Don't Ignore the "Maybe"

While sitting around not feeling good yesterday, I spent the better part of the day on the computer, working on Ancestry.  I have been very lucky lately to find a lot of information on many of my family lines.

I was in sort of a haze, uploading some old family photos to my great aunt, Marie Ede Wykowski, when I decided to another "search" on her.  And there it was.

This obituary jumped out at me.  It was for a Charles M. Plank of Danbury, CT.  It took me a minute to remember that the Plank family lived on Meadow St in Stamford, CT with both my grandparent's families.  I had seen them in the census records, and I have a photo of my grandfather Gordon Nichols with a Charlie Plank (apparently they were good friends).  But it didn't register at first why my great aunt would be listed in this obituary.

 Gordon Nichols Sr. with Charles C. Plank

Then I read it....I had forgotten that she married Charles C. Plank, and this man's obituary that I was looking at, was their son.  I had always heard her name as Wykowski, so it took me a few minutes to absorb what I was reading.  Once I added her first husband, the children (listed in the obituary), a ton of information opened up, including the death record for Charles C. Plank, her first husband.  I also now have the names of long lost cousins to add to my tree, and possibly get in contact with.

That is a huge thing for me, finding living family, since I don't know most of them.  We moved to NH when I was seven years old, and didn't stay in touch with most of them, especially after my grandparents passed away in the late 1970's.

So always go read those random hints and sources that pop up, even if you don't think they might be connected.  You just might discover another line in your family.