 Genealogy Lost and Found: WWI Heirlooms Reunited with Family WWI Lost Service Medals Returned to FamilyAnother feel-good genealogy lost and found story! So, I came across a post, back in May of this year, in one of my Facebook groups, Family Treasures Found, of someone posting to find family for World War I War medals to go to. (she later told me they were found in a motorhome her and her husband had purchased years ago, but didn’t clean out until a couple of years ago, which is when they found the medals). When I saw this pop up in my feed, I thought this was definitely worth my time to find a descendant for! I pick and choose which ones I think will be quick and that are worthwhile to me, and this seemed to be one of them! The poster had posted the following, “To Go to Family of Thomas W. Noonan who was a 1st Lieutenant pilot in WWI. We found these in our Motorhome & have been unsuccessful in locating any surviving family. The round medal is a Service Medal from NY & the one with swords is a French Croix De Guerre Medal. Any info would be wholeheartedly welcomed!”.  Photos of the WWI Medals posted in Family Treasures Found Facebook Group; photo credits: Erica Larson-Tikalsky I immediately took on this volunteer case, and in about 10 to 15 minutes had built a quick tree from the info that was on the piece of paper with the medals and from the types of medals, gotten descendants, then gotten contact info for most of the descendants through a public record search. It took a little bit longer to get actual WORKING numbers to contact a few of the living descendants. The first to call me back from my messages that I had left, was the winner. 😉 As he had no children and was a widower for at least the last 30 years of his life, the World War 1 War medals went home to one of his great nephews!
The BEST part...This was a story that had come full circle! The great nephew was thrilled to get his great uncle’s medals; the poster had just lost her father due to Covid, and this had brought her a lot of joy; I was going through something difficult at the time, and this had given me a much needed pick me up; and in doing more research on the connection of the owner of the motorhome, where the medals were found, and the owner of the medals, I strongly think the owner (3 owners before- the owner right before just parked and never used it nor cleaned it out) of the motorhome was also trying to find family to give them to, as the owner of the medals had no children, was a widower, and absolutely no family in the area where he passed…So, he unknowingly did what he had set out to do. A story by Fox9 News had released, before the poster posted it in the Facebook group. You can check it out here: Minnesota couple looking for owners of WWI heirlooms Some Quick Tips for Finding a Descendant to Return Family Heirlooms (or any other reason):
A Few Facebook Groups if You’re Looking for Help Returning a Find: There are many Facebook Groups and other social media groups out there that you can post a find on, to get help returning it to family members. These are just 5 that I’m a member of. 😊
Interactive Questions: Have you come across an heirloom that you are trying to return to family? Have you ever gotten lucky enough to have someone track you down to give you the gift of a family heirloom that they had found? I would love to hear your comments below in the comment section! More Genealogy lost and Found Cases: Read about more of my volunteer genealogy lost and found cases under the Genealogy Lost and Found category (if I've kept up with them!😉) Did you Know: Did you know that I offer Volunteer Genealogy Lost and Found Search for interesting and quick cases?
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 Genealogy Lost and Found: A Civil War Find Genealogy Lost and Found: Civil War Find Returned to Direct DescendantWell, it’s been some time since I’ve blogged about any of my volunteer genealogy lost and found cases, actually, quite a long time! I have just been too swamped, and when I do have time, I have forgotten any of the details of the cases. So, this time I am doing it ASAP, before I forget any of the details, because it was such a feel-good story and so worth my time! 😊 Awe, a feel-good story! So, I saw a post yesterday in one of my Facebook groups, Family Treasures Found, of someone posting to find a direct descendant to claim Civil War medals and discharge certificate (he later told me they were found in an abandoned home in Michigan).  Civil War Medals and Discharge Certificate, posted in Family Treasures Found Facebook Group; photo credit: Robert Turner I was super busy drawing up reports for a client and didn’t really have the time, but when I saw this pop up in my feed, I thought this was definitely worth my time to find a descendant for! The poster had given the direction that it was to be given to a proven direct descendant only and commented that, “I have already contacted every ancestry member with this person in their family tree and have had no response for over 2 months, so please do not waste time doing that”. I immediately took on this volunteer case, and in 15 minutes had built a quick tree from the info that was on the certificate, got descendants, then contacted a living descendant through a public record search. The Civil War medals and certificate are going home to one of his great grandsons, who is 84 years of age! The most touching part...his wife said he was sitting there literally crying because he was so touched by the fact that someone went through the trouble of finding him, to pass these along to, and because he was so excited! Some Quick Tips for Finding a Descendant to Return Family Heirlooms (or any other reason):
A Few Facebook Groups if You’re Looking for Help Returning a Find: There are many Facebook Groups and other social media groups out there that you can post a find on, to get help returning it to family members. These are just 5 that I’m a member of. 😊
