going off on tangents

There are days when it seems that if I can't find something new on someone - anyone - in any of my lines, then I'll go chase after something in a collateral line.

Such a day was yesterday. There is this cousin, several times removed, who married and had children. I have the obituary of the wife, but it did not contain her birth surname. The obit did, however, name two sisters as survivors - one with a last name of Kolat and one is a Hall. Every now and then, I try to look for an online obit or death date for the Kolat sister - it's not an ordinary name and should really stand out if and when an obit for her is posted anywhere. I do so hoping that her obituary might have her birth surname.

I know where they all grew up and lived, and I would check the online edition of the local paper to see if anything should appear. I had not been to the site in a while, as I notice that it now has the option of searching for articles dating back to 1990. So I give it try and do a search for the Kolat surname, and what should appear but a birthday announcement for the third sister, noting that the Kolat sister was still alive at that time. I also get some new info in that the original obituary got the third sister's name wrong - her last name is Hull, not Hall. It also gave the sister's birth name. YES.

So now I go scurrying off to find the three sisters on the census and to confirm their surname. Which I do, and find that the Kolat sister is actually their half-sister. Mom was a widow in 1910 and married again in 1912 and later begat the sister who would marry a Kolat. Bonus points are issued in that Mom's brother is living with her in 1910 - giving me HER birth surname.

And then, because the Mom was from Germany, I run off to the Ellis Island site to verify her immigration to the US. I find her - more good news.

And although I added nothing to my direct line, I felt that I had a good day.