SUCCESS STORIES


I live in (City / County):	Paradise, Butte, CA
Name:	Dawn McFarland aquietplace@yahoo.com
Date:	2001-03-01
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Texas Vital Stats
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	In October 1952 my brother Laurence disappeared never to be seen or heard of again by any who knew him. He had just been discharged from the army and left behind all ID, his mustering out paycheck, and other ID. No trace of him was ever found. Since we were adopted into separate families I had not heard about this for several years and then gave it little thought. The person who checked with me for clues said he had not kept the draft board advised of his address and that was the reason they had checked to see if I had heard from him. I had not seen him since 1952 in Feb or March. Years later I asked my younger sister if she knew anything about him and she did not. Then in 1997 while earning a Master's in Coounseling an assignment led me to start searching for my family roots and all ten of my siblings. By October 1999 I had located all of them but Laurence. Having the knowledge and use of all the search tools on the Web I began to concentrate more on him. In just a few days I discovered Roots Web which helped me in many ways but provided no information on Laurence until early February of this year. I really had not intended to make a search that day except of the California death records but accidently hit a search key that invited me to insert a name. With a shrug I entered Laurence's name. A number of matches came up, one of which was a Texas death certificate. My brother had an extrememly unusual middle name and when the Texas site turned up two Lawrence's and one with the same middle name I wondered but refused to believe. I had been on dozens of dead end searches. Previously I had submitted all his vital statistics to SSDI including SS number and birthdyte and always the reply was "no match." Armed with this new information, which did not include a birthdate or SS I went to SSDI and asked for a match. Still nothing. I asked for a print out of everyone who had died in that county on that date and still drew a blank for Laurence. It took over two weeks of phone calls, letters, waiting and pleading to learn what Texas had, but late on Feb. 28, 2001 we made the connection that told us we had found him. Social security, parents names, mother's maiden name all were correct the only major discrepancy was his birthdate which had been listedt as 1940 - different month and day. Laurence was born in 1930. This info had come from the military. So someone in an office there had possibly pulled the wrong records at some time, for he had been collecting veterans' benefits for four years. Even the military service dates were wrong we learned from the VA. But if it had not been for Roots Web and their California death certificates - where I assumed he would have been living - we never would have been led to his whereabouts. I will be eternally grateful. Since he died at the end of 1998 the recordds had just been brought up to date the first of 2001 which included the time of his death. I came at the right time! Thank You Roots Web. You have also been helpful in providing me with genealogy on my foster parents and their family trees on both sides. This has been a lot of fun, but nothing has matched the thrill of finally having closure on the last link of my birth family.


I live in (City / County):	Clovis, Fresno, CA
Name:	Patricia Dunne pjdunne@worldnet.att.net
Date:	2000-04-10
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	RootsLink
Please contact me:	no
My Success Story:	Greetings: Something wonderful has happened since I listed my website with RootsWeb two months ago. Three Preudhomme cousins have contacted me. The "walls" have finally come down on this area of my research. How wonderful to discover these family members. We are going to share information. Thank you for your wonderful service. Patricia Dunne in beautiful Clovis, California, USA


I live in (City / County):	Clovis, Fresno, CA
Name:	Roland Young archerog@psnw.com
Date:	2000-12-28
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Roots Surname List (RSL)
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	MY mother's father was William Albert Mills. We new a few of his kin but could not find his family. I put my need on the Genform-Surnames list and got an answer. A second cousin that I didn't know I had answered. Now I have met 3 seconds cousins in Leveland and Midland,TX. I found my g/f to be #13 of 18 kids. Although they are all dead I know about them and have been to most of there grave site's. I also know more of his #2 wife Addie Belle Blanton's family. They had 12 kids most born in Santa Anna, TX. I am having Mills/Blanton reunion in June at my house in Clovis, Ca. and we will have new Cousin's to greet. As to my Young family we have through #3 g/gf but are still looking for #4 Peter Young. Some other family names on the Young side are, Clemmer, Hoffman +. I am a mazaed at my luck and want to thank ROOTSWEB for FREE system ! I do donate when I can and hope everyone would also help. Roland Young, Clovis, Ca.


I live in (City / County):	Clovis, Fresno, CA
Name:	Roland Young archerog@psnw.com
Date:	2000-12-28
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Roots Surname List (RSL)
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	MY mother's father was William Albert Mills. We new a few of his kin but could not find his family. I put my need on the Genform-Surnames list and got an answer. A second cousin that I didn't know I had answered. Now I have met 3 seconds cousins in Leveland and Midland,TX. I found my g/f to be #13 of 18 kids. Although they are all dead I know about them and have been to most of there grave site's. I also know more of his #2 wife Addie Belle Blanton's family. They had 12 kids most born in Santa Anna, TX. I am having Mills/Blanton reunion in June at my house in Clovis, Ca. and we will have new Cousin's to greet. I also found that he had 5 kids by his #1 wife, I new two of them. As to my Young family we have through #3 g/gf but are still looking for #4 Peter Young. Some other family names on the Young side are, Clemmer, Hoffman +. I am a mazaed at my luck and want to thank ROOTSWEB for FREE system ! I do donate when I can and hope everyone would also help. Roland Young, Clovis, Ca.


