THE PURPOSE OF THIS WEBSITE
If you are reading this, before you read any further, I ask that you please do something. If you have an Ancestry account, please go to the search page and type in the following information:
First name: James
Last name: Minyard
Year of birth: 1768
Place of birth: North Carolina
Year of death: 1827
Place of death: Mississippi
If you don’t have an ancestry account, do a Google search with the information provided.
The name that appears is my 5th great grandfather. Or 4th, depending on which branch you go up the tree (There was a lot of intermarrying between the Minyard and Carpenter families in the 19th century). I initially thought it was a mistake and ignored it.
I was able to trace all of my lines back to the early 19th century. When I got to the above ancestor, however, I hit the dreaded brick wall. Parents? Nope. Spouse? Nothing. After two years of researching this ancestor, I still don’t know this basic information.
However, I have three things working in my favor: I’m good at research, I’m stubborn, and all I have is time (God willing). I started building my family tree for the same reason most people do: I simply wanted to know where I came from, particularly my namesake and direct paternal line. Hitting a brick wall and encountering a strange French name wasn’t the plan.
During my research journey on this ancestor, I’ve researched parts of the world I never thought I would. I’ve learned more about history than I ever thought I would. I’ve encountered names I’d never seen before. I’ve learned about how this country’s financial system was formed after the Revolution.
After researching for two years, the project has shifted to something else. Something darker. Land acquisition schemes. Abuse of power. Corruption. The oppression of the poor. Occult groups. What I’m saying is: I didn’t sign up for this!
I will continue to add more content as I compile more information. Hopefully the things I’ve unearthed in my research will be beneficial to others researching their own trees. If nothing else, I hope this website at least proves to be informative.