Collaboration Opens Many Doors

For the Archived Document Contest in January, Marian Halverson entered a newspaper article titled “Washington Man Finds His Family Roots in Cottonwood Area” that was printed in the Tri-County News (Cottonwood, Minnesota) on 4 June 2003. This may not seem like a deeply historical article to most of us, but it contained a marvelous success story of how collaboration can work in genealogy. Marion didn’t download this article. It was a prized family possession as the article was about her husband’s, Richard Halverson’s, personal search for his paternal side genealogy.

On 19 February 2002 Richard Halverson wrote a letter to a local historical society asking general questions about some surnames he was researching. The letter was given to a historian who was not familiar with those particular surnames but was curious enough to ask other local citizens a lot of questions. One lead led to another. Enough information was soon gathered that Richard Halverson decided a road trip was in order only 2 months and 18 days after he penned the original letter.

Richard was invited to stay with the historian. Richard brought additional historical documents with him, and it was soon revealed that the historian and Richard actually shared the same great-great grandparents. Not only was it a startling discovery but the discovery stirred a family reunion to be held immediately that brought together 17 family members.

There are more surprises in the article that Marian shared. You will enjoy reading it yourself. You will also be amazed at the discoveries that were shared without the Internet. Some of these discoveries were family photos and naturalization papers. In the meantime Marian will enjoy her prize for winning the January contest of the yearlong Archived Document Contest. Marian wins a $100 Red Lobster gift certificate from Technical Training Mall LLC. Technical Training Mall LLC wants to remind all genealogists to take periodic breaks. They also want to remind you to back up your files and protect your prized paper documents.

The February contest for the Archived Document Contest is underway. The winner of the February contest will win a one year pdf subscription to History Magazine. History Magazine is a consumer magazine covering social history, in particular the day to day life of ordinary people. It provides interesting and thought provoking accounts of key events in global history. This should be an enjoyable prize, so enter your submission on the TriCity Genealogical Society Facebook page today.