Week 6 - Surprise

A few weeks ago, I shared with you the beginning of my quest to learn more about my family tree. It all started with these two old photos. I have so many favorite photos, but without these two, I would never have learned to embrace the history of my ancestors.

In my initial search for more information on the man in the old sepia photo, and assuming he was Michael Hillegas, there appeared on my computer screen several photos of him. As this was the early stages of the home computer, I was quite surprised to find so many! But, after all, Michael Hillegas was the first Treasurer of the United States, and as it turns out, his likeness appears on the 1907 and 1922 $10 gold certificates. The photos, however, didn't remotely resemble the man in the old sepia one hanging on my wall. Photos aside, I turned my entire focus to learning how to research historical and genealogical records and to prove if I was related to Michael HIllegas.

Living in Oklahoma, I couldn't just jump in the car and run down to the National Archives or drop everything for a quick trip to Philadelphia (where Michael HIllegas was born and raised), so my research began via the internet. Remember, this was 1998. There were very few websites dedicated to family history and those that were, while they may have had digital copies of documents, most were not indexed which meant that you had to flip through the images one at a time (respect to all those genealogists who, pre world-wide-web, had no other choice but to travel great distances to repositories in order to look through reels and reels of microfilm for many documents that are readily available online today). While I sat for countless hours clicking through databases, I also joined several genealogy groups and message boards. To this day, I will argue with anyone who doesn't believe that the genealogy community is likely the most helpful group of folks you will ever meet.

In my quest for knowledge, I discovered Rootsweb. Well, let me tell you! On Rootsweb I found a family tree which had my great-grandfather shown as a descendant of Michael Hillegas! There is was in black and white...THE PROOF! When my initial excitement finally waned, the first thought I had was that I must join the Daughters of the American Revolution. My knowledge of the DAR at this point consisted of it being a lineage organization only for those who could prove they were descended from a patriot in the Revolutionary War. Period. Since Michael was surely a Revolutionary Patriot and I could now "prove" he was my direct ancestor, I set out to become a member. Even though the internet said we were related, DAR insisted that I provide them with the documentation to ACTUALLY prove it. So began my journey.

At the time, the National Genealogical Society offered two courses in genealogical research. Being a lifelong lover of learning (I would make a great professional student if I could just find someone willing to pay me to do so) I skipped "Intro to Genealogy" and jumped headlong into "American Genealogy: A Basic Course" which was not only graded but required visits to local repositories to get hands-on experience (this was the first of many genealogy courses I've now completed). I took my training, along with my youngest daughter, on a cross-country trip, from Oklahoma, through Missouri, to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, visiting libraries, courthouses, churches and cemeteries. My mission was successful, and I was able to gather the documentation which connected each of the generations between Michael Hillegas and myself.

Oh yes, we were talking about those old photos...

I've met some of my best friends through those groups and message boards I joined early on in my research. Some are even distant cousins of mine through ancestors and I've met some on both sides of my family tree. Several years after proving my descent from Michael Hillegas, one of those distant cousins (a sixth cousin to be exact), asked if I'd ever seen the portraits of Joseph Anthony and his wife, Henrietta Hillegas (daughter of Michael) that were painted by renown master portraitist Gilbert Stuart that hung in the Metropolitan Museum in New York City (Joseph Anthony and Gilbert Stuart were first cousins). This was news to me, so when I said I hadn't, she emailed photos to me.

Writing this now I can still feel the emotion of the great surprise in all the time spent learning about my family history. Opening the attachment, my gasped as those old sepia photos appeared in full color right before my eyes...