Blog Post Helps Uncover a Hidden Resource

Thanks to Pat Burke for today's guest post!

Sometimes the answer is right in front of you

I have been a reference assistant at the Godfrey Memorial Library for almost 4 years. Working on my own genealogy I found information on Ancestry that my 4^th great grandfather had served as a recruiting sergeant in 1778. The source of this information was an excerpt from “Memoir of William Burke, a Soldier of the Revolution”. I had looked in the Genealogy shelves at the library but did not find the book there.

Recently, while working at the docent desk, I was looking at an article on the Godfrey blog titled “Connecticut Revolutionary War Resources in Godfrey's Collection”. When I clicked on the finding tool, I discovered my 4^th great grandfather’s name. I searched the Godfrey catalogue and found the book listed with a call number that indicated it should be on the shelf in Genealogies. It was not there. While Beth checked the oversized shelves, I checked the Specials Bookshelves. To my surprise and delight, there was the book!

This book was prepared from a journal he kept and was published in 1837, a year after his death. It provides a fascinating insight into life in Revolutionary War times and our family history. If not for the blog, I probably would not have found it. I had practically been sitting next to it for a couple of years.