Seek and Ye Shall Find

I've often found when researching that the tinest snippet of information can lead to a wonderful surprise.  For example, typing surnames into Google Book Search has led me to the following:

A tiny snippet from a railroad magazine that was published for employees, mentioned my father's name. As my father has passed away, you can imagine how this peaked my curiosity.   I decided to research the magazine only to find it was no longer in print.  Not one to give up so easily, I contacted a railroad museum via email.  They ever so kindly, found the article and sent me a copy.  The article was about my father who was messenger for them, leaving for the Marine Corp.  It mentioned he had studied radio and was a winner of a High School Poetry Anthology for his home State.  He had never mentioned it to his children.  How young and handsome he looked in the photo that was part of the article!

Another time:  again typing in a surname, I found my grandfather, his name is on the roster published in the book "With the 364th Infantry in America, France and Belgium by Bryant Wilson and Lamar Tooze"  How fascinating that I now have this book about World War I, my grandfather's part in it, as well as his medals, uniform and picture of him in that uniform.  Did you know that during World War I, these men were only issued one uniform and one sewing kit?

My final example:  typing in a surname and location, brought up a free downloadable pdf entitled "Souvenir of the Golden Jubilee, 1858 - 1908, St. Mary's Church, Alton, Illinois.  Listed are not only the names of my great-father's children, but verifies their spouses first name and surname.  Included are some wonderful pictures.  How amazing to see my grandmother in a primary class photo!

So my fellow geneaology seekers, seek and ye shall find.  Even if it is only a snippet of information to begin with, it can lead to a much greater treasure!