All who do genealogical research eventually reach the point where they think they can go no farther in their research. I've reached that point, called a brick wall, in at least a couple of my family lines.
One of my ggg-grandfathers, Elias Todd, Sr., is a good example of a brick wall. I cannot find any information about the parents of Elias. According to U.S. Census information, he was born in Virginia in 1807 and died in Virginia, probably the Wythe District of Elizabeth City County, sometime in 1884. I don't know if he had any siblings, and I haven't been able to find any birth record or death record. Family legend has it that he was a "sea captain" before he became a farmer and was possibly related to the Todd family from Smithfield, VA. I have a lot more information about Elias that I will put in a future post.
Another brick wall is one of my great-grandfathers, Austin W. Leitch. He was born in 1877 in Augusta County, VA and died sometime in 1954. My grandmother never talked about her father, other than to say he divorced her mother when she was a teenager and later remarried. I have a picture of him with his second wife that has the date 1940 written on the back. I've been able to trace him through the 1920 U.S. Census in Warwick County, VA, but have been unable to find him in the 1930 U.S. Census. I haven't done an exhaustive search yet, just the indexes on Footnote.com, HeritageQuest Online, and Ancestry.com. One thing that makes this brick wall even more difficult is that family legend has it that he changed his surname when he remarried to the surname of his new wife. I'll put more information about Austin in a future post also.
I've tried some of the usual approaches to get around these brick walls - variations on spelling the surname, looking at the records of family members and neighbors, searching less obvious records like tax records - but so far, no luck. I don't plan to stop trying anytime soon, though!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Virginia Is For Me
Nearly all of my ancestors - more than 99% that I've found so far - come from Virginia. I have one line in my family from Pennsylvania, and although I have researched this line, I've concentrated on Virginia. I was born in Virginia, in fact, and most of my relatives live there. Of me and my three brothers, however, only one still lives in Virginia. I and one brother live in Florida, while my other brother lives in Tennessee. So, we're all pretty much Southern to the core!
I've traced several family lines back to 18th century Virginia, but in most cases have not gone back far enough to find those ancestors who braved the extreme conditions and traveled to the New World. I hope to eventually get to that point, but records get more sparse the further back you go, and I'm not sure the information is there.
When I started doing genealogical research in the mid-80's, I was living in northern Virginia and was fortunate enough to be able to take full advantage of the National Archives and Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. I had a researcher card at the Archives and spent many hours there going through the microfilm reels. I even requested and reviewed additional material for things like Civil War records. After moving to Florida, I used the resources of the nearest LDS Family History Center to continue my research. It seemed so much slower than viewing the records at the Archives - having to place orders for microfiche and waiting weeks for the fiche to arrive. I was able to continue doing some research, but in the mid-90's I pretty much stopped and concentrated on other things.
A few years ago, the genealogy bug bit again. Online sources were becoming more available, in fact, I found out my local library had access to HeritageQuest Online, and even better, I could access it from home! I got an iPod for Christmas one year and discovered the world of genealogical podcasts, from great experts such as the Genealogy Guys. The Genealogy Guys podcasts really got me going again in my research; it was as if all of the sudden I had a lot of catching up to do and I couldn't wait to get started!
I've worked for an electronics communications company here in central Florida for over 30 years. Some weeks I have time to work on genealogical pursuits, other weeks (the worse weeks) I don't have time. With the economy the way it is now, I'll be working for a few more years before retirement comes along. Until then, I hope to continue this research...but you can guess what I'll be doing more of when I retire!
I've traced several family lines back to 18th century Virginia, but in most cases have not gone back far enough to find those ancestors who braved the extreme conditions and traveled to the New World. I hope to eventually get to that point, but records get more sparse the further back you go, and I'm not sure the information is there.
When I started doing genealogical research in the mid-80's, I was living in northern Virginia and was fortunate enough to be able to take full advantage of the National Archives and Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. I had a researcher card at the Archives and spent many hours there going through the microfilm reels. I even requested and reviewed additional material for things like Civil War records. After moving to Florida, I used the resources of the nearest LDS Family History Center to continue my research. It seemed so much slower than viewing the records at the Archives - having to place orders for microfiche and waiting weeks for the fiche to arrive. I was able to continue doing some research, but in the mid-90's I pretty much stopped and concentrated on other things.
A few years ago, the genealogy bug bit again. Online sources were becoming more available, in fact, I found out my local library had access to HeritageQuest Online, and even better, I could access it from home! I got an iPod for Christmas one year and discovered the world of genealogical podcasts, from great experts such as the Genealogy Guys. The Genealogy Guys podcasts really got me going again in my research; it was as if all of the sudden I had a lot of catching up to do and I couldn't wait to get started!
I've worked for an electronics communications company here in central Florida for over 30 years. Some weeks I have time to work on genealogical pursuits, other weeks (the worse weeks) I don't have time. With the economy the way it is now, I'll be working for a few more years before retirement comes along. Until then, I hope to continue this research...but you can guess what I'll be doing more of when I retire!
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