Nothing beats first-hand interviews

My husband and I, along with his cousin, visited two members of his extended family last Saturday.  These are 2nd cousins, the grandchildren of his grandfather's brother.  I had several questions I hoped they could answer regarding their grandparents. 

First, I had been told their grandfather, Nickolas Eterovic, had been married twice.  I knew his first wife Dora died sometime before the 1920 census, when Nickolas reports he is a widower.  She and Nickolas had married in Croatia some years earlier and they had two daughters.  Then Nickolas came to America by himself and she and the girls followed in 1913 and Dora had a son later that year.  The two cousins thought she may have died in childbirth, but since she died long before they were born, they weren't sure.  Unless I can find a death record for her, which I have been unbable to do so far, the circumstances and date of her death may remain a mystery.  However, they did know the name of his second wife, and I have found records on her.  She died before Nickolas as well, leaving him a widower for a second time.

I also wanted to know about their uncle, the child who had been born 10 months after their grandmother arrived here.  They were able to fill me in on him and his children.  So I was able to add a few more people to the family tree. 

I also learned a bit more about their immediate family.  They were the oldest and youngest  of five children born to the daughter of Nickolas and his first wife. Two of the girls became nuns.  One even began her own congregation that served the poor in Guatemala.  The other belonged to a cloistered congregation of Carmelites.  Only the youngest daughter married, and I was fortunate to see pictures of her grandchildren.

I'm planning a visit with another branch of my husband's extended family in two weeks.  This will help fill in some more blanks. 

The visit taught me a valuable lesson.  While I can learn a great deal on my computer, at ancestry.com, familysearch.org, and many other genealogy sites, there is nothing quite as exciting as hearing firsthand from members of the family.  Sometimes, it is the only way to have mysteries solved.