I live in (City / County):	Fresno, Fresno, CA
Name:	Eugene Bos Bosleengene@aol.com
Date:	2000-09-11
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	RootsLink
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	Sorry I can give you a story now, but maybe you can direct this to the proper place. Have stoped receiving your weekly news letter that I so muched enjoyed. Your CALIFORNIA Births and Death record have helped me so much in filling in my family group sheets. I miss reading the many stories and new web sites to exsplore Thank So Much Gene Bos


I live in (City / County):	Bakersfield, Kern, CA
Name:	Kim Peters Kermpeters@aol.com
Date:	2000-04-01
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	US Town/County Finder
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	I was so excited to find my paternal grandfather's name in the RootsWeb files. When I contacted the person who posted the information, it turned out she is married to the grandson of my grandfather's brother. He is my second cousin. But wait, it gets better ... turns out they live in a town less than two hundred miles from me. We have exchanged photos and will meet at the end of April or in early May when my parents can attend. The fun thing about all this (besides opening doors for one another's research) is that of the four living brothers, two had moved to California and the other two stayed in the Arkansas area or moved to Oklahoma. My dad new very little about his dad's family. And to the best of our knowledge they never were able to visit in their adult lives. Now we will get the chance to do it. This has been as exciting for my dad as it is for me. And even more astonishing is the fact that my dad and his cousin look so much alike. Keep up the good work. You have made a difference in my life!


I live in (City / County):	Bakersfield, Kern, CA
Name:	Pauline Phelps hummingbird@igalaxy.net
Date:	2000-10-23
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Mailing Lists
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	I started doing genealogy in 1997 by doing my step-father’s family [he raised me]. Then I started working on my mothers side of the family tree. After doing all I could do with her lines I realized that mine wasn't complete & wouldn't be until I found my birth father. Wendell George Drury. b;10/19/1924 Lyons Rice Co., Kansas Retired Navy 1966 & retired Reserve Fleet 1977 I found out in 1991 when my step-father died that he had never gotten around to adopting me, even though he gave me his surname, I never felt that I really belonged, even though the whole family accepted me as his daughter, I never knew if they knew I wasn’t his child by birth. All I new of my birth father was the 3 photos my mother gave me when my step-father died & what was in my baby books. And earlier years of what my Aunt & grandmother had told me. In Jan 2000 I began in earnest to find my birth father whom I don't remember, since I was 1 1/2 yrs old when my mother divorced him. So I asked my cousins husband who is a insurance investigator if he could help & he found this information in Jan 2000 the town & address in CO. At the time I didn't think it was right, but have since found out that it was his last residence. Wendell G. DRURY 1639 Beeler Street, 104, Aurora, Colorado, 80010- SSAN: 493-18-3611 Issued in Missouri between 1936 and 1951 PO Box 2054, Oxnard, California, 93034 Relatives: Mark B Drury aka: MB Drury PO Box 2054, Oxnard, California, 93034-2054 240 E Maple Street, Oxnard, Ca. 93030 Beverley A Drury Same as above Last known telephone number (805) 483-5991 After receiving this in I went to the SSI Death index on the net & found my grandfather Paul Drury, sent for his application which included his parents names, I also sent for his death certificate in OK which had my father as the informant at the above address in 1969. Then went to the LDS library in Santa Monica CA, found the whole family in the 1900 & 1920 census of Rice County Kansas. Finally with the use of the LDS web search I found my grgrgrand father & his ancestors back to 1616 England & 1635 in Middlesex Co., MA. On Sept 4th 2000. I found a person to do a cd look up for Illinois who came back with my great-grandparents marriage date in ILL, I posted it on the Drury forum & got a very quick response from a 2nd cousin by marriage who had their wedding photo & she lived in Lompoc CA, her sister-in-law had it in San Diego CA. Then she started sending me info., from my grandfather Pauls, brother’s family John S. Drury. Then I'm thinking I found all this why can't I find my father whose last know address was Oxnard CA, which is Abt. 2 hrs west of me. So I posted the above information as a message & that I was looking for my birth father on the internet on the CAVentura-L@rootsweb.com, SOCAL-L@rootsweb.com, & CAROOTS-L@rootsweb.com mailing lists & this was sent to me by another researcher. Same address as you listed, here are the two entries I found for Mark DRURY, MARK B 240 E MAPLE ST OXNARD, CA 93033 PHONE: (805) 487-xxxx DOB: 07/XX/56 FIRST REPORTED: 07/1988 LAST REPORTED: 04/2000 This is when I started to drag my feet, what if our father didn’t tell his family about me & if he does would he want to see me!! I was scared of being rejected Then the cousin in Lompoc CA, called Mark, Sat [9/23/2000], talked to him, they kind of did some searching between each other, to see what the other knew so they would know they had the right person, then he brought up my full name & everything fell into place. Then she called me & told me about their talk and that he had a lot of info., on my father & that he has been looking for me for 10+ yrs, but didn't know about the name change or that I had moved out of the Los Angeles area in 1948 & grew up in Fresno. All he had were 3 photos from 1948 of a sister he had, but didn’t know how to find her. The photos were in a photo album that our father had carried with him all this time. He recovered it & the Drury family bible, when he went to Colorado to settle our father’s affairs after his death in 1994. I didn’t know until 9/23/2000 that I had another brother, I have one that I grew up with who was a half brother also, from my mother remarrying in 1948. The Mark B. Drury is my half brother, if his older brothers had lived I would have 3 half brothers from my fathers side. We found my birth father but he's gone already, he died in 1994 in Colorado. I called Mark thet Saturday evening & we talked for a hour & a half, & he called the next night & we talked for 31/2 hrs. We have since exchanged by mail a lot of information, photos & stories about his life & what my father was like. We have never seen each other he was 44 in July & I will be 54 in Dec. he was born the same month as the brother I lived with & his mother was born the same month as my mother. So now I have closure for the father I never knew & a new brother. All our lives we had the feeling that something was missing in our lives. We will be meeting for the 1st time at the AmTrak Bus station, Saturday the 28th at 9:30


