I started looking into my past long before it became fashionable. A couple of years before my father's death he had become interested in finding his lineage which peaked my interest. I decided I would take up the challenge and continue the quest.
I started researching the Oviatt lineage shortly after my father's death in 1990. I found a few notes - bits of papers, with names scribbled on them - people who were unfamiliar to me. I fell in love with genealogy and research.
More than 20 years later I have answers, but also questions. My quest has taken me from Centralia, Washington to California back to Iowa, over to Ohio and further east to Massachusetts and Connecticut. The intensity of my research has varied depending on what was happening in my life – similar to surfing the waves on the beach. At times I float along while other times I ride the wave enjoying the experience of the search.
My plan is to share my journey and research with the hope that others might fill in the missing pieces. Together we might be able to solve this mystery. To start with I want to share what I have discovered - information that is substantiated by source information. In the genealogy world of today it is tempting to "log on", download, reprint and republish information that may or may not be correct. My early research has shown up in many family trees since the popularity of internet. I have furthered my research and expanded my own family tree. However, the father of John P. Oviatt still eludes me.
No comments:
Post a Comment