But the research has already been done!

Sometimes when I'm talking to people about their family history they will state something along the lines of "That branch has already been researched and there is even a book so why should I do it?" When I first started my family history and genealogy research I used to have the same feelings. The Chipman family has a number of books compiled by various family members, same with the Fraser family of which I'm a descendant. Why should I duplicate all the work done by others?

To answer that question, how about we take a look at an interesting case concerning the family of "Daniel Wilsey Hatfield". Daniel married into the Lannen branch descended from Simon Baxter, in theory my 6th great-grandfather¹, of New Brunswick, Canada.

This is from the book "The Hatfields of Westchester : a genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Hatfield of New Amsterdam and Mamaroneck, whose sons settled in White Plains, Westchester County, New York" by Abraham Hatfield published in 1935 that I found on the Internet Archive.

Abraham Hatfield, compiler, The Hatfields of Westchester : a genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Hatfield of New Amsterdam and Mamaroneck, whose sons settled in White Plains, Westchester County, New York, (Rutland, Vermont: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1935), p 99; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/hatfieldsofwestc00hatf_0/page/n1/mode/2up : accessed 23 Jun 2020).

As you can see there is a lot of good information provided. Even better, on the next page the compiler has included the authorities from where he receive the information. Something that is often omitted in these sorts of family genealogies.

Abraham Hatfield, compiler, The Hatfields of Westchester : a genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Hatfield of New Amsterdam and Mamaroneck, whose sons settled in White Plains, Westchester County, New York, (Rutland, Vermont: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1935), p 100; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/hatfieldsofwestc00hatf_0/page/n1/mode/2up : accessed 23 Jun 2020).

So everything should be good to go and we can trust what is written, right?

For those that have been reading my blog you will know that one mantra I stress is along the lines of "Trust no one, verify everything, and even if written in stone it might be wrong."

So what can we verify concerning the facts about Daniel as written in his biography? How about we start with his marriage to Mary Ann Lannen?

We are fortunate that a number of the New Brunswick marriage registers are available on FamilySearch in the New Brunswick marriage registers, 1792-1889 collection. This includes the Kings County, v. A, 1812-1844; v. B, 1844-1867 marriage registers. How do I know to look there? One reason was that Ancestry gave me a hint from the New Brunswick, Canada, Marriages, 1789-1950 collection but the main reason is that back in 2012 at Library and Archives Canada I came across the entry in the transcriptions of the marriages registers by Ruby M. Cusack in her work "Kings County Marriages: Register A".

Kings, New Brunswick, Marriage Register v. A, 1812-1844, Daniel Hatfield-Mary Ann Lannen; FHL microfilm 845,798, item 1, image 163.

According to the marriage register, which would have been created closer to the time of the event than the biography, they were married in 1828 and not 1829. That means for me that everything in his biography from this book is now suspect and needs to be verified.

I've not been able to confirm the date of his birth but based on the decennial census enumerations between 1851 and 1871 he was born about 1798. I was able to locate abstracts of newspaper articles through the Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics database found on the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick site to confirm the date of his death in 1878. I haven't taken the time to confirm his land ownership but with the New Brunswick, county deed registry books, 1780-1930 collection on FamilySearch it wouldn't take to much effort to track any land transactions for him.

As for Daniel's middle name, the abstracts from the newspaper articles either record it as "W." or "Wesley". In the land deed records in Kings County, New Brunswick he is recorded as "Daniel Hatfield of Norton" without any initials. His youngest son, Heber, middle name is recorded as "Wolsey" in  the 1871 census of Canada and the articles about Heber's death in Chicago. But it could be Wilsey, we just don't know.

What about Daniel's wife, Mary Ann Lannen? What can we learn about her? Using the Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics collection we can find the abstract for her death notices in two newspapers and they both match what is in the biography. That's a good start.

However, it seems that she is not the daughter of Simon Lannen and Abigail Baxter but of John Lannen. This can be found in the abstract in the Wallace Hale's Early New Brunswick Probate, 1785-1835 database on the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick site. There in the abstract from John Lannen's will is written: "Daughter Mary Ann HATFIELD, wife of Daniel HATFIELD land."

But can we trust Wallace Hale's work? So far I haven't had any issues but since I try to verify everything, through the magic of the interlibrary loan program, back in 2015 I ordered a copy of the microfilm from the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick that holds the probate file for John Lannen.

Kings County, New Brunswick, Probate Files, RS 66, John Lannen, 1832, will, p 2; Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, F11570. 

Although authorities have been listed for the information, this book doesn't indicate where they got their information. Was it from newspapers or bibles or was it from what they were told as they were growing up? We will probably never know. Just from a bit of digging through the records that are available to us we can see some mistakes in the biography of Daniel Hatfield and Mary Ann Lannen were found.

Can we blindly trust these sorts of compilations of family histories and genealogies? For me, I'd say no. However, they can provide clues for us to follow and confirm through using our own research skills.

So even if there is a book written about your family, take a look at the information held within and take the time and effort to verify and validate the facts recorded. You may just find that you discover something else that no one else has found that could change the family narrative (Widow's Pension Application = One Less Brick Wall).

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1. I say "in theory" because I've not been able to connect, to my personal satisfaction, my 4th great-grandmother, Hannah Baxter, to her probable parents of Elijah and May (nee Smith) Baxter.

Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867

One resource I've started to see used more by those with roots in Nova Scotia is Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867 that was compiled by Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith and published in 1994 by the Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. We are fortunate that this two volume collection has been available since 2007 on Ancestry so that we can review the books at home if you have an Ancestry subscription.

