Rest in Peace, Cousin Connie!

Connie Boyd Chester was a cousin, a great friend and my Boyd genealogy research partner.  We met on-line in 2000. She was a tech savvy grandma! 

Connie had posted her Boyd family tree on the web and we connected.  It was exciting to find another cousin wanting to learn more about our Boyd family, finally!  

Over the next 15 years, we shared information, photos and stories.  We put our heads together to try to solve the mystery of Old John Boyd, the sea captain who seemed to fall off the face of the earth in 1805.

Connie had been working on this problem for more than 40 years!  That's persistence!!  I'd really only gotten started a few years before we met, while my Grandpa was still living.  He always told stories about his Boyd grandparents and I wanted to capture those while I could.

When we first corresponded, I lived several states away.  So we kept the postal service and email lines hopping.  After several years, I took a job in Connie's area.  We enjoyed getting together for coffee and would visit for hours about the lives of our ancestors.  We also got together for the Phillipsburg Rodeo each summer. I will miss those visits.  

With the help of Connie's granddaughter, Jodie, we were able to locate and visit Old John Boyd's grave site (above) in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Bensalem, PA.   What a thrill that was!

We were also able to uncover the Cabeen Manuscript that details how John Boyd and Ann Bessonett met in Halifax and married in Philadelphia soon after.  I remember sitting in the cafe in Glade and sharing that document with Connie.  We were both like kids in a candy store!  

Genealogy is quite a journey!  You learn fascinating stories about the life of our ancestors.  But, its the family members you meet along the way that  make life special.

I feel blessed to have gotten to know Connie and her family, my Boyd cousins through this journey. 

 You will be missed, cousin Connie!  Until we meet again!