Family Story Matters

  My father was known as the man with two last names: Gleason Walter Coleman . I knew his middle name was in honor of his father, Walter Albert  Coleman . But I wondered why his parents decided on such an unusual given name. Unfortunately, I never thought to ask Dad when he was alive. I simply assumed they named him Gleason because they liked the name. After all, that is the criteria I used to name my children. After a few months of online research, I stumbled upon my father's birth certificate.   And much like last week's discussion of death certificates , I discovered these documents provide a wealth of useful information. For example: Birthdate and time (20 FEB 1928 at 8:23 pm) His first home residence (1226 Drexel Avenue San Antonio, TX) His father's full name and birthplace (Walter Albert Coleman - Oklahoma City, OK) His father's occupation (Ass. Cowles Auto Livery Service) His mother's maiden name and birthplace (Vernon Bryan - Ripley, MS) His mother's occ...

  As I indicated last week , when I first began this genealogy adventure, my sole purpose was to discover my country of origin. I cared nothing about extended family or historical timelines. I simply wanted to follow parental lineage.  I started with little information. I knew the names of my parents, grandparents, and maternal great-parents. However, I knew even less about my dad's side of the family. In fact, I never met either one of his parents. Dad's mother died when he was just thirteen years old, and I never met his father. Dad had no respect for the man. Occasionally I tried to talk about my grandfather, but Dad would either evade the question or indicate he was a no-good drunk. I distinctly remember Dad telling me the man died of cirrhosis of the liver.  Despite their contentious relationship, I wanted to learn more about this side of the family. However, this proved more difficult than I anticipated. Coleman is a fairly common surname. And even though the 1910 c...

When I first developed an interest in genealogy research, my sole purpose was to discover where my family originated. As far as I knew, I was a southern mutt. I wanted to trace my ancestors back to the motherland ... wherever that might be. I ignorantly assumed I could complete this task in an afternoon. I registered for the Ancestry.com free trial offer and input my parents' information. I anticipated I would have my answer in no time. After the fourteen-day period, I realized my quick research was fraught with errors, and I was no closer to knowing my origin. However, I didn't care. I was hooked on the process. I purchased the monthly subscription and started over. This time, I was determined to analyze the hints closely and move methodically through each branch of the family tree. The Pedigree Chart We used to breed Labrador Retrievers. Submitting proper pedigree charts to the ASPCA was essential to prove bloodline. The first sixteen verses of the New Testament begin with J...