By
By
Webinar Library
BCG Methodology and Skills Board for Certification of Genealogists

He Had a Brother Who Disappeared: Finding John H. Hickey, Formerly of Rockton, Winnebago County, Illinois

Debra S. Mieszala, CG
Aug 21, 2024
974 views
CC
Want to watch the full webinar?
Join now to access all 2,310 webinars and unlock all features.
Join now
Syllabus
Join now

Content

Play. Playing.
Welcome
49s
Play. Playing.
About BCG
6m 50s
Play. Playing.
Speaker's Introduction
1m 23s
Play. Playing.
Case Study
57m 19s
Play. Playing.
Announcements
1m 43s
Play. Playing.
Questions / answers
8m 27s

About this webinar

Family tradition holds that John H. Hickey of Rockton, Winnebago County, Illinois, disappeared. This case study proves John “disappeared” and establishes the missing man’s fate. A patchwork of records allowed a glimpse into the life of a person thought dead.

About the speaker

About the speaker

Debra S. Mieszala, CG
Debbie Mieszala, Certified Genealogist(R), specializes in forensic genealogy, and 20th-century and Midwest research. She conducts genealogical research for the military to locate relatives of service members missing in past wars, and formerly perf
Learn more...

Comments (46)

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

1000 characters remaining
Cancel Submit

Sort by Newest
Sort by Close.
  • Newest
  • Oldest
  • Likes
  1. CZ
    catherine zahn
    3 months ago

    Wow! I loved this case study. Your presentation was fabulous…I would love to see more videos by you!

    Reply
  2. LY
    Lisa Yoest
    3 months ago

    Enjoyed the webinar and story. thank you for sharing your process

    Reply
  3. CL
    Cheryl Lucas
    3 months ago

    Meagher County is pronounced “Mar”. It was named for Governor Thomas Francis Meagher who was also formed the Irish brigade of the Civil War fame.

    Reply
  4. YL
    Yolanda Lifter
    3 months ago

    Debbie does great work with case studies!

    Reply
  5. AW
    Allison Willis
    3 months ago

    Awesome as usual.

    Reply
  6. MS
    Mike Sanderson
    3 months ago

    Interesting story, especially being able to learn how much the person moved and where he finally wound up after being missing for many years.

    Reply
  7. JF
    Jean Foster
    3 months ago

    Interesting use of land records and showing the depth of information actually in them. Now I need to order my ancestors land patent records from NARA. Great presentaton.

    Reply
  8. AC
    Alan Campbell
    3 months ago

    I found the the records and techniques used validated my own research techniques. The land record index explanations and land record images helped me to better understand US land records.

