I’m having some Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (#SNGF), with help from Randy Seaver and his prompts! Feel free to join in.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: April 18, 2026

Prompt: “Have you found an unexpected record recently (or at any time) in your genealogy and family history research?  A document, a book, an article, a letter, etc. This week, please tell us about that unexpected record find and how it helped your research.”

Introduction

My most unexpected record was a letter written by my ancestor 343 years ago!

Discussion

How often has “dumb luck” aided our research? Probably more often than we would like to admit. This was one of those moments.

I submitted a genealogical query and received a response that broke a brick wall wide open. Suddenly, three new generations appeared. When I searched for the oldest of them, I struck gold.

Louis Thibou and his family were French Huguenots who fled France as religious tensions escalated. They went first to London, then sailed to Carolina, where they settled near Charleston in 1680.

Three years later, Louis wrote a letter to his friend Gabriel Boutefoy in London, encouraging him and his friends to come as well. Somehow, that letter has survived. I was blessed to hold it in my own hands at the South Caroliniana Library.

The letter reads almost like a promotional piece for Carolina, but it also contains priceless family detail: “God has given us a son who is called Jacob after the one we lost in England; the captain of a warship was his godfather. Gabriel is well and kisses the hands of his godfather and godmother.” Young Gabriel was my ancestor. I can’t begin to express the awe I felt holding that letter in my hands. Louis thought he was reaching across an ocean but he was also reaching across centuries.

That is what astonishes me most: after all the careful, methodical work that went into finding this line, I was suddenly able to hear my ancestor’s voice across more than three centuries. Research takes discipline, yes, but sometimes it also feels like grace.

Figure 1: Me with the letter written (in French) by my 9^th great grandfather.

References

• A brief history of the Huguenots may be found at Huguenots | South Carolina Encyclopedia
• More on the passengers of the Richmond is at Who Were the Passengers on the Richmond?
• A webpage about Louis’ letter has been archived at Letter from Louis Thibou to friends and family in France, 1683 | archive.org

AI Disclosure

This post was created by me with the help of AI tools. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries are my own.