Case Studies in Historical Genealogy
When Family Stories Meet Documentary Evidence
These case studies demonstrate the rigorous methodology behind transforming family legends and fragmented records into documented history. Each investigation reveals how careful analysis of primary sources—from 17th-century court documents to 20th-century newspaper archives—can validate stories, resolve mysteries, and bring ancestors to life through the power of historical research.
The Owen Hamall Mystery
Seven Years to Solve One Census Entry
Who was "Thornton Hammil" listed as Owen's brother in 1880? A seven-year investigation across three countries revealed a blended family, parallel tragedies, and the Irish immigrant experience.
The Three Thomas Hamalls
Three Generations, One Cottage
Owen's son, grandson, and great-grandson—all named Thomas—maintained connection to one property across 87 years. Proving relationships that survived divorce, geographic distance, and death.
One Family, Two Research Challenges
These case studies demonstrate complementary genealogical skills: mystery-solving and identity establishment (Owen Hamall) and relationship proving across disruption (Three Thomas Hamalls). Together they prove four generations of one family across 157 years, from County Monaghan, Ireland to Riverside, Illinois.
Additional Case Studies
Exploring diverse genealogical challenges across centuries and continents
The Louise Senécal Guilbault Case Study
Reconstructing the Life of a 17th-Century New France Pioneer
From orphan in Rouen to founding mother of New France—how cross-referencing baptismal records, marriage contracts, census data, and extraordinary court documents revealed strategic choices, mysterious gaps, and family conflicts of a Fille du Roi who left a legacy that shaped a continent.
View Case Study
The Françoise Baiselat Inheritance
Three Marriages, Three Estates, Twelve Years of Colonial Justice
When a Fille du Roi died in childbirth leaving children from three marriages to three Carignan-Salières soldiers, colonial New France mobilized every level of authority to protect her legacy. Seven legal documents spanning twelve years reveal how notaries, curé, tutor, and the Intendant himself untangled three estates for twelve children.
View Case Study
Pierre Morin dit Champagne
Five Lines of Evidence — and Then the Muster Roll
None of Pierre Morin's personal documents call him a soldier. Five converging lines of evidence built the case for Carignan-Salières service, independently validated by three genealogical authorities. Then the 1668 muster roll was located, listing Pierre Morin by name under the Naurois company.
View Case Study
Philibert Couillaud dit Roquebrune
The X Mark That Became a Surname: Ancestor of 420,000–840,000 Larocques
He arrived as a soldier, could not read or write, and left no birth record, no marriage record, and no death record. Seven years of research across a 14.5-year documentary void reconstructed the life of the man whose dit name Roquebrune became Larocque across a continent.
View Case Study
The Death That Never Was
Correcting a 320-Year-Old Error in the François Séguin dit Ladéroute Death Date
For over three centuries, genealogical databases recorded François Séguin's death as 9 May 1704. But when two daughters' marriage contracts revealed their father was "absent due to illness" in 1700 and their mother was a "widow" by 1701, documentary analysis proved the 1704 burial belonged to a different man entirely.
View Case Study
The Catherine Lemesle Case Study
When One Ancestor Appears Twice: Tracing a Fille du Roi Through Two Family Lines
From Norman merchant's daughter to double great-grandmother—how tracing two children's descendants across 85 years revealed that a 1757 marriage reunited family lines that began with a single Fille du Roi in 1672. A documentary exploration of pedigree collapse in colonial Quebec.
View Case Study
The Donation Dispute
Unraveling a 330-Year Old Family Lawsuit Through Primary Sources
When nine consecutive court victories appeared in an ancestor's file with no explanation, systematic research through Sovereign Council judgments, notarial records, and legal terminology revealed a 71-year-old literate widow who fought her stepdaughter through five judicial levels—and never lost once.
View Case Study Summary
Marie Gaillard
Fille du Roi, Twice Widowed, Matriarch of Two Lines
She crossed the Atlantic at 22, buried two husbands, merged two families into a household of eleven children, and lived to 89. Through her daughter's marriage to her stepson, Marie became the common ancestor of two converging lines—making her one of the most consequential women in the Guilbault family tree.
Read Her Story
The Kenny Family Case Study
When Family Stories Meet Historical Documentation
From family legend to documented history—how contemporary newspaper coverage and fire department records validated a century-old story about Captain Thomas Patrick Kenny's heroic role in the 1909 Cherry Mine disaster, one of America's most famous industrial rescues.
View Case Study
The Abitakijikokwe Discovery
Uncovering an Ojibwe Ancestor in Quebec Parish Records
For 200 years, she was nameless—listed only as "Sauvagesse" in family records. Through systematic research across five Quebec parishes and the discovery of a single marriage record preserving her Ojibwe name, Marie Josephte Abitakijikokwe emerged as one of the best-documented Indigenous women in colonial records.
Read Full Case Study
The Voyageur Years
How a 54-Year-Old Mason Ended Up in the Athabasca Country—and Paddled Alongside Lieutenant Franklin
Three Hudson's Bay Company account volumes, a 188-livre balance linking two geographically separate posts, and a single account entry place Gabriel Guilbault—and his brother Paul—in the orbit of Lieutenant John Franklin's first overland Arctic expedition.
View Case Study
The Brooklyn Mat Maker
Surname Confusion to Breakthrough
Seven years of research. Dozens of John Kennys. One occupational progression that unlocked a complete Irish immigrant family story spanning three generations.
View New BCG Case Study
The O'Brien Legacy
From One Probate Record to a 150-Year Family Reunion
How a single line in an 1874 document—"Uncle Patrick O'Brien in Newport, Kentucky"—launched a seven-year investigation combining traditional genealogical methods with modern DNA science, ultimately reuniting families separated since the Great Famine.
View Case Study
The Tamayo Family
A Philippine Genealogy Case Study
How FamilySearch's revolutionary Full Text Search uncovered a 26-year family saga of struggle and recovery in rural Philippines — proving that seemingly impossible Philippine genealogy breakthroughs are now possible.
View Case Study SummaryReady to Document Your Family's Story?
These case studies represent the same rigorous methodology available for your family research. From mystery-solving to documentary biography, every ancestor deserves to be remembered.
Part of Storyline Genealogy
From Research to Story