Genealogical Serendipity

Ever since I started researching my family history, I have been the recipient of what I like to call "genealogical serendipity" on several occasions.  At one time, I stumbled upon a much-needed document almost by accident.  At another time, I thought how nice it would be to meet a particular distant cousin only to bump into that person only minutes later.  For my first blog post, I thought I would write about the first time I was the beneficiary of this dumb luck.

Ida Victoria Nordine's senior
portrait as found in the 1915
Oriole (Ludington High
School yearbook).

My grandmother, Ida Victoria (Nordine) Larson was Salutatorian of the Ludington High School graduating class of 1915.  I can only imagine what an honor this was for her.  It was a time when attending high school was the exception, rather than the rule.  Ida's immigrant parents lived on a farm outside of town in rural Victory Township.  The only transportation available to the family was a horse and buggy.  I would not be surprised if Ida was not only the first, but the only one in her family to attend high school in the "big city"--let alone graduate.  And at the top of her class no less.  I don't know that Ida purchased a brand new dress to wear to the various events held during graduation week, but the dress she ended up wearing when she stood on stage and gave her Salutatory address had to have been special and made her feel beautiful.

This dress was donated to the Mason County Historical Society after my grandmother's death in 1987.

It was during the summer of 2004 when I paid a visit to the Mason County Historical Society in its home at Historic White Pine Village in Ludington, Michigan.  I had completed my genealogy research for the day when one of the Research Library volunteers and I started visiting.  As we talked, I told her about my grandmother's dress, which had been donated to their organization almost 20 years earlier, and asked if there was a possibility that I could see it while I was there.  The volunteer proceeded to tell me (in much more detail than I ever could have wanted) about their computer system that could tell her whether an artifact was on display or in storage and where it was located at a given time.  As it turned out, my grandmother's dress was being stored in one of several basement storerooms on the property.  Off we went in search of textiles past.  We went to the building and room indicated by the computer.  Nothing. Perplexed, the volunteer took me back to the Research Library to recheck the computer.  Then off we went again.

My grandmother's graduation dress on
display at a Larson Family Reunion in
the early 2000's.

This time when we made our way to the storeroom in question, we decided to divide and conquer--the volunteer took one section of the room, while I took the other--going drawer by drawer.  I had not seen my grandmother's dress since I was a young girl and only had a vague idea of what it looked like.  I was four drawers into my search when I started having a little bit of trouble.  The third drawer opened.  Knowing that I had already searched and ruled out this drawer, I closed it and continued searching the drawer beneath it.  But the third drawer kept opening on its own.  With growing frustration, I closed the drawer with an exasperated sigh.  The fifth time the drawer opened, something inside me prompted me to look through it again.

Toward the back of the drawer, wedged in among the other items in the drawer, I saw fragile, yellowing ivory fabric with a pale blue sash and recognized it immediately.  I had found my grandmother's dress.  I carefully pulled the dress out of the drawer and took a closer look.  As I did so, a chill ran up the back of my neck.  I had already looked in the third drawer and had not seen my grandmother's dress.  I had begun looking in another when this drawer opened.  And kept opening.  On its own.  Was my grandmother there helping me to find her dress?  Was it a higher power at work?  I do not even pretend to know what happened.  It was serendipitous.  And little did I know then that this would be just the first of several such serendipitous experiences I would have as I climbed my family tree.

Have you ever benefited from genealogical serendipity?