Originally published as the “Bringing Up the Rear” column in the September/October 2004 issue of the NGS NewsMagazine, a publication of the National Genealogical Society, this article is copyright 2004 by James W. Warren.

Advices from Ole

Hello, fellow genealogicals. What a surprises it was to me, Ole, every since my guest column appeared in the last NGS NewsMagazines! Dozens of many people emailered to me about their genealogicals and other personals and financials questions.

So I have decided, thank you for your many requests, to include “Advices from Ole” as part of my columns maybe, where Ole can solve your problematicals with researching your genealogicals, or with your personals or financials or ettiquettes. Please be remembering that the cost of printering the NewsMagazines is very high, so do not include any “humor” when you writer to me, because we all know the space can be put to better uses.

New Source - Breaking News
Anyway, Ole also realized these emails are a new source for your genealogicals! Yes, I am excited about it too, thanks for asking. They are filled with details about relationships and events and places you won’t find just anywhere else. So if you are keeping score at home or doing documentations, list your source excitations as “Advices from Ole Column in NSG NewsMagazines” with the specific issue and page number like the examples in our documentation manual, Evidently!

New Source Examples #1
Here are parts of emails that came to me:

Dear respectful One. Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you. I know this may come as a surprise, since we have not known or written before. Introducing myself, I am Mr. Favour Attah, 21 years of age, the only daughter of the late Mr and Mrs. S.K. My father was a gold and cocoa merchant in Abidjan (Ivory Coast). He was poisoned to death by his business associates on one of their business trips. Before his death on 29th June 2001, my father secretly called me on his bed side to tell me he has $7,500,000 U.S. dollars deposited in a finance company here in Abidjan Cote d’Ivoire. He used my name as his only daughter for the next of kin in depositing the fund . . .

Who would have been guessing that Mr. Favour Attah was anyone’s daughter, much less the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S.K?! Where else could you be learning of these clues and vital events? This is serious genealogicals, so Ole does not recommender trying this at home unless you have Internets access and a computer. Of course, you would not get such an emails. After Mr. Favour Attah read my “Coming to America” columns (three columns each on two pages), she felt she could trust Ole and wanted to share her genealogicals and go into business with me. Who could be surprised?

New Source Examples #2
But wait for even more excitements. You will not be guessing what was arrived in my inboxed only a few days later.

My name is Jerry Williams. I am 23 years old, a student. I lost my father years back. He was one of the directors under Tijan Kabbah government and died during the political crisis. My mother is aged she is 62 years now an old woman. We are living in Cote d'Ivoire since past six months. It is my desire to write from my heart hoping that you will not betray us. My father diverted some huge some of money which he deposited with a bank in this country when he was alive . . .

How many coincidentals can it be that both Mr. Favor Attah and Jerry Williams are connected to Cote d’Ivoire? Though that is not quite enough documentations for Evidently!, it sounds to me like we are being on right trek to find these are two people who could be cousins.

Of course, these people are writering to Ole for financials advice and to deposit large sums of money in Ole’s bank accounts. But please just be ignoring that part. I have already writered to them and made those arrangements so you could concentrate on the genealogicals clues. That is, of course, the important part of the emails.

A Whole Another Excitements
But wait, there are even more best parts. Sometimes the persons writing to Ole do NOT know the genealogicals, and Advices from Ole is able to solve the mystery for them.

I am Mr. Douglas Larito. the senior auditor of a Bank. During the course of our auditing, I discovered a floating fund account opened in 1990. Since 1993 nobody has operated on this account. The owner of the account died without a "Heir apparent to the throne." Hence the money is floating. If I do not remit this money out urgently it will be forfeited for nothing.

The owner of this account was Mr. Eshed B. Wiley, a foreigner and an industrialist, who died since 1990. Until now no other person knows about this account or could give any documentary evidence. As such this account has no other beneficiary . . .

Ole was able to let Mr. Douglas Larito know that his worrisomes were over because Ole is obviously the Hair apparent to the throne. The money does not have to float in hence any more, but can be sent urgently to Ole. The important thing, of course, is the genealogicals, so now everyone can be knowing that Eshed B. Wiley had relatives, and obviously was Ole’s father. I writered in my first NSG NewsMagazine column how my father was kidnaped at age six and never heard from again. (Not until last week, that is, when Mr. Douglas Larito’s email arrived.) Now Ole knows what had happened to his father, and also what his father’s name was, which Ole had never knowned before. So a good time was had by all.

First Hand Knowledges
I know some people have the concerns about Internets sources sometimes being flying during the night businesses. But when genealogicals are involved, we are all cousins and it is just a hobby and we are all free to share with everyone, so everyone knows that no one could every possibly be making any monies anyway. And besides, unlike with books, no one can send Internets messages unless they are having at least two documentations such as first-handed knowledge, like being present for the birth of themselves. And we all know that no one could be sending information over the Internets unless they are showing a valid drivers’ license and pastport, plus some kind of photo ID.

A perfect examples of lots of first-handed information was this email I received:
Sir/Madam, I am Mrs. Glory Patrick, from Kuwaiti, am married to late Mr Patrick Williams, who worked with Kuwait Embassy in Ivory Coast for Twenty-Six years before he died in the year 2001 after a brief illness that lasted for only five days. We were married for eighteen years with a daughter (Lilian) who later died in a motor accident. Before the untimely death of my husband, we were both born again Christians. Since after his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of U.S.$8,500,000 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire . . .

There you are - one more examples with first-handed knowledges of births and deaths and names and places and religions that you won’t be findering in the Socially Secure Death Index, you can be placing your bets, please. And where else would you ever learn that Mr. Patrick Williams brief illness of lasted only five days? Those critical details aren’t in the official records. So you can be seeing the value of these emails that people are sending to Ole. And did you notice? Another connection to Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire! That place must be full of millionaires cousins with Internets accessed! I will be telling you one things though. After reading the whole of emails from all these peoples (I only quoted you the first parts), if I were being you and lived in Cote d’Ivoire, I would not be making trips overseas with any business associates, because those trips seem to be fatal or even worst.

More Good News for Everyone
But wait — the best is still to be coming! Because even after finding all the exciting genealogicals in these emails, as if that weren’t being enough already, they also have a bonus message at the end. It reads “Too much spam in your inbox? Yahoo! gives you the best spam protection for FREE! Get Yahoo! Mail.”

So not only can Ole get all these good genealogicals from my newly-founded NewsMagazine friends’ emails to me, but I can also block any spams from getting into my computer. (Whatever spams are. I’ve never gotten any, but I sure wouldn’t want to be starting.) So a good time can be had by all, and all’s well that ends, just like Ole’s column.


About the Author:
Ole Smirnoff Bernatelli immigrated to the U.S. over ninety years ago after providing legendary service as a captain in the Latvian Fishing Boat Uprising. He later founded the Italian-Swede- Russian Association of Genealogical Peoples International. He is currently membership chairman of the exclusive hereditary society, Ancestors Without Descendants. Despite his advanced age, Ole recently opened a new faucet on his career, writing a historical novel. Set in the tumultuous diamond-mining industry of 1990s Africa, his book combines half-history with half-genealogy in a genre he calls historical fractions. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of electronic communications, Ole spent more than twenty-five days online mastering the genealogical connections of the area to weave a narrative that is absolutely unbelievable from cover to cover. Look for Ole’s book, Isle of Cote d'Ivoire, on the best-seller shelves of your local bookstore.


Editor’s Note: So as not to be bothering the editor, please send comments or questions regarding Ole’s column directly to him at OlesGenealogicals@juno.com.