Genealogy Babbling :)

[EagleJCS]

Cynthia, I feel your pain and frustration. Several years ago, my mother got some information on her family from a distant cousin who had done some research and wanted to share what she had in exchange for more/clarified information (a very generous lady). Mom had no idea she had an ancestor who fought in the Civil War (24th Wisc. Vol.).

That got the bug planted for me. I started looking into my paternal line a few years back and couldn't get very far. Dad was never encouraged to ask too many questions due to my g-gf's 'exploits', shall we say, so there just wasn't much to go on. Anyhow, I eventually found that a cousin had published his database on Rootsweb, which gave me a lot more than I could have found on my own. I'm in the process now of verifying what he had published (I found out through email that some of what he had was from LDS, which I know is sometimes suspect).

I recently took one of the trial subscriptions to Ancestry, which provides limited access and features, but it gave me several other leads through several state indices and the federal census records, many of which have now been scanned and/or transcribed. That may be an option for you as well. Just be sure to cancel the trial subscription before your cc gets charged. :-)

With the various connections I have found (most still to be "officially" documented with certificates but confirmed via census and/or birth/death indices), I now have 968 individuals and over 11 generations in my tree.

[macwilkin]

Cynthia, I feel your pain and frustration. Several years ago, my mother got some information on her family from a distant cousin who had done some research and wanted to share what she had in exchange for more/clarified information (a very generous lady). Mom had no idea she had an ancestor who fought in the Civil War (24th Wisc. Vol.).

The 24th Wisconsin? As in Gen. Arthur MacArthur's regiment?

One of my g-g-grandfathers was just down the line from them on Missionary Ridge in the 75th Illinois Regiment.

On Wisconsin!

T.

[EagleJCS]

The 24th Wisconsin? As in Gen. Arthur MacArthur's regiment?

One of my g-g-grandfathers was just down the line from them on Missionary Ridge in the 75th Illinois Regiment.

On Wisconsin!

T.

Actually, Arthur MacArthur was Adjutant of my g-g-gf's regiment (Co. H) at the time of his (my g-g-gf) service during the Civil War - or the 'War of Northern Aggression', depending on your point of view. My g-g-gf was wounded and captured at Stone River (Murfreesboro, TN) Dec 31, 1862, sent to Libby Prison, exchanged a few months later, sent to DC to finish his tour (unfit for combat), and mustered out Aug 1865.

I hope someday I can find similar kinds of stories for other relatives. Unfortunately, I'm one of millions with a lot of uninteresting relatives. (They were born here, married there, had x number of children and died over yonder. That's all that can be said about them.)