Start

Amy Johnson Crow is a well known genealogy blogger. A few years ago I discovered late in the year that she does a challenge to genealogy bloggers called “ 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks”. She has renewed that challenge for 2018. Because my blogging has slowed down, I decided this might be a good way for me to refocus. If you are interested in seeing her site, you can find it here. www.AmyJohnsonCrow.com.

 
What does “start” mean to me. I have shared at different times who my inspirations have been for genealogy. Who do I credit with getting me started? There are actually several.

Great Grandma Estella Smith
     She was my mother’s, mother’s, mother. I spent a great deal of my childhood with her. My dad farmed her land, and I had occasion to spend massive amounts of time in her presence.  She lived at the edge of town in a home that was new in the teens of the twentieth century. The house is still standing and looking quite good for being over 100 years old.
      Grandma told me stories about her aunts and an uncle who died from consumption in the 1880’s and 1890’s. These stories were my first catalyst for genealogy exploration.

Grandpa Bert Grisso
     This Grandpa is my mother’s father. I never realized until one warm summer day in 1971, that I had never had a direct conversation with him. Usually we gathered for family events, Sunday dinners, holidays, etc. Grandpa talked to the men. The ladies and kids hung out in the kitchen catching up on news and putting the finishing touches on the meal. On this particular day, I had my mom drop me off at Grandpa and Grandma’s house with my toddler and baby to visit with Grandma. However, she wasn’t home. Consequently Grandpa had to talk to me. It was a fabulous event. He told me the history of the Grisso family coming to America from Italy. I wanted to know more. When I finally got into genealogy, it was the Grisso line which interested me the most. One of the first things I learned was about family lore.  Sometimes there is just a kernel of fact in the stories we are told. The arrival of the first Grisso was far longer ago than I was lead to believe. The family is not from Italy and there are a few other details that didn’t pan out. However, the quest for Grisso information was started that afternoon. I give my Grandpa Grisso credit for starting me down this road. I have come to see why he was so proud of his name.

Aunt Bonnie
     On my dad’s side, my Aunt Bonnie, his sister, did a lot of the leg work for the DeHart branch of her mother’s family.  In 1988, she and her husband did a genealogy road trip from Oregon to West Virginia in search of the DeHart property. In the summer of 2016, my husband and I tried to find the same spot, but due to car trouble and time restraints, we  didn’t quite make it.

Aunt Cheryl     My go-to person on my Dad’s side has been my Aunt Cheryl. She was a great researcher and helped debunk several family legends. It is with such sadness that my research buddy, Cheryl, joined these other genealogy enthusiasts on Christmas Day, 2017.

R.I.P. Cheryl, and thanks for all you did. I love you.