What have you been working on lately? I have been trying to apply, where I can, the information from our classes such as looking at different spellings of names, taking notes and identifying the resources I have used, having a clear objective and not trying to move too fast.

My current research has been more about history. I have been trying to use history to help me figure out what the potential story of my ancestors might be. Start with what you know, right? So, I know my ancestor and his father were both born in Ireland. The younger one, John William Faris was born in 1759 and married and died in Elm Grove, Ohio County, Virginia. By-the-way, they were both in the Revolutionary War.

I wanted to find where he was born in Ireland but all I had was the possibility that it was County Down, Northen Ireland. If I start with what I know, he died in 1838 in Elm Grove, Virginia and his father in 1818 in the same place. To learn more about their history I decided to narrow down when they might have come to America. John’s brother, the next one in line, was born in 1763 in Virginia. That puts the family moving to America between 1760 and 1762.

Again, starting with the known I turned to history. What can I learn about Elm Grove, Ohio County, Virginia? Since this was in the mid -1700s, I looked at when Elm Grove was established, (first known settlers in 1769 and county established in 1776). I figured by looking at that I might be able to learn who the early settlers were and where they came from.

Elm Grove is part of Wheeling in Ohio County, West Virginia which was Virginia at the time. To give you a bit of my work, I found that many of the people in this area during its early years were from England, Germany, and Northern Ireland. They also didn’t get off the ship in Wheeling. They could have landed in New Brunswick, Canada, Philadelphia, PA, New Castle, Delaware or several other communities on the river systems in the area and then down the Ohio River to Wheeling or through the Allegheny Mountains.

This is really a shortened version of my findings, but the point is that by looking into this I can start to find locations that I can research further during the time periods most likely for them to have been traveling. I also learned that they are buried in the Old Stone Cemetery in Elm Grove. That told me they were probably Presbyterian as this was a historic Presbyterian Church. Northern Ireland was/is largely Presbyterian. It is this history and critical thinking that circles me around to next steps. I may not find original documents, but I am hoping that I can make logical sense out of what might have happened.

I have gathered general history books as well as genealogy books for England, Scotland, Canada, Germany, and Ireland to help me with my research. Now it is time to read.

Oh, by-the-way, happy St. Patrick’s Day! That is a happy coincidence! See you for the next classes on Dutch Records, WikiTree, Researching Beyond Your Ancestors, and Ireland.

Heidi Geise, education@hqrl.com