Hello John:
Congratulation!
Your experience about researching your ancestral line of "González de
Hermosillo" has knick me in a hard way, is very impacting to any that has
spent much time in our research, many times we seek where there are noting
of information, in Spanish we say: "damos palos de ciego".
You say:
"I
feel that being able to go back about 455 years was mostly
luck...".
You are very "modesto", you did your work to obtain that you now have.
The "luck" is where the preparation and opportunity join to benefit our, if
there is not "preparation", there is not "luck", and if there is not
"opportunity", then there is not "luck". Your minds proceed to run in the
accurate way, because you were thinking about of your ancestors, and this is
the best preparation to do the research. After, you were work hard to found
your genealogical tree:
"I was surfing the internet one day
and...
"I went to visit a cousin,
who...
"I went to the Census records
and...
"Information about my family for
the period, 1917 to the present, was collected from living
relatives at family reunions and family visits...
"Now, anytime I see a relative, I bug
them to tell me as much as they know...
"Some of the records were a tough
challange to read...
And so... Your account is filled with a great work, after that your
"luck", you needy had was to work hardly to finish with your precious
data.
You are a great lesson for the rest of the "ranchos group".
Thanks for share your experience with others.