I live in (City / County):	La Cañada, Los Angeles, CA
Name:	Bill Principe ThePrincipes@earthlink.net
Date:	2000-07-30
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Swedish Vital Stats
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	THANK YOU FOR POST-EMs ! ! ! ...I found my unknown second cousin 4 days after she placed a "post-em" note on her mother's birth record in RootsWeb's California Birth Records index. I had been searching for her branch of the family for YEARS, and it only took 4 days once the "post-em" was placed. There was no given name on her mother's birth record, so it was my curiosity about the "post-em" that brought our family together. ...The California Birth and Death indexes are my favorite RootsWebs tools because you can do complex partial searches. For example, you can find someone if you only have the first name, county and year of birth. These searches are impossible with fiche or microfilm, and even on other Internet genealogy sites. But with RootsWeb the impossible is practical and the results are unbelievable.


I live in (City / County):	Long Beach, Los Angeles, CA
Name:	Mari-An Gray Feather mari1942@aol.com
Date:	2000-05-11
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	GenConnect
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	I had made a comment on the Griffee family message board at familyhistory.com about having had a gr-grandmother of that name in Warren County, Illinois. Same day I received an email wondering if we might have a connection. The names were not familiar, but I said that I would check. I checked several places and night before last (May 9th)I decided to look in RootsWeb. I went into World Connect and looked up the name of Griffee. I saw my gr-grandmothers name listed but information was not complete. I but the family from whom she descended was and the names I was looking for was there. I emailed my contact and said that we had a connection - the same gr-gr-grandfather. Then I emailed the originator of the family tree and said who I was and asked how he was related to the Griffee family. I received an email back immediately. My gr-grandmother and his gr-grandfather were siblings. Amazing. Thank You. Mari-An Gray Feather mari1942@aol.com


I live in (City / County):	Long Beach, Los Angeles, CA
Name:	Tony R. Shimmin TShimmin@worldnet.att.net
Date:	2000-07-15
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Interactive List Archives
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	Well, It has been a difficult matter uncovering my great grandfathers past in England and the Isle of Man. He immigrated to the US in 1874 at the port of New York, or so I thought. He refused to talk about anything that happened in the old country, siting he was treated badly and had money and belongings taken from him by a relative upon his arrival. In addition, he was just as elusive about his parents and several stories about his father were floating around. His father was originally born on the Isle of Man and moved to Liverpool to work. Story one states his father was a shipwright in Liverpool and managed a ship company. He had died when my g.grandfather was only 2. Story two states that his father came to the US to work and brought my g.grandfather with him when he was about 17. His father was an architect and was murdered, forcing him to return to England. He then returned to the US around 1874. I was able to procure a copy of my g.grandfathers naturalization papers from Carroll County, Illinois from 1880, and a subsequent petition from 1911. It had listed that he came to the US at the Port of New York from Liverpool around July 1874 abourd the SS Batavia. Feeling I had the clue I needed, I went to the FHC and surprise!!! No ship. The SS Batavia never even came to the US close to the listed date. I was at an impasse. I searched every record available for him. No luck. I figured, well, that is that. A funny thing happened then. I went back to my home state of Idaho to take a break from LA and visit family memebers. I was visiting my aunt when she told me that she had just received a box of old stuff that had belonged to my grandfather and my g. grandfather, Robert Henry Shimmin. She said that the old papers and small books were not wanted by anyone else. I was surprised as she had been into family geneology for awhile. She casually glanced at the old and tattered documents and handed them to me. She kept a few things, but gave me the rest. Later, I started reading the items. Of particular interest was a small torn and tattered black journal. As I opened it I was amazed that recorded inside was a record of my g.grandfathers first year of work here in America. The year, 1875. He had washed laundry for various families in Mt. Carroll, Illinois and wrote their names and the price for each load. he also tied tobacco and cleaned houses. I then discovered he had written the names and addresses of six people whom he had known in the Isle of Man and in Liverpool. Perhaps they were relatives. Toward the end however, was the greatest surprise. It was nothing much, a small one page entry. It was his hand written record of his voyage from Liverpool to the US. No wonder I couldn't find him. The entry was quite detailed and included the dates, times, weather and seas. I found out that he had actually left Liverpool on June 29, 1875 on the SS Batavia. He arrived in the Port of Boston on July 10, 1875 and 3 days later, was at Mt. Carroll, Illinois. I went to the FHC to check the passenger lists, and although the manifests are missing for that time period in Boston, the indexes are complete. Lo and behold, there he was. The surname was butchered a bit, but it was him. I was successful, thanks to a little luck and motivation. Rootsweb helped me keep motivated by allowing me to get various records and family connections I otherwise could not get. I am getting a little closer in solving the mystery. I still have not located records on his father or mother, but with a little more luck and great sites like Rootsweb, it's only a matter of time. Tony R. Shimmin


