A Genealogy Adventure in Kansas

Muddy Road - maybe Axtell??

I usually write about a Shelby County subject on this blog. And I WILL again! The following is an account of my distant cousin Barb’s adventure. She has Shelby County roots but lives in the Kansas City area. Her trip to Axtell, Kansas to assist her friend (who also lives in Shelby County) is well worth the read. Barb has gone beyond the call of duty and deserves to be recognized for her incredible dedication!

Here is Barb’s story, in her own words:

Axtell, A Kansas Adventure

When I left Kansas City at about 8:30 A.M. it was raining. Not a hard driving rain, just a steady constant rain. No worries, I had a huge umbrella so that when I arrived at the cemetery, if it was still raining, I could pop the umbrella and still get the photos I wanted.

The roads and traffic were no problem. Planned to take the Kansas turnpike (I-70) to Topeka then turn north on highway 75. I always take a good book on CD when I travel because it makes the time go by quickly. So I am listening to my book and enjoying the beautiful countryside when I realize that the sign that I just passed said “Welcome to Nebraska”. This was not good. I needed Highway 36 to get to Axtell and it was in Kansas. Back to junction (just 10 miles) and on track again.

I had the Shockley Cemetery located on a map printed before I left home and it was north of Axtell. Took a slight detour through Axtell just to check it out. Tiny town (maybe 250 people) but still has some great looking old buildings on main street.

Leave Axtell heading due west until I reach Highway 99 then turn north looking for Eagle Road. Should be easy to find the cemetery since Eagle Road appears to dead end directly at the cemetery. When I turn onto Eagle Road it changes from black top to gravel. No problem, I’ve driven gravel roads loads of times. Still a steady rain. I am going only about 20 miles per hour so that I can safely gawk at the scenery.

Just over the crest of a hill the road turns a dark color. It appeared like the gravel had been recently sprayed with oil. I slow further. About 20 feet onto the dark gravel, the car feels funny, like when you are on ice and just barely sliding. I slowly stop and try and back up. No dice. It is deep black mud, can’t back up.

At the bottom of the hill is an intersection and I think I will either be able to turn around or continue on a better road. Have much difficulty reaching the bottom of the hill. Much sliding. Decide to turn north because it appears that there is more texture, hopefully gravel. No dice. The mud continues. Much difficulty keeping the car in a forward motion. Wheels spinning. Finally unable to make any forward progress. Actually can’t back up or go forward. Wheels deeply buried in mud. No cell coverage, of course, but who did I think I was going to call anyway. Still a steady rain but now the wind is picking up. Can’t move the car from center of road. It is sitting just over the crest of a hill, dead center of the road….just waiting for someone to top the hill and hit it. Lucky for me no one else can navigate the road either.

There is nothing to do but to hike back to the other road to where I last saw a house, couldn’t be more than a couple of miles. Put on boots, coat, gloves and get big umbrella. Still raining, wind blowing more. When I step out of the car my boots immediately sink above the ankles into the mud. I almost fall when I can’t pick up my foot and I have already moved forward faster than I can make my feet move.

I determine that if I scale the bank on the side of the road I could cut across a corn field and save a little time. The banks are about 4 feet high and solid mud. I grab onto a small tree to pull myself up to the field. At this point I have stopped worrying about getting my clothes muddy. I am a complete mess.

The corn stalks made it a little easier to walk. If I keep walking on them it keeps my feet from sinking into the mud.

A herd of cows had been released into the field to clean up the corn left on the ground. They stare at me (can you imagine what they must be thinking?) as I fight to remain upright, the umbrella still pushing steadily from behind.

The farm house came into view and I was much relieved. Crossing my fingers that someone was home I crossed the muddy road. When a little old man, stooped and using a walker, answered the door, my heart sank. He looked so frail that the wind would easily blow him over if he stepped outside. He asked me to come into his house, but when I looked down and saw a good three inches of mud coating my boots, I politely declined.

