Genealogy Jottings

At last I have completed this year’s genealogical project, my story of Jane and Caleb Reed, and mailed it out to the relatives. Now I can celebrate Christmas, clean up the office, and prepare a research plan for next year.

Having finished research projects on all my known great-grandparents, I am now working through my sixteen great-great grandparents. Next up will be the blacksmith Thomas Sherman, 1841-1912. He lived in Illinois from about 1870 on.

This ancestor left some unanswered questions that I will work to resolve in 2016:

1. Where was he born?
2. Did he serve in the Civil War as he claimed?
3. How many times was he married, and who were his wives?

The last question poses the most interesting puzzle for me because his first wife would have been my ancestor. I know nothing about her except that according to family lore she was a German girl who came to America when she was about 8 years old. She was said to have died near Indianapolis after the birth of her only child, my great-grandmother Anna Petronellia Sherman, in 1865.

It has been several years since I last worked on Thomas’ life, and I am eager to get re-acquainted with him. What new resources will I find? Will I be taking a research trip for this project? I cannot wait to get started.