"What can you DO for me??? Are you kidding?"

[fudge stripe cookays]

One of the newer cousins I recently found lives outside Tulsa, and was tickled to hear from me, since her son had recently gotten into genealogy. He'd been in touch with some cousins in Vancouver whom I'd mailed with some stuff, and had heard my name and was trying to figure out how to get in touch with me. So I found them first. Cool, huh?

So I was on the phone with the cousin for two hours the other day. And then last night the son called me and we kept chatting. They are all so excited about the Smith project, and he actually said "What can I do to help you?" Music to my ears. We discussed getting the immediate family data to me, and then he said, "Well I signed up for this ancestry .com thing awhile back, and I've got a year's membership. Let me give you my access information, and you can look some stuff up on there."

Now, I've done the free 2 week membership thing before, but just cannot afford it right now with all our home renovations and such. This was like someone handing me a million dollars. I had just found a new stash of family up in New York, and hadn't been able to research them as thoroughly as I wanted.

In the hour that I had access last night, I already brought one of the lines forward to the present day, and have two more obituaries on order from RAOGK. I am on Cloud 9.

I have already had to retitle my book from a Wisconsin-based Smiths overview to all the descendants from the New York bunch forward, since I've found so many more ancestors back there. It might take me a few more years, but this sucker is getting HUGE.

Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :woohoo:

[CountAllVotes]

1. that is great news fudge!

I started out with the 2 week free trial and that was when I found my real grandmother. I had all of this info. after two weeks and I then decided to go for the 1 year subscription for abt. $150.00 I think it is.

I've now traced my mother's family back really far. I'm now finding out that her great great grandmother on one side may have been surname HAMILTON. Gee, maybe I'm related to Alexander Hamilton? :rofl:

This is such a great way to find out about yourself and others and it is really nice that you now have access to ancestry.com for awhile and having a cousin that is interested and willing to help it just great news! :)

So far I have one lonesome foster aunt that is interested in what I am doing. She was stunned when she received a copy of her grandfather's death cert. that the Tennessee Historical Society managed to find being I had located an obit. and date of death on him (he was born in 1871). Good luck finding more relations. :D

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. Thanks CAV!

Just got one of the obituaries today, and from an online search, and turning up empty in an SSDI search, the woman's daughter appears to still be alive and living in Albany, (albeit being 89 years old this year). This line could really use some more information. And I have no photos from it yet.

I have a phone number, but I always hesitate phoning the older cousins simply because I don't know how ill or retaining of their faculties they may be. However, the few times that I've bitten the bullet with them, fearing the worst, they turned out to be the most amazing sources I've had so far.

I am SO psyched.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Cousins helping cousins is the route to go

I've posted my tree up at World Connect--back in the last century! :eek: Like 1999 :) or so.

Then I made my own free website for genealogy--have the family photos posted as well as obituaries, census data, Civil War records, and my mother's stories of her great aunts and uncles. I've linked to it via my tree-and found more nice cousins, including one who did the same for me that you have being done for you! We cousins were able to track down another whole branch--the Clark family of Naples, NY--finding out what happened to the kids after the Mom and Dad both died in 1835--and finding out who their parents were.

Don't you find working with a cousin a joy? We both celebrate when we find things, and use each other as a sounding board for finding new information and testing out theories. This cousin even visited Naples, NY, took photos of the graves, and sent me copies of all documents! All I can say is genealogical cousins are the BEST!

[fudge stripe cookays]

4. That is AWESOME ayesha.

I SO want to put my stuff up online. But not yet.

Because there is so much that I have put together that no one else has, I want my book to be the definitive source. And that way I know that if I find the stuff online and someone hasn't sourced it that they've handily lifted it without giving me proper credit.

CITE YOUR SOURCES, PEOPLE!!

I use all my resources and find cousins using the internet then call them, and they put me in touch with other cousins. But I have found plenty using folks' online data, so I'm thankful for anyone who puts anything online.

I'm going to do everything at once-- publishing the book, posting to a webpage, putting everything out on Woldconnect, etc. The Smiths are getting ready to take over the world!