The Howland Family

Okay so I know I left you hanging in the last post so I thought I'd better add my connection to this family and stop the guessing game. This chart is on display at the King of Prussia Mall next to the Cheesecake Factory in my exhibit.

Another link to the Past

So I was reading a book and had the impression that I should work on some family history. I felt that I needed to do some research and through my findings, I would find something that I would be able to share with my Family History class that I teach on Sundays. So I went to work at 9pm. I was looking through census reports. (by the way, www.fsbeta.familysearch.org now has over 700 million microfilm names online now!) I wasn't finding anything and so I just started browsing my family tree. I started to trace one of my great...grandmothers, Sarah Marie Freeman. Back through New York and many generations earlier, I found a name I recognized. Can you spot it...

My little brother and his wife were just in town visiting with my family. We had a lot of fun visiting sites in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Valley Forge and other historic sites. One of the best days was being able to share with my brother all of the exciting things I have found out about our Potts Family right here. I took him to the Historic Society and was able to show him many original documents, photo albums, family bible, etc about our family. What a great blessing to be apart of such a great legacy of love and sacrifice. Here is a picture that my brother caught of me explaining some of these findings.

Granite Mountain Records Vault

Just wanted to share this cool video about the Granite Mountain Vault.

Many Miracles...

What a blessing it is to search and find our ancestors. I love the quote by President Thomas S. Monson (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) when he said, "I testify that when we do all we can to accomplish the work that is before us, the Lord will make available to us the sacred key needed to unlock the treasure which we so much seek." Here is just one small example of how I have experienced that blessing.

Here is a picture that I took at the cemetery that I found by my house that is listed in a blog post below.

When I came home to process the images, this particular picture, I was unable to read the date at all and I could not make out the name very well either. I decided to go back to the cemetery and see if I could see it clearer. So with my kids in toe, I was armed with a bottle of water, flash light, bug spray, clipboard and was determined to find out more about this particular ancestor. Once I got to the cemetery, I tip-toed through the weeds and poison ivy and bent down to take a look at the tombstone. I could not read it at all other than the name Anna Nutt May. I tried spraying it with water, using the flash light to try and create a shadow and ran my fingers over the stone to see if I could feel the letters to no avail. I said another prayer and still couldn't see it so I moved on to the headstone right next to this one. I was able to read the next headstone and as I turned back to the first one, the writing became clear as day. The sun had shown just at the part that I couldn't read before and I could read it perfectly. Tears came to my eyes as I realized this was one of the small miracles that would and does happen as the Lord unlocks the treasures of our past and helps us accomplish the awesome responsibility to find and help our kindred dead.

The Potts Family

Waianae, Hawaii Finds

My sister and I went to Hawaii a couple of months ago to help my Auntie remodel a few rooms. We went to the church where my Grandfather, Charles W Basso, was married and found our ancestors buried there. Here are a couple pictures.