Navin, Leget family history

I m looking for my great grandfather parents and past family connection. His name is John Navin. His parents are Dennis Navin and Catherine Leget. Not sure if that is the correct spelling for Leget but that is what I have. John had a brother I believe his name was Michael. John was born in Alton Illinois USA. Not sure where Michael was born but I believe he was about 4 or 5 years older. In Wisconsin John and Michael were farmers. They were also friends with Cleary's in Wisconsin. not sure about in Ireland

Hi Lance,

How exciting that you are looking into the parents of your great-grandfather. I know it can be hard to find out more about ancestors sometimes, but I'm happy to give you some guidance.

Can you say what you've done so far to find out more about John Navin's parents? Where did you look for information? Did you already look into Irish archives with the idea that they might have been born on the island, or did you do research in your local US registry office and archives?

If his parents were born on the island of Ireland, you can use this resource on starting your Genealogy journey to continue your research. It's important to know when and where they were born to know where to look. Your best bet to find out is by looking for their death certificates in the US. If they passed in the US but were born in Ireland, it's time to reach out to the appropriate records office in Ireland.

Leget is not a name that comes up in a mid-nineteenth century Ireland surname search, but there are some variant spellings that might be a better match.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your research!

Noortje

A lot of the information I have was collected from my Aunt. She passed away in 1996 at the age of 56. No one in the family has worked on this since.

Thanks for getting back to us here! It looks like your Aunt started to collect some excellent information.
 
Before 1864, records were kept in the form of church and parish records, so the National Library of Ireland may be a place to look.  In 1864, civil registration was introduced in Ireland, which is when we started seeing the formal registration of births, marriages, adoptions, and deaths. These records have been kept at the General Register Office of Ireland(GRO), through the Irish Genealogy website, to this day. 

As Noor mentioned, the surname Leget is not a popular one in that form, but there are alternative spellings that may help. Many names were recorded incorrectly when settlers arrived in America, so it is always worth trying the alternatives. It would seem that the Ulster region and the east coast would be the best places to start looking at church records.

Do you have any dates that you could share?