WHAT WAS I THINKING??

I have been thinking about retirement and what will I do then. Thought of becoming a professional genealogist occurred.  But, then I had an eureka moment, how can I find others ancestors when I can not find my own.

I must admit that there is the thrill of discovery when I find a new tidbit.   So, now I am thinking, I had better put that idea on a backburner and concentrate on finding my own ancestors.

I think what hampers me the most is the fact that my ancestors did not come over on the Mayflower.  The first to emigrate came to the USA in 1874, so there is no Civil War records for me to search, or don’t even toy with the idea of researching for the DAR, or First Families of Pennsylvania.

I have found the emigration, ship arrivals and census records and there they are all neat and tidy.    Actually, I think I am descended from boring people who stayed put in one place.   Sort of like me, actually.

I have found Irish records back to my great grandfathers (Thomas Dowd) birth in 1860, and the record of his parents (Thomas Dowd and Cate Sweeney)    My other Irish set (O’Rourke) seem elusive.   I have an obit that says they are in County Limerick, but Denis is next to impossible to find, not to mention is wife Mary ????? 

The Germans are another enigma.   I can not find the city that my great grandfather Heinrich Theodor Frederich Schridde,  was born.   I suppose the lack of progress has me down but I must keep on plodding.