I explain my situation and then he calmly looks at me and asks, “What are you going to do?” Great question.

About the time I ask whether or not they have a tractor that could pull my car out of the mud, a much younger man peers around the door. He is the son of the older man. We agree to meet in the garage to discuss our options. It is still raining and the wind is blowing hard. The son locates a tractor and points it toward the car. I climb aboard and we slowly make our way down the muddy road to my car. The wheels of the tractor are kicking mud up onto us. (Wish I had a picture of the tractor, with the two of us on it, all muddy).

At the car, we can’t find a connection for the chain to the undercarriage on the rear passenger side, only on the driver’s side. The son hooks a chain onto it, I put the car in reverse and the tractor begins to pull. The idea was that I could help the wheels turn and steer with the front barely on the road. He slowly pulls the car around the corner and up the hill until it is on the gravel.

I give him all the cash in my purse, a hug, and a big thank you. Before I can get the car turned around, he is back to the barn.

I have come a long way to just head for home, so I check my map and try to find another route to the cemetery. One that is paved. It is not obvious from the map I have, so I head back to Axtell and discuss my options with the Post Mistress. She gets out her routing maps and decides that the closest I could get (staying on gravel roads) would be a couple of miles from the cemetery. It is still raining steadily. I give up on visiting the cemetery.

The library is a tiny store front on the main street. It is about the size of most living rooms and not at all crowded with books. I learn later that the library is only open one day a week. How lucky for me it was the day I was in Axtell.

The librarian explains that they do not have much on genealogy, but show me the “shelf” containing high school yearbooks, recent phone books, etc. The most interesting were a couple of binders with newspaper clippings encased in plastic.

Before I had turned two pages there was information on the Smith family. I was shocked that such great info was so easy to find, relieved that I hadn’t made a trip for nothing and extremely grateful.

It was getting dark and for the first time I was concerned about the rain. Driving in daylight with rain is one thing, but it is much more of a challenge when it gets dark. So I quickly copy the articles, pay for the copies and hop in my car.

Feeling quite smug about my accomplishments for the day (getting stuck in the mud, getting pulled out of the mud and best of all – finding information about the Smith family) I was riding high.

About 45 minutes into my drive, I stop for gas and to wash a little of the mud off my car before it dries. When I reach for my credit card to pay for the gas, I realize that my purse is missing and the only cash I have is the change I keep in the car for the car wash (of which I had just used several dollars’ worth) which in now only $3.00.

Now I am in a panic. I know the library in closing very soon, that after it closes I will have no way of getting my purse and I have very little gas left.

With a couple of gallons of gas, I head back to Axell to get my purse. When I walk in the door, the librarian looks at me and says, “Are you back?” My purse is still sitting on the table, exactly where I left it. The library was to close in 5 minutes.

Feeling much relieved and thankful, I again head for Kansas City. The rain is still coming down. Visibility is poor. The large trucks stir up so much spray that when my headlights catch it, I cannot see anything. A very tense drive.

After finally arriving home and resisting the urge to go straight to bed, I spend hours cleaning mud off my boots and sneakers. It is so sticky that I swear it could be used for glue!

(Barb adds – “Just another crazy genealogy story!”)

Ethel Williams Received A Civil War Pension

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Ethel Williams was a great-uncle that I never knew. In fact, I didn't  know he existed until I found a book titled:  A HISTORY OF WILLIAM WILLIAMS AND HIS DESCENDANTS by Isaac Williams. When I found this book in the library at Anderson, Indiana, it was about 1980. I had been researching my Dad’s family for a few years and could only go back as far as his grandfather, Newton E. Williams. This little book opened up a whole new world of Williamses for me!

My great-great grandfather, Jesse M. Williams, was born in Madison County, Indiana. He was a Civil war veteran, serving in the 47th Indiana Infantry, Company E. He received a medical discharge in late 1862 due to severe heart problems.

