discovering your family history through cluster genealogy
When you write about your family, good things happen. You find flaws in your logic. You find those wonderful "ah-ha" moments. And on occasion, you find a genealogy angel. Or they find you. Martha Spencer saw a post I made years ago on an Ancestry.com message board and responded. I missed her original response (!)... Continue Reading →
My most visited page on the blog is my How To Videos page where I post links and slides from my presentations that I do for Ancestry.com. Also the page Blogs You Should Read is highly viewed. (Maybe I should update that!) But here, in order are my most read posts for the year: Treasure... Continue Reading →
Wyatt Paul Gillespie, son of Jeremiah Gillespie and Mary E Gillespie, was born on July 15, 1865 in Amherst County, Virginia. Laura Cecil Donald, daughter of James Calvin Donald and Elizabeth Jane Wallace, was born on February 13, 1877 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. They were married January 24, 1894 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. How they... Continue Reading →
Some documents are like a really great Christmas, they just have everything in them that you need. This Deed of Conveyance 1 defines quite nicely Wyatt Paul and Laura Donald Gillespie's children, their children's spouses and Wyatt and Laura's death. In Wyatt's will he left the house at 108 Houston Street to his wife, and... Continue Reading →
Both my father and grandfather were named Gilbert McClung Gillespie. According to my father, it was tradition for parents to give the last name of the Doctor who delivered them as a middle name. The story was the elder Dr. McClung delivered my grandfather and the younger Dr. McClung who was the son delivered my... Continue Reading →
In my post Sorting Saturday: Starting a Narrative Lineage, I stated that my grandfather was the descendant of a Civil War Veteran, specifically, the a member of the Stonewall Brigade. And I left the proof for later. Here are the statements I need to prove: Gilbert McClung GILLESPIE was the son of Laura Cecile DONALD.... Continue Reading →
As I dig into my family history I've run into things that have made me uncomfortable. I have at least six direct ancestors that fought for the Confederacy. As my niece exclaimed when I told her of this fact: "But that is the wrong side!" And there is more: the Jim Crow south, attitudes toward... Continue Reading →
I am prepping for my first CG attempt, which I hope to start sometime this year. One of the requirements is to write Narrative Lineage. I'm going to practice writing one for my paternal paternal line. Today, I'm going to write some informative paragraphs and a intro and end. I'm quite sure I'll rewrite them... Continue Reading →
Update: I found I had the images out of order and that what was Page 6 continues the dowry release. It is all reasonably ordered now. My grandfather, Gilbert Gillespie, told my father that this deed was the key to everything. My dad thought thought it had something to do with the theory that we... Continue Reading →