Links Family History Blog

The Truth Is Out There... In my last update , I had resolved to call in the professionals to help me identify my unknown great-grandfather. While I did contact a professional genealogist who was experienced in adoption situations, she told me that the key was definitely in DNA - but that was not her specialty. I was back to square one...or was I? Having it confirmed by a professional that the answer lay in DNA evidence galvanized me to focus exclusively on analyzing my DNA matches. But where to start? A YouTube video I had watched on investigative genetic genealogy (one of those serendipitous video suggestions that seem to pop up when you most need it) stuck with me. A tip from the video linked DNA to traditional research: use ethnicity to search for surnames. In a recent AncestryDNA update to my ethnicity regions, I had noticed a curious development: unexeplained Dutch DNA . I restarted my search, but this time with a clearer understanding of where I was headed. Convinced that the 192...

Introducing Cole FAN: Henry A COLE.   In an earlier post,  "Cole FANs: Joshua Levi Cole" , I introduced the youngest child of my brick-wall ancestors - and founding Canadian COLE family members - Henry "Harry" COLE (Abt. 1790-1849) and his spouse Elizabeth "Eliza" CHURCHILL (Abt. 1790-1875). Now meet Joshua's oldest sibling, Henry A COLE. Fig. 1: The immediate family of Henry A COLE (1812-1897) (click to enlarge) Henry A COLE was the oldest of nine known children born to Canadian founders and parents Henry COLE and Elizabeth CHURCHILL. Of Irish Palatine and English-Irish descent, Henry was (probably) born in Ardcanny, County Limerick, Ireland and baptized on June 7, 1812. At the age of 12, he immigrated to Canada with his parents and younger brother Peter (and possibly sister Mary Jane) and settled near Streetsville in Toronto Township, Peel County, Ontario.  Not a lot of information survives about his family’s early years. But it is known that Henry’s...

Continued Progress. In an earlier post, I introduced a family mystery and a controversial family question:  Who was the biological father of my paternal grandmother?  In a recent update to that post, I discussed my approach and early progress on developing a research plan for identifying my grandmother Fern ELDER's biological father. Fig. 1: Fern Caroline ELDER in early 1954 In working to develop the broader research project plan, it became clear that a lot of traditional research would need to be performed to try to answer this research goal, with no guarantee of success. Without even a name for my grandmother's biological father, it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack - not impossible, but definitely labour-intensive. The question had to be asked, "Was this effort necessary? Or was the answer already before me in research already done, or in DNA test results and associated matches already available?" The answer was, "Possibly." So, I paused...

The Search Begins.   In an earlier post, I introduced a family mystery and a controversial family question: Who was the biological father of my paternal grandmother?   In that post, I discussed this particularly emotional brick wall and shared some of the currently-known information and some frustrating roadblocks.  To try to overcome some of those roadblocks, I committed to engaging in a more methodical research process, one set out in the Family Locket Genealogists ' books, Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide (2018)  and  Research Like a Pro with DNA (2021).  In this post, I will share some progress after completing initial steps discussed in their first book. Initial Progress.  After working through the intial research steps, I have established the following in the quest to identify my paternal grandmother's biological father: Research Question (Type - To prove a family relationship.) Who were the biological parents of my paternal grandm...

Who was my grandmother's unknown father?   Family secrets and a burning question that has been whispered throughout my youth: just who was my paternal grandmother's father? That my grandmother was illegitimate was one of those open secrets in the family that no one talked about. I'm not certain that even she knew who her father was.  But like a stone being thrown into a pond -- whatever the intent was in keeping it quiet -- the waves that the secret created has had a real impact on her children and grandchildren. I personally feel a sense of loss of family connection and history, of something that can never be fully reclaimed. My uncle, aunt, and father never got to know their grandfather and they grew up thinking their grandmother was their "aunt"; we grandchildren (my brother and paternal cousins) missed knowing our great-grandfather and having anything but a distant-aunt relationship with our great-grandmother. While I understand the motivation for silence, the...

