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Identifying Women Tracing Your Female Ancestors by Tom Rice, CG Every lineage has at least one woman who seems untraceable. On some trees there may be many such branches that come to an abrupt end at a seemingly untraceable female ancestor. We often just shrug and move on with the male branch of the family tree. There are two fundamental truths about these end-of-the-line women ancestors. Many are traceable, albeit with much effort, and all are important. The difficulty comes from the way women were treated by the law, by society, and by religions, and thus how they were treated by the records kept concerning them and their families. Thus, the key to discovering a female ancestor lies in these very same areas. What were the laws, the customs, and what was recorded in the various records of the time and place where the elusive female ancestor lived? Female ancestors are just as important, if not more so, than their male counterparts. It is a good bet that much of what we are comes to us from our female lineage. In all likelihood a disproportionate amount of both nature and nurture came down through the generations from the mothers on the family tree. While the genetic throw of the dice is equal for the male and female lineage, it is the mother’s nurturing from womb to adulthood and beyond that in many families does more to shape the person than does the father’s wage earning and going to war. The first difficulty faced by many genealogists in tracing a female ancestor is the loss of her maiden surname upon marriage. This, of course, depends upon the culture. In certain societies, women retained their maiden surnames throughout their lives. This makes tracing women in those ethnic groups much easier. Where the name is lost upon marriage, attention must shift to any and all records where that elusive surname may be found. For many women, the last records to show her maiden Page 70 name would have been her marriage record and perhaps her death record. If these two sources fail to reveal it, it may be found on the birth, marriage or death records of her children depending upon the data recording requirements of the time. If these records fail in this regard, you may have more luck by going further afield and looking for the newspaper accounts of these events regarding her and her children. Often, newspaper accounts can be more informative than official records.This is particularly true of rural newspapers in the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. You cannot fully understand why a woman may not be recorded in some records and how she will be noted in others without understanding the law of her place and time. This is the point in your research where it is more important to stop and do background research than it is to go running after one more record. Take time to learn about aspects of the law as they affect women in such matters as marriage, divorce, inheritance, citizenship, voting, taxes, and property ownership. Learn about a woman’s place in her church and in her society – again at the time and place when and where your ancestor lived. Here are some questions you should look to answer: Marriage • At what age could a woman marry? • If she was underage, who could give permission? Divorce • What were the grounds for divorce? • Where was a divorce case settled – in what court, or was it by the Colonial or state legislature? Property • Could a woman own property? • What were the restrictions on her use of that property? • What happened to her property ownership rights upon marriage and upon widowhood? Inheritance • What could a woman inherit? • Who controlled her inheritance? • What could she bequeath in her will? Citizenship • How did a woman become a citizen? • How might she lose her citizenship? • What effect did marriage have upon her citizenship? Voting • When could a woman vote? Taxes • How might a woman be taxed? • How much and for what? Church • How did her religion treat her, and what were her rights and obligations under her religion? • What role could she have in her church? Military • What records of her husband, son or other relative would have a mention of a woman? • What were a woman’s rights under military pension laws? • When and how could a woman serve in the military? Business • What sort of business activities could a woman engage in – as a single woman or when married? Miscellaneous • How were women listed in City Directories of the time? Record Practices • In what records would a woman definitely be found mentioned? • Under what name – maiden or married surname – would she be mentioned? • In what records of others would a woman be mentioned – e.g. birth, The Septs - Volume 32, Number 2 • An t-Alòredn (April) 2011
__________________________________________________________________ Identifying Women marriage and death records of children? Here are other places to look for mention of a female ancestor: • Local and church histories, • Newspapers, obituaries and social notices, • Biographical sketches – of her or of her family members. Here are some research strategies to consider: • Look at cemetery plots for suggested relationships. • Look at witnesses to her marriage and to the baptisms and marriages of her children for names of possible relatives. • Look at ship lists and neighbors from the same place of origin for possible relatives. • Look at her husband’s business and social alliances for possible relatives on her side of the family. • Consider the middle names of her children and grandchildren as clues. • Look at census records that show people of a different surname within her household for clues as to her birth family. Someone listed in the household as an in-law of the husband may be the path to her surname. • Look at records where she is a witness to a marriage or christening – these might be relatives. Tracing women as part of a lineage project often requires special skill and knowledge. The books listed below by Carmack and Schaefer are especially helpful in terms of information and methodology. Carmack does a good job presenting various ways to attack the problem. She takes female genealogy beyond methods of how to discover identities to how to learn more about the lives of female ancestors.Schaefer’s is more of a reference book. She describes key legal issues affecting women in the U. S. on a year-by-year basis for every state and the federal government under headings Irish Genealogical Society International such as marriage and divorce, where to find marriage and divorce records, property and inheritance, suffrage, citizenship, census information, and both a general and selected women’s bibliography. If you have “untraceable” women on your lineage in the U. S., I suggest spending time with these two books. All of this looking is hard work; but remember, genealogy is a research-based activity. The “untraceable” ancestors can often become“traceable”once enough energy and smarts are applied to the quest. The hunt for female ancestors is a task worth pursuing. Bibliography Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo. Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Female Ancestors. Cincinnati: Betterway Books, 1998. Cohen, Morris L. How to Find the Law. 9th edition. Saint Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co., 1989. De Groote, Michael. “Finding Women: the Ultimate Family History Brick Wall” on MormonTimes (http://www.mormontimes. com/article/2151/Finding-womenthe-ultimate-family-history-brick-wall: accessed 27 January 2011). Diner, Hasia R. Erin’s Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in Nineteenth- Century America. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. “Property Rights of Women as a Consideration,” in The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy. 3rd edition. Val D. Greenwood, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2000. Newman, John J. American Naturalization Records 1790-1990. North Salt Lake, Utah: Heritage Quest, 1998. Nolan, Janet A. Ourselves Alone: Women Immigrants from Ireland. Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 1989. Rysdamp, George R. “Fundamental Common-Law Concepts for the Genealogist: Marriage, Divorce, and Coverture.” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 83 3 (September 1995): 165-79. Schaefer, Christina Kassabian. The Hidden Half of the Family. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Ind. 1999. Tom Rice, CG, is a professional genealogy researcher, lecturer, teacher and writer. He is the managing editor of The Septs, a former director of the Minnesota Genealogy Society, past treasurer and past co-first vice president of IGSI and a genealogy help desk volunteer for the Minnesota History Society. He can be contacted at info@heritagehunters.com. IGSI Donors We wish to thank the following generous members who have made a contribution to the work and projects of the Irish Genealogical Society International. A. Lynne Addair Manhattan, KS Carol Barlow Rocklin, CA Catherine C. Chapman Minneapolis, MN Elizabeth Costello-Kruzich Evanston, IL John J. Finnin Central Islip, NY Richard McMurray Annandale, VA Brian McNerney Austin, TX Carolyn C. Onufrak Springfield VA Joe Shea Duxbury, MA Fern Wilcox Shoreview, MN Page 71
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