The Innis Family Tree
Making a list of all of the things I want to know when I first start work really helps me focus. Then I trim the list down to the absolute basics and determine whether they are questions I can answer and from those questions I create a list of goals. I have found that if I don’t have at least one short term and one long term goal written down it is easy to just wander off and lose track of the point. I also try to look at the goals frequently because they do change depending on where your research leads you.
Resisting the urge to jump right in, I sat down in front of the television (my favorite place to mull things over) and jotted down all the things I wanted to know. This is not my “To-Do List” – these are just the questions that come to mind as I think about the conversation with Sue.
Innis:
1. Why did Eddie go to the orphanage? Was it just because he was the youngest? [I have the type of mind that wanders off to the worst – probably due to too much TV!]
2. Why was Thomas Roberts Innis in Denver if he was from Texas? When did he go there? Check for work, illness, other Innis family members.
3. Are Thomas Ballard Innis and Loula Roberts both from Tennessee, or were they from somewhere else in the south?
Kelly:
1. Did the family chart provided to Sue have it right? Is Arthur Kelly buried in Denver and is Lambert the maiden name of Annie Elizabeth Gruner’s mother?
2. Does Sue still have contact with the person that provided the chart and will they share their research? Is the research documented?
Both Families:
What’s online for birth, marriage, and death in Texas and Colorado? I know that Washington has a great digital archive.
The goal of every genealogist is to follow the documented direct line back as far as possible. It is the only long term goal at the moment since I don’t know where the basic research will lead me. My primary short term goal is to establish the family line by name and location using online sources. The secondary goal of discovering why Eddie went to the orphanage may not be something I can establish with online records, but it remains on my goal list. I’m working off the principle of K-I-S-S, Keep It Simple Sharon!
My To-Do List for the moment is very simple – get on Ancestry and create a family tree with the information provided and start tracking the census records and seeing what else pops up. This will establish the names (including the spelling variants) and the location of birth and rough dates. I should be able to answer most of my basic questions fairly quickly.