In 1995 - a couple of years after the birth of my youngest son, I suddenly had a yearning to learn more about my ancestors. Unfortunately, I waited until all of my grandparents were gone and was unable to get valuable information and insight they had about our ancestors. I guess it was a "generational thing", but my parents never were very interested in genealogy, so they were not able to help out much in the way of information passed down, so I was on my own.
For the past almost 15 years, I have done genealogical research on all of the sides of my family tree and have learned a lot, but still have many unanswered questions, too. Being an "at home mom" has allowed me much time to research and I have met many, many distant cousins on the same quest. I have put a good amount of information on ancestry.com, but not all researchers have the benefit of that membership, so I have also spent many hours typing e-mails and copying documents to share information with them. I decided to go ahead and put up a blog, so I can direct fellow researchers and distant cousins to this to share the information that I have thus far collected.
Please understand that I do not have the facilities to copy all of the documents I have and mail them to each "distant cousin" that contacts me. If you would like your own copies of the land deeds, wills & probates, marriage certificates, military records and so on, please contact the County Clerk's office at the courthouse of the county or counties where your ancestor(s) lived and give them the names and approximate dates and any other information that will be helpful to them, and they will find and copy each document for you - usually for 10 cents per page. They will mail them to you if you are unable to go there in person.
Census record copies can be obtained usually from your local library, or ancestry.com and other online resources (some of which are no charge and others will require a membership). If you live near a National Archives office, that is another great resource and one I have used on occasion. If you want to enjoy a nice vacation or live near there, a great "one-stop-shop" for Texas research is Austin, TX for all of the aforementioned records. A google search will reveal the libraries and state capitol resources in Austin that are available to genealogical researchers.
I have found many, many, many errors in postings to GenForum and World Connect, as well as on ancestry.com. One person will make a mistake or speculation about a date, place, name, etc. and publish, post or share this information in whatever format with others and 50 other people will copy it, post it, publish it or share it with others and suddenly it is widely accepted as "the truth". Please never rely on other people's posts, stories, e-mails, etc. - the best research is your own documented research. I have found marriage dates on ancestry.com that are completely different from an actual marriage certificate I have found at a courthouse. Transcribers, like census takers, make mistakes! Please be responsible and do not post information you cannot verify with documentation and always list your sources of your information. If it is from a family story - site it as such.
Also - always consider that your ancestor's name may have been misunderstood, mis-spelled or even changed by your ancestor. I have found "Black" listed as "Block", "Bluck", etc. Fears/Phears has always been interesting! It can be Feers, Faris, Fears, Feares, and so on, and you can take these variables and swap out a PH for an F!! It can be very frustrating, but that is part of the quest!
There are some online resources for cemeteries - "find a grave" is a pretty good site, but none I have found have ALL of the information about every grave in a cemetery and I have found glaring errors on many of these sites, as well. Again, it is information that was passed on, usually by folks that were only looking for their ancestors. So if you think your ancestor may be in a certain cemetery and don't find them listed on whatever forum - books or online - go to the cemetery yourself and look for their grave! It is much more rewarding and much information can be gathered from a grave marker/monument. Some will bear the name of a society our ancestor was a member of, or share their actual birth dates, which may have been incorrectly recorded elsewhere.
Don't be in a hurry! If you get frustrated, put your research away for a while and go back to it at some other time. When I do this I almost always quickly find what I was looking for and had overlooked or in a place I had not thought of before. Keep your research organized - I keep census records by name in one file, land deeds and other legal documents in their own legal sized binders by ancestor, by date.
Enjoy your quest! Genealogical research can be a fun and exciting hobby. I enjoy being able to pass this information down to my children and am glad they will be able to pass this down to their children and so on. We enjoy cultural festivals that let us and our children enjoy and explore a bit of the culture of their ancestors. My side of the family is VERY Scottish/Native American, and my youngest son is a Scottish Tenor Drummer for the Fort Worth Pipes & Drums group. They rehearse every week and march and perform at various festivals and other events. My husband's family is German/English, so we enjoy Oktoberfest or Wurstfest annually, as well. The more our kids have enjoyed learning about the culture of their ancestors, the more interested they have been in learning more about their ancestors.
Thanks for contacting me. I hope to learn more about you and your family. Meeting distant cousins is part of the fun and sometimes we come across a distant relative that has a photo, letter or some other information they can share that we do not have access to. If you have any information, photos, letters, family Bible entries or even a story or tid bit you could pass along to me, I would be very grateful!
Good luck and Best Wishes!!
Dee Ann
1872 :: Birth of First Set of Henry Twins
3 months ago