I live in (City / County):	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Name:	Ray Jones rayjones@pcclubnet.com
Date:	2000-07-06
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Surname Helper
Please contact me:	no
My Success Story:	July 6, 2000 My mother was adopted in Texas in 1920 and never saw or heard from her natural mother or father since. She has been actively searching for her parents for at least 20 years. Two weeks ago I did a search of Texas Birth records on Rootsweb and found a record for a greatgrandson with the same name. I then found a Marriage record for the parents in the same county in Texas using Rootswebs Texas Marriage records search. I was then able to find find a phone number with an MSN white pages search and they told us where to find the rest of the family. After 80 years apart, last week my mother at age 83 was able to speak to her half-brother, age 62 for the first time in their lives. It was so fast and easy I couldn't believe it. We had all but given up any hope of ever finding out what had happened to him. And it never would have happened without the resources at Rootsweb. Thanks Rootsweb, you have made my mother a very happy woman. Ray Jones, Los Angeles, CA


I live in (City / County):	MARINA DEL REY, CALIF, LOS ANGELES, CA
Name:	Barbara Eastman Kalustian BKarttist@aol.com
Date:	2000-04-25
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Roots Location List (RLL)
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	I knew that my Great Grandfather was born in Bristol England, so I signed up for the Bristol list. One day while reading someone's letter that was completly unrelated to my EASTMAN line, I noticed a footnote that said looking for POBJOYS any where any time. I knew also that my G.G.Grandmothers name was Elizabeth Pobjoy, but that was all I knew about her, no year of birth, no marriage date or place. I e-mailed this gentleman and told him that I found it interesting that he had a Pobjoy line and I gave him the little information I had. The next day I recieved his letter that stated " IT IS MORE THAN INTERESTING, WE ARE COUSINS" How lucky I was to find this wonderful cousin, for he is a very serious genealogist. He snail mailed me a large booklet on the whole line, going back to the early 1700s.I found Great AUNTS, Uncles and cousins galore. One cousin lives an hours drive from my home and we have since met. I hope I can get back to England and meet the cousin that blessed me with this wealth of information! READ EVERYTHING, YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU MIGHT FIND!


I live in (City / County):	Royal Oaks, Monterey, CA
Name:	Jim Turner nyponen@gmail.com
Date:	2000-04-06
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	GenConnect
Please contact me:	no
My Success Story:	One of my Internet-related breakthroughs brought together descendants of two brothers who had been separated by murder and adoption nearly two hundred years ago. Much was written about my third-great grandfather, John Bice Turner, during his lifetime, including the story of his early childhood. He was two years old in the Spring of 1801 when his father was murdered. His mother, Patience, then married a man named Hunter (first name unknown) and gave John up for adoption to a childless couple. Patience kept John's baby brother, James, with her. John's descendants didn't know what became of Patience and James. I couldn't find a likely family of Hunters in New York, where John was born and raised. Since I had so little information about them, I didn't have much hope that I would ever find them. Some time after posting my GEDCOM on the Internet, one of James's descendants saw it, recognized John's birthday and contacted me. He didn't know about the murder and adoption, but he did know that his ancestor (James) had a brother named John. He had a copy of the page in the Arnold Hunter family Bible that included the birth dates of Patience Hunter, John B. Turner, and James C. Turner. He thought that Patience Hunter was probably John and James' mother, but didn't know what had become of John or his father. He didn't know that they had come from New York. Arnold and Patience Hunter had moved to Pennsylvannia after they got married. Although John didn't go with them, his mother had written his name and birthday in her second family's Bible.