    Reply
Show all comments

Related Webinars

1:27:04
BCGMethodology and SkillsBonus webinars
The Five-story Fall: Correlating Indirect and Direct Evidence to Extend the Pedigree
Debra S. Mieszala, CG
14.0K views
CC
The Five-story Fall: Correlating Indirect and Direct Evidence to Extend the Pedigree
Johanna (Daly) Mahoney plunged to her death taking her parents’ and siblings’ identities along. Extensive associate analysis and a sixteen-year post-mortem summons led to family.
BCGMethodology and SkillsBonus webinars
The Five-story Fall: Correlating Indirect and Direct Evidence to Extend the Pedigree
CC
Debra S. Mieszala, CG
14.0K views
Johanna (Daly) Mahoney plunged to her death taking her parents’ and siblings’ identities along. Extensive associate analysis and a sixteen-year post-mortem summons led to family.
Tue, March 19 2019: 0:00 UTC
Login to register (for webinar members)
Login to register (for webinar members)
1:11:59
BCGMethodology and SkillsWriting and Publishing
Dear Me: Writing Research Reports to Yourself
Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG, QG
1.4K views
CC
Dear Me: Writing Research Reports to Yourself
Research reports are not just for professionals, but are a great tool for anyone who wants to answer their research questions. Write a research report to yourself to organize your thoughts, analyze the evidence, document your findings, and solve your puzzles. Using an example from the Netherlands, this presentation demonstrates how you can organize a research report to spot more clues in records, discover and resolve discrepancies, and build reliable conclusions.
BCGMethodology and SkillsWriting and Publishing
Dear Me: Writing Research Reports to Yourself
CC
Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG, QG
1.4K views
Research reports are not just for professionals, but are a great tool for anyone who wants to answer their research questions. Write a research report to yourself to organize your thoughts, analyze the evidence, document your findings, and solve your puzzles. Using an example from the Netherlands, this presentation demonstrates how you can organize a research report to spot more clues in records, discover and resolve discrepancies, and build reliable conclusions.
Tue, November 19 2024: 19:00 UTC
Register for free
1:13:06
BCGMethodology and Skills
Sense and Sensibility: The Power of Logic, Intuition, and Critical Thinking
Robbie Johnson, CG
1.0K views
CC
Sense and Sensibility: The Power of Logic, Intuition, and Critical Thinking
Is it logical that a woman born in 1752 gave birth to a son in 1848? Do I have enough evidence to conclude that Johan Kannon of Trondheim, Norway, was the same person as John Connell from Cut-and-Shoot, Texas? Why do I share 300 cM of DNA with three people I’ve never heard of? Genealogists make hundreds of decisions everyday based on thousands of pieces of information harvested from various sources. We automatically, and often unconsciously, use common sense, logic, and even intuition, to identify relevant evidence, problem-solve, and answer complex questions. Learning to harness the power of logic, syllogism, and our own “Spidey-senses,” can help scale brick-walls, solve DNA mysteries, and organize mountains of information. This talk focuses on how to incorporate logic, common sense, and critical thinking in a more deliberate way to create hypotheses, test theories, and support conclusions. Johnson will share exercises that can bulk up logic and critical thought muscles, as well as practical tips on how to apply common sense and sensibility to your family history research and writing.
BCGMethodology and Skills
Sense and Sensibility: The Power of Logic, Intuition, and Critical Thinking
CC
Robbie Johnson, CG
1.0K views
Is it logical that a woman born in 1752 gave birth to a son in 1848? Do I have enough evidence to conclude that Johan Kannon of Trondheim, Norway, was the same person as John Connell from Cut-and-Shoot, Texas? Why do I share 300 cM of DNA with three people I’ve never heard of? Genealogists make hundreds of decisions everyday based on thousands of pieces of information harvested from various sources. We automatically, and often unconsciously, use common sense, logic, and even intuition, to identify relevant evidence, problem-solve, and answer complex questions. Learning to harness the power of logic, syllogism, and our own “Spidey-senses,” can help scale brick-walls, solve DNA mysteries, and organize mountains of information. This talk focuses on how to incorporate logic, common sense, and critical thinking in a more deliberate way to create hypotheses, test theories, and support conclusions. Johnson will share exercises that can bulk up logic and critical thought muscles, as well as practical tips on how to apply common sense and sensibility to your family history research and writing.
Wed, October 16 2024: 0:00 UTC
Register for free
1:11:40
Places and EthnicitiesBCGMethodology and Skills
A Myriad of Slave Databases
LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG...
923 views
CC
A Myriad of Slave Databases
In the summer of 2023 American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society announced the collaborative 10 Million Names project, an undertaking to recover the names of people of African descent who were enslaved in the area of the United States. This monumental task of centralizing datasets about African Americans is likely to take years to accomplish; in the interim, this webinar provides a useful survey of the many existing databases that serve a similar purpose though limited in scope.
