Virtual Genealogy Project for Ruth Paget by Ruth Paget
One of the skills I learned while studying for an MLIS in Library and Information Science at San José State University in California was how to do genealogical research using public records such as newspaper obituaries and death notices.
A librarian’s rite of passage prank is to have a newbie open a tightly coiled microfiche film container and put it into a reader only to have it fly half way across the library, because you failed to “firmly hold the microfiche on one side” while feeding it through the reader.
The second rite of passage is recoiling the microfiche and trying to find the needle in the haystack obituary for an approximate death date of “sometime in 1898.” Once you find the obituary, you have to tightly recoil the microfiche to fit in a small tubular canister without letting it fly across the library again.
Library staff like to remind librarians “only librarians with a master’s degree can do the genealogical work. That’s not in our job description.”
Since I have graduated from library school, many genealogical records have been uploaded to the internet, most notably to ancestry.com. Genealogical research appears to have moved into phase 2.0 with many records appearing in search engines like Google.
I recently did a virtual project test on my English Pennington ancestors. The first names of my ancestors reflect religious dissent through generations of Baptists, Quakers, Puritans, Church of England members (Episcopalians in the US), and maybe even some Masons.
I was happy with the results of my online search and recorded the results below. G before a number means “generation.”
G15 – Ruth Paget – Maiden Name: Pennington
-daughter of Clarence Pennington and Beatrice May Sawle
Born: Wayne County, Detroit, Michigan
G14 – Clarence Pennington
-son of Frederick McKinley Pennington and Rose Nora Belle Thomas
Born: Lee County, Pennington Gap, Virginia
Died: Lee County, Pennington Gap, Virginia
G13 - Frederick McKinley Pennington
-son of Charles W. Pennington and Nancy Arminta Clark
Born: 1896, Virginia
Died: 1958, Virginia
G12 – Charles W. Pennington
-son of Greenberry Pennington and Letitia Robbins
Born: 1862, Lee County, Virginia
Died: 1932, Lee County, Virginai
G11 – Greenberry Pennington
-son of Charles Daniel Pennington and Dianah Parsons
Born: 1826, Lee County, Virginia Died: 1894, Lee County, Virginia
G10 – Charles Daniel Pennington
-son of Micajeh Pennington Jr and Rachel Jones Born: 1804, Lee County, Virginia
Died: 1876, Lee County, Virginia
G9 – Micajeh M Pennington Jr
-son of Benajeh Pennington Jr and Cynthia Corey
Born: 1763, Wilkes County, North Carolina
Died: 1850, Harlan County, Kentucky
G8 – Captain Micajeh M Pennington Sr
-son of Benajeh Pennington Sr and Elizabeth Humphrey
Born: 1743, North Carolina
Died: 1815, Wilkes County, North Carolina
G7 –Benajeh Pennington Sr
-son of Epharaim Pennington IV and Joanna Davis
Born: 1723, Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina
Died: about 1794, Wilkes County, North Carolina
G6 - Ephraim Pennington IV
-son of Ephraim Pennington III and Mary, a Delaware Native American
Born: about 1689 in Morristown, Middlesex, New Jersey
Died: about 1750 in Rowan, Bladen, North Carolina
G5 – Ephraim Pennington III
-son of Ephraim Pennington II and Mary Brockett
Born: about 1668, Newark, Essex, New Jersey
Died: about 1694, Morris, New Jersey
G4 – Ephraim Pennington II
-son of Ephraim Pennington I and Mary (no name given)
Born: about 1645, New Haven, Connecticut
Died: 1693, Newark, Essex, New Jersey
G3 – Ephraim Pennington I
-son of William Pennington and Marie Wilson
Born: about 1629, Muncaster Parish, Cumberland, England
Died: About 1660, New Haven, Connecticut
G2 – William Ephraim Pennington
-son of John Pennington Esquire and Ellen Leigh
Born: before 1595, Wigen, Lancashire, England
Died: About 1652, Muncaster, Cumberlad, England
G1 – John Pennington Esquire
-Born July 5, 1573, Hawkshead, Lancashire, England
-Died: About 1652 in England
Note: Legal names may differ from baptismal names.
I enjoyed gathering this information and liked finding all the family groups that I am related to by marriage as well. You have to verify what you find out about your family online, but it does give you material to start with when researching your family history.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
