3Goals

I'm supposed to have genealogy goals, they tell me. I started looking over my mess of notes. I noticed a lot of missing data. I haven't really been doing anything wrong , but I have been doing it imcompletely. So in an effect to complete my genealogical mess I'm going to do a few things. First , I'm going to find out where my great grandparents are buried. My second goal, is to go on an ancestor hunt , in Brooklyn , taking pictures of the places they lived. And ,lastly, I'm going to create a genealogical scrapbook to share with people so they will stop looking at me like I have six heads. All of this of course is subject to change.

For now here is a picture of Margaret Cain/Kane.

Violet , John and Christina ..Oh my!

I found my Dutch ancestors with relative ease and my Curtin ancestors were handed to me on a silver platter < thank you Margaret Curtain at curtin.org> so it only stands to reason that I was going to have to work for the rest of them. My great grandmother was Violet Flynn. Her parents were John J. Flynn and Christina X. I know what you are thinking. Who would name their child X? Believe it or not that was not the name she was born with. I realized if I were ever going to find out Christina last name I would have to bite the bullet and send away for Violet's birth certificate. I was able to fill out a form online and give a credit card number and in 4 to 6 short weeks they would mail me the certifcate. Well , the stars must of all been in the right place because that certificate arrived in less than 3 weeks. I tore the envelople open like a little kid. I could not wait . Christina's last name was..Schmidt. Woo hoo! I danced around my kitchen like an idiot until another thought overtook me I needed to know Christina's parents. I always knew I was German but now I KNEW I was German. I sat down at my computer desk and thought " how am I ever going to find out about them" . Then is occurred to me John and Christina marriage license. I'm in trouble now.

Curtin Strong

I am a lucky girl. Not just because of stuff like chocolate. I am a lucky girl because  I am a Curtin. Those who share my last name descend from a relatively small part of Ireland split between County Kerry  County Cork and County Limmerick < with  a few straglers from Clare>. There is even a Curtin website.

My great grandfather Denis Curtin came to America between 1895 and 1899. He met and married Margaret Cain. Together they had seven children Cornelius , Margaret, Patrick, William, Michael, Annie, and James. Denis was a street railway repairman. This was his second marriage. The first was to unknown Donegan. They had a child Joan. Both passed away in a "crash" . I have no idea what kind of "crash".

I probably know more about my family history than the average person new to genealogy. I know that most of it starts in Brooklyn and ends in Ireland-Germany-Russia-Austria-Holland. I know that despite the fact that I cannot find a single non-celtic name within my Irish history I am certain I am Scandanavian.

Mostly, right now I am certain its time for chocolate