Locations in descendancy research can be really important. If a location appears frequently it indicates that location is important to a particular family. It can also help separate people with the same name. Locality research can help identify descendants of a family.

Descendancy research often means working back and forth between generations. As work finishes on one individual, work begins on a sibling. Once all the children of a couple have been identified, then work begins by going back to the parent and looking at the parent’s siblings and working back and forth until all descendants are identified for all members of the family. Paying attention to locations can help ensure you are identifying the correct people.

James Eason Snelgrove Descendancy

In my Langford Descendancy project, I finished up Henry J. Snellgrove, attaching records to him and his children. The next step is to work on the next child of James Eason Snelgrove and Barbara Edwards. This included working on Henry’s brother Otis Oscar Snelgrove. Henry’s remaining brothers Alvin, John, Edward, and Marion had no record hints and searches through Ancestry’s record collection were uncertain. Marion Snelgrove was a child added to the family on FamilySearch. However his birth is a year after his mother’s death and is therefore in question. With no sources attached to Marion on FamilySearch, he may not even be a child of the couple.

James Eason married Nancy E. Ashley 5 July 1894 in Telfair County, Georgia. They had five children together – Thomas, George, Dewey, Lee, and Fannie May. I started working on this sibling group, with George next on the list to look at.

George Julian Snelgrove

FamilySearch had a fairly complete profile for George Julian Snelgrove. He was missing a complete birth location. Two record hints on Ancestry give George’s complete birth date and place. The first is the Georgia, U.S., World War 1 Service Cards, 1917-1919. The second is the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.

The World War 1 Service Card is a typed document that includes a birth location, enlistment date and place, units, military grades, service areas, and discharge date. This collection is a great summary of military service. This document shows that George was born in Cobbville, Georgia. Cobbville is an unincorporated area about 12 miles southwest of McRae-Helena, Georgia in Telfair County.

George was about 44 years old when he registered for the World War II draft, so he likely did not serve in that war. However, this document gives a complete birth date and confirms the birth location in Telfair County. Telfair County is a good place to start some locality research. This draft card gives George’s physical description on the second page of the draft card, so be sure to also look at that if you don’t have a picture.

The rest of the record hints for George at Ancestry matched up with the FamilySearch Profile. George’s wife Ethel Sellars also had a fairly complete profile with all the records hints also found at Ancestry.

3 Sites for Locality Research on Telfair County, Georgia

Working through the record hints for George and adding his birth information to FamilySearch highlighted the consistency of the locations for the Snelgrove family. The James Eason Snelgrove family primarily settled in Telfair or Ben Hill County, Georgia. These two counties are next to each other. Locality research indicates some descendants lived in McRae (or McRae-Helena), Milan, and Cobbville, Georgia. Others lived in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill, Georgia.

The proximity of these locations helps to confirm family members when looking at each member of the family. When a record hint suggests a person may have lived some distance from this area, it needs additional scrutiny. It is possible for family members to have lived in other areas, but other records are needed to help tie the family together.

Since Telfair County is an important location for this family, there are resources to help provide some background on the county.

• Wikipedia – useful for a brief overview, map, and lists of major population centers.
• Telfair County website – links to local churches and the public library.
• FamilySearch Catalog – digitized books on the history of the area.