Started: 7/22/2001
Last Rev: 3/15/04

MY GENEALOGICAL REFLECTIONS AND RATIONALE

The BEGINNINGS

My introduction to genealogical work started with discussions with Harold Lefevre, a colleague at work. Harold was a geologist by training and he said that since he likes old things (rocks) that must be the reason for liking genealogy! During one of his trips to the National Archives, he did a look-up to give me an example of information available on my ancestors. In May of 1984 he provided his recording of the 1910 Census that showed Lloyd and Mayme Stanley with daughters Dorothy and Vivian - my mother!! The 1900 census showed Lloyd Stanley as being with the AT&SF Hospital Association as a boarder. A similar 1910 and 1900 Census record showed William and Vanata Carter with children including Jerrell - my dad!! These results set the hook and caused me to start off on what was to be a very interesting and rewarding search for my ancestors.

I did some searching shortly thereafter, but became disheartened by what seemed like a lack of progress. I had confirmed very little beyond what my mom and dad had already told or provided me. Dad had a couple of books on the "Underwoods of America" which showed his mother, i.e., Vanata Maccara Underwood. He also had a piece of paper with birth and death dates associated with a number of people. The relationships were not known when I first started my journey. (I guess that this list was one his sister, Bessie, put together and that he subsequently added the individual's relationship to him.) My Mom knew her mother was a daughter of Emma Bowen and John Maxwell and that her father was a son of Enos Stanley and Harriett Hays. Beyond that I was on my own.

I guess that my initial goal was to provide a framework for identification of people shown in some old photos and family treasures, and to be able to learn where the family lived in the old country. A subsequent focus developed during a golfing trip to Scotland, when my wife and I toured the "clan Maxwell" castle. II wanted to be able to determine where my Maxwells fit into the "clan Maxwell." Since then I have developed a more general desire of being able to identify the particular voyage (boat and date) that each of my ancestors used to come to this country and the names of one or more generations of ancestors who lived in the "old country."

I now realize that this initial focus, which was on a few specific people and family names, was much too narrow and it was the lack of discoveries that caused me to lose interest. Also because little information was directly and obviously related to the few I sought, I believe I passed by many interesting nuggets because I was oblivious to their implications. It is obvious to me now that each person, albeit not somebody in one of the specific "families" I was searching initially, contributes something to me ultimately. As a result of this enlightenment, I have started to keep a hard copy (in alphabetic order) of the information on various families or people who I believe are related to me. I also entered summary information in a Mormon computer program, the Personal Ancestral File (PAF).

As I mentioned, my interest waned and my research stopped altogether for a number of years. It did not resume until I contemplated retirement and became exposed to the internet and the information it could provide, and has the internet exploded as a source since then! I soon found that the internet was a great new source for information, some of which enabled me to speculate on relationships, based upon "guesses" and ultimately to actually find "proof" or to identify correctly many ancestors. On the other hand, many of my great scenarios that were based upon such speculation have turned out to be wrong, but neither the speculation nor research is considered a wasted effort. During these searches I learned much that has been both interesting and pertinent to genealogy even though there was no immediately visible benefit.

What follows hopefully will provide an understandable rationale for what I did, both the positive activities and those that subsequently were determined to be faulty. The following is not intended to be discussion of my family's history, but rather a discussion of my experiences while working to learn my family history. The speculation was great fun and truly stimulating regardless of the result. Since my genealogical project will never be finished, only my contribution will end, I have decided I should leave a trail that may be informative to my family and others. Writing this summary also has caused me to focus my genealogical thinking which hopefully may spur me on to further activities and types of investigation not previously considered. The summary was not written as one continuous chronological happening. There may be occasional disconnects in time as subsequently learned aspects are inserted in the middle of a particular story.

FAMILY SEARCHES

Occasionally have I encountered another genealogist who was searching for the same exact person. But, more often, my ancestor has been one that other researchers had not been able to follow or did not care to follow. Fortunately, many searchers had documented their endeavors and after finding a common family member I was able to learn more about my specific family ancestor. Finding a mention of that one person which was common to both was one of the needles in the haystack that I initially had been unable to find.