Places and EthnicitiesBCGMethodology and Skills
A Myriad of Slave Databases
CC
LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG, CGL, FASG
923 views
In the summer of 2023 American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society announced the collaborative 10 Million Names project, an undertaking to recover the names of people of African descent who were enslaved in the area of the United States. This monumental task of centralizing datasets about African Americans is likely to take years to accomplish; in the interim, this webinar provides a useful survey of the many existing databases that serve a similar purpose though limited in scope.
Wed, September 18 2024: 0:00 UTC
Register for free
1:06:01
BCGMethodology and Skills
Oral Genealogy in Asia-Pacific: The Essence of Personal Identity and Tribal Connections
David S. Ouimette, CG, CGL
145 views
CC
Oral Genealogy in Asia-Pacific: The Essence of Personal Identity and Tribal Connections
Oral genealogies celebrate ancestral connections in indigenous cultures across Asia-Pacific. As one paramount chief in Samoa declared, “The most important thing for children to understand is their family connections. The knowledge of history is their treasure—not gold and silver, but genealogy.” Learn about the significance and richness of oral genealogies and current efforts to preserve them in Asia and the Pacific.
BCGMethodology and Skills
Oral Genealogy in Asia-Pacific: The Essence of Personal Identity and Tribal Connections
CC
David S. Ouimette, CG, CGL
145 views
Oral genealogies celebrate ancestral connections in indigenous cultures across Asia-Pacific. As one paramount chief in Samoa declared, “The most important thing for children to understand is their family connections. The knowledge of history is their treasure—not gold and silver, but genealogy.” Learn about the significance and richness of oral genealogies and current efforts to preserve them in Asia and the Pacific.
Wed, July 17 2024: 0:00 UTC
Register for free
1:24:18
BCGMethodology and SkillsWriting and Publishing
Editing Your Own Work – Part 2
Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGG
1.3K views
CC
Editing Your Own Work – Part 2
Genealogists write. Their written narratives include stories of ancestral families, biographies of individual ancestors, and explanations supporting genealogical proofs. For their writing to succeed, genealogists—like all effective writers—repeatedly self-edit everything they write. The process results in polished products that the genealogist’s readers will understand, enjoy, and cherish. Emphasizing genealogical narrative, these two webinars will address the self-editing process. Part 1 will focus on “big-picture” editing, including stages of self-editing; focus; keeping the writer out of the narrative; editing the writing’s overall structure, organization, and flow; and improving major and minor subdivisions of written genealogical narratives, including paragraphing. Part 2 will focus on “nitty-gritty” editing, including capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, word choice, and reducing word count.
BCGMethodology and SkillsWriting and Publishing
Editing Your Own Work – Part 2
CC
Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGG
1.3K views
Genealogists write. Their written narratives include stories of ancestral families, biographies of individual ancestors, and explanations supporting genealogical proofs. For their writing to succeed, genealogists—like all effective writers—repeatedly self-edit everything they write. The process results in polished products that the genealogist’s readers will understand, enjoy, and cherish. Emphasizing genealogical narrative, these two webinars will address the self-editing process. Part 1 will focus on “big-picture” editing, including stages of self-editing; focus; keeping the writer out of the narrative; editing the writing’s overall structure, organization, and flow; and improving major and minor subdivisions of written genealogical narratives, including paragraphing. Part 2 will focus on “nitty-gritty” editing, including capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, word choice, and reducing word count.
Wed, June 19 2024: 0:00 UTC
Register for free
1:27:11
BCGMethodology and SkillsWriting and Publishing
Editing Your Own Work – Part 1
Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGG
2.0K views
CC
Editing Your Own Work – Part 1
Genealogists write. Their written narratives include stories of ancestral families, biographies of individual ancestors, and explanations supporting genealogical proofs. For their writing to succeed, genealogists—like all effective writers—repeatedly self-edit everything they write. The process results in polished products that the genealogist’s readers will understand, enjoy, and cherish. Emphasizing genealogical narrative, these two webinars will addresses the self-editing process. Part 1 will focus on “big-picture” editing, including stages of self-editing; focus; keeping the writer out of the narrative; editing the writing’s overall structure, organization, and flow; and improving major and minor subdivisions of written genealogical narratives, including paragraphing. Part 2 will focus on “nitty-gritty” editing, including capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, word choice, and reducing word count.
