One of the nice things about having your information out in cyberspace is that somebody may find you. With unusual names, especially those spelled many ways, this hope and pray method might help me connect with somebody searching the same line. In the past, I have posted names on Message Boards, and Surname Boards, both have been around many years. I received a few inquiries, but not many.The family I am researching is SCHRAMBLING OR SCHREMBLING. It is also the SCRAMBLING, SCRAMLIN and SCRAMBLIN. In addition, many other spellings have been applied to this family. Census takers took much liberty with this name! The family was at times very easy to trace, and difficult other times.
They settled in New York in 1710, along the Mohawk River, then migrated to Michigan. Much like many other families. The family is well documented, and my ancestor was a Revolutionary War patriot. What made research difficult was, there were too many Hendricks, Johns, and Jacobs. So I began a file called, "My Scrambled Eggs" because each name was just a tad different from the other, although it was the same family. As they branched out, I thought it would be fun to trace the entire family. Unresolved censuses were printed out and put in the new paper file, as well as every other bit of information with this name. My hope was to connect the entire family. I now have over 700 with that name.
Now, many years later, and with great assistance from www.findagrave.com and Google alerts, I have very few unsolved ends, but there are some. Fortunately, too, many cousins have contacted me over the years and valuable information was exchanged. One person met me in Oneonta, New York to show me where my ancestor, Hendrick Schrambling was buried. About 10 have written, two sent me information, and one sent a huge wall chart. So I have had help.
It has been months since I have received any new information, and that is ok. But, I do enjoy seeing the younger generation, posting things on various social sites, which appear through my Google Alerts. I doubt I will contact them, but it brings a smile to my face, as I have spent so much time on their family history. I already feel like I know them. Who knows, maybe one will google their last name and find me!