May 30, 2017
In addition to writing, I enjoy doing genealogy research. The only problem is it’s addicting. After I retired, Ancestry became my closest friend. Then it was Family Heritage, Gini, Genealogy Bank and Family Search. I remember one day I got on the internet at seven in the morning and finally got off at seven-thirty that evening. I couldn’t believe it. That’s why I hesitate to follow leads that each of the sites frequently email me.
I became interested in genealogy many years ago when my father talked about his life in Middlesex County, Virginia. He always said he’d like to move back there but my mother had other ideas. He’d traced his roots back several generations but had hit a brick wall. It was like Andrew Davis appeared out of thin air. I fondly remember the day I took him to Middlesex and Matthews where we visited the site of his home-place and had lunch in Marshall’s Drug Store in Urbanna. We also visited the local cemeteries and took pictures of tombstones of our family past. Even Andrew’s.
I regretted that we never found Andrew before my father died July 14, 2012. When I retired the next year, I put on my investigator’s hat and searched the web. I followed any link or name I could find and finally located Andrew in New London, Connecticut where he lived before moving to Virginia. I think I have now traced my Davis lineage back to Sir John Dyve (1460-1535) and Lady Isabel Hastings (1466-1534). There is still a lot of verification to do but this is a major break-through. I hope to take a trip to Connecticut this summer to do some hands-on research in the local libraries. England will be next.
Next weekend, my mother and I will be going to a Wuest family reunion in Ashland. I’ll be printing out what I’ve done for her lineage and look forward to seeing how it compares to my cousin’s. Johanna has set up a Wuest Facebook group and is forever posting pictures of long gone ancestors. I never knew my grandfather and my grandmother lived with us in her final years. It has been wonderful to see pictures of them and their siblings. I’ll be taking pictures of cousins and memorabilia to help me fine-tune my mother’s ancestry.
The upcoming reunion and seeing all the pictures on Facebook remembering ancestors who served in World War I and II, has tempted me to sneak a peek at the genealogy sites. But this time, I’ll set the timer. I have a book and novella that need to be done as well.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day. I attended a nice service on the Courthouse lawn, visited with friends and toured the Caroline Historical Society’s World War I and II exhibits in the Sidney King Art Center. I have a special place in my heart for those who have and are serving so that we can live in a free world.