BCGMethodology and SkillsWriting and Publishing
Editing Your Own Work – Part 1
CC
Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGG
2.0K views
Genealogists write. Their written narratives include stories of ancestral families, biographies of individual ancestors, and explanations supporting genealogical proofs. For their writing to succeed, genealogists—like all effective writers—repeatedly self-edit everything they write. The process results in polished products that the genealogist’s readers will understand, enjoy, and cherish. Emphasizing genealogical narrative, these two webinars will addresses the self-editing process. Part 1 will focus on “big-picture” editing, including stages of self-editing; focus; keeping the writer out of the narrative; editing the writing’s overall structure, organization, and flow; and improving major and minor subdivisions of written genealogical narratives, including paragraphing. Part 2 will focus on “nitty-gritty” editing, including capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, word choice, and reducing word count.
Wed, May 22 2024: 0:00 UTC
Register for free
1:13:08
BCGMethodology and SkillsPlaces and Ethnicities
French Emigrants: They Were Not All Huguenots, or Nobles, or from Alsace-Lorraine
Anne Morddel, CG
626 views
CC
French Emigrants: They Were Not All Huguenots, or Nobles, or from Alsace-Lorraine
One of the great difficulties for people researching their French immigrant ancestors’ roots is that so little is known outside of France about when and why the French left their country. This dearth of knowledge has led many family historians of the 19th century to presume Huguenot, noble émigré or Alsace-Lorraine ancestry for any ancestor with a French name. The supposition became a family legend that then became a research frustration as more recent family historians attempt to prove what was never more than a misguided supposition. This webinar looks at the many waves of French migration, as well as the three mentioned in the title, from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The historical reasons for when, why and to where they emigrated will provide the key points to bear in mind when conducting research. The bibliography, in English and French, contains not only books and articles concerning French emigration but a list of websites to aid the researcher.
BCGMethodology and SkillsPlaces and Ethnicities
French Emigrants: They Were Not All Huguenots, or Nobles, or from Alsace-Lorraine
CC
Anne Morddel, CG
626 views
One of the great difficulties for people researching their French immigrant ancestors’ roots is that so little is known outside of France about when and why the French left their country. This dearth of knowledge has led many family historians of the 19th century to presume Huguenot, noble émigré or Alsace-Lorraine ancestry for any ancestor with a French name. The supposition became a family legend that then became a research frustration as more recent family historians attempt to prove what was never more than a misguided supposition. This webinar looks at the many waves of French migration, as well as the three mentioned in the title, from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The historical reasons for when, why and to where they emigrated will provide the key points to bear in mind when conducting research. The bibliography, in English and French, contains not only books and articles concerning French emigration but a list of websites to aid the researcher.
Tue, April 16 2024: 16:00 UTC
Register for free
1:11:43
BCGMethodology and SkillsPlaces and Ethnicities
Maternal Threads Unwoven: Identifying Margareta’s Mother in 18th Century Sweden
Jill Morelli, CG, CGL
766 views
CC
Maternal Threads Unwoven: Identifying Margareta’s Mother in 18th Century Sweden
In spite of birth entries for Margareta's five siblings in Hishult, there was no record of her birth in the parish. Tax records quickly identified the father, and revealed multiple moves within a narrow span of time; however, identification of the mother remained elusive. No witnesses to births of the children provided clues; no household examinations existed. Coupling the understanding of broad context (naming patterns, inheritance laws, the calendar shift, etc.) with mtDNA and documentary evidence, the mother was identified and the lack of a records was explained.
BCGMethodology and SkillsPlaces and Ethnicities
Maternal Threads Unwoven: Identifying Margareta’s Mother in 18th Century Sweden
CC
Jill Morelli, CG, CGL
766 views
In spite of birth entries for Margareta's five siblings in Hishult, there was no record of her birth in the parish. Tax records quickly identified the father, and revealed multiple moves within a narrow span of time; however, identification of the mother remained elusive. No witnesses to births of the children provided clues; no household examinations existed. Coupling the understanding of broad context (naming patterns, inheritance laws, the calendar shift, etc.) with mtDNA and documentary evidence, the mother was identified and the lack of a records was explained.
Wed, March 20 2024: 0:00 UTC
Register for free