True Miracles with Genealogy: Volume Two

By Anne Bradshaw

Against worldwide competition, True Miracles with Genealogy, Volume Two, won a 2012 Global eBook Award.

In the same way that elegant, old leaves float back to earth and enrich the soil, so ancestors can reach out and strengthen families. Volume Two of "True Miracles with Genealogy" is crammed with over 56 fascinating and inspiring stories from people who love researching their ancestors. Reading a story a day will guarantee a soaring mood, and unlock new ideas for your own research.

"Strange and wondrous things happen in the pursuit of family history. Events more than coincidental bring information to your hands as those beyond the veil reach out with yearning, wanting to be found. Anne Bradshaw has collected fascinating first-person accounts of such miracles in a volume that both motivates and delights those who want to be on a genealogical journey."—Maurine Proctor, co-founder, and editor-in-chief of Meridian Magazine.

"Anne Bradshaw again proves herself to be a 'national treasure' in the LDS market. True Miracles with Genealogy: Volume Two is a home run, addressing a central and vital teaching of our faith."
—Larry Barkdull, author of Rescuing Wayward Children and The Three Pillars of Zion Series.

"Family history research is definitely a fascinating experience with the unexpected miracle happening more frequently than one might expect. Each story will engage you to press forward with your own research desires. Congratulations Anne on successfully creating another brilliant compilation of True Miracles."
—Holly T. Hansen, president of Family History Expos, Inc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anne Bradshaw
• Release date: Nov 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465934598

Anne Bradshaw

Anne Bradshaw, who was born in Wales, grew up in England, and now lives in the USA. When she isn’t glued to the chair typing, or in the kitchen eating delicious healthy stuff, she can be found reading, writing, walking, or taking fun pictures.Anne has seven published books. A feature screenplay (The Ardanea Pendant) she co-authored won first place (fantasy/sci-fi genre) in the 2008 International Family Film Festival.

Book preview

True Miracles with Genealogy

Volume Two

Compiled by Anne Bradshaw

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

True Miracles with Genealogy: Volume Two

Cover design by Peter Bradshaw

Copyright © Nov. 2011 Anne Bradshaw

True Miracles with Genealogy: Volume Two is also available in print at many online retailers.

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In this book you will find:

• QUALITY STORIES THAT AMAZE AND INSPIRE

• MIRACLES THAT COMFORT AND FASCINATE

• UNIQUE WAYS IN WHICH ANCESTORS INFORM

"Anne Bradshaw again proves herself to be a 'national treasure' in the LDS market. True Miracles with Genealogy: Volume Two is a home run, addressing a central and vital teaching of our faith."

—Larry Barkdull, author of Rescuing Wayward Children and The Three Pillars of Zion Series.

"Family history research is definitely a fascinating experience with the unexpected miracle happening more frequently than one might expect. Each story will engage you to press forward with your own research desires. Congratulations Anne on successfully creating another brilliant compilation of True Miracles."

—Holly T. Hansen, president of Family History Expos, Inc.

Strange and wondrous things happen in the pursuit of family history. Events more than coincidental bring information to your hands as those beyond the veil reach out with yearning, wanting to be found.  Anne  Bradshaw has collected fascinating first-person accounts of such miracles in a volume that both motivates and delights those who want to be on a genealogical journey.—Maurine Proctor, co-founder, and editor-in-chief of Meridian Magazine.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

