Collecting Cousins

     I had taken a short break from blogging to assist my best friend with her genealogy.  I think Lillian finally got tired of me asking her if she wanted me to trace her roots.  She told me that she didn't know much about her family.  She didn't think I'd get far.  We were both pleasantly surprised.
     Lillian provided her parents names and her maternal grandparents names and I went from there.  I found census records for her grandparents and draft records from both WWI and WWII for her grandfather.  Lillian's mother is still living and since the family had lost touch over the years I wondered which if any of her aunts and uncles were still alive so I started my search.  There are/were three aunts that I knew of and three uncles.  Her grandparents had seven children that I know of though I wouldn't be surprised if there was another one or two.  Lillian's grandparents were married around 1916 and had a daughter born in 1923.  I find it hard to believe that they were married for seven years before having their first child.  I stumbled upon an obituary for Lillian's uncle John.  I love obituaries that are filled with helpful information such as the one I found for Uncle John.  I now know the names of John's wife and sons as well as the married name for his older sister, Eileen.  I tried to find John's sons but didn't have much luck.  I think I found one but he might be dead.  I decided to search for the rest of Lillian's aunts and uncles.  Her uncle John is dead.  Who else passed on?  I put two of her aunts on hold because I don't have a last name if they got married.  I decided to focus on Aunt Eileen and happy to report that I found a few of her children.
     I contacted one of Eileen's sons by telephone then sent him an email which he forwarded to one of his older sisters.  They had both since then been in touch with Lillian.  Aunt Eileen is still alive and has six children.  Add those children to John's and that's eight cousins so far.  Lillian still has five more aunts and uncles to be found.
     How many cousins will we collect?

Battle of Gettysburg - day 2

     It was the war between the states, the north vs the south in the American Civil War.  During this bloody war, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1 - July 3, 1863.
     It is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.  On this day, July 2nd in 1863, my 3rd great-grand uncle, Daniel Davis was wounded.  Daniel had enlisted with Company A of the 120th Infantry Regiment on New York.