Forever Family

I grew up in a small town in northwest Louisiana. The community is heavily populated with descendants of Spanish soldiers and the Native American women who married them. Common surnames for the area include Rivers (del Rio), Manshack (Manchacha), Ebarb (Ybarbo), Sepulvado, Remedies (Ramirez), Garcie (Garcia), etc…I think you can get the picture! My maiden name is Craig and for as long as I could remember, I wanted to know where we came from. So, on that first trip to the library I searched books for possible Craigs that were in the area. I found a few, but I was new and at that moment I couldn’t connect them to my dad and my grandfather. Then it was onto the census records! I worked backwards searching for my grandfather’s family. Once I found his parents I was able to continue searching until I found my 3 rd great grandfather James Craig Sr. James Craig was my first ancestor to live in Sabine Parish, Louisiana. I found him on the 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870 census records....

This journey began in the early 90's. I became a grandparent in July of that year and the drive to find out more information about my ancestors was even stronger. I’ve uncovered some amazing people in my tree. So, you would think that after 23 years, what more is there? My husband, who does not share the enthusiasm that I do for researching the dead...is always asking, “Haven't you found everybody by now?” or “There can't be anyone left to find.”  He is so wrong! As a child and young adult I had always wondered how my families came to be in Louisiana. Who were they and where had they come from. It was 1993 when I walked into the Shreve Memorial Library for the very first time. With very little to go on, I began my search. It was before the age of the internet. Research was tedious and slow. I remember going to the section of books for Louisiana, looking for the books on the parish I was raised in. Then I went through those books looking for common names that I recog...