Monday Musings

So why did I start this blog anyway?

I think it goes back to who I am and the influences my family has had on me.  It also has to do with the many moves my family has made.  Then of course, there are the family reunions we went to when I was younger.

I was born in West Virginia, lived in Lory, WV for a couple of years (I don't remember it), then moved to North Carolina.  After a couple of years we moved back to West Virginia and lived in Danville.  From there we moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and then to Albuquerque, New Mexico, before coming back to Danville, WV.  All of these moves gave me a sense that I needed an anchor.  I found that anchor to be family.

Except when we lived in New Mexico, we would always go to the KEENER family reunion.  It was for the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of E. H. KEENER, my great grandfather.  He and his wife Nettie raised five girls and a boy.  Every year we would gather at my great aunt and uncle's house in Greenbank, West Virginia for a weekend of catching up.  It was great for us kids, too, because there were a lot of us and we were all about the same age.

I really miss those reunions.  We haven't had one in about 15 years or so.  I think the younger cousins who have never been to the reunion are missing something.  One of the highlights was always the "home movies".  It was fun to see our parents and grandparents when they were younger running around and carrying on.

So I guess genealogy is for me, a way to connect to those relatives and ancestors I have never met.  And this blog is hopefully a way I can stay connected.  What does genealogy mean to you?  Does your family hold reunions?

Why Not Add Everything?

A few years ago, my mother found some websites dedicated to the KEENER surname.  There are a lot of KEENERs up in our family tree, so it wasn't unusual that my mother was searching.  She copied out the information into three Word documents.  She said she did not have time to go through them and verify anything and emailed copies of them to me.

I looked them over at the time and found a KEENER that was familiar.  "Great!," I thought, "I can add this now."

Then I remembered something I learned at the Boone County Genealogical Society meetings when I first got interested in family history.

NEVER add to your tree if you can't document the fact for yourself.  It doesn't matter if you are handed a chart or file with tons of sources.  Someone, somewhere could have made a mistake, been in a hurry, made a typo, or in some cases even made up facts so the person "fit" into their tree.

I want my genealogical charts and research to be very well documented.  Not only because it helps prove I am related to the people I say I'm related to, but also, to leave behind a clear trail for other researchers and (hopefully) my children.

Be especially wary of "family tree files" you find at some sites on the web.  Most I have seen are not documented and have no sources for you to check the facts they are presenting.  While this may be good for opening up a new line of your own research, it is not good to just cut and paste it into your tree.

Some trees I have seen online show parents having children after they (the parents) have been dead many years.  Does that make sense to you?  I didn't think so.

Back to the KEENER documents my mother gave me.  I did not have a chance to really look them over thoroughly until this past week.  I don't think that two of them pertain directly to the KEENER line I am following.  The third looks to be a goldmine.  I may, once I have verified it, be able to take my branch of the KEENERs back three (yes, 3) generations.  And the best thing is the document has an extensive list of sources at the end -- a map to the goldmine.

When I add this information to my tree, you better bet my mother and the person who put up the web page will be getting credit in my documentation and source listings.

In the words of a former President: "Trust, but verify."

Millie NELSON found!

When I first got interested in genealogy, my Mother told me about the story of Millie Nelson.

Apparently Millie, who was not married, came up from North Carolina with her brother Joe, her three children, and a bunch of other Nelson relatives sometime in the 1830's.  Talk about scandal!  This was extremely scandalous for the time period and for the family.

Of course, I wanted to know more, enquiring minds and all that.  So I borrowed my Mother's copy of the "Branches of Turtle Creek" by W. W. Nelson and started reading.  Not much more information was available.

 "About 1838, it seems, a whole colony of Nelsons and near relatives came up from North Carolina to what is now Boone County -- but what relation each one was to the other is a question that no one seems to be able to answer."

It goes on to talk about the brothers and then it talks about Millie.  With no mention of a husband, it talks about her seven children and a bit about each one.  Nothing too scandalous there.

Flash forward about 40 years.  I recently saw my aunt at my step-father's funeral.  At the dinner afterward, she turned to me and said, "I found Millie."
I sat there for a few seconds and about 3 different Millies ran through my brain.  I asked, "Millie Olden?"
And she said, "No, Millie Nelson."
I asked her where she had found the information and she said from a website.  I asked her to send me the link.

I went to the house that night and did a web search on Millie Nelson.  The last time I had searched was about seven years ago and did not find anything.  Right off the bat I found not one, but two websites.

The first was a forum for the Genealogy(.)com site.  It listed Millie, her children, her brothers, and... her parents and grandparents in the Nelson line.  They had indeed come from North Carolina!

The source listed for this site was the second site I had found in my web search.  I found it to be well organized, apparently well sourced, and full of information.

Of course I copied down the information and the sources to check.  I didn't just copy and paste the new information into my tree.  (More on why in a future post.)  I am now in the process of going through and verifying the sources for the information.  I don't want errors creeping into my tree.  If it all holds together, then I will have taken back the Nelsons two more generations than I currently have.  I also have some ideas for sources that would add to the information I found.

A week after the funeral, my aunt got home and emailed me the link she promised.  It was the same as the second site I found in my search.

Just because you looked for something and didn't find it, doesn't mean the information isn't out there.  It just means you didn't find it.  Look through your family tree and see if you have a "brick wall" you haven't looked at in a while.  Check again, you may be pleasantly surprised.

If you have any questions or comments, or if you find you are related to me, I would love to hear from you.  Leave a comment or send me an email.

See Ya Later!

Surname Listing is Up

I put my list of Surnames up.  There is a link near the top of the left hand column.  So far I have sixty-eight different surnames listed.  I will be updating as I find more to add.   If one of them is yours, I wouldn't mind hearing from you.