The Digging Game

So, when dancing with the ancestors, there's a certain amount of digging, which I call the digging game that goes on.

Case in point: Mrs. John Aldred

Okay, I guess you need a bit more info to understand that reference. Ha.

In attempting to track down ancestors - siblings, children, etc. - to verify a connection. I have had to dig, dig, and dig some more. I've had to change spellings of last names. I've had to use two different genealogy sites, and even Google a time . . . or twenty-five.

Dig, dig, and dig some more.

So, I have a handwritten copy of the death notice for my great-grandfather, which lists . . . daughters, Mrs. J. E. Hock of Louisville, a few more, and his sister Mrs. John Aldred of this city.

Well, I couldn't figure out which of my great-grandfather's sisters married an Aldred until, when verifying one of his brothers, I came across his death certificate, the informant of which was . . . A. C. Aldredge.

Uh-huh, my mind began to whirl about in delicate . . . twirls and one question came to mind: What if the spelling of Aldred was incorrect?

So, did some more digging and found out that my grandfather had a sister, according to census records, with the initials . . . A. C. So, a bit more digging, and . . .

. . . marriage record for J. C. Aldredge and A. C. Smith!!! Woo-hoo! Verification.

So, when dancing with your ancestors, keep digging. Alter the spelling of the last name. Look to death records - when you can find them - for additional information as well. If not for the death record of my great-grandfather's brother . . . I wouldn't have finally solved the mystery of Mrs. John Aldred of Nashville.

S

p.s. As a side note, it took me a while, but I also figured out which daughter (one of the children by his first wife) married J. E. Hock.