Re: Morrell's of Iowa (USA) from Ireland???
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In reply to:
Morrell's of Iowa (USA) from Ireland???
6/03/01
Wade, yes one would think that genealogy searches would be easier on the net but alas it opens up many cans of worms!My advice to you (and I am still searching too) is to work backwards.You need to amass all your information on your grandparents from their deaths backwards--death certs, marriage certificates, birth certs and/or baptism certs for their children, social security applications (if they fall into the SS time frame), naturalization records, etc.Only then can you hope to do research in Ireland as most of the records there are at a local level rather than a national level--that's why there are no "databases" on the net.From your grandmother's maiden name I would assume she was a Protestant from Northern Ireland, but all the assumptions in the world mean nothing unless you have the documatation to back them up.If she migrated to or was born in Iowa then get Iowa Vital Records in Des Moines to send you her death cert (for a fee!) or try the genealogy library for the area she lived (county).You must acquire all the US info you can before you can attempt to search Ireland. So much US info is non-specific (ie, place of birth: Ireland, instead of Tuam, Co Galway, and the townland or parish etc.).So start local, then go international.I hope this helps, and I wish you good luck.