Gene-Angels do exist! I know, I now have two!

It's very interesting sometimes how things happen when you work on your family history. Things that you never expect. A few days ago I received an email from a woman named Amy Keller. I've never met and don't know a thing about her except that Amy has a heart of gold. Amy is truly a gene-angel.

Amy was browsing the shopgoodwill.com website and noticed an old Parks family bible up for auction. The description included photos of some of the pages which showed handwritten Parks family notes in the bible. One of the earliest dates was 1778. She did some research online looking for a possible connection to someone doing research on the Parks family. She found my email address on ancestry.com and contacted me to alert me that the bible was being auctioned.

After looking at the listing and realizing it was indeed our Parks family, I contacted my cousin Joan and we talked about it. She quickly joined in the auction for a chance to get that bible back in our family. After a couple of nerve wrecking days of competing with other bidders, I am so excited to say Joan won the auction!

I can only imagine what this old bible has been through and the fact that it survives today is quite amazing to me. The Parks family was from early Virginia and removed to North Carolina. Many of the Parks men served in the Revolutionary War in regiments from North Carolina. In 1815, they came with other families to Indiana and became a prominent family Monroe County. No doubt this bible made the trip with them.

How I came to know cousin Joan is a wonderful story too because of a sweet caring gene-angel. Fourteen years ago I went to my mailbox and discovered I had received a letter from someone named Helen Ackerman from Monroe County, Indiana. Just a small handwritten note and a photo copy was enclosed. The note said Helen had been looking at the 1844 Bloomington newspapers on microfilm and an estate administration notice a caught her eye. She recalled reading my recent query about the Parks and Riddle families so made a copy of the estate notice. She sent it to me in hopes it would help with my research. I am forever grateful to her for her thoughtfulness and kindness.

From that notice, I discovered another son, previously unknown to me, had been born to my ggg-grandparents. And from further research and queries, I found my cousin Joan who is a direct descendant of that son.

Joan and I have never met. She lives on one side of the county and I on the other. But over the last 14 years via email and instant message, we have become good friends and work together on tracing the Riddle-Parks family tree. We share our discoveries, talk theories and strategies to break brick walls, commiserate about the frustrations of failures, and celebrate when we make breakthroughs.

So thanks to Amy Keller, a wonderful caring person, the Parks bible has been rescued and will now come home to family who will cherish it. Tonight cousin Joan and I can't stop smiling and are doing the happy dance!

New Index for Sullivan Co, NY on the website

Now available on the EveryNameIndex.com website with FREE access.

EVERY NAME INDEX TO HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW YORK

Compiled by Cathy L. O'Connor, © 2011.

Embracing an account of its Geology, climate, Aborigines, early settlement, organization; the formation of its towns, with biographical sketches of prominent residents, etc., etc.

Original text by James Eldridge Quinlan, published by G. M. Beebe and W. T. Morgans, 1873.

This index contains over 4,600 entries.

Portraits From a Storm . . .

Patty Bullion the creator of the Facebook page Pictures and Documents Found After the April 27, 2001 Tornadoes, now has a great new blog to share stories that have come from the page. The blog is called Portraits From a Storm, Rebuilding the South One Picture at a Time!

I've been watching this Facebook page since it began and its so wonderful to see that the lost photos are slowly making their way home!

Just an example of a photo finding its way home, this photo was claimed on the eve of a young lady getting married. The photograph is of her mother on her wedding day. Amazing!

NARA - A Great Genealogy Resource

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the custodian of our nation's records. Most people probably have learned a little about the National Archives in Washington, D. C. because it is the keeper of the original Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, but they do not know the extent of their other duties.

In addition to the Washington, D. C. office, NARA maintains a national network of facilities in 13 other cities around the country.

There are approximately 9 billion pages of textual records; 7.2 million maps, charts, and architectural drawings; more than 20 million still photographs; billions of machine-readable data sets; and more than 365,000 reels of film and 110,000 videotapes in addition to electronic records now being housed in these facilities.

For the genealogist, the NARA can provide a wealth of information about a family's history. Some of the most frequently requested records for genealogy research are:

* Ship Passenger Arrival records

* Individual Census Pages

* Eastern Cherokee Applications

* Federal Land Entry Files

* Federal Military Pension Files for the Revolutionary War through the Civil War

* Bounty land warrant applications

* Compiled Military Service Records through the Spanish-American War

* Veterans' service records, WWI - Present

* Pre-WWI Service Records.

Be aware there are specific forms must be completed to be able to obtain copies of a record or file by mail-in customers, and the NARA charges fees for copies of archival records. The current fee schedule is available on the NARA website.

Over the years, I have requested Civil War Pension Records, Bounty Land Warrants and Land Entry files. The wealth of data and clues to more records has been invaluable in continuing my research. The affidavits giving first hand accounts of military service and sometimes copies of a family record etc. are such family treasures.

Although it is hard to wait for a few weeks for the files to arrive, it is always so exciting to open the envelope and see what records were still available and enclosed. I was so surprised to receive a copy of the receipt from the Vincennes Indiana Land Office showing my 3x great-grandfather entering land in early Indiana and making payment in full in 1834.

In addition to housing the nation's records, the NARA offers genealogy workshops on a variety of topics at its regional faculties around the country. Many are free and open to the public.

For instance, the New York City facility will be holding a workshop on June 14th called "Finding Family: What to Do When Hit the Brick Wall". A professional genealogist and guest lecturer will discuss strategies, tips and clues to figuring out next research steps when you don't know where to look next.

Interested in taking advantage of some of these workshops? Check out one of the NARA facilities near you for a list of their upcoming events.

1. Anchorage, AK

2. Atlanta, GA

3. Boston, MA

4. Chicago, IL

5. Denver, CO

6. Fort Worth, TX

7. Kansas City, MO

8. New York City

9. Philadelphia, PA

10. Pittsfield, MA

11. Riverside, CA

12. San Francisco, CA

13. Seattle, WA

14. Washington, D.C.