When is circumstantial info enough? Is Hugh Monroe the child of Hugh Monroe and Elizabeth Paton?

Question

I have had difficulty finding the parents, birthdate and exact location for my ancestor [[Monroe-4612|Hugh Monroe (abt.1820-1904)]]. The earliest record I can find for him is a very non-detailed 1842 census for Lower Canada, where he lived alone on a farm in Tingwick. Later census show that he was born in Scotland. There are no ship passenger records that I can find that long ago.

What I do know from the census is that Hugh's neighbour was named George Ricker. George Ricker was a witness for Hugh's marriage shortly after the census in 1842. It turns out that George Ricker married a woman named Margaret Monroe in 1833.

And on Ancestry I have a DNA match with several descendants of Margaret Monroe and George Ricker. I can't triangulate the matches since Ancestry doesn't have a chromsome browser.  

Margaret Monroe's parents are Hugh Monroe (Sr?) and Elizbeth Paton. fyi...none of these people have profiles on Wikitree.

So my question is, what circumstantial evidence is enough to feel confident that Monroe-4612's parents are known? Should I build out profiles for his supposed sister and her husband?  Should I connect them without specific sources connecting them?

Answer 1

The first thing I would do would be to create all the profiles (including that of George Ricker.) Then I'd write research notes, and add all the relevant wiki links so people can immediately go from profile to profile without searching.

"what circumstantial evidence is enough to feel confident"

I think that I wouldn't feel confident, but there are multiple lines of evidence that agree. I'd probably add the parents  but flag the relationship as "uncertain". You could also leave them unlinked, but be sure to have the solid research notes (including genetic details.) Either way, you want to avoid having other people duplicating work, or duplicating families.

Comments

Thank you Brad. All of this makes sense.

Answer 2

Maybe tag or repost with tag for Scotland, someone with the Scotland project might know where to look for birth records

Answer 3

do these couples have children who get baptized?  It might be worthwhile to check individual records to see who are the godparents / sponsors, and if any relationship is mentioned, which it sometimes is.  Also, check if you can find notarial records for him, those are often much more informative.  Was there maybe a marriage contract?

Comments

Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't found any reference to possible parents or siblings in his records. In terms of notarial records there were a few property transfers/sales, but they only involved his son.

Answer 4

From a Scottish perspective, it would be helpful to have the Canadian death record (if one exists) which may provide further details about his parents, or perhaps even a more exact location.  Without some idea of when/where he emigrated from, it is difficult to narrow down where to begin searching.  Munroe/Munro surname is common in Sutherland, however, the name is certainly spread throughout the country, as well.

Comments

Regarding the death record, he lived with his daughter and son-in-law in Massachusets. His daughter was the informant and the names of Hugh's parents were listed as 'unknown'. It's surprising that his daughter didn't know her grandparents names. And, by then, his wife had passed away.

His possible parents (Hugh Monroe and Elizabeth Paton) and possible sister were all born in Edinburgh (in Edinburgh parish). I did a search on Scotland's People but can't find any Hugh Monro(e) born to a Hugh Monro(e) and Elizabeth Paton.

Answer 5

You're probably on the right trail, but keep going. Have you checked for any probate records and land records?

Comments

I came across some property records, but they only involved his son. Since his daughter, the informant on his death record, didn't know the name of his parents, I'm guessing they weren't talked about much. But I'll keep looking. Thanks for the suggestion.