Firsts

We often tend to remember major 'firsts' in our lives: first date, first kiss, first car, first house, etc. Unfortunately, when it comes to genealogy, I don't remember the first ancestor I researched. However, I do remember other genealogy 'firsts'.

My start in family history research began with a discussion in my grandmother's living room. She made the comment that she would like to know more about her grandmother, especially where she was buried.

I don't remember much else from that initial visit. However, my memory says that after my visit with my grandmother in Dodge City, I traveled to Phillipsburg to visit my in-laws. During this visit, my mother-in-law became my first mentor. She explained how to create a pedigree chart and how to fill out a family group sheet.

DNA Heritage and Challenge

During a recent visit with some old friends, the discussion turned to genealogy and DNA. Expecting an answer regarding ethnicity, they asked where my family comes from.  My immediate response was KENTUCKY.

Perhaps this quick answer was due to my recent THOMPSON research in Ohio County, Kentucky. The more likely reason is that a lot of ancestral lines seem to go thru Kentucky. (or New York). My brother's migration map from his Ancestry DNA test illustrates our heritage.

A Look Back

Thanks to other geneabloggers, I have recorded statistics for both my RootsMagic tree and my Ancestry tree over the past year.

Roots Magic Tree

Heartland Genealogy Tree on Ancestry

The numbers are 'nice' but for me to understand whether I have made progress, I have to compare them to where I was on January 1, 2018.

Nettie Adell Wells

Nettie Adell Wells was born on 5 Feb 1873 in Woodson, Kansas, United States.^1–18 She lived in Liberty Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Jul 1875.¹⁹ She was found on the 1875 Kansas census as a 13 year old female and was listed as Nettie Wells. She lived in Liberty, Woodson, Kansas, USA on 1 Mar 1885.²⁰

Nettie Adell Wells and Charles Oliver Mentzer were married on 18 Oct 1893 in Yates Center, Woodson, Kansas, United States.^{2,7–10,12,21,33–55}
She lived in North Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Jul 1895.²² She was found on the 1895 Kansas census as a 21 year old female born IN who came to Kansas from Ind and was listed as L.O. Mentzer.

Narrative Reports

Do you ever take the 'easy way' to do something? Well, I do all of the time when it comes to writing about an ancestor. For quite a few years, I've been letting my genealogy software compose the narrative.

I first learned to take advantage of turning the events into sentences and thus into a narrative while using The Master Genealogist. Second Site software would take my genealogy data in TMG and turn it into a narrated web site.

Tax Roles

I've been trying to learn more about my ancestor, John Thompson (1797-1857) in hopes of identifying his parents. He married Sarah Iglehart in 1820 in Ohio County, Kentucky. Thus, I wanted to learn more about any Thompsons in Ohio County, Kentucky around the time of this marriage.

Fortunately, the Ohio County, Kentucky Tax Books, 1799-1875 are available for viewing on Family Search. Even though these images aren't indexed, it was fairly easy to find the images for the 'T' portion of the alphabet. (Note: I also recorded information for the Igleharts while viewing this resource.)

I found a John Thompson listed in 1820. This John Thompson was over 21 and owned a horse.