Jesse and his family moved to Shelby County in the mid-1880s. They lived in Fairland, where Jesse and his son Newton established a brick factory, then later a grain elevator. Newton stayed in Shelby County, raising his family in Fairland, while his parents Jesse and Margaret Cottrell Williams, later moved to Indianapolis and opened a grocery store.

Jesse’s son (Newton’s brother), Ethel (yes, an odd name for a male) was born 22 October 1874. When he was very young, he contracted diphtheria which left him an invalid for the rest of his life. It is written in his pension papers that he was partially paralyzed and could not speak. In fact, he was referred to as “idiotic”. It must have been a sad life for this Williams family.

After Ethel’s parents passed away, he lived with his niece, Margaret Williams Fox, in Wannamaker. In 1952, the family learned that Ethel was eligible for a “death benefit” pension because his father had been in the Civil War. I received all of Ethel's pension papers quite by accident when I ordered the pension papers for his father, Jesse M. Williams.

I ordered these pension papers from the National Archives. To my surprise, the Archives sent me a letter saying that the pension papers for Jesse were not in the Archives. To get them, I had to fill out forms from the Freedom of Information Act, which I had never done before. After submitting the required forms, I received a short letter telling me that the pension file was being copied and would  be sent from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Oakland, California. I thought all of this was very unusual. I had ordered several Civil War Pension records prior to ordering Jesse’s and never had an experience like this.

It took quite awhile, but when the pension papers finally arrived, they were very interesting. I was totally surprised that Jesse’s son, Ethel, had lived to be 89 years old and that he was receiving a Civil War pension at the time of his death – in 1964!

Another surprising fact was found when I researched Ethel’s death: I learned he was living on N. Pennsylvania Street in Indianapolis when he passed away. It was a nursing home then, in 1964. When I received this information, in 2007, my cousin Jon was living on N. Pennsylvania St. just one block from the former nursing home. He took a photo of the house for me – now a lawyer’s office. It is a lovely old house. I hope Ethel was happy there and not suffering.

While this is certainly a sad story, it is of great interest.  Ethel lived for such a long time and was still receiving a Civil War pension nearly 100 years after the war ended.

Recently, I saw an article on the internet that said there are two people in the U.S. who are still receiving Civil War pensions. After reading this, I did a little research and found that only invalid or disabled children of veterans are eligible for this type of pension. Ethel’s papers indicate that these pensions were approved by Congress as late as the 1950s for the children of veterans of the Civil War.

If anyone else has a similar story to share, or more details about these Civil War pensions, I would appreciate hearing from you. AND if anyone in the family has a photo or more information about Ethel, I would really love to hear from you.  I think Ethel was a very special ancestor.
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North Carolina to Shelby County, Indiana

Rockingham County, NC - highlighted in red

While researching some of my Shelby County ancestors who lived in Moral Township I found many families from that area who had migrated from various counties in North Carolina (where I currently live). An overwhelming number of the Moral Township families came from Rockingham County, North Carolina.

On a visit to the library in High Point, N. C. (which has a wonderful genealogy room) I decided to see how many of the Shelby County families had left behind records in both Guilford and Rockingham Counties. (Rockingham was formed from Guilford in 1785) The High Point Library is located in Guilford County and has a good collection of books from both counties. However, I ended up spending the day with the Rockingham County records – and didn’t get through all of them. I plan to go back soon and see what else I can “dig up”!

Before I went to High Point, I checked two good books about Shelby County for names to research. These books: The Genealogy of Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana and History of Shelby County, Indiana by Edward H. Chadwick contain numerous family histories and biographies. In Chadwick’s book I found MANY families that had roots in North Carolina, not just the Moral Township families. I made lists and notes about the N.C. families and took them with me to High Point.

