What was your most recent discovery? Did you use tips from the blog? Did you use MyHeritage, Google, R/E Deeds or any of the tips from other past classes?

I have recently been reading a book, The Ancestry Detective by Charles Pembrake. It reminds me that some of my most interesting discoveries were found when I took the time to do that detective work. I am not always the most patient person. I want to open the computer, plug in a name and “zap” know their life history. If it were only so easy.

Here is an example: I know, as I said last week, that my grandfather worked for the railroad. He had other jobs that I have seen in census reports or heard from family or knew from my youth.  My sister did some interviews with family when she was doing a project for school. My grandmother told her that my grandfather had been a cowboy. Now I am thinking, really! I pictured John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or James Arness (Marshall Dillon).

I decided to take up the detective work. I knew where he was born and where he lived during census times. None of the censuses listed him as a cowboy. So, I thought, “What do I know about the places that he lived.” It turns out that one of those places was in the northeast corner of Colorado near where he would eventually meet and marry my grandmother. Family Search Wiki gave me some history of the area and guess what. It was a huge cattle ranch. My hypothesis, Grandpa worked on the ranch as a “COWBOY” and ranch hand.

Interesting also, this area was near Fleming, Colorado where my grandparents started their family. Fleming, according to a little history research, was built to support the CB & Q (Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy) Railroad. You have already taken the next step, haven’t you. The railroad my grandfather worked for was the CB & Q Railroad. The speaker today told us that most people lived near their work in earlier times.

 Being a family history detective takes patience and perseverance. Funny thing is that I don’t always have either but when I do take the time, I find cool stuff that helps connect dots. I don’t always find them on the first try. Sometimes I stumble across things when I least expect to. That is the process of being a detective.

What can I find by following the leads from the railroad class? Perhaps I can learn what a “section draintuive” is, at least that is what it looks like on the census. Well, I may have found something. I went to Mid-Content library and ended up at Nat’l Archive Atlanta and a pension record for my grandfather. Now pay and get it sent. I get it Monday!

Another tip from our speaker: when you are going to take a class, a little research for your family prior to the class will help make the speaker’s information more relevant and easier to understand. OOOW – New England here I come! And be looking for opportunities to gather with like-minded people and talk family history findings and strategies.

Heidi Geise, education@hqrl.com