The Good and The Bad

Well, I've had a lot happen over the past 10 or so days. Not so much with physically updating my family tree, but moreso in gathering information for it. As it goes with anything in life, this particular week has had it ups and downs. Most of it was good, however, which I'm very happy about.

The Bad:

My search for my Native American ancestry continues and probably will for quite some time. As stated in my previous post, I found a professor/author with a background in Native American history that I emailed in hopes of finding out more information on "Dragging Canoe", who is said to be my 7th great grandfather. I got a response back from her the very next day saying that she wasn't a Native American genealogist, so she referred me to a member of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council, who is supposed to be an expert in Native American genealogy. I emailed him, but have yet to hear back from him. With each passing day, my hopes of getting a response are getting less and less. I will not give up hope with him just yet. If it turns out that I don't receive a response, I will just look elsewhere.

In the meantime, I borrowed a couple of books from the local library on the Cherokee Indians. I have only got a little ways into one of the books, called "Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook". So far, it is very interesting reading. It talks about what the Cherokee people went through after the arrival of the Europeans. Things, such as being decimated by disease, trading goods with the British and their eventual removal from their native lands. I don't know about now, but this is the kind of things they never taught us in school when I was growing up. It makes you stop and think about why Native American people have a bit of a hatred toward the white people.

The Good:

While waiting to get an email from the Cherokee Nation, I picked one branch of my family tree to begin extensively researching. I'm still baffled with so much conflicting information or lack of information about the Hindman part of my family. This part of my family belongs to my paternal grandmother. I was so confused with some of the information I was finding, that I decided to post a message on a genealogy message board in hopes of getting some of this confusion straightened out. I got an answer here and there, but nothing that really could answer any of my questions. What happened next changed me profoundly!

One of the responses I got from my message board post suggested I visit a site called Find A Grave and send an email to the person who posted information for many of the people I had questions about. I did so and got a response the next day (Saturday, the 18th). Turns out, this person is a distant relative, where she and I meet in the family tree is at my great great grandfather. Small world out there sometimes. She has been into genealogy a LOT longer than I have and is in the area where some of my ascendents are from. Since Saturday, the two of us have been getting acquainted with each other and sharing photos and facts from what we have and know. Obviously, she has MUCH more information than I do about this part of my family, which is a part of my family that I never knew, beyond my grandmother, anyway. Needless to say, the past few days have been great!

My wife and I have been planning to go see the graves of these relatives for about 3 weeks. This was even before I met a relative right there in the area. There is a "famous" house that my great great grandfather built in 1914 and lived in with his wife and some of their children. If you have ever seen the movie "Children of the Corn", then you have seen the house, as it is in the movie. Another distant relative is buying back the house to "get it back into the family". He plans to have it restored to the way it was when it was originally built. He's hoping to have it completed by 2014, so a family reunion can take place in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the original house being built.

I had no idea that I had so many relatives still in that area, not to mention all around me and in other various parts of the country. All from the same ancestors that I come from. I'm just beginning to introduce myself to some of these other people who I am family with, but have never known or met. This is giving me a new sense of what a family should be like, even with distant relatives. I'm very much looking forward to getting to meet some of these people and am hoping to do so later this summer or early fall. My original goal of finding my ancestry has taken on a whole new meaning with being able to share information, stories and photos with living, breathing people. People that are called family.

I'd like to thank my grandmother (R.I.P.) who must be looking down and beaming at what I have just found. She is my link to this part of my family. Thank you to the person who suggested that I get in touch with my distant cousin, Barbara. Without you, this celebration of family might not have been possible, at least right now! I'd also like to thank my cousin Barbara for taking the time to answer my email and treat me like I am family by wanting to meet me and my wife, as well as sharing what she knows about this side of my family. I can't wait to meet you, too!