As
our family’s historians we turn the pages of old books in libraries, walk
through almost forgotten cemeteries and scroll down long lists of names on
websites. We take notes on index cards or notebooks or laptops. Our knowledge
slowly grows one name, one fact at a time.
Do
YOU still get excited or is your research just the usual routine? When I first
learned I could find out information about my family I was very excited. I shared
my discoveries with my family, my friends, with anyone who was unfortunate
enough to sit beside me. (Ha!) I was excited and I wanted to share that
excitement. Are you still that excited about your discoveries?
I
recently decided to focus my research on the First US Census. This was the very
FIRST US Census, approved on 1 March 1790 to count our early inhabitants for
the purposes of taxing each state and paying off the expenses related to the
Revolutionary War. On the first Monday in August the US Marshals mounted their
horses and started on their nine-month task. The marshals and their assistants traveled
through every county, town and city in the new country. I can picture those men
on foot or horseback crossing streams and mountains, following earthen paths
and avoiding dangerous animals to seek out the strong, independent early
settlers of our country. The census takers were educated men who could read and
write. They were organized and resourceful.
Did
those early census takers walk into the home of your ancestors? In Jones
County, North Carolina they walked into a home on the north side of the Trent
River on the Black Swamp. It was the
home of Edward Brown, my fifth great grandfather. He was sixty years old and had
seven other people in his household.
That
excites me. Those first census takers, who were sent out across our country by
our founding fathers stepped into the home of my 5th great
grandfather, sat down on a chair or a bench and spoke to the man whose surname
I share. Two hundred and twenty-eight
years later, I am excited that my family has a little connection to history!
I
will continue to go through my list of ancestors to find others who were
visited by those first census takers. And as I learn those names I will share. Be
careful if you plan to sit down next to me.
What
excites YOU about your research?
