Did you ever have one of those moments where you just want to kick yourself?
Sometimes I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to my research.
I have a Rubbermaid tub of papers that I have yet to enter into my computer program. It seems like such a monumental task that I’ve put it off for years now.
But what I’ve found is that often the answer to my brick wall is lying in there, waiting for me to re-find it.
Another researcher contacted me through this blog after finding we shared a common ancestor – John Robertson.
John has been one of my biggest brick walls for years. I knew he was from Kentucky, but not where. Finding a John Robertson in the 1840 census proved to be difficult. It’s a common name in a large state – and without the names of the family along with him, I haven’t been able to pinpoint which one might be him.
And I had the answer of where he was from (or at least a good clue to the answer) sitting in that tub for years.
I pulled out the Civil War records for John Robertson’s son, Hugh – so that I could scan them and send them to this researcher. And as I started reading through it, I realized that Hugh’s birthplace is listed on this record.
I believe that it says Brick/Breck county. My guess is that it’s an abbreviation of Breckenridge County. The only other option would be Bracken county. Either way, my search for John Robertson has now narrowed considerably.
It looks like I need to take a vacation at home and get to digitizing and entering in this information that I have.
The only question is where do I put the kids? 🙂
Do you ever find yourself hampering your own research by your lack of organization? Please tell me I’m not the only one.
