Making Connections When Things Appear Lost

I had this idea come to me on August 6, 2009. I was thinking how certain things are know by people. How some seem to know things lost by others.

I continue to search for my family history. I remember that article about "Slavery Descendants To Have First Reunion." That article and reunion was in 1970 in Iowa.

It was then someone came to the reunion and added some things that those there don't know. There were some of us that spelled the surname another way. Most of the relatives didn't know about "the missing link."

My Grandpa John spelled the family name different than his cousins. I can assume that Grandpa John made the change after he married Jennie, my grandpa Bartlett. So that was between or around 1902 - 1910.

John kept in touch with his sibling while he was in Missouri and when he moved to South Dakota. I heard that John would come over to his siblings homes. The younger cousins called John, Uncle even though he was their cousin. It was a custom to call older members Uncle or Aunt...

Also I wonder how in the family reunions no one knew the name of the slave mother or slave father. It was lost in the years. I thought some one could have known.

It wasn't until 1980's. I came across my Great Grandpa Isaac's pension, military, death and other records that I made some discoveries about the family tree. The father's and mother's names where Andrew and Julia WHITE.

No one knew who the slave parents where. I thought that was odd. Many had the opportunity to hear from those who were alive. The early ones who lived when the ex slaves where around.

Perhaps ancestors didn't talk about who there parents were. Or perhaps they may not have known. But many people tend to name their children after their parents.

Any how, have you ever thought that some one may have to link to some one else's family history. This information may have been handed down and lost. But some one knows things the others have lost and are seeking.

May we keep in touch with what we know. May we connect with the correct link. May God bless us on the search for clues.

On The Journey
Making Connections When Things Appear Lost

Some one has the clues.
The connections are there.
I hope.

Blessings,
Susan