Why I "Do" Genealogy
I am a little over five years into this interest (actually an addiction) of tracing the genealogy of my family and related families. I am sometimes asked why do you do it? My answer is twofold - a love of history and a sense of appreciation.
First, what's not to love about an interest that takes you on a trip through time, and lets you explore lands and people by studying their geography, religion, architecture, occupations, political beliefs, economies, and culture (their dress, foods, & music). Add visits to libraries, archives, churches, genealogical societies, and cemeteries in near and far off places to the mix ~ and you become a time traveler, an adventurer of sorts. I have an incomplete map and get to go on a treasure hunt!
Second, I truly believe that the more we study our families' stories the greater understanding and appreciation we have for who they were, what they experienced, the choices they made, and the gifts they gave us. Everyone has a story to tell. Oftentimes our ancestors were so busy surviving that they did not have the time or the ability to tell their stories. Thankfully today we have that luxury ~ so I am doing my part to make sure their stories are told.
The Families That Make Up The Two Distinct Trees of The Keough Corner
Members of The Keough Tree originated in Ireland, spent several generations in Newfoundland, emigrated to the United States and settled in the Pacific Northwest. Affiliated families remained in Newfoundland, some ventured to other parts of Canada, others emigrated to the United States and settled in Michigan, New York, Oklahoma and Vermont (this list is not complete and my tree is a work in progress).
These are the family surnames that are most common in the Keough Tree
- Aylward
- Barker
- Dooley
- Driscoll/O'Driscoll
- Furlong
- Heaney
- Kenny
- Keough/Kehoe/Keogh/Kough
- Michan
- Murphy
- Philpott
- Tracey
- Walsh
- Whelan/Phalen
Members of The Murphy Tree originated in Ireland, emigrated to the United States and lived in New York, Missouri, and Nebraska before they settled in the Pacific Northwest. Affiliated families remained in Ireland, emigrated to the United States or Canada, and settled in various states and provinces (this tree is also a work in progress).
These are the families that are most common in the Murphy Tree
- Butler
- Doran
- Henigan/Hennigan
- Hennesy/Hennessy
- Kavanaugh/Cavanaugh
- Kelly
- Kiley
- Malone
- McDonnell
- Murphy
- Shaughnessy
- Sullivan
O the Places We've Been
Family in the Keough Tree came from County Carlow, Ireland (and as yet other unknown counties in Ireland) and emigrated to Saint John's, Newfoundland. They moved from Saint John's to King's Cove, then to Open Hole/Hall, and settled in Plate Cove. Most of the families remained in the Bonavista region of Newfoundland, moving to nearby communities because of marriage, employment or other opportunities. My grandfather emigrated to the United States and settled in the Pacific Northwest. Our Keoughs and affiliated families can be found in various parts of Newfoundland, other provinces of Canada, Australia, and several states in the United States.
Family in the Murphy Tree came from Counties Carlow, Cork and Kerry, Ireland and emigrated to the United States (some of them through Canada). They moved from New York and Vermont to Missouri and later settled in Nebraska (Murphys and their affiliated families settled in the counties of Holt, Johnson, and Nemaha). My great-grandparents and their children moved from Nebraska to the Pacific Northwest. Our Murphys and affiliated families can be found in Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington, as well as British Columbia, Canada.
Things I Use To Do My Genealogy
My operating system is Microsoft Windows 7 ~ and I use and enjoy Microsoft Office products, especially Word, Excel and OneNote. I am also a big fan of Google ~ The Keough Corner proudly resides on Blogger. Extended family (both Keoughs and Murphys) have found me on this blog and I am grateful to all those who have written to me and shared information ~ slowly but surely we are filling out the branches of the Keough and Murphy trees!
Because of my special interest in Newfoundland and the research I did while visiting there I am almost finished setting up a Google Sites for my Plate Cove, Newfoundland research project, and I am in the process of putting some of my Newfoundland research Excel spreadsheets into Google Docs (I am big on sharing information and knowledge) and those will be available on my site. I find iGoogle quite helpful and encourage anyone to check out Lisa Louise Cooke's podcasts and recent book to learn more about how to get the most out of Google products.
I use Legacy Family Tree for my genealogy databases ~ I have tried other software programs but have found that Legacy does it for me! I am a firm believer in loyalty ~ learn to use your database to its fullest capacity and make it work for you (rather than jumping around to the newest thing). I also have some favorite add-ons that make my research easier and more fun ~ they include Animap Plus, Centennia Historical Atlas, Family Atlas, GenSmarts, and Transcript. I enjoy mapping programs that combine history with geography because they can give you a sense of what was happening at a particular point in time ~ context ~ it will help you answer the who, what, when & why questions. In genealogy it is all about location ~ knowing where something happened is half the battle in finding the corresponding paperwork ~ it will help you answer the where question. I also appreciate the beauty of programs that provide an assist either with the research process (let's hear it for artificial intelligence) or making it clearer and easier to transcribe all those documents we find on our searches.
Disclosure Statement
Why have a disclosure statement? As genealogy blogging has come of age, a disclosure statement is an attempt to provide transparency to readers about the content on my blog. The Keough Corner is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please leave a comment (I will get back with you).
The Keough Corner does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. I write for my own purposes ~ if I reference a software program, a book or journal, a speaker or a conference or seminar ~ it is because I use it, read it, heard or saw the speaker, or attended the conference or seminar AND find it useful, learned from it or her/him, and want to let my readers in on the experience. So anything you read in The Keough Corner is the result of me stumbling upon the information or resource. Another reason I don't have advertising is that I find it distracting ~ I just happen to like a clean layout ~ to each her/his own. That said, and as is the case with all of us humans, I am the product of and influenced by my background, occupation, religion, political affiliation and experiences, so what you read has been processed through the "Tessa Filter."
I am not compensated to provide an opinion on products, services, websites, and/or various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on The Keough Corner are purely my own. Any comment or endorsement of a product or service is based on my personal use and should not be taken to be a representation about that product or service.
To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosure.org