These families are just a few that I found in the early deed and will books for Rockingham County:

Cayton – Jacob, James and William
Cobler – Frederick, Christopher, Nicholas, Alsy, and Williamson
Coffee – Joshua
Coley - James and Maynard
Joyce – Alexander, Elisha, John, Thomas and Phebe
Martin – Peter, Richard, and  more
Means – Robert, William, and Elizabeth
Moberly – William, Thomas
Odell – Jeremiah, Jesse, John, and more
Smith – Drury, Thomas and more

I would like to recommend one book that I found in the Lexington, N.C. library. The title is: Early Families of the N. C. Counties of Rockingham and Stokes with Revolutionary Service, published by the James Hunter Chapter NSDAR of Madison, N.C.  This book is full of family histories and includes details of their involvement in the Revolutionary War. It has many familiar names that are also found in Shelby County.

The Means family information in the above named book is of special interest to me (I have several connections to this family). The book has an excerpt from an old letter written in 1870 by Dr. David Means, a grandson of Robert Means. It tells about Robert’s service in the Revolutionary War. The book also has an interesting extract from Robert Means’ will, probated in August 1822 in Rockingham County, N.C.

A few other families of interest in this book with Shelby County connections were Cobler, Coffey and Moore.

This will be an ongoing project – connecting our Shelby County families to their North Carolina roots. I hope you will find it as interesting as I do!

Old Letters Are Treasures

Finding Clues In Old Family Letters

My Grandma, Ofa Steward Williams, kept a lot of family treasures. They weren't pieces of valuable jewelry or heirloom antiques - they were so much better. Grandma kept boxes of old family photos and letters. These are the treasures that genealogists dream of finding.

On many of my visits with Grandma, she would give me some of the photos and letters. She knew I was interested in the family history - I always asked questions about who was related to us and how??? I suspect there were some days when she wished I would stop! But she always seemed eager to discuss the "old days" and told wonderful stories about her family life as she was growing up in Fairland, just north of Shelbyville.

Her father was James Matthew Steward. He was a rural mail carrier until he retired when he became ill with T.B. He passed away when he was 60 years old, in 1932. He was my great-grandfather and everyone called him Pampaw or Pampaw Jim.

I recently found a letter that he wrote to his only son, Charles Sumner Steward who lived in Indianapolis. I think this letter is a wonderful example of the closeness Pampaw had with his family. It reminds me of what life was like before we had tv, computers, cell phones and all the other distractions that intrude into our lives every day. Before we had all of these gadgets, we had lots more time for our family and friends - and isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

This letter was written just after the passing of Pampaw's dad, William Frederick Steward, he died just a few weeks before, on December 22nd. The letter is so full of love and caring. It showed how very close Pampaw Jim was to his father AND to his son. It made me feel as if I had known Jim Steward, even though he was long gone before I was born. The old letters reveal so much about the writer - his personality, his love of family, even his intelligence (I never knew how much schooling Pampaw Jim ever had.)

So, save all those old letters (and emails) from your loved ones. Your future generations will be thankful some day that you did. I know that I am.

Here is Pampaw Jim's letter to his son, Sumner:

New Years Day 8:30 PM 1928

Dear Folks,

We have a jolly big fire going and Mom and I are resting in our big chairs comfortably, and hope you are, at this moment, as comfortable and safe from the outside cold as we are. We do enjoy your company so much, even if only for a little while at a time. I believe everybody had a good time today, and I hope all are safe at home now, feeling repaid for braving the elements of this bitter cold, by the pleasure they brought to the old home visit once again.

We are always glad to welcome you all back home, but you especially, Sumner, stand in a peculiar relation to your old Dad now, as I feel that you are the one man in the world I can tie to. I have confidence in others, and I like my friends, but my brothers are gone, my old Dad has crossed over, and I have only you.

