Getting Started

I just got my genealogy website up and running finally. I recently read an article in Family Tree Magazine about creating a blog to keep track of your research. It's kind of like a high tech research journal. Hopefully, putting it all in writing might help me see what I'm missing and help me to fill in some of the missing branches of my tree.

My website is already working to my advantage. My mother visited the website and as she was browsing through the family tree, she remembered more details about some of her relatives. She sent me an email telling me the approximate death date of her great-grandmother and where she believed her to be buried. She also told of two relatives that died young that I did not have in my charts. I followed up on her notes and found the information on her great-grandmother on the Lamar County TXGenWeb site, which I will post later.

I sent off a request to the military for any reports relating to the accident that killed my uncle Wallace Esbon Matthews during WWII. I have now received a second response from them telling me that my request has been forwarded to yet another department to find the records. I hope they find something soon!

I also sent off a request for his birth certificate to the TX vital records department. They cashed my check back in August, but I still haven't received a response. I hate waiting on the government! I'm too impatient.