Thursday Q&A

Today I'm doing Q & A. With myself !

Q: When did you get interested in genealogy?
A: About 2009, so not that long ago.

Q: Why did you get interested in genealogy?
A: Lots of reasons actually. The main  reason was to trace or find my Dad's ancestors, and find out more about his life and family. My Dad died when I was 6, so I didn't get the chance to know him very much. He was 20 years older than my Mama so almost, if not a whole, generation between them. His Father had died many years before I was born, through genealogy I found out 1948. His Mother died when I was 18, at the age of 84, long before I was interested in anything as dusty and old as genealogy. I knew of no local family so genealogy was the way I felt I could find more information and learn about him as a grown man and child. Mama knew a few things, but Daddy nor his Mother were much for sharing personal stories.

Q: What did you know about genealogy when you started?
A: My Great Uncle, on my Mother's side of the family, had done a lot of genealogy research. So I asked him about his research and he mailed me the Lee Family History pamphlet that he had made up for family reunions. Wow, very confusing to me. Lots of pages with numbered people and copies of blurry not very legible forms of some kind. The numbering didn't make sense and the forms (now I know census records) were all but impossible for me to read no matter understand what they were telling me. Just finding my Mama & Daddy and me and my sister in all of that took a couple of hours! There was no information to help me at all with my Dad, in fact the whole thing was only tracing his Maternal side to the Lee Family. I was able to ask him a few questions at the next family reunion about how he researched, and he talked about visiting Courthouses and the National Registry in Atlanta GA. It seemed to me that genealogy was going to be very hard!

Q: So, what did you do?
A: At that time I was working full time, and extra time for trips to repositories and 3 hour rides to look for genealogy records just wasn't available. So I joined Ancstry.com. Hoping that I would be able to find some things and learn a little more. I was excited and jumped right in, connecting shaky leaves and adding information left and right. Not really understanding that I needed to verify that what I had was correct, after all it was there and the "right" name, so it must be. Right?! We'll as any of you seasoned genealogists know, I had a lot of misinformation and went in directions that were totally not my family.

Q: Are you still researching your ancestors today?
A: Yes! Even though I have mainly done all my research online and am only now trying to branch out and find genealogy societies and repositories to help fill in the gaps in my knowledge and family, I have learned a lot and understand the importance of genealogical proof. I do have a good bit of tangible correct information now, on my Dad's and Mama's sides of the family. And hope to find more.

Q: What are you working on now?
A: Filling in, or maybe filling out, the lives of the ancestors I have found. Getting information about where and how they lived so that I can understand more about them. I have a few walls that are still holding me back, but I am confident that in time and with help I will be able to answer my questions and find the family members that are "hiding" at this momenet.

I hope you have enjoyed reading just a little about me and my short journey in genealogy. I still have a lot to learn and a lot I want to learn, so join me in "Digging For Roots" and learning about genealogy.
If you would like, take my questions and answer them for yourself. I know that I would enjoy hearing your stories about your foray into the Land of cemeteries, dusty books, and historical markers.

~ Michelle

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