Fifth in a multi-part series I had hypothesized that my Gines people were associated with English-speaking people named Gines who came from the West Midlands area. They came to Virginia and North Carolina and from there moved on to South Carolina and other states of the Deep South, eventually winding up in Louisiana and Texas. [...]
Continue reading about Breaking Down A Brick Wall–The Problem with Surnames, Part II
Remember the The Wrong Longs? Third in a multi-part series One of my other great-grandfathers on my mother’s side was named James William Long. As with Richard William Gines, I set out to find the parents of James Long. That search seemed like a stroll in the park compared to this one! I quickly found [...]
Continue reading about “So What Makes You So Sure You’ve Knocked Down a Brick Wall?”
Second in a multi-part series Here’s a synopsis of how I achieved my #1 research goal: finding the parents of my great-grandfather, Richard Gines of Shreveport, Louisiana. Bear in mind that eahcof these steps took months or even years to complete and some ran concurrently. Step 1: The Neophyte Phase. I was new to genealogical [...]
Continue reading about The Process of Breaking Down a Brick Wall
First in a multi-part series I started my serious research in December of 2003. From the beginning, my leading goal was to discover the paternity of Richard Gines of Shreveport,Louisiana, my great-grandfather. I knew very little about him; until I was an adult, I had never heard his name. And then, over the years, my [...]
I have done it! I’ve made my greatest genealogical discovery ever! For five years, my top research priority has been to discover the parentage of my great-grandfather, Richard Gines of Shreveport, Louisiana. Following an intensified search this spring and summer, I can now say with the appropriate degree of confidence utilizing the Genealogical Proof Standard, [...]
Continue reading about Breaking News: Man Smashes Through Brick Wall in Louisiana!
Awhile ago, in a fit of technologically self-righteous pique, I vented my spleen over the process to access Caddo Parish, Louisiana, records online. Perhaps I was too harsh. Less than a week ago, I sent to Caddo Parish by snail mail a request for some certified copies of certain records. Today, I have the records [...]
Continue reading about I Try to Kiss & Make Up with Caddo’s Clerk
Among the newly released records at FamilySearch’s Record Search are death records for Louisiana. This thrilled me, of course, for two reasons. First, we’ve been doing the brickwall series focused on the Gines family in Louisiana. Ironically, when the FamilySearch records were posted, I had just sent off to the Louisiana Secretary of State a [...]
Continue reading about Louisiana Death Records at FamilySearch.org
A week ago or so, I was making noise about hammering down a major brick wall in my research. I was getting ready to do the Genealogical Happy Dance. I have made a major advance in my research into the Gines family as a result of the research I’ve been describing here over the last [...]
Continue reading about The Brick Wall–Did We Really Knock It Down?
As we were making our long way around the brick wall of my great-grandfather Richard William Gines (1860-?), the trail led to several plantations in Tensas Parish, Louisiana. The first plantation we found was called Marydale. What attracted us here was a nearly forgotten tax record from Tensas Parish that showed Rebecca Gines and [...]
Continue reading about Way Around the Brick Wall: The Plantations
I had intended to move on today and discuss the plantations that we’ve come across in our long way around the brick wall of my great-grandfather, Richard William Gines. But I want to share an issue that has hindered our search and is not all that uncommon. The Wordle graphic above tells the story! To [...]
Continue reading about Reading the Writing on the Brick Wall
