I couldn't agree more! Years ago, frustrated by my brick walls, I decided to research a collateral line, namely one of my mother's cousins who I knew only by name. I found him on the Social Security Death Index indicating he had died in a small town in the mid-West. (Most of my family is on the East coast). I contacted the library of the town where he died, obtained his obit and wrote to the survivors listed in the obit. Fortunately, one of them answered my letter Not only did he give me information about a whole branch of the family I didn't know existed, but also sent me a picture he had of my mother's family taken when she was a small child -- the only picture of my grandfather I'd ever seen! Yes, I know this was sheer luck, but it never would have happened had I not decided to explore a collateral line. Dorothy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diane Jacobs" <thegenie@patmedia.net> To: "'Mimi Stevens'" <donnmimi@gmail.com>; <nybrooklyn@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 8:55 AM Subject: [BKLYN] ] Research your collateral lines! > > I certainly concur. When I do research I cast a wide net! It has > been extraordinarily success as many families intermarried. But my > most recent brickwall to come down involved looking at two marriage > certificates for my grandmother and her sister that I found some 7 > years ago. Last summer I reviewed the witnesses names and started > to research them. Before long, I found ten aunts of uncles of these > sisters that no one in the family knew had come to the US. Now I am > locating the entire family and this has taken me back another generation > to my great great grandparents names and a connection to a famous Jewish > senator in Canada and one in the US. > > You never know what you will find unless you try again and again. > Also, thinking about how to solve the puzzle and accessing discussion > groups from the areas your family are from is very helpful when new > databases and information comes available. > > Diane Jacobs > Somerset, NJ > >