Being a mid-Atlantic state, we simply aren't used to significant snowfall, and clean up will almost certainly take several days, if not longer. So, this is a perfect weekend to hunker down, dig into the records and focus on finding some new ancestors!
This past week, I added a new set of 3rd great grandparents to the maternal side of the family tree. By looking at Ancestry's ThruLines®, backed up by the 1850 census and a North Carolina marriage record, I was finally confident enough to add David Oakes (or Oaks) and Polly Lovell to my tree. Both were born about 1797-1800. I'm anxious to start expanding this line forward towards some of the 203 DNA matches I have from this ancestral couple. I'm particularly tickled to work on their daughter. I can't help but giggle when I see her name - Gooley Oakes.
I've tried to find information on where the name Gooley comes from, and it appears to be more of an Irish surname. I can't help but wonder if this is a quiet pointer to my 8% Irish origins, shown as coming solely from my maternal side. Thus far, I've yet to push my maternal line outside of the United States. Perhaps it's an homage to another direct ancestor I've yet to discover. If so, I'll be pushing solidly back into the 1700's, a time where handwritten records become much harder for me to decipher. Thankfully, AI is reasonably good at this task. When the algorithms stop serving up as many hints, I'll head over to FamilySearch for some full-text searches.
If you're up for an interesting read, check out "20 Ways Your Ancestors Survived Snowstorms That Would Seem Insane Today" by Marc McDermott at Genealogy Explained. I found it really interesting. And if you're in the path of this winter storm - please stay safe!
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