April 26, 2015

WCGS presents "Sign of the Times: Timelines in Genealogy", April 28, 2015

Event: Sign of the Times: Timelines in Genealogy
When: Tuesday, 28 April 2015, 07:00 PM to 08:30 PM
Where: Olivia Raney Public Library, 4016 Carya Drive, Raleigh, NC 27610

Come join us to hear professional genealogist Diane L. Richard, giving her presentation "Sign of the Times: Timelines in Genealogy." Hit a brick wall? Wondering why your ancestors did what they did? Learn about timelines and they might just help you solve your puzzles! Visual representations of data can make gaps, conflicts and paths to future discoveries easy to spot. And these are NOT the timelines you learned to make in school! We will learn how various types of timelines can aid in genealogy research...and breakthroughs. Diane can be found online at www.mosaicrpm.com. All WCGS meetings are free and open to the public. Bring a friend! Refreshments will be served during social time after the presentation.

Hosted by Wake County Genealogical Society

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ncwcgs/index.htm

April 20, 2015

No Place for Hate

We all have family members we wish belonged to someone else's family. In this particular case, I have to admit I wish this person didn't belong to any family. What he did was so terribly awful, no branch of the family would want to claim him.

Every family has a black sheep. Mine has a bunch. From moonshiners to gamblers to alcoholics. All sorts. 

You've probably read the news accounts of the shooting at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC last week. Kenneth Morgan Stancil is accused of shooting a college employee. His motive? Hate.

According to news reports, Kenneth Stancil claims to have killed because a man was gay and "deserved to die". How appalling. He also claims to have killed others. 

Oddly, family members have been scurrying around trying to figure out which line Kenneth Stancil hails from. Turns out to be my line. William Stancil and his wife Africa. His middle name, Morgan, is an old family name from my 3rd great grandmother Elizabeth Morgan who married William Young Stancil around 1835. I'm not sure if this is really the origin of his middle name, but it sure is a coincidence.

This is one black sheep I sure wish didn't belong to my family. Or anyone's family. 

There's just no place in the world for hate.