Nancy Drew and the Many-Angled Mystery

Nancy Drew always seems so thorough in solving her mysteries.  She looks at every angle of the situation.  We should do the same with genealogy.

I know many people are satisfied with simply having the names and dates of ancestors.  Not me!  I want to discover and know every aspect about them and know what shaped them.  Finding this information will take all of you inner Nancy Drew-like sleuthing skills.

For example, one ancestor, John Beasley, was born 14 Feb 1813 in Georgia.  Many genealogists would record this birth date and move on to find other information.  But I want to dig deeper and find other angles at which to view him.  First, what was happening in the world in 1813?  The U.S. had only been its own country for about 35 years!  I know he was born in Georgia, though I haven't found any evidence of where in Georgia.  If I go on the assumption of who many family trees have as his father (though no paper trail has been found yet to prove his father), his "father" is shown as being married in 1811 in Morgan, Georgia.  Where is this in Georgia?  What is this area like?  Doing research on Georgia history, I find that this area of Georgia was created from Creek Indian lands acquired in 1814 in the Treaty of Fort Jackson.  That would mean that if John Beasley was born in that area in 1813, technically, he was born on Indian lands.  What were those living conditions like?  What exactly was happening in this area between Indians, settlers, and the U.S. government? 

As I find out more information about John Beasley, more questions of this type desire to be answered.  In the 1840 census, he appears in Stoddard Co., Missouri.  What was that area like at the time?  What would have prompted him to settle there?  Did he make any stops on the way to Missouri?  Later, he moved to Texas.  Again, why?  What were conditions like there?  What was going on in the world during this period of history?

I think any genealogist who truly wants to understand their family roots will ask these types of questions and will try to view their ancestors from every possible angle, not just the names and dates.  The easiest place to start this type of sleuthing is with a notebook and computer (Nancy had her notebook and blue car - but with today's gas prices, the computer is cheaper!).  In your notebook, write down the questions you have about your ancestor and where they lived.  Then start to Google.  Or if you live in the same area as your ancestor, take a trip to your local library.  Many public libraries have reading rooms filled with local history resources.  A large university library may have many state-level historical resources.  As you look at all the angles of your ancestor, remember to provide documentation and always have a paper trail for your claims.  Nancy Drew would do nothing less!