Genealogy Series Coming

I've decided to make a regular feature here on my blog. Every Wednesday morning, I will be posting about Genealogy. It is one of the largest search items on the internet these days, staying neck and neck with pron (trust me that is spelled correctly). There are now television shows dedicated to the subject, even though they are the worst things ever to happen to a genealogist (More on that later, maybe even a post dedicated to it).

I haven't quite nailed down what I want to do with this article yet, but helping people get past certain roadblocks would definitely be a main component. In fact, I will be starting off with a couple of my own roadblocks and how I got past them. Or in some case, how I'm still struggling with them.

First up will be about a girl named Patience and how we're really not sure who her parents are. Many sources state Reverend Irons is her father with an unknown mother. Other sources have Abigail Bowen as her mother with an unknown father. To make matters even more confusing, there are two Abigail Bowens around the same time period. Which one is our Abigail?

I've been researching family history for 25 years. Ever since I saw my grandmother's folders on her family, I've been enthralled. She gathered a lot of information on her family by writing letters and talking to people -- an art lost these days.

Today, genealogists can utilize the internet to aid in their research rather than waiting for snail mail to return, or without having to travel to the far reaches of the globe seeking out traces of our ancestors. There are some dangers to internet research and I will detail them in some future postings.

So check Wednesdays for my new genealogical series "Muddied Roots." I'm sure there will some interesting stories. Feel free to share yours. Maybe with a few more heads working the mystery, we can figure out some of those stubborn and mysterious ancestors.