Sunday, November 15, 2009

SNGF -- A Nice Thing

Has it really been a week since I last posted? It has gone by so fast! And I guess it will continue to go by until I get to catch my breath a little -- but just a little -- after Dec. 11, which will be my last day of finals for the term. Between now and then there is Thanksgiving as well as a few more papers and tests, and on top of that, getting together my request for a Directed Independent Study for next term, and speaking to the local chapter (Jacksonville, Florida) of the Sons of the American Revolution this coming Thursday, on Spanish and English paleography.

Anyway, here's the latest of Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, and it comes with one of those Easy buttons:

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!).

2. Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a comment on Facebook, or in a tweet on Twitter.

This one is really easy, because something extraordinary happened to me in the last week which might get me a lot of information about a segment of my father's family line. Though this isn't exactly according to Randy's instructions, because the individual who did a Nice Thing for me is a historian. I don't know if she does genealogy.

A historian in Illinois, Rhonda Kohl, has my enduring gratitude! She contacted me after reading one of my blog posts involving my great-great grandfather Matthew Hale Packard's family, including one of his many brothers, Thadeus (we have determined it is one "d" not two) Bullock Packard. Thadeus served in the Civil War in the 5th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. Another brother, William, was in the same unit, but Thadeus did something it looks like William may not have.

He kept a diary. Rhonda used that diary in her research on the Illinois 5th cavalry, about which she has written articles and now a book. She let me know that Thadeus's diary is in the Illinois State Archives, and I can get a copy. As soon as I can come up for air, I'm getting that copy!

So, Rhonda, if you are reading this, you were my genealogical Nice Thing for the week (and I'm sending you the muster rolls tonight). Thank you!
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