William Greer (1849-1943)
How do I say Happy Birthday to William Greer, who died before I was born? How do I say Happy Valentine’s Day To William Greer and Elizabeth Farrington Greer?
Category: Genealogy
Emma Cash & Malcolm McKenzie: a father-in-law joke
My grandfather liked to tell jokes. Many were simple and maybe a bit silly. He had one about his in-laws that I remember. His in-laws were Emma Cash & Malcolm McKenzie.
The joke goes something like this. Malcolm did not marry for money but did marry CASH.. A very short joke but it came to mind yesterday as I was editing the record of Emma Cash on WikiTree.
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Horace Greer – Happy Birthday
I thinking about the Bad Boy Greers of New York city, such an interesting bunch.
The older one, Horace Greer is having a birthday this week. Happy Birthday Horace. Horace A. Greer is best known for Hollywood scandal in the 1920s involving a leading actress of the time, Mabel Normand.
McKenzie MacKenzie Cape Breton to New York City genealogy
I noticed that the birthday of my grandmother Isabel MacKenzie is coming up soon. The name is spelled McKenzie in many records. And there are actually a number of other spellings but none are seen as consistently as Mac and McKenzie.
My second great grandfather Alexander McKenzie came from Gairloch, Scotland and settled in Middle River, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada and married Isabella McGregor. Their son Malcolm move from Cape Breton and settled in New York City.
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Two McBrien – Allingham families of Leitrim and Donegal
These two McBrien – Allingham families have led to some confusion in evaluation of family relationships. I have written about odd coincidences in genealogy before but this one is much more confusing.
I first encountered the family of John McBrien and Elizabeth Allingham when I expanded my study of the genealogy of the Allingham family of the Glencar area of Killasnet parish in County Leitrim Ireland. The first record we have of my great great grandmother Ruth Allingham is her 1854 marriage in the small Church of Ireland near Glencar Lake . In 1856 Elizabeth Allingham (who is probably her sister) married John McBrien in the same church.
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Bad Boy Greers of New York City
I keep coming back to the Bad Boy Greers, such an interesting bunch. Of course that goes back to Matthew Greer and Ruth Allingham, I wonder how they would have felt about the Bad Boy Greers but, of course, they were dead before the Bad Boy grandchildren were even born.
I wrote about this Greer family several years back but I just want to focus on 3 brothers who I’ll call the Bad Boy Greers. They were what genealogist would call collateral relatives since they are not direct ancestors but were first cousins to one of my grandfathers.
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Sarah Greer Mahan
Sorry Sarah Greer Mahan. Missed your birthday this year. 150 was a big one. Maybe I’ll remember in time next year
I am trying to learn a bit more about my Greers from Sligo and Allinghams from Leitrim. Comments welcome, especially if you think you might be related.
Vital records access threatened (Action now)
New York City (NYC) may restrict vital records access. The public including genealogists and others would be hurt by the restriction.
This would be great hindrance to my genealogical research since the vast majority of my ancestors entered the US though NYC and stayed there for generations.
The millions with NYC ancestors should be worried. But the larger genealogy community should also be concerned since other jurisdictions may decide to follow this example and restrict access to various records of genealogical importance.
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Griese MacKenzie SC, VA, PA, Cape Breton
Griese Mackenzie … is kind of an odd title. But it goes back to a book I was reading. Let me explain.
Now that I know where my MacKenzie (or McKenzie) great grandfather came from (Middle River, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia), I decided to look at another MacKenzie from the same town. The Griese comes from a Reverend Griese who is a descendant of Neil McKenzie and visited Middle River in 2001.
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Thomas Allingham of Glencar Leitrim and children
I’ve written a good bit about my line of descent from Thomas ALLINGHAM. Thomas Allingham (c1798-1883) was a farmer in Sracreeghan, Killasnet Parish, Co. Leitrim, Ireland. This part of the parish was called Glencar or Glenlough. Now I want to briefly fill-in what I know of the rest of the family.
First thing I don’t know the name of his wife or for that matter if the same wife was mother to all these children. On his daughter Ruth’s death certificate it is stated that her mother in Jane Allingham. So I do have a first name for at least 1 child.
So here are the children I know. At least I believe these are correct with varying degrees of certainty. I’ll add a few words about why I think these are correct.
