The Spirit of Elijah has certainly rested upon the Reid family. At our initial family history research gathering in November 2009, several members of the extended family accepted responsibility to coordinate the research efforts of the George Samuel Reid family and its affiliated ancestral lines. The assignments are as follows:
- Richard Parker Reid: Chairman of the Reid Family History Research Group. Coordinator of the research on the Sharp and Shirley lines.
- Robyn Reid Dickson: Coordinator of the research on the Reid paternal line.
- Stan Reid: Coordinator of the research on the Holt and Thurgood lines.
- Robin Davis: Coordinator of the research on the Duke line.
As agreed, the coordinators met at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake on 23 Jan 2010 to report progress of our efforts. One word could describe our meeting, amazing! In addition to the annoucement of the “soft-launch” of this blog, Robyn, Robin Davis, Richard, and Stan all reported on their efforts.
Robyn Reid Dickson, and mother Colleen Reid, continue to scour reference materials at the FHL for any clues related to the ancestry of Jacob Reid. That work can only be described as tedious. Sarah Palin may be a pit bull with lipstick, but Robyn taught her how to put it on.
Robin Davis is making great progress on working to verify the lineage of Green Reginald Duke. He is also our technical advisor and a master genealogist, so he’s often consulted about using all the tools available to us at the FHL and on the web.
Richard brought copies of a published Shirley Family History, and shared with us a copy of a recent re-publication of the Ila Howarth Parker history. Both are wonderful works, and we’re planning to incorporate them at some point in the blog.
Stan has been working to verify LDS ordinance data on the Holt and Thurgood lines. That information is best represented and maintained on the LDS Church Family History web site. We have some work to do there to ensure that all the ancestral lines are accurately represented.
A few additional items of interest came of the meeting:
- We have agreed to pursue DNA testing to help trace the paternal and maternal Reid lines.
- We will work to expand the George Samuel Reid Family Blog to include related lines. We’re hoping many family members will contribute to that cause.
Finally, please note that our next gathering is intended for the entire family. It is currently scheduled for Sunday evening, May 2, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. We’d love to see you there!
George Samuel Reid Family Roots 