I totally agree about the value of historical societies. A year ago, I gave a talk about my granfather's winery at the historical society of the town (Mountain View, CA). Afterwards, they were so incredibly gracious about me sharing the story and all they wanted to do was help with any additional research. I wound up speaking at another nearby historcal society (Los Altos), and the same thing happened. It was almost like they were competing with each other on who could be more helpful.
Those must have been great experiences! Not only for you, but for everyone who was there to listen. I'm constantly amazed how positive and excited to help not only folks at historical societies are, but at almost every town hall. It's a special international community, to say the least!
Bravo! I was just asking at the US National Genealogical Society about a network of resources. Our children are the only “native” Californians in the family. As is typical, among Americans, parents and grandparents are from elsewhere... as were our parents before us. The short answer is to start with librarians then expand to county historical societies.https://www.ngsgenealogy.org
That feeling of seeing a direct ancestor’s photo after searching for so many years is like the culmination of a treasure hunt. It’s an amazing feeling.
Yes! I knew that my great grandfather had been a city councilman in Quebec City around the turn of the last century. We have no surviving photos of him, but the Archives de là Ville de Quebec sure did! They charged me less than $10 for a copy of his official photo. It was thrilling to finally see him.
That is tremendous. What a special discovery! Funny enough, a similar experience between us is that I had a great-great-grandfather who was a mayor in Maine, and just like you, the city held an official portrait. I'm glad you were able to trace that picture down, I can only imagine how valuable it is to you and your family.
I totally agree about the value of historical societies. A year ago, I gave a talk about my granfather's winery at the historical society of the town (Mountain View, CA). Afterwards, they were so incredibly gracious about me sharing the story and all they wanted to do was help with any additional research. I wound up speaking at another nearby historcal society (Los Altos), and the same thing happened. It was almost like they were competing with each other on who could be more helpful.
Those must have been great experiences! Not only for you, but for everyone who was there to listen. I'm constantly amazed how positive and excited to help not only folks at historical societies are, but at almost every town hall. It's a special international community, to say the least!
Bravo! I was just asking at the US National Genealogical Society about a network of resources. Our children are the only “native” Californians in the family. As is typical, among Americans, parents and grandparents are from elsewhere... as were our parents before us. The short answer is to start with librarians then expand to county historical societies.https://www.ngsgenealogy.org
That feeling of seeing a direct ancestor’s photo after searching for so many years is like the culmination of a treasure hunt. It’s an amazing feeling.
It's indescribable! There's such emotion in the moment you see it for the first time, it's truly special.
Yes! I knew that my great grandfather had been a city councilman in Quebec City around the turn of the last century. We have no surviving photos of him, but the Archives de là Ville de Quebec sure did! They charged me less than $10 for a copy of his official photo. It was thrilling to finally see him.
That is tremendous. What a special discovery! Funny enough, a similar experience between us is that I had a great-great-grandfather who was a mayor in Maine, and just like you, the city held an official portrait. I'm glad you were able to trace that picture down, I can only imagine how valuable it is to you and your family.