About the Author

Acknowledgements

1 The Lady in Black—Traci Stevens Callister and Frankie Clark

2 John P. Perdue and Prince Albert—Norman R. Perdue

3 Eliza Jane's Smile—Norman R. Perdue, Ruthann Perdue

4 My Mother—Lost and Found—Rebecca Cressman

5 Finding Angeline—Marcia Whitney Green

6 They Were Alice's Children—Sylvia Stobbart

7 My Ancestors Found Me—G. G. Vandagriff

8 My Adventure in Welsh Research—Marcia W. Green

9 My Little Story—Elaine Louisa Thompson

10 Discovering John McVey—Vern Taylor

11 Guided to the Right Home—Sheran Milner Milius

12 How the Letters of William Whitteker Found Me—Dolores D'Errico

13 Getting it Right—Julie Coulter Bellon

14 Lost and Found—Cora (Cody) Gene Anderson

15 Little Clara B. Trent—Norman R. Perdue, Ruthann Perdue

16 Killed in the Rain—L. L. Moore

17 Protected in a Pasture Graveyard—Del Spencer

18 Grandpa Was Watching—Annabell Edwards Diaz

19 The Page Opened—D.R. Jackson

20 Ten Minute Miracle—Joann B.

21 Levitia's Stone—George Windes

22 Osbulbaha—George Windes

23 Handing Me a Miracle—RayDean Hill

24 Fanny's Story—Sari Fields

25 Curiosity and Miracles in Genealogy—Sue Maxwell

26 The Lost Swain Line—Sue Maxwell

27 The Sad Story of a Lovely Young Woman—Sue Maxwell

28 Perfect Timing—Lena Jarlhede Svensson

29 The Lockwood Bible—Marcia Whitney Green

30 A Mysterious German Package—Robert W. Boehner

31 This Table at This Moment: A Providential Encounter—Carol Kostakos Petranek

32 Lost Branch—Traci Stevens Callister

33 Finding Granddad Unsworth—Susan Hayes

34 How Elizabeth's Artwork Found Me—Dolores D'Errico

35 Bedside Petition—Muriel Sluyter

36 Come Home, William—Loa Kirk Andersen

37 I'm on the Job for You—Linda Garner

38 Proof by E-Mail—Darlene Berry Lauth

39 How May I Assist You?—George Windes

40 A Helpful Stranger—Etheleen Bugg Evans

41 Aunt Kate is Not Dead!—Joann B.

42 Success with a Little Help from Adam—Dolores D'Errico

43 A Reading Miracle—Ned Morrison

44 Come Right Away—Sarah Jane Weaver

45 Message from the Other Side—Aimée Robertson Peacock

46 For Uncle Denny With Love—Anissa Penn Davis

47 Buried, but Not Lost—Eunice Tidwell Merrill

48 Tender Moment at the Temple—RayDean Hill

49 A Blessing Fulfilled—Lorna Morton Hibbs

50 Not Just an Old Herb Doctor!—Lorna Morton Hibbs

51 Meant to be Here!—Betsy Cross

52 Mysterious Cherokee Visitor from Oklahoma—Marlayne Boblett

53 Grandfather's Desire—Margaret Martindale

54 My New Society of Friends—We Each Had a Piece of the Puzzle—Marcia Whitney Green

55 Fruitful Distraction—David W. DeFord

56 And Masy Makes Twelve—Norman R. Perdue, Ruthann Perdue

57 Headstone Picture Mystery—Heidi Vea

58 That's Not His Name—Tristi Pinkston

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INTRODUCTION

G.G. Vandagriff

Author of Voices in Your Blood

I can promise you there is nothing that will make you feel as loved and happy as doing your family history. Alice Walker said, Love is the ladder that reaches through time. You are the product of millions of love stories. Love was the instrument of your being. Did you know that you carry physical parts of your ancestors within you? They are called mitochondria, and they came in the ovum that eventually turned into you.

If I hadn't done my family history, I wouldn’t know all the stories I carry within me. Such as my 4' 8" great-grandmother farming on the Volga, carrying water buckets suspended from her shoulders, or; my third great-grandmother crossing the plains at the head of a nine-wagon train crossing the Mississippi on log rafts to join her husband in founding his latest of seven frontier settlements.

I have needed their grit in my life, their steel in my spine. It gave me a sense of belonging I never had because of the dysfunction in my family of origin. My third great-grandmother was descended from Mary Chilton, the first female to disembark from the Mayflower at age twelve.

We don’t have to be Mayflower descendants to be richly blessed by discovering our forebears. Ordinary people can live extraordinary lives. The sense of connection we receive when we join ourselves to their ancestral chain cannot be overestimated. One of my husband’s cousins, who embraced family history as a hobby, said, All the time I was doing this, it felt like there was an angel on my shoulder.