Elizabeth Allingham, 1826–1909
The only record I have in Ireland is her marriage to John McBrien in 1856. This took place in Glenlough, Leitrim, Ireland and Thomas was name as her father. Since several children were born in Ireland, there are those records but they don’t add anything to a discussion of which family she was born into. The McBriens emigrated to Ontario. Her death record also confirms Thomas as her father. I’ve estimated her birth year from the death record.
Jane ALLINGHAM, 1830–
I have very little on her. She married William Algeo in Killasnet, Leitrim, Ireland. The record list her father as Thomas so I think she belongs with this family. She had a child named Ann Algeo. I am not very confident about this one and the birth year is just a wild guess.
Ruth ALLINGHAM, 1835–1887
This one I am very sure about. Ruth is my 2nd great-grandmother and I’ve written about her several times (see glencarleitrim.wordpress.com and this blog. The birth year is an estimate. She married Matthew Greer in Glenlough, Leitrim, Ireland in 1854. After Matthew’s death she emigrated to New York City with her younger children to meet her older children who were already there.
Anne ALLINGHAM, 1838–
She was named executor of her father’s will I have little else but she definitely belongs in this family. I don’t believe she everymarried and the year of birth is a guess without any real basis.
Margaret ALLINGHAM, 1840–
She married William Irwin in Killasnet, Leitrim, Ireland and the record listed her father as Thomas. I don’t know much after that.
Robert Allingham, 1855–1890
I know very little except he was named as Thomas’ brother on a military record (see below). I also know he was a member of The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). So I’m pretty confident he belong to this family.
John ALLINGHAM, 1861–1915
He married Sarah Martin in Dublin and named Thomas of Sracreeghan as his father. He was a member of the RIC and was present at the death of Thomas
Thomas ALLINGHAM, 1865–
Military record named John and Robert of RIC as brothers. And I am very sure about John. The record also gave year of birth and indicated he was from Leitrim.
So here is the list I said was coming.
Allingham family of Glencar, Killasnet Parish, Co. Leitrim, Ireland
I wrote about the Allingham family of Glencar, Killasnet Parish, Co. Leitrim, Ireland several times but the last time was late last year.
At that time I identified 4 children including my great grandmother. I think now I have information indicating 8 children and I expect there may be more that I have not yet found. In most cases the evidence is pretty good; in others it is not quite enough. So I’ll have to do another post to bring you up-to date on this.
Free Irish Genealogy Records from NEHGS
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is providing free access to their collection of Irish Genealogy Records for St Patrick’s Day and more (March 15-22).
All Irish resources are FREE from March 15-22. This includes databases, guides and webinars. So there is no cost and no reason not to check out the NEHGS.
You might decide the FREE membership is right for you or maybe you’ll decided to join as a paying member. In any case you might find that elusive Irish genealogy record for free, or something else worthwhile, for nothing.
The NEHGS is at https://www.americanancestors.org
DNA evidence in genealogy
I just read an interesting post by Blaine Bettinger. If you are interested in the use of DNA evidence in genealogy, it is well worth a read.
The article is The DNA Era of Genealogy. Blaine Bettinger also has 2 books which will probably be of interest if you are looking at DNA results or considering adding DNA to you genealogy toolbox.
I have both in paperback. I find it easier to go back and re-read sections as needed as well as looking at some of the figures. I am reading both for an overview but like having the book to read in detail as needed.
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Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA
I am finding family but not in the same way. And I use some of the same techniques. But this book is about a very different quest than mine.
This was a bit of an unusual experience for me. I was browsing Amazon looking for something else. I forget what but that is unimportant. My hobby is genealogy and last Christmas I was given an autosomal DNA test kit. The results confirmed several known relationships and one suspected relationship. It also opened several unexpected avenues of research.
So I am acquainted with the uses and power of DNA for genealogy but still feel very much like a beginner in genetic genealogy.
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McKenzie brick wall update
This is an update of the story how my McKenzie brick wall was broken by DNA. Genealogists trace a family and then get to a point where is seems very difficult or maybe even impossible to get beyond. These involuntary stopping points in genealogy are often called “Brick Walls”. I have several and I suppose a good many people doing genealogy have brick walls.
I had been able to go back as far as my great grandfather Malcolm McKenzie and his wife Emma Cash McKenzie. My earlier post on this McKenzie brick wall will give some details about how a comment on this blog guided me towards Malcolm’s family in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada and much more.
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