For those who read my blog, a less known fact about me is that I love to dabble in family history. I've always had a fascination for those who came before me on our family tree. When my youngest started elementary school I had the time to do research in earnest, and for the last seventeen years I've had some success in that field. It's a wonderful hobby for those who love history. The ancestral line that I have researched the most is my maternal grandfather's line. These ancestors hail from England and Wales. Through my family history research I've linked up with fifth and sixth cousins in England who were also bitten by the genealogy bug. These men have been instrumental in helping me "find" many of my ancestors.
A month ago we traveled to the Washington D.C. area. One of the many things we did while on vacation was to go three graveyards. I don't know many people who visit graveyards on vacation, but when you're a family history junkie that's just the way you roll. My husband had some ancestors buried in three different cemeteries in the area where we were staying. I'd never been in cemeteries that were as old as the ones we visited. There were graves from the 1600's. We don't have cemeteries that old in the west, so it was amazing to be able to walk through such beautiful, old places. We ended up finding the memorial of the man we were looking for, John Carr, who was buried in Leesburg, Virginia. John is one of my husband's direct-line ancestors. If you note the dates of his birth and death in the photo below, you'll agree that his middle name should have been "Longevity."
John Carr
1684 - 1794
We also traveled to another cemetery in Waterford, Virginia and found the burial plot of my husband's fifth great grandfather Aaron Beans...
Most of the headstones in this cemetery are in disrepair and many of the markers have been lost. It's sad to see this kind of neglect, but this cemetery was in the most peaceful setting you could imagine...
For those who have never done genealogical research, it might seem like a strange hobby, but for those of us who do, there is no other pastime that is as compelling or fascinating. If you would like to begin tracing some of your ancestors, here are a couple of resources to get you started...