I live in (City / County):	Corona, Riverside, CA
Name:	Mary Tossell Waterlilys@aol.com
Date:	2000-04-13
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	GenConnect
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	Adversities of Fortune After inheriting the O'Connor family bible I noticed for the first time within it, a few pages of family birth, death and marriage information dating back to the mid 1800's. Then early in 1997 after receiving a 1924 newspaper article from a second cousin, with lots of new family details celebrating my great grandparents 50th wedding anniversary; I was inspired to embark on this grand quest. Where in Ireland did my O'Connor family come from? I didn't have a clue as to a county nor a townland. I really only knew the names of my great grandparents. I thought the next step should be to try to find out who was buried in our O'Connor cemetery plot back where my grandparents came from in Vermont.... hoping that might lead to a birth place in Ireland written on a tombstone or a burial record. I eventually wanted to try to locate their vital records, but I needed exact dates. While inquiring long distance by phone at the family cemetery, what happened was, a very kind person going the extra mile at the rectory in Brattleboro, Vermont said: "Wait, there's another plot of O'Connors" "What?!" To my great surprise that bit of information revealed the names of my previously unknown great great grandparents! I never even knew they were buried there. If she hadn't bothered, I may never have known! No mention though, of a birthplace other than merely "Ireland" and alas, no indication either on the tombstones themselves. So... my emigrant ancestors were Maurice O'Connor and his wife Catherine Martin, both born 1822 according to the gravemarker. It was they who made the trek across the Atlantic during the worst part of the Famine years; 1846-47 ...or maybe I should say the Starvation! Oh, but dont get me started on that one, that is for another time to tell. Next step was to try to locate Maurice's death listing from the Brattleboro town clerk's office to obtain the month and day ... and maybe a birthplace, as I now had a year. I was merely calling to find out how to go about getting a death certificate from 1898, when the clerk asked me to wait while she checked. She had gone to a dusty shelf and pulled out the ledger for 1898! Would you believe it, she actually went thru it month by month to finally find Maurice's death listed in October of that year, on the 20th ... evidence of yet another kindness that advanced my quest that much forward! But wait, that wasn't all. As she went across the line she read aloud, and came to this: Parents: Hugh and Johanna O'Connor Wow!... the names of my great great great grandparents! As I was only looking for dates, that was a pretty exciting find in itself! Ah yet again, it only said "Ireland" as a birthplace. At least I now had an exact death date. Maybe I could find an obituary that might mention a townland ... By the end of 1997, I was getting rather depressed. I had already tried searching the Brattleboro church and cemetery records, tombstone markings, birth, death, marriage certificates, funeral parlor papers, Vermont - U.S. Census films, town directories, Vermont genealogy societies, U.S. naturalization papers, passenger lists, civil war veterans , Irish railroad worker references, and the local Family History Center (the Mormons). If I was lucky at all; they said merely "Ireland" as a birthplace. The naturalization papers I obtained from the National Archives in Waltham, Ma. had "Great Britain" even! But no townland mentioned, ever! I had run out of ideas on how to find a townland in Ireland for my Famine era emigrant ancestors... after all this searching I still had no clue where my O'Connor family came from in Ireland. It was beginning to dawn on me that there was a possibility I might never find the answer to my quest. It started to haunt me, "Would I ever know?" It was at this point that I remember thinking aloud to myself... "Come on Maurice and Catherine, give me a hand here!" It was only a few days later that I received an envelope in the mail from the Brooks Library, Brattleboro, Vt. I had all but forgotten having written, months earlier, requesting a search for an obituary in their microfiche for the local 1890s era newspaper. When I hadn't heard from them, I figured they didn't come up with anything. But now I had this envelope, I'll never forget , it was on Jan 3rd 1998... I realized immediately the significance of the information this envelope may contain. I paused before opening it while I weighed this thought in my mind... Either it had or it did not have my great great grandfather's obituary in it. I knew full well this might be my last good chance to find out the place in Ireland where my O'Connors were from ... and if not there... Well, I can honestly say I was almost afraid to find out what was inside. My hands were shaking as I opened the envelope to see what lay there in... I gasped, as it was a photo copy of a newspaper page. Could it be... an obituary? I could barely take in a breath as I read: "THE VERMONT PHOENIX Obituary Maurice O'Connor died Oct 20, 1898 ... he was born in 1823, at Mt. Brendon, Co Clare, Ireland" Oh my Gosh! There is was! My eyes filled with tears as I realized after all this searching, at last, in black and white; THE TOWNLAND!!!! My excitement was short lived..... I was anxious to see exactly where Mt Brendon was, so I got on the internet to look for maps of County Clare. I found some good maps. But after much of what turned into frantic searching, I sadly realized, there is no such townland called Mt Brendon then or now in County Clare! Now what? I was very discouraged. Well I kept digging. I did find a village called Brandon, in County Kerry, on the eastern slopes of a mountain called Brandon... could this be it? ... and would that mean I'd have to conclude my ancestor did not know what county he was from!? By this time I was really starting to doubt the usefulness of my newly discovered "find". Actually the more I thought about it, maybe County Kerry was the place to search... after all, it did have a Mt Brandon! In the meantime, I saw another site on the internet about tourism in Ireland and County Kerry where the village of Brandon was on the Dingle Peninsula; and was looking at prices of Bed and Breakfast places etc. ... mistily dreaming about a someday trip to the Mt Brandon area; in the event that it might prove to be the right place.... When low and behold, begosh an begorrah, I spotted an email address for The Stone Cottage B&B in a town called Dingle whose proprietors were named Becky and Michael O'Connor. What the heck... on an impulse, knowing full well it may be for naught, I emailed them. I received an email back from them the next day... They were not my O'Connors (yeah, I knew I was just stabbing in the dark!)... but Becky did say there were O'Connors in the area of the village of Brandon, and that I should visit the O'Connors Pub and Guesthouse in Cloghane (Cla HANE) near to Brandon sometime and ask them. As I wasn't planning a trip to Ireland any time soon; I instead wrote to this O'Connor Guesthouse that was mentioned and sent what family history I was aware of ... and then promptly put it out of my mind. No use getting my hopes up. Still, wasn't it nice of her to suggest though? ... about a week later I got a phone call ...from Ireland! It was the proprietor of the guesthouse, Sean O'Dowd! Although not an O'Connor- his wife was, for which I congratulated him on (haha!). But alas, his wife's O'Connors also were not related to me either. (Of course, what was I thinking?) Searching for O'Connors in Ireland is like looking for Smiths or Jones in the U.S. (BTW I have discovered O'Connor is one of the oldest Gaelic surnames.) Mr. O'Dowd gave me some hope though about the discrepancy regarding Mt Brandon being referred to as being in County Clare but actually being located in County Kerry . He suggested that if my ancestor, being a Gaelic speaker (Dingle is a Gaeltacht area to this day), that to the untrained ear, the pronunciation of "Mt Brandon, Co Kerry" in the Irish, might sound as if he was saying "Mt Brendan, Co Clare"... and as Maurice, my ancestor, did not read or write (Surely a result of the Penal Laws against Catholics. Oops, there I go getting off on a tangent again!) he would not have even recognized such an error himself. Oh and then there was this... Mr O'Dowd also said he would talk to some other O'Connors that he knew for me, who lived on "the other side of the mountain" from the O'Connor guesthouse in Cloghane. (Mr O'Dowd lived on the eastern side). I thought it was really nice of him, but wasn't expecting much, ... after all, there are what seems like thousands of O'Connors in Co Kerry! (This particular sept of O'Connors-there are 6 separate clans, calls itself O'Connor-Kerry and contemporary descendants of this sept are by far the most numerous, and those from Dingle are called the Dingle O'Connor Branch of the O'Connor-Kerry. ) Considering after all, we weren't even related, wasn't it nice of Mr. O'Dowd to bother!? Now get this...The very next day, Jan 22, 1998, I was coming into the house carrying groceries when I heard this curious voice leaving a message on the answering machine.... It sounded Irish! I quickly picked up the phone. It was a man who introduced himself as T.P. O'Connor of Ballydavid, Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland. (on the western side of Mt Brandon.) T.P. told me he read my information given to him by his dear friend Sean O'Dowd