Experimenting with WikiTree

 As you might have noticed from the widget on the right side of the blog, I’ve been working with creating and updating profiles on WikiTree.  

I’m finding I enjoy the wiki format, and the fact that it can be a good source of ‘cousin bait’ to help find other researching with common interest.

I’m working slowly on my direct line ancestors, adding them or updating them with sources, if not already listed.  

Another project I’m working on was adding individuals who served with my ancestors in their Civil War unit.  Hopefully, some descendants of these men might have additional source material relevant to the unit history or even interactions with my ancestor.

Another plus for WikiTree is that it isn’t behind a paywall, so search engines such as Google will find the research and perhaps bring others to collaborate.

One more place to help share the research on the family.

Happy New Year - 2023

 Another year has come - 2023 seems to have come faster than previous years.  It must be a sign of my old age.

This year was full of challenges, both personal and professionally, but I can't totally blame those challenges for my lack of dedication to maintaining this blog.  A bit of laziness touched with lack of progress is the culprit.

If there's one thing that the past year has taught me, it's that life is short.  I lost family and co-workers in 2022 to both the expected and the unexpected.

Here's hoping that 2023 will be better.

Madison County Indiana Locality Guide

 As mentioned previously, one of my projects has been to create locality guides for places where my ancestors lived to aid in finding resources.

On my maternal side, Madison County, Indiana is a place my family has been since its early days.

The United States acquired the land that became Madison County from the Native Americans in the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne, and by the 1818 Treaty of St. Marys, considerably more territory became the property of the government.  The county was formed 4 January 1823 from lands governed by the Delaware New Purchase.

Madison County was named for James Madison, 4th President of the United States.

• County Seat : Anderson
• Largest City : Anderson
• Record Loss : 1880

A link to the locality guide that I've been working on is here. Any suggestions or additions to additional resources will be appreciated.

Some of the surnames and when they arrived (approximately) in Madison County:

• Wright (1867)
• Lambertson (1918)
• Pierce (1864)
• King (1840)
• Shaw (1847)
• Groenendyke (1842)
  
• Penisten (1840)