The easiest way to find the two volumes on Ancestry is via a search of the Card Catalogue. Just search for the title" "Nova Scotia Immigrants". Alternately, the links below point to the collection on Ancestry.ca.

• Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, Vol. I
• Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, Vol. II

The inclination by almost of us is to jump in and start searching for the names of our ancestors. However, don't do that, at least not yet.

First of all, visit the title page and the following page and record the details about the volumes. This will help you out later when you create your source citiations¹. Next, read the page with the Abbreviations. Most of the abbreviations we may be used to but some, like "Sr." and "Jr.", might have a context that you aren't familiar with. Both of these sections can be found at the beginning of the volumes. Also, take a moment to read the preface and introduction since those sections explain why this two volume set came into existence.

However, there are two very important sections that you will need to consult once you do find your ancestors mentioned in the books and those are the Bibliographies. These sections will help you to decipher where the compilers found the information.

On with the searching!

Here is an example of one such entry I found for Mary Cantfield².

Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, compilers, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, 2 vols.(Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994); digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun May 2020), 2:46.

As we can see, there is quite a bit of information that has been abstracted. We learn that Mary Cantfield is the daughter of Denis Cantfield and Catherine Ryan and the family was of County Kilkenny, Ireland. She married Richard Dunphy in Halifax on 29 Nov 1839. The "q.v." reminds us we need to look up the entry for Richard Dunphy in the volume.

Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, compilers, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, 2 vols.(Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994); digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun May 2020), 2:84.

In doing so we learn that Richard Dunphy is the son of Patrick Dunphy and Mary Moran and the family was of County Kilkenny, Ireland .

Yet where did the compilers find this information. That is in the parenthesis at the end, the "(34:129)". To figure that out we need to refer to the bibliographies I mentioned before.

Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, compilers, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, 2 vols.(Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994); digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun May 2020), 2:258.

Here we see that the information came from an article "Some Irish Immigrant Weddings in Nova Scotia 1834-1840" by Terrence M. Punch in the 8th edition, issue 2, of The Irish Ancestor published in 1976.

Using PERSI, the PERiodical Source Index, found on Findmypast I was able to find the details about the article and the publication but, after much searching, no online edition was easily available. But that's OK. A check of Worldcat pointed me to Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa where I could view The Irish Ancestor. In the pre-COVID-19 days I would have hopped on the bus since I reside in the same city and gone to LAC to read the article with the details extracted found on page 129. Now, it is a bit more of a challenge.

What other clue is there?

How about that the information came "from records at Catholic archdiocese at Halifax"?

Well a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia is out of the question for me at this time. Maybe there are some Catholic Church records online. On Ancestry that might be in the "Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1757-1946" collection. However, I didn't see any records from Halifax listed.

So my next go to site is FamilySearch and their catalog. A search for "Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Halifax" as a place revealed a list of 14 church collections. One specifically caught my attention, that of the "Parish registers, 1830-1969" for the Catholic Church of Saint. Mary's Basilica. Right time period and correct religion. Looking at the various entries I noticed that some were indexed but all were viewable from the comfort of home.

Screen capture of the catalog listing for Marriages, 1830-1873 from the Parish registers, 1830-1969 of Saint Mary's Basilica (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

That digitized microfilm isn't name indexed but that's OK, I have had plenty of practice looking through microfilms. After a bit of bouncing around the images on that digitized reel I came across this:

"Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBC2-9JV?cc=1925428&wc=M6PF-CWL%3A219772701%2C219796201%2C219809001%2C219901401 : 21 May 2014), Halifax > Halifax > Catholic St Mary's Basilica > Marriages 1830-1843 > image 192 of 262; Catholic Church and Church of England parishes, Nova Scotia.

All the details in the abstract can now be confirmed by looking at the entry from the parish register plus we know now the names of the witnesses.

It is important to keep in mind that most items listed in the bibliographies may not be available online. This is where your to-do list becomes important. Such is the case for my Starr line of Nova Scotia.

Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, compilers, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, 2 vols.(Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994); digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun May 2020), 1:486.

Joseph Starr, the son of Samuel Starr and Abigail Leffingwell, is of interest to me due to him being in Connecticut at the start of the United States of America War of Independence and supposedly escaping back to Nova Scotia after refusing to serve in the Connecticut militia. So I'm always looking for information about him and his exploits.

Here I learn that the source of the information is on page 238 in the Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, volume 7, issue 3 published on September 1977 in the article "The History of the Nova Scotia Apple Industry". There is also information in the same article about his mother and father. Although I can purchase a copy, since I'm in no rush, I'm going to wait until Library and Archives Canada is open to the public and read the article there.

A few things to take away from this little exercise:

• When using compiled collections take the time to follow the chain of sources to locate the original documents. Sometimes you may be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Sometimes it is new information not included in the abstract; other times it might be a whole new collection of documents.
• If looking at a baptism, marriage, or burial in a church parish register, take a look around for other events recorded that may pertain to your family. If a marriage, check for a baptism occurring within a few years time. You might come across a child you weren't aware of.
• Not everything is online. But it never hurts to check.
• To-do lists will help you remember what you need to sooner or later to look up. If your to-do list gets long enough you might even plan a holiday to a place that has the archive or library that houses the books or collections you want to review. While your family is out enjoy the sights you can be a time traveller and travel into the past.

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1. Remember those? Your source citations help you remember where you found the information and helps others that may use your work to also know where you found those nuggets about your ancestors.

2. I have no relationship, that I know of, to the Cantfield family. It is just an example that I've helped find the source of the information for someone posting a query on a Facebook genealogy group.