Pitard.net Mysteries: Tennessee: Genealogy at Pitard.net

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Entries in Allen Strain's family bible which
record the deaths of Michael and Jennet
Higgins, and two of their children.

One of the enjoyable aspects of genealogy, or any archival research, is solving puzzles. And because genealogy is clearly interactive, here are a few for you to work with. Feel free to submit more if you like!

Tennessee figures in family history in the Strain family, who migrated from (I think) Rockbridge Co., Virginia down the Shenandoah Valley to Blount Co., Tennessee. Information on this family comes almost exclusively from their family Bible, which while wonderful provides little context. The history of this family provides one of the more difficult puzzles to access.

Walls

1. Post-immigration ancestors. Shouldn't it be possible to identify all American ancestry? Here are some problems:

Who were the parents of Michael Higgins and Jennet Bogle? I only have their names from the Strain family Bible, where their marriage and their children are also recorded. There are Higgins and Bogle familes in Tennessee at the time—how are they related? (Query posted Summer 2005).

2. Other puzzles. Names and dates are just data. Turning them into stories is how they make sense. Here is one problem I've come across:

What was "Col." James Strain's Civil War involvement? His daughter's gravestone calls him "Col. James Strain, CSA." Family history tells that he served in the Confederate Army in Tennessee. "Col." does not necessary indicate his rank during the War, since it may be derived from (for instance) a Civil War veterans association (here and here are other examples of that). But, Colonel or not, he does not appear on any rosters of Civil War soldiers? (Query posted Summer 2005).