Can you quote your lineage? I can, especially my 'lady line'. Counting my granddaughter, I have nine generations of mothers and daughters. Starting with my mom, I have Wanda, Ima, Nettie, Texanna, Ruthie and Rebecca. I just love these ladies for the wonderful life and genetic makeup they gave to me.
My family is complicated with lots of marriages and half and step relatives. I have genealogies for my five grandchildren plus trees for my oldest and youngest half brothers and my step brother; in other words, I have at least 10 trees in my database.
I have been exploring my family's roots for almost 30 years. I started out unconventionally, not knowing anything about genealogy. I had no idea that it had a name or that people had been practicing this hobby for almost as long as there have been people. My grandmother got me hooked forever when she told me that her Holder family was here (in Texas) "before the Alamo". She meant the battle, of course but I couldn't imagine how she even knew that. She laughed at me and explained that back in the days before telephones, televisions and highways, people TALKED. Parents told children stories from the Bible and stories about their families. She was even able to tell me that she had a great-granduncle who fought at the Battle of San Jacinto where Texas won its independence from Mexico. She never knew her paternal grandmother and wasn't sure of her name. I was finally able to find out who this mystery woman was although it came too late to share with Mamaw.
Just after I started this amazing journey through time, my first cousin sent me a small gedcom that contained my Armstrong lineage for 19 generations. I was ecstatic to find out that Armstrong is a Scottish name, of all things and outlaws to boot. Around the same time, my father-in-law found out about my new pastime and started sending me information on his family. His grandmother was a Mouton, so my first real foray into libraries and courthouses was to gather information on Heffernans and Acadians. At the time, there were only three groups of Heffernans in Texas, although it's a fairly common name in Chicago and on the northern East Coast. Generally, if I found a Heffernan, he was related. Imagine my delight when I learned that Jean Mouton (Jack's 5th great-grandfather) founded the city of Vermilionville, later to be known as Lafayette, Lousiana. The O'Neals, Pucketts and Brazzils are from my mother-in-law and they have fascinated me. Her Sparks are another line that have been in Texas since it was a Republic.
Sadly, it would be five years before I found USGenWeb and started learning what a good database really is. After spending another five years expanding my database, I started collecting sources for the information I already had. I have several great treasures, the best is a copy of a diary written by John Brazzil on his trek from northeast Texas to his new home in central Texas. It isn't much and is short and to the point, starting out with just a record of the price of feed and where they camped. Another is an anonymous biography about my maternal grandfather's maternal grandmother. I think it was probably written by my grandmother but I'll never know since it's typewritten and unsigned. Mamaw and Papaw lived with his mother and grandmother for about four years after they married. The two older women both died in 1937 within 4 months of each other. Papaw's mother died on Mamaw's 22nd birthday; my mother was two and a half. Shortly afterward, the young couple moved to Houston.
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