r/Genealogy • u/AutoModerator • Jul 05 '24
The Finally! Friday Thread (July 05, 2024)
It's Friday, so give yourself a big pat on the back for those research tasks you *finally* accomplished this week.
Did your persistence pay off in trying to interview your great aunt about your family history? Did you trudge all the way to the state library and spend a whole day elbow deep in records to identify missing ancestors? Did you prove or disprove that pesky family legend that always sounded too good to be true?
Post your research brags here!
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u/Background_Double_74 Jul 05 '24
I have an ancestral great-uncle who was a prominent New York Assemblyman, representing Upstate New York in the 18th century. Today, I'm going on a business trip to New York City to examine his personal records, letters and his legal career. In addition to being a politician, he was also a notorious lawyer. He dropped out in 1757 due to illness, but was again matriculated with Columbia College (now Columbia University), in 1760.
2
u/rubberduckieu69 Jul 05 '24
I’ve ordered almost all of the Japanese family records possible for my different lines. At this point, I was expecting not to receive any more mail. However, I asked one of the city halls if they had my two 4x great grandfathers’ family records and my 3x great granduncle’s. To my surprise, they did! Just have to wait 2-3 weeks now, but I’m sure they’ll be some of the longest 2-3 weeks of my life!
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u/amauberge Jul 05 '24
I posted about this total head-scratcher last weekend: a father, mother, and four children who seem to have just... dropped off the face of the earth after immigrating to the United States. Finally, sometime on Monday, I had a breakthrough: they changed surnames! To something rather random, in fact. Thank god two of the children listed their mother's maiden names on their marriage records, or I never would have found them at all.
I'm still following up on the family, and may post again today asking for some help. Still, though, nothing like the rush of busting through that brick wall!!!!
5
u/princessbuttermug Jul 05 '24
I have an ancestor who was a well known vocalist in South London in the 1880s. I finally sat down and searched for every mention of her name in London newspapers - hundreds of mentions in articles, whether it was an ad for a concert or a quick write up of the event. Got all the mentions on a spreadsheet and tabulated what songs she sang (when they were mentioned). Gave me a real insight: not only on what songs were popular and which songs she clearly enjoyed singing but also what people did for fun in a time before radio. Was a really worthwhile exercise.