Never Give Up on Family History!
In 2003, I decided to take our Family History research to the next level and explorer the internet. I wasn't very computer-literate yet and I'd never visited a Message Board. None the less, I posted a brief message and sat back to wait for a response. At first, I expected an immediate reply, but soon a couple weeks went by and then a couple months without even a mismatch reply. My father-in-law in New Zealand had spend most of his life looking for William Armstrong's parents and I wanted to find just a small crumb that I could share with him.
in 2010, we decided to streamline our family email and I began looking at old accounts that have sat dormant and completely ignored for a couple years. At first I was cautious with deleting unread emails, but I quickly became impatient and began deleting full pages at a time. Suddenly, a subject line caught my eye... COULD IT REALLY BE A REPLY FROM THE MESSAGE I HAD POSTED 7 YEARS EARLIER?
I thought it was probably a mismatch, but quickly skimmed through the content anyway. A woman in the UK was also searching Armstrong & Beatty families of Ireland and there were great similarities with names, dates, and locations, but THE WILLIAM ARMSTRONG IN THEIR FAMILY TREE HAD DIED. I explained that an old family letter was the source of our information and she decided to visit a family member to have another look at the old Beatty Family Bible that was the source of their information.
The next day, I received a jaw-dropping reply back from Claire; “You’re not going to believe this: I found a note at the back of the family bible that reads; “ William Armstrong Jr. left Millview for Australia March 24th, 1873 then thru to New Zealand!”
WE NOW HAD OUR PROOF OF A MATCH!
We love Cousin Claire & her family in the UK!
SO, NEVER GIVE UP; MIRACLES REALLY CAN & DO HAPPEN!
in 2010, we decided to streamline our family email and I began looking at old accounts that have sat dormant and completely ignored for a couple years. At first I was cautious with deleting unread emails, but I quickly became impatient and began deleting full pages at a time. Suddenly, a subject line caught my eye... COULD IT REALLY BE A REPLY FROM THE MESSAGE I HAD POSTED 7 YEARS EARLIER?
I thought it was probably a mismatch, but quickly skimmed through the content anyway. A woman in the UK was also searching Armstrong & Beatty families of Ireland and there were great similarities with names, dates, and locations, but THE WILLIAM ARMSTRONG IN THEIR FAMILY TREE HAD DIED. I explained that an old family letter was the source of our information and she decided to visit a family member to have another look at the old Beatty Family Bible that was the source of their information.
The next day, I received a jaw-dropping reply back from Claire; “You’re not going to believe this: I found a note at the back of the family bible that reads; “ William Armstrong Jr. left Millview for Australia March 24th, 1873 then thru to New Zealand!”
WE NOW HAD OUR PROOF OF A MATCH!
We love Cousin Claire & her family in the UK!
SO, NEVER GIVE UP; MIRACLES REALLY CAN & DO HAPPEN!