Winnie's Genealogy Project
My great aunt Winifred "Winnie" Winchester Crowe (pictured here) started compiling our family’s history in 1959, and began writing a book about all of the descendants of Willoughby and Mary Wallace Winchester (her starting point). She did all the research, typing, letter writing, traveling and telephoning regarding over 2,300 descendants -- all without the use of a computer.
Winnie died in 1979 with her work unfinished. Her brother, Jackson, took the materials and planned to finish her work in his retirement. In 1996, he decided that it wasn't going to happen, and I "inherited" the project.
The Continuum...
The descendants grew to over 7,000, and the entire database to over 11,000, and there was no way I could have done this without the use of modern technology and the Internet. Technology needed to catch up with this project for it to be finished! The book, Passages: Ten Winchester Generations, was finally published the summer of 2011.
Today I continue to do research but am limiting my work to those born before 1950. As evidenced by the "math" graphic, that's a lot of people to search for! The database has grown to over 16,000 direct family members.
I am also an active contributor to FindAGrave.com, surveying nearby cemeteries and fulfilling photo requests, which makes me a taphophile.
