Illegitimate Children

I decided to perform research for a friend. He didn't know much of his grandparents and was not close with his parents. I was able to investigate at the Public Records of Vermont to determine names and dates. I found out the places and dates of birth for all of his grandparents and his parents. I also found his great grandmother was not married and his grandfather was an legitimate birth. This grandfather holds his mother's maiden name. Unless he is able to contact anyone who knew his great grandmother or the father of his grandfather, he may never know where this branch of his tree goes!

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Astronomical Amount of Information

I just can not believe how much information I've been able to find on certain individuals! It's incredible what can be dug up on any one person! Just the information found on census records can tell a lot about a persons life. Are they a veteran? How many people are in their family? Who are their neighbors? Do they have a mortgage and or even a radio!
At a local library, you can find books on the history of the local area. From these books you may find family genealogies and even biographical sketches and anecdotes of these ancestors that lived a century or two ago!
An ancestor of mine, who was a blacksmith and constable during the 1750s, was fatally shot. He was mistaken for an Indian, who was supposedly stealing. His wife who was the first teacher for the town remarried and had more children with her second husband. She also worked part time as a seamstress. Two of their sons fought at battles during the Revolutionary war. Their oldest daughter also became a teacher, following in the footsteps of her mother.

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The Lost and Found

For the longest time we couldn't find any information about our maternal second great grandmother. When did she die? Who were her parents? What town was she born in?

We wrote to town clerks, we checked websites, we looked under all of the rocks we could see! We knew her husbands name, children names and birth year.

Were we ever going to learn anything more? We journeyed to the town where her husband and her resided while they were married. By looking at the son in-laws death certificate earlier on, it was determined we would visit the cemetary listed and hope for the best. At the cemetary was the "holy grail" we had been looking for. There was the grave stone for her husband, George and herself. From that we achieved the death date! Who knows what we will find next!
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Genealogy Adventures

Several weeks ago I was digging into my family research. I found that my second great grandfather was a fruit dealer, in business with his other family. Another relative, in Waltham, owned a billiard hall. They were Italian immigrants that found a way to make their living in the United States and thrive. My next move will be to take a trip to Waltham to visit the locations of these ancestors residences and businesses. Perhaps, the billiard hall is still in use.

Genealogy can be extremely educational and exciting at the same time. It can also be overwhelming and exhausting. There is an astronomical amount of information available to us, that we can use to learn about our family and our local areas. The key is to pace ourselves and be smart with our time.

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