I’ve had quite a week. I’ve been busy working on my business, but I also managed to get in some genealogy research.

First, being a County Coordinator isn’t all bad…I found a cousin for my husband. I got an email a few days ago from a women complimenting the new site design. She also mentioned that she had Tarrs in her family. After a few back-and-forth emails, we realized that she and my husband are distant cousins.

Then last night, after doing some searching on and off all week for more info on my grandfather, I made a discovery (I think). I know that my grandfather and his brother and sister were split up after their mother committed suicide (no idea were their father wound up). My grandfather’s brother ended up in an orphanage and his sister with their maternal grandparents. My grandfather went to live with “Tessie.” Tessie was named on my grandfather WWII dog tags as next of kin, and she and her son remained close to our family through the years. All this time we thought she was a family friend. But last night, I came across a Tessie CAHILL in the census records for 1900-1920, her father being John T. I have a John T…the month and year listed in the 1900 census matches the information I have on Tessie…and her brother matches information I have for an “unknown” family connection. This is definitely pointing to the idea that Tessie was family, not a family friend.

I am trying to trace this line further, so this was a huge breakthrough, although not yet proven. I am sending a letter to Tessie’s son (who’s 75, hope he remembers something good!) to see if they are in fact family. I am also sending a letter to my grandfather’s sister’s daughter to see if she can provide more family info. If neither of these pan out, then I will obtain a copy of Tessie’s death certificate to see if it provides a maiden name and/or parents.

I have been so busy with many other things over the last few months and haven’t really done a lot of research lately. This was a pleasant surprise!