Saturday, February 28, 2009

Working on Genealogy Records Today

I've been growing more and more disappointed with myself on the genealogy front. I totally immersed myself into family research last fall and I gathered (borrowed) all these family records and then when I started school again in September, I just dropped the project flat. Partly because of school, and partly because the computer hooked to the scanner died and my Mac isn't set up to use the scanner yet.

So, now I have two large stacks of records/pictures from family and they're just sitting there. Today, therefore, I am planning to start sifting through the pile. If necessary, I will make copies of the items I've borrowed and return the originals. I've got to get through this project and not have to deal with it while we're packing boxes. Also, my membership to Ancestry.com runs out in April, so I need to finish by then. =)

I did actually accomplish a lot last Fall. I found the marriage record and a photo for my great-great-grandfather Henry Samuel Darknell who came to America from Wiltshire in the 1850s and I believe I found the census records that show he was born to Samuel Darknell and Rachel Case (along with several other sons). Unfortunately, Samuel (Rachel's husband) died fairly young and his children ultimately ended up dispersing throughout the globe which makes it hard to track all the connections. Unfortunately, the good census records only go back to 1837, so finding proof earlier than that is difficult. But I have made some great progress with the excellent records available through Ancestry.com and other sources.

I'd really like to visit Wiltshire in Mere County in England and meet the Darknell family there and see if they have any better records than I've been able to acquire from internet sources. But it may be a while.

1 comment:

  1. My grandmother was the youngest child of parents who died in the flu epidemic--everyone else in the family survived. She was just a baby and went to live with her aunt, while the older kids lived with grandparents or joined the military. Luckily, they stayed close. :) Kelly's family was not so lucky following a train accident and the kids were parted out six ways to different states.

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