Dear Santa...

This week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver over at Genea-musings, we are to write a letter to Genea-Santa asking for one gift for Christmas, and telling Genea-Santa what good genea-boys we have been.

Dear Genea-Santa,

Well at least I’ve tried to be good this year. I’ve done my best to find great websites and share them with people, and I even put together a cool toolbar of genealogy links and let anyone download and use it for free. I’ve tried to keep my Relatively Curious About Genealogy blog updated reasonably regularly and include as much useful information as I can. Evidently someone is reading it because since June, over 1,850 people have stopped by my pages! I volunteer at two libraries, and fulfill about 5-10 research requests per week that come thru Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness, and have helped several of my friends find their own elusive ancestors.

I’ve already been blessed this year to have broken two major brickwalls, partly due to the kindness of others, so I almost feel guilty asking for yet another miracle for Christmas. But Santa, if you would be so kind, could you please help me prove that my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Prouty Hatch, who’s obituary and tombstone both state that she was born 18 Jan 1800 in Weathersfield, Vermont, is the same Mary Prouty that was born in September 1800 in Weathersfield, Vermont, the daughter of Burpee Prouty and one of his three wives? I mean, it shouldn’t really be that hard, considering Burpee was the only Prouty living in Weathersfield at that time, and happened to have also been the only Prouty living in Hartford, Vermont the same year that “my” Mary Prouty married Ira Hatch, in 1823. I’ve poured through Burpy Prouty’s 80+ page Revolutionary War pension applications and papers, but that hasn’t clinched it, despite the fact that Ira Hatch’s mother testified in regards to one of Burpy’s marriages, stating she was living next door to him and had a ‘babe in arms’ at the time (which had to have been Ira!).

Anyway, Genea-Santa, I know that might be a pretty big request, so what I think I’d really like instead would be to have all of my family together around Christmas – a plan already in the works, so all you need to do is make sure they all get here safely. Since my oldest daughter and her fiancé, Hocine, are coming from Algeria, my dad, my sister and her husband, one sister & brother in law and their boys, a nephew and his kids, and niece, her husband and their sweet baby boy are all coming to meet and greet my new soon-to-be son-in-law and welcome him to the family. (Hmm on second thought, Santa, could you please just make sure that Hocine doesn’t bolt after meeting our crazy bunch?)

I can’t think of anything I’d like better, than being with the people I love the most for Christmas.

Thanks Genea-santa, you’re the best.

Sincerely, Tami

ps - If connecting Burpy Prouty, or delivering family joy and harmony are too tall of an order, I certainly wouldn’t mind a renewal on my Ancestry.com subscription :)