My family recently visited Shenandoah National Park and the surrounding areas. Such a beautiful location. It was a short trip focused on enjoying the park with no time set aside for genealogy research. But I couldn't help but look at the beautiful view and think of my Virginia ancestors.
I have deep Virginia roots. My links to the Shenandoah area of the state include Augusta, Orange, Rockingham and Shenandoah counties and cross both my maternal and paternal lines.
As mentioned, I had no time to conduct genealogy research on this trip, but as a typical genealogist will, I did a little prep on the off chance that some research could be fit in. And it was clear right away that my genealogy research is not cross referenced by location and it would take quite a bit of work to iron it all out. One of the keys to extensive family history research are the records kept at the county level, and yet my filing system is not prepared to support those spur of the moment trips. What is a researcher to do? Create a tool, of course!
Now, when I'm out and about all I have to do is search for Shenandoah on my blog and I'll have quick access to each of the lines in that particular area. My hope is to continue this process in other locations, ultimately creating time-saving tools.
you probably have already seen this but it is worth repeating.
ReplyDeletethere are some online sites you can use... many of those counties have chancery cases online at the library of virginia.. some of these are actually online others are just an index.
www.lva.virginia.gov
scroll to the bottom click on "site index"
look for "chancery records index"
click search the index
select which county you wish to search
i usually place the surname in one of the boxes near the bottom as it returns more entries to dig thru.
happy hunting.
Nice to see this post since I could literally walk from my home over the Blue Ridge and into the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley if I felt up to a five or so mile walk. ;-)
ReplyDeleteJohn, I didn't realize we were so close now! Well, close is relative, I suppose. I'm in Eastern Maryland. I must say I'm jealous of your proximity to Shenandoah. Such a beautiful place!
ReplyDeleteSome great tips for Virginia research, thank you!
ReplyDelete