If you have been doing this for even a short length of time, you will have begun adding dozens of new names into your family tree.

Every time there is a marriage, a new name is added and you have a new family to research.

When I first started this with my Blakes, I went through the family book and indexed the surnames of families the Blakes had married into. With a sigh of relief, I noticed there was not one single Smith or Jones.

I shouldn't have been so smug. Further research showed one of the lines not developed behind my great-grandmother, Mattie Dorman, to be yep, you guessed it Elmina Jones, daughter of Henry Jones and Nancy Fincher. Elmina was the second wife of Wiley Dorman, and mother of Mattie's husband, Allen Dorman. (The Dormans were in Heard and Troup counties in Georgia and eventually planted themselves in Chambers County, Ala. So far, I have not been able to connect them with the Fayette County Dormans.)

So, not only did I find a Jones, but it was a direct line (Elmina was my GGgrandmother), meaning it would have to be traced. I just groaned and stopped there for the time being, turning my attention to the Fowler side.

I was happily bouncing along, adding new names and information to my Fowler family, when I came across a Johnson, which really didn't upset me at the time. Surely, nothing could be as bad as a Jones, I told myself.

I found that Mary Johnson, married to John "Jethro" Norris, was the mother of my GGgrandmother, Sarah ann Norris Fowler. It was also said in "The Heritage of Cleburne County, Alabama" that Mary's Johnsons migrated from Gwinnett County to Fayette County along with the Norris family sometime between 1850 and 1860.

I found the Norris family in Fayette in 1860, living next door to Zeph and Lucy Fowler, but I have just begun trying to find the Johnsons. Since I don't know the given names of any of Mary's family, it's like starting from scratch.

To make matters worse, I found more Johnsons married into my Fowlers when they arrived in Alabama. Fortunately, I found a source of reference for these Johnsons which has helped tremendously. Frances Arnold lent me her copy of "Our Johnson Family," written by Willis Ezra Johnson back in 1966. This is a wonderful little booklet and traces the Johnsons from Virginia to North Carolina to (Coweta County) Georgia and eventually to Randolph County, Ala.

I have also been fortunate to find living family members of this Johnson family over in Graham and Woodland, Ala. They are not my direct line (they are my relatives, not my ancestors), but searching them out may help me find out about my Gwinnett and Fayette Johnsons.

But, back to Gwinnett County in 1850 and 1860. Fowlers marrying Johnsons has been going on for a while. The first instance I found was my GGgrandfather, John Fowler's brother, Reuben Fowler, marrying Frances Ann (Fanny Ann) Johnson about 1848. Reuben, Fanny Ann, and their infant son, Nathan, are found in the 1850 Gwinnett census, living next door to Reuben's father, Nathan Fowler. Living in the house with Reuben is, apparently, his mother-in-law, Sarah (Sally) Johnson, age 32, a widow.

Loose paper trails in Hall County turned up a family file saying that a Sally Johnson was the widow of a John Johnson, who was the brother of a Joel Johnson. Family names are starting to come together loosely John "Jethro" Norris had a son named Joel, as did my GGgrandfather, John Fowler, Jethro's son-in-law.

Checking the 1850 Gwinnett census more closely, I found a Joel Johnson, age 47, living next door to the above-mentioned John Fowler. Joel Johnson's household includes his wife, Matilda, and Callaway, Pellman, Mary, Amanda, Jane, Ameda and Eliza. A family file on Rootsweb shows a Joel Johnson and wife, Matilda, with the same children. It says this Joel's father is Lowell Johnson and has a note, "Records show Joel Johnson operating a mill in Walton Co. in the 1850s." The name "Lowell" crops up several times in my Randolph County Johnsons. Clues, clues.

Could this Joel Johnson be Sarah Johnson's brother-in-law? Is he related to Mary Johnson, wife of John Norris? He is living next door to Mary's daughter. Something's going on.

To make matters even more confusing, in 1858 a marriage is recorded in Gwinnett County for Nathan Fowler and Sarah Johnson. We think perhaps this is our Nathan, widowed, marrying his son's mother-in-law. By 1860, Nathan has disappeared and believed to have died.

Moving on a few years to Randolph County, Ala., we find the Johnsons in Ezra's book marrying into the same Fowler family four times: (1) Lela Cosper, daughter of Mary Frances Johnson and George Cosper, married Joel Wilson Fowler (Nathan Fowler's great-grandson). (2) Ruby Johnson, daughter of Zora Jackson "Doc" Johnson and Harriet "Mouse" Cole, married William Walter Fowler (Joel Wilson Fowler's first cousin and Nathan Fowler's great-grandson). (3) William David Johnson, son of John Thomas Johnson and Nancy Voss, married Lula Fowler, sister of William Walter, above.

(4) Archie Johnson, son of Wade Johnson and Clara Tomlinson, married Flora Hand, orphaned daughter of Cecil Mary Fowler and Joseph Mercer Hand. Cecil Mary was Lula and Walter's sister.

Now. Do you see why I would rather have a Jones? Nothing could be more confusing than these Johnsons. If you have these in your family tree, I would be happy to swap information with you.

I'm still looking for information on your south metro folks ... any families who settled for any length of time in the counties south of Atlanta. We want to know where they came from and where they went. Send mail to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

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