I appreciate your patience. After taking a months-long break from blogging to attend to some family issues, I will soon return from hiatus and begin posting new ancestor profiles and research insights shortly.  Preparing to break through some brick walls! Join me as I  continue to work on the Acadian, Cole FANs, DIY Genealogy, and Founder series;  the COLE Name Study; and  begin to dive into the use of new-to-me research methods such as location scans and using DNA to enhance my efforts.  I hope to see you soon as I continue to share my journey of discovery.

Striking Gold at the Diocese of Toronto Archives. In a previous post where I introduced my Cole "FAN club," I wrote about Joshua Levi Cole who was the youngest known child of my Canadian Cole family founders Henry Cole and Elizabeth Churchill. Joshua Levi Cole In that post, I had listed his birth year and location as 1835, with alternate birth years of 1833 and 1834, in Streetsville (now in the Municipality of Mississauga, Peel County, Ontario, Canada). The sources for this data came from later census records and from his Find-A-Grave memorial, which cited his headstone located in St. Andrews and St. James Cemetery in Orillia, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. I knew that birthdates recorded in census records were not always accurate, that sometimes in records a baptism date was used interchangeably as a birthdate, and that headstones are made by those who survive the deceased (i.e., errors happen). So, I could not rest. I had to keep searching for confirmation of Joshua's...

Surrounding My Brick-Wall Ancestors. In an earlier post, Cole FANs: Joshua Levi Cole , I introduced the youngest child of my brick-wall ancestors - and founding Canadian Cole family members - Henry "Harry" Cole (Abt. 1790-1849) and his spouse Elizabeth "Eliza" Churchill (Abt. 1790-1875). Now meet Joshua's older sister, Mary Jane Cole  Orr. In researching Joshua as part of my F-A-N (Friends-Associates-Neighbours) research strategy for his parents, I uncovered a tantalizing clue to his mother's whereabouts in the 1870s (see Author's Notes [1] below). But I also discovered that he didn't go alone when he moved to Medonte Township in Simcoe County: he relocated with an older sister and her family.  Encouraged by this early success in my FAN strategy, and eager to find more clues about this generation of the Cole family, I turned my attention to Joshua's close associate - his sister Mary Jane  Cole  Orr. Mary Jane Cole  Orr (1822-1901). Given the int...

Introducing my Cole FAN club. In an earlier post, Cole: An Irish Palatine Family's Timeline , I talked about some challenges I encountered in researching my Irish Palatine ancestors, and specifically Canadian family founder Henry "Harry" Cole and his English-Irish spouse Elizabeth Churchill. After beating my head against this substantial brick wall for years, I was given some wise advice: research around the brick wall. By broadening my search, instead of pursuing Henry and Elizabeth with such a laser focus, it is possible to find out facts and information about them in this more indirect manner. This approach to researching is known as using the "FAN club." Such was my strategy for researching the friends, associates and neighbours (F-A-Ns) -- and in this case other family members such as children -- of this founding couple. My hope was that in researching associated individuals or locations where records were more plentiful, it would lead to previously undisco...

Access Family Histories and other research materials at Ontario Ancestors. The Family Histories page of the Huron County Branch ( Ontario Ancestors ) website just helped me with a research breakthrough. If you're a member of the Huron County Branch of the Ontario Ancestors genealogical society, check it out; if not, consider joining the society and subscribing to the Huron County Branch to view this and many other family histories of Huron County, Ontario pioneers. After years of beating my head against a difficult brick wall, I began working a hunch that my 4th great-grandmother Elizabeth (Churchill) Cole (abt 1790-1875) from Tipperary, Ireland was somehow related to a newly-discovered group of families, the Goderich Township Churchills.  Poking around the Huron County Branch's Family Histories web page (located under Members Corner), I recently found a scan of the family history of the Goderich Churchills (called, The Churchill Family of Huron County, Ontario, Canada ) by Da...