SNGF – How Many Surnames?

This week’s challenge from Randy is:

1. Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.
   
2. Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.
   
3. Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which Surname has the most entries.  If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5!  Or 10!
   
4. Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

I use Legacy, and I knew that I could easily see how many surnames were in my database by going to the Help menu and choosing General Information.  There are currently 2,203 unique surnames in my database.

But seeing Randy’s post, I wondered if I could get more detailed information on the number of people with a particular surname and/or date ranges.  So I went to the Reports menu and chose All Reports (Books and Others).  There was a button for Surname Summary, so I clicked on it and viewed the report.  It included an alphabetical list of surnames, how many for each, and the  date range.

This is nice if I was looking for a particular surname, but what if I wanted to see what surnames ranked the highest/lowest.  I exported the list into a CVS file and opened it in Excel.  After auto-filtering the list, I was able to see what my top surnames were.  The list below shows the surnames that have at least 50 people assigned to it.  Also note that there are 432 people without a surname at all.

I had no idea this report even existed, so thank Randy for the challenge and allowing me to explore Legacy in a different way.

Weekly Finds - My Diigo Bookmarks (weekly)

• AncientFaces

  "Free family photo sharing community"

  tags: photos

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly Finds - My Diigo Bookmarks (weekly)

• National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)

• Library and Archives Canada

• Valuation Office Ireland

• Ask About Ireland

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Kane County, Illinois Deaths, Pre-1916 Index Now Available Online

The Illinois State Archives has two different statewide death record indexes on their website.  One is for deaths that occurred from 1916-1950, the other is for deaths prior to 1916.  The first is a complete index, but the index prior to 1916 is still a work in progress.

Today, without even noticing at first, I realized that Kane County had been entered.  I was looking for someone I’ve never researched before.  When I found what I was looking for, I at first moved on, without giving much thought to what had just occurred.  About a half-hour later, it dawned on me that pre-1916 deaths had not previously been entered for Kane County.  So I started plugging in known names of those who died prior to 1916 and there they now were.

According to the page Counties Included in the Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Kane County is complete for 1877 to 1915.  A note at the bottom of the page indicated the page had been updated on 2/22/11.  It does not indicate which counties have recently been added/updated, so there may be more than just Kane County.

This is certainly a relief as I plan my Kane County research trip.  While I had found some of the death records while in SLC in 2009, further research uncovered more people who died during that period.  I was all set to work at the IRAD at Northern, searching the index first and then acquiring the records.  Now, from the comfort of my home, I can search the index and have the details ready to find the actual records, thus saving me lots of time that I can now spend on other research!

In Search of Naturalization Records, An Ah-Ha Moment

I’ve been working on my Cahill line for the last few days, mainly because I’m in the process of planning a research trip to Kane Co., Illinois to do some heavy-duty research on this line.

There are several indexes available for Kane Co. for naturalization records (both first and final papers) on microfilm through the FHL.  I have been up and down them three times, and still cannot find anything on my 2nd great-grandfather, Thomas Cahill.  Censuses indicate that he was naturalized by 1900 and with an immigration estimated in 1883/1884, this is certainly possible. 

I did find a naturalization record [1] that I believe is for Thomas’ brother, John T (or F) Cahill.  Unfortunately, there are only initials used on the form, the first of which could be read as a J, and I or, even a Q. 

I retrieved this record from my FHL trip in October 2009 and filed it away as a possibility for John.  After looking at the form more closely today, I’m pretty sure it’s for him.  This is due in part to one of the witnesses, “Thos Cahill.”

Seeing as Thomas and John were brothers, who apparently immigrated about the same time, I’m assuming that the Thomas in this document is my 2nd great-grandfather, and “J T” is his brother John.  The other witness, D F Garvey, is likely Denis Garvey who lived around the corner from John; John lived directly across the river from his brother in 1900. [2]

Although I still have not located papers for Thomas, this record does give me a clue, that coincides with Thomas’ 1900 census entry:  Thomas was a citizen by April 1900, the session at which John filed his final papers.  This record states:  “…as well from the oath of the said J T Cahill as from the testimony of D. F Garvey and Thos Cahill who are known to be citizens of the United States…” (emphasis added). [3]  So I know I am looking for naturalization records for Thomas before the April 1900 session of the Aurora City Court.  Since Thomas apparently immigrated around 1883/1884, he could have filed the petition as early as 1885/1886, and final papers about 1888/1889.  However, it is possible that he immigrated as a minor (under 21) and the rules may be slightly different.

John himself immigrated as a minor, as indicated in the naturalization record.  According to other information about his birth, he was likely 17 when he came to America.  The form itself is called “Final Certificate of Naturalization-Minor” and in the body of the form is reads:  “…that the said applicant arrived in the United States a minor under the age of twenty-one years, and has resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for and during the full term of five years last past, including three years previous to his arrival at the age of twenty-one years, and at least one year last past within the State of Illinois….” [4]

Family tradition holds that Thomas’s wife, Margaret Millett, had lived in Bristol, Kendall, Illinois before locating to Aurora.  Kendall and Kane are neighboring counties, and Bristol is not at all far from Aurora.  It is possible that Thomas lived there at some point as well, and naturalization records should be searched in Kendall County, since nothing so far has been found in Kane.

And with that, a new item goes on the never-ending research To Do List.  Hopefully it will be a successful search!

---

Sources

1.  Kane County, Illinois, Naturalization Records62: 534, J T Cahill; FHL microfilm 1,481,635. 

2.1900 U.S. census population schedule, Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, enumeration district (ED) 65, sheet 1B, dwelling 16, family 21, John F Cahill; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed November 14, 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 310.  Also, 1900 U.S. census population schedule, Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, enumeration district (ED) 65, sheet 10B, dwelling 301, family 213, Denis Garvey; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed March 19, 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 310. 

3.  Kane County, Illinois, Naturalization Records62: 534, J T Cahill. 

4.  Ibid.