Organizing ~ Cousins Found

I finally took time yesterday to do something I have been wanting to do for awhile now. It has been several years since I started genealogy and blogging. Many cousins have been found. But, how many? Who?

I have not kept any kind of system to log these cousin contacts. I was past due, do I even remember all of them? Well, that was the goal here. I started a spreadsheet of "Cousins Found."

I titled columns with things like, phone number, address, email address, surname, how/where we made contact, and if I have met them. I am all about meeting my living cousins and their family members, it does my heart good, plus you never know how long they will be with us. Of course, they may also have information to help us in our genealogy research. 

 I started listing the cousins names I remembered making contact with, those were cousins I generally keep in contact with anyway, so that was easy. Then, sporadically, I would remember someone contacting me on one e-mail address with connections to a certain line, but I couldn't remember their name! Exactly why I wanted this contact cousin list!

I went through each of my email address lists and added those cousins I found who I hadn't added yet. Many were found through this blog. Next, I checked Facebook and added several more cousins. I received information on some cousins from other cousins I had already been communicating with. And then...

I found cousins I had totally forgotten about!

(Shamefully I admit this)

Well, that prompted me to send out an email or two, just to keep the contact alive! My plan is to add an email to a couple of these cousins every week if possible, I certainly don't want to lose contact with them since they have now been found! 

I haven't completed my list yet, but have a good start. I have a lot of detail information to fill in yet. I may also rearrange these cousins by the family line they belong, and add any other pertinent information each person may have, for instance, the date of first contact.

Do you remember all of your cousin contacts? Have you kept a list of your cousins with their information? Have you kept in touch with each of them to make sure you do not loose contact?

Thanks for stopping by! 

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts! 

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