Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: A Nice Thing

Genea-Musings’ Randy Seaver’s latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge is probably the easiest ever:

1. What is the Nicest Thing another genealogist did for you, or to you, in the last week or so? (If you have no examples for this past week, go back in time - surely someone has done a nice thing for you in recent years!).

It seems various genea-friends (some I know and others I have never even met, not even online!) are doing something nice for me at least once a week, and some weeks are real bonanza weeks. In addition to this last week I’d like to mention some kind favors done for me in recent months.

Just this last week Linda Hughes Hiser at Flipside nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award. The lovely comments and words of encouragement that people leave on this blog are also Nice Things.

Then there is Tipper at The Blind Pig and the Acorn who posted an article by Ethelene Dyer Jones in which I recognized a family name; Tipper kindly put me in touch with Ethelene to confirm that there was indeed a family connection.

This last week I posted a list of Texas-connected genea-bloggers. I should have mentioned that two of them, Vickie Everhart of BeNotForgot and Patti Browning of Consanguinity, had volunteered to do look-ups for me in their local area when they learned that some of my family lines are from there.

I have mentioned in a number of posts how people have generously sent me information and family pictures; recently some of my Norman relatives – Pat D. and Chuck G. – sent me some photos of relatives I had never seen before, including my first photo of a great-great-grandparent (the prolific Joseph Madison Carroll Norman). The pictures you may have seen on this blog of my distant Brinlee relatives were provided by ace researchers Gale W. and Edna S.

The South Carolina researcher, Kelly O., who has been providing me with those many Moore obituaries will often find a death certificate or related article on a relative that she will just add into the bunch without charge; she has also given me valuable information on obtaining membership in the DAR and other societies.

My cousin Carolyn L. has provided me with many wonderful family stories. I have received many useful pointers and much encouragement from my fifth cousin through the Lewis line, Gayle H. When I first got into genealogy, the generosity of my third cousin Jo Ann S. with both information and photographs left me humbled, and I have tried ever since to emulate her generosity when I meet “research relatives.”

These are just a few of many examples. This kind of generosity ultimately serves the noble goal of increasing our knowledge. One bit of information may provide the clue to another researcher that helps break down a brick wall. One picture can mean the world to someone who has never seen a picture of that relative before. One word of encouragement can keep a discouraged researcher “in the game” to make new discoveries that can then be shared. The cumulative impact of an act of kindness cannot be overstated.