Friday, May 27, 2011

THOSE ELUSIVE ANCESTORS

Another day of looking for those elusive ancestors.  I've been through every cemetery on line in the counties they lived in.  I know not every grave is listed as most people that put the information on line walks through the cemetery and makes note of the grave stone, name, and dates.  But if your ancestor didn't have a stone it was not recorded. 

Now mind you our ancestors didn't start out being elusive.  No they, like us, went about their daily lives.  Going to work, cleaning house, raising children, farming, and moving about.  Yes, moving about.  If they would have stayed in one place, died in one place, and was buried in the local cemetery it would have made our job a lot easier.  Life is not that easy!

You say I'm being picky, well probably so.  Sometimes you run into brick walls and you have to think outside the box.  Hard to do for most of us because we were taught to color inside the lines.  Life isn't like that.  Circumstances happen, people move, take vacations, visit relatives, and just live their lives.  They didn't know there would be a relative down the road that wanted to know more about them.

I'm tying to put together as much information as I can so I won't go running about with no direction when I make my trip to the Pacific Northwest.  Yes, I'm on a mission to find the graves of my great, great, grandfather and his daughter.  I've narrowed it down, made all my notes, and I'm ready.  If all else fails go to the town, county, and state where your ancestor lived.  Check with the library.  Most libraries have a small genealogy section and someone is always willing to help you.  You'll be surprised with all the new friends you make.

Until then..................

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