I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how lucky we are to be genealogists in the 21st Century. I’ll only provide one example of this, although there are many to choose from. I’ve only had to search through United States Federal census records on microfilm once. That’s right. Once. My more experienced colleagues have told me about what it used to be like to search hours through films only to find one family in one census year. Now, an image of a census record is often just a click away on a computer screen.

We have so many incredible technological tools at our fingertips these days that enable us to get more research done in a shorter period of time. In turn, that means that we are able to provide more research and more value to our clients.

It is fun to use these technological tools to “wow” people every once in a while. I am the only person in my immediate family who does genealogical research, and I love sharing exciting finds with them. Last May, I started digging into an ancestral line on my mother’s side of the family because I was planning a trip to Maryland, and these ancestors lived there during and after the Revolutionary War.

During my research, I discovered that my fifth-great-grandparents, Elisha Riston and Sarah Ann Mayo, were married in February 1790 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, which happens to be located in Fort Washington, Maryland. When I was a toddler, my family lived in Fort Washington, and I hadn’t been back to visit after we moved several years ago. I immediately wanted to know how far that church was from our old house. I called my mom, got our Fort Washington address, and quickly found the address of St. John’s Episcopal Church on their website. A search on Google Maps revealed that my family lived roughly two miles from the church where my ancestors were married over two hundred years ago:

Fort Washington, Maryland

My mom was really surprised when I told her that. Her immediate reaction was “how did you figure that out!?” My response: it’s all about 21st Century tools.