Summer is in full swing here on our little Island paradise and as such, my attention has been drawn to things other than Amelia Island genealogy. I expect many of you are in the same boat as I am. But don’t get so busy that you miss out completely on all of our summer general meetings. The program committee has been actively finding some top quality speakers for this summer period. Case in point, last months professional genealogical speaker, Drew Smith. Drew regaled us with his genealogical knowledge and ability to speak that expertise in an efficient manner that everyone could understand. FAN research remains one of the most used tools in the genealogy toolbox for solving brick-wall problems. If you missed the meeting which was virtually broadcast in, then you missed a really good presentation!
Not to be overshadowed, this months speaker comes direct from Washington DC where she is the Chief Historian for the U.S. Census Bureau. You won’t find any higher level of knowledge on the process of taking a census. From the earliest in 1790 to the latest 1950 release she will explain how the census has been taken over time. This is an extremely important subject for genealogists, as it can help explain how mistakes were made in past census, like Seline Martin being attached to the wrong family during the 1870 census, for example.. When you understand how these census were taken, how often the facts were written by hand before it made it to the multiple census sheets, you will understand why sometimes the census taker just got it wrong.
Work did continue on prior copies of The Nassau Genealogist being added to the website this month. This is a slow process and will take time. After all, the quarterly has been put out over a period of 2 decades. If you’re related to the local Goodbread family you will be especially pleased with the additions.
Stay safe out there in your summer travels, and I hope to see you again soon at one of our local meetings.
Can you please give me information on the Houston Cemetery? Was it “discovered” at some point? My reason for asking is that in the late 70’s, my boyfriend and I (who frequently visited both Big and Little Talbot Islands) were headed north on Heckscher Drive when he decided to go “off road” to the left, onto what I would describe as barely remnants of an old road. Barely. We rode through the woods a bit and came up on an old cemetery hidden in the woods. Everything was covered in leaves. We got out and walked around looking at some of the headstones. Although I can’t remember exact dates, I want to say we saw headstones dating back to the 1700 and 1800’s. With obviously no cell phone or camera with us at the time, we got no pictures. I wish we had. I saw a picture of the Houston Cemetery through Google, and it looks absolutely nothing like the cemetery we found. I’m curious because, I’m thinking if the Houston Cemetery looked this way prior to the mid to late 70’s, that possibly there’s another one close by that hasn’t been discovered yet? That would be fascinating! Thank you!
I see no evidence that the Houston Cemetery was at one time or another lost, unless it was in the 1800s. It’s been transcribed numerous times during the 20th century going back to the 50s.