If somebody was to begin searching for a Genealogist in Brooklyn, I would expect them to find BrooklynAncestry.com pretty early in their search, but as luck would have it, Nicole found us without even realizing her ancestors ever lived in Brooklyn. Once we realized there was a Brooklyn connection it didn’t take long to uncover articles from the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” that included her ancestors. If she had asked us to trace any remaining ancestors in Brooklyn and New York City, we would have been in the unique position to provide her with that information faster than other Genealogy services. Nicole was kind enough to write the following for us:
A few months ago, I didn’t even know that my great, great, great grandfather was a Civil War hero!
That’s Peter Simonson you’re looking at. He was so dedicated to the cause, that he joined the army in 1862 at the ripe old age of 40! Not only did he help the Union win the war, he was also a part of history. In the last year of the war, Peter was a Full 1st Lieutenant, in charge of a brand new Colored brigade – Company H, U.S. Colored Troops 23rd Infantry Regiment. Peter actually led former slaves, as they fought their way to freedom! By the time he left the Army, Peter was a Full Captain, the Civil War was over, and America was piecing itself back together – forever changed by people just like Peter. As soon as I saw Peter’s picture, I was so glad that I had done some research on my family tree!
I had always wondered about the stories lingering in my family tree, but, for years, I never got around to researching it. I always wondered how much information an ancestry expert could really get ahold of. After all, there were no computers, cell phones, or email back then. But, now that I’ve done some digging, I’ve discovered that genealogy is pretty awesome! In fact, it only took the experts at Brooklyn Ancestry about 8 hours to uncover all sorts of information about my family tree…you can’t ask for much better than that!
After just a little ancestry research, I’ve been given copies of Federal census cards dating back to 1840 (all handwritten, of course!) . I’ve got a copy of my great grandfather’s draft card from World War I. I’ve got copies of pension slips and tax records. I never knew that I had relatives who lived in Brooklyn, so imagine my surprise when I got to read a few articles about them in the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle”. I have gotten details about my family tree and about relatives that I never even knew existed!
I find it amazing that stories like Peter’s never get passed down over the years. For example, I had always heard that this side of the family hailed from Minnesota. However, I never knew that my family also called Atlanta, Illinois, and New York home over the years. I never knew that my great, great grandfather fell in love with, and eventually married, a pretty young girl from Brooklyn in the 1850’s. I also never knew that my great, great uncle-in-law used to own acres and acres of land all over Brooklyn – but had to auction all of it off (too bad…that would have been nice to own today!)
I’ve got stories I will cherish forever…What will some simple research turn up about your family tree?
Nicole