Was on Ancestry and looking for Thomas F. Myers' occupation to find out how wealthy he might have been to spend however much money it cost to print up that little book about his ancestral history. Found out a couple of tid-bits: he lived two doors down from the printer, and that he worked as a house painter. Mom says that he could have made a lot of money in the late 1800s and early 1900s painting houses. By 1910 he and his son, who lived next door, were both clerks in a grocery store a couple of doors down the street.
Then with a few minutes to kill I searched Elias Thompson (one of two named sons in Nehemiah Newans' will) on Ancestry member trees. I got a real nice match with pretty good sources, which I double checked for trust. I did a quick print of the tree branches that interested me and messaged the tree owner that my 5th GGF might be the missing father of Elias Thompson and gave him my email address. Don't know if I'll hear back because the tree owner hasn't been on Ancestry for more than 6 months.
Then it happened! BAM! I clicked on the list of 6 sources cited for Elias' birth and there at the bottom was a tag for Union service records of the Civil War for a "Colored Regiment" veteran named Elias Thompson!
I thought we were white! We look pretty white... no, I'd say we look real white... we look like we're all from Ireland, England, or Wales which we are. We don't tan, we burn;) So the Colored Regiment thing was a shocker. Not that I'd mind because it would make a great story, and you know I do love a great story above all else!
Then I took a close second look after I printed out the service record. And this new-to-me Elias Thompson was born in New York and mine was born in Pennsylvania. OK, not my guy. Makes sense now... we're not black after all. Too bad... it would have made a really cool story.
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