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The Life From The Roots blog topics have changed several times since I began this blog in 2009. I initially wrote only about the family history I had been working on for 20 years. Years later, I was into visiting gardens, historical homes, churches, libraries that had genealogical collections, historical societies, war memorials, and travel/tourism places. I also enjoy posting autographs and photos of famous people I've met or have seen.

Along with my New England roots, other areas include New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.

Please check out the labels on the right side for topics (please note, they need work). Below the labels and pageviews is a listing of my top nine posts, according to Google. Four of them pertain to Lowell, MA. These posts change often because they are based on what people are reading.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Be Sure to Thank Your Friends


The book I received through the Inter-Library Loan, and the 28-page numbers for my ancestor.

Back in February 2013, blogger and friend, Cynthia Shenette, writer of the Heritage Zen blog, went on a business trip/vacation with her husband to San Diego, CA, 3,000 miles from my MA home. With a bit of free time, she decided to do some research at a major library. Not finding much on her family, she remembered that mine had ties to San Diego since he was a very early surveyor. She spoke to the librarian about books on surveyors and was led to their selection. One book, Lay of the Land, The History of Land Surveying in San Diego County by Michael J. Pallamary, PLS mentions my ancestor was named on 28 pages. Cindy then took quite a few photos and sent them to me.

Of course, I had to get my hands on that book, but it wasn't in any local library. As a matter of fact, WorldCat only listed 6 locations. The light bulb went on, and I went to my nearest library to see about ordering it through the Inter-Library Loan (ILL). I was extra lucky because, CG and Librarian, Christine Sharbrough ordered it for me. Within weeks it arrived and I went to all 28 pages, and read.
It has been over half a year since I've looked at the book, and I'm finally getting around to publicly thanking Cindy for using some vacation time to try and find something for me. She went above at the library in San Diego, and it was such a nice thing to do. If you want to keep your friends, please don't do as I did, and put it on the back burner. I am fortunate that she still claims me as a friend, and tomorrow, we are meeting for our 3rd annual outing, and all three have had nothing to do with genealogy. Thanks, Cindy.