Breaking through Brick Walls Part 4: Descendancy Research

Message Boards and Other Things

Have you discovered message boards yet for your research? Message boards are a great way to let others know who or what you are looking for. What are message boards? There are several different kinds, one of my favorites being the county message boards on www.ancestry.com.

Go to Collaborate | Message Boards

Ancestry Message Boards: http://boards.ancestry.com/

There are two different types of Message Boards on Ancestry.com. They are LOCALITY and SURNAMES. What are locality message boards? Just what it says, the location of your research. Because I want to keep this as much to my Moore’s and Texas research as I can, I will refer to the United States link. But just know that there is a county board for all the United States. To get to the United States Message Board you can follow these directions

Click United States | States | Name of State (aka Texas)| Counties | Name of County (aka Williamson)

OR

follow the link:

Ancestry State Message Boards:

http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states/mb.ashx

Once on the Message Board you can do a search, browse through the messages for submissions and answers, or post a new message.

To SEARCH a Message Board type a name or key word in to the "Search Field"

To START a new message is called “Begin a New Thread”

To BROWSE through the Message Board simply use your mouse to scroll through the posts

This is only to get you started and make you aware of the message boards. You can set up notifications when ever anyone posts to the board, and also find other boards that may assist you in your search. As genealogist we have a mind set to find names, dates and places. Often times with the Message Boards someone will be looking for help on a line they are searching and it is from there you never know what or who will come across your post.

What would my blog be with out a great Message Board Story? Someone had posted an inquiry regarding the Forehand Family from Tennessee. I was somewhat familiar with this family because Richard N. Forehand was married to my second great grandmother Virginia. Remember, when I found my Grandfather in the 1900 census he was living with his grandparents Richard and Virginia Forehand. One of the first things I did in my research was look for a Minerva Forehand with a Father Richard and Virginia. I found some maybe’s but nothing concrete. I searched the Forehand line to see if I could find who Virginia was. Nothing. I ran in circles trying to discover who Minerva’s parents were and who was Richard and Virginia Forehand. So when I saw the post about the Forehand family from TN (which is where Richard was from) I typed a quick reply stating I tied into this line but I was in the process of moving to Texas and would get back to them regarding what I had. I also stated in that reply that my grandfather Vernon Moore was in the 1900 Census living with his grandparents Richard and Virginia MOORE FOREHAND. Virginia was never a MOORE I accidentally added the MOORE by mistake. Ten minutes later I had a reply from a gentleman who told me, “Laura I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw your post.” He went on to tell me that Richard was his Great Grandfather and he had been chasing Virginia MOORE for years. I thought MOORE where did he get that? I discovered my mistake and posted a reply with her real name. Virginia’s maiden name was LYONS from Indiana. She married Cornelius Cain and when he died, she eventually married Richard Forehand. Part of the 32 year puzzle it took me to find. I often think what would have happened had I not added the wrong last name for Virginia?

Now you are probably asking yourself, “Hello Laura!!! Marriage record!!” I searched for a marriage record, but never could find one. I finally found their marriage record located in Travis County, Texas; a neighboring county. What I have learned since moving to Texas is I believe my ancestors were closer to Austin rather than Georgetown. So when it came time to file records they went to Austin and not Georgetown. Needless to say, this man was thrilled to be able to break through this brick wall and to have a copy of my great grandmother’s will, to see pictures etc. Message boards…..another possible break through on those brick walls!!

PS Sorry for the delay in posting this, but I tried very hard to get a screen shot to show you what I was talking about and it would not work! So please let me know if something does not make sense and I will do my best to help guide you to the message boards! Laura