It’s 2017! Looking Ahead

Yet another year has flown by in what seems like the blink of an eye.

Unlike the last couple of years, I managed a more consistent blogging schedule—even if it was mostly This Week in the Family History posts and photos for Throwback Thursday. I didn’t make much progress on research projects or adding other content to this website.

Here’s hoping 2017 will be better. 

Making resolutions or setting goals rarely works out well for me. So I’m not going to jinx this “look ahead” by calling it either of those things. This is simply a list of projects and activities I’d like to make happen in 2017. No promises about what will get done. 

Research Projects:

• Who were the parents of 3rd great-grandfather William Taylor? Travel to somewhere in Virginia may be necessary eventually for this project, but the starting points are the Rockcastle and Garrard County, Kentucky courthouses, which are one and 25 miles respectively from my house. (Don’t ask why I haven’t done this long before now.)
• Was Stephen Wolfenbarger the father of James Arton Hopkins? With over 20 autosomal DNA matches between two of James’ granddaughters and descendants of Stephen’s parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, this question may be answered, but I can’t say that for sure until the analysis is complete and a conclusion is written. 
• Who were the parents of 3rd great-grandparents Jesse Thomas and Rebecca (his wife)? These are also projects where DNA may help us find answers. I’ve identified a nice pool of 19 folks (six from my family) who descend from four of Jesse and Rebecca’s identified six children. An email with a lead for Rebecca’s parents and DNA results that, on the surface, seem to support that lead are the starting points for her. Possibilities exist for Jesse as well. 
• What happened to most of John Bennett and Martha Gamble’s children? John and Martha had nine children that have been identified. I know what happened to three—probably four, but some work remains on that one. The other five haven’t been found after the last time they appear in census records with their parents.  

Writing:

• Blogging. A blog calendar spreadsheet exists with an “ideas” tab. That’s all I’m saying about that.   
• The Book. The book seriously needs to be started. If a rough outline counts as a start, then it is technically started. But that has been sitting untouched for nearly two years. Some background research is needed and I expect to find a few holes that will need to be plugged. 

Conferences and Institutes:

• April 26–29: Ohio Genealogical Society 2017 Conference, Sandusky, Ohio
• May 10–13: National Genealogical Society 2017 Conference, Raliegh, North Carolina
• July 24–28: Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Athens, Georgia (depending on getting in the course I want)
• August 30–September 2: Federation of Genealogical Society 2017 Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • The FGS conference will take up much more time than simply those four dates. As national conference chair, work on the conference will be constant on my schedule between now and late August.

I could go on, but I’ll be ecstatic if a few of these are accomplished in 2017. No promises.