Now that I am back from Ireland and no longer actually photographing cemeteries, I am still trying to add to genealogical research by transferring information on families and individuals from Irish headstones http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/headstones.htm#gsc.tab=0 to familysearch.org.
In the interest of maybe encouraging others to do this, here is an outline of the process:
I pick a cemetery to work on. Currently I am working on Cavan Ballintemple, http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/cavan/photos/tombstones/1headstones/ballintemple.htm. I use the text part of the file, easier to read than the actual stone :) I call that screen up on my iPad.
I look for information that can be best researched. A good example would be text for Headstone No. 5:
In | loving memory of | ALEXANDER ACHESON, Dillagh. | Called home 6th
Feb. 1916, age 69. | Also his wife JANE, | Who entered into rest 25th
Dec. 1942, age 87. | Also their son JAMES, | Who died 2nd Sep. 1948, age
56. | And THOMAS, | Who died 4th Sep. 1951, age 63. | Interred at
Portland, U.S.A. | FRANCES MILLICENT wife of JAMES | Called home 20th
May 1978 age 79.
From this I know that Alexander Acheson died in 1916, aged 69. I can infer that he was born around 1847 although we can never know exact ages (more about that later.) His wife Jane died in 1942, aged 87, therefore born around 1855. They had a son named James who died in 1948, aged 56, therefore born around 1882. And Thomas died 1951, aged 63, born around 1888. He is buried in Portand, U.S.A. Finally, Frances, James's wife, died in 1978, aged 79. She was born around 1899.
The Irish government has a fantastic, free, website called irishgenealogy.ie. It contains scans of thousands and thousands of birth, marriage and death records for the Republic of Ireland as well as some for Northern Ireland. If I want to enter the Acheson family's records into FamilySearch, this is the place to begin. At this point, I use a notepad because I will be scribbling all kinds of information down--easier than juggling a load of open web pages on the computer.
One thing I know from irishgenealogy.ie is that birth records are only available from about the 1860s on. So I won't find Alexander's actual birth record. And I don't know Jane's maiden name so I won't find hers either. In fact, Jane's maiden name is critical to inputting her into FamilySearch. I know that children's birth records in Ireland contained the mother's maiden name. I know that James was born around 1892. So the first thing I am going to do is find James Acheson's birth record. I click "Civil Records" and the screen is pretty easy to follow. Input James Acheson, Cavan a range for birth year (say, between 1889-1893), and click birth. After asking for verification that you're not a robot, any James Acheson births that match that will appear. It turns out that James was actually born in 1889, the son of Alexander Acheson and Jane Ludlow. Yep, that matches the first names on the headstone so that is the "right" James Acheson. I mark the information--actual birth date and district of birth--with the parents' names, into my notebook.
I now open a new web page for FamilySearch. After logging in--accounts are free on FamilySearch--I click Records under Search and then Family Tree. This takes me to a screen where I enter the information for James Acheson, born in County Cavan Ireland, 1889, father Alexander Acheson, mother Jane Ludlow. And click Search. If that record already exists, it will appear. You will also see records that FamilySearch thinks closely match. I usually only read the first few records because if there is no match after the first four records, that means it is "safe" to enter James as a new record. If a record already exists, it would create a duplicate and you don't want to do that.
Since James isn't a relative of mine, I enter his record by clicking on Recents and, under Recents, Add Unconnected Person. The screen is intuitive and I fill out all the information on that screen, adding the death information I had from the headstone and especially adding the further information for parents. This is important; there could be several James Acheson's but the parents will clinch any matches. If no matches are found you click, Create New Record, and there he is.
But he is all by himself. We need to add his parents in to create a full family record. We start with Alexander. According to the headstone Alexander was born around 1847 so there is no point looking for a birth record; the date is too early. However, we can find out his marriage info now that we know James' mother was called Jane Ludlow. Back to irishgenealogy.ie, we enter Alexander Acheson, Cavan, and click Search. We could put a range of possible marriage years based on their children's ages and that would narrow the search down. But as it stands, there are only two marriage records that could fit. And now we encounter a possible hurdle in using indices. It shows that an Alexander Acheson married a Jane Bredin. Hmmm, I am looking for a Ludlow. But I click on that record anyway and get the original document. Ahah! Whoever entered the index information mis-transcribed the record. It was actually Alexander Acheson and Jane Ludlow. Glad I looked into that. I send an error message to irishgenealogy.ie in the hopes they will fix it. And I now know that Alexander and Jane married in Ballintemple, Cavan 24 July 1878 and, from the marriage record, know that their fathers' names were Alexander and John respectively.
I need one more piece of information for Alexander and Jane--the counties they were born in. Since they died after 1901, I can find information about them on either (or both) the 1901 or 1911 censuses, which are also online.
Open another webpage window and access the 1901 Irish census at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie. In Search, I choose 1901, Acheson, Alexander, Cavan as the county and I leave the age blank. There are three Alexander Acheson's, two of whom are in Dillagh, which is the area I am looking for. One Alexander is 54 and one is 20. The older Alexander would be the Alexander I am looking for so I choose him. And I find a large Acheson family with more siblings than are on the headstone. I now have enough information to search not only for Alexander and Jane but also for the births of their other children.
