Wednesday, October 3, 2007

The search is on... (July 17, 2007)

So, last night I was speaking with a cousin, telling her about my search for my history and my genealogy project. I wrote these thoughts in my notebook yesterday:

I've been watching the 30th Anniversary of Roots and fished out this book last night to begin my search again. I found out today that the NC Census dates back to 1790 so I can find my family back over 200 years. BUT 1610 to 1790 may be more difficult.
I've decided to do the DNA test to find out where Joyce's side of the family comes from.

My desire to know my history is so overwhelming that I've just spent $259 to find out my mother's line in Africa. So I can at least have a country to aim for when I begin searching shipping records.

The thought of knowing where I'm from scares me. I mean, I know I'm American. My paternal grandfather is Native American. I don't care to know my paternal grandmother's origin though I think that it's Ghanian. I'm not so concerned about my maternal grandfather's family because other than my uncles and aunts, I don't know or spend time with the other family members. My mother's mother's family is my family.

Well, when I spoke with my cousin, she said, why not find out. They're still family. She went on to argue her point and wore me down. So after I have found my mother's maternal line, I plan to also find my mother's paternal line.

I had wanted to find my paternal grandfather's line, but it might be too late. He's deceased. My dad is deceased and there are no more males who are directly descended from him. I am hoping in the census records to find some list of the ethnic group and hopefully a tribe affiliation, but if not, I may have to look into other Smith family members to see if there are other males who descended from my paternal grandfather's brothers or any living brothers. Man this is going to be tough.

I plan to spend next Friday, 27 July 2007, at the National Archives in Philadelphia, finding information about my maternal side.

Until then...

Oh, and one last thought. The picture above is of Capitol Hill (Washington, DC). I had a thought about the DNA tests. Since the slaves benefited this country and built it, why not have the government pay for the DNA tests to allow people to find out at least part of their heritage. I wonder if I can get that idea any further than this web log...

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