Writing writing…

At some point the research has to stop, and the writing has to begin.

It is incredibly difficult to let the research go and begin writing. Every research effort begets more questions, another fact to check, another detail to verify. As I've researched Charles Luse, I've uncovered more and more questions. Did he and his wife have any kids? Is there an obituary anywhere that would tell us more about how he died, maybe a few notes on his funeral? Why isn't he in the Mercer County birth registers, if he was really born in Sharpsville?

I've spent more than a week now scanning in Mehl photos, and I've scanned over 120 photos at this point. I've organized the master photos into archival boxes. But there are a couple of hundred more to go. However, if I don't start writing, I won't have enough time to get a product done in the next few weeks, and that's my goal.

So… I have to let Charles Luse go.

I wrote up what I know about his life this morning. I've ordered a marriage record from Cuyahoga County to confirm or deny his marriage to Hazel Moinet. I sat down and wrote up the history, as I know it, of the Mehl photo collection. I've formatted up a book in Word that I can use as a base format. I formatted up a report in Legacy that I can use to export the information I have, and paste it into the report. Stories have to be added manually, but the life facts are there, ready to be used, and the footnotes – the sources – copy over beautifully! So my book should have solid and believable sources, something I feel very strongly about.

My goal is to have something to show cousin Bill within the next few weeks. My secondary goal is to create a tree that includes every descendant of John Mehl, but that depends on whether I can find the Mitcheltrees and the Hamlins. Please, if you are out there, give a holler!