Hi there, it's so nice to meet you!

I am so glad that you dropped by here at The Welsh of Harpers Ferry. This website has been a dream of mine for a long while!

Finally, after many attempts at a larger project which was just too large to handle by myself, I decided it was time to create this site to share my research and other collected items relating to the Welsh Family of Harpers Ferry and related lines, and help researchers researching their own families in the Eastern Panhandle area of West Virginia.

P.S. If you're visiting from my previous project, Panhandle Genealogy, it's super nice to see you again. Welcome back!

 

Let Me Introduce Myself

My name is Kaila, and I am a self-taught family historian. I have been conducting different types of historical and genealogical research since the meager age of 13 -- that's about 15 years of research!

Outside of my historical interests and research endeavors, I am a wife to a loving husband, a mother to a beautiful, sweet daughter, a crazy hound, Turbo, and a horse that has been by my side since my early teenage years, Twister.

My ancestors immigrated from Offaly [Kings County], Ireland to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the early 1830's. Fed up with how they were being treated by the English, they dreamt of prosperity and a new start for their family. Harpers Ferry was extremely similar to the "homeland": the landscape, the rivers, and the limestone deposits. I am now the 7th generation that continues to live in the breathtakingly beautiful Harpers Ferry area, and it all started with them -- Patrick and Honora Welsh and their sons.

I'd love to get to know you -- if you have time, i'd love if you could share your story or genealogy journey with me!

Visit my Author Page Jump To My Story
 

I wasn't researching my genealogy. I was merely pretending to do something I was not, adding little boxes in my genealogy program.

Kaila

So, I started over. Completely. I deleted my entire genealogy file and all of the unorganized records I had scattered across my hard drive.

I researched how to research genealogy. I began citing my sources. I interviewed every living relative that would talk to me. I organized and digitized or downloaded any record I could get my hands on. I created timelines and goals, wrote a research log, and analyzed my evidence to back up my claims.

And, a funny thing happened.

I started getting things -- understanding why people did what they did. I had an easier time finding sources because I knew where to look.

Genealogy became truly interesting. It became more than knowing the name of the person before me and when they died.

It was knowing that my grandfather, they called him "Skip", still drank a baby bottle under the dinner table at 8 years old.

It was knowing that my great-grandmother baked and sold the best cakes in town, and she did it on a wood stove completely by hand.

It was knowing how in love my great-great grandfather Tommy, an excellent fiddle player,was with his wife, Maggie, and that they still spoke Gaelic at home.

It was knowing that my great-great-great grandfather, Tommy Buchanon, survived an exploding dynamite shed after being pronounced dead. His wife Annie... I can't even imagine how she felt when she realized he was alive.

That's genealogy. That's what family history is truly all about.

 

Today, I'm still searching for stories, but not just my own family's stories. I want to help other people discover their own family's stories. I want to help YOU discover YOUR stories.

You see, I truly believe each person affected history in some way. The more we learn about other people's stories, the more we learn about our own.

That's what The Welsh of Harpers Ferry is all about. Helping researchers discover their own family stories by sharing our own.

We all have ancestors, and they all have stories just waiting for you to uncover them. If you don't tell them, who will?

 

We all have a story to tell; What's yours?

Can You Relate?

If you've made it this far down the page, you probably can relate a little bit to my story.

I'd even bet you've had quite the genealogy journey yourself!

We'd love it if you could share your personal genealogy story with us! Just shoot me a message by clicking on the button below to share your personal genealogy story directly with me.

Researching is much more fun when you have genealogy friends behind you!

Tell Your Story