As mentioned earlier, the quest to identify my family roots started with a search to find out more about my paternal grandmother. The information I was able to eventually find comes from the 1920 and 1930 US census records and the Massachusetts Vital Statistics, Death Index.

From the stories I’ve heard, my grandmother’s family were Scots-Irish who immigrated to the United States via Canada. What the 1920 census records actually show is that my grandmother Laura (Hynes) Venuti (~1900 - 1955) was born in Massachusetts and both her parents (Joseph Hynes and Catherine Meagher) were born in Ireland. In contrast the 1930 records report that she was born in Maine and both her parents were born in New Foundland Canada. The death record indicates that all three (my grandmother and her parents) were born in Canada.

I have not been able to determine the years in which the parents of Lara Hynes lived. Nor have I been able to uncover any other family relations. A search on Ancestry.com found too many Joseph Hynes’ to count.

Amidst the confusion and conflicting reports it seems clear that the roots are Canadian and Irish. But, nothing in the records I’ve uncovered so far can confirm the “Scots” ancestry.

Another interesting twist in the name game – the 1920 census records list my grandmother’s name as “Loretta”. However the 1930 census and the death records both list her name as “Laura”.

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