Mission Statement

My mission with this blog is multifold.  First, is to help others studying their Powell family history and their cadet branches as I have been helped by others.  I plan to point out some of the mistakes that I have made in my research, so as to help others not make some of the same mistakes.  Also, I would like to try to shed a little light on some of the misinformation I have found surrounding the Powell name and the genealogy and history of the various families that go by that name.

Second, is to point out the importance of researching the history of the location and the time period in which your ancestor lived.  As was pointed out to me, it is not enough to know that Tom was the son of Dick who was the son of Harry and so.  We should want to try and know who Tom, Dick and Harry were and why they did the things they did.  Were they heroes or villains or just average people like most of us are today.  In most cases we will never know, but in a few we may find some really interesting stories about one or more of your ancestors.  What they did then, is what made us who we are now.   

Three, is why you should take at least two DNA tests with different companies.  I have done it with three different companies and for me it has more than paid off.   In doing so, I had a distant relative that I did not know, send me a couple of hundred years of my father’s ancestors’ German history, researched by a professional genealogist.   Also, do not be afraid to make your family tree public, you might find relatives that you did not know, and that would share information with you.  After all it is supposed to be family history.  What good is it if you do not share it with family, near and far.

Last, but not least, I hope to raise a little money to pay for research websites that require subscriptions and to by more books on the family, so I can keep this going and If I am lucky enough to raise enough money, I would like to be able to hire a Professional Genealogist from time to time to fill in some of the blanks and may be break through some of the brick walls. 

So, if you like what I am trying to do, please subscribe.