No wonder I spend hours and hours on genealogy!
In the interest of maybe encouraging others to do this, here is an outline of the process:
I pick a cemetery to work on. Currently I am working on Cavan Ballintemple, http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/cavan/photos/tombstones/1headstones/ballintemple.htm. I use the text part of the file, easier to read than the actual stone :) I call that screen up on my iPad.
I look for information that can be best researched. A good example would be text for Headstone No. 5:
In | loving memory of | ALEXANDER ACHESON, Dillagh. | Called home 6th
Feb. 1916, age 69. | Also his wife JANE, | Who entered into rest 25th
Dec. 1942, age 87. | Also their son JAMES, | Who died 2nd Sep. 1948, age
56. | And THOMAS, | Who died 4th Sep. 1951, age 63. | Interred at
Portland, U.S.A. | FRANCES MILLICENT wife of JAMES | Called home 20th
May 1978 age 79.
From this I know that Alexander Acheson died in 1916, aged 69. I can infer that he was born around 1847 although we can never know exact ages (more about that later.) His wife Jane died in 1942, aged 87, therefore born around 1855. They had a son named James who died in 1948, aged 56, therefore born around 1882. And Thomas died 1951, aged 63, born around 1888. He is buried in Portand, U.S.A. Finally, Frances, James's wife, died in 1978, aged 79. She was born around 1899.
The Irish government has a fantastic, free, website called irishgenealogy.ie. It contains scans of thousands and thousands of birth, marriage and death records for the Republic of Ireland as well as some for Northern Ireland. If I want to enter the Acheson family's records into FamilySearch, this is the place to begin. At this point, I use a notepad because I will be scribbling all kinds of information down--easier than juggling a load of open web pages on the computer.
One thing I know from irishgenealogy.ie is that birth records are only available from about the 1860s on. So I won't find Alexander's actual birth record. And I don't know Jane's maiden name so I won't find hers either. In fact, Jane's maiden name is critical to inputting her into FamilySearch. I know that children's birth records in Ireland contained the mother's maiden name. I know that James was born around 1892. So the first thing I am going to do is find James Acheson's birth record. I click "Civil Records" and the screen is pretty easy to follow. Input James Acheson, Cavan a range for birth year (say, between 1889-1893), and click birth. After asking for verification that you're not a robot, any James Acheson births that match that will appear. It turns out that James was actually born in 1889, the son of Alexander Acheson and Jane Ludlow. Yep, that matches the first names on the headstone so that is the "right" James Acheson. I mark the information--actual birth date and district of birth--with the parents' names, into my notebook.
I now open a new web page for FamilySearch. After logging in--accounts are free on FamilySearch--I click Records under Search and then Family Tree. This takes me to a screen where I enter the information for James Acheson, born in County Cavan Ireland, 1889, father Alexander Acheson, mother Jane Ludlow. And click Search. If that record already exists, it will appear. You will also see records that FamilySearch thinks closely match. I usually only read the first few records because if there is no match after the first four records, that means it is "safe" to enter James as a new record. If a record already exists, it would create a duplicate and you don't want to do that.
Since James isn't a relative of mine, I enter his record by clicking on Recents and, under Recents, Add Unconnected Person. The screen is intuitive and I fill out all the information on that screen, adding the death information I had from the headstone and especially adding the further information for parents. This is important; there could be several James Acheson's but the parents will clinch any matches. If no matches are found you click, Create New Record, and there he is.
But he is all by himself. We need to add his parents in to create a full family record. We start with Alexander. According to the headstone Alexander was born around 1847 so there is no point looking for a birth record; the date is too early. However, we can find out his marriage info now that we know James' mother was called Jane Ludlow. Back to irishgenealogy.ie, we enter Alexander Acheson, Cavan, and click Search. We could put a range of possible marriage years based on their children's ages and that would narrow the search down. But as it stands, there are only two marriage records that could fit. And now we encounter a possible hurdle in using indices. It shows that an Alexander Acheson married a Jane Bredin. Hmmm, I am looking for a Ludlow. But I click on that record anyway and get the original document. Ahah! Whoever entered the index information mis-transcribed the record. It was actually Alexander Acheson and Jane Ludlow. Glad I looked into that. I send an error message to irishgenealogy.ie in the hopes they will fix it. And I now know that Alexander and Jane married in Ballintemple, Cavan 24 July 1878 and, from the marriage record, know that their fathers' names were Alexander and John respectively.
I need one more piece of information for Alexander and Jane--the counties they were born in. Since they died after 1901, I can find information about them on either (or both) the 1901 or 1911 censuses, which are also online.
Open another webpage window and access the 1901 Irish census at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie. In Search, I choose 1901, Acheson, Alexander, Cavan as the county and I leave the age blank. There are three Alexander Acheson's, two of whom are in Dillagh, which is the area I am looking for. One Alexander is 54 and one is 20. The older Alexander would be the Alexander I am looking for so I choose him. And I find a large Acheson family with more siblings than are on the headstone. I now have enough information to search not only for Alexander and Jane but also for the births of their other children.
No wonder I spend hours and hours on genealogy!
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