Ed Withers Research

This is an article from 2011, but still is pertinent to today. My favorite way to break through "brick walls" is using timelines to focus on the holes in your research and sources.

No need to spend big money to research your family history.

I have a new website, Forsyth Family of Augusta County, Virginia, dedicated to the ancestors and descendants of John Calvin Forsyth.

Stuck? Try using a map of the area to identify other local families who may have intermarried with yours. Also, look for land transfers and local business records. This section of a Rockbridge County, Virginia map shows my Forsyth family surrounded by many families who intermarried with them: Black, Trippet, Hogue, Moore, and McDaniel. Investigating these related families can lead to a breakthrough with your main line. Also, look for clues within the map. Both churches and c...emeteries on the map could provide information. Several women named on the map are listed as "Mrs." and were probably widows at the time the names were added to map. Names of the towns, creeks, and hills can help identify early settlers, but be aware of who made the map and the date the map was created. Union maps show an area as "Coal Harbor", when the real name is "Cole Harbor", named for the Cole family. Names and places could have been added decades after the map was created. Look at all maps that are available. This Union map is oriented North, while the Confederate map is oriented looking west, and has alternate spellings for some names and if a name for a house is different, it could be due to a land transfer or death. One map showed a family name for a location on the map, the other showed, "distillery".