This blog is sometimes just me talking to myself, working out problems.
So in that vein . . .
I got an email from Benjamin Cotten, my newfound cousin. He has been so inspirational to me. He sent me information about a Hiram Cain who got a land grant in Mississippi in 1898. He could be the brother to Napoleon Cotten. Following the advice from the convention, I looked up Franklin County, the county of Hiram's land grant. It is next to Amite where I first found Napoleon's family.
I looked at the 1900 census again. This is the one where Napoleon reappears after being missing (to me) since 1870. A few lines down is his mother and brother Richard. I just noticed that Winnie said all her four children are still living. That means somewhere Hiram and Elizabeth is hanging around just waiting to be discovered.
Napoleon is living next door to his in-laws also. These in-laws are also my ancestors, related to me through Mary Saunders, Napoleon's wife, my great-grandmother. Charles and Rose are a few doors away. It got me to thinking that maybe Elizabeth is nearby. There happens to be an Elizabeth who is the right age living next to the Sanders. I know. I know. That means nothing. But it is a splinter of possibility.
I'm trying now to research that possibility on ancestry.com and I am becoming so frustrated with the database. No matter. I am newly inspired and recharged.
3 comments:
Jennifer, I've been following your blog almost since the beginning and have enjoyed your reports on your quest. Researching neighbors has led me to some incredible finds and contacts with information on the ancestors. Have patience with Ancestry, their search engine certainly leaves a lot to be desired and the results are often frustrating, but somewhere is that little gem you need to make the connections. I wish you good luck.
I love the first line of this post. Sometimes that's what it takes...just talking to ourselves and letting our brains unconsciously put the pieces together until we say, "Aha!"
Becky and Miriam, I'm trying to get better about acknowledging comments and leaving my own at sites I visit. My other life, the one that helps pay for this passion, keeps intruding. That's not a good excuse so I will do better. Thank you to both of you. I definitely appreciate feedback.
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