Thursday, March 21, 2013

2. Dennis Buggy in Online Databases


Three online databases display a total of 12 trees that include Dennis Buggy.

RootsWeb shows no matches.

“RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project Global Search,” Rootsweb (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com : accessed 21 March 2013), Advanced Search for Buggy, Dennis, birth place Ireland, birth year 1831 ± 2 years.

FamilySearch shows one match.

Family Tree,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/tree/ : accessed 21 March 2013), search for Dennis Buggy, birth 1830 Ireland.

Dennis Buggy, 9VPC-H9Q:

            Born about 1830, Ireland

There is no source information.  The data was posted in 2012 by FamilySearch, probably aggregated from earlier Ancestral File or Pedigree Resource File entries.

Ancestry.com displays Dennis Buggy in 11 trees.

“Search,” Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 March 2013), search for Dennis Buggy, Birth 1831 ± 2 years, Ireland, and “See more like this.”

Conflicting Information
The birth information from the Ancestry.com trees varies:

            June 1830 Ireland
            June 1830 Ireland (Northern Ireland)
            1830 Freshford, Kilkenny, Ireland
            1833 Ireland
            1833 Ireland (Northern Ireland)

The Phelan family book[1] states that Dennis Buggy was born in 1833 in Ireland.  The June 1830 birth must have come from another source.  Which is correct?

What do we believe?  We can’t just pick one.  We’re looking for information provided as close to Dennis Buggy’s birth as possible and by as reliable a source as possible.  We need to evaluate the sources of information so we can come to a reasonable conclusion.

Some trees offer no sources for their information.  Some offer a few censuses and the Minnesota Death Index.  One (Coombs/Gulbranson/Ochrymowycz/Dmytrowycz Family Tree) shows thorough mining of the many resources Ancestry.com has to offer:
            U. S. Censuses for 1860, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910
            Passenger Lists
            Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002
            U. S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles
            U. S. Naturalization Records Indexes
Still, it concludes that he was born in Ireland, June 1830.  This seems to indicate that Dennis Buggy did not, or never had the occasion to, divulge his exact birthplace in these records.

The only tree that gives a specific birthplace is private, McLaughlin Buggy 121112.  It names Freshford, Kilkenny, Ireland as Dennis’ birthplace.   The author seems to have access to information from the Phelan family book, but unless the author has more information, this is an assumption that Dennis was born where his parents were buried.  That may or may not be the case.

Jumping Forward, to Freshford
We could look right now for Dennis Buggy’s birth in Freshford.  A Family History Library microfilm, Parochial registers of Freshford, 1773-1881, includes baptisms from 1773-1880.  I’ve ordered the film.  This may be premature, and it’s a good idea to continue evaluating the U.S. sources while waiting for the film to arrive at my local Family History Center.

Next Step: U. S. Censuses
Next we’ll look at the censuses listed as sources in the Ancestry.com databases to see what specific information they may have to offer the search for Dennis Buggy’s birth.



[1] “The Phelan Descendants: The Buggy Family, The Delaney Family, The Dollard Family,” privately held, 2013.

© 2013 Judy Kellar Fox, CG, foxkellarj@comcast.net

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