Ritchey and I have spent the last two weeks in the most wonderful places on earth – Loudoun County, Virginia, and the beach! The first week was on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. While Ritchey walked the beaches every morning – usually for 2-3 hours – I entered family information into my Family Tree Maker. Over the years I have been very diligent at searching through court records, church records, cemeteries, libraries, etc., but haven’t been quite as good about putting the information into FTM. Very difficult to access when you don’t know where something is!
And not only have I been adding my family’s data. FTM 2011 allows you to add unrelated individuals. So I have been building families using baptismal records, marriage records and census records. My hope is that when you email me with a question, especially about Washington/Nelson/Marion counties in Kentucky, I will be able to bring up that particular family in my FTM and give you all the data you need!
While in Loudoun County we researched at the Thomas Balch Library – a library specifically for genealogy and historical research! I was in heaven! Tuesday the library is open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. We were there before they opened, to take pictures of the library. And, except for a brief lunch, were there until they closed!
There are four large research rooms in the library, filled with books from top to bottom! The librarians were so very helpful and extremely knowledgeable! My first interest were the Loudoun County records – Ritchey went to the Massachusetts records to search for his Jewell family – and found them! While the majority of records are Virginia, that is by no means all! We barely scratched the surface in our two days there! If you would like to visit their website click here.
On our second day of research, after visiting the library, we went to the archives at the Loudoun County Court House. Copies of the original wills – not the will written in the will book by the clerk! – are available – and in color. While there I had copies of my great-great’s wills made – Benjamin Mason and William Moran, Sr. How thrilling it was to see their signature!
As I have mentioned before, there is nothing like going to the original records for your research. Not only is the information correct, since you’re getting it from the horse’s mouth so to speak, but it is much more exciting than sitting at a computer trying to find information! Good luck with your research!
Categories: Genealogy Ramblings
It sounds like you had a wonderful visit at the Thomas Balch Library in Loudoun Co. Va. Wish I could get there too. Were you able to copy the Wills of Benjamin Mason etc. My 3rd great grandfather, Philip Porter b 1754 1831 and wife Nancy Ann Brent were also in Loudoun Co., VA, again not sure he even moved, as the county name changed so many times. I still search for records to find the parents of Philip Porter and siblings. His son James Porter married Nancy Ann Mason, daughter of George Mason and 2nd wife Elizabeth Grigsby.
Look what I found in one of my books!
Philip Porter’s will, written 11 May 1831, prob. 14 Nov 1831 (Spencer Co., KY, Will Book A, P. 229), mentions wife Nancy; sons John, William, James, Henry, Charles, Alfred; daughter Katherine Darne. His executors were John Huston, John C. Burnett and James Stone, and securities were James Stone, John Huston, James Tichenor and Stillwell Heady. A person of the same name is in Loudoun Co., VA, tithable lists in the late 1780’s. This, combined with the Loudoun Co., associations of James Porter of a nearby part of Nelson Co., leads one to speculate that James was the son by that name mentioned in Philip’s will.
James Porter, b. 1787, d. 1865, married 2 Jun 1814, Nelson Co., KY, Nancy Mason, b. 12 Jan 1792, d. 13 Apr 1869. She was the daughter of George Mason (son of Benjamin Mason and Elizabeth Berkely) and Elizabeth Grigsby (daughter of Nathaniel Grigsby and Elizabeth Butler). Nancy is buried on the Frank Allen farm on Hwy. 162 near Bloomfield. In the same graveyard are members of a Loudoun Co., Fox family, and the Masons and Berkeleys were also Loudoun Co. families.
1. Zerelda Porter, b. 27 Jun 1816, d. 29 Jan 1894, m. 1838, Nelson Co., KY, Coleman T. Brown, b. 26 Jul 1809, d. 13 Dec 1895. Both buried Old Bloomfield Cemetery, Bloomfield, KY.
2. Benjamin Mason Porter, b. 1818, d. 1888, m. 5 Mar 1861, Nelson Co., KY, Cordelia Meenach, b. 1841, d. 1921, dau. of David Barr Meenach and cordelia Nourse Thomas. Both buried Old Bloomfield Cemetery.
3. Sophronia Porter, b. ca. 1809, d. 19 Nov 1891, m. 1855, Nelson Co., KY, Frank Johnson, b. ca. 1809, d. 19 Nov 1891, age 82 years, 7 months, 13 days. Both bur. Riverview Methodist Church, New Haven, KY.
4. Margaret Porter, b. 1825, d. 1890, bur. Maple Grove Cemetery, Bloomfield.
5. Charles Porter, b. 1832, d. 1905, m. 8 Oct 1867, Nelson Co., KY, Sallie Nicholls, b. 1842, d. 1917, dau. of Henry Nicholls and his cousin Elizabeth Nicholls. Both buried Maple Grove Cemetery.
6. Bettie Porter, b. 17 Jul 1836, d. 17 May 1856, bur. Fox-Porter graveyard on Frank Allen farm near Bloomfield.