Upon Further Review

After due consideration and some words of wisdom from my brother and from Bonnie our
genealogist in Hawaii,I over reacted to some words from Dick in my previous blog post.
I no longer feel threatened by activities on his family tree by other researchers
and believe that it is quite normal. Bonnie does point out that where a connection is made between Dick's family tree and another researcher, the visiting researcher is
expected to give full credit to Dick for things that he has found and if the visiting
researcher then uses one of Dick's findings in his own research, he is then honor bound to prove the connection.

Cousin Jim has just been through an ordeal that was only made right when Jim was tested by Family Tree DNA. Jim's family tree had been connected to a Scottish family tree by another researcher. Jim was then very surprised to find that his DNA is very much Maguire and that we are indeed cousins and Irish rather than Scottish. There is a unrelated instance of a Scottish Buchanan who also has excellent Maguire DNA. In his case,however, he found a record of a Scottish MacCauley who had given an estate on the border of Counties Mohaghan and Fermanagh to one William Buchanan, of me ain
blood in 1595. The presesnt day Buchanan is a 61/67 match with me and is even a closer match to the Maguire clan.

Jim's earliest known ancestor was James McKown, born VA in 1785 whereas our earliest
known ancestor, Lawrence McCown, was born in South Carolina ca 1790-92. We now hope
to identify and connect the parents of those two ancestors so we know whether we are descended from brothers. Our other known cousin, also found as a result of his FTDNA
test result is a 66/67 marker match while Jim is a 65/67 match. Cousin Sam is known to be a second cousin descended from a younger brother of my great grandfather.

Jim also cautioned me about being unduly concerned with other researchers using the
family tree. So, here I stand, chastened on all sides and the better for it.

Genealogical Hazards

My brother, Dick, maintains our family tree on Ancestry.com. He reports that some
researchers lift bits and pieces from our family tree to use in their own, and he has no problem with that ordinarily. We have recently come in contact with a researcher
that purports to be descended from the second son of our Lawrence, Eli, that seems
less than straight forward. In fact there are two, who use names that may or may not
be their own.

I don't know how much sculdudgery exists on subscription websites but in this case,
we begin to wonder if the end objective is identity theft or genuine research into
their own family history. If you have encountered questionable contacts dealing with
your family tree, please let me know about it.

NI: Minister Launches New Online Genealogy Resource

Source: Northern Ireland Executive, Publ. 30 Nov., 2010

Approximately 100,000 images of probated wills have been made available online for the first time. The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has reached the culmination of a project to index and digitize early wills from the three District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry between the years
1858 and 1900. Internet access to these records will be free of charge and will be of
special interest of the many people interested in their family histories from outside
the UK.

Future digitization plans include the additon of further pre-1858 will indexes to the Proni Name Search facility. These indexes from Northern Ireland dioceses, will list
the names of people who had wills probated as early as the 17th century - pushing the
possibility of family and local history further back in time. (Bill's remarks below)

I really hope that the Armagh diocese includes Clogher as well.

Possible McNeil/Maguire Connection?

Robert McNeil matches me at 61/67 markers along with a number of other men who also have Maguire Modal results that are closer than mine. My closest Maguire DNA match to date is Dr. Thomas James McGuire at 63/67 markers with seven others at 62/67 markers. The seventh match is Joseph Marvin McManus (see McManus Surname Grp).

There is now at least one 67 marker match with a McMahon, one with a McManus as well as matches with MacAuley and McGuire and Maguire totalling over 31 to date.
I was only able to find the McManus match by joining that group, and at least the 63/67 match by joining the McGuire Surname Group. Another great advantage in finding matches is to make sure the preferences on your FTDNA personal results page are set to compare your test results against the entire world wide FTDNA data base.

Patrick MacAuley is going to look into a possible relationship between McNeil and
Maguire. Also, Debbie Wheeler, who is the listed contact for Robert McNeil's results,
mentioned in an email this morning that they have met William Roulston. I have asked if William is researching their family history and will report on that answer when I have it. She has also been encouraged to join the FTDNA Ulster Heritage Group.

There are plenty of McNeils in County Fermanagh which is no surprise since both the O'Neills and O'Connors held sway in County Fermanagh and freuently were held in delicate balance by the Maguires for the Maguires' best interest.