Interactive Questions: Have you come across an heirloom that you are trying to return to family? Have you ever gotten lucky enough to have someone track you down to give you the gift of a family heirloom that they had found? I would love to hear your comments below in the comment section! More Genealogy lost and Found Cases: Read about more of my volunteer genealogy lost and found cases under the Genealogy Lost and Found category (even though it’s been quite a while 😉)! Did you Know: Did you know that I offer Volunteer Genealogy Lost and Found Search for interesting and quick cases? This post is a participant in the Genealogy Blog Party! 2/11/2021 "Uncovered Roots Method": Finding Unknown Relatives with Descendancy Research and DNARead Now
I am so glad that I am able to find lost, and sometimes unknown about, relatives for others with my method of combining my specialty of descendancy research, along with DNA. This past week, I have found fathers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, some who want to connect, and some who do not, but still wanted to know. My heart is so full being able to do this. :)
Out of all the Genealogy Lost and Found Cases I've Done, this was probably my most interesting one, because of how different it was! I've never had a time capsule case before! This was one of my most memorable cases, not only because it was unique, but because it went so viral and spread all throughout the world! I'm so glad I was able to locate the original time capsule owner, and in only a couple hours! :)
You can check out the original post here: https://www.facebook.com/mikell.edens/posts/3842846385736175 I gave the Original Post Owner/ Diary holder the phone number for the living descendants I spoke with, and she messaged me back and said the lady I had spoken with ( and her son) sounded like she was about to cry because she was so happy! The lady I had spoken with on the phone, messaged me back after I sent her a pic of the post, and was shocked at how well kept the 151 year old diary was! she Said, "What a treasure!" She told me she wished her mother in law, who had passed away (a few years ago I found), could have seen it. Her mother in law was the granddaughter of the original diary owner. She is quoted as saying, "My mother in law was a wonderful woman. Strong and fierce mother. And the best friend any could have. I love and miss her very much. Thank you for the connections. And I just spoke with ... Thank you again." The original post owner will be mailing them out the diary...again, such a cool find, and so glad I was able to reunite this 151 year old diary with her great grandchildren and her great great grandchildren! 
So glad that I was able to track down the few living descendants to this awesome find posted in one of my Genealogy groups this morning, Family Treasures Found! This is an awesome Facebook Group that helps people reunite with lost items, and also posts a lot of photos they've found, in which you may find your family members! Check them out on Facebook! A diary! How cool is that! If my great great grandmother had a diary, I'd definitely love to have someone track me down and give it to me! It took me all but 15 minutes to track down all of her only living descendants, which weren't many...she had 3 children, and only 1 of them had children, and only 1 of those children, had children, thus the ONLY living descendants! All that in 15 minutes, but took me about another 45 minutes to find working numbers, as they were all disconnected, and A LOT of moving around, but finally got one of an ex, whose kids were all there when I called(in their 30's, not little kids )...they were so excited, and can't wait for the diary!!!!
This was such a fun and interesting volunteer case, that someone posted in one of my genealogy Facebook groups, Genealogy: Lost and Found, a group that helps people reunite with lost items! I'm so glad I was able to help her find her great grandfather, after a 23 year deadlock on her search, and after he just seemed to disappear off the face of the earth after a certain time period! That's because he changed his name! I was able to locate him in 2 days, through my original findings after day 1, then through confirmation of DNA matching, and making a quick rough sketch of a DNA Tree on day 2, and contacting matches. Sometimes people may never find out why an ancestor changed their name, or went into "hiding", I have the same issue on a quite a few of my family lines! There are many reasons why there are "family secrets" in a family tree, which I talk about in one of my presentations! REMEMBER, "it's all in the clues"! I should add to my presentation that it's all in the DNA too! :)
So happy I found the only 2 nieces, to a family album that was partially posted in my Facebook group Family Treasures Found, it made them happy, especially since they didn't have much info on their family...This one took me a couple of hours, but so glad I could help track them down and help them add to their family history! :)
Now, this was a cool treasure to help track down living relatives to... a diary, a genealogy goldmine, along with pics, etc! It was so sad that her own 3 surviving children did not want her diary! I would definitely want my mother's diary! Her nieces didn't either, but when a nephew found out, he called it "Treasure" and was so glad to have it for his family history! It took me about and hour for this one ;)
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BlogI hope my family history and genealogy blog on genealogy research tips, resources, events, and more, along with my own genealogy journeys, will help you in your research and in building your family tree to learn more about your ancestors and family history to preserve for future generations to come! 
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