Hi Rick, Before I make any suggestions, may I clarify what it is that you need?
Finding extant "cousins" is never easy because the databases do not exist. Even the old fashioned telephone directory is rarely of use now because so many people only use mobile phones and do not have a land line and if they do, they opt to keep it private. In my experience the only way to find long lost relatives is to turn up in the street where they lived and ask if anyone remembers them. As for where they will be buried, not that easy either. Catholics are relatively easy because there is usually just the one parish church and they all bury there. It is just a matter of googling til you find it. The same is true for Church of Ireland folks. Presbyterians are hardest to find as they tend to move congregations and sometimes walk past a Presbyterian meeting house down the road to travel several miles to another one! Methodists will probably only have one church but frequently do not have a graveyard attached, so yet again, local knowledge is essential. Being an offshoot of the Church of England, I would suspect that if there is no local Methodist graveyard, then your folks will be buried in the Church of Ireland parish church. Which takes me on to the way we here in Ireland can be of most help to you. Do you actually know exactly where your folks lived in Kilskeery Parish? Because that one is easy thanks to our land survey from the 1850s known as the Griffiths Valuation, which comes with online maps showing the precise location of the home of every head of household in Ireland. You can access it here: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ Just from a quick look I can see these people who must be related to you: Masterson David Derry Kilskeery Tyrone Masterson James Derry Kilskeery Tyrone Masterson John Derry Kilskeery Tyrone David held 13 acres, James 2 and John 4, so they were barely farmers, more like farm labourers. The Morrisons of Loughterush, which adjoins the townland of Derry, were more prosperous, with James holding Plots 12A&B totalling almost 40 acres: Griffith's Valuation Record Information Tenant Family Name 1 MORRISON Forename 1 JAMES Landlord Family Name 2 BLACKER Forename 2 LEATHEM Location County TYRONE Barony OMAGH, EAST Union LOWTHERSTOWN Parish KILSKEERY Townland LOUGHTERUSH Place Name LOUGHTERUSH Place Type TOWNLAND Publication Details Position on Page 2 Printing Date 1860 Act 15&16 Sheet Number 56 Map Reference 12 A,B Their house is no longer on a surfaced road so you will have to walk up country lanes to find its location but that is half the fun! Still one family of Mastersons left in Derry in the 1911 Census, I assume this is your Joseph: Residents of a house 5 in Derry (Kilskeery, Tyrone) Surname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion Birthplace Occupation Literacy Irish Language Marital Status Specified Illnesses Years Married Children Born Children Living Masterson Joseph 77 Male Head of Family Wesleyan, Methodist Tyrone Farmer Read and write - Married - 46 13 10 Masterson Elizabeth 67 Female Wife Wesleyan, Methodist Tyrone - Read and write - Married - 46 13 10 Masterson Hugh 42 Male Son Episcopalian, Church of Ireland Tyrone Farmer Read and write - Single - - - - Masterson David 26 Male Son Episcopalian, Church of Ireland Tyrone Farmer Read and write - Single - - - - Masterson Anni E 36 Female Daughter Wesley, Methodist Tyrone Dressmaker Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison Minni E 22 Female Niece Wesley, Methodist Tyrone Domestic Servant Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison Bertie 16 Male Nephew Wesley, Methodist Tyrone Farm Servant Read and write - Single - - - - Woods Anni E 3 Female Niece Wesleyan, Methodist Fermanagh Visitor - - - - - Oh myyyy.... Elizabeth had 13 children. 10 still alive. You must surely still have Masterson relatives living locally. They cannot all have emigrated. I would also note that, while the old folks were still Methodists, two of their sons had reverted back to the Church of Ireland. AND.... old Joseph married his wife in a CofI church: Civil Marriage Record Date of Marriage: 05-Aug-1864 Parish / District: ENNISKILLEN County: FERMANAGH Husband Wife Name: Joseph Masterson Eliza Jane Wilson Address: Derry Cavancarragh Occupation: FARMER Age: 22 22 Status: Bachelor (Previously unmarried) Spinster (Previously unmarried) Husband's Father Wife's Father Name: David Masterson Robert Wilson Address: Occupation: FARMER FARMER Husband's Mother Wife's Mother Name: Address: Occupation: Witness 1 Witness 2 Name: John Smylie Robert Wilson Address: Notes: DERRYVULLAN C.O.I. PARISH OF DERRYVULLAN. AGES GIVEN AS FULL OVER 21. And Joseph's father was indeed that David that we saw in the 1860 Griffiths Valuation so