Week 42 of Abundant Genealogy

Harry Coad:  picture from his Civil War
Pension file located at NARA

Week 42: Biggest Genealogy Accomplishment. What do you feel is your biggest genealogy accomplishment? What were the steps you took to get there, and what was the end result?

My biggest accomplishment was figuring out the true story of my husband’s 3^rd great grandfather, Harry Coad aka Henry Thompson.  This mystery had nagged at me since I heard it and once I saw the opportunity to track it down I jumped on it. 

My husband had told me the story several times over the years, as he remembered it from his grandmother.  After I started delving into our family histories I cornered my father-in-law and asked him what he remembered of the story.  Tracking down the hints, clues, and leads on-line lead me to the National Archives in D.C. and to the amazing story of this man.

You can read about my discoveries here on this blog as well as on the Family Tree Firsts blog at Family Tree University.  Just click on “Coad” or “Family Tree Firsts” under the tags section to see what I have to say.