Sunday, October 27, 2013

NORTH HILLS GENEALOGIST

Yesterday I attended the 6th Annual Fall Conference of the NORTH HILLS GENEALOGIST.  It was entitled "Discover Your Roots, Discover Yourself:  Putting Your Roots Into Context" by F. Warren Bittner.

This was a great presentation and covered types of sources, historical content, history, how to use Family Search and a case study of his own on Finding an Impossible Ancestor.  It was all extremely useful and thing that I can put to work immediately.

He also gave a great bibliography and I know the books on it will be difficult to find in Western Pennsylvania.   North Hills Genealogist always great, interesting and extremely knowledgeable speakers who have a lot to teach the attendees.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

ARE THESE MY CHARLES AND HANNAH

Yesterday I attended a seminar entitled: Researching British & Irish Roots, presented by Maggie Loughran and Paul Blake.  It was given by the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society.

There was so much information given as well as a time line of British and Irish History.   I had been searching for my husbands great great grandparents Charles Stephens and his wife Hannah, her last name was unknown.

In the 1870 census I find Charles, Hannah, Robert, Charles, James H, Richard and Kate living in Allegheny City, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.    Charles occupation is listed as a gardener  in that census.

What I found was a marriage in West Yorkshire, England.  In the Civil War Pension for their son Robert he has listed his place of birth as Dorcaster, which is in Yorkshire.   The marriage lists a Charles Stephen, full age, bachelor, and his occupation as florist.   The wife is Hannah Lonsdale, full age, spinster and no occupation.

The marriage was 27 November 1843 in the Parish of Leeds at St. Peters.   Robert was their first child born in 1845 and with the similarity of occupations I feel they are good candidates for the great great grandparents.

They are indeed the great great grandparents, in fact I have since found out that Roberts middle name is Lonsdale.   Charles, his father, middle name is Shanahan,  I wonder if it is his mothers name.