I've decided that I will have four focus surnames:
* Cleff
1) confirm Helena's parents were Otto Cleff and Helene Ritz
2) find Helena's birth record in Elberfeld
3) determine why 3 young children were sent to America alone, who was there
to meet them
4) find Helena's marriage to Herman Stange
5) find Helena' death record
* Wallace
1) who was James Wallace?
2) where was James from?
3) where did James disappear to?
4) did James and Georgia divorce or did James die?
5) find Marietta Wallace's birth record
6) why did Georgia lie about Marietta's age on her marriage license to Ray
Hayes? Was she pregnant? If so, what happened to the baby?
7) where is the divorce record
8) what were the church affiliations for James, Georgia, and Marietta?
* Seidelmann
1) where were the Seidelmanns from?
2) did the Seidelmanns move around a lot in Germany or did the place
names change?
3) what paper trail did the Seidelmanns leave?
* Oakley/Root
1) work on documenting lineage back to Miles Oakley and Joshua Root for
DAR
Luckily, I'll have nine days for research. I have a lot to get accomplished. The reason I am leaving the Oakley and Root lines until last is I believe I can complete this research at the Fresno Public Library on Mariposa. The public library has a large collection of early-American records and DAR specialists who staff their genealogy room.
Then again, you never know, my focus could change.