I love researching!

[Christine]

Ohhh, I have to agree completely about the thrills of researching! Obviously, some of my best moments of historical research were searching for Frederick Aiken, and one of the coolest and most recent was helping to determine that he could have owned this flag: (remember, I said could have, not did. . . ) http://ephemera.ning.com/photo/president...ntext=user

The collector contacted Laurie, who sent him to me. He wanted to know if this flag was Frederick's. He hoped that I might find a contact through Aiken's newspaper work, but told me that my genealogy research probably wouldn't help me. Needle in a haystack, really. . .

I spent days looking for a Dunbar Aiken connection in his newspaper work, and in his military service, and in his political alliances. No luck.

But then I had a hunch and checked Frederick's genealgy. Boy, was the collector wrong! I discovered that Frederick's cousin Charles Cook (son of his dad's sister Selina Aiken Cook) spent his growing up years with Frederick's family (his family had moved from Vermont to Maine, but he was sent back to Vermont to live with family while he went to school). Charles was in the 1860 census with Aiken's family, but enumerated as Chas Aiken, not Charles Cook! I had always wondered who Chas Aiken was, and despite searching for him never found him. Obviously, because the enumerater made an error with the name! When he was old enough, he enlisted in the Union Army, and served with the 20th Maine, and was present at Petersburg, Five Forks and Appomattox.

He married and had a daughter named Selina Cook who married a Dunbar!! So, the flag, given to 'Grandfather Dunbar by Colonel Aiken' very easily could have been Frederick's. Family lore often gets some of the details wrong - Frederick died before Selina married Robert Dunbar, but. . .

Aiken was not officially a Colonel, but was often referred to as Colonel - even called Colonel Aiken in his obituary; he joined a cavalry unit, but didn't serve with them (in a letter to General McDowell he stated that he came dressed in his cavalry captain's uniform), and could have given the flag to his cousin who was raised in his family home who then gave it to his daughter or son-in-law!!

Yeah, historical research is one of the best legal highs!