Psst! If the land records in this post interest you, sign up for my upcoming “Land Records: The Cornerstone of Georgia Genealogy” presentation for the Georgia Genealogical Society on August 8, 2024. As a Cherokee County, Georgia-based genealogist who loves to get out of the house and go bother other people about history, I’ve spent
Well this is exciting! The thing about being a genealogist/historian is that there is no way you’re never going to be able to know everything about every location, every time period, or every research methodology. All you can do is attempt to keep educating yourself. And if you stick at it, you can reap wonderful
I’ve blogged that one of my ancestors living in the (later notorious) Forsyth County, Georgia had a 14-year-old Black child named Isaac Suthard living on his farm in 1880. I wrote that blog post 10 years ago, and at the time I just assumed that Isaac was a hired hand, in the same way that
Last Thursday night, this happened less than a mile from my house: That’s the EF1 tornado that hit Canton, Georgia on June 13, 2013. There’s even a very unsettling video on Facebook of the tornado FORMING OVER MY HOUSE AAAHHHHHHH! (In other news, don’t you love how just about every tornado video includes some form
My ancestor George W. West and his wife Jennet Cowen often had people outside their nuclear family living with them in census years. I’ve already written about Isaac Suthard, the 14-year-old black farmhand. And there was also their grandson, Lightner West (who left his biological mom and step-father to live with his grandfather) and their
And I mean, literally, how to go there and research the Forsyth County, Georgia Probate and Land Records. I’ve been to each office one time so I’m by no means an expert on these records but I thought I would try and help any researcher who comes behind me. So here’s my little, not guaranteed
When it comes to the Civil War, I’m not that interested in the generals and battles. The thing that interests me is the depravation, the hunger, the neighbors turning on one another, and the way that – like wars now – poor men end up paying the price for rich men’s (misguided) dreams. Mary Ann West was
As I mentioned in a previous post, 1928 was rough for my West family. Their patriarch had died the year before, and their matriarch and two sons – including my Papa Ed’s father – all died in 1928. We’ve had years like that in my lifetime, so I know they were not happy campers back
I have a family mystery. (Unlike every other genealogist out there, right?) I’m looking for the record that proves the parentage of George W. West. Read on for more about my West Connection or click here to get straight to the Mystery of George W. West’s Parentage. Who was George W. West? GEORGE W. WEST