Thanks Paul. My Pruitt and Taylor families were Baptists. They lived around Lancaster. Possible your great grandfather or grandfather knew these families. -- don kelly -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Paul Anderson" <pka@optilink.us> > Dear Sarah Simpson, most people really do not find history alluring. Most > folks are trying to deal with today, not yesterday. > > However, at an advanced age, I read from my father's memoirs about his > grandfather's great apple orchard. My great-grandfather, Rev. Burdett > Kemper > lived a short ways North of Lancaster. He preached for a long time at the > Forks of Dix River Baptist Church. > > I planted some apple seeds and grew about ten apple trees. I waited 6 and 7 > years for them to mature and produce. I have only one small cluster of four > apples on one twig today. I wish my Great grandfather had written down how > he grew his apple trees. > > My Anderson Great grandfather, Abijah, was also a Baptist preacher and > preached in a number of Garrard County Baptist Churches. He and Burdett > probably knew each other. > > I am interested in community demographics. We are able to profile a > community and predict it's social standing and directions. You are > possibly unique in that you are still in High School and questioning some of > life's focus, like genealogy. My question to you is why you picked this > subject? > > When I resigned my position with the State of Georgia I started a > statistical research business. Shortly after that change I became immobile > with a broken ankle. I had a chance to review my mother's genealogical > research on her Johnson family. I found the Burdett Kemper family well > documented. There was little or no definitive research on the Anderson > family. > > My attempts, successfully, to document my Anderson family started a new > career for me and I have been actively involved in genealogical research, as > a volunteer, for over twelve years. Most of my research has involved > numerous different Anderson lines in Eastern NC. A number of different > surnames have been researched, some relate to Anderson lines. > > I never did have a preconceived attitude toward genealogy. I knew of my > grandmother's memoirs and encouraging my dad to write about his life after > mother died. My focus has been to find the truth about the Anderson line as > had been done for the Johnson and Kemper lines. > > As to how and where I have researched, most important is the help from > others, both living and deceased. My first focus was to look for an Isaac > Anderson who was reported to have wintered with Washington at Valley Forge > during the American Revolution. Knowledge of Isaac had sifted through time > down to the few > traditions of knowledge we had about the Anderson family. I learned quickly > that most Anderson families and Anderson lines had one or more Isaacs. Many > were quick to tell me that their Isaac was not my Isaac. > > Through the help of genealogists in North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky I > was able to find other family members who had written about the family many > years ago. Each member seemed to have something to add and or clarify. A > large number were Baptist ministers and some were Baptist Missionaries in > China back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The family members lacked > educational opportunities and at best were home schooled until the mid > 1800s. > > Traditional sources of genealogical information include the US Census from > 1890 through 1920-30. Court records typically addressed family needs for > roads, property, guardianships, etc.. Wills and deeds were recorded at the > court house into the court record and much of those records have survived > through the years and still exist. > > As the population grew in a political subdivision, the identity of related > family members faded. Today we use Y-DNA test to confirm relations going > back many years. Y-DNA, as a resource, will continue to grow in the > future. > > Finally, your best point of departure is with your older relatives. > Learning what they know and believe can be priceless in your research > activity. > > Thanks for asking. Paul Anderson > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > KYGARRAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > the subject and the body of the message