Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Finding Nevada

After years away from this blog, I'm picking it up again. And, I'm picking it up at a place I never thought I would: my paternal grandmother's line.

I started pretty much the same way I did with my paternal grandfather's line: the names of my great-grandparents and the places they were born. And so, I got my introduction to the LYNN and LEACH families. And in the past few weeks, I've found even more surnames that have limbs on my family tree (names like SANDERS and LEE).

My first stop though was something that should have been relatively simple: Finding my great aunt, my grandmother's younger sister. The problem was that the story I always heard was that my grandmother was orphaned. (Turned out that's mostly true.) I never even knew she had a sister!

She died when I was a baby so I never got to know her. But, I did know that her name was Martha Lucille LYNN. Her sister? Vada was the name I was given. There are LOTS of  Vada Lynns out there, both with Lynn as maiden and a married name. Didn't make my job easy. Then, out of the blue, I find a Nevada LYNN living in an Illinois county where I know some family lived. Didn't recognize the name of the family she was with but ...the census said young Nevada was their niece! Hmmmm... could this be her?!

I began looking for Nevada LYNN in earnest and kept hitting dead ends. Sometimes though, persistence really does pay off. And while my hunt for Nevada is far from complete, I've covered some real ground. So if you're out there following, hang on for my next stops on the journey.

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