A Year of Great Accomplishments

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.