Google it!

Google is one of my favorite go-to places for looking up information, because it has everything about everything! No matter how many family research sites I check out, I always find myself going back to Google to try and cross-reference something. One benefit of Google is that there are links to a vast array of sites and not strictly limited to a specific grouping, as a family research site would be.

In my family research, one person who has always been of particular interest to me is my 2x great uncle. I've heard many stories and and read many things online that noted him as an effective and well renowned pastor. I often thought about how great it would be to see him in motion or hear his voice. So I decided to...Google it! To my surprise, someone had archived some footage that included him! This short film featured various historical events. It was a silent film, but it was still more than I could have imagined to find. What a feeling I had to actually be able to see him standing in front of his church, along with the split second footage showing his charismatic demeanor, as he delivered a sermon to the congregation! One word - WOW!

Then I got to thinking about his wife. If he was so well-known, I couldn't understand why there were no pictures or images of her. For years I searched trying to discover what she looked like, but I had no success. I finally decided that she would be an image that I would just have to create in my mind - that is until a few weeks ago! I was online doing some research and I decided to type her name in Google to see if there might me any new updates. I didn't see any results worth clicking on, but thought I'd try Google Images to see what may be there. Tada!!! There was a picture of her in the newspaper, along with her testimonial about using Madam C.J. Walker's hair care products! I was completely blown away! It was also a little emotional to think this was a person whom I thought I'd never get to see their likeness...and now I have! :-D

Google has been a great tool in helping me make other family history discoveries. There's a wealth of information to be found from links to other sites, to newspapers, to videos, and much more! So whatever family information you may seeking, try to Google It! You never know what you may find!

Happy searching!!! :-)