Madison DeSarno
Historic Resources Intern
Madison DeSarno. Photo by Debbie WaughMy name is Madison DeSarno, and during my time as a Historic Resources Intern at Historic Green Spring, I worked on a variety of projects. I spent most of my time working on tracing the history of the Sheriff family, who lived at Green Spring during the Antebellum Period, and writing a biographical piece on their lives. While this started as a search for information about slavery at the site, it uncovered a lot of varied information about very unique individuals in the family and their complicated feelings on slavery and abolition. This included the discovery of a lynching case in Texas that they were connected to, as they were related to the target. I did much of the Sheriff family research through records on genealogy websites and newspapers in Barbados, Virginia, and Texas. Legal records, church records, and graves were also helpful in uncovering more information about the family.
I also looked at real estate advertisements and census records to trace the development of the house and the families who lived in it. This involved looking into the history of real estate and census taking to contextualize the information connected to the site, which required more usage of secondary sources. Understanding these broader concepts allows interpreters to have a clearer view and explanation of the primary sources they are working with. I also digitized records from the Moss era, roughly 1777 to 1835, so they are more readily available and easier to look through. Combined, these projects help provide a fuller view of the history and can serve as reference materials.
This experience has definitely helped improve my research skills, especially regarding genealogy, which I didn't have a lot of practice with prior to this internship. It also gave me the opportunity to research at a level of depth that isn't always possible with families from so long ago, which was very cool to see. Being able to have a specific focus on connecting to site history helped me keep my research grounded and attainable.
