My Genealogy Do-Over and How it's Going (originally published 2018)

Me in 1966. Taken by my dad, Richard L. Kienlen

I can't believe it's been two years since I put my blog on hold to start my genealogy do-over. It's been a big job!  I didn't follow any exact method, but I did completely start over. I kept all of my old trees, just using them for hints. I also have been cleaning up those old trees as I go along. I have been lucky so far. I didn't make any big mistakes when adding people to my tree. I did, however, make the biggest error of all:  I didn't cite any sources! 

I know. It's an extra step, but so very necessary.

Recently I've realized that although my research methods and documentation have improved, I haven't shared anything. I decided to get back to the blog. I considered deleting the old posts because there are some mistakes, but decided against it. They are mostly correct, and I'll have a good base to start with when I go to add more information. And boy do I have a lot of things to add!  It's amazing how much you can find when you try a little harder.

So here's what I did:

I started with the 1940 census, found my grandparents or great grandparents, and just worked my way back through the 1850 census for all of my lines. I stopped there because earlier years only list head of household. I tried to find the records for siblings as well, building lines out from all sides so I can get better and more DNA matches. The census work took almost a year, even when working on it a little bit almost every day. But every source is cited and I feel the family connections are strong. If I was unsure, I did not add the record in the hopes that I will find more documentation in the future.

1940 census listing my great grandpa, James Harry Dunsford. He was a house painter. He lived on Chouteau Avenue in St. Louis. The house is gone, but my dad told me that they did not have an indoor bathroom. They had an outhouse. In St. Louis City. In 1940!  I think that's amazing!

(1940 U.S. census, Missouri, population schedule, St. Louis Ward 7, enumeration district (ED) 96-136, sheet 61B, household 123, James Dunsford Household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Jan 2016); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T627, roll 2187.)

The next document-type I worked on was death records. I am lucky, because I have deep Missouri roots and the death certificates are free online from 1910 to about 1966 - they are a little behind getting the new ones up on the website.  If you have Missouri roots, this website is amazing:

https://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh

I have to admit, I started getting a little antsy. I wanted to find other things. Now I skip around quite a bit, but I can't emphasize enough how important it was for me to build a solid foundation with census and death records. Newspaper databases are also amazing resources.

Last year I started going on research trips. I know a lot of things are online, but it is an entirely different experience holding those documents in your hands. I spent a few days in Tennessee, and over a week in North Carolina last year. I had an amazing experience in a very small town called Hornbeak, Tennessee in Obion County. It was previously known as Wilsonville. My uncle had told me a story about James L. Thompson, my 3rd great grandfather. He said he had been killed by bushwhackers and died in front of his children in 1864. He also told me that, no matter what branch of the family he spoke to, they had all heard this same story.  I drove to Hornbeak hoping to find records. I wanted to verify this story. I talked to a man in a little office in their very small City Hall (turns out he was the mayor but I didn't know that until later). He told me all of the records had burned, and there were no newspapers at that time. I mentioned that I was going to visit the church and cemetery (Obion Chapel Methodist Church).

                                              (My photograph of the current church, taken in 2017)

The mayor suggested that I walk down a road behind the church to a house and talk to the man living there. He said he may be able to give me more information.

First I found the grave.

                                                                 (My photograph again)

I wandered around the cemetery awhile, trying to muster up the courage to knock on the door of a strange man. I finally did, his wife answered, and she walked me out into the field where her husband was working. Here is my summary of the interview: 

Mr._____  grew up in an old house the next "flat" over (referring to a level spot on top of a hill) near "that double-wide" (trailer home). He said the original log cabin had been built around and enlarged over the years. His mother was an Easterwood, and the Easterwood family lived in the area since the years before the Civil War, just like the Thompsons. (At some point, the Easterwoods acquired some of the Thompson's land.) Around 1954, his family moved into the old house on the flat. He said the part of the house that was part of the original log cabin had yellow pine floors. There was a big black stain on one part of the floor that looked more red than black when wet. It was impossible to remove, so his mom usually covered it up with something. He said that his mother told him that during the Civil War, there was a Mr. Thompson living in the house with his family. One day, 3 or 4 men came by and asked to talk to him. He went outside with them and they shot him in the field. Somehow, Mr. Thompson made it back to the house but later bled to death. The stain in the floor was from his blood that soaked into the wood. Mr. ____ sold the acre where the house was located around the year 2000. The people now living there tore the old house down. The road running out in front of the house was the original highway (now called Mack - Anna Road - Mc Ana on google maps). He said that so many people moved along that road from Gibson County, Tennessee, that the area was called "Gibson's Ridge."

(My photo, view from location of original house)

James L. Thompson had, in fact, come from Gibson County, Tennessee. And although I did not get any written documentation of that bit of family lore, I feel that the story has been verified.

Sadly, the house has recently been torn down, but another neighbor (in the double-wide) was able to tell me where on his property the house was located. He had pictures but couldn't find them for me.

I have learned a lot over the past two years. Source citation is important. People online do not know what they're doing. Trust no one - do your own research instead. But here's the biggest lesson I have to share:


   Get Out Of Your House, People!