R , I e-mail from Andy Likins of Colorado that got me thinking. He told about his good fortune—receiving a family history bonanza almost out of the blue:

Last summer, I was contacted by my father’s second cousin. He is now in his 80s, was moving into a retirement home, and wanted to pass along some family heirlooms. My father and I had been in touch with him about 20 years ago when we were trying to reconnect with relatives to ll in some blanks in the family history. Well, this cousin has no children of his own and is the only child of an only child.

He had a lot of photos, etc., which belonged to his grandparents, Archie and Jennie (Freeman) Noel. I am a descendant of one of Archie’s sisters and was thrilled when I received my cousin’s package, which included the Noel family Bible (from the 1860s), many wonderful photos ( including one of my great-great-great-grandfather, George W. Noel, who was killed in the Civil War), and a letter from George W. Noel to his son. I also received the Freeman family Bible (from the 1870s) and many Freeman photos. Naturally, since I am only related to the Freemans by marriage, I would love to see these go to a descendant of Edward and Cornelia Freeman.

How practical, forward thinking, and kind of Andy’s cousin to take this measure. While it would be tempting to bring the family Bible and photos to the retirement home, I assume the second cousin realized the potential danger— the items could have been tossed or sold upon his eventual passing.

Andy gave me the fundamentals of the Freeman stash. He said that the Bible was from 1874, belonged to Edward and Cornelia (Fuller) Freeman of Sioux Rapids, Iowa, and included birth, marriage, and death details for the couple and their six children. He also mentioned that there were a number of tintypes, cabinet cards, and other photos of members of the Freeman family—some identi ed, some not. e entries in the Bible provided more than enough to get started:

Edward Freeman was born in England in 1837, died in 1915 in Frederick, Brown Co., South Dakota, and married Cornelia Fuller in 1862 in Sauk Co., Wisconsin. She was born in 1842 in New York and died in 1928 in Frederick, Brown Co., South Dakota. Together they had:

 

1. William Jesse Freeman; b: 1862 in Spring Green, Sauk Co., Wisconsin; d: 1941 in Minneapolis, Hennepin Co.,