The Thanksgiving holiday weekend has given many genealogy buffs some well deserved web surfing time. It’s the perfect opportunity to check on those long-lost queries posted to various forums years ago, especially since email addresses are likely different, and any follow-up messages have not found their way to you.

If you posted queries to message boards like Ancestry, RootsWeb, GenForum, Cousin Connect, or the many others available online, you can utilize their search features to locate your posts, and find out if you missed any responses. You might even try “googling” your ancestor’s names, which many times will turn up query posts.

Even if you locate your old posts and find no responses, why not take the time to update your email address, or even post new queries? More and more people are logging on everyday, and you never know who might read your post next. It could be a distant cousin with folders and gedcoms full of family information. Lucky for you!