…I may as well blog.

I am sitting in Perkins library at beautiful Duke University after canvassing the campus looking for this place. I paid my 5 bucks to park, asked a student for help finding the library and was happy to escape the 90 degree heat when another kind student swiped her card to let me in.

I knew where I was headed once I got in as I called earlier in he day to confirm they had what I was looking for, the city directories for Binghamton, NY years 1857-1860. I was on a mission, I found the rows of cabinets and the correct drawer with ease. I did not find the microfiche with the catalog number I was searching for. After several unsuccessful pulls of other nearby drawers (that doesn’t sound right?!), I was still out of luck. The reference person assisted but she too couldn’t locate it. Hopefully I will get an email from the person who manages the fiche. It just figures really that this one item that’s probably rarely accessed has gone AWOL.

What am I hoping to find in the fiche? Perhaps some answers as to when my original Sullivan ancestors arrived here, what they did for a living, were there other family members I don’t know about? One thing about ancestry research is that you have to constantly confirm what data you learn of through any resources you can find and this is a very tedious process. But seeing as this is the first time I’ve had to travel (15 minutes from home) to secure this knowledge, I’ve done pretty well so far!

I hope I get an email tomorrow about the fiche’s location, but for now I’ve at least enjoyed some quiet alone time which is priceless even if I did have to pay 5 bucks for it!