Genealogical Research

Well, my daily posting is…not. Between the problems I’m having with my brand new computer and homeschooling my son (not to mention work, household chores, the garden, and keeping up with family), I have not had time to post. That’s not to say that this blog is completely off my mind, because it isn’t. I have two posts I’m writing right now, but which aren’t quite finished yet. One is a review of genealogy books for kids, and the other is a Wordful Wednesday post on my paternal grandmother. The latter is one I’ve been working on for at least two weeks. All the photo albums have come out, and I’ve been flinging questions desperately at my parents about Nanny, but none of that has helped me to actually finish the post.

I’m still working on some genealogy projects, when I have time. I was quite pleased to discover a copy of James E. Wooley’s Buncombe County, North Carolina, Index to Deeds, 1783 - 1850 in the Macon County Public Library (it’s currently out of print). Handy little book, that, for anyone who has ancestors living in Western North Carolina before 1850. I had fun looking for Hiram Dillingham (two entries, both as a grantee; what happened to the land he had in Buncombe County after he moved to Rabun County???), Amos Curtis (who I didn’t expect to find, and didn’t, but I had to look anyway), and other Little Tennessee River Valley residents. Interestingly enough, I chanced upon an entry for a Samuel Hopper; I was very excited to see this, since I haven’t been able to definitively trace him from Tennessee back to North Carolina yet (from Rabun County to Tennessee, yes, but not any further back), and since one enduring question I’ve had about him is how he met his wife, Sarah McKinney, who was from Buncombe County. That’s not to say that the Samuel Hopper listed in this index is my Samuel Hopper, but it’s worth further investigation.

And on that note, I shall retire, and as I do, I shall also endeavor to ignore the piles of photocopied records pleading for my attention.