Being 70 years of age, all of my previous generation had already passed on and had not been very talkative. I had heard a few things about my maternal grandfather. Such as, he had changed his name but I did not know from what. I had also heard he was born in Concord,
Merrimack County, New Hampshire.
I found a RAOGK Volunteer and sent a request for his birth certificate with the little information I had. Shortly he came back to me with the comment there was not a William George Lamothe listed. He did find a George William Lamothe and also found two of George William's brothers birth certificates. They would cost me $5.00 each. Well, of course, I quickly emailed him back and said, Yes, I did want all three and would send the money. I sent the money out only to find the next morning in my mail was an envelope with the three certificates inside as he had already sent them to me.
These birth certificates allowed me to see who my great grandparents were and where they were from (Canada). For the first time in my life I had a path to follow.
Not knowing anything about Canadian research I went to the GenForum Canada site and posted a query. Two days later I had a reply with a Gedcom file that took my maternal side _ way _ way back.
It just goes to show how you can work on something for 15 years and have it all come together in less than a week. All thanks to Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness in starting the ball rolling.
Submitted by:
Bill Silliman
North Carolina
Enjoy,
Brenda K. Wolfgram Moore
RAOGK Volunteer
raogk.org