like “John Smith” you will find results. It will take patience and perseverance.

First, using quotes around your research name will help you find information on “John Smith,” versus not using quotes you will get information on every “John” and every “Smith!” Yikes! That’s potentially a lot of useless information. To further narrow down your search answers add the name of his wife or the place(s) he lived: “John Smith” “Experience Jones”…..or “John Smith” Dedham, MA. Mix it up! You know your John Smith, and there might be pertinent information to YOUR John Smith that you could use in your Google searches to narrow down your answers and find the information you are seeking.

I think the best piece of Google voodoo is using a minus (-) sign. For years now, I have been researching the Wormwood family of York County, Maine. Early on if I just used the surname “Wormwood” and “Maine”…or “obituary”…or “genealogy,” I found exactly what I was searching. Then about ten years ago, absinthe again became legal to sell in this country. Absinthe is made from the wormwood plant, and yup you guessed it, all of a sudden I got people selling absinthe in Maine! By using the minus sign…”Wormwood” “Maine” “–absinthe”… my Google results are about the Wormwood family of Maine, and zero results on absinthe.

Now as you are reviewing your search results, do not forget to use the pull-down menu labeled “more.” When you click on it, a little drop down menu appears with the words video, books, flights and finance. Click on “books” and that will take you to a list of books your search-person may be in. Google has scanned many books that are out of copyright that you can fully read! But be wary, just because it is written in a book does not necessarily mean it is true or correct. Sometimes authors like to embellish a story to make the genealogy tale more interesting…so check and double check sources.

Google also offers Google Maps, which is a useful tool for genealogists. If you know your “John Smith” lived in Dedham, Massachusetts, but you are finding results for him in Needham, Massachusetts, a quick peek at Google Maps and you will see Dedham and Needham are abutting towns, so chances are you found YOUR John Smith. You can also use Google Maps to get directions, and this will also tell you the distance between towns. In my recent search on Abel Prior, I found him in Weathersfield, Vermont; then Augusta, New York; then Chautauqua County (near Charlotte Center), New York; and finally Kirtland, Ohio. Using Google Maps, I could visualize his straight progression from Vermont to Ohio. Then pairing these findings with census records, I was able to verify his twenty-year migration.

Over the years, I have found Google to be very useful genealogical research tool. I would encourage everyone to experiment with it to see what you can find! Who knows, you may find the answer to a long held family secret or even break down one of your brick walls!

Perseverance: How to Break Down a Brick Wall

March 13, 2024 lauriekearney

Oh boy, Brick walls are frustrating! They often take years to resolve, and once resolved they often lead to another brick wall…or it may completely open up a new long genealogical line. Over the years, I have run headlong into several brick walls, and two took me about twenty years to find the answers.

Abigail (Butler) Hubbard is my 4x’s great-grandmother. She was the wife of Rev. Zaddock Hubbard. They came from Middletown, Connecticut, moved to Lenox, Massachusetts and finally to Moretown, Vermont. Two pieces of paper I found in Zaddock’s autobiography had Abigail’s birth date on them, as well as those of Zaddock and their children. Only problem was one listed Abigail’s birthdate as May 6, 1773 and the other had her birthdate as May 6, 1768. The Barber Collection had the baptism of an Abigail Butler in Middletown, but it listed her birthdate as May 6, 1774! Was this a clue? Was she possibly the daughter of Dorney Houghton Butler and his wife Mindwell Clark? Research on this line did not yield any answers, and I searched for years! There were no Butler friends or family that traveled with the Hubbards as they moved around New England, and there were no clues in the names Zaddock and Abigail chose for their children. Then about five years ago, Ancestry.com added “Connecticut Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999” to their databases. Although Dorney did not leave a will, there was an administration of estate for Mindwell Butler’s, and lo and behold Abigail, wife of Zaddock Hubbard is mentioned in the estate! And just like that my brick wall was knocked down! Solving the mystery of Abigail (Butler) Hubbard ultimately took patience, because the answer was hiding in a document, I just had to wait for it to come online.

Solving the brick wall of another ancestor took perseverance and a lot of research. Mary [?] Simons, is my husband’s 3x’s great grandmother. She was the wife of Charles Rodney Simons, and as a young married couple, they came to Sacramento, California from Ohio in the late 1800s. The family knew very little about Mary and early research on my part did not produce any answers. Then a third cousin put up on his Ancestry family tree two scanned pages from the Simons family Bible. These pages gave me Mary’s maiden name (Bassett), the name of her first husband (James Malonee), and a notation that their daughter, Carrie Malonee, was born in Kirtland, Ohio.

Although this information did not immediately knock down the brick wall, it did give a place to begin searching – Kirtland Ohio. Looking for Mary Malonee and her baby daughter in the 1870 US federal census, a Mary & Carrie Malong (the “g” zoomed-in, is a “y”), was found in Kirtland. Taking a chance, I searched for a Mary Bassett in the 1850 US federal census, and a Mary “Balseth” (Bassett) was found with her parents, Harmon & Maria and a brother Oliver in Kirtland. Harmon, I love unusual names! Checking to see if another transcription error befell this family, a Google search for “Harmon Bassett” found a marriage record for Oliver Harmon Bassett and Marina Prior. A further Google search for this couple led to an online Bassett family tree listing tons of credible sources. However, this Bassett tree did not know what happened to Mary or her mother Marina.

