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<\/a>Anne (Murphy) Neill, born 1840s Ireland-died 1897 near West Point, Hancock County, Illinois<\/p><\/div>\n
There are times when I need another list. A list of “why.”<\/p>\n
I’ve got a research log of things I have done in an attempt to find the origins of my Anne (Murphy) Neill. Like any research log it lists the sources I have used, how they were accessed, etc. Records on Anne are scant and none of them list her parents or any specific place of birth (“Ireland” is as specific as it gets).\u00a0Anne was not the only Anne Murphy born in Ireland around 1840 so searching for her has required diligence.<\/p>\n
What I need in addition to my research log is a list of methodologies I’ve tried in order to locate clues to her origins. Researching her fully is an obvious way to try and locate her origins, but it did not do the trick. Other approaches\u00a0that have been tried need to be tracked for the same reason that I keep a research log: so I do not try the same thing repeatedly and so that I can tweak those unsuccessful approaches if necessary.<\/p>\n
To do that, I’ve created a methodology list.<\/p>\n
For Anne (Murphy) Neill, I\u00a0have\u00a0the following methodology list:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Looked for any Irish native with the last name of Murphy living with in an approximate eight mile radius of where Anne settled in Illinois.<\/li>\n
- Researched the origins of the bondsman who appeared on her 1864 marriage to Samuel Neill in New Brunswick.<\/li>\n
- Viewed the death certificates of all Anne’s children to see if a specific place of birth is provided.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The specifics of these searches should go on my research log–not\u00a0here. The methodology list is meant to be more general so that I can review the approaches that have been tried. The research log can be referenced to then see the specific tasks that were done as a part of a specific methodology. I could keep a separate research log for each methodology, but that’s not really necessary.<\/p>\n