Researching a common name

Question

I looking for suggestions on making sure you have the correct person when searching for a very common name. My father and grandfather are both named John Crawford Lynch. My ggrandfather is John Lynch. I know he lived in greater Boston, and that he came from Ireland, but how do I find my needle of a John Lynch among they haystack of the John Lynchs?

Answer 1

I usually look for an unusual fact that I can confirm on another source. For instance a sibling name that is unusual. Or maybe buried in the same cemetery in the same section if it is a big cemetery. Wills are also great. And census data when in laws start showing up.

Answer 2

John Lynch from Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records. Event Date 02 Oct 1872 Charlestown, Suffolk, MA.

John's father's name is John Lynch, mother is Mary

Spouses name is Jane Lynch, her parents are Daniel Lynch and Mary.

"Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch

PS Although it may seem unusual for each father to have the same last name, it's still possible. I have ancestors who were distant cousins, both with the same last name who married each other. They were Silvanus Conant and Silvia Conant who married in 1784 in Massachusetts.

Comments

I have semi-confirmation of this information from interviewing two elderly aunts years ago (early 80's). They said that Jane was also surnamed Lynch, but they were unrelated. Jane immigrated to the US from Ireland via Nova Scotia. Her father was nicknamed The Deacon.

Answer 3

Many times when there are people with same names in same area or even in same state, it is necessary to find as much information on each of them as possible. I have documented, census records, tax records, court records when available; also children's names and, of course, spouse's names. Somewhere in the mix the families begin to sort themselves out and there may be one of those "A Ha" moments when your guy becomes crystal clear!!

Answer 4

To add to the other great answers, don't forget land records. Deeds and conveyances of various types can identify relatives. Wills can't be emphasized enough when available. Also, since this is Massachusetts, try to find original church records. If Catholic, the Boston Diocese records are being made available at NEHGS (https://catholicrecords.americanancestors.org)

Comments

Great point on the wills but don't despair if there is no will. Probates on intestate estates have a volume of information. Many times families can be sorted by the ones who actually benefited from the deceased in the probate process.

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The best thing is to get both a will and a probate packet. Even better when there is someone contesting the will. I haven't had one of those yet but probate packets are great. Most of my family didn't really get probated since there was a history of transferring everything to children long before death and there ended up not being anything to probate. This did remind me that divorce records can also have information in them.

Answer 5

I hear you. This always makes researching difficult, especially when names get used over and over for multiple generations. I'm having the same problem with my great grand-parents, the Stewart family. It's a major brick wall for me.

When someone has a common name, I've found that searching that name plus their spouses name often helps.