We all seem to have them. Photos of people we have no idea who they are or why our parents or grandparents kept those photos.

What do we do with them? If they can’t be identified as family, perhaps they were neighbors or close friends. Finding our family history may be worth checking out who their neighbors were. Who was the photographer and where was the photo taken? You can find information about neighbors with census records. You could find out with books that are written about the county or area your ancestors lived in. These may be written about a neighbor but have your family information in it. Like The History of Judge John Pence, there is a short amount of history and genealogy in that book that has to do with descendants. Sometimes you can even find a phone book, newspapers, or other such items that can tell what was going on during the time your ancestors lived in a certain area.

Sometimes neighbors are relatives, remember people weren’t as mobile as we are now, and sometimes when they did move they moved to where family members were already settled. Check out those maiden names or cousins names.

Take a side road once in a while on your journey for discovering your ancestors, you never know what great information you can find out about your family!

My grandfather was known to say, “I’ve never met a stranger, only a friend I haven’t known before”.

Who is my neighbor?

“neighbor – definition of neighbor by the Free Online Dictionary …