Ah, ha! Setting up a data base for the witnesses is a good idea! I think I'll do the same! thanks, m Mary Villalba AZTEC Communications, LLC (303) 290-8415 Tele Distinguished Past Governor, Rocky Mountain District Kiwanis International "A global organization of volunteers, dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time." -------------------------------------------------- From: "Joseph C Dorsey" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 5:51 PM To: <[email protected]> Subject: [IRL-WICKLOW] relation to witnesses > I am glad you asked this question. I recently made a special database in > Excel for witnesses to marriages and godparents at baptisms, to get a > handle on finding out whom these people were and if they were related. . > > At this point it only created more questions about these individuals. One > that got my attention was Catherine Mahar. She was a witness to the > marriage of my g. grandparents, John Darcy of Co Clare and Mary Moran of > Co Kildare, at Notre Dame in Montreal, Quebec, in April 1853. Her name > appeared again in April 1855 as godmother to their son, Patrick, when he > was baptized in Boston, Mass. I have yet been able to find out who she > was. There was a Catherine Mahar listed in Griffiths Evaluation in Co > Kildare near Mary's father, John Moran, years earlier, but I doubt if it > was here. She must have stayed in Boston, as her name never appeared again > after they moved to Texas in 1859. > > The only surname that appeared in the list that was the same as one in my > lineage was Moran. Margaret and Michael Moran were listed as godparents of > John and Mary's first child, Margaret, who was baptized at Notre Dame in > Montreal in 1853. Mary Moran Darcy did not have a sibling named Michael, > so I am wondering if he was a cousin, or, was this just someone they knew > in Montreal who was of Irish origin and had the same surname as Mary’s > maiden name. . > > I called it the "relation to the mysterious witness." > >

I am big on databases.  When I first started doing genealogy, it became apparent that I would be collecting a lot of information on paper, and in most instances,  it would be from sources that I would need to copy from.  Since I would not be able to make a copy of every source document, I would need a way to retain the information.   While in some instances I would need to retain a copy of an original document, it was going to become impossible to retain all of the paper and keep it organized and easily accessible for reviewing, especially since I was looking at so many names and did not know which was an ancestor or one of their relatives.  That is when I decided upon a database in Excel so I could keep information on everyone with that particular surname.   Also, one can sort the columns any way that was needed.   I have a database for each surname I am researching.  I keep them sorted alphabetically by name and then date.  My columns across are Surname, given name, County in Ireland, date of event, the event ( d. age 60, b. or bapt, in St. Patrick’s, godparents name, etc.) and the source of the information.  Due to the fact that I was collecting so much information on the name Darcy, I changed that particular database to be divided by County, alphabetically, then listed the information across in columns.  Since it is in Excel, it is easy to add another row in a particular county when I find another record.  One of the things I like about using Excel, I can place a border around each family and make it easier to scan when looking for a particular family.    Besides the surnames, and lists of witnesses, I have one for all of the ships I have checked to date for my ancestors coming over, and one that lists grandparents, g. grand parents, 2nd g. grandparents, 3rd, etc. all the way up to my 14th g. grandparents.   Keeping records in order is always a work in progress.  It is necessary so that info can be accessed quickly.  I get irritated with myself if I waste time on something that I already have in my computer.   Joseph --- On Mon, 2/2/09, Mary Villalba <[email protected]> wrote: From: Mary Villalba <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [IRL-WICKLOW] data base for witnesses To: [email protected] Date: Monday, February 2, 2009, 7:12 PM Ah, ha! Setting up a data base for the witnesses is a good idea! I think I'll do the same! thanks, m Mary Villalba AZTEC Communications, LLC (303) 290-8415 Tele Distinguished Past Governor, Rocky Mountain District Kiwanis International "A global organization of volunteers, dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time."