Following Marina Bassett led to the discovery several remarriages. Her second husband was Leonard Rich. Leonard & Marina Rich’s family are in Kirtland (OH) in the 1860 census, and it indicated a third child, Sarah, from her pervious marriage to Oliver Harmon Bassett. Next marriage for Marina Rich was to Simeon Hall, then Marina Hall married Green Parker, and a Marina Parker’s death record is recorded as August 11, 1891 in Mentor, Ohio. (It should be noted the deaths of all Marina’s husbands can be found online, supporting the timeline of her marriages.) An old family story about a possible relationship to a James Flood, is the lynch pin in proving that Marina Prior is Mary’s mother, because Marina shares a cemetery plot with her daughter, Sarah (Bassett) Flood, and her husband, James Flood.

All of these informational pieces of Mary Ellen (Bassett) Malonee-Simons mother’s life come together to break down this brick wall. So if you are struggling with a brick wall, do not give up. You never know if the answer will be handed to you or through dogged research you find the answer yourself!

A Tale of Two Huldahs

March 13, 2024 lauriekearney

*Headstone of Huldah (Wormwood) Witham.* *Find A Grave, database with images, memorial no 94660761, citing Congregational Church Cemetery, Alfred, ME*

When I do genealogical research I like to assemble the entire family. Who were all the siblings/children? Where were all the places a family lived? Where did they go to church? Did the family have an important role in their town? Did anyone serve in the military? Asking these questions not only helps to know and understand the family, but also may give research clues when trying to trace a particular family member. This especially is true if you come across two or more people with the same name.

Years ago, I added Huldah Wormwood, daughter of Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood, into my family tree because she was the sister of my direct ancestor. From what I could find, she lived her whole life in the town of Alfred, Maine. However, another online researcher had a Huldah Wormwood in their tree. She was born in Vermont (or New York) and lived her adult life in New York State, but this researcher had her entered in their tree as the Huldah Wormwood born in Alfred, Maine. Trying to figure out which Huldah was actually the daughter of Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood meant careful study of available records.

*Headstone of Huldah (Wormwood) Oliver. Find A Grave, database with images, memorial no. 89919566, citing Fairview Cemetery, Brasher Falls, NY*

The other researcher theorized that Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood moved briefly to Vermont in 1797, had Huldah, then returned to Alfred, Maine by the time of the 1800 census. Then, she believes Huldah moved to upstate New York by 1820 when she married Alfred Oliver. Although to me, this theory did not seem logical, to the other researcher it made sense. Theories are good. They give one a place to start. Once you have developed a theory, the next thing to do is to see (or to prove) if you are right or wrong. That is when you need to find all available records and to carefully consider each record as it pertains to your research question.

There are most definitely two Huldahs who were alive about the same time and were about the same age. Sometimes, I find it helpful to create a chart of available records. This makes it easier to compare and contrast information.

	Huldah Wormwood (wife of Jeremiah Witham)	Huldah Wormwood (wife of Alfred Oliver)
born	25 Dec 1806 (find a grave)	1797/98 (1850 census/ find a grave)
married	24 Aug 1829 (Maine Marriages)	9 Nov 1820 (10,000 VR of eastern NY)
died	22 Jul 1874 (find a grave)	17 May 1854 (find a grave)
1850 census	b. 1807	b. 1797
1860 census	b. 1807	X
1870 census	b. 1807	X

From looking at this chart, one can see the two Huldahs are about ten years apart in age. It should also be noted Huldah (Wormwood) Oliver’s children, in various records, either record her place of birth as Vermont or New York, but most records appear to agree with Huldah in the 1850 census that Vermont was her place of birth. Unfortunately, there are not any other records to add to this chart. So considering records regarding Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood may lead to an answer.

Screen shot of a portion of Amos Wormwood’s will.

Amos and Lydia grew up in Wells, Maine and married there on August 30, 1781. Their first three children were born and baptized in Wells, before the family removed to Sanford, Maine (the part that is now Alfred). Unfortunately, the minister of the Alfred Congregational Church took the records with him when he left the church for another ministry. Amos had his daughter, Huldah baptized on June 18, 1807 by the new minister of the Alfred Church. Amos left a will naming all his children. The will establishes Amos and Lydia were the parents of nine children, their youngest is Huldah, as he wants the monies he left his children to be paid out when his “youngest daughter,” Huldah turns 18.

As for the notion of the other researcher that the family moved to Vermont and back to Maine over a very short time span, documents in York County, Maine illustrate a different story. Amos (then later Lydia) are enumerated in the 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1820 censuses. Amos is listed in the Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax list in 1798. The town of Alfred records the deaths of three of Amos and Lydia’s children in 1797, 1800 and 1801. Also, land deeds show Amos bought land in 1797 Maine (York County deed book 88; page 256). All these records indicate Amos was living in Alfred, Maine in the late 1790s and early 1800s and did not move temporarily to Vermont. Plus, the Alfred Historical Society and Fred R. Boyle, author of Early Families of Alfred, Maine, believe Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood are the parents of Huldah (Wormwood) Witham, wife of Jeremiah.

These documents seem to answer the research question that Huldah (Wormwood) Witham is the daughter of Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood but they do not tell us who the parents of Huldah (Wormwood) Oliver were. She was most likely born in Vermont, she quite possibly is the daughter of Joseph Wormwood (brother of Amos) or one of their nephews Daniel Wormwood or Ezra Wormwood, all three men moved to Vermont in the late 1790s/early 1800s.

Screen shot of an Ancestry.com family tree search showing there are 169 trees with the wrong information!

It should also be noted that 169 online trees erroneously show Huldah (Wormwood) Oliver as the daughter of Amos and Lydia! Next time you run across two people with the same name, study all the information you can find on them. Don’t just click and add the wrong person to your database. Accuracy is key!