Overly Ambitious

One of the wonderful things about living in northern Michigan is the cool summer and the great outdoors, even in the midst of a pandemic. We've been camping and kayaking, all the while observing social distancing. But that means I'm not spending a lot of time on genealogy. However, today is a rainy day, and while I should be cleaning house, this is just too tempting a time not to do at least a little genealogy. 

Yes, I had such great ambitions for 2019. I've actually started several of the projects and made some progress; others, not so much. And I haven't finished a single project that I can think of. It's a journey, right? And I keep adding to the list. While organization and DNA are at the top of the list, so is documenting some of my research. In addition to the tasks I listed in my 2019 Genealogical Resolutions, I'd also like to prove one set of ancestors into the Prairie Pioneers as early (1836) settlers of Illinois. As part of that, I have a task related to an 1838 letter from my g-g-g-uncle, Joseph Gay, and his wife, Maria A. (Rhodes) Gay, to her brother, Anthony Rhodes, back in Vermont. The original letter is stored at the Knox College County Archives in Galesburg, Illinois, and is accompanied by a transcription of the letter and some genealogical information. Unfortunately, the genealogical info conflates two women with nearly the same name. I'd like to send them updated information on that as well as some improvements to the transcription itself. Since I got this back in 2016, I'd better hop on that. 

An additional line of inquiry would be into my ancestors who were enslavers. I have found various pre-Civil War censuses that list the number and ages of slaves, but not the names. I've joined a couple of Facebook groups that have suggestions on how to research this and where to share the information I find.

So many ancestors, so little time, so many BSOs (Bright Shiny Objects)!