Thursday, September 09, 2010
Looking back while moving forward
Thursday, Sep 9, 2010
I added another county to my website (Rowan County) and was trying to decide which county to do next. I decided to work on Anson next (if I have time). I always check to see when the counties were created and from which county, and in checking about Anson County I realized how important this small county (today) was.
Anson County was created in 1750 from Bladen County and encompased ALL of western North Carolina, in fact, it's territory reached all the way to the Mississippi River. This led me to checking some of the books I have on North Carolina and researching in that state. I have a rather large library of genealogical books, after all it has been my "passion" since 1976.
While checking these books I realized how the new genealogists of today have grown accustomed to "instant" finds on the internet but are missing a lot by not visiting libraries and state archives, or writing to county clerks. There is a lot more information out there than many of you realize.
I have spent days waiting for replies (in the mail, of all things) from county clerks & other people I had discovered were researching the same family or family names. I planned my trips to the library with care so that no time would be wasted. I was raising a family so there were only a few times a week or month that I could make these trips.
When I get back from my trip I think I will volunteer to do "look ups" in some of the books I have. In the meantime I hope some of you will find the time to visit your local library. You'd be surprised how many small libraries have "genealogy" departments and the wealth of information you can find there.
Until later....
I added another county to my website (Rowan County) and was trying to decide which county to do next. I decided to work on Anson next (if I have time). I always check to see when the counties were created and from which county, and in checking about Anson County I realized how important this small county (today) was.
Anson County was created in 1750 from Bladen County and encompased ALL of western North Carolina, in fact, it's territory reached all the way to the Mississippi River. This led me to checking some of the books I have on North Carolina and researching in that state. I have a rather large library of genealogical books, after all it has been my "passion" since 1976.
While checking these books I realized how the new genealogists of today have grown accustomed to "instant" finds on the internet but are missing a lot by not visiting libraries and state archives, or writing to county clerks. There is a lot more information out there than many of you realize.
I have spent days waiting for replies (in the mail, of all things) from county clerks & other people I had discovered were researching the same family or family names. I planned my trips to the library with care so that no time would be wasted. I was raising a family so there were only a few times a week or month that I could make these trips.
When I get back from my trip I think I will volunteer to do "look ups" in some of the books I have. In the meantime I hope some of you will find the time to visit your local library. You'd be surprised how many small libraries have "genealogy" departments and the wealth of information you can find there.
Until later....
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010
I still haven't ordered a copy of that deed in McMinn County, Tennessee. I can't believe I've let the time slip away from me. I know I put it to the "back of my mind" because of the holiday weekend and I was very busy over the weekend.
I'll be leaving on Sunday for thirteen days in Europe with my brother, and I'm very excited about that. In the meantime, I've been working on my North Carolina pages and really like how they are coming along. I guess I've been so absorbed in getting ready for this trip and getting as much done on the North Carolina pages, I just totally forgot I wanted to order that deed - AND IT IS SO IMPORTANT!
I hope you will visit my new http://www.jerrywrightjordan.com/ to see what I've been doing.
I will try to post something else here before I leave
I'll be leaving on Sunday for thirteen days in Europe with my brother, and I'm very excited about that. In the meantime, I've been working on my North Carolina pages and really like how they are coming along. I guess I've been so absorbed in getting ready for this trip and getting as much done on the North Carolina pages, I just totally forgot I wanted to order that deed - AND IT IS SO IMPORTANT!
I hope you will visit my new http://www.jerrywrightjordan.com/ to see what I've been doing.
I will try to post something else here before I leave
Friday, September 03, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
I've been busy. I found another Wright family that got me SO EXCITED. This family, George and Mary (maiden name unknown) Wright lived in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Granted, I do not have a single George Wright in my family line, but, this family's sons were named William, Leander, Alfred and Robert, all names in my family. I really started working on this family and was able to extend it to 1900, but no further back. I searched the Wright GenForum at Genealogy.Com and found descendants who claim that George Wright was the son of Isaac and Chaney Wright. I remembered Chaney Wright being mentioned several times in the Rootsweb Wright mailing list so began reviewing those posts. My hopes were somewhat dashed however when I discovered that DNA tests had been done on this family and that they were connected to the infamous Richard Wright of Rowan County, North Carolina. My brother had a DNA test done a few years back and we definitely do not come close to the Richard Wright clan.
