My Ancestry Research: Tell Me This Isn't Cool

Traveling an hour out of the way with four kids in tow to take a photo of a gravestone probably doesn't earn me the coolest Dad award this year.

I'm glad I did, though, last Sunday.  It was cool, even though two kids stayed in the car.

Having only recently discovered the identity of my fourth great grandfather, I was bound and determined to go see his gravestone that I stumbled upon in my research.  After all, Ancestry.com colleagues had not found him or had his information correct.  Until now.

Bernard Dickman was born 200 years ago in Germany.  He died at age 58 (I found the obit two days later) in 1870.  The 1860 Census said he was a drayman, a horse-drawn wagon driver.  He spent most of his life in Dayton and, even though the cemetery moved over 100 years ago, he's been buried in the Dayton area ever since.

We, unknowingly, passed the cemetery in March during Spring Break.  The Wright Flyer is housed at a museum just up the street.

His daughter Mary Elizabeth had a daughter Clara.  Clara had a daughter Beatrice.  Beatrice's daughter, Eugenia, was my Dad's mother.

Cool?  Tell me it isn't.