Setting Goals

This blog has been incredibly helpful in focusing research and writing on various branches of my family, as well as on my wife's side of the family. It is important to set goals in order to keep the focus and energy going. I am setting my sights on achieving the goal of submitting papers by the first anniversary of this blog (January 2013) to the First Families of Tennessee heritage program sponsored by the East Tennessee Historical Society.

Under the requirements of the program, membership is open to anyone who can document descent from an ancestor who was a resident of any part of what is now the State of Tennessee prior to 31 December 1796. I have several candidate lines. My Jones family was in Jefferson County, Tennessee as early as at least 1798, possibly in the territory of what became the state in the 1780s. My Lamon line was in the area of what became Washington County, Tennessee in the late 1780s/early 1790s. My 6th-great-grandfather Samuel Hampton appears on the Sullivan County, Tennessee tax list in 1796. The Hamptons might be the easiest line to prove, but I'd like to try to confirm the Jones line.

Applications must be based on credible genealogical research. Applicants are required to submit proof of descent for each generation and proof of residency before 31 December 1796. Eligibility is determined by a committee appointed by the East Tennessee Historical Society.

I'd be interested in hearing from others who have submitted to the First Families of Tennessee on their experiences.