Here is why I love genealogy. Out of the blue I recieved the gift of a portrait of my great-great grandfather, James Vaughan, and his wife, Elizabeth. Sent from Alice, a cousin I have yet to meet. (Thanks, Alice!)Alice had clues and stories I had never heard or even suspected about James. She mentioned to me that he had gone to Cuba and brought back some sea shells. Cuba??? In the 1870's? She conjectured that he had gone as a soldier of fortune in the Cuban and Spanish wars. I had to do some research, as I had no recall of learning about such a conflict. I realized that if James had indeed traveled to the Spanish West Indies during this time period, he would have had to apply for a passport. I went to the NARA archives index found on Footnote.com and searched for James. Sure enough, I found his passport application, complete with a description of him and his signature. He was authorized to travel to the "Spanish West Indies", AND this was not his first trip, as the application is for a renewal.
The plot doth thicken.
4 comments:
FUN-O-RAMA! xo K :-)
too totally cool. i can't remember if i mentioned this to you, but i got an email from someone who had come across my ancestor.com profile and was asking questions about dave's dad's side of the family. i hooked her up with lorraine and they had a good old time filling in a bunch of geneology blanks which resulted in one of dave's cousins being able to find his family. coolie, huh?
Marcell
you are so passionate about this, you should teach a history class or something. Maybe that would not be something you are interested in, i am sorta tying two things together there.
Just a thought, when i see someone with this much passion for something it is inspiring.
What i mean by that is, I could have absolutely no interest in bicycling but if i run across someone with a passion for it they could possibly change my mind on that subject.
Your blog proposes a compelling argument for the treasures in searching out your family heritage, and actually it paints history itself in a different light.
I may be taking a history class next semester I ended up dropping it this semester. But the one thing that will challenge me to approach that class with a more open minded perspective is your blog.
Marcell I was so happy to hear that your knowledge of this sorta thing is being put to use beyond blogging. That is great.
It is fascinating to me to listen to someone's voice when they are passionate about something. It has a very powerful persuasion. This is a wonderful gift, when it is steered toward something positive that is.
So you found Terri's gypsy background huh? Hmmm I knew there was something strange about that girl. Does she have any "snow-globe" collections that we need to know about?
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