Sunday, November 15, 2015

Sentimental Sunday: Yrs Affect

Yours Affectionately, Uncle Walter, Photo collection, 1971
Yrs Affect
(Yours affectionately)

As a Find My Past Ambassador, I spent some time reading about the 1939 Register recently released. With most of my family from the British Isles were already in America prior to 1939, I browsed thorough my tree and found, of course, a relative living there during my research period of the early 1970s when I still had living family to write letters to in England about my Scottish family from Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. 

On 22 June 1971, I received a answer from my letter to Walter and Ruby Broadfoot. Walter was the first born son (1902-1989) of my great grandfather, John Broadfoot (1853-1926) and his second wife Helen Tait (1862-1943). If you read the letter, you will get the feeling that Walter was delighted that a young person has asked him for family information. Although he was too young to remember my grandfather, it was so exciting to hear from him and to fill in the blanks for my monumental mason great grandfather who is the inspiration for my Granite in My Blood blog. My grandfather lived with Helen's family before he came to America.

Find My Past's direct link to the 1939 Register found 3,259 Broadfoot surnames included. I was very surprised! I narrowed the search directly to Walter P. Broadfoot and discovered the right family despite the surname listed as Braodfoot. From Walter's letter, I knew his wife was Ruby Cutler and that her sisters lived with them in 1971. Walter and Ruby had no children. Intrigued by three people in the household, I had to unlock the record. The next family in the unlocked document turn out to be Ruby's mother and father (Cutler) and sister Florence (Named as Florrie in the letter). I still don't know who John D. Wells was but he may have simply been a boarder. There's always more to research...

1939 Register from Find My Past, 2015
I am thankful for seeing Ruby's family in the Register as she sent me a kiss for luck in Walter's letter from so long ago. I hope someday to find out where they are buried.

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