Yes, the end of one quest, but the beginning of a new one. Learning and understanding the past, and looking forward to the future.... Researching family history is fun and rewarding. Tho' I spent years working on my husbands family, and my father's family, I never knew anything about my mother's side. She left home in the late 1930's, she had changed her name before I was born, and she never told me her real last name. Wondering about our mother, finally came to an end, in March 2000. When a lady Lelah said "Did you get her SS-5 file?" I didn't even know what that was, but for $7.00, you can order a photo copy of the card a person fills out for a Soc.Sec.# Just look up a person's number, then click to get a letter, print out the letter, sign and add a check for seven dollars. Still, I thought, it would have her new name on it, but for a mere seven dollars, I ordered it anyway. About three weeks later, it came, and there it was: Patricia Lee Hochlerin: name at birth: Iva Lee Rawls, daughter of James A. and Rachel L.Bowen-Rawls. born in Winfield, Marion Co. AL. Within the month, we found our relatives, went to AL. walked the halls of her school, were given school records and childhood photos, went to the graves of our granparents. A past was suddenly there, we were being introduced to our mother, a woman we grew up with, but never knew. The story why she left home, is a common story. She had been a victim, and thought leaving would be for best. So, to get away from one, she also left the ones she loved. She died Nov.3,1979, and had last seen her sisters and mother June 3,1979, and no contact after 1942. How lonely, that part of her life must have been, and not knowing how her sisters and mother were, when they married or when they died. |
Finding your heritage has been made so much easier, with this world of cyber-space. I didn't think I had a chance of finding out who my mother really was, or her family. The forty-three years of wanting to know, all came together so quickly, as soon as I was given the right clue. If not for a message board on MyFamily.com, I would have never met Judy in Washington State, who in-turn talked to her sister in Idaho, who in-turn told me about S.S.-5 files. Tho' I may never meet those two ladies, they will always be so special to me.... I may never have stumbled on that clue. They gave my brother & sister and I, our heritage. Also, a whole new outlook about our mother. Thank you so much Judy, Lelah and the Family.com message board. Favorite Sites: Just click on a title below. Surname Web My Family. com Ancestry.com Family Search Reading Old Penmanship LDS Ralls/Rawls Network Rawls history by Ron |
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Research Tips My tips are: ask questions, and always carry a little note-book, and don't give up, keep searching. |
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