"The More I Search, the Less I Know"

 

A detour on my decades-long meandering journey to find more on Simon Rinehart brought me back to some correspondence exchanged with a fellow researcher online. This was back when viewing a census from the 1800s required ordering a microfilm on interlibrary loan, so thankfully, many felt the need to share what they had found. Back then, I was bemoaning the difficulty of tracing Simon from his supposed birthplace in Greene County, Pennsylvania, to some unknown location in Kentucky, then either back to Pennsylvania or perhaps directly onward to Perry County, Ohio. Explanatory documentation was simply not there to be found.

Outlining these disjointed facts I had uncovered to my fellow Rinehart researcher, once I cranked my way through the microfilmed census, I remarked, "The more I search, the less I know!"

Indeed, it did feel that way. And, unfortunately, in Simon's case, it still feels that way this month. Despite AI-assisted searches through a multitude of court records on FamilySearch.org's Full Text Search, I can't say I've made much headway. My consolation prize for my efforts has been extended lines of descent for more of Simon's children than I ever previously imagined he had. And that has resulted in this growing Rinehart branch of my mother-in-law's family tree.

Since it's time for my biweekly report, I took a look at the progress. In the past two weeks, I added 410 more individuals to my mother-in-law's tree, which now has 40,220 documented individuals. And yet, what do I have to show for it? Other than the court records showing the big, blow-out legal argument the two halves of Simon's children endured, I don't really know much more about Simon, himself.

Granted, adding all those newly-discovered descendants has begun a trickle of DNA matches as I add to Simon's branch of the family tree. Where, earlier this month, Ancestry's ThruLines tool had suggested 100 DNA matches linked to Rinehart descendants, the tool now reports 109 possible matches. As I add more descendants, I anticipate that number of matches inching upward, as well.

I suspect a breakthrough will not come until I can access records from Greene County, Pennsylvania—either online or in person. Since I don't have plans to travel that far east for quite some time, the answer to Simon's research puzzle may have to wait. But I've learned from experience on this line that more search efforts for this ancestor may yield me even more questions than I have right now.