you can definitely find exactly where they lived. James and John may well have been his sons and you can find out what happened to all three plots of land, and whether David did indeed pass his land on to Joseph, in the updates to the Griffiths Valuation which are online here: https://apps.proni.gov.uk/Val12B/Search.aspx This is the family of Joseph and Elizabeth: Action Source Surname First Name Year County View Civil Birth Masterson Sarah 1874 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson William John 1873 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Anne 1872 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Martha 1877 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Mary 1870 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Eliza Jane 1869 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Joseph 1879 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Joseph 1880 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Hugh 1867 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Robert 1866 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson David 1883 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Masterson Margaret 1865 Co. Fermanagh Ignore the county being given as Fermanagh; that is just a vagary of the system caused by the fact that the nearest registration district for folks living in Kilskeery was Temp, which is a town in County Fermanagh. All those births above took place in Derry. Your Margaret was the oldest child. There was also a large family of Morrisons still living in Loughterush in the 1911 Census and from what you say above, it is clearly your James: Residents of a house 12 in Loughterush (Moorfield, Tyrone) Surname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion Birthplace Occupation Literacy Irish Language Marital Status Specified Illnesses Years Married Children Born Children Living Morrison James 64 Male Head of Family Methodist Co Tyrone Farmer Read and write - Married - 25 12 11 Morrison Margaret 45 Female Wife Methodist Co Tyrone - Read and write - Married - 25 12 11 Morrison Eliza Jane 23 Female Daughter Methodist Co Tyrone - Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison William James 20 Male Son Methodist Co Tyrone - Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison Joseph 19 Male Son Methodist Co Tyrone - Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison Margaret 17 Female Daughter Methodist Co Tyrone - Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison Andrew 12 Male Son Methodist Co Tyrone Scholar Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison Elsie 10 Female Daughter Methodist Co Tyrone Scholar Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison David 7 Male Son Methodist Co Tyrone Scholar Read and write - Single - - - - Morrison Thomas Henry 4 Male Son Methodist Co Tyrone - Cannot read - Single - - Did they ALL emigrate? And yet again, your great grandparents married in a Church of Ireland church, the local parish church in fact: Civil Marriage Record Date of Marriage: 03-Mar-1886 Parish / District: OMAGH County: TYRONE Husband Wife Name: James Morrison Margaret Masterson Address: Loughterush P Of Kilskeery Derry P Of Kilskeery. Occupation: FARMER Age: 22 20 Status: Bachelor (Previously unmarried) Spinster (Previously unmarried) Husband's Father Wife's Father Name: James Morrison Joseph Masterson Address: Occupation: FARMER FARMER Husband's Mother Wife's Mother Name: Address: Occupation: Witness 1 Witness 2 Name: William Johnston Maggie Wilson Address: Notes: KILSKEERY C.O.I. PARISH OF KILSKEERY. HUSBANDS AGE GIVEN AS FULL. OVER 21. WIFES AGE GIVEN AS MINOR. UNDER 21. This is it in the wee village of Trillick, just a mile up the road from Derry: https://www.ireland.anglican.org/find-a-church/parish/10880/kilskeery And my goodness, are you in luck, if you want to research your family way back, because there are lots of church records available on microfilm at PRONI in Belfast: https://www.johngrenham.com/records/church.php?civilparishid=2356&civilparish=Kilskeery&search_type=full Church of Ireland Kilskeery Baps: 1767-1938 Indexed to 1844 Marriages: 1778-1935 Indexed to 1841 Burials: 1796-1973 Indexed to 1841 PRONI MIC.1/6; C.R.1/22-3 Open for public research Methodist Trillick Baps: 1829-1913 See Irvinestown? PRONI MIC.1E/37 Open for public research And these children were born to James Morrison and Margaret Masterson: Action Source Surname First Name Year County View Civil Birth Morrison Sarah 1897 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Andrew 1898 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Herbert Hugh 1894 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Margaret 1893 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Elsie 1900 