I'm not giving up, though,the coincidence is just too strong. Perhaps the names were a "local" thing - that part of Western North Carolina. After all, my Alfred Leander Wright's wife, Jane Howard, was born and raised in nearby Burke County, North Carolina.
In the meantime I have upgraded my account at Webstarts so I can recreate my North Carolina Wright pages with all the information I've gatherered on Wright families of North Carolina. In reworking these pages I've been double checking to see if there is anything I can add and because of that I am finding new "leads" to my own family. Sometimes we just need to take a different approach.
I still have one other very strong lead I need to pursue. There is a deed recorded in McMinn County, Tennessee in Feb 1834 from a William Wright to his son Alfred regarding personal property. So why is this of interest? William Wright, the brother of my great great grandfather, Alfred Leander Wright, was first located in the 1850 census of McMinn County, Tennessee. Now according to family tradition William and Alfred Leander Wright's father was named Robert, but I've just about decided that that wasn't the case. I'll be ordering a copy of that deed, hopefully today.
I've been busy. I found another Wright family that got me SO EXCITED. This family, George and Mary (maiden name unknown) Wright lived in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Granted, I do not have a single George Wright in my family line, but, this family's sons were named William, Leander, Alfred and Robert, all names in my family. I really started working on this family and was able to extend it to 1900, but no further back. I searched the Wright GenForum at Genealogy.Com and found descendants who claim that George Wright was the son of Isaac and Chaney Wright. I remembered Chaney Wright being mentioned several times in the Rootsweb Wright mailing list so began reviewing those posts. My hopes were somewhat dashed however when I discovered that DNA tests had been done on this family and that they were connected to the infamous Richard Wright of Rowan County, North Carolina. My brother had a DNA test done a few years back and we definitely do not come close to the Richard Wright clan.
I'm not giving up, though,the coincidence is just too strong. Perhaps the names were a "local" thing - that part of Western North Carolina. After all, my Alfred Leander Wright's wife, Jane Howard, was born and raised in nearby Burke County, North Carolina.
In the meantime I have upgraded my account at Webstarts so I can recreate my North Carolina Wright pages with all the information I've gatherered on Wright families of North Carolina. In reworking these pages I've been double checking to see if there is anything I can add and because of that I am finding new "leads" to my own family. Sometimes we just need to take a different approach.
I still have one other very strong lead I need to pursue. There is a deed recorded in McMinn County, Tennessee in Feb 1834 from a William Wright to his son Alfred regarding personal property. So why is this of interest? William Wright, the brother of my great great grandfather, Alfred Leander Wright, was first located in the 1850 census of McMinn County, Tennessee. Now according to family tradition William and Alfred Leander Wright's father was named Robert, but I've just about decided that that wasn't the case. I'll be ordering a copy of that deed, hopefully today.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Well, I'm starting again
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
I've found a place to recreate my North Carolina Wright families webpages. As I'm working on the website I realized I should keep a "journal" of what I'm researching at the time.
While writing about my initial search back in 1976 I started looking at the 1880 soundex which is what I started with. While doing this I discovered a Wright family with my family's given names - so naturally, I had to add this family to my "Various Robert Wrights" family tree on Ancestry.com.
This is when I decided I should keep the blog also for myself but also for anybody else who might be interested
I've found a place to recreate my North Carolina Wright families webpages. As I'm working on the website I realized I should keep a "journal" of what I'm researching at the time.
While writing about my initial search back in 1976 I started looking at the 1880 soundex which is what I started with. While doing this I discovered a Wright family with my family's given names - so naturally, I had to add this family to my "Various Robert Wrights" family tree on Ancestry.com.
This is when I decided I should keep the blog also for myself but also for anybody else who might be interested
