Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist

250 Pages·2010·18.17 MB·English

by  Buzzy Jackson

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S H A K I NG
V'V'
FAMILYSTR
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Blue Bloods, Black Sheep,
and Other Obsessions
of an Accidental Genealogist
SHAKING THE
FAMILY TREE
Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions
of an Accidental Genealogist
BUZZY JACKSON
A Touchstone Book
Published by Simon & Schuster
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Touchstone
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Copyright © 2010 by Buzzy Jackson
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thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary
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Designed by A kasha Archer
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 32
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jackson, Buzzy.
Shaking the family tree : blue bloods, black sheep, and other obsessions of an
accidental genealogist / by Buzzy Jackson,
p. cm.
"A Touchstone book." Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. United States—Genealogy. 2. Genealogy—Social aspects—United States.
3. Genealogy—United States—Psychological aspects. 4. Jackson, Buzzy.
5. Jackson, Buzzy—Family. 6. Jackson, Buzzy—Travel—United States. I. Title.
CS49J25 2010
929'.1072073—dc22
2010009670
ISBN 978-1-4391-1299-1
ISBN 978-1-4391-4926-3 (ebook)
This book is dedicated with love to my family—
past, present, and future
Thirteen Generations of American Jacksons
■ Discovered via DNA test (See chapter 6)
>fc Visited gravesite (See chapter 7)
Jackson Markus Kirshner
(2005, CO-)
Sarah Rachel
Ben Reinhart Kirshner
"Buzzy" Jackson
(1971, OH-)
(1970, MI-)
"A
Jon Anthony Jackson Ruth Baum Jackson Hall
(1938, MI-) (1944, MI-)
I
Jabe Cook Jackson Grace Obera Goodwin
(1905, AL-1997,MI) (1908,AL-1985,MI)
* William Daniel Jackson Mary Jackqualine Sanders
(1856, AL-1924, AL) (1864,AL-1932,AL)
John Randle Jackson Rebecca Ann Wrenn
(1831, AL-1924, AL) (1840-1912, AL)
CONTENTS
▼
Ask Yourself Why YouVe Doing This; or, Genealogy for
Beginners 1
An introduction to the world of genealogy and how I got interested in it. Here I
m provide an outline of how to do genealogical research and, coincidentally, a map of
the book's structure.
They See Dead People But I Stick to the Living; or, Join Your
Local Genealogical Society 18
Seeking help from experienced genealogists, I join my local genealogical
society. I begin my family research by interviewing my parents and by
asking myself how much I really know about my family tree. Answer: not
much.
Interview Your Relatives and Go to Your High School Reunion;
or, Rust Never Sleeps 39
Having exhausted my parents'fund of knowledge (and my own), I travel
to Michigan to conduct interviews with extended family, seek access
;
(mostly denied) to family Bibles, and visit my grandparents' graves for
the first time. A few weeks later I attend my twentieth high school reunion,
which offers another type of family connection.
Contents
CSl: Lido Deck: The Genealogy Cruise, Part I 61
/ dive into genealogy's deep end, attending a conference held on a
Caribbean cruise ship. Literally adrift in a sea of knowledge, I try to
glean as many research clues as possible, all the while marveling at the
expertise of my guides and the intensity of my fellow attendees. Did I
mention I'm on a cruise ship ? Which is weird.
Beaches and Burke's Peerage; or, the Genealogy Cruise,
Part II 96
As the lecture-intensive phase of the cruise comes to a close, I tour the
islands with the dean of Irish genealogy and enjoy conversations with an
assortment of other experts, from the author of a dictionary of surnames
to the woman who wrote genealogy's equivalent ofTht Chicago Manual
of Style—all by herself
Information Wants to Be Free; or, How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love DNA Testing 115
Fd already tested my DNA; I now try to understand my results. Here I
offer an overview of what DNA testing can and cannot offer genealogists.
After an initial anticlimax, Fm stunned when a total stranger contacts
me and, thanks to the double helix manages to flesh out several hundred
years of my family tree in less than five minutes. It could happen to
you. . . really!
Get Back to Where You Once Belonged; or, Hitting the Road to
Alabama with Cousin Mooner 146
With nearly four hundred years'worth of Jackson history now in hand, I
set out for Alabama with my cousin Mooner riding shotgun as we cruise
the southern byways on the lookout for relatives—some alive, some dead.
From Nashville's honky-tonks to the abandoned cemeteries of Sumter
County, Alabama, we rely on the kindness of strangers (some of whom
share our name) to better understand our southern heritage. It's not
always pretty, though sometimes it's beautiful.
x
Contents
The Mountain and the Cloud; or, A Pilgrimage to Salt Lake
City's Family History Library 180
All genealogical roads eventually lead to the Family History Library in
Salt Lake City, a mind-blowing archive run by the Church of Latter-
Day Saints (aka, the Mormons). I speak with the chief genealogist at the
FHL, the man responsible for its hundreds of billions of records, as well
as with the collections director who oversees the archives in Ukraine where
one half of my family's archives probably still sit. Mostly I marvel at the
several thousand genealogical pilgrims (most non-Mormon) who visit the
FHL every day.
Ask Yourself Why You're Doing This ... and Keep
Asking 213
A reflection on the unending nature of genealogical research, which is
both a good and a bad thing. I assess my own progress, and wonder if
any other Jackson descendant will ever visit that overgrown cemetery in
Sumter County, Alabama, where a dozen of my antebellum ancestors lie.
Acknowledgments 231
Notes 235
About the Author 242
XI
1
Ask Yourself Why You're Doing This; or,
Genealogy for Beginners <
Ask yourself why you're doing this."
Pat Roberts, a woman with a stylish haircut, some serious
jewelry, and the no-nonsense voice of a high school guidance coun
selor, stared out at the group of strangers who'd shown up for the
introduction-to-genealogy seminar that morning at the Boulder
Public Library. I suddenly realized what was coming: just like that
guidance counselor, this enigmatic gatekeeper was about to tell us
whether our expectations were realistic or just plain ridiculous.
"Ask yourself why you're doing this," she repeated, this time
with a rhetorical spin. "If I put that question to each of you, I'd get
twenty different answers. So ask yourself: What do you hope to find?"
Other people's history
In my case, it was a circus tent and a dentist. And a cattle farm in
Mississippi and, of course, Windswept. I'd come to the Boulder