WANDERINGS FROM YOUR PRESIDENT
by Gayle Stuart, WGS President
Ever stop to think . . . . . and forget to start again?
This is what happens over summer vacation and it is hard to get going again in the fall.
School has started for another year and I’m sure we all like to think back briefly on our school days. If we could, would we go back?
Over summer our society held a meeting in the country schoolhouse located here in Walnut. Lots of remembering went on. Teachers, fellow classmates, carrying water, the outhouses, bells, recess and the list goes on. Most of our members attended school in our rural areas. Those that went beyond the eighth grade came into Walnut or some other “town” school to finish high school.
How does this connect with Genealogy? Sometimes we come to a brick wall and don’t know what to do next. STOP!! THINK!! Just like reviewing when we start school in the fall. You need to go back over your notes and pages of information. Look at where you got your information. Most of the time the information recorded closer to the actual event will be more accurate. With so many things available on the internet and in our libraries, we should be able to jump start our work in progress. Have you checked every census available so that you know where they lived, occupation, number of children, land owner or renter, and could they read or write? Take a good look at these pages. Everything that we have collected over the years should be gone over again and look for new clues.
I hope that everyone had a great summer and that you are now ready to start in again. We are always looking for things for the newsletter and for programs. We welcome all suggestions.