Category: My Family

Posts about my family and the research into my family tree

History, Our History, is Important

History, Our History, is Important

I write this while hot, sweaty, covered in dirt and sawdust, and soaking wet.  My three year old son is in the same condition, but being this way made me realize how history, our history, is so very important.

The Importance of History

I recently read an article titled, “The Importance of History[1].”  This is a great article that shows how history, while fixed and unchangeable, is subjectively viewed by historians through their own view of their current world.  The facts of history do not change, but the interpretation of the facts can. Continue reading “History, Our History, is Important”

Looking for Elijah Edens

Looking for Elijah Edens

The Elijah Edens Brick Wall

Each family tree has a brick wall, and most of the time it is on one of the main paternal or maternal lines.  For my family research that brick wall is Elijah Edens, born about 1810, probably in Virginia.

In the more than 20 years I have been researching Elijah relatively little is known about him, save for his place of residence in 1830, 1850, 1860, and 1880, as well as his spouse and children. Continue reading “Looking for Elijah Edens”

Evidentia Experiment: A New Project

Evidentia Experiment: A New Project

I have been using Evidentia for about two years now, and while I love the program I will admit I am not a power user.  While I was reading several blogs today I came across one on the Evidentia site where Ed Thompson, the creator of the software, decided to start a new project called the Evidentia Experiment.  I decided I am going to do the same thing. Continue reading “Evidentia Experiment: A New Project”

Bad Genealogy Research

Bad genealogy research appears to be popping its ugly head all around lately, in message boards, in conversations, online, and even in lectures.

I was contacted by a distant cousin asking if I knew anything about a Martin Van Buren Edens who had served in the Union army.  I looked in my tree and did not find him, so I looked on Ancestry to see if there was a connection somehow, and there is an apparent connection to my family dating back to the very early 1800s. Continue reading “Bad Genealogy Research”