Ctrl+F

Indexes in the back of books are like having a "Ctrl+F" function. It's not complete, but it's usually helpful.

I was looking for something a few weeks ago and found myself asking my roommate, "Wouldn't it be nice if there was a control-F function for life?" She laughed at such an idea, but agreed it would be nice. The closest I've found is praying (but not to St. Anthony). I was hunting for my keys on Sunday with the "Don't move" approach-if I don't move anything, they can't go anywhere. I tried a true re-tracing of my steps, forgetting I fell asleep on the couch with my keys in my pocket the night before. So they were in between the cushions. Never would I have thought to look there on my own.

But I had an even cooler discovery yesterday, and it involves Sweden in 1684.

It started the first Saturday in March when I discovered the port records of Ellis Island. I looked for my mother's grandfather and found him relatively quickly. (How many Folke Alvar Nybergs could there really be?) He, his mother and most of his siblings came over in 1922 with $120. (Yeah, the ship manifestos tell that kind of stuff. They also give height, eye color, and nearest relative in both countries. Invaluable for geneaology.)

Sunday, I called my mom (any ideas for an epic birthday April Fool's that can be done from 600 miles away?) and she told me her great-grandfather's name. She also told me how he had come over with his oldest son 7 years prior, promising to send money back to bring the rest of them over. All of the townspeople in Avesta told my great-great-grandmother that she wouldn't be seeing him again; he'd never send the money. According to the story, when she got the check, she went door-to-door, showing each naysayer the check.

After hearing that story, I decided to look for Emil's entrance into Ellis Island. (Emil also happens to be the name of a character in one of my favorite books.) I found him rather quickly, as well. Only took a few tries.

I took that information with the intent to add notes, if not a name, to NewFamily Search. To my surprise, his information was already entered, and matching mine. I hadn't been expecting that. When I added him to my family tree, I found an even bigger surprise. His temple work had been done. How did that happen? Is there some distant cousin I'm unaware of who joined the LDS church?

Nope, it was indexers and regular temple patrons. So, thanks to anyone who's done either of those.

And thus we see (waiting for link of text to Elder Cook's talk on Saturday), by adding Emil Richard, I had also added 6 more generations!! My family history on that side now goes back to Sweden in 1684!! I'm so looking forward to seeing whether any of the branches from my direct ancestors siblings produce any fruits. How cool would that be?