Julane's Blog

Thoughts on Life, Love & Genealogy!

2018-2019 Genealogy Years!

I joined the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and have truly found my calling! I have always enjoyed history and since retiring it has become my passion. So what, indeed have I been doing?

Learning stuff - never stop doing this! So I have listened to many of the Great Courses for history of England and America. Great lectures found here that make long drives back to WV enjoyable - or at least they help pass the time! I also have checked out all sorts of audio CD's of talks made at National Genealogical Society Conferences. AND you wouldn't believe my library of digital books. I just keep downloading the pdf files - I probably have around 2000 of them for a lot of different states.

Family history books - I started working on family history books for all four of my lines. First, my dad's family - his father was a Curtis and his mother a Cayton. Second, my mom's family - her mother was a Brooks and her father was a Betler. So you will see these families as the primaries on the Genealogy Research page. It is so exciting to work on these families!

With the DAR, I've been helping other members with their family histories. I've taken 5 courses through the DAR on genealogy and how to prove lineage and war service. I have also been proving my lineage to patriots of the war.

So now…some pet peeves!

  • Why didn't you list your parents on your marriage record, Ira Pettit!
  • Why didn't you list your parents on your marriage record, Ann Taylor Pettit Wertenbaker!
  • Where did the Caton's come from? Did they just drop into Maryland from the sky?
  • Why did David Caton change his name to Cayton? Was it just to confuse us all? He's the only one in the family who spells it this way! Thanks goodness I found a cousin to help set this straight. Did you know there are Cayton cousins in Preston County?
  • Lula Parrack - no birth record, no death record, no parents on marriage record…grrr!!
  • How many different and incomplete books titled "Marriages of VA" can there be??
  • Why can't anyone spell Josinah or Joanna?
  • Why did they have so many nicknames?
  • What the heck? Fay Loy Curtis went by….Robert?!?!
  • Where did you disappear to? I know you live in Lewis/Upshur county but you aren't on the census…

These are just a few of the questions that keep me up at night. So, if you wonder what I'm doing, you can bet I'm searching websites and books to answer these questions and more.