I am proud of you, boy, and can truthfully and thankfully say I have always been. I hope when you look at me, as I have so recently had to look at my own father, you can pray the little prayer I prayed as I looked upon his face for the last time, and I hope I can merit it. "Oh God, make me worthy of him, help me to emulate his virture, forget his failure, and meet him again in a better home." His passing has been a hard blow to me, but nothing in life has ever plumbed the depths of my being as did your going nearly ten years ago, when you left home on that awful night - bound for war. I want to keep young in heart, always. I want to work and play, and to be worthy of the family and friends God has blessed me with, so I can always enjoy and interest them all as they come and go. I just got to thinking of things like this after you all left, and that's where you come in at. I can unload some my burdens on younger shoulders - on yours.

I am full of hope for the future and hope we all meet in many more family gatherings - but one never knows what the future holds. Wishing you both a happy and prosperous New Year, I am the same old

Dad

Honoring Our Shelby County Ancestors

Ways to Honor Our Ancestors

It is about that time of the year when we think about our family members who are no longer with us. With Memorial Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in the near future, we wish we could find a way to remember them in a special way.

If you have ancestors in a distant county or state, it can be a challenge to find the time or a way to leave flowers on a loved one’s grave. We aren’t all able to travel to Shelby County to the beautiful cemeteries for each special occasion to leave a memorial.

I've learned some other ways to honor my ancestors -- although I do leave flowers whenever I get back to Shelby County. Unfortunately, I have so many deceased ancestors, I could fill my car with flowers and drive from cemetery to cemetery and probably never get all the flowers delivered in my brief visits.

Here are several different ways to honor your ancestors. Ways that they would appreciate. Ways that will make you feel good that you took the time to remember them.

Make a donation to honor them. Remember, ANY dollar amount is appreciated!

* The Shelbyville Genealogy Division of the Shelbyville Public Library needs donations. Send a check of any amount in your ancestors’ name and thank the staff for their excellent work. Their address is: 58 West Hendricks St. Shelbyville, Indiana 46176

* Make a donation to the restored Strand Theatre. Send a check of any amount, tell them you are honoring a family member. The Strand has become a true community center. Talk about bringing the past back to life! It is happening here every week. The Strand’s address is: 215 S. Harrison St. Shelbyville, Indiana 46176

*Join the Shelby County Genealogical Society.
This is a wonderful organization, working hard to put together historic books about the county. With each paid membership, a subscription to Fore Bear Pa's comes to your mailbox. It has many interesting old newspaper articles, photos, births, deaths -- all focused on Shelby Co. The membership fee is $15.00 a year. Their address is: P.O. Box 434, Shelbyville, Indiana 46176.

*Contact your ancestor’s church and request information on making a donation in their honor. Ask how to donate flowers for the alter to honor them on a special day.

*Share your genealogy!!! This will insure your ancestor’s place in immortality. There are many ways to share your genealogy. I will admit, I am donating ALL of my research and books to the Shelbyville “Genie House”. But, if your ancestors were in other counties, you might decide to donate your research elsewhere. The Indiana State Library has a HUGE section of family files, and I’m sure the Ft. Wayne Library must, too. Be generous with your research and help other family members get to know their ancestors. Be sure that you give yourself credit and copyright your work.

* Write a blog. Tell the world about your experiences with genealogy. Share your stories of joy when you make a big connection. Share your sorrow when the family legend about a sad event is discovered to be true. Let the world know you have a big wonderful family, in spite of a rotten apple or two (if you've found any!). Let the world know how proud you are of all of your ancestors.

As a final suggestion I would like YOUR suggestions about how you honor your ancestors. Please email me and I will add a second installment to this chapter. I KNOW there are many other family traditions that are observed, so please share them.

Our ancestors lived in hard times. They lived without all of the advantages we have today. Many of them fought in wars to defend our future rights and to make the world a better, safer place for us. We should honor them each and every day. We wouldn’t be here without them!

My Shelby County Families

Are We Researching the Same Lines? 

                                                                           

My Shelby County ancestors came from many areas before settling in the Shelby County area. Most of them were from Virginia, North Carolina, and New England. They were all moving to Indiana for more land and more opportunities for a better life. Indiana was the ideal spot for both.

