I found a piece of interesting information about my dad's 2x great-grandfather and wanted to tell him in person to see his reaction.
Family member name: Charles H. Smith
Lifetime: 1825 - 1900Tree branch: Smith
Relation: My 3x great-grandfather (my dad's mom's dad's dad's dad)
I was researching the Smith side of my family, and I found that the Smiths lived in an interesting place.
The next time my dad and step-mom came for a visit, I printed out the 1865 Massachusetts State Census and walked them through the process I had recently completed to let them find the information on their own.
Here's the video. I'm pretty sure they didn't see I was recording. :)
So fun!
My 3x great-grandfather was the light keeper of Chatham Light, a famous lighthouse on Cape Cod. My dad has visited most of New England's lighthouses by land or by kayak, and I knew he was quite familiar with Chatham Light. So to find out that his direct ancestor (his 2x great-grandfather) lived there and manned the lighthouse for 10 years, from 1862-1872, is pretty cool! Also, my dad's great grandfather, Nelson, grew up in the light keeper's living quarters.
Why did no one in my family know about this?? Stay tuned.
This is what the Twin Lights in Chatham looked like when our ancestor was light keeper.
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| 1841 brick towers. |
To read more about the quest for the Smiths, read my previous blog post here.
Sources
Wikipedia > Chatham Light
National Register of Historic Places in Barnstable County
Tours of Chatham Light
