any ideas how to find the last name of my ancestor from the 1700s?

Question

Hi, I'm looking for the last name of one of my gr. grandmothers.
she was married to Daniel Doty b. march 1702 in Mass. Her first name is Louisa b. 1710 in New Jersey, d. 1785? in Fairfield South Carolina. Her headstone is worn and only shows her first name.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/DOTY/2004-12/1104123719
When you join a surname list, one of the benefits is that you can go back to review some discussions relating to your problem. From these indications, this is a fairly well worked family, and the maiden name of Louisa is something NO one has yet found. I would suspect that the 1728 date of marriage above, is an estimate based only on the birth of the eldest child... meaning, they have NOT located a document to prove the marriage took place there. It is a probability (assuming the info on the child is correct!!)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jdevlin/nj/passaic_8.htm
Another page offers background on a number of lines in the area of New Jersey where they came from.
My suspicion is that this marriage/family has been looked at a lot, probably published, and what you find online is either taken from already published sources, and the STRONGEST chance is that 90% of what is online, is not anyones original searching. Some of the commentaries (like the first message posted here/ linked) shows someone is trying to locate original documentation. I would surely pay attention to what that person says, especially if he/she has noticed inconsistencies or conflicts in the published works.
Assuming that there is an accurate answer... the person who finds what it is, is someone who is going to get OFF the internet, and thoroughly dig into what original records may survive for that location. In fact, it could be another location- ie, Louisa's father moved to another country, died there, and his will (or Louisa's mother). I know personally of one will for one of my ancestors, where the will names the daughter prior to her marriage- it is in the estate settlement, that her husband's name is shown. IF her father died and the will itself has not survived, that won't be an option either.
IN THIS case... I would likely be at the lds library, and order every available microfilm of records, and my focus would be on land records. I would be examining the adjacent families with a fine tooth comb, and then some. I'd be looking at the complete documents, that show who witnessed records for each other.
For situations like this one, the ONLY solution is going to be in completely original documents, and even then, you may or may not find it.

Answer 2

I found Daniel Doty b. 09 Mar. 1701/02 father Captain Samual Doty and Mother Sarah Jane Harmon. Wife only mentioned as Louisa. Will try some more.

Answer 3

I found the following link, but apparently that researcher did not have a last name for her either, but there is info on here that may prove useful to you in furthering your research. Particularly the marriage info: Married: 1728 in Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA


http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mcilbob&id=I491


UPDATED NOTE: By the way, the Daniel Doty I found in the above link I posted is the grandson of an Edward Doty who came over on the Mayflower.

Answer 4

Find where she was married, what county. Then go to that county on the internet. Look for geneology links for that county. Or to the courthouse, and ask for marriage records of the years you think in which she might have been married. Then just start searching. Most counties have a geneological room in their libraries, and you could just go there, if you live near enough. If not, then do it via the internet, as people have mentioned below. But the key, in my opinion is to find marriage records, as others have said. Birth and death records won't help nearly as much as a marriage record will.

Answer 5

www.ancestry.com
American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)
Name: Daniel Doty
Birth Date: 1702
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Volume: 45
Page Number: 112

Family Trees: (see son David's note)**
Daniel Doty
Born: 9 Mar 1702, Massachusetts, USA
Died: 1785 , Fairfield, South Carolina, USA
Marriage Abt 1728 in , , New Jersey, USA
Louisa Dowty**
Birth: Abt 1710 , New Jersey, USA

Their children:
Name-- Sex-- Birth
Daniel Doty --M
James Doty --M
Jane Doty --F
John Doty --M
Joseph Doty-- M
Louisa Doty-- F
Samuel Doty-- M
Sarah Doty-- F
David Dowty Doty-- M--b. 12 Aug 1742 in Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA (NOTE: Middle name is mother's maiden name)**


