Just posted a family profile of my 2xgreat-grandparents, John Brewster and his first wife, Rebecca Farr. As usual, this was challenging to research and write, mostly because it becomes very clear in trying to write a profile just how many research gaps I’d left unfilled. That’s because I’m trying to following the Genealogical Proof Standard, which calls for doing a “reasonably exhaustive search” and accounting for discrepancies and conflicts in what the sources say, among other elements.
But again, as usual, I found myself being so awed by my ancestors, no matter what their financial or social status was, because they all overcame such hardships, including things that would crush many people in modern-day America. John and Rebecca had nine children in all, but five of those children died young and a sixth died as a young man, before he had a chance to marry and have children of his own. There were no paved roads in their area in eastern Tennessee, and the vast majority of the roads that did exist were only about eight feet wide, little more than wide paths carved out of the woods.
Here’s an image of a typical country road in Scott County, which is just a mile or so away from John and Rebecca lived — and this is in 1915, long after they were both gone. (This is from the Tennessee State Library & Archives website.) Think about this road for a moment and imagine trying to make your way along it in the rain or sleet or in the dark, with or without a horse or wagon.
Just in the interest of sharing, here’s a spreadsheet I used to chart out their family members and their birth and death dates. It is very helpful to prepare a spreadsheet listing every census and every vital record detail to make sure each one has been covered. I still haven’t found Jasper Newton Brewster’s death date, nor do I know for sure how I know that his middle name was Newton (it was just passed down from others, but he was probably named for his uncle, Jasper Newton Farr).
Hope you find something that resonates with you in this profile!