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Sunday, February 06, 2011

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR GENEALOGY BLOG CHALLENGE

In about a month and a half it will be April 12th, 2011, a very important
day for two reasons: one, it is my sister Cheryl's birthday and two, it marks
the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, South
Carolina.

Did you have ancestors in America on 12Apr 1861? If so, where were they
and what were their circumstances? How did the Civil War affect them and
their family? Did the men enlist and did they perish in battle or die of illness?
On which side did they fight, or did you have relatives fighting on BOTH sides?
How did the women left at home cope, or did any of them find ways to help
the war effort? Were your ancestors living as slaves on Southern plantations
and if so when were they freed?  Or were they freemen of color who enlisted
to fight?

If your ancestors had not emigrated to America as yet, what was their life
like around the time of the Civil War?

The 150 year celebration of the Civil War is a great source for those of us
blogging about our family history. So, let's do a little research over the coming
weeks between now and April 12th. Find out the answers to the questions
I asked and write about them. Or if you think of another topic to do with your
family history and the Civil War, write about that. Send me the link when you
publish it on your blog, and on April 12th I'll publish all the links here.

I'm issuing the challenge now to give all of us plenty of time to
work on it, so I'm hoping to see a lot of folks take part.

Thanks!

9 comments:

Sheri Fenley said...

A wonderful challenge indeed! So many different things a blogger can write anout their ancestor. There were a plethora of different ways people played a part in the Civil War without having been a soldier.

Kristin said...

I'm going to do it. Thanks for the idea.

Greta Koehl said...

Jeepers, this one is huge for me. I'll try to have something by then, but I don't know whether I can cover all of the ancestors.

Ken Spangler said...

Sounds great Bill! I think I will definitely take part in this! Thanks for the challenge.

Kathy Reed said...

I'll take part, too. I have six ancestors who served in the Civil War. I have pension records on four of them. I have been planning to complete some additional research soon. This may motivate me to get on it.

Kathleen said...

I just received the papers I had been waiting for - from the War Department! I will be part of your challenge....

Bill West said...

Thanks everyone! I'll look forward to your posts!

Greta-You could just do a post about
one ancestor for this one. We have four years in which to post stories
on the War.
:)

Tina Telesca said...

Great Idea. I will be posing about my Civil War Ancestors.

Susi's Quarter said...

Bill my messages keep disappearing.
Here is my post more scattered in blog from previous on CW Ancestors. http://susischattyperformances.blogspot.com/2011/04/sanford-huffmanhoffman-and-daniel.html

Thanks for sharing the topic. One ancestor had 28 pages in his pension file.