Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Brick Wall Still Firmly In Place

I had hoped the title for this post would be Brick Wall Comes Tumbling Down. It was just not to be.  The Haley brick wall still stands firm.

I am just back from a research trip to Charlotte Courthouse, Charlotte, VA.  Charlotte Courthouse is a beautiful historic town in southern Virginia.  The courthouse itself was designed by Thomas Jefferson and dates back to 1823.  I do love researching original records in county seats.  (Read about my first experience with this in Halifax County, VA here.)  My favorite part is perhaps when I walk through the door of the records room.  All those records just waiting for me to pull them off the shelf.  I walked into the records room today and just stopped.  I let my eyes wander over the records housed there.  I could not help but ask myself:

 What and how many answers would these records hold?


Then I got down to work.  Today I was continuing my research on the Haley family, specifically my GGGG grandfather Jesse Haley.  Haley families lived in both Halifax and Charlotte Counties.  I had my research plan that I designed based on my Halifax County, VA research trip back in June. I started with the marriage records, moved on to the Wills and probates and finally onto the court records. The records  did not seem to hold the answers I was seeking.  But that's okay.  Sometimes there is as much information in what is not found in the records as what is found.

So, back home I've come to re-analyze what I know and what I do not know about Jesse Haley.  I will revise my research plan and proceed to chip away again at my brick wall.


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