of O'Connor's Guesthouse and wanted me to know that his great great grandparents were also called Hugh and Johanna O'Connor, the same names as my great great great grandparents... and they too had a son Maurice ...the same name as my emigrant ancestor! T.P. descended from a son John of theirs and as it turns out, I might be descended from John's brother Maurice! He gave me a marriage date for Hugh and Johanna in 1810; and a birthdate in 1821 for Maurice (which fit with what I had... which was a range of 1820-1823 from varying answers in the Vermont Fed Census films, and his gravestone, and the obituary). He also gave me the names of his Maurice's siblings, with many familiar given names that I also have in my family; but then again, what Irish family did not have a John, James, Catherine and a Mary back then ?! (BTW I read that 29% of all the women in Ireland were named Mary in the 1850's!) He also gave a possible explanation for the non existent Mount Brandon townland given as a birthplace ... Its because Maurice O'Connor was born on a cliff in the foothills of Mt Brandon! He left County Kerry because the farm his father had purchased for him had a landslide in 1847 the same year my Maurice emigrated. He said he had a lot more information for me, that he would write it all out. If this really was my Maurice, Wow.... what a find!! I could hardly believe it. I was so excited hearing all this, my hands were shaking trying to write it all down, I could barely read my handwriting afterward! There was only one flaw in it all... When I was young, I remember asking the question; "Why of all places, did our family end up in Brattleboro, Vt ?". The answer was: "That's where the work on the railroad ended." ...also family history had it that; "The brothers moved on to Chicago to look for work there". But T.P. said his Maurice was the only one in the family of that generation to have emigrated. Hmmm.... as my family was so vague about our roots I wasn't even sure which generation worked on the railroad ... was it my great grandfather John or my great great grandfather Maurice? .... could this really be MY Maurice that T.P. mentioned? I needed to do a bit more research to prove the connection... but overall, my instincts told me this is very probably my family. There was something strangely eerie about it all, something I didn't pick up on 'till later, when I was replaying the answering machine message for my husband that T.P. had started to leave before I picked up. ... it was that T.P. sounded so very much like my dad ! It was just as if it was my dad talking with a brogue! It was uncanny! It also made me feel like I really had spoken with the Irish descendants of my ancestors from "across the pond" ! ... and to top it all off, T.P. owns "Tigh T.P." in Ballydavid Co Kerry... that's gaelic for T.P.'s Place... a PUB!! What better place to have a pint and toast your mutual Irish ancestors than Tigh T.P.!? Is that the Luck of the Irish or what? Slainte (good luck in Gaelic) to all of you in your O'Connor search!, ...mary P.S. DON'T GIVE UP! ... read on, the story doesn't end here...it gets better! Later.... Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:07:08 EST Subject: Adversities of Fortune Hi all.... since its Valentine's Day, I thought I would share another tidbit with you about my O'Connor genealogy research, I think its kind of romantic... also some of the info may be helpful to other researchers. GET THIS! Back in the mid 1800's to the early 1900's, the Irish from all over the states posted notices in the "Boston Pilot" newspaper, in search of missing friends and loved ones. This was "the" place to put such a notice. The 6th vol. in a series of 8 books is recently out, covering up to the U.S. civil war period which has gathered all these notices in $45 a piece volumes... quite a hefty price for only one volume even... so not expecting anything, but wanting to rule out a major source of info, and to take advantage of a very kind offer... look what I found when someone on the internet was generous enough to offer to do lookups in her volume, the first of the series: "The Search for Missing Friends: Irish Immigrant Advertisements Placed in the Boston Pilot" Volume 1 1831-1850. page 236 13 November 1847 Information Wanted OF CATHERINE O'CONNOR,wife of Morris O'Connor, daughter to James Martin of Graan, near Dingle, co Kerry, who emigrated to Quebec last summer, with her brothers, John and James Martin, and is supposed to be in Upper Canada. Any information respecting her will be thankfully received by her husband, who is separated from her by the adversities of fortune. Address, Morris O'Connor, care of James O'Connor, Cabotville, Mass.* WOW! Turns out Graan a phonetic pronunciation of Garrane, Co Kerry, is in the adjoining parish of Kilmalkedar to where Maurice was born, in Kilquane Parish which T.P. O'Connor told me about when I last reported to you. If this is the right Morris and Catherine, which I think it is, that ad was placed by my great great grandfather! Prior to this I didn't know if they were married in the U.S. or Ireland (looks like Ireland), I didn't know Catherine Martin's father or brothers names!, nor when they emigrated nor where they were from in Ireland! This could be an answer regarding the "brothers going on to Chicago", and T.P.'s Maurice's siblings not having emigrated at all... it may have been Catherine's Brothers who moved on to Chicago! That's IF its a match of course. I've also read that the Irish back then used the terms brother and brother-in-law interchangeably. Now I just needed proof.... something to make the connection between my U.S. O'Connor/Martin info and T.P.'s O'Connors in Ireland. Note: Neither Catherine nor Morris could read or write, can you imagine how desperate they must have been, and how helpless they were to try to find each other when they didn't even speak English in this new and vast country?... countries I should say; America and French speaking Canada ! ...mary Epilogue- When I sent the "Missing Persons" ad information to T.P. O'Connor, he talked the very reluctant local priest in Ballyferriter Roman Catholic parish near Dingle (which contained Kilquane and Kilmalkedar civil parishes) into letting him look at the actual parish records, in Latin! - which by the way, haven't been filmed by the LDS (the Mormons) like most of the rest of Ireland and the world really.... and guess what... T.P. found the marriage record for Maurice O'Connor; married Shrove Tuesday, Feb. 22, 1846 and spouse; Catherine Martin (parents James Martin and Catherine Moriarty)!... and the whole Martin family births, marriages, just like the ad, in Garrane.!!! IT WAS THEM! This confirms the Dingle connection to my Maurice from Brattleboro Vt, and my newly discovered 3rd cousin once removed T.P. O'Connor and family in Ballydavid, Dingle, Co Kerry! I was so excited ! ... and when I said that to T.P. he said; "Oh, don't be exited, its just us " Ever since I started my research over a year ago I've had this idea; that someday, if I ever found where Maurice was born, that I'd bring a bit of dirt from Maurice's gravesite in Vermont with me for a future visit to Ireland. How about this... T.P. told me that the very same land that Maurice was born on, near Mt Brandon (the real townland name by the way; is CLASH) is still in the O'Connor family to this day!! Between his Irish Brogue and his unique (to me) vocabulary; I wasn't sure and couldn't quite make out what he said next... I thought he said: "The house still exists" "Still exists! You mean, I might be able to see it?" Then I thought he said, "Yes, but it's a cow house now. " (Cow house?) "T.P., What do you mean by; 'it's a cow house now'?" (obviously, a city girl ) ...after a long pause he said, "Mary.... its where we keep the cows. Now what did you think it was, girl?" So much for my romantic notions of bringing back a bit of Vermont to Mt Brandon! On second thought, I think maybe Hugh and Johanna's gravesite would be appropriate don't ya think? and by the way... Catherine and Maurice must have gotten together after that ad was placed in Nov. 1847 sometime by the next summer; around August of 1848; because my great grandfather John James O'Connor, was born June 17, 1849! ...mary and later still ... For those of you who might remember my story of how I thought I had not only located the illusive townland in Ireland, but had also possibly discovered living relatives still on the land my great great grandfather left 150 yrs ago... Well I heard again from my 3rd cousin once removed; T.P. O'Connor in Ireland... (or should I say T.P.Ó Conchúir; he does!) He sent me a letter; with family group sheets included (with notes in Gaelic!). After searching parish records in Ballyferriter Roman Catholic parish confirming our family connection he told me this, which is really what I wanted to share with you; "We are sure now, that our Maurice Ó Conchúir, is the same man you are looking for. " ... and later he finished with: "We are sure now, you are ours." T.P. signed it with:"Le mheas mhór, T.P."(with great love, in Gaelic) Pretty neat, eh? It gave me goosebumps when I first read it... and it sill does. ...Máire Ní Conchúir Tossell P.S. I have just heard from T.P. again this past weekend having just sent him this story, he told me: "When you come to Ireland you will be welcomed with open arms ... but there's no need for goosepimples."! October 1998 Since I posted my family information on Rootsweb other 3rd cousins have found me and I have helped them fill in information they were lacking in thier families! de nobis fabula narratur (their story is our story)


