New progress

Since my Mom was one of thirteen children and my Dad was one of five, I have lots of cousins and have lost track of many of them over the years. My Mom only had one sibling that was younger than she and that was her brother, Edward. He had three children, Richard, Judy and James. As luck would have it I have lost track of Judy and James over the years, but recently I received an email from James asking about a family reunion picture that was taken about 1945. I was lucky to still have a copy, so my sister and I identified all of the people in it, and sent it along to him. I asked if he was in touch with his older sister, Jusy and he was. In fact, she was at his house attending his daughter's wedding.
The result is that I have established contact with both of them and they have contributed substantial information to the family history data. It includes all of their children and their spouses, as well as some others. Occasionally, after many years, a contact is made that adds significantly to the history of the family.

An Update

Well, it has been sometime since I wrote here and I do have some more to report on my family research project. I have discovered that my grandfather, Henry, returned to Europe for a visit, apparently to his family in March, 1913. In his application for a passport, he states that he was born on August 11, 1855 in Reichenau, Germany. He further states that he emigrated to the United States on the ship "Werra" arriving from Bremmen in January of 1883. He also says he has lived in Whitesboro, NY from 1883 until 1913 and was naturalized at The County Court of Oneida on October 18, 1888. This information has not yet been further verified. It appears that there are actually four places in Germany that at that time may have been known as Reichenau.

I have also reconnected with two of my cousins that I have not seen for several years and that has added considerably to my family history. But more of that later!