I don’t doubt it. Finding one’s family is a sacred occupation. I don’t believe in luck or coincidence where family history is concerned. I do believe in miracles.

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1. THE LADY IN BLACK

Traci Stevens Callister and Frankie Clark—USA

Some years ago, after hitting many dead ends with our family history, my aunt, Frankie Clark, stopped researching for a while. She had spent almost twenty-five years, and large amounts of money, looking for my great-great-grandmother whose last name was Baroni, and whose daughter (my great-grandmother) married a Bonetti. She had even employed professional genealogists in Europe, but they found nothing for this name.

Sometime later, Frankie had a vivid dream in which she was jogging on a lonely dirt road. Coming toward her was a lady wearing a long black dress and veil. As Aunt Frankie came shoulder to shoulder with this lady, the lady turned and said, Don’t forget my genealogy. My aunt sat up in bed, drenched in sweat, and realized she needed to get going on this family line again. (The Lady in Black continues to visit family members in occasional dreams.)

One weekend while visiting her mother (my grandmother), Aunt Frankie was amazed to find a couple of pictures of a lady dressed in a long black dress with a black veil. No one could remember seeing these pictures before. My grandmother thought the lady might be her grandmother, Eulalia Taddei Baroni.

As a side note, Grandma actually grew up thinking her ancestors originated in France. We discovered years ago that her father was Italian and lived in Switzerland along the Italian border. He changed his name from the Italian Bonetti to the French Bonnett on arrival in America.

Lady in Black

Grandma raised her children in the LDS Church, although she herself never joined. Having grown up in Catholic girls' schools, and out of respect for her Catholic mother, she decided to wait until she died and then let her descendants have her baptized LDS. She died in her nineties, and when we did the temple work for her and my grandfather (who was LDS), an interesting thing happened. They were definitely there with us in the temple. My mother saw them both, and said they looked like they were in their thirties and so very happy.

There was Italian writing on the back of one picture that Grandma gave to Frankie. This was where I got interested in helping in the search. I took the picture to the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, hoping someone there could interpret the writing. After relating the story to the person at the desk, she asked me if I was LDS. I said yes and then she asked if I attended the temple. Again, I said yes. Then she said, Put the name 'Lady in Black' on the prayer roll and she will find you. She added, Sometimes those on the other side of the veil need blessings as much as we do on this side.

I was dumbfounded. I had never thought to do that. I knew we should not flood the prayer rolls with hundreds of names, but I learned an important lesson in genealogical research—we should always include the Lord in our searches and start with prayer. I put Lady in Black on the prayer roll the next day.

Exactly one week later, I received an e-mail answering a message I had posted nine months earlier on Ancestry.com. It was from a wonderful man named David Delco. He happened to live in the same small area in Switzerland from which we believed the Lady in Black came, and although this was not his family line, he immediately sent me pictures of every headstone in the local cemetery on which the Bonetti name appeared.

David put me in touch with the vital statistics office where a friend worked, who was willing to help me search. After corresponding for a short while, we found a man with the same last name as my ancestors who had recently put his family genealogy, as far as he could trace it, into book form. It had taken him countless years to finish this book. When I opened it and began reading, there were my great-great-great-grandparents in the Bonetti line.

This is where things get even more fascinating. There was actually a section from this man's records that he couldn't find, so the lineage wouldn't connect. Upon noticing the gap, we remembered that we possessed some antique documents, which we had been told were just a bunch of old Italian deeds pertaining to land that had passed from father to son through many generations. However, chunks of dates were missing so we had the same problem connecting the lineage.

After reading our new friend's book, we decided to re-examine our documents. We discovered names and dates (written in Old Italian) of land passed from father to son going back to 1506. The paper was yellow, crumbling and papyrus-like—and the information it contained perfectly filled the gap in his book.

The information we exchanged filled gaps for us both. We now have continuous records clear back to the early 1500s—literally thousands of names.

We have yet to verify that the Lady in Black is Eulalia Taddei Baroni However, most of the lines in these records are Eulalia's childrens' spouses and their families. I believe that when we have finished the work for these names with which we have been blessed, my Lady in Black will then