I am looking for James Waterman Connors. His American papers show he was born in 1801 and came to America in 1817. The papers note he came from Wexford and also notes Ballyhack as his home. We have no information about mother, father or siblings in Ireland. We have all his ancestry in the States. But nothing other than the above in Ireland. We think we are stuck. Can we be helped? Thank You.
Patty:
Ballyhack is in the civil parish of St. James and Dunbrody. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballyhack,_County_Wexford. Unfortunately, the RC records for the area start well after 1801.
The Tithe listings from 1833 for St. James and Dunbrody show a Thomas Connor in Coleman townland and a Philip Connor in Curraghmore which is not an official townland. There was also a Richard, John and Laurence Connors in Ramsgrange townland, a Thomas Connors in Nake (Nook) townland and a John Connors in Battlestown townland. As you can see the surname was very common in the parish but how these men are connected to your James Waterman Connors would be difficult to determine.
Have you considered DNA testing?
Roger McDonnell
I have DNA testing through 23andme. How do I go about using my DNA to connect to ancesters? I have never been able to figure that out.
Patty:
I presume 23 and Me has provided you with matches from closest to more distant? You may want to e-mail your matches and see if you can determine the connection. Be aware that you will not get a response to about half of your e-mails (my experiece). You can also update your 23 and Me data to other sites like Family Tree DNA, My Heritage and Gedmatch to increase your match pool and increase your chances of getting closer matches.
Roger
I belong to My Heritage. How do I get matches of my DNA? Have not been able to figure that out.
Patty:
When you login to My Heritage, there should be a list of topics across the top. One of the topics is DNA and if you look at the drop-down list, you should see DNA matches.
Roger
Thank you for that, but apparently my dna still needs to be uploaded. I tried to do that but couldnt. There is a phone number I am going to try to call today. Thanks again!