Just How Popular IS Genealogy and Why Should You Care?

How many people are searching for their ancestors? There is no genealogy website more popular than Ancestry.com. More than 11 million people use the resources located at Ancestry.com each month. That number is just a drop in the bucket to the billions, yes billions of ancestors that are documented at the "world's largest" family history resource. 

Genealogy is a massive industry in the marketplace around the world. You Tube has over 100,000 video's just on the subject of genealogy alone. There are millions of Facebook pages, countless blogs, websites and forums on the subject not to mention a good share of the 230 million people on Twitter who tweet about genealogy.  Let's not forget Pinterest where you could literally spend forever it seems perusing the links and resources on categories related to genealogy and family history. Click on the links on the right to visit my Pinterest Boards on Genealogy or Facebook Group. 

In addition to the endless amount of resources available on the web, much of it free, there are books, magazines and Genealogical societies in almost every major city in the world. There are podcasts, and apps for your smartphone and TV shows like Who Do You Think You Are, and Genealogy Road Show. Some of the most famous libraries in the world  exist for sole purpose of housing and preserving genealogical records. The amount of information available is truly amazing.

Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah

 So where do you begin?  Well, honestly, the world is your oyster when it comes to answering that question.  There are countless sites where you can create your family tree and search for your ancestors. I wouldn't begin to recommend any particular one but just Google "genealogy" and you will have more links than you will care to visit. 

The Family Search website is completely free and offered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Library in Salt Lake City is the largest genealogical library in the world and is open to the general public at no charge. In addition the main Library in Salt Lake City there are LDS Family History Centers located around the world. A great amount of their collection is digitized and searchable on their Family Search website  for free and more is added every day.  Thanks to the internet, more than ever before, much of the resources regarding genealogy are now available online just waiting for you to find them.

My grandfather Thomas Fritz Matherly,1893-1965, age 16, , and his Mother, Cornelia Elvira Hamby, 1863 -1918.

You might find old photographs of your one of your ancestors or learn what they did for a living. There are birth, marriage and death records where you can view the actual documents along with military service records, land records, immigration documents, wills and  the list goes on. Within some of these documents you can find many hidden facts like the color of their eyes or an address where they lived. Armed with an address, with Google Earth and Google Maps street view you can see the location, which is really cool. Each breadcrumb of information leads you just a little bit further down the road they traveled and you get to go with them.

Starting your search is as easy as knowing a name. Just start with what you know and it will lead you to what you don't know. It's like turning the pages of a good book, each page making you want to know what happens next, only this book isn't about a fictional character but instead the true story of your family, your story and your history! 

I am grateful for the things I have learned along the journey of researching my family and their place in the world. I get excited with each new piece of information not only for the find itself, but because I know it will lead me down the road just a little bit further.  It's fun and rewarding and has brought my family history to life. I encourage you to look into your family's past. You don't know what you don't know and you might be surprised with what you find. 

Contact me if I can help get you started.

Irish Ancestors

Thomas McNeill , my 4th great grandfather, was born in 1810  in Killyglen Townland, Grangekillglen, County Antrim, Ireland. He was the son of Andrew McNeill and Elizabeth McCombs. 

Left,  A map of Antrim, Ireland which borders Lake Lough Neagh, the biggest lake in Ireland on one side and the Irish Sea on the other. Right, a photo of the Lake looking from Antrim.

At age 23, Thomas McNeill married Margaret McWilliams and they had 5 children born in Ireland, Eliza, Jane, Robert, William and Margaret. Their daughter Margaret is my direct line as she grew up to marry Grissom Stuart Edwards,  my Grandma Nancy Margaret Edwards( Matherly's) father but more about that later. This line starts with Andrew McNeill but this story starts with Thomas.  Here are the descendants of Thomas McNeil and Margaret McWilliams

Andrew McNeill (1763 - 1851)

my 4th Great Grandfather

 Thomas McNeill Sr (1810 - 1879)

is my 3rd great grandfather

Margaret McNeill (1844 - )

daughter of Thomas McNeill Sr (my 2nd grandmother)

Grissom Stewart Edwards (1875 - 1967)

son of Margaret McNeill ( my great grandfather)

Nancy Margaret Edwards (1898 - 1992)

daughter of Grissom Stewart Edwards (my grandmother)

Betty Ann Matherly (1934 - 1995)

daughter of Nancy Margaret Edwards (my mother)

Darnell Mitchell Baker

daughter of Betty Ann Matherly

Margaret, born in 1844 was the last child born in Ireland  to Thomas McNeill and wife Margaret before they came to America.  Trust me , I know that's 3 Margarets in 4 generations.  They were in Abbeville, South Carolina in the 1850 Census and daughter Margaret was listed as 6 years old. Based on that documented Census info, they came to America between 1845 and 1849.   I have yet to determine exactly what ship they came on, but that is at the top of my "To Do" List.  Many people from Northern Ireland left from the port in Belfast, Ireland which is not too far from Antrim, Ireland.

This is the type of passenger ship typically used in the early 19th century to transport immigrants to the US, can you just imagine crossing the ocean on a ship like that?  What an adventure that must have been!

In my research of the area of Northern Ireland where both Thomas and Margaret McNeill were from I came across the most magnificent images of the area of Antrim. I can't believe anyone would ever want to leave such a beautiful place. 

Antrim Glens Coastline of Ireland

Dunluce Castle, County of Antrim, Ireland

Glens of Antrim, Ireland

 I mean who wouldn't want to live there?  I have always wanted to visit Ireland because I've known all my life of my Irish Heritage but now it has  really moved up pretty high on the Bucket List, like right at the top!  A girl, can dream, right? A trip there would truly be a dream come true.

I will share more on Thomas and Margaret's life in Abbeville, South Carolina in a future post but for now here is a video that really shows the beauty of this magical place and the history about the area.  I hope you will take the time to watch it and will enjoy it as much as I did. I would love to know what you think of it in the comments below.

Here is a cool fact.  Shane's Castle built in 1345, is a ruined castle near Randalstown in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Castle is used extensively in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

 I could be easily obsessed with Ireland.  I feel lucky to have some real connection to such a beautiful place.