I started a similar blog a couple of years ago, but can no
longer log onto the old site. So, I will start over. The first few blogs will
simply be repeats of those first entries.
I don't remember when I first began researching family
history. As a boy, I don't remember hating family reunions, but I do not
remember that I looked forward to them either. Though we lived in Jacksonville,
FL, we attended every Griffin/Bennett get-together in Screven, Georgia. We
moved to Jesup in 1960, then to the Griffin/Bennett homeplace in Screven in
1962. After that, we hosted the Griffin/Bennett reunions. So we knew all of the
cousins and aunts and uncles.
We had the additional advantage of having Granny Griffin.
What a privilege to live on the old homestead with her right there. The only
thing is that, if we heard any stories, it was because she volunteered them. We
were too young and carefree to care about the old stories in those days. Thank goodness,
Granny was willing to tell the stories anyway.
The Todd family was a bit more distant, but I faintly remember
going to reunions in Long and Liberty counties. Eventually, this aspect of my
family became my primary focus. As we sat on the front porch shelling peas or
under the fig tree shucking corn, my dad would tell us stories about his
childhood. Once again, we did not care much for those stories, so our memories
only retain a few of them.
The thing that really spawned my interest in genealogy was
my interest in the American Civil War. I had been interested in the Civil War
ever since I was a young boy. I still have a map of the Civil War that is
bordered with both Union and Confederate generals that my mom ordered for me. I
believe I was probably about third or fourth grade, and I believe she ordered
the map using cereal box tops.
As an adult, I began participating in Civil War reenactments
and joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which meant that I needed to know
if I were kin to a real CW soldier. To discover that fact, I began researching
my family tree, beginning with the Todd family.
I don't have as much time to do the research as I once did,
but hope that this blog will bring input from others to help solve some of the
disconnects that still exist in the family tree.
