HomeMy WebLinkAboutFamily_Smiths4Nita Smith became interested in tracing her family ties when she asked her father one day,
"Dad, what do you know about your ancestors?" J.D. Cowsert, a 19th century pioneer from
West Texas, replied in a slow Texas drawl, "Well, I've been told all my life that we’re Scotch-Irish."
Nita then realized for the rst time that not all Cowserts lived and died in Kimble County, Texas.
Thus began Nita's 35-year love for genealogy, the study of families and the tracing of their
lineage and history. She became a member of the Texas Research Ramblers Genealogical
Society and began collecting a vast amount of information online through Ancestry.com,
Genealogy.com, Rootsweb and other similar websites.
Professional genealogists usually begin their research by collecting family documents and
stories (such as Bible records, letters, verbal stories, photos, etc.). Generally, they begin with the
present and work backward in time, gathering evidence about their ancestors and how these
relatives lived their lives. In her pursuit of this knowledge, Nita was fortunate to have a very
long-lived family - her father lived to 92 years of age, her mother lived to be 103 and many
aunts and uncles lived into their late 90s! Through research and a compilation of stories and
photos gathered from descendants who have attended the Cowsert Reunion since the early
1900s, Nita was able to publish a book which preserveed her family history for posterity. This
goal was accomplished when she was 89 years old and was the completion of a long-kept
promise made to her 97 year old aunt!
In the process of researching her "roots," Nita became interested in Charlemagne (742-814
A.D.).Tracing ancestors is a special kind of treasure hunt and what a thrill it is to nd that one
missing piece of evidence that completes a family timeline back into the early centuries. After
many weeks spent in the Clayton Genealogical Library in Houston, Texas, Nita’s daughter,
Sherry, was able to prove the family lineage 40 generations back to Charlemagne, Holy Roman
Emperor in 800 A.D.! The Charlemagne Coat of Arms on display was Nita Smith's 90th birthday
gift and was the crowning touch to her many years of dedicated research, which includes six
other proven family coats of arms!
Written by Sherry Frisk