I live in (City / County):	Fair Oaks, Sacramento, CA
Name:	Georgetta (Scott) Crawley NCrawley@juno.com
Date:	2001-01-08
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Surname Helper
Please contact me:	no
My Success Story:	I have been reconnected with two cousins that I had lost contact with when I was in Junior High School 1952. I have found at least two close cousins by also using rootsweb connections on maternal side of family. Their surnames are KELLAM and my mother's was KELM. Corresponding with them and we're sharing much data and interesting information. Thank you for the many boards and other genealogical helps.


I live in (City / County):	Sacramento, Sacramento, CA
Name:	Ken Borger kborger@ns.net
Date:	2000-04-14
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Roots Surname List (RSL)
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	A few months ago I got involved in genealogy by accident. I was watching a TV program about how families pass down the family photo albums.They pass them from generation to generation. They get dumped or sold because the person who got them had no idea who these people were. A lot of the time the pictures are not documented. I remembered we had my wife’s grandmothers albums and loose pictures in a few boxes in the closet.We had been carrying them around for years as we moved from place to place. Once in a while we would get them out and look at them and wonder about them. A few of them were identified but not most of them. I started to do a little research and now look at me. I am now researching 8 families of connected relatives of my wife and I. I put together this pdf file of the pictures my wife’s grandfather took while he was in the Eighth Regiment “D” Company of Infantry, California Volunteers in the year 1898. It has 38 pictures. He visually documents the Company from Camp Barrett, Oakland to Vancouver Barracks, Washington. They never went overseas but always thought they were getting ready to go to the Philippines. This pdf is just a small segment of the full Marders Family Genealogy I am putting together for an interactive CD, for the family members. It will have over a hundred picture pages plus vidio clips.The clips will be inserted from old movies taken since 1928. I am still building the file with text as I continue the research. How could I share with people this pdf file of the Spanish American War segment through the RootsWeb site? Or, is it possible? There are pictures and names of quite a few California Volunteers from Northern California. Ken Borger


