Week 13 – #52Ancestors Having gone from knowing virtually nothing about my ancestors, to having researched numerous generations, I find that I feel a deep connection to these grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. When I come across an accidental death, or someone who died young, I really do feel a sense of grief and loss. […]

Week 11 – #52Ancestors My second great-grandfather, Thomas Duvall, served in the Civil War – for just a few days. He enlisted in the 26th NC Regiment, Company A in June 1862. T.M. Duvall filed two Soldier’s Applications for Pension, for pension benefits applicable to “indigent and disabled soldiers of the late war between the

Week 10 – #52Ancestors The dictionary definition of translation is the “act, process or instance of translating: such as. . .rendering from one language into another”.[1] My research, to date, is in the United States. While I do not need to translate into another language, sometimes we need to translate the meaning of records. And

Week 9 of #52Ancestors Some of the most interesting, and sometimes the saddest, stories are discovered when researching ancillary ancestors. For this week’s theme of “Gone Too Soon” I immediately thought of my half great uncle, Pleasant Chappell, and his wife, Mollie. Pleasant was my great grandfather’s second child, his first son, and the first

Week 8 – #52Ancestors One of my ongoing research projects is to identify my maternal great grandfather. We have always known that my grandfather’s father was not the man who raised him, despite his using the last name of his stepfather. In the course of my research, I identified my great grandmother’s first husband and

Week 7 – #52Ancestors The theme this week is Outcast – I immediately thought of my grand-uncle, John Delp. John was born in February 1888, to Rush Delp and Anna Witt.1 I have found only three documents relating to his existence, but they tell a sad story. By 1910, John was a patient at the

Week 6 – #52Ancestors How many of us now depend on social media? I have connected with other genealogists in various Facebook groups. I share information and photos on Instagram. Both of these apps also allow me to keep in contact with family members who live in other states, and even on other continents. What

Week 5 of #52Ancestors in 52 Weeks – This week’s theme is “Oops”! When I was a brand new at genealogy research, my first “project” was to request a copy of my father’s birth certificate. Keep in mind that this was decades ago – way before information was available online. My father was born in

Week 4 – #52Ancestors This week, I am not focusing on a specific ancestor. When I first looked at the theme for this week (Education), I thought about the fact that prior to 1900, all of my known ancestors were farmers, primarily in Ashe and Surry Counties in North Carolina; Johnson County, Tennessee; Washington and