The Amazing Internet

About ten years ago I spent a great deal of time researching my Civil War era great-great uncle’s diary. This uncle was killed in what was called the Seven Days when Lee was defending Richmond from the massive attack launched by General McClellen. Subsequently I wrote a book that no one, except perhaps relatives and damn few of them, wanted to read. One of the goals of my research was to find the original diary which no one in our family seemed to be able to find. There were only typescripts. I couldn’t find it even with the help of  professional Civil War historian Bill Miller. I wrote a book about my search but never attempted to publish it. I couldn’t even find a photo of my dead ancestor and namesake. More than three years ago I posted a summary of the first part of my history on From My Trunk, a blog where I occasionally post something I have written. This week I received an email from the wife of another descendent of Wm Randolph Smith along with a photo (circa 1856) of him and the answer to what happened to the diary. She had, of course, done the Google thing and found my write up. This closes the circle on a mystery and has gotten many cousins excited about revisiting the genealogy of our family. Civil War research is fun with massive source documents and thousands of books to peruse. Not wanting my research to go to waste and recognizing that my history of the diary was a bit boring I took the reseach and spun it into a novel featuring an invented protagonist, a young boy who is a friend of the Smiths. Haven’t ever tried to get it published but you can read the first chapter here if you have notion to. (BTW, Wm Randolph Smith is the boy in the top row in this tintype which has had some enhancement. Some have commented that Catherine’s head looks a bit odd. But there is another photo of her and she is not unattractive).