Daniel's parents:
Captain Samuel Doty
Born: 1643 ,Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
Died: Oct 1715 , New Jersey, USA
Marriage — 10 Nov 1678 in , Plymouth, Mass., USA
Sarah Jane Harmon
Born: 1657 , Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Daniel's siblings:
Samuel Doty --M--b. 27 Aug 1679
Sarah Doty-- F--b. 2 Mar 1680 in , Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
John Doty --M --b.1681 in , Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
Isaac Doty-- M --b.12 Aug 1683 in , Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
Edward Doty --M--b. 14 May 1685 in Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA
James Doty-- M --b. 17 Sep 1686 in Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA
Jonathan Doty-- M--b. 24 Feb 1688
Benjamin Doty-- M --b. 14 May 1691
Elizabeth Doty-- F--b. 26 Feb 1695
Joseph Doty --M--b. 30 Oct 1696
Margaret Doty-- F--b. 5 Mar 1705
Nathaniel Doty-- M--b. 1707 in , Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Daniel's paternal grandparents:
Edward Doty
B: Abt 1598 , , , England
M: 6 Jan 1634 , , Massachusetts, USA
D: 23 Aug 1655 , Massachusetts, USA

Faith Clarke
B: 1619 Ipswich, , Suffolk, England
D: 21 Dec 1675 , , Massachusetts, USA

Daniel's paternal great-grandparents:
Edward Doty
B: Abt 1598 , , , England
M: 6 Jan 1634 , , Massachusetts, USA
D: 23 Aug 1655 , Massachusetts, USA

Faith Clarke
B: 1619 Ipswich, , Suffolk, England
D: 21 Dec 1675 , , Massachusetts, USA

Daniel's maternal grandparents:
James Harmon
B: 1635 in Saco, York, Maine
D: 1680 in Wells, Maine

Sarah Clarke
Born: 1637 in Saco, York, Maine
Died: Aft 1693 in Wells, Maine

Daniel's maternal great-grandparents:
Edward Clarke
Born: 1601 in Thriploe, Cambridgeshire, England
Death: 1661 in Saco, York, Maine

Barbara Tabbott
Birth: ABT 1618 in Westhorpe, Suffolk, England
Death: 1661 in Saco, York, Maine

Answer 6

So either a census record for the area in which she was raised or married. A marriage record of some sort. Possibly also the records for death and burial may have some info (if such available).

Answer 7

Try:
http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/


Assuming they emigrated from Europe, start with Ellis Island and the Battery Conservancy sites:
http://www.ellisisland.org
http://www.castlegarden.org

For Scotland, check:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

For Sweden:
http://www.genline.com/databasen/
-http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?...
http://www.finlandia.edu/catalog/intro.p...

For ship’s passenger lists, try:
http://www.immigrantships.net/
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5978/Emigration.html
www.immigrantstips.net/
www.searchforancestors.com/passengerlists/
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/passenger-arrival.html

For those with native American ancestry, try:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
http://www.cherokee-nc.com/geneology.php...
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/herita...

Netherlanders: http://www.genlias.nl

For a fee, try a DNA test:
When you really want to know where your ancestors came from, try such sites as: www.familytreedna.com, dnatribes.com, dnaancestryproject.com, and, of course, the National Geographics Genotype program, https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/geno...
For Jewish ancestry, try:
www.israelgenealogy.com

For people from India, try:
http://www.fibis.org/

Have a look at these sites these are South African ones,
http://genealogy.about.com/od/south_afri...
http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/page2.html....
http://www.jewishgen.org/safrica/website...
http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpre...

Meaning of names:
http://www.winslowtree.com/surname-meani...

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f...

Here are some general sites with lists of African names:
http://www.swagga.com/fname.htm
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/ba...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/...

Military:
www.military.com
http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/militar...

http://websearch.about.com/od/peoplesear...

http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/05/24/...

http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/sea...


Finding live people:
Two good places I use are www.zabasearch.com and www.peoplefinder.com

Don't forget, use your local library. Ours (a small one, yet) has www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com, as well as periodicals, books and guidance from an experienced genealogist.

Keep good notes on where you find what: sources are very important.