Just a letter away!

Many people ask if I have a hobby and when I tell them that I'm into family history I often get a "Really" look. I get asked why would you want to look for dead people. The simple reply is I find it interesting and also rewarding. Its like looking for missing pieces to a puzzle and when the picture comes together it tells a very interesting story.
The search for family histories is not just about looking for those who have come before us but also for those that are alive but unknown to us. Over generations family grow and migrate away from where our first ancestors lived and they are the ones I go looking for.
Through the years of searching for information I have had the pleasure of working with some very kind and helpful researchers. Even total strangers have helped me in discovering our living relatives.

For example I was researching the Sarah Pott (sister to GGF Thomas Pott) family and came to a point where I could no longer get information off of the Internet due to privacy laws (have to respect the law). I had the name of a possible living relative and by searching the name and location I was able to locate the person in a directory with an address. So once again I would have to rely on good old fashion penmanship and off a letter went, actually several because there were 3 different residents with the same name.  With mail you can anticipate at least a month to go by before you will get a response if at all. I did receive an e-mail from one person indicating that I had the wrong house hold and that was it for over a month.
Another couple weeks went by and on a Saturday morning I had just returned from doing some shopping. I barely had walked in the door and my wife told me while I was out there had been a call for me and I needed to call the person back as soon as possible. I needed to do this as they were not going to be in for much longer. She also mentioned that the person was very hard to understand so I instantly thought it was a telemarketer and what would they need to talk to me about so urgently. I did not call right away and my wife was quite persistent that I cal this person back and handed me a phone number which clearly was a overseas number.
At this point I asked if they had said what the call was about and my wife said that they had received a letter from a neighbor and needed to speak to me about it. It still didn't click but I grabbed the phone and dialed away. When the person answered at the other end I could not understand a word that they were saying as it was a thick British accent. I asked if there was another person in the house that I could speak with and a young lady came on and she also had a British accent but I was able to make out what she was asking. Here is what transpired prior to her call to me.

That same morning a neighbor down the street who had the same surname received my letter that I had sent out a month earlier and rather than ignoring the letter because it did not apply to their family decided to help me out in my quest. He knew that a family on the street had the same surname and took it upon himself to hand deliver the letter to the family down the street. The Gentleman calling was the recipient of the hand delivered letter and was in fact the exact gentleman that I was searching for. In all the excitement of reading my letter and wanting to respond he called his daughter in law to come right over as he had to make a important call and needed help to do it. The daughter in law was so concerned with him being so excited she rushed over to see what all the excitement was about. She proceeded to calm him down and made the call.

This is where my wife came into the picture, when she answered the call the gentleman on the other end was still excited and was hard to understand. My wife was able to get his phone number and told him that I would call back shortly. When I called, the daughter in law got on the phone and explained to me that he was so excited that I had contacted him, because he was not aware that there was extended family, he could barely contain himself. His mom had once told him about family moving to Canada but new nothing more than that and had no idea how large a family we actually were. Through this connection I have met a number of distant cousins still residing close to where my Great grandparents families grew up in England.

So you're just a letter away from meeting someone ALIVE and well, to share stories and be part of your puzzle.

Wedding picture for Rosina (Pott) and Albert Gadsby
Feb. 10, 1926

Rosina's parents William and Mary Pott