Fiske’s Law of Genealogy in action

This article charmingly states “Fiske’s law of genealogy: ‘Genealogy is finding the person who has done all the research.'”

Well, this has been a particularly lucky summer for me, as I have been contacted by not one but TWO cousins who have done just that!

Leo Hart, whose grandfather’s grave stone is pictured here, has shared a wealth of material pertaining to our TIERNEY origins in and around Dysert, County Clare. This includes material from another genealogist cousin whose mother was in the US for some years as a housekeeper for her great-uncle, Rev. Michael M TIERNEY (mentioned here), and who then returned to Clare. Most breathtaking is a photo of the gravestone of John TIERNEY and his wife Bridget MARKHAM TIERNEY (my ggggrandparents), taken by Leo in 2003. That stone was erected by Rev. Michael, who apparently spent all of his career (1874-1914 or thereabouts) in Iowa, ministering to communities which seem to have been largely composed of other immigrants from County Clare.

Jan Branham contacted me because of my “brick wall” post on John KELLY, also her brick wall. (If you’ve been wondering if genealogy blogging is worth the trouble, wonder no more — the answer is yes. Your audience can be just you and Google’s search spider, until someone goes looking for the information *you* have!) Jan is revisiting the graves in Union City, Indiana, and together we are going to take aim at the brick wall and tear it down, stone by stone.

Finally, Junel Davidsen, CG, (not a cousin of mine as far as I know) has been helping me accumulate the probate papers and related laws and lawsuits surrounding the estate of Julia Anna TIERNEY of Dayton Ohio, mentioned here, so that picture is coming clearer.

4 thoughts on “Fiske’s Law of Genealogy in action

  1. You’re right, 90% of my genealogy is just sorting through the massive amounts of data I get from people who have already done the research. The other 10% is researching a few families back far enough to connect with someone else who has already done the research. I’m hoping my blog gives me the same leads via google as you’ve received.

    By the way, I sent you an email about your brick wall ancestor. Hope it helps!

  2. Do you know how to contact Junel Davidson? About 20 years ago, she was President of the California Clerk of the Board of Supervisors Association. We are celebrating our 25th anniversary in November 2009 in Monterey, California; and we would like to send her an invitation. Thank you.

  3. Lora, I have forwarded your note to her. Also, the link on Junel’s name goes to her web site, and I am pretty sure she has some contact info on there.

  4. my name is martin tierney corofin clare ireland my great grand father was martin tierney born 1840 in dysart clare ireland son of john tierney and bridget markem

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.