At the Market

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Chelsea Market, NYC. 29 Mar 2024.

Happy Easter. We're back from our food, museums and shows visit to NYC. We walked up & down mid-Manhattan, between Chelsea, the MET Museum and through Central Park, hitting about 20,000 steps a day. It is probably good we walked so much, given our visits to Eataly, the Bazaar by José Andrés, Chelsea Market and random NYC snack spots.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Pasta making at Eataly. 28 Mar 2024.

One of the best spots at Eataly is the pasta bar with the angled mirror, where you can watch the team prepare freshly made pasta. 

NYC travel

 

Poster House. American Airlines. 1965.

Another cool vintage travel poster is above, this one from the Poster House museum, which is near our hotel in New York. They currently have an exhibition on New York City travel posters running through September 2024. More photos from the weekend in NYC to follow.

NYC

 

Amtrak. 2000s travel poster.

Photo by Patrick Jones. 28 July 2012.

Where the stories go next

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Caribe Hilton, San Juan. 3 Mar 2024.

While I await the arrival of a book on County Longford Residents Prior to the Famine, with some limited time before upcoming travels I'm looking ahead to following certain family branches in the available records. On my Dad's side of the tree, I'll be returning to the Hais family in Covington, Kentucky. The FamilySearch Labs tool has identified some new-to-me deeds of this branch, providing additional color on their settlement in Kentucky.

On my Mom's side of the tree, I will use the FamilySearch tool to revisit the Wheatley family, both forward in time in their journey from Kentucky to Texas, and backward in time to Colonial Virginia.

Art at DCA

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Aniekan Udofia mural at DCA. 29 Feb 2024.

The mural above can be found at DCA Terminal 2, created by noted DC artist Aniekan Udofia.

Spring Travels

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. From Hilton to Condado Plaza. 4 Mar 2024.

We're now into Spring Break, although currently enjoying March Madness games from home. Above is a shot from earlier in the month while I had meetings in Puerto Rico, taken from the Caribe Hilton looking toward the Condado Plaza and Condado Beach. Both locations have been a feature in previous visits to the island. Back in 1999 we honeymooned in the Condado area, staying in a family flat and enjoying a trip to El Yunque and Luquillo Beach. In 2007 we brought our daughter to PR and stayed at the Caribe Hilton.

This month I've celebrated a milestone birthday and we took the kids to Saint Lucia over Presidents Day weekend in February. Later this week we have a quick Amtrak ride to NYC for food, a musical and more family memories.

With the calendar flip to April, we have some final campus visits, AAU basketball tournaments, and work trips. The kids are entering the last two months of school and we have a high school graduation to celebrate.

On the theme of milestone birthdays, unlike past years, this year was a relatively quiet one at home. And that's ok. I have been incredibly fortunate to celebrate in amazing locations with dear friends, places like Mexico, Japan, Amsterdam, Singapore, Costa Rica and San Francisco. This year has been more of an extended celebration, stretching out over late February through March. Our afternoon splurge at Sugar Beach in Saint Lucia certainly counts as a special festive present, full of memories of sun, sand and good food.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Sugar Beach. 16 Feb 2024.

Longford, 1837

 

Source: IrelandXO

Above is a map of County Longford from the Lewis Topographical Dictionary. As I track the Dooner family in the Longford-Roscommon area, I can see on the map a location called O'Brians Town. I wonder if John O'Brien's roots trace back to this region as well. Although family lore from his obituary said he was born on the banks of the River Shannon in County Clare, if you follow the Shannon into central Ireland you find yourself in Longford-Roscommon. Possibilities.

I have ordered a copy of Guy Rymsza's 2004 book County Longford Residents Prior to the Famine, in the hopes of learning more about the county and the potential Dooner and O'Brien connections. I'll follow-up later in April with more information.

Irish Roots

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Dublin, 14 Oct 2025.

