Hidden Records: Irish Origins in Kentucky Records

The seemingly endless quest to "prove" the ancestry of my Amos Richardson and his wife Betsy Hicks, I was recently reading the Order books, 1808-1938, of the Estill County, Kentucky, Court ( FHL 254,638, Item #1) for the period up to about 1860.  I was hoping to get lucky but, alas, there were no surprises or great leads for me. But maybe these excerpts will be a surprise for someone else?!

John Keller, p. 109

The FHL catalog description for this fillm summarizes these records as court records, officials and employees, and probate records.  I was reading along in this mish-mash of fairly boring records when I suddenly found 6 pages of records on three Irish immigrants!  I've read a good deal of county court records and I have never seen anything like these six pages.

Long ago I gave up realistic expectations of ever finding the origins of my Irish immigrant Keating and Dooley lines: it's just a dream now for me to accidentally stumble on it.  Perhaps that's why these records in the middle of very boring, common day-to-day proceedings in Estill County hit me so hard.

Here are my quick extracts of the highlights.  Of course, interested researchers must check the original records.

Timothy DAILEY, 38, County Cork

Hamilton County OH at age 34

Emigrated from Canada 1 Jul 1848

Arrived Cleveland 10 July 1848

Appeared Estill 1 Aug 1855

Humphrey Moynihan, p. 107

Humphrey MOYNIHAN, about 28 years of age

County of Kerry, Ireland

Document from Bourbon KY 11 Aug 1855

John KELLER

Emigrated from Liverpool

Arrived NY 10 May 1848

Timothy Daliley testified for him: 5 years USA & 1 year in KY

I really  do hope that this info helps someone else celebrate this St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe there's still hope for me, too....

Great Resource: British Isles Family History Society - USA

Week-before-last, I had the privilege of attending the monthly meeting of the British Isles Family History Society--USA in Los Angeles.  I've been a member for a few years and thoroughly enjoy their publications and meetings. Unfortunately, it's a long drive with an ugly traffic pattern, so I don't make it to every meeting. 
  
This last meeting was "Ask the Experts," a yearly program.  Members could email in questions or problems ahead of time and a panel of the group's experts would discuss each one as the program for the meeting!  I couldn't let that opportunity pass me by....

I had sent off a family group sheet on my great-great-great-grandparents, John Hughes & Lydia Cooper, and loads of questions.  Sure enough, John & Lydia were the third item on the agenda!  I won't go into the details here but, trust me, I have lots to go on now!  Two of the experts had obviously spent a good deal of time on my issues before the meeting and had lots to say.  Both also had several printouts for me of their research efforts.  The two experts had approached different issues, so I left the meeting with a handful of their printouts and 2 pages of notes from the group discussion!  It was great!!  I can't wait for next year: I'm already figuring out which couple I'll target then!

Annual Seminar

...from the BIFHS website...

You may have missed last month's meeting, but BIFHS's seminar is coming!  Full information is available at their website.  It will be all day, October 22 in Whittier, California.  The speaker is Darris Williams, of Salt Lake City, FamilySearch, and the Family History Library there.
 
A special, added feature, is that for no additional fee, you can attend the group's regular meeting the next day in Los Angeles and have all of Sunday afternoon to research at the Los Angeles Family History Library.  The speaker (I think he's giving an extra speech there) and all the experts will be there for individual help.  Check the Library website to search their catalog before your visit; they have an extensive British Isles collection.  What a great weekend it will be! 

Conclusions
Joing genealogy groups is a great thing, and BIFHS-USA is no exception.  I'm really looking forward to the seminar next month!
 

Disclaimer

I am a proud member of BIFHS, but I receive no special consideration from them other than what comes from membership.  I think they are all nice to everyone all the time anyway.

Irish Genealogy Tip: The Irish Times

ProGenealogists recently posted a brief mention by Kellie Scherbel about a tool for finding variant spellings for Irish surnames.  It's a great tool, hosted by the Irish Times.  But, I quickly found that they have a LOT more at their site for those of us trying to research Irish ancestors.

The Irish Times home page, under the 'More' section, the drop-down menu includes an option for 'Irish Ancestors.'  The Surname Search button there yields a search box and this explanation:

"Enter a surname in the box above, and find out:

• the number and location of households of the name in Ireland 1848-64;
• variant spellings or associated names;
• surname dictionary entries;
• surname histories;
• the number and location of births of the name in 1890;
• published or printed family histories;
• a possible coat of arms associated with the name."

It all works beautifully!  I got quite a lot of information on KEATING and less, but still useful, on DOOLEY. 

There are also options for placename info, research outlines, immigration, and full text archives of a regular Irish Times genealogy column by noted genealogist John Grenham, beginning from Jan 2009!  And, there are more links to additional helps at this page.  I think it's a real treat to be able to read regular articles by Grenham!

Conclusions

Thanks to ProGenealogists for this tip.  Now, I just wish I could find some little lead somewhere about specifically where my Irish great-grandparents originated ....

Disclaimers

I read the ProGenealogists blog regularly and love the info available at their website, but I have no other connection to them at all.  

I receive no consideration from the Irish Times, but I will start visiting their Irish Ancestors webpage regularly now that I know about it!  Warning:  There is an option to subscribe for full access to Irish Ancestors.  But there are oodles of free goodies available.