Just have to share: June, 2010, Cecily Kelly and I are in Annapolis, MD, for to drive her daughter's two doxie dogs home (Spokane to Annapolis) and to then do some reseach in Tennessee. It was here in Annapolis that a Really Exciting Research Story happened.
Browsing in an antique shop in Annapolis (remember: home of the U.S. Naval Academy) we found a wrist purse from the class of 1920. (A gift was given to a man's intended at the annual traditional Ring Dance.) Inside this little 3x4 inch silver compact were pictures of a Naval officer. On the back was one word: Hamlin. Thank goodness!
We went straight to the Naval Academy Museum and learned that yes, there was an
Arthur Leroy Hamlin in the class of 1922 (why the difference? don't know). Finding a few more facts about Arthur (his Naval career and his death/burial in California) we were off and running.
Within hours that evening, Cecily (using Ancestry mostly)learned some details of Capt. Hamlin's career in the Pacific. He was stationed Seattle; he married Emma who'd been born there and was of Norwegian descent. Off they went to Guam where son David Richard was born. This son went on to attend the Academy, class of 1948.
Using the Internet, Cecily was able to contact the secretary of the Class of 1948's alumni association and we learned that David Richard was still alive and had descendats!
So on our last day in Annapolis, Arthur Leroy Hamlin's grandson, Keith, who lives fairly nearby in Maryland, will rendezvous with us. Cecily has entered all the information we've found into Legacy and printed out a report for Keith. Stay tuned for the rest of the story, but our first contact with Keith indicates that he's 100% delighted at this turn of events.................. Imagine. A gift given in likely 1922 turns up in an antique shop and within 24 hours it is returned to a descendant....thanks to Cecily's well-honed research skills! I can't wait...........
As I said, stay tuned. Donna
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