Boy, life has a habit of getting in the way!  It has been a busy month, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We had another great meeting of the Study Group on Wednesday. Everyone enjoyed the trip to the Mesa Libary and learned a great deal - mostly about the library and what it has to offer, but some also found exciting things to add to their research. We are excited about planning another field trip - maybe this time to the State Archives and the genealogy library in downtown Phoenix - at the State Capital.

But first we are going to tackle a case study. We have talked about doing this but just haven't had the time. One of the members, MaryLu, prepared a 4-generational pedigree chart on an ancestor, Cassandra Brashears, she is interested in finding more information on Cassandra and her family. She found the information she has on a 5-generational chart in Belmont County, Ohio. No resources, just "family lore."  This is a collateral line for her. Other people have come up with the same information but again, no real documentation.

I think this will be a great learning tool. Taking people/places that are completely unfamiliar to us and trying to track down information and, hopefully, sources. This is what you would do if you were helping a client. It is a good exercise  in "thinking outside the box." I think sometimes you get so focused on your particular lines, think you have done everything possible to locate more records on them. Maybe having to look at a family/person/locale completely foreign (so to speak), will help open up some new ways of approaching our own research. MaryLu has found, in preparing this information for us, new data she didn't already have for this family. She is sending an email to the members with further information for this project. It will be interesting to see the different tactics the members take to gather data and sources. Everyone will do what they have time to do and go about it any way they want.