by Mark and Sally Perkins
What could be better than having an experienced group of genealogists help you hunt down an elusive ancestor? Ask-A-Genealogist, our newest member benefit, is just that resource. Chris Burditt, research services coordinator, heads up a team of volunteers ready to help pinpoint resources and strategies to get your research on track. All it takes to start the conversation is an email to him at research@napagensoc.org.
My wife, Sally, and I decided to try this approach for ourselves. Here is the initial request we sent to Chris:
“We are looking for the death date and place for Sally’s 3rd great grandfather, Charles L. Barret. Charles was born in Virginia between 1781 and 1784. He married Sarah D. Taliaferro at Amherst, Virginia in 1806. Family lore has it that the Barret family migrated to Tennessee around 1832 and then continued to Texas without Charles in the late 1830s. Some accounts say Charles died in Tennessee and others say he died in route to Texas. Your input would help us prioritize the next steps in finding the details of Charles’s fate.”
Right off the bat, Chris helped us locate Charles in Tennessee. His research uncovered land tax records for Charles and Sarah in 1836. As genealogists, we should be grateful for taxes! The records gave us a time and place to hunt for more records related to Charles - property, probate, and death records. With Chris’s input, we hope to one day solve the mystery of this husband and father who remained behind.
One other gift came from this consultation. Chris encouraged us to look for companions who journeyed to Texas with the Barrets. As he said, “Going from Virginia to Tennessee to Texas in those days was something you didn’t do alone. Likely traveling companions would be extended family and church members.” This advice has prompted us to explore the who and why behind the Barret’s journey. Chris’s vision reminds us that sometimes an “outsider” can see the bigger picture while we bushwhack our way through the facts.
After using this new benefit, Sally and I urge NVGS members to give it a try. Do an inventory of your research and choose a spot where you’re blocked. Send an email to Chris with your question and let the Ask-A-Genealogist team go to work. Who knows, you may acquire some new genealogical traveling companions!
Members: Learn more about Ask-A-Genealogist.
