Connecting Dots

November 2017 – Research has to start somewhere, so you dig, and then you dig some more. You keep on digging until you stop. Thank goodness for the computer and search engines. I can’t imagine what it was like in the old days – using mail, going to the library, making phone calls. Talk about time consuming. Somehow, someway, I realized Faithful Steward left the port of Londonderry so I began to search overseas, and that is where it got really interesting – connecting the dots. I emailed Christine Johnston, a Senior Library Assistant associated with the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies in Omagh, Northern Ireland, and she put me in touch with the Curator of Immigration, National Museums Northern Ireland. And research began to roll. I had no idea my contact would result in connecting dots – the dots were people, and one led to another. The curator recommended and provided me contact information for a genealogist/historian/author, located nearby. It wasn’t long before I realized this person was building a file of their own – a file on Faithful Steward. So I need to hit the pause button and offer recognition to people involved with history and research. Often you will find those who willingly give of their talent and time and generously assist. After all – think about it. You’re bugging them with questions. My “Acknowledgment” section in the back of the novel covers all of those who were instrumental in lending assistance. Without them – there would be no novel. Such is the case with my endeavor to learn as much as I can about the ship, the passengers, and well – what happened. People will want to know.