The families I’m connected to in Shelby County are numerous. Since they were nearly all very early settlers, they married within their communities -- generally neighbors and church friends. In those early days (1820s and 1830s) there weren’t too many of the opposite sex to pick from who lived in the “neighborhood". Amazingly, those marriages were strong and lasted a life time. Divorce was very rare. Usually, when someone remarried, it was due to the death of a spouse.

So, here are my Shelby families -- somehow a list seems so impersonal. But to add all of the interesting facts and stories would fill a book! So, a list will have to do for now. I hope that this list will inspire you to contact me if you are also researching any of these Shelby County families. I am eager to hear from you -- we might be cousins!

Alphabetically, here are my direct Shelby County family lines -- I am also including wives’ maiden names as I feel they are also direct lines. (I know many researchers who do not research the female lines which is excluding half your family.)

Henricks / Hendricks -- David - b. 5 Sep 1788 KY d. 16 Mar 1859 Shelby Co. IN

Wife: Elizabeth McCormick - b. 12 May 1808 KY d. 13 Oct 1858 Shelby Co. IN

Imel -- Peter - b. 30 Mar. 1764 (sd. to be Germany, no proof yet) d. 3 Jan 1849 Shelby Co. IN.
Wife: Susannah Kirkwood - b. 1766 VA d. bet. 1820-1830 Wayne Co. IN

James -- Nicholas - b. abt 1785 VA - d. 1839 Shelby Co. IN
Wife: Martha (possibly Phillips) - b. abt 1790 VA - d. aft. 1860 in Saunders Co. NE

Lisher -- Lewis - b. 25 Sep 1805 NY or OH - d. 9 Aug 1871 Shelby Co. IN
Wife: Martha Jane Baker - b. 22 Oct. 1814 OH - d. 5 Jan 1855 Shelby Co. IN (After Martha died, Lewis married Cynthia Arnold Plummer) (The name "Lisher" was originially spelled "Larcher" in New England. When the family moved to Ohio, it became Lisher.)

Padrick -- Daniel - b. 1798 Currituck Co. NC - d. 27 May 1887 Shelby Co. IN
Wife: Margaret Casey - b. 5 Dec. 1898 Currituck Co. NC - d. 30 Sep 1843 Shelby Co. IN. (Daniel married three more times, divorcing twice. His last wife was Rachel Henricks from Rush Co. Between his first wife, Margaret and 4th wife Rachel, Daniel had 20 children!)

Rush -- James - b. abt. 1781 Madison Co. VA - d. 4 Jul 1877 Shelby Co. IN (I believe the death date on James’ stone to be an error. Comparing his ages listed in the census, it seems likely he was born about 1781)
Wife: Barbara Barngrover - b. abt 1785 VA - d. bef. 1837 Shelby Co. IN (After Barbara died, James married 2) Hannah Lloyd in 1837; 3) Mary Drogan In 1851; and 4) Nancy Pollard in 1859

Steward / Stewart -- John - b. abt 1794 PA - d. 19 Dec 1867 Shelby Co. IN
Wife Christena Pate - b. abt 1799 VA - d. 6 Mar 1873 Shelby Co. IN (The photo above is William Frederick Steward, his son James Matthew Steward, James' daughter, Ofa Steward Williams, her son Charles N. Williams - cica 1918-1919 in Shelby Co. IN)

Terhune - William R. - b. 24 Dec. 1871 Rush Co. IN - d. 12 Jun 1958 Shelby Co. IN
Wife - Grace Sanders - b. 13 Dec 1884 Shelby Co. IN - d. 3 Aug 1957 Shelby Co. IN. (William’s father was Wm. B. Terhune - b. 1829 Clermont Co. OH, he married Elizabeth Kerr - b. 1836 Dearborn Co. IN. The Kerr family came from Guilford Co. NC -- just 30 minutes from where I now live.)

