Stories & Tips for A Genealogy Road Trip

by Chris Pattillo

My Genealogy Journey
One month after retiring I embarked on a 2 ½ month cross-country trip. I drove over 9000 miles through 19 states and did family history research in Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia. Along the way, I visited six county courthouses in four states, sixteen libraries, and made 3390 copies of pages of documents. Sounds tiring, right? I was exhilarated!

During the trip I found several people who helped me find family graves and clues to my family history. One encounter led to a small rural burial plot where my 2nd great grandmother is buried. While in Albany, Texas I found one small clue that enabled me to break down my tallest brick wall – one I’d been trying to topple for over 15 years. 

It was a remarkable trip filled with amusing stories and tales about how dogged determination led to genealogical treasures. Come hear my tales and be inspired to make your own genealogy journey on October 14th from 1pm - 3pm, right after our The California Genealogical society's quarterly membership meeting and Annual Genie Awards!  

Catch up with what happened before the talk by visiting my blog and read about what I experienced. The blog archive is located near the bottom right of the homepage with posts arranged by month.  I can't wait to share with you what I learned!  

About the Speaker

Chris Pattillo first became interested in family history research when she toured the then new Mormon Temple in Oakland in 1963. She started her research while on a family vacation in the late 60s and has continued to work on it in fits and starts ever since. After running her own Landscape Architecture firm for 40 years, Chris retired last April and spent two and a half months traveling across the United States, visiting Texas, Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina where her Pattillo ancestors are from. 

She has self-published four family history books and now writes the Pattillo-Thornally Family History blog. Chris has had a few articles published in the CGS quarterly – The Nugget, and since her trip has had articles published in an Albany, Texas newspaper and the Watauga Association of Genealogists bulletin in Tennessee.

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