As I have shared previously, my Dad's side of the tree has extensive roots in Ireland. His most recent AncestryDNA ethnicity estimate shows 18% Ireland, with a concentration in the communities of Longford, Roscommon and Lough Ree. It is very interesting to see that the family of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget's first husband, Patrick Dooner, was also from Longford & Lough Ree. I suspect Bridget was born in the same area, and perhaps may also have another connection to the Dooner family.

Using IrishGenealogy.ie and available databases on Ancestry, I believe I've located the Dooners on the other side of the pond, in the Longford and Roscommon area in the 1820s and 1830s. In the 1824 Tithe Applotment Books hosted by the Irish National Archives, Hugh and Patrick Dooner (possibly Hugh's father Patrick) appear in Termonbarry, Roscommon.

1824 Tithe Applotment. Termonbarry.

In the 1834 Tithe Applotment book, Owen Dooner appears in Cloontuskert.

1834 Tithe Applotment. Cloontuskert. 

On a present day map, Cloontuskert and Termonbarry are very close, and on the border of Roscommon with Longford, above Lough Ree.

Google Maps.

More research to do on this family in Ireland.

Returning to Bridget

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Street art in Dublin. 18 Feb 2020.

From time to time I've dug into the hints of information on my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. I know she was a young widow (about 26 in 1850) and mother in La Salle County, Illinois, who started a family with my 3rd-great-grandfather John O'Brien in the early 1850s, but died young sometime before 1860. John and Bridget acquired land in La Salle County in 1853 and 1854, along the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

I also know that John and Bridget had three daughters - Anna Maria, Isabella and Agnes - and one son, my 2nd-great-grandfather John J. O'Brien. I have posted previously about Bridget's first family with husband Patrick Dooner, who died of cholera in La Salle County in August 1849, along with young sons John and Hugh.

In the 1850 US Census, Bridget and surviving infant son Michael appear in Salisbury Township, La Salle County. Salisbury was renamed Peru Township in 1856. The township is located along the western edge of the county, directly below Dimmick Township, where the related Dooner families of Bridget's husband were living. Michael can be seen living in the household of his uncle Owen Dooner in Dimmick Township in the 1860 US Census.

Source: Infobahn Outfitters.

It is still unclear to me where Bridget and Patrick were married, if that happened in Ireland, or after their arrival in the United States. I lean toward they were married in Ireland and made the journey from Ireland to the United States together sometime between 1840-1844. Bridget's first son John was born about 1845 in Illinois. It is also not clear when and how Bridget met John O'Brien, whether they were formally married, or where that may have occurred.

I now think Patrick Dooner was the son of Hugh Dooner, who immigrated to La Salle County and also died of cholera in August 1849. A will for Hugh Dooner was filed in August 1853, leaving Hugh's property to his sister Catherine Dooner Cody. She was a much younger sister of Hugh Dooner, likely born in Longford, Ireland about 1824. Catherine married James Cody in Longford on 8 March 1842. Hugh purchased land in La Salle County in September 1848.

Catherine and Hugh's brother Owen may have arrived first in La Salle County. He married Fanny McLaughlin on 15 February 1846 in La Salle. In the Illinois Public Domain Land Database on the Illinois State Archives website, it appears Owen purchased 80 acres in La Salle County on 6 August 1842.

More to follow on this branch of the tree.

March Madness Underway

 

Source: Wikipedia. 2000 NCAA Final Four.

My favorite annual sports event is underway with the start of tonight's First Four games for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. March Madness has been fully on with conference tournaments over the past two weeks and Sunday's selections for the 2024 tournament.

For a bit of family history, back in 2000-2001, I worked at the NCAA in the General Counsel's Office while I was a student at IU School of Law - Indianapolis. One of my first big projects was in support of the NCAA's trademarks and using new domain name dispute resolution processes to protect the NCAA brand online ahead of the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis. That job led me to the role I have now, so it had a huge influence on me. As someone who grew up with Indiana basketball and fond early memories of Keith Smart's winning shot to deliver the 1987 NCAA Championship for IU, working for the NCAA on the tournament was amazing.