Williams -- Daniel - b. abt 1790 VA or KY - d. 12 Aug 1877 Shelby Co. IN
Wife Mary Kimberlin - b. 15 May 1797 KY - d. bet. 1860 & 1877 not known where (Daniel’s father was Reece WILLIAMS who died in 1827 in Clark Co. IN. His mother was Lavina Jolly.)

Williams -- Jesse M. - b. 25 Nov 1840 Madison Co. IN - d. 6 Jul 1913 Marion Co. IN. (Lived in Fairland after the Civil War, raising his family there.)
Wife Margaret Cottrell - b. 19 May 1841 Madison Co. IN - d. 5 Jan 1907 Marion Co. IN
(Jesse’s father was Absalom Williams who moved into Indiana from Preble Co. OH in the early 1830s. His family was originally from Brunswick Co. VA)

Other related families (through marriage) include Poland, Parker, Stallard, Rohm, Fox, Harrell, Rigdon, Oldham, Young, Riser, Colclazier, Bishop, Jonas, Skillman, Means, Maze, Hardin, Boren, Haymond, Macon, Norvell, Tigart, Pickett, Muir, Clark, Wells, Nugent, Nail, Huffman, Howery, Alexander, Hankins, Armstrong, Moore, Drake, Cobler, Arnold, Paramore, Tolen, Mallory, Tillison, Wharton, Cayton, House, Kidd, Crum, Covy, Flanagan, Gillespy, Mather, Teeple, Miller, Bass, Lapham, Breedlove, Boring, Boren, Wilson, Parson, Reed, Hungate, Ridlen, Patterson, Cole, Melvin Williams, Owen, West, Parkhurst, Cossairt, Graves, House, Miley, and many, many more.

I have information on my direct family lines that extends much further back (especially the Terhunes, Lishers and Padricks). The Jesse M. Williams line is linked by DNA to a Charles Williams who died in 1692 in Charles City County, Virginia. My cousin and I continue to do research to find the links that tie Jesse to Charles. It seems that records in Virginia in the early days are very hard to find….!

If you find that you have a link to any of my ancestors, please send me an email. I am happy to share information in exchange for MORE information! My email address for genealogy correspondence is: jw62002@yahoo.com.

One last note about DNA testing: If you have a male family member who would take the DNA test for you, DO IT! The Williams DNA project is currently at 800 members and growing. We have over 100 matched groups. Please consider this if you have a common surname or are stuck with a "brick wall". I currently have a blog for my Williams DNA Group 8. It is "A Williams Family from Virginia to California" on Google's blogspot. I feel DNA is a big key in getting your research RIGHT!

Do It Yourself, If Possible

If you have ancestors in Shelby County, you have probably experienced the same thing that happens to me whenever I go back home. You mention your ancestor's name and the next thing you hear is "I'm related to him / her, too!" And before you know it, you have a new cousin and a whole new chapter is added to your family tree.

This happens to me every time I return to the Shelbyville "Genie House". Last summer, I met new cousins from the Steward family and the Sanders family. Going back to Shelby County to do my research is the best way to find new information AND new family members. We swap information, photos, and family stories. We go to lunch or dinner, then continue our relationship long after we return to our far-away homes using email and telephone. The experience is life- altering.

If you watch any of the genealogy shows on tv, you know how important "on site" research is. There is nothing like standing on the land that your ancestors owned in the 1800s (or earlier, depending on where they lived). Or finding that long-lost grave stone with the dates still readable -- David Hendricks born 5 Sept. 1788 died 16 March 1859. The experience of walking through the old Brandywine (Pinhook) Cemetery near Fairland is especially memorable for me. The first time I went (over 25 years ago), my Grandma Ofa Steward Williams was with me. She told me stories about many of the people in the old cemetery (many were her family members) -- it will always stay in my heart.

As you can tell, I am an advocate of the "do it yourself" type of research. There is nothing like it. Especially if your ancestors lived in Shelby County, Indiana!