Eugenia is on the right.  I think that she looks a lot like my grandma and mom!!  I can really see the family resemblance.

On to this week’s (ok, maybe a couple of weeks’) favorite finds ..

• Fiance Investigation League at Leaves for Trees
• My Trip to Ellis Island: Those Places Thursday at Heritage Zen
• How crazy is too crazy to make a will? at The Legal Genealogist
• An odd fellow-missing World War I and Family poses with baby on dead dog at Family Archaeologist
• The Art of the Handcarved Gravestone at Family History with the Lineagekeeper
• Just the Hint of a Smile at Marian’s Roots and Rambles
• Legacy Cruise Vacation Compendium at Genea-Musings
• Lowell, MA Library (Genealogy Section) at Life From the Roots
• The Joy of Holding History in Your Hands at A Sense of Family
• Uncle Delbert: The Boys Go to War at Nuts From the Family Tree
• Evil step-mothers and other silly notions at DearMYRTLE’s Genealogy Blog
• Citizens of London: Sgt. Schwartz and WWII at the other Climbing My Family Tree

And a few pictures to share…

Yes, this is an actual picture of me – I’m usually behind the camera instead of in front of it.  I went to a military ball last weekend – one perk to having a husband in the Army.  How many women can get all dressed up for a formal ball once a year?

Anyway, I was going to slip quietly out of the house without a picture.  My oldest daughter had something to say about that though.  She actually said “Mom, someday you’ll be gone and I won’t have any pictures of you!”  How true!!  I suppose I need to get in front of the camera a bit more, for the sake of my children and descendants.

I had the opportunity to take some pictures at  a wonderful local cookie shop this past week.  Here are a couple of my favorites.  They’re almost too beautiful to eat.  Almost.

Besides this being a lovely picture of my great-granduncle’s family, it also shows the various pictures they had hanging on their wall.  The one second from the left is a picture I recognize – it’s my great-grandmother and her family.   I love searching old pictures for details and clues.

I wonder if this picture was taken for a special occasion.  Everyone looks dressed very nice {even the little girl has a lovely necklace on} and there is a gorgeous vase of flowers on the table.

I wonder where all of those photos are today.  Are they hanging on someone’s wall?

I don’t mean your Great Aunt Bessie that you see every few years at the family reunion.  I also don’t mean fellow researchers who are also seeking you out in hopes of sharing information.

I mean people who don’t have any interest in genealogy.  That might be leery about you contacting them.

Have you ever done it before?

I have been in contact with numerous distant relatives who were fellow researchers, but I have never contacted someone who wasn’t also doing research.

Since I’ve been doing genealogy for almost 13 years now, it is abundantly clear to me that many family treasures and stories are probably lost each year.  There are people who are not active in research who might have an attic full of family pictures.  Who could solve some of the family mysteries.

Through the power of the internet and especially Facebook, it’s easier and easier every day to find distant relatives.  I’m interested to hear if any of you have had good experiences in contacting distant relatives for information.  I’m hoping that maybe the people I contact would also be interested in what I have to share with them…

I guess it’s just the fact that it clearly shows how different life was at that time.  Much slower. 

This is a picture of my great-great grandmother, Christina Elisabeth Bennberg Klarstrom while shew as on a visit to Boston.

Thank you to my cousin for sharing this with me – and for allowing me to share it with you!

Thank you so much to my cousin who sent this to me!!

I am warning you that I’m going to be quiet on here this week.  I get keys to my new house today and we have 5 days to move out of this one and into the new one. We’re only moving a few streets away, but we have a household full of stuff and it’s going to take a bit to get settled again.

On to this week’s favorite finds…

• And one from the men…. over at Who Knew?  Old autograph books make my heart go pitter patter.
• Tina Lyons at Gen Wish List posted Favorite Things in Cincinnati.  I wish I was going!! I’m planning on next year in Las Vegas.
• The Square Deal – A Different Perspective on May Day at Nolichucky Roots
• DEAD- Military Monday at My Ancestors and Me
• David Watt and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Workday: Workday Wednesday at Journey to the Past
• The Legacy of the Girl from Alabama at One Rhode Island Family
• A May Wedding, 1916 at Family Archaeologist
• Converting Your Blog to PDF Free at AK’s Genealogy Research
• From Myrt’s Wall and Twitter Feed  I have a strange aversion to Twitter (even though I have an account).  I have a Facebook page though – you can “like” my page over in the sidebar of my blog and see my posts pop up in your feed.
• Here are a couple of blogs I’ve added to my reader this week:  Jana’s Genealogy and Family History Blog and Jacobs of London and other families.

And of course a few pictures I took this past week…

I was pleasantly surprised when I received an email from a third cousin in Sweden who was also starting research on this family.  He was able to visit with an older family member and look through a stack of about 50 old letters and cards from the 50′s and 60′s – correspondence back and forth between the family in Sweden and the US.

One of the letters provided a wealth of genealogical information.  It was listing what had happened to each of the siblings, as far as was known.  And it has given me new avenues and places to search.

The letter gave us more info on the families of the siblings who settled in the US, but there were a few of my great-grandma’s siblings who seemed to just disappear off the face of the earth.  Or at least out of the records I had searched.  And now I know the reason why – one of the brothers was a sailor, another had a claim in Alaska during the Gold Rush, and another was a sailor who ended up raising sheep and goats in Australia.  How exciting!!

So, where do I go from here?  I’m actually not sure.  Are there gold rush claim records?  Is there an Australian census in the early 1900′s?  These are questions that I don’t yet know the answer to, but I’m looking forward to continuing the search!!

When someone out there starts the journey to searching for their roots, they usually begin by googling the names of their ancestors.  And I’m so happy when we have a common ancestor and they are directed to this humble little blog.

Just such a thing happened again this past week.  It seems like a miracle in itself, because I’ve been in a blogging funk.  Well, not really a funk, I’ve just been super busy with life.  Schooling the kids.  Taking pictures for friends.  Trying to keep up on housework.  And having fun with friends.  Having fun is important!!

I like that my blog works on genealogy even when I’m not.

A third cousin contacted me and we’re sharing information.  His family great-grandfather stayed in Sweden, while the rest of the 9 siblings emigrated (my great-grandmother went to Seattle).

And now I’m motivated to start posting again.  I have some new material and am ready to dive back into my Swedish roots headfirst.

I’ll be sharing some of what I’ve found out in the coming weeks.  It’s exciting!!!

And thank you to my new found third cousins in Sweden!  I’m so happy you guys found me.  And now I’m hoping that some of the descendants from the other siblings will find me too.

The four men sitting are the Campbell Alexander Davidson, Thomas Talbot Davidson, Matthew David Davidson, and John Caffrey Davidson.  I believe the man standing on the left is Earl Davidson (he is one of those that owned the place), and a son to Campbell Alexander.  I think that the man on the right might be Earl’s brother John, but I could be wrong (if you read this Mom Woods, please correct me if I’m wrong!!)