Roots & Branches

Most families have some wonderful oral history that tells of a famous or infamous family member.  During the holidays my family likes to get together and tell stories on one another and of family history.  There is something comforting about sitting around the table or in a room full of family members, telling tales. 

One of our family’s stories is that on my mother’s side, we are cousins to the infamous outlaws the Younger Brother’s.  Well we love to think about it and like the idea that we have someone so well known in our line, but is it true?  This is one story that I have had a great amount of trouble with.  I remember my grandfather telling us when we were small, that he was born in Missouri and that he was cousins with these famous outlaws.  My Mom swears that if he said it, it was true.  I agree with her but the problem is proving it.

Here is what I have done so far.  I wrote to the Missouri State Archives, to look for any documents that listed the Younger line.  They had several, but nothing that shows my family.  Next I tried posting on GenForum, http://genforum.genealogy.com/.  For the first time ever, I received a somewhat rude comment back from someone who is related.  He stated that I should do my homework.  Well, I did not want to be rude back and I did not comment back.  Little does this person know, I have been doing my homework.  At least the homework I can do.  Apparently there are many people looking for the same thing.  But I was not detoured. Next I checked out several books from the library and I even purchased one online. But I have not found the connection yet. 

This can happen now and then.  We all hit brick walls.  Do not think you are alone if you do.  Just keep trying other avenues, try to think outside the box.  Ask for help if you need it. 

I plan to try Family Search next.  If that yields nothing, I will go to the local LDS Genealogy Library.  They have always been a great help in the past.  FYI, you do not have to be LDS to use their genealogy library.  I am not and they are always such a great source of information and assistance. 

 If you have information that might help me along, please let me know.  All of us can use a little help now and then. 

On February 12, 2009, Thomas Patrick Cullen passed away.  He was a freelance writer publishing “Roamin’ Wyomin’” in 2003 and “Growing Up in a Wyoming Coal Town, 1915-1938”. He was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and years later moved to Portland, Oregon.

His death was brought to my attention by a co-worker today. I would like to just say, authors like Mr. Cullen are invaluable to those of us researching our family history. His work on “Growing Up in a Wyoming Coal Town, 1915-1938” is just great. It is fascinating to read about life in the Coal Towns of past. I for one love local history and I tend to buy every book on the subject that I find.

I recommend looking at your local library for books on the area that you are researching. Local history books can shed light on local personalities and life styles. Many times when I have had a hard time of it or when I have hit a brick wall, I try to find local history books, magazines, etc. This doesn’t always work of course, but it is a way to put you in the life or era that your family member(s) was living. At the least you will learn a little something extra.

If you are researching the Rock Springs area Coal Towns, give Mr. Cullen’s book a try.

Rock Springs: Growing up in a Wyoming Coal Town 1915-1938

The Wyoming State Library recently hosted a set of training webinars to help train librarians across Wyoming on some of the newer technical tools on the web.

The classes were: Wikis, Blogs, Social Tagging, Social Networking and RSS.

Part of my homework is to add this information to my blog. If you are interested in knowing more about this program, please let me know.

My RSS (real simple syndication) recommended sites:
About.com Genealogy
Cyndi’s List
MyHeritage Genealogy
World Vital Records
News from the National Archives

If you are an avid genealogy researcher the RSS tool may be something you would like to use. It is a tool that links your favorite site to a “reader”, which compiles your links to one page and allows you to read them in a more expedient manner.