In genealogy circles, family history blogs are sometimes known as "cousin bait." It's a term I'm not necessarily in love with, because I think of my blog first and foremost as a way to *share* information, not solicit it, but even I have to admit, there's truth in the idea! Heck, I want people to reach out to me when they have information or stories I'm missing! I want this blog to allow me to connect with folks, whether they're family or they just love genealogy and history.
Well guess what? That's exactly what's happened recently!
About two weeks ago, I received a message connecting me with a young man - a high school student - who is descended from another branch of my Whaley line! With the help of one of his teachers, he's recently begun researching his family history, and lo-and-behold, they came across my "Time Traveling Along the Whaley Family Tree" post! If their research - and mine - is correct, his 3x Great-Grandfather is my 2x Great-Grandfather. That man, Kit Whaley, married (at least) twice, and we are each descended from his relationship with a different spouse.
I won't be sharing this young man's information online, for obvious reasons, but I have invited him to write a personal message to be shared here on the blog so he can say hello to my branch of the Whaleys. We'll see what happens from there!
Then, on the other side of my family, I actually received a message right here on the blog from a National Park Service employee, in regard to my Grandfather's time in the Civilian Conservation Corps. The camp at which he served in the early 1940s was later turned into an NPS site and they are currently researching the history of the two all-black camps that were located there. While I don't have much information on my Granddad's service, I certainly hope I can be of help to them - the stories of the CCC camp workers deserve to be researched and told! And if I'm lucky, they'll have lots of info that I don't, info that will provide context to help us better understand my Grandfather's experiences there. How exciting would that be?!
So, score one for my blog as "bait," lol!
P.S. Yes, it's been mighty quiet around here. I've recently started a new job, so a lot of my brainpower is being used up learning a new body of knowledge for work. But I haven't abandoned my research, and I'll be posting as I can.
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