From the census, I was able to confirm William’s father’s name (my great-great-great-great grandfath

All libraries smell the same—the smell of very old paper and canvas, old carpet, old air. It's the smell of old milk and the scent of history airport rental cars and like a hound sniffing the air, I followed the trail to the domed research room inside Scotland's National Archives .
Genealogy is nothing more than serious detective work. For me there were no black sedans or smoking guns, but I did have my little black notebook airport rental cars and half-pencil, airport rental cars and over the course of the day I was dealt many, many false leads.
I knew the man's name and even his supposed date of birth, but this is usually never enough. Tracking down written proof of a man long dead takes patience and sleuthing. I had come to the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh to unravel a personal mystery but as I sat in front of a library computer searching their incomparable database, I felt a little less hope in connecting present-day me to my family's Scottish roots.
I have three different Scottish branches in my family airport rental cars tree—three different travelers who left for America at different times. Those of us who are Scottish take pride in our heritage, we brandish our tartan and get teary with the bapgpipes, and yet so few of us actually know who we are or from whence we came. I had a name and date, but now that I was in Scotland, I wanted proof.
My search through a few million birth records brought up nothing, and though I had the help of a librarian, we were unable to turn up anything from Scotland's national registry. Prior to 1855, all births, death and marriages were recorded by the churches only, so I imagine many individuals fell through the cracks.
After a while, I grew discouraged by the constant computer response, "0 Records Found", as well as false leads of same name, wrong guy. There were a lot of McGregors back then, but my librarian was an artful detective, crunching numbers airport rental cars and guessing at ages, then turning to the census records.
Immediately airport rental cars I imagined the scene on that early summer evening back in 1841, the census takers knocking on a door, standing on the threshold of a stone house in Glasgow, speaking to a man. Somewhere in that house stood a seven-year old boy, perhaps clinging to his mother's skirt—and he was counted.
From the census, I was able to confirm airport rental cars William's father's name (my great-great-great-great grandfather), Alexander McGregor, and with more searching, I was able to track down a death record for him—in 1872, along with his address in Greenock (near Glasgow).
Coming to Scotland and searching my family history was a way of connecting the dots—linking bits of information to greater truth and confirming, in fact, that these people lived—Scottish blood flows in my veins.
There is no way to describe the joy at establishing that link with one's past. All of us create storied versions of our family tree, but picking out the golden flecks of truth is so much more rewarding.
I ve done this as well. Before they digitized a lot of records, I remember scrolling through airport rental cars microfiche reels as a teenager looking for one name. The excitement I felt when I found Minerva after a year of searching is a feeling that can t be described. Wonderful!
I hope I can do this as well one day. I ve been studying my family history for close to two decades now. I have not, however, had the opportunity to visit Scotland. My family, the Dreghorn family has strong connections to Glasgow. I enjoy reading your written word. Kudos.
About Digital Nomad Andrew airport rental cars Evans is National Geographic's digital nomad—always traveling and always airport rental cars wired. Share in the adventure as he explores great destinations around the globe. Interact online in the comments and on Twitter: @WheresAndrew airport rental cars .