Some researchers ask “Why search for someone I already know ‘everything’ on?” or someone “I’m not really researching?”
This is why. Because they can lead you to someone else.
A search for my great-uncle, Alvin Ufkes, located a reference to him as a pallbearer at the 1962 funeral in Quincy, Illinois, for sister of his grandmother .
I may never have located the death notice and the obituary for Anna Buhrmeister (a few days earlier) if I had not searched for my great-uncle in the collection from which this image was taken.
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Ok, now I know why it is so important to look at every detail of a piece of paper. I’m getting excited about all the information I have & what else & who else yo look 4.
As I’m scanning photo albums, which include miscellaneous articles, I’ve started researching names. The articles were saved for a reason and the older they are, the more likely it was a family member. One turned out to be a 3rd or 4th cousin. The surname (s) would not have rung any bells, but whoever saved the article was probably familiar with the family connection in a small town and knew they were cousins. Other ‘hints’ are basically IOU’s that had been filled out and possibly collected when the debt was paid. Since there are no dates, I almost wonder if these showed up before or after death.