While it has been an incredibly disappointing year for the men's team, the IU Women's team is hosting a first round matchup in Bloomington this Saturday against 31-1 Fairfield in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. We'll be watching and cheering on the IU Women virtually on Saturday, and hopefully further into March.

Above is a little throwback with the logo for the 2000 Tournament, which I still have on a coffee mug from my time at the NCAA, 24 years ago. Wow, that's a bit tough to comprend. It does not feel that long ago. And yet, it was. Go teams! Have a great March.

Saint Patrick's Day

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Dublin, Ireland. 14 Oct 2015.

Curtis to Carter

 

Spotsylvania Deed Book L, P. 486.

Last month I covered the children of John Carter and his various wives, tracking all but one of them. I am now picking up the case on Francis Carter Curtis, wife of Rice Curtis (3rd). Frances is a sister of William Carter, who married Francis Curtis, a half-sister of Rice Curtis in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In the indenture above, Rice and Frances, along with Ann, John, Sarah and Elizabeth Curtis, sold 433 acres to William Carter on 18 April 1788.

Rice's father, Rice Curtis 2nd, transferred 350 acres to him in Spotsylvania County on 16 Nov 1761 in exchange for 5 shillings. William Carter was a witness to that land transfer.

According to an entry on Ancestry, in August 1779 Rice Curtis was about to enter Continental service as a soldier. He named his children as beneficiaries: "Nancy, John, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Frances, Margaret, George Bartemeus, and James Curtis."

It appears that Rice and Francis moved from Virginia to Davidson County, Tennessee. A will for Rice Curtis was entered into probate in 1798. The following March, Francis appointed her son George B. Curtis as her representative and power of attorney for land holdings in Spotsylvania County (see below from 19 March 1799).

Spotsylvania Deed Book P. P. 283.

Spotsylvania Deed Book P. P. 284.

Thanks to the wonders of the FamilySearch Labs tool, I was able to locate the will of Rice Carter in Davidson County, Tennessee (from 29 November 1798). He appointed Francis and son George as executors.

Francis died in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1827.

Disposition of land in Orange County, Virginia

 

Orange County, VA Deed Book 22. P. 168.

Picking up on the records involving the children of John Carter, above is an extract from the Orange County Virginia Deed Book 22, dated 2 September 1800. In the land sale above, the heirs of John Carter, including my 6th-great-grandmother Ann Carter Heslop, sold off a plot of land in Orange County to Abner Porter in exchange for 178 pounds 10 shillings.

Orange County, VA Deed Book 22. P. 169.

An interesting part of the indenture is that Ann and her sisters were "examined" apart from their husbands to ensure they had entered into the land sale "freely and voluntarily".

Orange County, VA Deed Book 22. P. 171.

An earlier land sale involving the heirs of John Carter was found in Orange County Deed Book 21 (p. 23). In that transaction, they sold 548 acres in Orange County to Zachary Burnley.

Orange County, VA Deed Book 21. P. 26.

Using AI tools to overcome brickwalls

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Montreal. 6 Nov 2019.

The initial searches using FamilySearch Labs new tool is already proving quite useful, uncovering new-to-me records. Now I need to put together a search plan and make some priorities in an effort to push through brickwalls on some of my ancestors.

I intend to return to my research on the Carter and related families in Northern Virginia. This was a big focus of my February posts and I am hoping the search tool may yield some finds connecting John Carter and Elizabeth Armistead. One area where this could be useful is helping identify the documents to present a fuller picture of the lifetime of John Carter in Spotsylvania and King George Counties in the early-mid 1700s.

I would love to uncover a marriage record for John O'Brien and Bridget Dooner, or find records connecting Bridget back to Ireland. Based on my Dad's AncestryDNA results, it is likely these records will link the family to central Ireland, near Roscommon, Longford and the area around Lough Ree (shaded in blue below).

AncestryDNA.

On the Mexican side of the family, more records covering Sonora need to be available in the search tool before I can make some discoveries on my Campuzano, Vasquez and related branches. If records are added for Chile, I would really love to be able to follow Gabriel Vasquez backward in time and perhaps connect his family to the first arrival in Chile from the Basque region of Spain.

