A Year
of Great Accomplishments September
23, 2019
This
has been a year of great accomplishments. DNA has taken me where I needed to go
in so many projects. My own family has had some unknown people come forward and
others were confirmed in our relationships. Then I ventured into the DNA of the
Watts family. We have confirmed distant cousin connections and are awaiting the
YDNA of a direct line male to hopefully confirm that distant ancestor.
Just
recently two of the descendants visited Scappoose, Oregon where I have worked
on the Watts family for three years. We had a great visit discovering on the
internet, traveling the DLC land claim of the original settlers for the family,
visiting the Watts House, the Scappoose Public Library, the local cemetery, the
Columbia County Museum in St. Helens, Oregon and going through the records of
these places. In December an article about Rose Ewing Watts, the lady for whom
the Watts House was built, will be published in the Bulletin, the quarterly of
the Genealogical Forum of Oregon. This article highlights the collections we
have today due to her diligent efforts to collect items of importance to the
Scappoose community. A followup article on the DLC land claims is set to be
published next year.
This
past weekend the St. Helens public library held a one day genealogy conference.
There was a key note speaker and then two tracks of classes. One track was five
classes on beginning genealogy. People who attended those classes were shocked
at all they were learning. The second track was five classes including Native
American research, US Federal Land Records, Oregon Donation Land Claims,
Washington County, Oregon history (which I taught) and Finding Columbia County,
Oregon Information. I was thrilled to attend most of these classes. Continuing
education locally is wonderful as we connect with others who share our love of
research.
In
Columbia County, Oregon we have quarterly meetings with the six historical
societies and/or museums. I feel honored to participate in their meetings.
These meetings have fostered a better awareness among the groups of what each
is doing. They created a brochure to share with the public about their
holdings. The meetings rotate through each facility and we enjoy visiting, eating
lunch and learning about the facility.
In
Washington County, Oregon there is a museum which also has a research room for
their collections. Recently our Oregon Association of Professional Genealogists
had a behind the scenes tour of this facility after I went there to view their
collection with regards to my own family. My previous visit about twenty years
ago resulted in a three page list of items I wanted to see. Tricia Oberndorf,
the current president of the Oregon APG group, went with me and was able to
photograph materials for the Watts family. When we left we felt our local group
should go for a tour. I almost wondered if I needed to go as I had seen what I
thought was the museum. Midway through the tour they opened a door to a huge
warehouse area I had never seen before. It was full of artifacts from
Washington County. Everyone in the group was amazed. It felt like when Dorothy
steps into the Land of Oz!
The
year of great accomplishments has taken me to places I never imagined going.
New discoveries that fully enhance my own family research and that of other
families. Follow those leads as they may well take you to the most wonderful
places. Doing it with others is even more exciting.
