Aside from beginning with ourselves and working through the immediate family and so on, we began our search for Harry's roots with a few pages sent from a cousin. We are so grateful that she shared this information with us. In fact, we have since purchased our own copy of this book and its companion, Volume Two , from The Genealogical Society of Watauga County . This little sapling has grown and stretched its branches beyond our wildest imaginations. I think we feel more comfortable referring to ourselves as compilers of family history rather than as 'pure' genealogists.
Every source is documented on each individual's record in our database.
Too many of us waited until we had a huge pile of data before going back and noting each detail. Some people complain that this method of researching family history only serves to perpetuate errors in dates, etc. If everyone believed and acted with this mind set, we would have very little in our family histories. And while some of the leads we come across may not help us with our direct lines, it might help a new-found cousin down the road. I tried to take what I liked about the pages I saw, omit things I didn't like about others and implement things I thought were missing along the way.