SUCCESS STORIES
I live in (City / County): JC, Hudson, NJ
Name: Dot Hunt doroab@webtv.net
Date: 2000-09-14
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool: Mailing Lists
Please contact me: yes
My Success Story:
About 1 year ago I found addresses of folks with my maternal g'pa's surname living in his small town & sent many postcards to them. After locating kin 2, this way I got heavily into genealogy & was lucky enough to find rootsweb. Rootsweb gave me free space to post my findings in the form of a web page,but more,MUCH MORE, IMPORTANT,Rootsweb enabled me to advertise for kin on boards,lists,forums in a place where absolutely tons of "like seekers" gather to SEEK! Since utilizing rootswebs resources I have located Frank Windham, Ruth Corley, a Simpson, Ed Reschner, Betty S. Hall, & "Drum Roll,Please", my Mom's Aunt Ruth Ezell's granddaughters & daughters. In October my Mom will be re-united with "Lost kin"! Also,thanks to Rootswebs Walton list, I found my Dad's grave,learned I had an uncle Jerome Hunt,who died in 1926, & found out my g'pa Hunt was named Charles William & found graves of my g'ma OLIVER'S parents,2 sibs,a brother-in-law..learned their names,ages, birth dates,etc. From Mom's lost kin we learned where her Mom & sister are buried. AND her Mom's Dad,too. In less than 12 months I have accomplished what could have taken 5 years,if not more! I'm back to early 1800s so far. And I have learned geography,history,& lots of info about cemeteries,tombstones, war & military dates & facts..Stuff school tried to teach but met with resistance! Thank you,Rootsweb,my hats off to you BIG TIME!~

 



I live in (City / County): JC, Hudson, NJ
Name: Dot Hunt doroab@webtv.net
Date: 2000-09-14
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool: Mailing Lists
Please contact me: yes
My Success Story:
About 1 year ago I found addresses of folks with my maternal g'pa's surname living in his small town & sent many postcards to them. After locating kin 2, this way I got heavily into genealogy & was lucky enough to find rootsweb. Rootsweb gave me free space to post my findings in the form of a web page,but more,MUCH MORE, IMPORTANT,Rootsweb enabled me to advertise for kin on boards,lists,forums in a place where absolutely tons of "like seekers" gather to SEEK! Since utilizing rootswebs resources I have located Frank Windham, Ruth Corley, a Simpson, Ed Reschner, Betty S. Hall, & "Drum Roll,Please", my Mom's Aunt Ruth Ezell's granddaughters & daughters, Myrtle & Carol Sowell. In October my Mom will be re-united with "Lost kin"! Also,thanks to Rootswebs Walton list, I found my Dad's grave,learned I had an uncle Jerome Hunt,who died in 1926, & found out my g'pa Hunt was named Charles William & found graves of my g'ma OLIVER'S parents,2 sibs,a brother-in-law..learned their names,ages, birth dates,etc. From Mom's lost kin we learned where her Mom & sister are buried. AND her Mom's Dad,too. In less than 12 months I have accomplished what could have taken 5 years,if not more! I'm back to early 1800s so far. And I have learned geography,history,& lots of info about cemeteries,tombstones, war & military dates & facts..Stuff school tried to teach but met with resistance! Thank you,Rootsweb,my hats off to you BIG TIME!~

 



I live in (City / County): Jersey City, Hudson, NJ
Name: Dot Hunt doroab@webtv.net
Date: 2001-02-14
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool: Roots Surname List (RSL)
Please contact me: yes
My Success Story:
Since I posted my last Success Story I have discovered RAOGK on rootsweb.com's home page & have 2 more success stories now!! One Ga. volunteer Leah G. Gonzales went to Ga. Dept. of Archives & History & got me copies of letters written by my kin from 1852-1863. Most were written to or from Curtis Oliver,a Blue Ridge Ranger & my great great G'pa. She saved me a small fortune while connecting me to my past at the same time. I would most likely not have these letters & clues in them if not for her due to expense of ordering them from NJ. My 2nd SUCCESS also is THANKS to RAOGK volunteer, BarbaraL. Grigsby of Loganvuille,Ga. This great lady while photoing my kins graves realized she knew my G'ma & found out my G'ma was still alive & gave me the ph.# of G'ma's nursing home in Snellville,Ga. Then upon learning that I couldn't afford to come to see G'ma(who is101!) Barb, the RAOGK volunteer,& my G'ma's friend for over 10 yrs SENT me a plane ticket & we werte on Ch.11's News tonite in Ga. as me & my g'baby saw OUR G'ma, possibly for the last time on earth. My G'baby is going to be 1 y/o on Feb.22,2001. WHAT A PHOTO WE NOW HAVE! Also what a debt of gratitude we owe to ROOTSWEB.COM & BARB! I have already begun repaying her for her financial expense & am now determined to find her Aunt Isabel JERNACK who is possibly in a NJ or NY nursing home. If I succeed maybe she'll be somewhat Thanked for her sweetness & generosity

 



I live in (City / County): Trenton, Mercer, NJ
Name: Mary Ann Unger marunger@earthlink.net
Date: 2000-05-18
My Favorite RootsWeb Tool: Mailing Lists
Please contact me: no
My Success Story:
About a year ago, a young relative (13) was searching through the attic furniture in his grandmother's soon-to-be sold house. In the back of a drawer, he found a matchbox. Inside was an old, tarnished American Civil War medal. Knowing that I'm the family "gene," he gave it to me. A quick polish revealed that the medal was silver, but the initials JT and the New York volunteer regiment was a mystery. None of our Reed family had ventured out of Mercer County in the Civil War and none, not even the in-laws had the "JT" initials. In fact, I learned that the piece of furniture had been purchased at a yard sale -- no one knew it's origin. I posted a querry on a New York RootsWeb mailing list (sorry, the exact one does not come to mind). Quickly a list member emailed me with the name of the regiment and a list of all who served. JT was identified (name withheld here). The surname did not appear in any of the Rootsweb surname lists, so I tried the next best thing to come to mind: a search of social security records. BINGO only one hit of recent vintage in the midwest. With long distance operator assistance, I asked for the same spelling of the surname in the same city: only one match. Placing the call, I discovered that back in Germany in the mid 1800s JT was one of two brothers; he came to the United States and fought in the Civil War -- the other came after the war. Although there were no direct descendants of JT, the family I phoned were direct relatives of his brother and had been hard at work on their family history for years. They were delighted to receive not only the Civil War medal but a drawing of an old Civil War veteran wearing JT's medal done by the highly talented 13-year old who found it!