I live in (City / County):	Lucerne Valley, San Bernardino, CA
Name:	Pat Gomez-Gillard dogen@lucernevalley.net
Date:	2000-04-23
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	He was a cowboy. Roamed the deserts from the Mojave in California to the deep Arizona Sonora of the 1940's and 50's. Loved his horse, his beer, his song. Women came and went - thrilled by his 6 foot 3 Gary Cooper looks, golden waves of hair. She was a Mexican senorita new to the California desert, stuck on a desolate ranch far from the city. He was struck by her gentle brown eyes and auburn hair. They met one night on the ranch where they both worked, he played his guitar and she fell in love, he in lust. An affair consumated by a campfire one warm desert summer night. He rode off into the sunset on his horse and many months later she gave birth to a golden haired girl with Spanish eyes. She had no shame or fear a joy for life that could not be extinguished. Years passed and she married a good sturdy Mexican man, bought a home, and they raised their golden haired child in the desert in a home filled with the smells of posole and tamales. Always that little girl felt different. Not really white, though her skin was, and not really brown, though her heart was. There was taunting by the kids in school, there was shame at the word, bastard. 45 years later, that loving laughing senorita died and the girl, now a woman, felt alone, bereft a little orphan baby in an adult woman's body. She bought a computer and immediately began a search for that cowboy of long ago. RootsWeb's Social Security Death Index was her first stopping place and unbelievably there he was. Many years gone and dead, but his name sparked a hope to find other family. Several weeks later, a potato farmer in Idaho received a call from a weeping woman in the California desert who explained that she might be his long lost cousin. Within months the lost golden haired girl found family who look like her - the girl who had lived all her life with dark haired, dark eyed siblings, who had known only cousins from Mexico who spoke only Spanish. Within weeks she was speaking to cousins and aunts who shared tales of lineage back to the Civl War, exciting tales of war wounds and history, history, history. Next month, she will travel to Idaho to meet that family, the Mathis', originally from the Carolinas, and she will at last connect to a significant part of her heritage. And she will add a rich tapestry of history and knowledge of the American culture she grew up in but never felt a part of.


I live in (City / County):	Stockton, San Joaquin, CA
Name:	CiCi Morse cicim@mediaone.net
Date:	2001-01-23
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	WWI Draft Records
Please contact me:	yes
My Success Story:	A newspaper story reported the finding of a tombstone in Hemet, CA three years ago. Now in possession of the Police Dept., they are trying to find out where it belongs. Because our data is in the space provided by Rootsweb (the World Connect Project, Robinson Family submitted by my sister, Mikki McBride), genealogists found us to let us know and to send us the story. Our gg grandmother, Adelia (Rudd) Whitted, married Thomas C. Whitted and lived in OR. We now have her death date, but have no idea of how the stone ended up in Hemet. As far as we know, she lived in OR all her married life, and her last child was born there about a week before her death. Thank you Rootsweb!


I live in (City / County):	Mission Viejo, USA, CA
Name:	Les Winningham leswin3@home.com
Date:	2000-04-05
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool:	Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
Please contact me:	no
My Success Story:	I have been searching for years where my Great Grandfather Isham Huckeby was buried. I knew where his wife was buried. She was laid to rest it the Guntertown Cemetey, Pickett CO.,TN. I was talking with a relatives about my problem. Come to find it out he was also related to Isham and said his Sister knew where his grave sight was and had been there. We made plans to go over and did last September (1999). He was laid to rest in the Griffith Cemetery, Glenmary, Scott CO., TN. I took a picture of his stone, I could barely make out that it was his. Well wen I got the roll of film developed I couldn't make out what was on it. I did a phone lookup of the Huckeby's in the area and asked if they would go over and clean his stone. Well one week later I called them and they gave me the good news. Since that day I have found information on (5) more if Isham's children and am going to meet all meet many of them in May when I go to TN. I have got very good information about the family and many old photo's. This has been a wonderful year for me and the family. I was able to bring to light my side of the Huckeby family and they were as excited as me. Roots Web has been very influenchial in making us all come together. Without this wonderful medium this would not have happened. Thanks for every one that has helped.