Take a Second Look at Your Research

By Terri Gorney
Have you been doing genealogy research 10, 20, 30 or more years? If so, you
have covered a lot of ground and have probably hit dead ends. I want to
encourage you to take a second look at places you have already searched.
Over four years ago, I started working on Randy Lehmans family history (no
relation to the Lehmans of Paulding County unfortunately). Yesterday while
reading In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick, I was struck by
something that might relate to Randys family. In the 1830s and 1840s,
Nantucket Island had a reversal of fortune with the whaling industry. I
remembered that Randys 4th great grandfather was Capt. Thomas West of
neighboring Marthas Vineyard at this time. Is this why Capt. Thomas left the
island in the 1840s for Madison, Indiana?
I decided to take a second look at findagrave.com. Thomas West had a new
administrator and had information added parents and his wifes surname of
Spaulding! I decided to look again on-line for histories of the towns on
Marthas Vineyard. I found the West Family of Marthas Vineyard (Banks III,
p. 500-508) and other family surnames. I was able to add five generations
and discover more places to search. Some I was unfamiliar with because I do
not come from a seafaring family.
If you have had dead ends with your Paulding County families, can I
encourage you to take a second look at records? New indexes might have
been created since you last searched. Or you might have thought your
ancestors lived in Defiance County when first they were Paulding County
residents they didnt move, the county boundaries changed. Or you might
look at an old piece of evidence with new eyes. Soon more items will be
listed on-line for members use. Sometimes it pays to take a couple steps
back to look ahead.
Capt. West and his wife Sarah are buried in Cleveland Ohio. Both lived into
their 80s and lived with their youngest daughter Sarah West Swift when they
died.