“Yours truly”  did not plan to continue expanding the family of one family, one “cousin.”  (Best laid plans….) ‘Twas important to “tie up loose ends.” There never seems to be a stopping point!!

Four AM and I’m back! Couldn’t sleep; kept thinking about that specific family. Thinking: “I should have told the reader that five to fifteen ‘source records’ accompany each of the fifty-two (and/or one-hundred fifty-two recently documented individuals).”  Source records are carefully studied  before “saved.” (I’ve likened myself to a surgeon delicately approaching each step with precision.) One-hundred fifty-two individuals in two days–and multiple “source records”–because of one cousin?!

(Yes, I originally published this on Sunday evening September 15th. Re-publishing it after adding more information.)

Here’s the story: An ordinary “source record” revealed the cousin had been incarcerated (eight years) in San Quentin Prison, in California. I looked at the original record (“copy” right there on Ancestry) and noted the code numbers for the felony. I did several Google searches attempting to identify the crime. Long story, bottom line: My “cousin” from a straight-laced Old German Baptist Brethren family wasn’t living a “straight-laced” life. Hence the search for additional “sources” for him plus record searches regarding his two wives and eight children. “Inquiring minds want to know.”

Errors like these are so frustrating–and too frequent!!

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Comment #1

John Hufford (1814-1886) took William Root into his home prior to 1880 Federal Census. William’s parents died a few years earlier and the children (William’s siblings) scattered throughout the community. William is listed as a “boarder” with John, and his sister Frances is a “boarder” at the next-door property. ~~ I suspect the children are in the home(s) of extended family but I have not unraveled all the relationships.

Comment#2

“It’s a small world after all”  is a tune we hum after a visit to a ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. My “small world” experience is the fact that I documented (and published) LaVerne Evergreen Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions (1989) and I read the tombstones for William E. & Anna Blickenstaff Root. Very likely my grandparents (David & Lydia Frantz) were friends with William & Anna.

LaVerne Evergreen Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions

documented in Digitized Library of Family History

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Confession: I’m still documenting the extended family of earlier mentioned “cousin” who, undoubtedly, was an embarrassment to his “straight-laced” Bible-believing, Christ-centered, family members.

Honestly, I can’t believe I’ve added so many individuals to my Ancestry database. “Time flies when we’re having fun.”  I’m blessed with a forest of family and I’m eager to document them before my clock stops ticking.

The two computers pull me to their keyboard–like a strong magnet. One hundred more individuals added to my database in less than twenty-four hours. Almost the entire day devoted to one man and his extended family. 

So-o-o-o-o many things to do and I haven’t enough hands!! My “peers,” my “cousins” are rapidly passing to their Heavenly reward. Every week I receive obituaries (via email from a “cousin”). I can’t keep up with documentation. I’m the “self-appointed” historian focused on accurate, thorough “sources.” I cringe every time I compare my information with that of other Ancestry Member Family Trees. “They” copy one another’s errors!! (Why don’t they use the “search” feature?) Before I go to my Heavenly reward, I want to accurately knit the Old German Baptist Brethren families into a beautiful tapestry. My eyesight is waning; lack of sleep leaves me tired. So-o-o-o-o many things to do and I haven’t enough hands!!

“No, I’m not superstitious but it brings back bad memories.”

Twenty-three months ago (Friday, Oct 13, 2017), the Escapees CARE Center served a meal that was horrible!! Without exception, all the residents complained; one lady put her tray on the Facility Director’s desk with the note “Unfit for human consumption.”  The unsatisfactory meal prompted me to collect names on a sheet of paper registering our dissatisfaction. The results of my action are documented (at length) on the website I titled Escapees Don’t CARE Center.

Escapees Don’t CARE Center

Without regard for the health of the CARE residents and the adjacent Escapees RV Park residents, the CARE Facility Director is negotiating for a cell tower. Many individuals in our community are in fragile health and (imho) we don’t need the negative effects from the tower. (IMHO: Sacrificing the health of 300+ individuals for several hundred dollars “rent” money.) Two sides to every story.