What a wonderful set of stories, David. We had a similar surprise when I found a 1954 note thanking a great aunt for donating something unidentified to the Rare Books and Manuscripts section of the University of Virginia Library. I called the library and found that it was a large collection of letters and other documents ranging from 1817 until after 1900. It documented the day to day lives of a family of Sissons we knew nothing about until then (the Abner and Rachel Chambers Sisson family), and some things that also related to our own family (Benjamin, brother of Abner). I got copies of everything and it took a full year to transcribe them all, but at the end, I had more than I ever dreamed possible. I've been able to answer questions on this list based on information in those letters. I now know that years ago, many states and state universities made an effort to ask for old letters, documents, etc. for their collections. If your family has lived in one state for a long time, it may be worth a call to either the State Library or the State University Library to see if you might be in for a surprise as well. Sharon Sisson Miller ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Sisson" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 4:51 PM Subject: [SISSON-L] One Story - Three Morals - LONG POST > But wait - There's more! My son Andrew Sisson likes to search for stuff on the Internet. One day he was searching for the name Sisson, and came up with a link to the University of Rochester's Rare Books and Manuscripts Room. (I live in Rochester, and Andy grew up here.) The rare manuscripts held by the U of Rochester included a stash of letters written to and from - no kidding - William and Betsey (Gale) Sisson. I called the Rare Books and Manuscripts Room to ask about their hours and what parking was available, and drove the three miles. Two large boxes were brought to me. I sorted, I listed, and asked for the listed papers to be photocopied, and now I possess 15 or so letters from that source.