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....