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Joseph 1891 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison William James 1890 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison David 1903 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Mary Eva 1889 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Eliza Jane 1888 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Robert John 1887 Co. Fermanagh View Civil Birth Morrison Thomas Henry 1906 Co. Fermanagh So, lots and lots for you to do BEFORE you arrive, Rick, and you should have a very successful trip to south Tyrone. Buy a good OS map quick! Hope this helps, Regards, Boyd PS: To List Admins - yet again, I did not get the initial post from Rick. Only Ray replied, I would never have seen it. I use basic gmail so I do not know why this should be happening. And worse still, to reply, I had to do a lot of fiddling with addresses as hitting reply only replied to Ray. https://www.facebook.com/westulstergenealogy/ http://familytrees.genopro.com/boydgray26/Boyd/ On 7 August 2017 at 13:02, Ray 15 <ra...@westnet.com.au> wrote: > Hello Rick. > > Ha ha. Wow, I didn’t realise how difficult it is to make contact with > them. > > Okay, here is a link to the MEMBERS page at atavus: > > http://search.atavus.org/api/v1/members > > If you scroll down in there, first to D for David JOHNSTON — you can then > click on his member name, and click further to send him a message. > > Similarly, scroll down to G for George ARMSTRONG — and follow the clicks > to also send him a message. > > Hoping that this helps, and will work for you. > If not, please get back in touch, as I do have their private email > addresses from many years past, and we could try to make contact with them > that way. > > So glad that you have found it to be of interest for you, Rick. > > All the best. > Ray in Oz. > =============================== > > On 7 Aug 2017, at 4:56 am, Rick Smoll <rsmoll...@aim.com> wrote: > > Thanks Ray! I've already spent a little time on it and looks like it will > prove to be a treasure trove. Do you happen to have email addresses for > Armstrong and Johnston? > > Rick Smoll, AIC > Claims Adjuster > Corpus Christi, TX > Mobile - (512) 619-3860 > Fax - (512) 592-7966 > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ray 15 <ra...@westnet.com.au> > To: Rick Smoll <rsmoll...@aim.com> > Cc: cotyronelist <cotyronelist@cotyroneireland.com> > Sent: Sun, Aug 6, 2017 11:26 am > Subject: Re: [CoTyroneMailingList] Kilskeery Parish > > Hello Rick. > > If you use this hyperlink, you should find lots of entries for your > relevant surnames. > > http://search.atavus.org/api/v1/search > > The Kilskeery vital records have been transcribed by Fermanagh-Gold’s > indefatigable transcriber: Mr George ARMSTRONG (in Fermanagh); > and the entire database has been provided by Mr David JOHNSTON (in > Australia). > > I would hope that you would write to each of them with thanks, once you > have obtained your information. > Unfortunately, as we have learned on this list, most people seem to just > take the information provided, and not even give back a thank you in most > cases. > > Good luck with it all. > ray in oz > ========================================================= > > On 5 Aug 2017, at 5:44 am, Rick Smoll <rsmoll...@aim.com> wrote: > > Hello all > I will be visiting County Tyrone next month and will be trying to learn as > much about my grandfather's family as I can while there. His father's farm > (James Morrison) was in Loughterush townland in Kilskeery Parish, and his > maternal grandfather's farm (Joseph Masterson) - where he sometimes stayed > - was located in Derry townland in Kilskeery Parish. My grandfather came to > the states in 1914 at the age of 18. I know that the Morrison farm was sold > by the last family member to live on it (or his estate after he died) > around 1980. I have not been able to find any current info on the Masterson > farm. > > My questions are: > > What Methodist church would the family likely have attended around 1900 in > the area around Kilskeery? > > Otherwise, where might I find information regarding what cemeteries my > ancestors may be in? > > Where would records (birth, death, marriage, real estate, etc.) be > maintained for Kilskeery Parish? > > Are there local directories if I want to try and find living relatives? > > Any and all advice regarding genealogical research while there would be > appreciated. > > Thanks! > > > Rick Smoll > _______________________________________________ > > _______________________________________________ > CoTyroneList mailing list > CoTyroneList@cotyroneireland.com > http://mail.cotyroneireland.com/mailman/listinfo/cotyronelis > t_cotyroneireland.com > >
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