I wonder if anyone else experiences this. A new database becomes available. You’re happy, but remain skeptical. How many times before have you tried to research and a new database has let you down? Your area isn’t included or the year stops one before the year you need.
You do the first search, a general surname search. There they are! Your grandparents. You start to feel a little more hopeful. You pick another odd surname from your tree and you find cousins. Now, you’re bubbling with enthusiasm because even though the collection isn’t complete you realized it has the county you need.
You start to pull names out of your head. You find a record, save it, and think of something else. This database is a goldmine! You research wily nily because you’re so excited…you’re a genealogy junkie getting your document fix. Like the little girl in the AT&T commercial, you scream “We want more! We want more!”
You’re there for 2-3 hours. Who counts the time? You’ve found a good 20 different useful records on a variety of people. It feels good to find something.
That’s what happened to me last night. I learned that California Marriages from 1850-1941 were added to ancestry.com. I wasn’t expecting much until I learned that one of the two counties uploaded is Alameda County. That’s the one I need! From there I was in a genealogy feeding frenzy, finding records in a disorganized fashion, and loving it. It’s so rare that anything from California or Hawaii gets added that I got a little carried away.
Today, I will go back. I will work from a list and drill down in an orderly fashion. I will act like a respectable genealogist and do things correctly. Oh, but, it sure was fun last night! I learned several things in a short amount of time. I even uncovered a secret.
Now I’ll get down to serious business.