Genealogy

Family history is a passion for me I suppose. I have so much information and it's like putting a puzzle together piece by piece. Trouble is, the pieces are filling my 'office' to nearly capacity and I need to find a work space to put some of this together. It has been quite a few years since I sorted out , pitched, and put the histories in binders. Now, there are binders with data waiting to be put in other binders... forevermore.

Hubby bought me an update for my family tree maker software, and it came with 6 months of Ancestry.com. WOW. So while the snow is flying, I'm warm and cozy sitting in front of my computer searching for details of our families.. and adding my own notes.

The infamous "BRICK WALL" has been present for a long time.. as long as I've had an interest in family history. It involves only one person in the history.. Wendell's maternal great grandfather. Information is sketchy and more like obscure. His grandfather was Oren Scott Grove born 23 May 1865 in Perry Twp Jefferson County PA. He died November 25, 1955 in Butler County PA. I have visited the Rehobeth Cemetery in Armstrong County PA where he is buried. Besides his immediate family whose names are familiar, there is another headstone beside his that reads "Nancy Grove Smith~1835-1911" I have to assume this is his mother, but who was his father?

I checked the census records. The Federal census of 1870 revealed something interesting.. Nancy is living with her parents Jacob and Elizabeth Grove with 2 5 yr old children- Oran Neel and Mary C Neel. This HAS to be our family.. but who is Neel? Oren Scott was a twin. His twin sister was Mary Catherine Grove (Myers). So why were the childrens' surname listed as Neel? And who was Nancy's husband? Or was she married? Lots of unanswered questions.