I have always been a history buff. As a child I would ask my grandmother and her elderly friends, “What was it like in the old days? Did you ever ride in a horse and buggy?” Of course none of them were old enough to have ever been in a horse drawn carriage, but as a little girl I assumed they had experienced it all. I have always been interested in my maternal grandmothers family roots. Her parents died when she was a little girl, and even though she was raised by an aunt, her grandparents lived in another state and she had only met them twice in her life. I remember being a little girl and visiting this little house in North Carolina. On the wall was a photo of my grandmother’s grandmother (my great-great grand) Caroline. The lady who looked between the ages of 25 – 30 years fascinated me. The photograph which was yellowed and wrinkled with age intrigued me.
Much to my delight their are a plethora of research tools available to investigate your family history. I was able to not only find my 3 year old grandmother on the 1930 Census records, but searching deeper I was also able to make an even greater discovery. On the 1870 Census I found Malinda and Ephriam Benson, my grandmother’s great grandparents five years after they were emancipated from slavery. The 1880 Census revealed Malinda and Ephriam Benson, along with a house full of children, one of which happens to be 6 year old Caroline. I rushed to my grandmother with my laptop to show her the information I had found. She smiled and said “isn’t that nice”.
Another avenue for researching geneology is looking up the city and county websites. Most have geneological forums. After looking up the tiny southern town Caroline and her parents hailed from and contacting a lady who specialized in the town’s geneology, she e-mailed me a copy of Caroline’s December 12, 1892 marriage license! I can’t tell you the joy that I felt from seeing that e-mail. Pieces to the puzzle were finally falling into place. It also seems as if researching family history runs in the family. I recently discovered an uncle who still lives in that tiny town and he has been able to trace the family history back to almost 200 years! With luck and determination maybe I can help him to trace it back another hundred!
