Family Story Matters

  The Four Winds Author: Kristin Hannah Published by: St. Martin's Press Genre: Historical Fiction # pages: 464 My rating: 5 stars The four winds have blown us here, people from all across the country, to the very edge of this great land, and now, at last, we make our stand, fight for what we know to be right. We fight for our American dream, that it will be possible again. (page 426) Why am I reviewing a novel on a family history blog? Because non-fiction gives us facts, but fiction gives us the truth . And a large part of my genealogy study is researching Mom's childhood community. The Four Winds takes place in west Texas farmland in the 1930s. It focuses on the devastating impact of the Dust Bowl on one particular family. Mom lived on a farm in East Texas. While the Dust Bowl did not affect that part of the state, the Great Depression did.  I'm always looking for details to help give me a sense of place at this time. What was life like on the farm during this tough fina...

Here's another example of how I spend fifteen hours researching a seemingly simple question.  I reasoned most families in the 1800s did not migrate hundreds of miles away from home as a solo venture. They more than likely traveled in groups. And they more than likely knew someone already established at the new homeland. My question: With Whom did each of my four families travel and/or follow to Robertson County, Texas? To find the answer, I had to research extended family members. LOTS of them. Then I had to synthesize all the names and dates into a manageable framework. While the above graphic concisely summarizes the findings, the following gives more detail: The MILES family came to Texas in a circuitous fashion. James Cornelius Miles (my great-great-grandfather) and Nancy Catherine Duncan - along with their nine children (ages 5 to 26) - were living in Hamblen, TN in 1880.  Shortly after, James, Catherine, and the younger six children moved to Robertson County, TX. I sur...

For the next several weeks, I want to delve into farm life in rural Boone Prairie, Texas.  I'm interested in knowing what Mom's childhood may have looked like ... and I'd like to understand why my grandmother chose to leave and sever ties with most relations. While it may not be possible to answer that last question, I hope to take a few steps forward in making an educated guess. First a bit of historical context. When, Why, and How did they travel across the South and settle in Robertson County? Migration to Texas When I first started this genealogy quest, I knew I was a southern mutt. What I didn't realize was the depth of those roots. With a high degree of certainty, I can trace seven of my eight family names back to the early 1800s. And all those families resided in the deep south (Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina). For now, however, I'm going to focus on my mother's side. The makeshift chart above reveals all four...

  Last year I attended my first genealogy conference. While RootsTech has sponsored annual conferences since 2011, I did not begin my family history research until late 2018. The conference is typically held in Salt Lake City, home of the world's largest genealogical center: The Family History Library . When not attending breakout sessions, participants can walk two blocks to the library and research elusive relatives. Salt Lake City also offered me the added bonus of reconnecting with my best friend from high school. Adrienne and I have the rare ability to maintain a close friendship across the years as well as the miles. When we do meet in person, it is as if we were never apart. In February 2020, I was ignorant of any deadly virus. We saw a few people wearing masks in the SLC airport, but we thought nothing of it. How life changed over the next couple of weeks. This year RootsTech took their conference online . They not only added hundreds of new breakout sessions, but they also...