Would You Reply to a Family Tree Letter ?

I too am into genealogy. I've had relatives share information but mostly older relatives. I think adults (25-45) are a lot more cautious about giving out information. Did you also put your phone number? Maybe they would find it easier to call and tell you information verbally. I also wouldn't ask for much from them- maybe put a self-addressed stamped envelope in with your letter, or give them an email to respond to you. Then the stamp isn't an issue...

Thanks for the ideas, Celia. I did include my e-mail address and street address, but not my phone number (hadn't even thought of that). The people I've contacted so far are in their 50s - 70s. I've started with the oldest family members I can find, since they probably knew the other relatives I've mentioned first hand. Maybe I just need to be more patient. It's not one of my virtues though. :-)

I would respond to such a letter, but then I'm into genealogy. Some people are more likely to respond by email or phone. The historical society in your county will help you look for information in that country, if that's where your relatives lived. Libraries have microfilm you can use to research census and land and voting records. I found handwritten books at the library telling what some of my relatives paid for a dog license about 150 years ago, even a description of the dog! I got a lot of info during searches of cemetaries where my relatives were buried. I shared and traded info with people online and used genealogy research sites. I have parts of my family tree traced back 15 generations and have found distant relatives across the US--like 8th cousins. Some parts of the family line have yearly reunions, each year in a different part of the US. Two large groups of my family line, one in the north and one in the south, had DNA tests to prove whether or not we were originally from the same line. We were. Its been harder on my husband's side of the family and we haven't been able to trace much there.

great :)

I am researching my genealogy and know how much I want to know my information, so yes, if I got such a letter I would respond to give someone else what they need.

I think genealogists are the nicest people around. :-) I've been amazed at some of the "strangers" I have met through the internet who have offered to do look-ups or provide other assistance to me. I just hope to find a fellow enthusiast amonst my own distant relations so that they will share what family information they have.

Absolutely, who knows what they can add to what I already know.

I would definitely respond to such a letter. I have mailed letters out to my parents' cousins, for example. Some have answered, some have not. I always send a self-addressed, stamped envelope. I find it also easier to contact people via e-mail. I recently got in contact with a distant cousin by e-mail, and we have been trading information and tips for the last month. In fact I got an e-mail over the weekend asking if I'd found anything else, since "I hadn't been in contact" for almost a week. Once the bug bites, it is hard to get away from tracing your tree. And that's why I enjoy it so much.

i have my genealogy letters all over the internet sites:ancestry.com.livinggenalogy,rootsweb,findagrave,genebase,and more-too many to mention,in hopes that one day,some of my family will see it and read it all and e-mail me with more-vital info.i have met three or four cousins already and waiting for the next one,i will never give it up,till i die and then someone else in the family can have all of my stuff and search some more,there seems to be one in every generation.even if they don't know it yet.but one day they will read something that will spark the genealogy bug and off they will go..i wish them all the luck in the world..teart

I found one of my second cousins through a query she posted on an obscure web site about ten years ago. That email address was obsolete, but she mentioned where she was living and it was a small town, so it made it easy for me to find her street address. She was tickled that I had tracked her down and we've been able to exchange a lot of information.

Before becoming interested, no I would not have answered. Since becoming the "researcher", it's amazing how many people don't have time to contribute information. The rare occasion to actually visit someone and talk yielded more data that trying to get them to respond to a letter. Others had tried genealogy with little success, never getting past Grandpa. I was the first with enough stubborn curiosity to finally find us hiding on a small Island in Germany. I have better luck with the dead than the living.

I would definitely respond to such a letter - absolutely - I love meeting my relatives. I've tried the same thing when there's been a connection with a Haplo C match cousin but haven't gotten too much of a response. I think some people are just lazy and don't want to be bothered with relatives - I have some family members like that - oh well...Salud

Oh one of my Venezuelean cousins found me on some online bulletin board from Chile! So...you never know. Salud

I get a few leter like this but mostly emails. I do respond and have been able to get some old photos of my family that way. One photo was really nice as the copy I had was in poor condition and the one they sent was in fantastic shape.

I think it is easier for most people to respond to an email. I have to agree with Mariana and say most people probably woukd not take the time to respond. I enjoy doing it and have even helped others research their trees.

I think many people would respond to such a letter. One way to tell if a letter has been delivered is to add a "delivery confirmation" sticker from the post office -- at least you'll know if it's been delivered, and it doesn't cost much to add. I have had success sending out such a letter and to people I only thought I might be related to. Eventually I met up with the whole family and enjoyed a very nice visit. We're still not 100% positive we're related, but I keep searching!

Anyone interested in genealogy is going to respond quicker. I got lucky when I found some of my husband's cousins who were looking for much of the same info that I was looking for, I found an email address and we shared tons of pictures and info from relatives long gone, it was wonderful. I haven't worked much on the family tree for a while but I'm wondering again....hopefully new info has come to the internet and I'll be able to do some other searching.

I know it may be hard to get info through the mail, but if you decide to try again I would recommend doing the 'proof of delivery' thing, and include how you think you might be related, with a stamped envelope. Your persistence will pay off!

I've had some strange experiences sending out letters like that, and posting to message boards... strange like a call this past week from someone who had "inherited" a stack of genealogy paperwork when her aunt died, and in it her aunt had carefully kept all of the invitations I'd sent out (1 a year for 5 years) to the almost-annual family reunion. Her aunt KNEW she was into genealogy and she was the one who should know how to get in touch with me... but didn't relay the info while she was alive... it was just my good fortune the info got to her when the aunt passed away.

I've also gotten calls/e-mails/letters from people I've never heard of, answering letters I KNOW I never sent them... low and behold a letter I sent to someone who is NOT into genealogy took a few weeks/months of getting passed around the family until it landed in the hands of the person on that branch who IS into genealogy! :)

I also had one case where I sent a letter to someone I knew was into genealogy and that I had all the info right... and I got no answer. After a few months I stumbled upon another person in the family, who also wanted to make the same connection... she wrote to the same person and got an INSTANT answer. I got all self-conscious, I descend from a second marriage, where the other two folks descend from a first marriage... I mean, it was literally a hundred years ago, but the kids from the two marriages didn't get along and I honestly didn't know if I was being ignored because I descended from the *wrong* marriage. Turns out my letter was received, read... put in an answer immediately stack... and then somehow that stack got misplaced. I received very LONG PROFUSE appologies from the person, and her mother who did the misplacing while visiting her daughter, all negotiated via the other relative I'd stumbled across who wanted to make sure that our generation could bridge the gap that had formed a hundred years ago. So now descendants of the two marriages just shrug it off and kinda chuckle at some of the stories about how the kids of the first marriage treated the second wife.

I think my best advice/theory is wait and see if you don't hear back from someone related to one of those letter receipients in a bit... almost every branch of the each family has someone who is into genealogy. I now hear from second cousins who are not into genealogy, but know I am, saying they got a letter in the mail about x y or z having to do with the family, would I like them to send the info on along so I can be in touch and make something work. :)

I hope the letters you send get some fun/wonderful results for ya!

I got one letter, and I put it aside because I wanted to see for myself if we really were related. The person who sent it to me had included a name with the same surname as my husband's family, and I am into genealogy, but I am very cautious and if we're not related, then I sent out information that would be incorrect for them, thus jeopardizing my own family's identities. I'd say wait a bit longer. I couldn't tell you where I put the letter now, I'd have to go through a bunch of boxes. If it got thrown away, then that was on accident.