Elizabeth Evans and Tomas Albert Hersey were from Ontario, Canada. They were both born in Kingston, Frontenac County, Thomas A. in 1839 and Elizabeth in 1842. They were married in Kingston and lived in the Rideau Ward, somewhere northeast of the Princess Street kink. In about 1895 they moved to Los Angeles. They lived, died, and are buried together in Inglewood, California. Simple and straight forward, period. Finding the details of their lives was clean and clear cut.

Oho. Not so. Each day of searching brought something new; more clues, links, and facets to their story. While looking for Herseys I found the following hallmarks:

• Longevity
• Twins
• Huge numbers of offspring 
• Nicknames
• Floating Middle Names: the infuriating habit of using middle names - sometimes for ill. They often changed willy-nilly, mid-decade or mid-life, from one name to another and back again.

I found these few “shoulds” while searching:

• Save all work. 
• Jot down all clues. They may never surface again

I found the following points crucial and potentially stumping to my progress:

• The importance of the ancestor (were they an historical figure or pioneer or were they a ...nobody.)
  
• The number of Children the ancestor had. The more, the better. Other descendants will have done much of your work
  

I found several caveats while searching:

• Records have Mistakes.
• Name spellings change.
• Place spellings change.
• Place names and areas literally morph. Sometimes the poor ancestor didn't seem to know where he lived. Kentucky was once Virginia. Ontario land was part of France before it was part of England, before it was part of Canada. Ontario was once part of Quebec. Heck, the United States was once UN-united. The United States was part of England. Finland was once in Russia (no wonder, as I will explain later, that poor Biddy didn't know where she was from.)

• North, South, East, and West are relative in history. Ontario was once considered West Canada. Ontario was once considered Upper Canada. I'm sorry. When I look at the map now Ontario is Lower Canada to the East. Wrap my 707 Nor Cal mind around that. Look at that map! Upper Canada, West? Really, isn't Ontario near the East Coast in the lower part of Canada??? 

Most of all, people, present and past, made and continue to make mistakes. Some of their mistakes are ENORMOUS. If the ancestor is missing huge decades, look in the criminal and mental health records...

Ella asks what the cartoon means. It depicts Jacob Grimm meeting a Neolithic PIE speaking ancestor, asking him (in old German gothic script) if he speaks German.  Mr. PIE responds, asking "What?"  The additional word indicates "dog."  The response is written in appropriate linguistic script. The Grimm brothers were not simply story tellers.  They were linguists and historians.  Jacob Grimm proposed the accepted Grimm's Law concerning language sounds and similarities. 

Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is a linguistics-divined language based on common words in current and past European languages.  It is linguists' best guess as to what was the first (proto) language spoken by the earliest Europeans who migrated from their supposed original roots in Africa. Using common words found in most languages, linguists have put together this proposed language.  It is a very compelling idea.  It is oddly and, in my opinion, inappropriately, used by modern neo-Nazi groups.

In the 1700's European colonization brought a class of learned mangers, clerks, dignitaries and leaders to previously unexplored regions.  These highly educated people were needed tor the running of the various colonies established by England, France, Spain, the Netherlands, etc...  Many of them were educated in modern and ancient languages, a perfect job requirement for their duties in the New Worlds. In particular, William Jones (1746 – 1794), who served as a judge in Calcutta, became proficient in Sanskrit and made the Gestalt Aha! concerning the similarities in languages.    

Time and Families have no beginning, no middle, no end.  This blog is a story of families and histories...my family specifically.  It does not begin with me.  I have children and sixty years of time past. I must be somewhere in the middle of my family history. 

An earlier place to start could be amongst the Neolithic Proto-Europeans of, perhaps, the Caspian Steppes.

Ah, but mine is a history that goes back to the primordial bubbling of a murky Darwinian goo. If I could trace this history back far enough my earliest ancestor would undoubtedly be a molecular organism on her way towards an amphibious existence. Yet even that is not far enough back in time. Perhaps my actual personal voyage should begin about four billion years ago with a bit of Star Stuff, as Carl Sagan describes in Cosmos. There is no beginning, no end.
Alas, Ancestry.com does not go back that far...

Suggested Reading...
The Human Journey
The Carl Sagan Portal
The Origin of Life on Earth - Scientific American
Exploring Life's Origins