Need advice from experienced genealogists

[OnionPatch]

I've hit a brick wall on a line of my family that I've taken great interest in. They were Scots-Irish, mostly, from what I can tell.

I'm pretty new to genealogy (and have made some dumb beginners mistakes, as can be seen in this forum. :blush:) But I've learned quite a lot researching this line since it seems no one else has worked on it. Still, I don't know quite where to turn now that I'm back into the 1700s.

My uncle's and grandfather's middle names were Wilson. For five generations my grandfather's middle names were Wilson. No one alive even knows why anymore. My family has always wondered who this mysterious Wilson person is, so I suppose that's the reason I want so much to trace this line back further. I'm not expecting to find anything spectacularly interesting, but I do want to know the source of the name. I finally traced it to 4X great-grandmother named Jane Wilson, and I think I've found her father buried in the same cemetery. He was born in 1768. I want to find out more about him and his family. I have some small bits and clues, a couple of census records and a paragraph or two from old county histories. Where do I go from here? I think he was born in Chambersburg, PA, then moved to Washington County PA, then to Trumbull County, Ohio, where he died. Do they have birth records in any of these places that far back in time? What about marriage records? Wills? What is the most likely source of info for someone who was born so long ago? Census records from that far back provide only hints. I've found other Wilsons in all of these counties but nothing substantial to link them to my Wilsons. Where would an experienced genealogist turn to find more info?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Rosie1223]

1. In general you are likely to have best luck with wills

Records of births, deaths, & marriages vary by county but everyone with any assets had to file a will or go through probate.

Check with the county of death to see if they have an will index for your Wilson gggggrandfather. If you can find the will it may list children and wife's names.

Good Luck!

[OnionPatch]

6. I sent away for some wills, thanks.

They did have some wills listed that I hope turn out to be from my ggggg-grandfather. I have some information on this Wilson person who I suspect is my ggggg-grandfather, but I can't be sure it's him until I have something definitive and not just coincidental. Hopefully the estate will name his children and I'll know for sure.

This summer I'll be back home visiting my mother and will be able to make a trip to the courthouses. Can't wait!

[sybylla]

2. A call to the counties in question might help

The local genealogy group or historical society as well as the county courthouse might be able to provide for you a list of what records are available in the time frame you need.

For example, in one of my lines I needed guardianship hearing records for some orphans. The courthouse only had the index that listed the dates of the hearings. They did not have the court records as they were destroyed to make space decades ago before microfilm.

If the records are no longer at the courthouse but in the keeping of a local organization, they can also tell you that.

I've found Google is a genealogists best friend. And it doesn't hurt to try googling your ancestors name and even a vital date. You never know what you find - from a cousin who's already done the research and posted it online to some local history snippet.

[OnionPatch]

5. That's an idea I hadn't thought of.

But yes, I could call the courthouse to find out what records were available in that early time period. Thanks.

[fudge stripe cookays]

3. Check county histories for Franklin County.

I just did a rootsweb search, and that is where it is now. You need to see if that has changed in the last 200 years, but that would be a good start.

I've had SO much luck with early county histories. Each one will have little mini bios of some of the prominent men in town. Sometimes, you may luck out with an entry for your guy that will provide some of his descendants, where he originally came from etc. Especially if he was one of the original settlers.

Good luck! :hi:
fsc

[OnionPatch]

4. Thanks.

I've actually found some great histories like you're talking about and this is how I got back as far as I am on this line. But now I'm looking for people who were alive before most of the people mentioned in the histories.

But I will look in Franklin County and see what I can find. I am guessing these ancestors were Scots-Irish and if they are like the rest of the family, they arrived, stayed in coastal PA for only a few years before heading into the frontier. I do believe I know where they were at the time of death so I'm hoping wills and estates will pan out.

[madinmaryland]

7. This might help a little bit, following up on FSC commented on.

There are histories of many counties in PA that were written in the late 19th century. I found one for Washington County that was written in the 1870's. Being on google, it is searchable by name.

http://books.google.com/books?id=qEsVAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=washington+co.+Pa

I found a picture of my gg-grandfather at an party for the town's founders in 1904 in one of those books. There was also a case that involved my gg-grandfather over an old steam engine in the 1870's.

[OnionPatch]

8. Well, thanks, I've scoured that book many times.

And there are some of my other ancestors mentioned in it, but not the guy I'm looking for. His name is listed and that's it. (At least I'm guessing it was him but it was just a list of taxpayers and no other info.)

I did receive his will the other day and it was very helpful. It said that his father's name was William. Yay! The father had left him and his sister some money in his will to be divided so the will talked about that money and mentioned them. So now I know his sister's name, too. I actually found a whole lot of history on her husband's family leading back to Glasgow, Scotland! I'm guessing this is where this line of my family is from, too. I have no clue how to research in Scotland 1700s, though. The stuff on her husband included no info on her except her dates and place of death. I'm hoping their father's will is still around at the county. I just wrote to them to ask. I also found a really great map at this website: http://www.historictownmaps.com that shows his property. That helped me confirm his sister's husband's family who lived close by. Unfortunately, you have to join to really see the maps up close and then you have to pay to obtain a copy. Which is what I did. I'm a sucker. But it was worth it. :)

[madinmaryland]

9. Interestingly that you mention the historic maps.

I was able to find scanned versions of maps in Pennsylvania for the 1870's that were free. They were on the county genealogy site, and included property owners on the maps. My dad was able to point out where my his g-grandfathers homestead was. He also recognized the locations of a couple of schools that his mother taught at in the 1920's.

[iverglas]

10. Scottish parish records

The database is actually terrific and is searchable here:

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

You have to register (free) and you can do searches without paying but will only be told whether there are matching results. To see the results found you have to buy credits. It's really cheap. Then if you want to see the original image of the record you've found, you pay more credits and access it right on line.


Old parish records are:

» Births & Baptisms 1538-1854
» Banns & Marriages 1538-1854
» Deaths & Burials 1538-1854


Obviously they aren't complete, and you have some pretty common names, and don't know a location. So you will have a hard row to hoe. I'm not sure of your timeline, but if you do have a child born in Scotland and know an approx date and/or a parent's name, you would have a starting point.

I've only ever needed two Scottish records personally - a grx3 grandfather from England turned up, bizarrely, in the 1841 Scottish census. I hadn't even thought to look for him there -- I had him in the 1851 and 1861 before he died, have his and his siblings' baptisms and his parents' 1782 marriage from parish records, all in the same place in England. No idea why he was in Scotland and wouldn't have looked, but someone at the genealogy board where I was talking about being unable to find his marriage and his son's birth came up with a (second, presumably) marriage in Scotland that was beyond question him, from the name. Then shortly after came his wife's death. Apparently I was very fortunate at all the detail in the records -- parents' names, occupations, ages, etc. The pre-1855 parish records tend to have sparse info.

I'm in touch with someone who works for the Scottish registry office and has access to all these old records. If you come up with something and need help sorting it out, drop me a PM.


typos fixed