And I thought this one was going to be simple......

 Have you ever started working on a family that you KNEW was going to be an easy one on which to compile the research? AND it wasn't?

I started working on my Stillwell ancestry the other day. I was familiar with the Stillwell Genealogy from connections to the Billiou family, one of my adopted families. So, I figured to rely on that work to cover the first two Stillwell generations - Lt. Nicholas and Captain Nicholas.

What a terrible idea!  Stillwell researchers and passers-down of family lore have spent the late 19th and early 20th centuries confusing the story of immigrant Lt. Nicholas Stillwell.

Who were his parents? Siblings? When did he leave England and for where? The Netherlands, New Netherland or Virginia? Who was/were his wife/wives? 

These and other questions have multiple answers depending on which Stillwell genealogy you read.

Well, I'm sorting out facts from lore and trying to piece together a solid account of Lt. Nicholas Stillwell. I know the name of the wife of Captain Nicholas is open to debate, but hopefully that will be the only major stumbling block.

Hopefully.........

Getting Started on the Birth Family Research

 In researching the birth family, I had to decide where to focus my attention after a flurry look-ups on both sides of the family to flesh out the Ancestry tree that was generated for me by the lady at Ged Match who was helping with sorting out my DNA results.

That tree, entitled "A Big Tree," is a work in progress. Records are added that fit and some are removed because they don't match the person to which they are attached. So there may be quite a bit of incorrect information on the tree until I get a chance to check on a particular family and correct it. 

"A Big Tree" is serving as sort of a holding pen for records and documents as I transfer information to my "Everhart-George Tree" on my RootsMagic software program. This is where the fleshed out details will go home to roost. Still, I hope to make the Ancestry tree as accurate as possible.

I decided to make my maternal line the starting point. I have several families "completed," though subject to additions and corrections. The list includes AKERS, ARBUCKLE, BLAND, CLARK, EDDY, EVERHART, GRAHAM, JOHNSTON, MONTGOMERY, ROGERS & RUSSELL.

Akers is still lacking, and needs some onsite research in Washington Co., IN, as does Russell. My Montgomery research has come to a halt until I can manage a trip to Clark Co. for some work there.

A trip to the Indiana State Library derailed the research - indirectly. I managed to find considerably more information on the paternal families of HOGUE, PHILLIPPE & STEFFY than any of my maternal lines.

The next round of posts will follow the stories of my maternal families, unless something pops up of special interest that is worthy of a post. 

Scots & Scots-Irish Naming of Children: Creative They Ain't!

 So far, in researching my ancestors from Scotland and Ulster, I've learned one thing - those folks were not extremely creative when it came to naming their children, especially the boys. Cases in point.......

Arbuckle: James, James, Thomas, James, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas & James. [Matthew, William, John]

Hogue: William, William, Zebulon, Zebulon, Joseph, William & Irwin. [George, Solomon, James, John, Alexander]

Graham: John, James, James, John & John. [Moses, Thomas, Elias, Joseph, Henry, Edward]

Montgomery: William & William. [John, James, Robert & Thomas.]

[Common siblings names are in parentheses.]

A few strangers pop up here and there. Elias game from a maternal line. I'm guessing Zebulon did as well, but no proof.

With large families, researching can be confusing with such creative naming. I have a James Arbuckle and his nephew James [about 6 years apart] being confused by several researchers for being the same person.

It's not until the most  recent generations that the names get a bit less traditional, Irwin Hogue, for example.

The girls' names are quite similar: Elizabeth, Jane, Ann, Mary, Sarah, Margaret, Frances, Nancy, Susan/Susannah and a few others are found in nearly every generation. Add to that the common nicknames: Betsy, Sally, Fannie, Polly, etc

For  those of you doing Scots & Scots-Irish research hoping to find a plethera of "traditional Scottish given names" such as Donald, Malcolm, Neil, Stuart, Lalan, Alistair, Aec,  Ailsa, Bonnie. Catriona or Eilidh. Hope away! 

I have one Malcom from c1635 and an Ailsa from 1820. 

Expect James, John, William, Thomas, Sarah, Ann, Nancy and Mary to come crawling out of the Highland, Lowland, Borderland and Ulster woodwork!