Genealogy / Family Tree Research Connection
Hi everyone. I have been researching my family tree, and decided to create this page as an outreach to others who are doing the same. My intent is not to publish my family tree here, but to create a means for connecting with distant cousins who are doing similar research. Most of the individuals listed below are immigrants, born outside the United States but who moved here. Feel free to contact me to compare notes, share information, or just say hello.
A poem by Della M. Cumming which summarizes my feeling on genealogy begins as follows. This captures the essence of the reason I am interested in genealogy. Click here to read the entire poem.
My feelings are that in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors, to put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.
To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were by our genes.
Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story! So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves.
My feelings are that in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors, to put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.
To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were by our genes.
Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story! So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves.
My primary ancestors
John Tobin (born 1809; Tipperary County, Ireland; son of Patrick Tobin and Mary Hoyne). John married Margaret Roach (born c.1814), daughter of John Roach and Bridget Dunphy, also of Tipperary County. John and Margaret came to the U.S. in 1834 and eventually settled in Kane County, Illinois.
Phillip Tolbert Beddoe (born 1790; family from Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, England). Phillip married Catherine Parr, born 1789 in North Carolina. The family moved west to Tennessee and eventually settled in Sabine County, Texas. The Beddoe line is deep. I have been able to trace this branch back to the early 1500s.
Henry Wiebke (born 1877 in Estorf/Esdorf Germany), came to the United States around 1896 and settled in Cedar County, Iowa. Henry married Anna Klipp, whose parents (Frederick Klipp and Magdalene Buckendahl) were born in the same region of Germany. Frederick was born around 1852 while Magdalene was born around 1858. They came over as a young couple around 1883.
John Durso (born 1878 in Sicily) and Grazia Bologna (born 1884 also in Sicily) came to the United States around 1902 and settled in Chicago. One of their sons married the daughter of Salvatore Lavaccare, also from Italy - we believe from Sicily. Salvatore was born c. 1864 and first came to America at New Orleans around 1882. His wife was Josephine, also of Italian descent, and they eventually moved to Chicago.
Others in my line
Jeremiah O'Neill, of Irish descent, was born in Nova Scotia in 1864. The records show he came to the United States between 1880 and 1882, eventually settling in Chicago. He married the former Gertrude Hayden (born 1868 and lived in New Orleans during at least a portion of her childhood). Her parents were William Hayden (born c. 1840) and Ellen Hurley (born 1848), both in Ireland. Gertrude died in 1904 and Jeremiah died about 1917. Research has not turned up much on his roots.
William John Moore (born 1806 near Londonderry, North Ireland) was the son of William Moore and Margaret Miller. William married Margaret Cochrane, who likewise was born in Londonderry c. 1811. William and Margaret moved to Kane County, Illinois around 1837.
John "Red" Clinnin (born 1817 in Ballymacoda, Cork County, Ireland). Back in Ireland the surname was Cullinane. John married Catherine Long (daughter of James Long and Catherine Lee and born c.1817). They married in Ireland c. 1837, and settled in McHenry and/or Kane County, Illinois by 1850.
William Egan (born around 1811 in Kilkenny County, Ireland) was the son of Patrick Egan. He married Bridget Saunders (daughter of Robert of Kilkenny, born c. 1822). Their daughter Margaret was born in 1848 in Kilkenny. Shortly thereafter the Egans moved to America, settling in Kane County, Illinois.
The Daniell line goes back to the early colonial days. Roger Daniell and his wife Ann Carey came to Virginia c. 1654. Next came several generations of males named Robert Daniell, including one (1646-1718) who was a colonial governor in both North and South Carolina.
Samuel Isaacs was born 1685 near Somerset, England. He settled near Frederick, Virginia. Samuel's grandson, Elijah Isaacs (born 1730) moved to North Carolina and fought in the American Revolution, reaching the rank of colonel. Some 60 years later the Isaacks were involved in the war for Texas Independence. This family always seemed to be near history in the making.
John Donaho was born in 1705 in Cashel, Tipperary County, Ireland. His wife was Elizabeth and together they had a son John (born 1730). Around 1743 they moved to America. The Donahos eventually settled in South Carolina and later moved west.
Albertus Hendricks was born 1641 in Leiden, Zuid-Holland and came to America in 1662. An indentured servant at first, he settled in Pennsylvannia and married a Dutch woman, Aeltje Helchey, he met on the ship to America. The surname was later spelled Hendrix and subsequent generations moved to the Carolinas and Alabama.
The Hilliard line goes deep into American colonial days. English-born John Hilliard, born 1622 arrived in Maryland in 1634 as part of the initial settlement of the colony. His wife was Alice Roberts, born 1626. The Hilliards remained in Maryland for nearly a century before my line moved to Virginia, Alabama, and Louisiana.
Peter Hayes (1571-1641), began a nautical career as a young man that ultimately led to his settling in Virginia during the 1630s. In my tree, this line merged with Hilliard when Winifred Hayes married Francis Hilliard around the 1750s.
A number of German families settled in Ohio on my wife's side. Conrad Pflaum, born 1797 in Weilersbach, Germany, settled in Mercer County, Ohio, with his wife Margaret and son John Phillip Pflaum in the mid-1830s. John Phillip (1834-1896) married Catherine Zink (1836-1900), daughter of Joseph and Susannah Zink of Baden-Baden, Germany. The Dabbelt line in this country was started by Johann Bernard Dabbelt (1812-1874) and his wife Gertrude Schulze Capelle (died 1863) and settled in Mercer County, Ohio around 1857.
The Barry line has been traced back to Benjamin Barry (1761-1823). Benjamin was of British heritage, though it is not clear whether he was born in England or America. The family line moved from Massachussets to upstate New York, and eventually to Harrison County, Iowa by the 1870s.
Richard Bullock (1622-1667) was born in England and moved to Rehoboth, Mass. as a young man. The Bullocks remained in Massachussets until after the American Revolution before moving to New York state.
Hugh Stewart (born in 1818 Antrim, Ireland, died 1889) and his wife Ann McBride (born 1824 in Antrim, died 1909) moved to the United States, first settling in Ohio and ultimately in Harrison Country, Iowa. Their son Daniel (born 1853) married Matilda Morrow, herself the daughter of Irish immigrants, Patrick Morrow (1808-1893) and Elizabeth Hasson (1808-1895).
Carl Peterson, born 1852 in Sweden, moved to America around 1873 and setttled in Harrison Country, Iowa where he married Eliza Follett.
The Follett line goes deep into colonial Massachussets with the birth of Robert Follett at Salem c.1630. The family remained in Massachussets until after the Revolutionary War, moving to New York state and eventually settling in Iowa.