It's a Start

I was researching last night on http://www.ancestry.com/ and came across some newspaper articles that weren't on-line the last time I was researching. The beauty of the Internet is that if you wait long enough, something will pop up eventually.

Originally, my goal as a researcher of my family history was to obtain documentation (birth, death, marriage, baptismal records, etc.) to chronicle my family history. Over time I desired to know more than just their names and dates and started looking for tombstones, census records, and old newspapers to fill in the missing information on my ancestors lives.

Census records are filled with a wealth of information: occupations, places of birth, whether a person was a naturalized or native born, and so much more. Often it would also provide details on the number of children a woman had given birth to and how many were still alive. Census records provided (mostly) factual information that would help me to narrow down my field of inquiry into actual documents from their lives.

Newspapers, until about 50 years ago were very "chatty," filled with wonderful information about the people in the towns and cities they were from. It is possible to learn about their travels, their visitors, and significant events in the individual and family lives. Not only that, but it is possible to get a feel for the events that were occurring in the town, state and nation during that period in their lives, which can help me understand what was influencing them.

Tombstones are a surprising source of information. I have found other marriage information, names of children, maiden names, and even places of birth. And the feel of history as you walk through an old grave yard and know that people there are related to you. The linkage with the past is incredible. Our lives are impacted by the people that have gone before us!

Genealogy is like a puzzle to me. You have to keep hunting and searching to find the missing pieces. It has also required me to learn more about history just to be able to follow a trail more effectively. This blog is about sharing the finds as I come across them. And my hope is that those reading it will contribute with thoughts and stories (of the specific people and events) they remember as I share what I am learning.

My actual tree is found here. Look at it if you want, find out where you are in relation to me, and follow those ancestors that are a part of your line. The fun is in the learning: about them and about us. I hope you enjoy what you see here.