I have a copy of my grandfathers baptism certificate.. it lists that his fathers name was John Francis McHugh and that he was born in Worchester, Mass... my grandfather was born in the year 1912... any suggestions on what my next step should be in tracking any info on John??? where should i go? where should I look?? thanks Leigh

Do you live in the Worcester area? The Worcester vital records (births, deaths, marriages) are easy and fun to search at the Worcester Public Library, if they are before 1900. Did you check the censuses? The 1900 census has a lot of information, such as month/year of birth, etc.. Most Irish-Catholics were buried in St. John's Cemetery on Cambridge Street in Worcester. The staff there are very helpful. If you call and inquire about John McHugh, they will be able to tell you if he is buried there. If he is, then you have a potential gold mine of information! Many Irish families were all buried together in one plot. If St. John's has your John McHugh, ask them who is buried with him, along with any other information is on his record. You'd be amazed at the stuff I have found this way! Monday is not a good day to contact St. John's Cemetery because it's their busiest day. With the burial dates that you receive from St. John's Cemetery, you can fill out an online form from the Worcester Public Library's website, and they will retrieve a copy of the obituaries. This is a free service. It usually only takes a few days to get the obituary in your postal mail box. I think your John McHugh would be easy to track. I've done a lot of research in Worcester because, besides the fact that I was born and raised there, most of my Irish ancestors settled there. For the most part, Worcester was separated into ethnic neighborhoods back then. The Irish were in the Millbury Street area. That section was known to locals as, "The Green Island." My mother used to always talk about it. You reminded me of something from my childhood days, growing up in Worcester, Mass. I lived on Grand Street during the 1960's. There was an elderly lady and her adult son who lived across the street from us. Her name was Maude McHugh, and just about every day when the weather was nice, you would see her sitting in her rocking chair on her front porch. Her son's name was Carroll McHugh, but everybody called him, "Mac". He was the nicest guy! When we kids would see him walking up the street, we'd run up to him to say hello. He always had candy in his pocket, and he'd reach in and give us some. Mac was missing part of an arm, from the elbow down. I don't remember the details of what happened to him. My older siblings might, since I was the youngest of the family. I seem to recall that "Mac" McHugh was involved in some type of political activity. He was always neatly dressed. He was such a warm-hearted man. He really was good to us neighborhood kids. Always pleasant. If you aren't from the Worcester area, and need the phone number for St. John's Cemetery or other information, feel free to send me an email. One more thing. I would expect that St. John's Cemetery might have a lot of John McHughs buried there. You might have to give them some extra information to narrow down the possibilites, like his wife's name, etc... Good luck. Margie ----- Original Message ----- From: Lejax99@aol.com To: IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2004 10:53 PM Subject: Re: [Irish-American] On what documents/parents names be given? I have a copy of my grandfathers baptism certificate.. it lists that his fathers name was John Francis McHugh and that he was born in Worchester, Mass... my grandfather was born in the year 1912... any suggestions on what my next step should be in tracking any info on John??? where should i go? where should I look?? thanks Leigh