Another branch of the tree to revisit is the family of Samuel Hampton, my 6th-great-grandfather. I can already see several potential results in Sullivan County, Tennessee, where he died in 1841.

Lucinda McIntosh and Asa Putnam Smith, my 4th-great-grandparents on my Dad's side of the tree, are also potential targets for research. Asa's origins in Nova Scotia are a bit of a mystery, but were mentioned in Lucinda's War of 1812 widow's pension application.

I can see I'll be returning to research on Isaac Smith, my 4th-great-grandfather, and his wife Susan Ann Martin.

On my Mom's side of the tree, the parents of my 4th-great-grandfather William Free are unknown to me, perhaps this tool can help with Kentucky records to identify his beginnings. There's work to do on the Mathews-Davis branch, with lines going backward from Kentucky to North Carolina and Mississippi.

For March, I'll concentrate once again on the Carter-Armistead-Kenyon-Heslop corner of tree before exploring some of the other branches I mention above. 

A deed for John and Bridget

 

Illinois & Michigan Canal.

Thanks again to FamilySearch Labs new search tool, I've stumbled onto a deed for my 3rd-great-grandparents, John and Bridget O'Brien, in La Salle County, Illinois in 1854. For $65, the couple purchased the east half of Lot 5 in Block 61 in La Salle on 27 May 1854. The land had been granted to the trustees of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, as part of the creation of a waterway to link trade up the Mississippi to the Great Lakes. The Canal is currently celebrating its 175th anniversary (see the link above to the I&M Canal website).

FamilySearch. LaSalle, Illinois Deeds. 1854.

The previous year, John and Bridget had purchased the rights to the eastern half of the land from Patrick Dooley (who was also listed in the above deed as owning the western half of the block). This purchase was located based on a misspelling of the O'Brien name (listed as Obrine in the 1853 record).

Finds with the new FamilySearch Labs AI tool

 

FamilySearch. Santa Monica Deeds 1907. Image 1549.

I am in the process of catching up on all the new developments from last week's Rootstech 2024 Conference. One of the big developments is the launch of FamilySearch Labs' beta AI search tool. As noted by Judy Russell on the Legal Genealogist blog, this is still a work-in-progress and limited to a small number of databases at the moment, but it has huge potential.

I ran a simple search for "Campuzano" and "Sonora", and the system quickly located an unknown-to-me deed involving Frank A. and Joaquina Campuzano in the Santa Monica deeds from 2 March 1907. I previously looked at them back in September and October 2018. The entry above shows the couple entered a deed of trust on a $1500 loan in 1907 for a 10.5 year period. I found another deed for two years later in January 1909, where the couple conveyed the property to Charles Talbert. The property was located in "Childs Heights", Los Angeles. According to Google Maps, this may be the present day Childs Court in Silver Lake.

Frank and Joaquina entered an earlier deed on 12 October 1903 for $1475.

Adjusting the search for "Campuzano" to Los Angeles yielded an even earlier deed involving Rosario Hinojosa de Campuzano from 28 July 1890.

On 15 May 1900, prior to the divorce of Frank and Rosario, they agreed to sell property that had been deeded to Frank in 1890. Both deeds were located by the AI-powered search. I never would have found these otherwise.

Changing the spelling to "Campusano", I located another deed from 7 July 1886 involving Rosario. It also located an 1887 deed involving Manuela Dominguez de Campusano, second wife of Frank's father Jose Maria Campusano. And another below from 1896:

FamilySearch. Los Angeles Deeds, 1896.

Mexican records from Sonora do not appear to be in the search tool yet, but hopefully will be added soon.

Back from PR

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. San Juan. 6 Mar 2024.

I returned late last night from another successful visit to Puerto Rico. San Juan is a lovely place that holds a special feeling for our family as we've visited many times over the years. On this occasion it was purely a work trip. San Juan has now served as the host for our Internet conference three times, and they do a great job.

El Morro, 2022

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. San Juan, PR. 21 Feb 2022.