Saturday Night Genealogy Fun :: It's GeneaThanksgiving

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. It's been a busy week at The Family History Library! Anyway, I thought I'd play along with Randy tonight with his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!

This week it is the Thanksgiving Edition in which he asks:

• Which ancestor are you most thankful for, and why?
• Which author (book, periodical, website, etc.) are you most thankful for, and why?
• Which historical record set (paper or website) are you most thankful for, and why?

You don't have to travel too far back in time to find the ancestor that I'm most thankful for – my grandmother, Hazlette (Brubaker) Phend Dunn Ferguson (1902-1984). Even though grandma didn't document her findings she was an enthusiastic genealogist providing me with a five-generation pedigree chart filled with the names and dates of her ancestors (and mine!). Grandma also left behind many old family photographs in addition to her own handwritten biography.

The author that I'm most thankful for is a very recent find... Ann-Jannette Emerson published an impressive body of work called “James and Mary Veatch Ellis : Their Sons & Other Descendants” in 1985. I heard about the book several years ago but finally had the opportunity to spend some time with it while here in Salt Lake City. It is a huge 700-page book jam-packed with documents, transcriptions and abstracts – all with sources. And, it takes me back two more generations on my Ellis line and makes a probable link to the Veatch family – both early 1700s settlers of Prince George's and Frederick counties in Maryland.

It will probably come as no surprise to my few faithful readers that the “record set” that I am most thankful for is Land Records! As tedious and frustrating as they can sometimes be to use they have provided me with “proof” connecting one generation to another in several lines being researched. Case in point, Brinker last June and Huntsicker last month! Obviously, deeds also allow you to locate the land where your ancestors lived and help in finding that land when you visit the area. It is an amazing feeling to walk on the land where they lived!