Before I move on from the Beatty family, I would like to clear up a couple of things.
First – I’ve been asked about how sure I am in my “conclusions” with this family. There are several places where we do not have a “smoking gun” document. I’ve tried to cover those items in the posts, but I’ll do a quick wrap-up here to tie this family together. Obviously, I can trace Nancy M.J. Beatty Shaffer to her mother and father through the named census records. I also have her death certificate and baptism record, both of which name her parents as James and Rebecca Beatty. As for James’s death, we have the newspaper report which matches our family story. Would I like to have a newspaper mention of his family or some government document – yes! And, I will keep looking, but I’m sure this is our guy. Sadly, I have little hope of ever getting farther back without lucking into a family bible, letter, or some other document from the era. As for the relationship of Rebecca to Andrew and Sarah “Sally” Beatty – we have Sarah in the home with Rebecca after the death of Andrew. We have Nancy Beatty’s will, which names her sister and her brother, as well as her obituary, stating she died in her sister Letitia’s home. Andrew resided beside Rebecca and her husband, and previous to that, beside his son Robert. This IS a family group.
Second – County Tyrone in Ireland. While everyone wants to jump on this – me included – I have no definitive proof that this is where they came from. I would have felt better if that had of appeared by name in the bible or the articles that we’ve found. Are all indications that this is where they are from? Yes. We have the Northern Ireland in the bible which narrows it down. We also have numerous notes, obituaries, and articles about other Beatty’s and people with shared names coming from County Tyrone. (Example: Robert names a son Samuel Bothel Beatty in 1841: There is a James Bothell in the Indiana County death records, farmer, b. Tyrone Co. Ireland, s/o David & Elizabeth Campbell Bothell, h/o Catharine, he was a casualty, buried Old Cemetery in Indiana, b. 18 Dec 1786, 2 May 1854, 68 y.) Bothell is just unusual enough to make me wonder if this was a relation – perhaps even an uncle or cousin. As I research, I will be looking for those connections. But until I have them – I will only be stating Ireland as a place of birth.
Third – when I move on from a family on this site, I’m not declaring them “done.” The Beatty family is anything but done. What I am doing is saying that this is where I am as of the date this post goes up. The research continues. I’m still working with other researchers and chasing documents that may shed light on this family line. And even though other people have already done some of the research – I still need to see the source for myself. Too often, we find things that others have missed. In this particular line, I have found transcripts of stones, documents, and wills, that are erroneous or have omissions. In the past, I have found clues that others simply ignored, not because I’m one bit smarter than anyone else, but we all look at things differently. It is always best to look at the original document for yourself if possible. That’s why I am trying to include them or at least source them, so others can go look at them for themselves.
Fourth – I will continue to update my BurgraffScott tree on Ancestry with my finds. As I work here on this blog to research each family and create a decent file in Legacy, I will make sure it is reflected on that tree. That includes the appropriate sourcing and differentiating between facts and my suppositions. Honestly, I don’t understand the purpose of an un-sourced tree. Don’t get me wrong – I am grateful they are there, but they are simply leads to be followed – NOT FACTS to be copied. I don’t want to piss anyone off here, but some of this stuff is just copied and copied and copied – and it was wrong to begin with. If you have something – tell us where it came from!
Lastly – Do not take what I provide as gospel. I am just as likely to make a mistake or come to a bad conclusion as the next person. Go look it up for yourself – read the will, find the newspaper article, and go look at the records. I could just as easily have blown it. All I’m trying to do is provide you with the information that I found and the basis for my conclusions.
