Welcome to West Virginia Roots
A Little of a West Virginia Girls' Genealogy
My name is Lori and I grew up in the Clarksburg area of West Virginia.
I moved to Florida about 8 years ago but my whole family is still there.
I have been hacking away at my genealogy for quite a few years now and
I've found roots in several counties in West Virginia; the most being
Doddridge County, but also Upshur County, Harrison County, Randolph County,
and Ritchie Countiy. The surnames include Foster, Cottrill, Bennett, Hinzman,
Leggett, Richards, Orrahood, Buckey...to name a few!
It's a little more difficult to do research from a distance but thank
goodness for the internet! Please take a look around the site...hopefully
you'll come away with a little more information than you had a few minutes
ago - maybe you'll even discover a long lost relative!
West Virginia Photos - New & Old
The photos on this site are mostly a collection of old family photos I've scrounged up over the years but I've also collected quite a collection of different things such as old houses, coal towns, school houses...
Please feel free to download any of the photos you may find of a long lost relative or something that may bring back a memory or two!
[ View Photos ]
How to Start Finding Your Roots
The first thing you should do is find your oldest living relative and start with them. Record the name, birthplace and name, death place and name of everyone they can remember. Try for legal names and maiden names as "Mrs. Jones" and "Doc Jones" won't appear on census records or birth certificates. Also, ask if they have any scrapbooks or photo albums. You’d be amazed at what older people will cut out of the newspaper or tuck into a photo album but you’ll be thanking them when you find an obituary or two that gives you four or five names or when you discover a long lost photo of a great-great grandmother!
The next thing you need to do is get organized! There are several programs
available such as Family Tree Maker or Roots Magic. I highly suggest purchasing
one of these before your paper trail gets too long. Once you start, you’ll
understand!
[ Read More ]
My Pedigree
As I said, my roots run deep in West Virginia soil. I’ve traced my
roots to pre-revolutionary days in most cases. I am a Daughter of the American
Revolution several times over; I am English, Scottish, Irish, German, Native
American; I am my own cousin!
One thing I’ve learned about my ancestors is they loved to make babies!
My paternal grandfather for example had 17 brothers and sisters and his
grandfather had over 20 kids! With that many ancestors the surname list
is quite extensive as you can imagine. If you’re from West Virginia,
we’re probably related!
[ View Surnames ]