My grandfather’s sister Vera provided some delightful commentary early in my genealogical research, and she’d already given Floyd enough to help give us a foundation of our project. The big lament, though, was the loss of her childhood correspondence from her grandparents, Pleasant and Eunice, in North Carolina. Their letters disappeared in her move to a smaller residence shortly before we launched in our research.
Now that you’ve found your way to this site, I’d love to hear of your interest. Are you one of my kin, waiting to be introduced? Or a history buff, perhaps living along my family’s trail? Something else altogether? Maybe you’re interested in the religious ways that Plain People like my Quaker and Dunker (Brethren) ancestors upheld? (There are also some Mennonites, way back, as well as more worldly Lutherans and Irish Catholics.)
If you’re doing research, you’re especially welcome. What I’ve posted here is essentially all of my findings. If there’s something that helps you in your own genealogical pursuit, I’m happy to add a piece or two in working your own puzzle. If you have something large or small to contribute here, please pipe up in the comments and we’ll see where it leads. As you’ve already learned, every answer raises a host of new questions. Genealogy research is never really done, even if I’ve essentially retired from this pursuit after three obsessive decades. (Or think I have.)
One of the delights in undertaking a project like this comes in meeting others along the way and swapping material. Many earlier researchers have been quite generous in their willingness to provide detailed answers. I feel a duty to them, especially, in making their work as widely available as possible. Yes, we can place copies of our work in libraries, as I have, but a blog like this makes the material available worldwide. It not only beats having dust collect on drawers of old files, it opens a club for others to join. I hope you’ll be among its members.
Orphan George 