Welcoming 2015

After yesterday's New Years Day fun, my long staycation is nearing its end. Next week will bring a West Coast visit, meetings and planning. On the family history front I have been making some plans, tilling the ground to prepare for new discoveries on my Vail, Armstrong, Hampton and Booher family lines. 

This week I wrote to the Sullivan County, Tennessee Department of Archives & Tourism, the Sullivan County Register of Deeds, and the Montgomery County Court in Indiana. All of them responded quickly with suggestions. I am hoping to learn more about the land transactions that helped pave the way for the Hampton and Booher families to leave Sullivan County for Montgomery County between 1830-1837.

Source: David Rumsey Map Collection

From Montgomery County, I am also hoping to learn the identity of the parents for my 4th-great-grandfather, James Vail. To help with this search, I contacted the Archivist at Wabash College, my alma mater, to identify a capable student who may be able to do some research on land deeds, wills and probate records for my Armstrong, Vail, Booher and Hampton lines at the Montgomery County Court. Plans are in motion for this to be done in January & February and I'll describe the progress on the blog.

Yesterday I also traded email with a helpful researcher in Kentucky who is helping me try to break through the brick wall on my Cain family. Hopefully 2015 will bring an answer to the long mystery on the identity of the parents for my 2nd-great-grandmother, Mary Alice Cain Read.

There's quite a lot to look forward to in the near term. I will try to improve on capturing the story of these families, rather than focus on dates and documents. This is not quite a New Year's resolution, but an improvement I aim to make with the blog in 2015.