Looking Ahead to 2011

Jospeh Bickerdyke Darby *

It's Christmastime and I am definitely in the mood.  So you would think that I would want to post all things Christmas.  Yet my genealogical life for the past month has been consumed, not by Christmas, but by the Civil War.  On the face of it, that makes no sense -- so let me explain.

If you ever want to challenge your genealogical/family history skills, try to submit something to a lineage group for the appropriate genealogical society.  Since I am fortunate in having many generations of my family from both maternal and paternal lines

living in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, I am a member of both the Hamilton County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society and the Ohio Genealogical Society.  Both organizations have lineage groups that encourage you to DOCUMENT your family's history in the area and submit it for review.  I've already submitted applications and had my families accepted into the First Families of Cincinnati and Settlers and Builders lineage groups for Hamilton County.  A couple of months ago, I submitted applications for both groups' Century Families. In order to qualify, I had to "prove" that my direct ancestors lived in Cincinnati, Ohio a minimum of 100 years ago.  I have many.

The Ohio Genealogical Society also has a lineage group for those who can prove that direct ancestors, and/or their siblings, served in the Civil War.  The year 2011 marks the 150 year anniversary of the start of the Civil War.  I was surprised, when I started investigating, that I have a minimum of six ancestors who qualify for this designation.  I decided to work on submitting the documentation for three who came from the same family line -- two Darby brothers and their brother-in-law, Britton Wainright.  (I've written about Britton at length -- links to posts about Britton are listed at the end of this post).

Joseph Bickerdyke Darby is pictured above.  He came from a family of musicians.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I'll write what I know about each of them individually, but I just must postpone "War Stories" until after the holiday season.

So I've finished my application for the Civil War lineage group.  It is more than 60 pages of documentation.  I made the decision to only submit three of my six ancestors this year as I'm just running out of time.  I encourage anyone who reads this post to look at what opportunities are available through your local genealogical societies.  You'll meet wonderful people whose eyes don't glaze over at the mention of family history.  They will point you in the direction of numerous resources.  In the end, your family will benefit from the attention to detail that is necessarily a part of submitting applications for consideration.

Now -- off to enjoying my living family!

Links to posts about Britton Wainright

Britton Wainright - Part I

Britton Wainright - Part II

* I want to thank Martha Darby Rutter, gg-granddaughter of Joseph Bickerdyke Darby, who graciously sent me this picture and gave permission to post it.