20 February 2010

SNGF - Genea-gasms

It's Saturday night and time for some fun... 
From Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings:
 
Think of any number of genealogy events or moments that make you have a genealogy happy dance, an ah-ha moment, or a genea-gasm. 

1)I e-mailed someone about a record on Ancestry.com. Turns out he's a cousin. Who directed us to another cousin, who happens to live in the same city as my family. Who's daughter lives a block away from my parents. Read the whole story here.

2) This past summer I went on a research road-trip. I found a lot of information, quite a few gasms, and attended the Linner family reunion. I love small towns. Everyone is super friendly and helpful. For example, while in Pipestone, Minnesota I was at the Pipestone County Historical Society and Museum. The old family house in town is still standing. The librarian looked at the address, told me the owner is a member, and called her up to see if she would let us look at the house. The owner was more than willing, giving up a tour. The house has been remodeled a few times, but the basement was still original, built by my ancestor.

3) I was contacted by a cousin who had pictures and records that I'd never seen, including a picture of my great-grandfather and his sister as children and their mother's wedding picture with her second husband. He was able to fill in a lot of blanks for me.

4) A few days ago I found That family, the one who liked to avoid census takers. Well, they're enumerated on the 1855 New York state census.

4) Someone had posted a picture on Findagrave for my Linderman family. It's a family stone that lists the parents, the paternal-grandfather, and all but two of the children, with their birth and death dates. Using that information I was able to find the family in the censuses and learned that my ancestor was a Civil War veteran (with a pension file).

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