Powers Family Reunion II

I had a good time this year. I drove down to Mt Sterling KY with my mom and grandma, worked on a few things in the car during the long drive (sewing, costume planning and a job application). While there, I chatted with some distant cousins and discovered that I have one that has the same hobby I do - costuming. I friended her on Facebook and proposed we hang out at DragonCon.

EDIT My distant costuming cousin's name is Melissa and she's descended from Silas Powers, the brother of my 3rd great grandfather Gilson Powers. If I'm using the cousin chart correctly and if she is the same generation as me which is likely given our close ages, especially since Silas and Gilson were only about two years apart, then we are 5th cousins. She emailed me recently and said she'd love to do dinner while we're at DragonCon.

The next reunion might not happen, unless someone steps in to organize it. The spearhead of the reunion so far has decided she'll help for the next one, but not be the main person.

Powers Family Reunion

The Powers Family Reunion is this weekend! I'm super excited to see all my cousins, and probably meet new ones. The reunion is for anyone descended from Jeremiah and Leah (McCarty) Powers.

Find A Grave Website and Travel for Family Research

I get nothing from pimping their website, but findagrave.com is amazing. I found a ton of graves on my maternal grandfather's side today, including Jacob and Nancy (nee Foy) Fink who were the first of the Fink line to come to Ohio. They came from Pennsylvania in the 1850s. I don't even remember who all I found but I totally started a spreadsheet to keep track of where who is buried. I didn't have as much luck with my maternal grandmother's or my paternal grandfather's sides though. I'll probably have to give them another look. And I think Grandma Jenny's family needs more research. I have one or two lines traced really far back but most of them end pretty quickly. More research is necessary!

In other news, the reason why I'm doing all this burial research is because I want to travel around and take pictures of as many graves of my ancestors as I can. Right now, I'm just looking at Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Then maybe later on I can look at Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia...you get the point. I would love to travel to New England at some point, especially to Plymouth.

My mom and I are already planning a trip to Jackson and Gallia counties for the Fink side. And we'll probably be heading down to the Powers reunion this summer so while we're down there, we might as well hit the Menifee and Bath county cemeteries....

I'm combining my love of travel with my family obsession. Awesome.

Tonight my mom was telling me about the old family homestead in Gallia. Apparently when great aunt Nora passed away, no one paid the taxes on the property and it ended up sold (for strip mining) for back taxes. How sad is that? I'm a little determined to find where the land was, maybe go take a picture while I'm over there. But land records (at least historical ones) are beyond my current research abilities. I may have to do some major research to even find out where to start looking. I tried tonight, but with no luck. I may contact the Gallia County Genealogical Society for help.