Recently a patron came into our library and found out I was the "unofficial" staff genealogist. He said that his Dad's grandfather had desserted the grandmother when he found out his wife was expecting. Little to nothing was known about the man, not even his correct name!
I began searching and didn't get very far. I did have the correct name for the grandmother. So I used one of those genealogy tips that are given to people. If you can't research the individual, try researching others that are tied to them. So I began looking for the grandmother. Within a few days I found a collateral descendant that had researched her family line and had her marriage. It even gave their wedding date. Voila!
But, as every good genealogist should do, I wanted the documentation that proved the wedding date. Well my favorite website (Ancestry) didn't have it, or at least...I couldn't find it. I'm so used to being able to find virtually everything on one website that I tend to forgot (tunnel vision) there are other places you can look, and also free!! Since I was stimied I racked my brain - well maybe that's over exagerated - where else I could look. I checked with familysearch.org and sure enough, I found the marriage record. Even better, it gave the parents' names of both the bride AND GROOM!!! Woo Hoo! The groom's parent's names had not been known by my patron.
I went back to Ancestry and did some more digging. As a result I discovered that the collateral descendant lives in a nearby state, about 200 miles away. I contacted him, we exchanged several emails and in the end he sent me pictures, Coat-of-arms, and some descendancy charts. I printed off about 75 pages, downloaded the pictures, COA'a and the pdfs onto a CDR! (How's that for alphabet soup!!!)
I called the patron today and told him what all I had found and what I had here for him. I was so excited for him. He was ecstatic! Plans are he will come tomorrow morning and claim his treasure!
Today's Tip: Don't be too narrow in who you are researching or how you are approaching your work. A wider net catches more fish - or sometimes just the fish you want!!
Happy Ghost Busting!
I began searching and didn't get very far. I did have the correct name for the grandmother. So I used one of those genealogy tips that are given to people. If you can't research the individual, try researching others that are tied to them. So I began looking for the grandmother. Within a few days I found a collateral descendant that had researched her family line and had her marriage. It even gave their wedding date. Voila!
But, as every good genealogist should do, I wanted the documentation that proved the wedding date. Well my favorite website (Ancestry) didn't have it, or at least...I couldn't find it. I'm so used to being able to find virtually everything on one website that I tend to forgot (tunnel vision) there are other places you can look, and also free!! Since I was stimied I racked my brain - well maybe that's over exagerated - where else I could look. I checked with familysearch.org and sure enough, I found the marriage record. Even better, it gave the parents' names of both the bride AND GROOM!!! Woo Hoo! The groom's parent's names had not been known by my patron.
I went back to Ancestry and did some more digging. As a result I discovered that the collateral descendant lives in a nearby state, about 200 miles away. I contacted him, we exchanged several emails and in the end he sent me pictures, Coat-of-arms, and some descendancy charts. I printed off about 75 pages, downloaded the pictures, COA'a and the pdfs onto a CDR! (How's that for alphabet soup!!!)
I called the patron today and told him what all I had found and what I had here for him. I was so excited for him. He was ecstatic! Plans are he will come tomorrow morning and claim his treasure!
Today's Tip: Don't be too narrow in who you are researching or how you are approaching your work. A wider net catches more fish - or sometimes just the fish you want!!
Happy Ghost Busting!
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