I did some pruning of the Jerry Banister Family Tree on Ancestry.com. I have a couple of good advisers who send me information on my suspected birth parent’s families. Up to this point, putting all the connections together have admittedly been nothing more than educated guesswork using obituaries, Find-A-Grave, Facebook, White pages, newspaper articles, and Ancestry hints from other genealogists.  After the many hours I’ve spent doing this “detective work,” I think I’ve earned at least amateur status in the world of genealogy. DNA testing through 23andMe and Ancestry has also opened several doors by adding some scientific credibility to my Banister family connections.

Yesterday, I received a document entitled “Descendants of Laborn Banister,” a detailed outline of births, marriages, and deaths from 1801 to the present. I’m not sure who prepared the document but it certainly solved many mysteries that I had been exploring about the Banister family. I’m not sure that this is even really my business, but I’m certainly making it my business. Retirement has given me the time to delve into my suspected roots, and I’m certainly consumed in gathering as much information as possible. This particular document is very thorough, and after updating my tree information yesterday, I should probably be embarrassed about some of the bad assumptions that I made in “trying to put two and two together.” Many thanks to the unknown Banister(s) who put this document together – I assume (bad habit) there were several family members involved. I feel much better about the accuracy of my work, and will continue to prune this tree in the next couple weeks as more “hints” rise to the surface. There are now 5700 names, but my goal is not to add more names but rather to eliminate duplication, inaccurate relationships, and misspellings.  

I wrote a note to Audrey today after her encouraging words from our visit in Chicago. “Someday we’ll know all the answers! Just keep your hope up.” Another of my “Search Angels” suggested that I send an e-mail to a Banister descendant here in Portland. I did that a couple of days ago, but haven’t heard back. I’m assuming (there I go again) that his last name of Woodson dates back to Laborn’s daughter, Mary Ann Banister, and her marriage to John H. Woodson on December 1, 1870. I’m also waiting on a visit from a “DNA Relative” from nearby Washington state, who’s waiting to pick-up some repaired merchandise from a Portland vendor. He’s a very experienced genealogist who was initially responsible for helping me locate my birth mother’s location in southern Indiana. Thanks to all these “angels” that have kept the momentum alive during this difficult search.