Smith Connection

I got a Flickr message, last night, from a fellow descendent of Jacob and Agnes Smith, living in South Africa. Ali Lauren Jacobs is the great-granddaughter of Jennie (Smith) Hine's sister Tena (Smith) Voss. Specifically, Ali's mother is Darlene Voss, daughter of Cornelius John Voss (Tena and Garnet Voss' son). So, this makes her my third cousin, I believe. Not sure if I have enough caffeine in me, right now, to get that right :)

Jennie is in the top row, second from the left. Tena is at the far right.

Ali has been researching the Smith arm of our mutual family tree, and stumbled on my Flickr album, with photos she recognized (including the one above). She is planning a trip to The Netherlands, in October, to do a "walking pilgrimage" of the places where her ancestors came from, including Jacob and Agnes. I pointed her toward the Jennie Smith and Ancestors posts, on this blog, specifically the newish finds regarding Jacob and Agnes' lineage, in Groningen.

I'm looking forward to sharing what Ali finds, this fall. And I can't wait to make my own journey to the birthplaces of our Dutch ancestors. This research is rewarding in and of itself, but it's a special treat when a "lost" relative finds it. (A couple months ago, I got an email from a Barbara Swanson Richards, the daughter of Don Sutsh's sister, Irma, who passed away when Barbara was an infant, effectively cutting ties between her and the Sutsh family, until now.)

I hope you're all having a fantastic summer!

xo

-Annabel