My Cousin who fought at the Alamo

I'm blessed to have learned how to use Facebook to benefit my family history research. In fact, it was after I read an article in a genealogy magazine in 2008 by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak that I first learned about, and signed up for, Facebook. Almost every week I make a new connection or learn a new piece of information about my family history through a page, group, post, link or message on Facebook.

A few years ago I connected with a distant cousin on Facebook named Karen Flanders Eddy. With the maiden name of Flanders I knew she had to be related, as my mother's maiden name was also Flanders. I suppose all the members of the Flanders family in America are related. I've learned so much over the years from Karen. And again she has blessed me with valuable information. This evening she posted this to my wall: 

From the Find A Grave Memorial I learned this about my cousin John Flanders.

Now how easy was that? Research about a distant cousin was just dropped in my lap! This chart shows my relationship with John. 

Now as I post this on my blog, it opens up the possibility that someone else researching the Flanders family may find the link through a Google search, a post on Google+ or even Facebook. It just pays to get the word out, while also documenting an interesting story about a cousin.