Nope, not what you think. Researcher Robin Henderson sent me his notes on the Chesapeake Hendersons (that group descended from James Henderson of Somerset County MD and Accomack County VA) this year and the daunting sight of three plus linear inches of paperwork to log into my database has filled me with anxiety every time I see it laying on my desk.
I recently kicked off the Henderson G1 Family Discussion Group on Yahoo and now, overtaken by events as the discussion has taken off, I have waded into the stack with a vengeance. Occasionally I get off on a tangent, but I'm furiously pecking away at my keyboard, logging names and dates, and making entries into my Henderson timelines. I feel like I am cramming for some kind of horrifying comprehensive final exam on the Chesapeake Hendersons, and the price of failure is the missing of some critical clue on how our Chesapeake and Onslow families connect.
Last night I came across a post by Sue Gill on one of the forums. Sue descends from the Chesapeake group through Barnabas, who unhelpfully immigrated to Onslow in the mid 1700's, just to confuse the matter. I'm simultaneously entering her information and I see some similarities in naming patterns which may prove helpful.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A Day with Al Curtis
So yesterday I did something I am rarely able to do - spend the day with fellow genealogist. Two summers ago I spent a wonderful Saturday being driven around southern Alamance and Guilford and northern Randolph counties by Jane Fruitt, who by her own admission is more comfortable with dead people than with the living (a sentiment I sometimes think I share). Yesterday I had the distinct honor to meet (and take to lunch) Alfred Field, administrator of the Curtis Family DNA project, and an authority on the NC line of Curtises.
The Curtises are a family about which I know little. Granny Henderson's grandmother was Sophronia Curtis (married to Nathaniel Low), and I have a single indistinct photo of the wizened little old lady standing in her doorway, but little other than that. Her father was Abram Curtis, who had a single known brother, Hiram. Al tells me that DNA testing has conclusively proven a connection between the North Carolina Curtises and the family of that name in New Jersey who can document their ancestry back to the late 1500's and early 1600's in Derbyshire, England. Their American progenitor was apparently a Quaker convert and refugee. As Al detailed the numerous and entertaining indiscretions of the North Carolina line, I concluded that my own Curtis ancestors were not much moved by any righteous Quaker sentiment. Makes for good stories, but can be very difficult in tracing ancestry...
The Curtises are a family about which I know little. Granny Henderson's grandmother was Sophronia Curtis (married to Nathaniel Low), and I have a single indistinct photo of the wizened little old lady standing in her doorway, but little other than that. Her father was Abram Curtis, who had a single known brother, Hiram. Al tells me that DNA testing has conclusively proven a connection between the North Carolina Curtises and the family of that name in New Jersey who can document their ancestry back to the late 1500's and early 1600's in Derbyshire, England. Their American progenitor was apparently a Quaker convert and refugee. As Al detailed the numerous and entertaining indiscretions of the North Carolina line, I concluded that my own Curtis ancestors were not much moved by any righteous Quaker sentiment. Makes for good stories, but can be very difficult in tracing ancestry...
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