Wednesday, June 22, 2016

More Proof That It's Worthwhile To Have Your Family Tree Online

Last month I received an email from a a very nice woman named Maureen. She found my family tree on WikiTree and then contacted me. It turns out that we are cousins on my Iverson side. Our common ancestor is Iver Iverson, my 2nd great-grandfather who was born in Norway, immigrated to the United States in 1858, and fought in the American Civil War.

Maureen and I have emailed back and forth. She is so sweet! She shared amazing documents and photos with me and also gave me permission to share the photos here on my blog.

Here's one of her photos. This is Rose Josephine Iverson, my 1st cousin twice removed. Isn't she beautiful?



Rose Josephine Iverson
Photo Courtesy of my Cousin Maureen

 I recently gave my "Family History Blogs and Social Media" presentation at the Fresno County Genealogical Society's June General Meeting. One of the things I talked about in that presentation is the importance of sharing our family tree online. This recent cousin connection with Maureen is just one more example of why that is true.

My regular readers may also remember another amazing thing that happened because my family tree is online. I call it the Engle Family Postcards Adventure on my blog. If you aren't familiar with what happened, you can read about it by clicking on the "The Engle Family Postcards" tab at the top of my blog.

I'm so glad that Maureen contacted me. I look forward to us sharing more family history information with each other in the future.

Do you have your family tree online? If so, what connections have you made because your tree is online?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

12 comments:

  1. I also have had a number of people contact me, but mostly because of my blog. My tree is on Ancestry only. But all the names are on the blog, so people doing a Google search for their family members often find my blog in their search results.

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    1. Blogs are another great way to connect with cousins. It's awesome that you've had people contact you. Thanks for stopping by Amy!

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  2. I have my tree on Ancestry. And because it is there I have been able to reconnect my father with his first cousins and me with family I only knew of but never met until now. And now that I know these cousins of mine, they have shared stores of our family and photos I've never seen before. I'm so grateful for the connections I've been able to make through having a tree online. And there also have been some distant cousins too that I've been able to connect with and share with.

    Monique

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    1. Wow! That's so awesome Monique! Thank you for sharing your amazing connections with me. :)

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  3. My family research blog has connected me with many cousins. Many invaluable treasures and family stories have come through those connections.

    To view my site - http://murosky-ancestral-lines.blogspot.com/

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    1. Ah yes! Genealogy blogs are so great as cousin bait Michelle! It's awesome that you've been able to connect with so many cousins. :)

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  4. I've had my family tree online at RootsWeb since December 2002. So many people have contacted me during the years. I still have all the emails and snail mail but wish I had started an annotated list so I could write about them. ~ Cathy

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    1. Cathy, it's wonderful that you've made so many connections over the years and that you've kept the emails and snail mail. I use Evernote to keep track of my cousin connections. I save the emails, Ancestry messages, etc. and tag them with specific tags so I can sort and find them later.

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  5. I have my family tree (and the family trees of five very special friends) online at Rootsweb. I also have a genealogy blog, and post photos and graves on Find a Grave.

    I get at least three emails a week, or combination of email and blog comments - not just on my family tree, but on any of the others also.

    I think online trees and genealogy blogs really are cousin bait.

    Dee
    Shakin' the Family Tree
    de-burris.dreamwidth.org

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    1. That's awesome Dee! I agree with you. Online trees and genealogy blogs are great cousin bait. :)

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  6. I've filled out a line I knew nothing about until I had my DNA tested at Ancestry and then added a tree there to go with it. I have found several new cousins as a result and they have shared photos and stories as well. It's so much fun!

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    1. That's so awesome Michelle! "Genealogy Happy Dance Time" for sure!

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