Sunday, November 6, 2011

Fascinating Finds on the Hyde County GenWeb Page.

Okay folks my brain is still in Hyde County, NC and I can't get it out.  I have 3 books on order from Amazon. I am Googling everything Hyde County....You name it, it is Hyde County up in here. Did I mention that I'm into Hyde County? LOL

Well anyway I decided to venture over to the Hyde County GenWeb Page, part of the U. S. and N. C. GenWeb Project and this time instead of glancing over things as I had done in the past, I really dived in. 

I have to pause and explain something. I am really starting to see how there is a correlation between the thought processes involved with studying and learning a new language and how those processes are so similar to how you learn and study family history. With a language, you start with the basics. You learn simple nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Then you build up your vocabulary from there. You learn the nuances of the language and keep learning until you literally start thinking in the other language.  The process is very similar with genealogy; you start with what you know like names and places associated with your mother, father, grandparents, and so on. Then you build and expand your horizons. You start studying extended family. You go beyond the censuses and death certificates. You learn geography. Pretty soon you begin diving into land records and tax records. You study neighbors. Where was the market? What church did they attend?  And you build and build and build, until you really get that sense of what a community was like.

So what is my point here. I truly have an understanding of Hyde County, specifically the areas of Lake Comfort, Juniper Bay, Swan Quarter, and Lake Landing. When I hear a certain surname now I have an immediate sense of who that person was connected to and where they might have lived. And of course with the more I learn, there's that craving to want to know more. 

So back to the Hyde County Gen Web Page. If you have connections to Hyde County, this is an excellent resource. A highlight of my Sunday evening was reading an article on the site by Dr. Joyce I. Humber-Faison called, "Black American Genealogy Hyde County, North Carolina."  Here's the link 

Anyway, got to run. Kids are bugging me to watch Phineas and Ferb with them. Happy Researching Everyone!

1 comment:

  1. Yes, It is all connected..I think you do an awesome job in making the connections with your ancestors and the community around them. I look forward to your research.


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