Good morning! It is a bright, but chilly, spring morning here in the SC Lowcountry following a downright nasty weekend filled with rain and unseasonably chilly temps. Still below normal today, but at least the rain and clouds are gone. Pollen is temporarily washed out of the air, much to the relief of those of us who have been suffering with allergy symptoms over the past few weeks.
I’m currently enrolled in the ProGen study group, an in-depth study of Elizabeth Shown Mills’ book Professional Genealogy which covers both research methods and business strategies. One of our topics this month was “Time Management,” something that I need a tremendous amount of help with. So this morning I made a list of tasks I hope to accomplish today. I’m currently working through it, and this post is one of those tasks. I hope to be doing more of these, so be prepared.
The National Genealogical Society meeting begins in Richmond in a couple weeks. I’ll be driving up to Fredericksburg, VA on May 4, taking my mother-in-law to spend a week in Fredericksburg with her niece while I’m in Richmond. I plan to hit the Library of Virginia on Monday for a bit of personal research on Barton “the horse thief” Lovelace, my gggggrandfather, who was arrested in Halifax County, VA in 1786. Barton and his family were moving south from Maryland after the Revolution when he and a buddy John Compton were arrested. He was bound over for trial in Richmond, but the courthouse there was burned during the Civl War, destroying any court records that might have existed. Barton disappeared, leaving a wife and at least four children, who moved on into SC. Three of his sons then moved up into Rutherford County where they bought land and raised families. No further records of Barton were found until a 1798 marriage record in Blount County, TN. This is presumably after his wife’s death in Spartanburg Dist., SC. I’m anxious to see if there is any mention of him in the Halifax County, VA court order books. Wish me luck!
Then on Tuesday I’ll be participating in a BCG (Board for Certification of Genealogists) Education workshop titled “Putting Skills to Work.” I’ve already gotten pre-workshop assignments to look at and handouts for the work to be done. Gonna be intense, but hopefully I’ll learn a lot. I remember the last time I did one of these… it made me question whether I had the skills and knowledge to try to become a professional. Hopefully I’ve gained a little bit over the past couple years and will come out of this one with a little more confidence.
Well, time to move on to the next item in the list. Hope you all have a great day. Time for a fresh cuppa coffee [_]7