My mother decided to move into a retirement complex in 1988. As a result, my brother, my sister-in-law, and I were recruited to help her select the things she would take with her from a three-bedroom home into essentially an efficiency apartment. In the process, my brother happened to lift the corner of her bedroom carpet which happened not to be tacked down. Imagine his (and our) amazement when he found two $100 bills! Further searches under the rug, in books, and inside antique covered casserole bowls in the china cabinet yielded a whopping $4,200! This is certainly a lesson to those of us who have to clean out a parent’s or other relative’s home.

Money isn’t everything, of course. For genealogists like me, scouring bookstores, vendor booths at conferences, flea markets, and other places can yield some forgotten period book that contains information that can expand my knowledge of context or help locate other resources. I’d like to share some of my finds and to encourage you to start looking too.

[ Read More ] - Click Here