Why WikiTree?

You may have gathered from my previous post that I have recently immersed myself in WikiiTree. You may, or may not, care why, but I’m going to tell you ayways.

I have been working on my family tree for more than 30 years (yes that goes back to before I got my Tandy TSR-80 computer.)

Yup, me, my mom, and my grandma would spend hours at the library and writing letters to relatives we barely knew. We kept everything on notebook paper and all the info we got was pretty much about direct relatives.

Fast forward to now and I sit here on my trusty laptop after hours of tryng to find relationships, connections, and other information on me and my relatives. WikiTree has a huge directory of profiles and family trees that are added and maintained by volunters who take genealogy very seriously. One of the things I like best about WikiTree is that is offers countless opportunities to work with other people. There are special projects for different locations, ethnicities, and surnames. They have a wonderful collection of famous and notable peope, and they make it easy to find your personal (or in many cases, lack of) relationship or connection.

Finding those famous connections gives you research points that can possibly lead to filling in blanks in your tree. This has been the case for me many times. And it’s not just about famous people. Today I was able to make a clarification on my personal tree regarding my 9th great grandfather, Anthony Colby (1605-1660), who happened to be one of the original settlers of Amesbury, Massachussetts. He came over from England in 1630 as one of the first immigrants beginning the Great Puritan Migration.

Are you working on your families history? It’s really quite fun, and more than a little interesting. But beware, it can also be incredibly addictive. If you are a genealogist. I’d love to know what you are currently working on.

Me, James Earl Jones, and WikiTree

I have to admit, until recently I have only dabbled on WikiTree, but lately I’ve been using it to add names to my tree. When I hit a roadblock I go into WikiTree and see if it has info I don’t. I ALWAYS find things that help me with my research. I get names and places and so much more that I use to find references and documents for citations. I feel like I have so much catching up to do.

Like today, I added James Earl Jones to my tree. A lot of people ask me why I “bother” with genealogy. They say “it’s not like it’s a real tree.” Ack! It couldn’t be more real. A family tree is a road map of where you come from to where you are. I am particularly interested in “famous” ancestors because it feeds my imagination.

Mr. Jones is a stepping stone for me to see if I can build any other connections with my Jones lines. I have the indirect link, but I am at a roadblock with my 3rd great grandfather on my father’s side. It’s a long shot, but an avenue I have not tried before.

If anyone has any connections to George Henry Jones b. 26 May 1926, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee > Eugene Franklin Jones b. 8 Sep 1896, Tunica, Mississippi > Israel Jones b. Dec 1872, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee > Washington Jones b. c 1831, Rockingham, North Carolina, please let me know.

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