N.F.R.

The biggest help in my research on my Ellingwood relatives has been
cousin Florence O'Connor's The Ancestors and Descendants of Asa 
Freeman Ellingwood and Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood. (1979).
I knew there were other family histories out there and I've
wanted to get a look at them for years now. But the prices on them
were so high I decided to wait until I had a chance to make a trip
into the NEHGS and read them there. Then last week I saw a used
copy of  Leonard Ellinwood's The Ellinwood (Ellenwood/Ellingwood)
Family 1635-1963 (1963) available for $15 and I snapped it up.

It arrived yesterday and with a display of unusual self-control I set it
aside to be read last night. Finally after dinner I opened it up, and
began reading. Leonard Ellinwood's branch of the family kept
the earlier spelling of the name and descends from Thomas Ellingwood,
son of Ralph Ellingwood II and younger brother of my ancestor
Ebenezer Ellingwood. I started skipping through looking to see
what there was of my line. Then I came to my the entry for my 3x
great grandfather John Ellingwood and looked at the list of his
children. Next to the name of my 2x great grandfather Asa Freeman
Ellingwood were the initials N.F.R.


No Further Record.

It's something I encountered when I first started researching my
family in several branches of my tree. The book The Upton Memorial
stops in my line with 2x great grandmother Betsy Jane Moore. A cousin's
genealogy of the Barker family has no mention of my branch past my 4x
great grandfather.

Of course in some cases it's because of when the book was published.
The Upton Memorial, for instance, was published in 1874, five years
before the birth of great grandmother Lottie Barker, Betsy's daughter.
And even though I was disappointed in that N.F.R. next to Asa's
name in Leonard Ellinwood's book, I appreciate the difficulties he
would have had in putting together his book. From the entry for
himself I know he was 59 years ol when the book was published and
had a busy professional career. Compiling his book probably was
something he did in his spare time. This would have been done in the
years before computers and in a time when interstate travel over
long distances was not as easily done as it is today.

I was lucky to have Florence O'Connor's book and the information my
Aunt Dorothy sent us as a starting point for my genealogy research.But
the scarcity of information about my family online and in books when I
began has been the motivation for sharing what I've found here on this
blog and in family trees I've posted online. We live in a wonderful time
for genealogists; there are so many records now available online and more
are being added everyday. Even someone like me with a limited income
and (for the moment) limited transportation can find information online
now so that now it's less likely than an ancestor's name will just have the
initials N.F.R.next to it in our databases.