My Genealogy Journey

I am a senior citizen today but this journey began when I was 12 years old and had been given a homework assignment to trace our family tree.
My Dad had a vast knowledge of his ancestors, so I was a very lucky little girl. He was actually happy to hear that I wanted more than just names. He took me to the graves of our ancestors', just as he had been taken by those who came before. He told me all that he knew, from stories told to him, about each one. He said, " You can be proud of your heritage, our family helped form this country." I stood in awe as I read and copied the information on the monuments. I was astounded! Even at 12 years of age, I realized that I was looking at not only the history of my family, but also the history of the early formation of our country.
I got an A on that homework assignment but I gained much more than that . Those trips with my Dad taught me respect of my heritage and the history of this nation. That in turn sparked a love of history and genealogy that has lasted a lifetime.
It opened many new experiences. I joined Historical Societies and I became active in historical research not only for myself but also for our town, Adelphia, Howell Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey.
It became clear that the newcomers to the area knew nothing of the historical importance of our area. They wanted to do away with the names our ancestors had given to the sections of Howell Twps in which they lived and it was on the agenda of the Township Committee. The old timers were outraged and they came to me because they knew I loved history. These sections were called by name in books and legal documents. They were of great historical value. Howell Twps had a history of which it could be proud, but no one would ever find it if they took away the section names. The old timers joined together and we challenged the township committee. We presented to them the history of our little sections. State and National records documented our facts. Our township made National news when United Press International picked up the story. Our battle ended in victory.
The newcomers to the area had not been aware of our history and they wanted to preserve it also. Democrat and Republican Parties joined together and objected to the resolution. The resolution of the township committee was rescinded. This action caused the Republican Party of Howell Twps to ask me to run on their ticket for the office of County Committeeman District 2. I accepted and won and was a County Committe member for several years until I resigned because I married a man who was a township clerk and court clerk. At that time it was illegal for the spouse of a court clerk to hold an elected political position. I believe that law has now changed.
My love of history has been the reason I have done volunteer work on the State and National level. I have served as Public Relations Chairman for the Battleground Historical Society for our Battle Of Monmouth parade. I have served as Howell Twps representative to the state for the Bi Centennial. In 1976 I wrote the publicity releases for our Bi-Centennial Celebration that drew 250,000 people to Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Our farm was used to shelter some of the people who would take part in the re-enactment of the Battle Of Monmouth that took place at the actual battleground in the new state park.
When water and sewer lines were put thru Howell Twps I poured over maps and walked with county and state officials to mark areas of historical importance, especially cemeteries, so that the utmost care would be taken to protect them for future generations.
My research ability, learned as a result of my genealogy research, has been put to good use for the last 5 years. I am a volunteer search angel that, with the good wishes and co-operation of the adoptive parents, has helped to reunite adoptees with their birth families. This has healed many hearts.
All of the above actually started with a homework assignment that opened my eyes to the importance of history.
In those early days, we didn't have copying machines. They simply did not exist. Everything had to be hand written. These were also the days before air conditioning in summer and modern heating methods in winter. Heating was done by coal furnaces. It was either very, very hot and stuffy in the warm months or my hands would be so cold that it was difficult to write in winter months.
I spent hours laboring by writing out wills, deeds and any legal documents that I could find in Halls Of Records, State Archives, Surrogates Offices, churches and cemeteries. I tracked down and hounded the elderly family members for more information. They gave me the leads and I followed thru on the information. Those leads took me through cornfields, hayfields, swamps, caves, abandoned towns (haunted houses) and many long abandoned cemeteries. Streams and brooks presented problems. If a log was available I would walk the log. If it wasn't too deep and was warm enough, I would wade through and on many occasions I would swing on wild grapevines to reach the other side. I have been chased by dogs, heifers, geese, snakes, bees and spiders. All this to locate old mills, old houses, old private cemeteries and old trails. I LOVED EVERY MINUTE!
