If you are the oldest?

[Jerry]

BirdDog's thread about, "Genealogy, where to start" got me to thinking. There was a lot of good advice given, particularly about talking to the oldest surviving family members. But, what do you do if you are the oldest surviving family member? At least, I'm the oldest that anyone knows about on either side of my family. I should have family in Northern Ireland, Farrels and McNeills, but I haven't been able to find any contact information. There may be relatives in both the Philadelphia area and Canada, but other than memories of my Grandmother saying something about them, I have no clue. On my Mother's side of the family, Gordon, I know that there used to be family members in NC, but they may be Williams, my maternal Grandmother's maiden name. The only information I have on anyone, traces the McNeill to Dungannon in Northern Ireland. I have my uncle's birth certificate, and some obituaries from that area. One of these was for Mary Jane Farrel, who was listed as both a former teacher and head mistress of Killyman School. It is at this point that I end up getting stuck and can find nothing more.

[Kent Frazier]

Some of the sites mentioned in the other thread have forums. Try posting in one or more of those and you may get a response from someone.

Kent

[AcuteEnigma]

Have you tried www.genuki.org.uk, www.castlegarden.org and
http://www.cyndislist.com/ireland.htm?

[creativeaccents]

Start with what you know, or even think to be true. Then, one link at a time, generally starting with your parents, check the census records as well as birth and death records. Treat the discovery as a puzzle.

[BEEDEE]

I'm in the same situation. But by using a forum on genealogy.com I found a cousin in New Zealand and between us we finished up publishing a family CD.

Brian

[gu3]

You may know more than you think. I suggest printing and filling out a few charts: family group, pedigree, etc. You can find them for free at the library or online (here, for example.) The point is to get organized and figure out what you really know.

After that, I'm afraid it's down to detective work: Posting queries in online forums related to the surnames you're researching, scrolling through census records (free at the library or by subscription online), and so forth.

But the first step is to "interview" yourself, and document what you know.

[Carolina Kiltman]

But the first step is to "interview" yourself, and document what you know.

That is the best advice of all. Then write down what you remember being told. I spent several years at what seemed a totally dead end, until I discovered that the auld coot's name was Elisha, not Elijha (in some script s and j look a lot alike! Check with your local library, there may be a group that you can join, and get a lot of support, and encouragement anyway.

[george7]

Be sure to document and make copies/backups/etc of everything for each of your descendants. We have our gaps in genealogy (orphaned grandfather, early deaths of fathers, etc), but what we know we keep in a big binder. Print print print.