Monday Musings

There has been lots going on recently, genealogy speaking, in my little corner of the world.

       1.  During their sale on April 11, I signed up with 23andme, a genetics testing service, and ordered two DNA tests - one for me and one for my mom.  We have been wanting to do this for quite awhile, and the sale was too good to pass up.  I mailed my test back a week or so ago, and Mom mailed hers today.  In 6-8 weeks from the time they receive our samples, we should get our results.  For me, there were three compelling reasons for having our DNA tested:  First, to maybe find some "new" unknown cousins; Second, to find the area of the world our ancestors came from (I'm pretty sure I know, but there may be a surprise or two!), such as Western Europe, etc.; and Third, to see if there are any genetically linked health issues that might show up.  There is something that runs through the Ranney side, and we are anxious to see if anything is indicated in our DNA. 

           Of course, our next goal would be to find a male relative to do a DNA test.  Unfortunately, there are only cousins left, and we do not believe any of them would consent to do the testing.  Hopefully, when we get interesting news from our tests, we can share that and get someone on board.  Hope springs eternal.

      2.  I downloaded FamViewer, an app for my iPhone.  You can upload a copy of your GEDCOM to this app and have your family tree at your fingertips - wherever you may be!  It is a pricy app at $9.99, but well worth every penny.  I got mine at the iTunes store. 

      3.  For Mother's Day, I took my mom to the Atlanta History Center to tour their beautiful gardens.  While there, I could not resist popping into the Kenan Research Center to do a little research.  I had located three books on WorldCat that were at the Kenan Research Center, so I specifically went to look at those.  I have been researching my Drake ancestors recently (who were from near  Adrian, Emanuel  County, Georgia), and all three books were about Emanuel County, two being newspaper abstracts from around that area and the third being a cemetery listing.  I found a few tidbits of information; nothing earth shattering - at least not until I got home.  Which brings me to...

     4.  As I mentioned, I have been researching my Drake ancestors lately.  This led me to research the families of my great-grandmother, Emma Harrell Drake and her mother, Catherine Odom Harrell.  During the course of my research, information was found that the Harrells are buried in the Harrell Cemetery and Catherine Odom is buried in the Odom Cemetery, both of which are in Emanuel County.  I had never heard of either cemetery.  The book of Emanuel County cemetery listings I found in the Kenan Research Center had directions to and a listing of who is buried in each of those cemeteries.  I made copies of those pages and while looking over the Harrell Cemetery listing, I decided to do some searching for the listed names on Ancestry.com.  Bingo!  By searching carefully through census records spanning several decades, I was able to find the names of my 3rd great-grandparents, James K Harrell and Nancy Beasley Harrell.  Now I have another limb on my tree!  I also discovered that James and Nancy were from Darlington, South Carolina.  I never knew I had South Carolina roots.            Let me break down the family connection so it won't (maybe not) be so confusing:

          Me > Gilbert Tapley, my father >> Nealie Drake Tapley, his mother >>> Emma Harrell Drake >>>>
          (her father) William Robert Harrell >>>>>James K. Harrell and Nancy Beasley Harrell and
          (her mother) Catherine Odom Harrell >>>>> Elijah Samuel Odom and Rutha Goff Odom

     5.  Researching these lines led me to do new searches on GenealogyBank.com, and I found many more     obituaries and other newspaper articles about people in my tree.  I must get some of those scanned in during the next ScanFest!

     6.  For my anniversary, I got a Flip-Pal personal, mobile scanner!  I had not read a single bad review of this product, and now that I own one, I understand why.  It performs perfectly, and I am so ready to go visit cousins and scan some family photos!

     7.  Tomorrow morning, I leave for the NGS conference in Charleston, South Carolina.  This is my first time at NGS, and I am very excited.  I know it will be exhausting, and my head may burst from all of the information I receive there, but I am excited anyhow.  I hope to stay awake long enough each evening to write a post here about my day.  My first order of business upon arriving in Charleston, besides checking in at our motel and registering for the conference, is attend a blogger dinner.  I believe it will be great fun to meet and chat with other genealogy bloggers. 

So a lot has been going on around here... though it seems that with how busy I have been, there should be more than 7 items listed!