At the end of August, I went on a nice, long 2.5-week vacation – it was lovely! Half of my trip was dedicated to visiting my Koonce genealogy friends in Wisconsin. I’ve blogged before about them – John & Dan – and our excursions in Tennessee to do Koonce genealogy research (here and here). I had a wonderful stay of about 5 days between visiting both of them and their families and we were able to spend quite a bit of time talking about our common Koonce genealogy interests.
John has been researching Koonce families for more than 40 years – so he has QUITE the collection; not only for his personal Koonce family but also from other Koonce families. For example, his family is fortunate to have a series of journals his dad kept for many years, including one dating back to 1926.
I learned about Koonces appearing in magazines, such as President Bill Clinton’s prom date Jackie Koonce – their picture appeared in a 1997 issue of People Magazine.
There is a variety of pear called the “Koonce Pear” that had almost become extinct
And John gifted me a Koonce Kin hat given our common surname.
Then, I traveled downstate a few hours to visit a few days with Dan, who is working to follow-up and preserve his Koonce family history too! He’s been capturing John’s work and research and will put together a book.
Additionally, Dan keeps many Koonce artifacts tucked away and I was tickled to see in the room an engraving of a store that we saw in person on our last research trip to Fayetteville in Lincoln County, Tennessee.
Not only was it great to visit with my friends, see parts of this country I’ve never seen before, and spend time with them and their families, but I also go to “talk shop” and do genealogy while there. I even visited a cemetery to take pictures for BillionGraves (because, of course, that’s what a genealogist does! the dots are the pictures I took).
I still have much to process, organize, and file from the research John shared with me and get it added to my Koonce Surname Project website. But, overall, I had a wonderful time and am already trying to figure out when I can go back!!!
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Taneya, your vacation is one I’m envious of! I did the very same thing in the late 80s & early 90s only I went to the east coast of NC for my Midgett research. Took lots of pictures (before the digital age) in cemeteries, visited several courthouses and, above all, made friendships that have still lasted to this day. So glad you got to spend time with your Koonce relatives and acquaintances!
ooh! sounds like you had quite the trip as well back then! It is nice indeed to be able to combine both travel and our passion of genealogy isn’t it? 🙂
This Story Touched me so Much. I’ve been researching My Ancestry. A friend thats better at My Tree than I gives me info. But says we have Ancestry in common names and places. Yet, we are not related. However my 6 &7th Ancestors are in her Tree! My parents are in her Tree as well. My Koonce connection according to her is Peter Humphrey Bear Grass,NC. Just reaching out to you. Thanks.