Researching Family History: Researching the Inman Name from Western North Carolina

Hello my name is Randy Inman and I thought I would share my experiences in researching my family history. I have mostly concentrated on my Inman research, but have actually traced my mother's side of the family farther back. She was a Gaddis and her mom was a Mathis. All of my family comes from the Western North Carolina region, at least in my lifetime. We are from the Haywood County town of Waynesville, North Carolina.

I can remember the first time I did any family research I went to the Haywood County Library with my aunt Donna probably around 1985 or so. We didn't have the internet back then so we did family research the hard way.

We discovered that the brother of one of my direct ancestors had been killed for desertion in the Civil War. Later his story was fictionalized in the book Cold Mountain by my distant cousin Charles Frazier. Cold Mountain was turned into a movie where Jude Law played "Inman" who was based on the real life W.P. Inman. My direct ancestor Joshua Inman was the father of William Pinkney Inman. Family rumor is that Jude Law was selected because all Inman men are good looking like he is. The beautiful Nicole Kidman played Ida, Inman's love interest.

The best resource I have found in doing family research is Rootsweb.com. On it I confirmed what I knew about the Inman's. I also was able to trace the Lanning's which my mom and I are descended from, back to 1600's Wales England.

Another great online resource I have used for Inman research is the Inman Compendium website located here. There is a guestbook and great links to anything a person would need to research the Inman name.

Where I have "hit the wall" on my family research is finding the father of Joshua Inman of Newberry South Carolina. Joshua was born in Newberry South Carolina probably sometime around 1800. I have been told that a Henry Inman may be Joshua's father but have been unable to confirm this. Joshua is the father of James Anderson Inman who built Inman chapel in Haywood County. James Anderson Inman's line is the one I descend from.

My experiences in researching family history have been good ones. When you find something new, it amazes you, or does me anyway. I have made contacts with relatives I wouldn't have met otherwise. Including a distant cousin named Shannon Byers who has set up a website called Ancestralspace.com to help people do their family research.

Thank you for reading about my personal experience with researching family history on Associtatedcontent.com. If you need any tips on researching yours, leave me a note in the comments, and then check back for my reply.