Genealogy Lost and Found: Civil War Find Returned to Direct Descendant

Genealogy Lost and Found: A Civil War Find

Genealogy Lost and Found: Civil War Find Returned to Direct Descendant​

Well, 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!
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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):

• Do not waste your time looking for or trying to contact people who have built trees on Ancestry or another site for the person in question
  • Many people have connections that are incorrect
  • Many are not DIRECT descendants
  • Many are related quite removed
  • Many are not even for their own families
  • You could wait months to get a response (or never get one)
• Do no waste your time using info from FindaGrave or trying to contact someone through there, for the same reasons as above
• Do build your own quick tree from the information that is directly linked to the heirloom (In this case, it was the info on the certificate…in other cases, it could be a build up of clues like where it was found, etc.)
• Do seek out the living descendants in a public records search for contact info (and sometimes a Social Media Search; although, not as quick)

 
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. 😊

• Genealogy: Lost and Found -Facebook Group
• Family Treasures Found -Facebook Group
• Heirlooms Lost and Found -Facebook Group
• Forgotten Faces, Forgotten Places -Facebook Group
• Lost and Found Vintage Pictures -Facebook Group

 
 
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!
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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 😉)!
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Did you Know:
Did you know that I offer Volunteer Genealogy Lost and Found Search for interesting and quick cases?
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This post is a participant in the Genealogy Blog Party!