Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Journey Begins

 
My family research began in 2001 when I attended a Genealogy class one weekend.
It's always been fascinating to me digging into family history, stories, looking at family photos.  Growing up I use to ask a lot of questions about the different family members.  I didn't always get as much answered as I would have liked.
So the genealogy class started me on a quest to learn more about my ancestors.  My plan was to start out with what I already knew, so I started a family tree and went to work filling in all the information, photos and documents that I could find.
I did all the research on the Internet and after that just trying to find anything new.  Even though I would go on the family tree, and try to find something new, there didn't seem to ever be any  new hints. This slow time lasted about 7 years, after a while I was beginning to feel that my ancestors didn't leave any paper trails.  Then one day I decided to post a query on Rootsweb, I posted my gr grandfather's name, where he was born and all the necessary information with hopes that someone would reply. Still nothing happened. Then on November 12, 2009 I get a reply it says:

Dated: Nov. 12, 2009  2:16 pm.

Hello Xzanthia, I am the great grandson of Daniel Trigg Edinburg.  We are trying to obtain information so that we don't loose our family heritage.  We live in Illinois, which is where my great grandfather passed away.

The next message I received from him:
Dated: Nov 13, 2009 6:41 pm

My name is Preston, My great grandmother was Jenny Edinburg.  She and my Great grandfather from what I understand migrated from TN. to IL.  My email address is: xxxxxx, lets keep chating.

As it turned out, not only did I find my cousin Preston, but a whole tribe of family all living in Chicago, Illinois.  My new found cousins shared a phone number with me and that same night, I talked to my new cousin Carla for about 3 hours on the phone.  I remember it was 3 am before we stopped, and that was because my voice was going away.
The next day we started sharing photos through email, and to my astonishment Carla had a baby picture of me, and a picture of my father in military uniform.  Carla said that she and the rest of the family would once a year around the holidays, take out the family album and she and her son Todd would look at all the picture, when they got to the photo of me, they would always wonder who that baby was, and then they would look at my dad's photo and wonder who Zuber was ( that's my last name).  They always thought my dad looked Asian so they would always say " I wonder who that Asian man is"
They ended up having two picture of me after we finished sharing photos and one of the photos of me I had never seen before.
As we went through all the family history, Carla said that her uncle remembered an XYZ ( my initials), but didn't quite remember what family, where they lived or anything about them.  Just somehow they had a photo of us.
With all the sharing of information and photos, I found out that with just Preston and Carla's families alone, there were so many people it was hard to keep the names straight. I had a tribe to learn about as I would say.










15 comments:

  1. Congratulations! I enjoyed your post as it shares something very important--the power of patience and being willing to accept the answers when they come. It is very rewarding, isn't it?

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    1. Thank you JG LK, it has been so much fun even with the delays, as I was always on to something else while I waited for the answer to be revealed. It is very rewarding.

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  2. Great post, loved reading about your quest. May you continue to have success.

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  3. Hi, I am that Preston which found my Xzanthia, it has been a great thrill, and certainly a joy to have found someone that values our heritage. As I found it to be essential in know who you are and where you came from.

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    1. Hey Cousin, glad you were able to view the post. check back, I'll be posting lots more. Love you.

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  4. Wow! that so awesome that you found your family! Great post. :)

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    1. Thank you Denise..I was elated and still am...LOL

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  5. Great post, and very inspiring. Your story makes it clear that patience pays off, and when you are able to reconnect with family it is certainly worth the wait.

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  6. It has been quit the journey, we talk maybe once or twice a week.
    .

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  7. XYZ, i learned so many things about you, in your sharing that I did not know. I would have thought the Preston you speak so fondly of was someone you grew up with, wow, 8 yrs and no response. I am so glad you did not give up on the G thing and how we then were allowed to bump into one another on the quest and journey. Yes as one said patience, wow.

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    1. Angela, my cousin Preston has become like someone I've known all my life growing up even thought it's only been 3 years since we found each other. I'm happy that you and I found each other and I look forward to getting to know you just as well. Then when we grow old we can sit in our rocking chair on the front porch and chat about the good ole days...LOL

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