My 2015 Research Goals

I'd like to share my genealogy-related goals for 2015.  I did this last year, for 2014, and found that it helped me stay focused on my top priorities throughout the year.

I did make some progress on my goals in 2014, particularly in terms of the Schmidt and Griffin families, and I'm hoping to continue that momentum in 2015.  Here are my top priorities:

1. GRIFFIN
I accomplished a major goal related to my second great-grandfather John T. Griffin in 2014. The next step is to continue to try to prove conclusively his parents and siblings.  This is my primary area of focus right now.

2. BROWN
This goal remains from last year.  I am trying to find the parents and siblings of Amelia Brown Bellangee, my fourth great-grandmother.  I know the dates and places of her birth and death, but still have not been able to figure out who her parents were.

3. SMITH
This goal is also a holdover from 2014.  We are missing a generation in our Smith family tree.  I know that my fourth great-grandfather, Samuel B. Smith of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was the grandson of Captain Samuel Smith of Winchester, New Hampshire.  We have land deeds and other family records proving as much.  However, I don't know who Samuel B. Smith's father was, for sure.  I am pretty certain his name was also Samuel Smith, but looking for a Samuel Smith in New England is like a needle in a haystack. 

4. PINTO
My husband's Pinto ancestors were rumored to be Portuguese pirates.  A few years ago, I discovered they were actually Portuguese Jews who fled to America during the Spanish Inquisition.  However, the connection between the Connecticut and Ohio branches of this family is too tenuous for my liking.  One of my goals this year is to shore up that relationship and definitively prove the parentage of Miles Augustus Pinto and his (presumed) father, Isaac Pinto.