I Thought This Would Be So Easy....

I am an avid reader and have read so many books and magazines about genealogy research and genealogy websites and how-to's, so I thought I had a pretty good handle on things.  Genealogy research did sound easy.  You just type a name in a search engine and all sorts of information just pops up!!  Well, maybe it does for everyone else, but not for me.

I remember the first real meaningful document I found on the internet.  I typed my Grandma Modrell's name, Maxine W. Eneau, into Google (yet again!) and RootsWeb appeared in the search results this time.  There were several pages that had just been posted from "The Oak", a School Yearbook from Lafayette High School in St. Joseph, Missouri.  When I clicked on it, I found the page containing her senior photo and (are you ready for this?) she had signed her photo!!!  What a fabulous piece of history to find!  Unfortunately, it only included those pages that contained Class Photos and not any of the other pages.  She was a member of the Orchestra and the Glee Club and, unfortunately, the pages with those photos were not included.  I have yet to find a copy of that yearbook so I can see the other pages, but I still get excited every time I look at this page and remember the feelings I had that day.

I can honestly say this – keep trying.  When I found this wonderful piece of history, it was at least five (5) years after beginning my research and I had typed her name in search engines many times over the course of those years.  Everything you read and hear about the need to be persistent, it really is true.  New information gets added to the internet on a daily basis.

I know I will be continuing to “Search for Ancestors”, and I hope you continue to be persistent.  We will all reap the rewards sooner or later.

"The Oak" 1926 School Yearbook for Lafayette High School, St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri