Heartland Genealogy

Have you used 'shared events' in your genealogy software? Michelle Simmons Lewis had a Facebook post today that is causing me to re-visit the concept of shared events. In her post, she indicated that she was using shared events to help with a one-name study in early South Carolina. This post caught my attention today for two reasons: My Crawford research in Kentucky is similar to a limited one-name study; I could be using shared events to tie the various members of my Kentucky FAN club together. Unfortunately, Michelle Simmons Lewis' post contained hints for Legacy Family Tree software and I use RootsMagic. Knowing that the software packages are similar, I looked for information on shared events in RootsMagic. I found a video by Bruce Buzbee explaining shared events in RootsMagic.

One of my genealogical challenges is identifying the parents and siblings of my ancestor, James Crawford. James marries Sally Duggins in Garrard County, Kentucky in 1799. By 1810, the couple is living in Preble County Ohio. I've already done some cluster research to try and make headway on this line. In the process, I've identified quite a few potential members of a cluster. In trying to figure out how to track my research, I created a spreadsheet to show where these people were at various times. The above spreadsheet provides a visual of what I currently know. Now the struggle is to create a research plan and figure out how best to track this research. Cluster Surnames Crawford, Duggins, Smith, Knight, Neal, Finley Time Period 1770 to 1850   Locations Preble County Ohio pre-1800 Kentucky