Positive Post Fridays

I actually have a similar story I was waiting for another Friday to share but it's on point now.

My late stepfather was estranged from his father & somewhat from his mother, so it's been a challenge to build his tree. I did add notes to her profile, and some time ago, another curator was able to match his father's side to a MyHeritage tree; it's just been hard to verify with name changes and what not.

A few weeks ago the grandson of her second partner tracked me down based on those same notes. Unfortunately I couldn't help them with photos from his childhood, but they did give me permission to port over whatever I wanted from their ancestry.com tree to Geni.

It's some tree! By adding a little more research they didn't make explicit in theirs (but aren't hiding, either) I now have a much better idea of life in NYC "bootleg liquor" 1930s.

And .. I'm now connected to the enormous French Canadian tree on Geni.

Because of two lines of notes in a public, long deceased profile.

Mind you, I still 100% believe in the importance of privacy options on Geni and I will continue to keep much of my family group private for reasons that are important to my family. But I'll think harder now about each profile as I go along.

Well, you and I share some of the same privacy concerns, Ashley, and I totally agree about the importance of protecting the privacy of the living. But I do think there are good reasons for making public the profiles of those long-deceased and now we have two great stories to illustrate that!

Erica, that is so cool! Gives me great hope for some of my branches!

Ashley it was important I was able to contribute. There is one left of that generation and there were a couple of details that should have been able to help him remember. And their information verified my stepfather's anecdotes. Our only regret is that this would have been possible 15 years ago.

Unbelievable Ashley!

Wonderful, Erica! But sad that you can't show it to him.

Private User what an amazing story and surprise. over the years i have tried to reconnect photographs and albums i have found at swap meets and thrift stores with family members. it can be quite a hunt sometimes. kudos to their persistence in finding your family members.

Wonderful, Ashley!

Maybe Geni can facilitate that without making public all your living relatives (I'm puzzled why the librarian didn't see your name on that Geni profile in the first place). In my ideal Geni world, the managership is given to one or two of the most active direct descendants, and for historical profiles (who have too many descendants or none at all), to the most worthy expert on that person.

In February, my wife wanted to find an old looking picture frame for a piece of her mother's needlepoint. I suggested a local thrift shop and we bought the only one we found of the right size. It had a pretty water color painting in it. When we got home, I realized it had a name and date on the frame. I took it to a local art gallery to see if I could find out about the artist. They couldn't find anything about her as an artist, but said the picture needed a good frame to preserve it. This got my attention and a little research found her so here she is. Ida Honor Youngson By the date, she painted it about 2 years before her marriage. Two major Portland families united.

Wonderful :)

Will you post her water color painting to her profile?

It is in a preservation quality frame with UV protection glass etc, so I will not take it out for photos but will see what I can do after my therapy this morning.

Good thinking...

I would be cool tho to have something done by her own hand representing her in the profile view.

http://www.geni.com/path/Fay+Elizabeth+Baldwin+is+related+to+Ida+Ho...

Martha Allen Carrier is a well known relative of mine.

Fay Elizabeth Dyer The picture came out pretty good.
Ida Honor Youngson
She is also a very distant relative
http://www.geni.com/path/Eldon+Clark+C+is+related+to+Ida+Honor+Youn...

Very well done Eldon........you gave her a well deserved place on the tree....and her picture a fitting profile for a talented young lady.

Almost forgot, did you also find a frame suitable for your wife's mother's needlepoint? (and I hope you took a photo of that handywork also).

My Mom was very talented and could tat, crochet, knit, and do all sorts of other hand work which we look to machines to do for us now....but which a few of us keep, as treasures, those few pieces of the past that were made by loving and living hands.Wish I had so much more..

Thank you Eldon, for the reminder......

thanks for pointing out a second cousin 9 times removed's husband's fourth great grandson's wife's second great aunt i knew nothing about as well as some salem ancestors Fay Elizabeth Dyer

Fay Elizabeth Dyer I just sent an email to the Oregon Historical Society for more info. We will see what develops.

It's not Friday, but whatever....

Some months back I entered a small tree for someone identified as a relative on 23andMe - connected it to the Big Tree, and considered the job well done. Didn't think much about it.

A few days back I got a message addressed to the manager of that profile - someone looking for relatives of this person. I forwarded it to my 23andMe contact

Today I got this in my inbox:

"THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

I just visited with <my 23andMe contact>, this is so rewarding to me. Now waiting for the cousins to call me back. She, too, is excited.

Have a great day!!!"

Geni - helping people find each other, one link at a time....

Harald, these are the stories I like best. People connecting through collaboration. Yay!

Not Friday, but my brother just sent me a link to a new little 10-minute video about our "grandfather" Earl Walter Durand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKeZqca7k24

My brother is currently writing a musical based on those same events. I've been invited to attend the first rehearsal next week. I give him a gold star for doing something creative with genealogy, but ... Oh my ;)

Do you get an invite for the gala opening too or doesn't he let you out in public ;)

Interesting, Justin. Why do you think that your father wanted people to believe that he was descended from Earl Durand?

Alex, I have no doubt that I'll be expected to attend to the opening -- with firm instructions not to talk about genealogy ;)

Linda, my father didn't just want people to believe Earl Durand was his father. He believed it himself. And so did I, until we started doing DNA tests. Life for genealogists would be so much easier if we had fewer ways to find out we're wrong.

Then my new question is, why did he believe this? Was he told this as a child?

Linda, that's a lifelong mystery to me. I might never know. Some of his relatives believe it, even now. Some of them never believed it. But no one wants to go on record with the family genealogist ;)

Fay Elizabeth Dyer I had a reply from the Portland Historical Society about Ida Honor Youngson# . Unfortunately, all they had was an obit. They suggested the Portland Art Museum. I may try that next.

The most amazing thing happened this week! First I should explain that my mom raised my sister and me on her own. My dad hasn't been a part of our lives since we were toddlers - which means I've had to really dig for any genealogical information on his side of the family, as I didn't have many clues to start with.

Since I joined Geni I've revisited the profiles for my father's side of the family every few months, re-doing searches as new stuff is coming online all the time. I knew my paternal grandparents had divorced, and I was able to find information on my grandfather - but I didn't know my grandmother's name after she remarried. Last week I found her obituary, which not only gave her surname, but the section listing survivors also gave my aunt's (father's sister) married name.

I Googled my aunt and found a church newsletter that mentioned her last year. I called the church and left a brief message for the pastor, asking that my name and number be passed along to my aunt. Then I crossed my fingers and waited.

And she called! We've talked several times. She and her daughters are my closest living relatives other than my mother, sister, and son. She remembers my sister and me quite clearly, although we were so young that we don't really remember her.

This is such an amazing gift, to regain a long-lost relative. Thank you, Geni - and thank you, Record Matches!

Wow! That's a great story. Not just relatives 200 years ago but real, immediate family.