The Greatest Genealogical Find Ever?

Craig asked this question at GeneaBlogie and wrote about his recent find. There are some breakthroughs I'm proud of and happy about: finding the HOLTERMANNs and LANKAUs in Germany. In both cases, there was a little guesswork and luck after a few years of step-by-step research. The results were very satisfying, even if I wasn't able to go back several generations.

As great as I felt at the moment of finding that information, I have five as of yet undiscovered finds that would equal or exceed the HOLTERMANN and LANKAU breakthroughs (with apologies to those and all other ancestors).

• Magdalena Maria "Helena" (HUHN) POHL (1832-1920): She is just one of a handful of German immigrant ancestors from the 19th century I cannot trace back to a specific village. I have a lot of German ancestry and to be so close to completing the immigrant stage of research is both exciting and frustrating.
• Adam FUCHS (1819-1906) and family: Another family without a home (in my records).
• Ferdinand Friedrich HOLZ (1805-?): This family came to America as a group in 1854, and a son and daughter settled in St. Louis. But what happened to Ferdinand, his wife and other daughters? There are two ways this research could go. Part of me feels the answers are literally right under my nose considering I live in area. The names must be recorded illegibly, right? If so, it's just a matter of time before I stumble upon something that leads to their local church and cemetery records. On the other hand, what if Ferdinand took the rest of the family elsewhere, bucking the trend of my other Missouri Germans? It may be time to search again like Craig suggested in another post.

And of course, this list wouldn't be complete without these two cases:

• Ferdinand EBERT (1813?-1856?) and his wife Agatha ALLENBRANDT (sp?) (1815?-1895): I've written about this family several times. I would tell family members to reserve a date for a party if I found out where they came from. OK, so no one would come due to lack of interest, but still.
• John HEATON (1810?-1844): Another ancestor whose roots I'm a little obsessed with. I have found out that there is a HEATON DNA project underway, but there is so far just one submitter.

And I'm sure I'd find enormous satisfaction in finding British roots, but I just can't seem to really get into Colonial research even though I should.

The Cousin They Lost

The other day, Miriam mentioned a site called Lost Cousins (AnceStories: Lost Cousins is Completely Free Until 2008!). I signed up (free) and while the concept is interesting, I think it would be a lot easier to use if Lost Cousins made a deal (or is there an API?) with FamilySearch that would allow users to "claim" households and individuals in the 1880 census.

It's a great way to find others researching the same ancestors, but I lost interest after adding a handful of individuals to my account.

Looking Back and Ahead

Well, one brick wall came down in 2007: connecting Willis HALL to his parents finally happened. A few years ago, I would have pushed hard to further that research, but I'm more realistic about things now and very relieved just to have completed this phase. Thanks goes out to distant cousins and strangers for their assistance with this research.

Not a lot else happened. That's not necessarily a bad thing, nor is it surprising. I'm lucky now to get a few hours of genealogy in each week. I have finally begun, for the last time, compiling my information in the way I had always wanted. It's a race to see who finishes first — me or the LDS digitization project!

Next year should be more of the same (lack of substantial progress), but also interesting. First, with little effort I could obtain DNA samples from my branch of the HEATONs. It's already been discussed and there seemed to be some interest. The trick will be getting samples from those with verified Pennsylvania (and New Jersey?) roots for comparison. Similarly, I've begun to think that a DNA test on my BURGER cousins might help tie up a few loose ends from 140-150 years ago.

Second, I'm confident Cousin Dan and I are very close to finding where the LODENKAMPERs resided prior to emigrating. It seems like we're in the right neighborhood, so to speak, but I just don't know where to guess next.

Finally, I'm about to order parish records for the REINMÖLLER family. If that transaction goes smoothly, I hope to resolve some issues that have been kicking around for several years.

Other than that, I don't see anything big on the horizon for 2008. Maybe I'll get another lucky break like the HALLs and a dead end will open up.

Here's the interesting part about '08: I may be libraryless! My local branch is closed until December 2008 for expansion and remodeling, and I'm not sure that their genealogy section was entirely moved to the temporary location. And thanks to some major roadwork over the next couple of years in St. Louis City and County, getting to StL County Special Collections may not be worth the hassle. Because they have a microfilm scanner, St. Louis is where I order all of my FHL microfilm. I'm hoping that my local branch decides to upgrade and adds one of these scanners next winter because the StL highway work isn't going to be finished until sometime in 2009. That's OK, I guess. It will give me an excuse to work on what I already have and maybe go on some short trips instead.