You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'My Research Diary' category.
I typed his name into the search engine several times before, along with the name of his wife and the county where, I had strong reason to believe, he was born.
Nothing.
I added an estimated date of birth.
Nothing.
Death.
Nothing.
I eventually moved on and sought information pertaining to other members of my tree. Earlier this week, however, I typed his name — Jethro WARREN — into the engine again and instead of including the name of his wife and the county in which I had strong reason to believe he was born (Harnett) — I simply selected “North Carolina.” Imagine my surprise to see the yielded result.
I have created a number of to-do lists in my day. I always have so much on my mind, I’m very forgetful, and so writing down my thoughts as they come helps me out quite a bit. Yesterday I found a list that I made last Sunday. It was written to ensure my one day off from work wasn’t totally wasted. Reading over the note, I got to thinking: I wonder how much information someone can discern about me by reading what I wrote down. That thought led me to this one: I bet I can figure out a lot about a person by reading a note they may have left behind from long ago.
There are so many holes in my puzzle. Instead of searching for the rightful place of each respective piece one at a time, however, I have, gathered in my hand, three from the corner, two edges, several from the middle – eager to lay them all down, now.
Although my interest in genealogy was sparked more than ten years ago as a youngster, my research, I must admit, is still in the beginning stages. Off and on I have gathered a few stories and photographs from elders, and collected surnames, but the real tough stuff, like seaching through standard genealogical records, or identifying a slave master — haven’t really gotten to that yet.
I believe I have enough names to really start to dig in – I can at least go back as far as my paternal grandmother’s grandparents — but there are several concerns keeping me from moving forward:
My interest in family tree research began in 1996 as a sixth grade student in St. Louis, Missouri. As part of a history class assignment, I telephoned my paternal grandfather, then residing in Pennsylvania, to gauge his experience living through the Great Depression.
We seemingly talked forever. It was the most extensive conversation I ever held with Grandpa Jodey, and notably the best. Unfortunately however, as an eleven-year old, I didn’t, at the time, understand the importance of not only recording but also storing in a safe place that exchange. I wish I had.