When I married and had children, they became a part of the search team. Today they jokingly tell people that their playgrounds were cemeteries when they were little. They learned to ride their bikes on the roads in the Adelphia Cemetery while their Mom searched the tombstones and planted flowers. I started the flower planting at 12 years of age. Those flowers have since spread all over the cemetery. That cemetery is beautiful in the spring because of those plantings. It wasn't a bad thing. My children were brought up to respect the resting place of their ancestors. They visit and take care of the graves of not only our ancestors, but any grave they notice that looks like there is no family left to care for it. I'm very proud of them for doing that. One of my daughters even has a side business of caring for graves. She is meticulous in her care.
All of these papers were stored in a trunk. In the trunk were boxes that separated the various lines.
I never drew any charts or made any written explanation. That info was locked into my mind and heart and I had satisfied my own curiosity about my lineage. Nobody at the time seemed interested except my oldest sibling. We shared information and did a lot of leg work together. We even went to New York searching. We were happy with what we were doing but figured that we were probably the only ones who would ever see it. After all, who would be interested in our line except us? As I got older, I began to realize that there were a lot of other people out there searching the same lines. For example, my other siblings, cousins and a lot of people that I didn't even know. My sister and I began sharing our info with relatives or people who asked us. It was very difficult because everything had to be handwritten.
Then came the days of a copying machine. WOW what an advantage! We could now happily share our stuff.
Still the stuff sat in boxes in the trunk only to be taken out when someone contacted me. I began wondering what would happen to all that stuff when I left this earth? Would my kids be interested in it? Would a historical society want it? I wished there was someway I could share it with more people.
Then the computer was invented. I knew little about it, only that towns and businesses had them. I had no idea of what cyber space was all about.
My oldest daughter bought a Web TV and showed me what you could do with it. I had to have one.
I was amazed when I saw genealogy pages on there. It took me four years to figure out how to make a web page. I put out a call to my siblings and told them I wanted to make a web page on the family. We each had been searching on our own all these years. We came together for this project. Each gathered their info and sent it. I contacted cousins and they sent the info they had. It was a fun project. I made the page but ran out of space and couldn't put all that I wanted to put. I wanted so badly to put my info on roots web. I could not figure out how to do it with my web tv. I gave up.
Then my cousin Nancy asked me, "how can you do what you want to do with a web tv?" I explained that I couldn't. I hoped that she or one of the younger family members would someday put it on Roots Web and World Connect. Nancy contacted me and told me to expect a package from UPS. I thought she was sending me some family research or documentation that she had found. The next thing I knew a brand new Dell computer was delivered by UPS. I thought they had the wrong house but my name was on the box. It was from Nancy. I was overwhelmed with gratitude but didn't have the slightest idea of how to even turn it on. I called Nancy and told her that I didn't know how to use a real computer. Her answer " I have full confidence that you will learn." I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to disappoint this young lady that out of the kindness of her heart, had just spent all this money on me. I called my daughter and she said, " Mom, the smartest person I know in the area is your neighbor, Larry Newcomb"
I knew Larry. He had helped me straighten out my Web TV problems. Everybody in the area knows and loves Larry and his family. They are good neighbors. They are always there for you if you need help. I called Larry and he came over that very night and hooked it up. He began showing me how to work it I was amazed and scared at the same time. I thought I would never be able to work the thing. Through his teaching and Nancy's constant encouragement, I began to learn. I am eternally grateful to both of them.
I told Larry about my dream of having a genealogy page on Roots Web so that my family's history could be shared with others. I explained that I didn't know how to do it and that I was just too old to figure it out. He told me he would help me. I couldn't sleep that night. I was so excited.
My youngest daughter bought me a Family Tree maker as a gift and I began putting in the names. Larry came over and through his magic my family tree appeared on Roots Web. MY DREAM HAD COME TRUE! I, with tears in my eyes, saw my Dad's and Mom's history on the internet. This would never have been possible without Larry. I will NEVER, EVER forget this young man and his kindness and patience with me. He is locked into my heart and prayers forever.
As you can see many people have helped me. I am very lucky to have such wonderful family members and friends.
I have no doubt there will be corrections that will have to be made. Where possible I documented my information. However, a lot of info was based on oral interviews with people in our line who shared what they knew about family and their notes from family bibles. It isn't easy putting all this together. If you tell me of a mistake, I will happily correct it.
I can only say ,I've done the best I can in this neat detective work we call genealogy.
My dream has come true.
Carol