tracing my Grandfather's name Donahue and got to a dead end
Where do I go from here. I am tracing my grandfather's name and got to 1816 in Newark, NJ. Thanks for any tips. John A. Donahue. ID is: LDZS-XZ8
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1) Whats on the tombstone & cemetery records?
2) Check out close relatives.
3) Land records/Deeds.
4) Early for obit but...
5) Death certs for children may yield g-mom's maiden name. He had to be somewhere around her in order to meet her.
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I’m a total newbie. Where do I find this stuff?
I guess I should have elaborated more. It goes my father, John Alfred Donahue (Grandfather), John Alfred Donahue (great grandfather), James Donahue (great great grandfather), John A Donahue (great great great grandfather). The last one I am hitting a dead end. Says born in Ireland and born in 1816. He was married to Sarah Ann Warren who was also born in 1816. Here is her code MPC5-5JZ
All the records seem to show ties to Newark, NJ. My father and grandfather eventually moved to California. Its strange, but my grandfather never talked about his family.
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Wow, there is a lot of good stuff attached to John A. Donahue. ID is: LDZS-XZ8. I would recommend carefully reviewing all the attached sources. Make sure all the information that they contain is entered. Also, look at the original record for each source. The original may contain information that was not indexed. This would be step1. Keep a record of everywhere you have searched, either on paper or a spreadsheet. This will save time checking the same place more than once.
I am looking at the attached 1850 and 1860 census'. There are two young men on 1850. One could be a brother or cousin come to the states to help with the Blacksmith business. 1860 also has a young man, possible an apprentice.
Check out the FamilySearch Wiki for New Jersey research, also Ireland. There are research guides and links to records.
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Blacksmith business? I guess I missed that part. I used chatgpt and found there was mention of his father being named Michael on ancestry.com. I don't have access to Ancestry though.
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You can get a free Ancestry account through your Family Search account. On the top right of the page, you can click on the ? with a circle around it. Type in: how to get a free account on ancestry, and follow the steps. When working on Ancestry, I always check the sources and look for the documents to prove they are part of my line.
As Rhonda mentioned, the FamilySearch Wiki is also a great place to find sources for records of New Jersey. I have been using that to find my 3rd great-grandfather, also a brick wall, who is only found in Vermont in the 1850 & 1860 censuses as having been born in NJ.
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You can access Ancestry at a FamilySearch Center near you, or possibly at your local library.
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Sorry - got distracted... One of my ancestors had Tipperary written quite large on the family tombstone which is how I made the connection to the family over there.
FindAGrave sometimes has pictures but in this case, it only has info: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148255265/john-a-donahue
You may want to see if that is him. If it is not, revise the search parameters. If it is, there is a slight date problem which is not unusual in genealogy. It seems like each ancestor requires a different technique to uncover their story.
Best advice I can offer a newbie is to always examine original records. Family books and transcripts can be used as guides but until you have seen the original document(s) they are based on, don't trust them.
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