Since this blog is about my family and my quest to find as many of my ancestors as possible, I think it is fitting to start with my research.
My interest in my family tree began as a child when my father handed me a folder full of typed letters. These letters were the transcription of my great great grandfather's letters to his wife while he was away during the War between the States (War of Northern Aggression, Civil War, whatever name you choose). My great great grandfather, Isaac Newton Cooper, spoke of cousins, aunts, his wife (Minerva) and his children. The connections to the people really got me to wondering how we were related and where we came from.
As an adult, I did what a lot of people do...signed up for an Ancestry.com account. Those little leaves that signaled another hint was almost hypnotizing. I made a lot of mistakes. Took a lot of information for truth without any proof. When I realized most of the information I had attained couldn't possibly be true, I began the real research. I started pouring through every record I could find online. I read every question and answer on message boards far and wide. I contacted some people that posted and answered these questions. I gained a lot of information from these contacts but still no answer to the most pressing question in my head: Who was Wilson Cooper?
Wilson was Isaac Newton Cooper's father and he was first married to Edney Culbertson, Isaac's mother. I wanted more than that. I wanted to know who Wilson was in life, who was his parents and where was he born. I continued to look without a lot of success.
I got a little burned out and took a break from this search, but within a couple of years I was back on it again. I found tidbits of information about Wilson's life, his church involvement, his work life and a few of his contacts. I found these by looking through newspapers, church records and records online (State archives, etc).
I have not given up on my Wilson questions and continue to dig through archived records at the state archives, county courthouses, libraries, the local Family History Center and any other unlikely place I can think of. I continue to pick the brain of every person I can think of in hopes of some little tidbit that will lead me to answers.
I do hope to have my father's DNA tested soon in hopes that it will lead somewhere I haven't looked before- you never know when or where you might run across the tidbit will be that will break down your biggest brick wall.
