Another Year of 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - 2022 Prompt #1 Foundations

Like many people, I find it difficult to crack down and write on my blog regularly. This time last year, I did manage to write a few stories as part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 weeks" project hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. The project is continuing in 2022 with a series of new weekly prompts to help us get our creative juices moving. I know better than to promise I will faithfully write every week but will try my best. As my friend told me, the more you wrote, the more you are able to write.

Foundations:

I can say without any hesitation that the foundation of my genealogical interest came from my late brother, John Frederick (Jock) Inglis. His research on our paternal grandmother's family, the MacPhersons of Cross Roads Ohio, Nova Scotia, was done in the pre-internet, pre-DNA era. He spent years visiting libraries, museums, and archives across the province compiling a list of individuals descended from four MacPherson brothers who came to Nova Scotia around 1800 from the Highlands of Scotland.    

When he passed away in 1986, I took up the role of family genealogist and have since then, edited, added to, and sourced the work he left behind. Having been bitten by the genealogy bug, I have expanded my own research to all the maternal and paternal lines of my own family plus those of my husband. Over the years I have met, both in-person and online, many new "cousins" who have always been generous with sharing new information and photos. 

The advent of the internet and digital access to records has in many ways made research easier but it has also allowed erroneous information to propagate quickly and extensively. This has made the accurate sourcing of one's information even more important. I am currently creating a stand-alone family tree (A Quest for Kith and Kin). I am essentially starting over and adding each person and sourcing as I go. It is a major undertaking that may likely take me years to complete. I have however already corrected errors, found new people and new sources, all of which I hope will make a good foundation for whoever takes over the role of family historian after I am gone. 

Thanks, Jock, miss you lots.