Meeting a new cousin was really a lot of fun. We shared lots of photos, compared notes, and ultimately got new directions of which way to go in our mutual searches for our long lost ancestors. We didn't come up with any real new facts, but the information we shared was really interesting. We spent over three hours chatting, enjoying our good restaurant meal, and getting to know each other. After we finished with our meeting, Sue and I decided to continue on to the library in the county where all these ancestors lived to dig up some more information while our new cousin mosied on over to her county library to do some digging of her own.
Walking is a challenge for me these days due to arthritis, and the close parking at the library was only for 30 minutes. They don't have their own parking lot so it is understandable that they need to maximize the ability for their patrons to be able to get in and out. But you just cannot do genealogy research in 30 minutes. So I gave up my close handicapped parking space for one across the street to the side. I got a lot of walking in today, which is good for me, but will probably have me aching the rest of this week. Sue handed me this great big binder...at least three or four inches thick while she went through some other books. Sue picked the right book for me to go through. It was full of information about the one person I have been researching the most this past year. I found his land purchase information, tax assessments of his land and personal property, what they were all worth, etc. Basically, he was not a poor man with a poor family. They were not wealthy by any means. But for their time period, they were comfortable. At least at that specific time period. And they had done it in only ten years, starting with just their 80 acres.
Genealogy can be frustrating, especially when you run into those stubborn brick walls that just don't seem to want to budge. But it can also be a lot of fun. Especially when you are meeting lots of interesting people along the way. A few years ago, when I first started working on my family tree, I didn't really know what I was doing. I have to admit that I still don't know what so many others do, but I am learning. Back then, I was meeting people who were helpful, and some who were not. After a particularly difficult period, I set genealogy aside for awhile and only picked it back up again last year at this time. Somehow in that time, some of the fog cleared and ideas began flowing fast about this ancestor or that and how to find more information. With help from others online I got more information. All that lead to this meeting today. Oh yeh, and while Sue and I were at the library, this guy walks in and he has one of the librarians there helping him with something when he mentions the name he is looking for. It was one of our same names!! Another possible connection. We don't know yet because he is just starting out. Isn't that wild??
Overall, this day was a very productive. I drove an hour to get to the brunch meeting, then drove another probable half hour to the county library, then another half hour back home. It was a big crooked square (or circle), but the weather was favorable (we were supposed to have rain this afternoon and didn't get it). When I got home I was too tired to even think straight, let alone deal with fixing supper, so I ordered Chinese delivered, got comfortable, and relaxed. Now, I think I will break out of my usual routine yet again and go to bed much earlier than I usually do. I am exhausted!!! (And showing my age a bit, I think.)
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