Oh, if only!
I am currently working on a family tree for someone, unfortunately not directly related to me, and was having a real struggle trying to find a certain individual. He seemed to have come from nowhere and Census returns proved no help. He was not with his parents at the age of 5 and I had no other clues.
I got a phone call from the person whose tree it is yesterday, and she had found a bundle of paperwork relating to her family, and amongst those were a lot of Quaker documents. I cannot believe what a treasure trove they are!
Now, not only have I been able to find the mystery mans parents, but I also know what he looked like. The Quakers were obviously quite keen on him, because included in the documents is a small booklet which is his biography. I even now know his last words ("Praise God! Glory!", apparently). Absolutely fascinating stuff, and it makes him come alive, well, not the last words bit, like nothing else could do.
But the treasures don't stop there. There are also wills, marriage certifiactes, letters, poems (including some slightly less than wholesome ones!) and much more besides. But what really got me was that there were also Birth Certificates from 1776!
Now my dream is that I find that my family were also Quakers. The amount of information they seem to have about members is simply staggering. My family is remarkably light in the documentary area, and such a bundle of info would be like a lottery win.
Now, I must go. I can't linger, because I have a whole century of documents to plough through!! Its like Christmas, and they aren't even my family.
Glen
