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Using a Timeline & Relationships to Narrow a Research Focus

This past week, I worked on my first project of the year focused on a female ancestor. Mary Jane Sheridan (abt. 1843-1919) is a paternal 3x great-grandmother. She began her life in New York, eventually moved to Ontario, Canada, and later Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. While I have a good deal of information on her, the one crucial piece of information missing is the record of her marriage to Philip Cassidy.  A first step no matter what the research question is to create a timeline of known events in the person's life. I spent some time looking at several existing sources to discover what is currently known about Mary Jane: Mary Jane's profile on my family tree on Ancestry Mary Jane's profile on the FamilySearch Family Tree Other Ancestry-user trees where Mary Jane appears WikiTree and Geneanet trees Information I already have in files from past research (including paper and digital files) Past blog posts written which included Mary Jane. Mary Jane's starting timeline...
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Don't Wait to Reach Out

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I re-learned a tough lesson today, one that I should know by heart by now:

Don't wait to reach out to someone.

I discovered today that the author of a family history book, which included members of our common Gilbride family, passed away last year. I found her obituary instead of an address that I was seeking when I googled her.

I got excerpts of her book from a library in California, but didn't think to write to her until recently. Her address was in the book, but it is 30 years old. But I wrote the letter anyway, and was just going to send it to that address I have. (I've had luck doing that—I once got an answer to a letter sent to an address I found in a probate notice in a newspaper from the 80s—and the person was still living there!) I was hoping to connect, as I run across so few Gilbride researchers. I wanted to share with her some of my recent discoveries. And I had hoped to get a copy of her book.

Now I'm sending that letter, with sympathies, to her husband. At least he will know that her research was appreciated.

"Don't wait to reach out to someone," of course, also goes for those friends we keep meaning to catch up with, the relatives we keep putting off contacting, etc. 

For those of who do genealogical research, sharing those precious bits of family history learned is vital to continuing and expanding our research. What knowledge did the author learn since she wrote her book 30 years ago? What bits didn't make it into her book but were stored in her memory only? I'll never know. As they say, when a person dies it's like a library burning down.

So, reach out to those fellow family researchers. And friends. And relatives. Take it from me, time may be shorter than you think.

Until next time...

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

 


 





 


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  1. Marian B. WoodSeptember 25, 2024 at 1:04 PM

    Such sound advice, and your idea of sending a note with sympathy is a good one. I'm sure the family will be glad to know that her years of research were valued by others!

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    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseySeptember 26, 2024 at 10:01 AM

      I hope so. The fact that her book is in several libraries in the country is also a good reminder that we need to perhaps send our own research to repositories, like she did, to guarantee that it is available to future researchers.

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  2. Lisa S. GorrellSeptember 25, 2024 at 7:21 PM

    Great advice. We should also thank the people who leave information on trees or in books.

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    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseySeptember 26, 2024 at 10:02 AM

      That's a great point! Thanks for reading and for suggesting that.

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  3. Tonya Graham McQuadeSeptember 25, 2024 at 7:51 PM

    Yes, an important a reminder. I certainly wish I had done a better job staying connected to some of the people I've met through my research.

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    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseySeptember 26, 2024 at 10:02 AM

      Yes, we can always begin now though. Thanks for reading.

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  4. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2024 at 6:14 AM

    Hello Nancy. « When a person dies it's like a library burning down. » This is so true ! Every ‘family columnist’ has the duty to make the stories out he/she heard from elderly people (with the agreement of those concerned of course). Finding out how our ancestors lived and making it a story for younger generations. Thank you for your last post. Greetings from Belgium. Daniel

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    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseySeptember 28, 2024 at 10:41 AM

      Hello Daniel! Always wonderful to hear from you. Thank you so much for reading my posts. I have an idea for you, but I'll email you. It's related to this topic. Cheers!

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